Deliciousness

Before I move on, in reference to my last post - obviously we lost hope and the worst outcome became reality. Everyone has been affected by the story, and it's certainly left me feeling less safe on a night out. I hope her killer is brought to justice, swiftly.

Moving on, I'm back to another food post.

My wonton soup was ahhhhmayyyzing. I'll be making that again for sure. So delicious. And vegan! Less successful was my made from scratch Rogan Josh curry, which was just slightly bitter, and I can't pinpoint which ingredient was the culprit for it. The satay was quite good though, I also made the curry paste for that from scratch too. My Chickpea, feta and marinated vegetable salad - looked divine, tasted too vinegary. The marinade (bought) was too strong for my liking. Asparagus, broccoli and cheese pasta and Italian Suppli were winners (vego not vegan, had cheese). The most surprising win was the tofu kebabs. I don't really do tofu, but in the homemade BBQ sauce, caramelised up... so tasty! Would absolutely eat again and a great protein source to boot.

My rogan josh curry paste. home made! Toasted my own spices and all!

The rogan josh curry

chickpea, feta and marinated vegetable salad. looks better than it tasted.

Wonton Soup 

Italian suppli

BBQ Tofu and fried rice 

I also had great success with my vegan cheese experiment. It was s tasty and so cheeselike, I may be able to give it up and go full vegan yet. I have hope, finally!

My 9 year old wanted to cook dinner one night this week, so I let him choose what he wanted to make. He chose pizzas so we got some passes, some pizza sauce, and various toppings. He made ham and cheese for himself and his sister, and he made me a delish onion and mushroom one. So tasty, he did such a good job of doing all the cutting and using the hot oven and so on. I reckon we'll keep this up...

A good friend (Megan over at Living a Truly Blessed Life) sent me a recipe for vego sausage rolls. I was curious, because they really looked the part, so I gave them a go. They had a slight hint of oatiness to them (rolled oats was a big ingredient) but omg they were yummy and the texture was absolutely sausage rolly. But not scary meat! Even the 9yo gave them the thumbs up and declared them better than the ones from the shop (ie meat ones) he didnt even realise they were vego. WINNING.

I went to my sisters for lunch this week. She put on the BEST vegetarian lunch spread. I wanted to eat ALL THE THINGS. She had lentil burgers, chickpea and spinach sausages, falafel, salads, wraps, cheeses, antipasto... it was amazing. She sent me home with leftovers which went down a freakin treat. I really loved how much of an effort she made to make me something so delicious and so vegetarian. It was really special.

I seem to be getting a few repeat meals in rotation now which is good, means I've found meals I am seriously enjoying. Added in as new experiments this week are a tomato and cheese risotto, vego fajitas and for Grand Final day BBQ I did the most delicious mushroom and halloumi kebabs, corn on the cob with herb butter, and fried ravioli with fresh hommus. Far out it was good. I love food!

The compelling case of #JillMeagher

What is it that so compels us in the Jill Meagher case? People go missing all the time yet these particular set of circumstances have most of us enthralled and genuinely emotive. Why?

If you're truly unaware, Jill Meagher is a 29 year old woman from Ireland now living in Melbourne with her Irish husband. In the early hours of last Saturday morning she attempted to walk the short distance from a bar to her home but along the way she vanished. She's not been heard from since. Police released CCTV footage showing her in conversation with a man who looks alarmingly like a man other women reported harassment and abduction attempts by. Her handbag was found 2 days later in an obvious spot police had already scoured. Missed or planted?

It doesn't look like good news. It's terrifying. Makes my skin crawl. I'm not much older than her. I've gone out in that area and been drunk there. Is it the 'could easily have been me' element that grips us so? The mystery of it? The fear is genuine. I feel my stomach tense when I read about this. I feel true dread and worry for this woman I've never heard of before.

Something about it is gripping us psychologically. There is a lot if judgement at the fact she walked home alone but don't we all live by the default setting of 'it can't/won't happen to me'? I've walked streets alone at night. Intoxicated. Silently scolded myself for the risk in the light of sober day. It's just 5 minutes. I do it all the time. I'll be fine there's people around... Plenty of traffic... And yet.

Women get unwanted attention from men a lot. Being approached on the street at that hour by a man wouldn't be unusual. And Jill is a pretty woman. I don't want to speculate but chances are she was rolling her eyes and just hoping he would give it up and she could go on her way. Not initially suspecting real danger. Using her phone to prevent him further engaging her. Who knows though? Only Jill.

Perhaps that's what gets to us here. That many of us have had unwanted encounters that maybe leave us feeling a bit unsafe but we rack it up to part of life and go on with it. Except Jill can't. Where is she?

