Thanks Mother Nature

First off, Thanksgiving was a success!! It was almost a disaster.

I decided to do most of my prep early on Friday, so that Saturday I wouldn't have overheated the house with the oven and it would be comfortable for guests.

My final menu:

Cheese Platter *
Stuffed Mushrooms
Salad *
Bread Rolls *
Deviled Eggs
Jumbalya
Ham
Turkey with Gravy
Yankee Dressing
Cranberry Chutney
Green Bean Casserole
Roasted Potatoes
Roasted Corn on the Cob
Sweet Potato Casserole
Fudge
Pumpkin Pie with Rum Whip Cream
Strawberry Pie
Swedish Apple Pie
(dishes with * were brought by others)

I had completed everything by the time the turkey went on the BBQ at 3pm. I decided to have a very casual meal, just because I didn't know who was coming, and a sit down would have been difficult.

A massive thunderstorm was rolling in, so amongst all of my cooking, I was driving Jono and his dad between farms and paddocks trying to harvest as much as possible before the rain.

It started raining quite heavily, and Jono came home to get me. He was going to check for fires. This time of year, when there is a thunderstorm with lots of lightening but little rain, fires are a huge risk. It is so dry, and an unharvested wheat paddock burns in a matter of minutes given the correct wind.

We drove to the tops of hills looking for smoke in areas we had seen lightening strike. He made the call it was getting to rainy to keep harvesting, so before getting his dad and machinery stopped we quickly went home to check the temperature of my turkey.

Then it happened. Lightening struck.

Oh holy crappers! I screamed like a girl, so did Jono. We could feel the static electricity, my hairs were all on end.

It had struck the 60 foot television antenna in our backyard. Jono was maybe 2 feet from one of the straining posts, and I was 15 feet further away almost to the door.

Whoever said lightening never strikes the same place twice, clearly never had a giant tower in their backyard in relatively flat country. It hit there on this past New Years Eve.

So we quickly jumped back in the car (after determining my turkey was okay in the barbecue) and raced out to the paddock. We shuffled vehicles then I came back to one of the sheds, and had to flat out sprint through the rain to get home. Plus I was trying to convince myself I could outrun lightening, ha.

Uh oh. No power. Damn lightening had surged down our power line and blown the whole line, our 2 neighbors lost power too. With only 3 houses on our line we are super low priority for the electric company.

No big deal, just hours before my massive thanksgiving dinner. Ahhhhhh! Luckily, Jonos best friend is an electrician, so he came out early for dinner to hardwire a massive generator to our house.

We were without power for 3 1/2 hours before the generator was going. It came on right as darkness fell and minutes before the first guests arrived.

Now that is something to be thankful for.

I have the worlds largest oven, so everything fit in to heat up. The only thing that really needed to be cooked was the green bean casserole. Thank goodness I decided to put the bird on the barbecue. It wouldn't have been ready if I hadn't.

Just FYI. I had a backup plan. I was going to get Jono's old barbecue and use it as my oven to heat everything up. His old one is still nice and works great, but I replaced it with the taj mahal of barbecues.

So how did everyone enjoy dinner? They loved it! Everyone was shocked by the amount of food, and it some is so different from anything Aussies would eat.

Sweet Potato Casserole- they loved it, but were highly skeptical of potatoes and marshmallows at first. Everyone thought this was pumpkin pie.

Jumbalaya- those that ate it loved it, others were scared off by the idea of spice (it was so bland)

Yankee Dressing- loved it (thanks granny!!) but they couldn't quite understand why it wasn't inside the turkey.

Deviled Eggs- huge hit!

Pies- now Australians have meat pies, they are known for them. When I said pumpkin pie they assumed it was a savory dish. Wrong! The pumpkin pie turned out great (after putting it in the oven I went to sit on the harvester so the crust edges were a bit crispy, and I was flipping out that it wouldn't work from a real pumpkin). They were all surprised by the flavor and texture of the pie. I used my grandmas recipe with candied ginger and rum, so my version has an extra kick to it. They LOVED the strawberry pie, I'm making it again for Christmas. Swedish Apple Pie went over well, but it wasn't as foreign to them as the others.

