Monday, June 30, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
22June Mount Somers
Sunday 22 June,
Since there are so many options, woke up at about 3 am to finally decide and decided on either Mount Somers or Arthurs Pass for an hour or so of tramping.
The plan is to use the Thermal Pot so that the food remains warm and we will travel 2 hours, do about 2 hours of tramping and by then the food will be cooked in the thermal pot. For those of you unfamiliar, the Thermal Pot is a pot that allows the food to cook slowly in the pot, using the heat that was in the pot after about 15 to 20 minutes of cooking. Here was my recipe for my lamb curry in thermal pot.
Ingredients
2 sticks of cinnamon
3 anistar
3 cloves
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic crushed
3 table spoon of curry powder
1 kg of lamb
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
3 teaspoons of salt
1 tablespoon of sugar
4 medium potato
Partially boil the potato to make it easier to peel the skin actually, that is what I do,
Cook the onion and garlic till transparent in 2 tablespoons of oil.
Add the curry powder.
Stir in the cinnamon, anistar and cloves until the fragrance comes out
Add the lamb and add about 2 cups of water and mix in the lamb to ensure it is well coated with spices
Stir in the tomato paste
Add sugar and salt and finally the potato.
Simmer for 20 minutes over low to medium flame.
Transfer the contents all into the thermal pot inner pot and cook over small fire for a bit (I don't use the inner pot to cook because it is too thin and lots of time end up burning the onion.
After 20 minutes, put the inner pot into the thermal pot and it is ready to slowly cook an ready to serve hot in 4 hours.
Packed the rest of the food including the bread to eat with the curry and water and other snacks.
At eleven we were set to go and left Papanui.
En route we checked out Rolleston as a possible place to settle down and then set out to Mt Somers. Of course before Rolleston, we had to stop at Cookie time factory shop.
By 1.30 we have reached Mt Somers after stopping Burnett Lime Quarry and Reserve.
At Burnett Lime quarry we just sat by the stream while the kids play in the water.
Mt Somers offered several tracks and we decided to take the Nature trail, took us about 40 minutes one way and we were supposed to do a slight river crossing to make it one round. Decided not to try and cross the river and walked back. By 4 pm we were sitting at the car parking area cum park and eating hot curry with bread. Amazing to have nice hot food with no flame around. The thermal pot is a wonderful device.
housedadz
Since there are so many options, woke up at about 3 am to finally decide and decided on either Mount Somers or Arthurs Pass for an hour or so of tramping.
The plan is to use the Thermal Pot so that the food remains warm and we will travel 2 hours, do about 2 hours of tramping and by then the food will be cooked in the thermal pot. For those of you unfamiliar, the Thermal Pot is a pot that allows the food to cook slowly in the pot, using the heat that was in the pot after about 15 to 20 minutes of cooking. Here was my recipe for my lamb curry in thermal pot.
Ingredients
2 sticks of cinnamon
3 anistar
3 cloves
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic crushed
3 table spoon of curry powder
1 kg of lamb
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
3 teaspoons of salt
1 tablespoon of sugar
4 medium potato
Partially boil the potato to make it easier to peel the skin actually, that is what I do,
Cook the onion and garlic till transparent in 2 tablespoons of oil.
Add the curry powder.
Stir in the cinnamon, anistar and cloves until the fragrance comes out
Add the lamb and add about 2 cups of water and mix in the lamb to ensure it is well coated with spices
Stir in the tomato paste
Add sugar and salt and finally the potato.
Simmer for 20 minutes over low to medium flame.
Transfer the contents all into the thermal pot inner pot and cook over small fire for a bit (I don't use the inner pot to cook because it is too thin and lots of time end up burning the onion.
After 20 minutes, put the inner pot into the thermal pot and it is ready to slowly cook an ready to serve hot in 4 hours.
Packed the rest of the food including the bread to eat with the curry and water and other snacks.
At eleven we were set to go and left Papanui.
En route we checked out Rolleston as a possible place to settle down and then set out to Mt Somers. Of course before Rolleston, we had to stop at Cookie time factory shop.
By 1.30 we have reached Mt Somers after stopping Burnett Lime Quarry and Reserve.
At Burnett Lime quarry we just sat by the stream while the kids play in the water.
Mt Somers offered several tracks and we decided to take the Nature trail, took us about 40 minutes one way and we were supposed to do a slight river crossing to make it one round. Decided not to try and cross the river and walked back. By 4 pm we were sitting at the car parking area cum park and eating hot curry with bread. Amazing to have nice hot food with no flame around. The thermal pot is a wonderful device.
housedadz
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Weekend Trips.
Past few weeks has been filled with activities in weekends and as we gain confidence we are exploring what this beautiful country with its beautiful people have to offer.
We did the following trips so far, some just simple tramping trips and some a bit more
May 11th - Tramping near Castle Rock... caught in sudden turn of weather and the temperature changed from nice sunny 16C to cold 7C in like 15 minutes as the rain and winds come in! Amazing experience, cold and I guess important lesson for us.
May 18th - Tramping and Jetboating trip to Rakaia Gorge, beautiful scenery, pictures in my photobucket website.
Sat 31May to Mon 2nd June - Trip to base of Aoraki (Mt Cook) for tramping and then down to Dunedin to visit Lanache Castle and Cadbury Factory (wouldn't it be nice if the world was chocolate...... song still ringin in my ear...)