I don't want to allow something like this to change how I conduct a night out or how I feel about walking unaccompanied at night or anytime. But it does. I feel less safe. I feel far more cautious and fearful. It infuriates me that I've been made feel this way by some bastard who has done this. Remember those 'reclaim the night' women's marches? No way. Not reclaimed. Taken further away.

I hope the police get a breakthrough in this case soon. I hope Jill is found alive. I hope this increases our awareness of what's going on around us - to us or others in our vicinity. I hope this feeling of mass fear and intimidation doesn't last. I hope that we don't lose hope.

Crimestoppers 1800 333 000 

What's news? Part 2

So, part 2 of What's news this week was going to be about the killing of Osama Bin Laden. But honestly, I'm sick of hearing about it, thinking about it, and all the opinions around it. So, forgive me, but no doubt you've read more than you can stomach on it too.

What's news? Part 1

So, I wrote this entry up as my news story for the week. How could I not choose the Royal Wedding right? It was massive news! Then some guy was killed yesterday that sort of booted it from the headlines. I'm publishing it anyway, I want to think about the good news as well as the bad this week, and a wedding is the perfect thing.

I am not a Royals fan. I'm not a monarchist, I am a supporter for an Australian republic, so, I was fairly indifferent to the entire thing. Meh, whatevs. But, I figured that for historys sake, and because Finn had been studying at school, I'd put it on the telly. Well. There I was, still glued to the set at 1030pm that night, waiting for the balcony kiss. Well and truly suckered in. The pomp and ceremony to it all fascinates me, and whilst I can't help but wish they'd show a little... well.. passion and emotion? I understand the cool Brits are doing the Royal thing and that's how they roll. The horses, carriages, fancy cars, royal guards, the outfits, the glamor, the wtf of it all... It was fun to watch, I have to say.

I watched it whilst on twitter, live time tweeting with others from around the world watching the same thing. United in horror by Tara Palmer-Tomkinsons 'vagina' hat, swooning at pretty but dumb Becks (and how did Posh get that hat to stay on her forehead?!), delighting in the steal the show bridesmaid, Pippa, and sighing over the beautiful bride. And Catherine sure did make a beautiful bride. Tasteful, glamorous, yet with enough tradition to satisfy the older monarchists. She was born for royalty. She is effortlessly gliding into her new role, and Wills was a sweet and shy, so reminiscent of his Mother, Di. It was pretty gorgeous all round, really.

The topper for me? Harry. It's gotta be Harry. He's the Royal we all relate to. The larrikin, mischievous, ratbag. I loves me some Prince Harry. Know what I did today? Bought Who Magazine. I think I'm becoming a Royal fan after all. Sucker.

What's news?

I thought I might do a weekly blog entry about something that has held my attention in the media for the week. It might be good news, it might be sad news, it might be silly news.

This week, I was all set to write about the kickarse Aussie dollar, and how good it is for me going to the US in 3 weeks, but it was superseded when, on Friday, arrests were finally made over the death of 6 year old Kiesha Abrahams. A day later, it was obvious, that those accused of her murder, were her mother and stepfather. Few of us would have been surprised by this. I think most of us suspected them from the outset when she was reported missing, 9 months ago.

In reading the linked article about her short life, and how she was treated, it reminded me of some of the work I have done in the past. I've not mentioned it much, if at all, but before having my own children, I was employed as a Child Support Worker at a high security domestic violence refuge. My role was pretty multi-faceted. I worked on safety with the children, I gave them recreation and fun again, I advocated for them in schools, court, and with police.

It wasn't an easy job, and it was rarely rewarding. I recall working really hard with one family, feeling I had made a significant difference in the childrens lives. I had them in school, I had behavioural issues correcting, they were in counselling and I had accompanied them to the police to make some pretty hard to hear statements about their life with the perpetrator. It was really a gutting feeling the morning I came to work to find they had done a runner over night. Their mother had taken them back to the perpetrator. It was a hard lesson for me to learn about hope and reality.

Another family I worked with, told of abuse at the hands of their father. Cigarettes held to their faces, burning them, sexual assaults, being locked outside the house in freezing temperatures for hours on end. How's a kid supposed to recover from this stuff? I often wonder where these children are now. This was ten years ago now, they'd be adults. I wonder if they made it?

Reading about Kiesha Abrahams made me think of them again. She was another who was not so lucky. And she had no one to protect her. As awful as this sounds, part of me is grateful for her. It took death, but she escaped the abuse. She's free now. No one can hurt her anymore.