Lessons learned- As Dad always says, boy scouts motto "be prepared". I am so glad everything was organized before disaster struck, I will do it again next year hopefully sans lightening.

Love y'all!
Tori

PS Sorry all my food pictures are leftovers, my phones were dying and then I lost power, and then they were dead and I was too busy drinking wine to care!

CBH Delivery- Dad this is for you!

Happy Saturday!

I'm cooking my Gianormous thanksgiving meal as we speak. Well sort of. As we speak I am sitting in the truck (think 18 wheeler with two trailers) with my trucker/farmer Jono acting as chief navigator (kidding I really just complain that I need to pee).

He is delivering grain to CBH, the people that store and transport grain to buyers.

This is how it works.

1. They weigh the truck and trailers full of grain

2. They sample each trailer of grain using this long automated vacuum sucking arm (that's a technical term).

3. The CBH samplers tell us the quality level and where on the grid to go.

4. Tori takes pictures and texts people about impending thanksgiving dinner because she can't get out of the truck because she's not wearing her work boots and a fluorescent vest.

5. Go to correct grid drop off load. Grids are determined by variety- Canoloa, Barley, Wheat, and then broken down by quality and specific variations within.

6. Re weigh truck and trailers empty.

7. Get a piece of paper with the farm number on it detailing how much grain was delivered.

Sidenote- The farm number keeps track of all grain delivered each season. Jono will then sell his grain through various programs based upon the amount he's delivered. Most goes to China or Russia. (this is where it gets complicated)

9. After CBH has received a full stack or the storage facilities are full of one variety it is loaded onto the train and taken to the port, it is then loaded on ships and sent to buyers.

So basically CBH is a co op that pools together all the grain. Though Jono sells his to China, it may not be his actual grain that goes, but it will be the same variety and quality.

So that is CBH. Cooperative Bulk Handling.

In other news. Thanksgiving is today, all I have left to do is cook the turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole! Will update with pictures tomorrow!

Love y'all

Tori

PS if you have questions about grain delivery I will relay them to my expert Jonathon.

25 Days of Christmas!- the mother of all pinterests!!

Okay so we all see cutesy stuff on pinterest and think, "awe cute. I'll do that one day" then 545,789,900 pins later you forget.

This was sort of like that, but then it happened! I saw a few things to do around Christmas for your partner and kids, alternatives to advent calendars, adorbs candy creations. And then WABAMM! I was inspired and it had to happen.

I combined advent with gift giving. They don't do stockings here, so I channeled stockage stuffers as part of my inspiration. (FYI- I still fully intend to have a stocking, even if I stuff it myself).

Now why do this? Go to the effort of 25 small presents for my boyfriend? Because I am that awesome. And it is the time of year for giving. And living in extremely secular Australia, I am trying to make the advent calendar relatable for my lovely Jono. Basically I am brainwashing, next year when I do this it will incorporate bible verses!

So I went to K Mart with some ideas: candy, socks, small toys, water bottle, etc.

I bought a bijillion things, and bought all the kids presents at once. I am sure you are wondering what on earth I got.

JONATHON, so help me if you are reading stop. Or you will be a grinch and ruin Christmas.

See my list below:
1. Candy- Turkish delights
2. DVD- home alone
3. Shorts
4. Sock covers (funny story, these things go over farmer socks to keep pokey things from embedding in their socks. Jono asked me to make him new ones not 24 hours after I revealed my 25 days of Christmas. Thus being lazy, I let him open day 4. Now I have to replace it... I bought Hershey's kisses, but ate them... Oops)
5. Nerf Gun
6. M & Ms
7. DVD- Last of the Mohicans (okay that was totes for me!)
8. Q Tips ( I knew we needed more at the farm... A bit lame... But I wrote a note that said I love you my Q TI Pie... Even more lame?)
9. Candy- Picnic and time out chocolate bars
10. Portable iPod speaker
11. Candy- smarties
12. Ice cream scoop (another random one, but def a necessity)
13. Candy- whip chocolate bar
14. DVD- Cool Runnings ( oh yeah I went there!! And the note accompanying said ya jamaican me crazy mon! Hehehe I'm adorbs)
15. Ornament- I paint penned our names and the year on it
16. Boost chocolate bar
17. A giant box of mini packets of chips (random I know, but they make great tractor snacks!)
18. DVD- love actually (best Christmas movie ever)
19. Twirl candy bar
20. Socks
21. Gummy bears
22. Dart board (it was a steal at 5 dollahs!)
23. Curly wurly candy bar
24. DVD- Red Dog (great Australian movie about a dog, I love it, I cried the first time)
25. Giant Chocolate Bar