7th June - Kaikoara for fishing trip (did not catch anything) and sightseeing in Kaikoara. Did not learn my lesson i guess with regards to weather change, beautiful sunny day on way up to Kaikoara but on way back, IT SNOWED!, took 4 hours to get back as the road was full of snow and precariously we were sliding at some point! Thank goodness for my Land Rover offroading experience (and plenty of luck and Gods will) that managed to get back safely in the Toyota 2wd 8 seater Granvia! Thats it getting a 4WD soon, in fact got it already but that is another story.... no not an overpriced Land Rover but just something to allow me to get to low gear and 4wd option and larger wheels... that story to come.
We did the following trips so far, some just simple tramping trips and some a bit more
May 11th - Tramping near Castle Rock... caught in sudden turn of weather and the temperature changed from nice sunny 16C to cold 7C in like 15 minutes as the rain and winds come in! Amazing experience, cold and I guess important lesson for us.
May 18th - Tramping and Jetboating trip to Rakaia Gorge, beautiful scenery, pictures in my photobucket website.
Sat 31May to Mon 2nd June - Trip to base of Aoraki (Mt Cook) for tramping and then down to Dunedin to visit Lanache Castle and Cadbury Factory (wouldn't it be nice if the world was chocolate...... song still ringin in my ear...)
7th June - Kaikoara for fishing trip (did not catch anything) and sightseeing in Kaikoara. Did not learn my lesson i guess with regards to weather change, beautiful sunny day on way up to Kaikoara but on way back, IT SNOWED!, took 4 hours to get back as the road was full of snow and precariously we were sliding at some point! Thank goodness for my Land Rover offroading experience (and plenty of luck and Gods will) that managed to get back safely in the Toyota 2wd 8 seater Granvia! Thats it getting a 4WD soon, in fact got it already but that is another story.... no not an overpriced Land Rover but just something to allow me to get to low gear and 4wd option and larger wheels... that story to come.
Monday, June 9, 2008
My routine now
For those interested here is my daily routine, I need routine unfortunately. Call me boring but routine is a necessity for me.
6am - wake up - wash up - do my prayers with my beautiful wife (to do prayers together is a luxury never before had in Singapore.
6.30am - wake kids up and they get ready for school and lay out breakfast for all and not to mention my own morning coffee
7.20am - Julie off to work.
8.00am - kids off to school, no more sending! they walk!!
8.00 am to 10 am - on the comp, emailing, internet banking, maybe from now on blogging, surfing
10am - chores, laundry, clean house and prepare food for day
1230pm - wash up for prayers and if all chores done then sleep.... ahhh sleeep..
230pm - prepare kids lunch or lunch snack and start or continue preparing dinner.
3.30pm - kids home, they eat, wash up, pray, and then do chores for the day that is stipulated on the white board - by me!
4.30pm - Julie comes home
5pm all pray together
5.30 pm to 6 pm dinner is served
7pm kids do homework or read or play, all in the living room (the warm room for the house) and if nothing to do then will screen some movie on the projector.
9pm Kids go to bed me and Julie spend some quiet time... with a cup of Milo or Bournevita or juice
10 pm or later - if i am lucky ;) - sleep
Such is my routine for the day, of course we live for weekends! so far past weeks weekends has been tramping, driving to beautiful sights for photography, fishing and whatever else comes. Will describe more about weekends and routine life soon. Maybe talk about food too.
6am - wake up - wash up - do my prayers with my beautiful wife (to do prayers together is a luxury never before had in Singapore.
6.30am - wake kids up and they get ready for school and lay out breakfast for all and not to mention my own morning coffee
7.20am - Julie off to work.
8.00am - kids off to school, no more sending! they walk!!
8.00 am to 10 am - on the comp, emailing, internet banking, maybe from now on blogging, surfing
10am - chores, laundry, clean house and prepare food for day
1230pm - wash up for prayers and if all chores done then sleep.... ahhh sleeep..
230pm - prepare kids lunch or lunch snack and start or continue preparing dinner.
3.30pm - kids home, they eat, wash up, pray, and then do chores for the day that is stipulated on the white board - by me!
4.30pm - Julie comes home
5pm all pray together
5.30 pm to 6 pm dinner is served
7pm kids do homework or read or play, all in the living room (the warm room for the house) and if nothing to do then will screen some movie on the projector.
9pm Kids go to bed me and Julie spend some quiet time... with a cup of Milo or Bournevita or juice
10 pm or later - if i am lucky ;) - sleep
Such is my routine for the day, of course we live for weekends! so far past weeks weekends has been tramping, driving to beautiful sights for photography, fishing and whatever else comes. Will describe more about weekends and routine life soon. Maybe talk about food too.
New Life
After 41 years of living in $ingapore, for many reasons too many to mention here, we the Husaini Family is beginning our life in New Zealand. How long we will be here we do not know, but life is too short to wait for the opportune time. The opportune time is now! This is not the conventional step one takes at this age but who says one has to be conventional. I will try and document life and living and playing in New Zealand, and at interim periods remind myself of this gift of life God has bestowed upon us and hence live life in a manner that is suitable in his eyes. No seat belts needed, this is not a roller coaster ride, just have a cup of coffee or your favourite drink and read on if you wish...
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