I know there is a lot of candy, but with every candy (actually with almost every one) I wrote a cute note. Example for #9: I know life's no picnic, so take time out to relax. Love you baby.
And other cute shiz.

Now you may be thinking- thatd cost a fortune and take forever. Nope not the case, less than $80, bought and wrapped in one evening!

I got uber cute with my wrapping. See below, I put the number for every day. And wrote the number in roman numerals, math problems, words, different languages, get creative!

I also included my turkey day menu... I will tell you all about tomorrow as I try to make a pumpkin pie from a real pumpkin!

Love y'all!! If you need ideas for 25 days of Christmas, let me know! You can even cheat and do the 12 days of christmas!

Xxxx
Tori

What a B _ _ C H!

Beach. I obviously meant beach. Hehehe.

Today was a kinda crazy day for me! I was running all over the city for meetings, and tried to sneak in some Christmas shopping.

So when I finally realized it was time to go home, I was frazzled! My receptionist even commented on my stressed state. Realizing once I was on the bus that I had unzipped my dress to midback to let a breeze in... Probably prompted her comments.

I got home and put my workout clothes on, jumped in the car and headed to Scarborough beach about 15 minutes away. I only had 30 minutes before Pilates, so I did 25 minutes of intervals on the sand. My bootay was burning!

I captured a few gorgeous views of the beach. Don't you want to go to Pilates and see that? I know your jealous! (ooo Kristel! Guess what song came on at Pilates!! At the copa the copa cabana!! I totes thought of you)

So for dinner tonight I had watermelon and chocolate covered goji berries. I know it's not much, but I am stuffed from lunch. I had a Vietnamese bun salad. HEAVEN. Seriously delish. It's a giant bowl of vermicelli noodles, bean sprouts, carrots, chicken, onions, mint, lettuce, cucumbers, and peanuts. So good. Then because I'm addicted to spicy things I load it up with fresh chili and siracha sauce! I would have taken a picture, but it was over a lunch meeting... My clients would look at me strange.

So this giant salad is why I only wanted watermelon and goji... Oh and maybe a bit of guilt because I found reeses! Oh yes. I have a supplier now. Bad for my health, good for my soul. Luckily, I have to walk 25 minutes round trip to get one.

Tomorrow I shall tell you about my 25 days of Christmas present for my boyfraaaannd!

Love y'all!

Tori

PS it looks like I posted 3 posts at one. I didn't! If anyone is a blog genius and wants to offer lessons. I'm a great student!!

Overcoming a Black Thumb

I'm not a gardener. I have never claimed to be one. I actually gave up on my gardening ambitions after killing one too many plants during my childhood.

Until one day I decided I was going to make over our backyard at the farm. I have a before picture, but I am saving it until the after is perfect! So far it is looking really good, and nothing has died.

As Jono was helping me plant stuff, I commented he knew a lot about gardening. He looked at me a little dumbstruck, "you do realize I garden for a living." Oh yeah... Farmer... Oops.

Anyhow, most things I planted were under his tutelage. I went a bit rogue because I REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted some spaghetti squash. I got online and ordered the seeds, you can't just buy spaghetti squash here. I would say a majority of people have never heard of it.

So we do have an actually vegetable garden that is not part of the backyard. However, it is still covered with winter veggies, mostly spinach and leeks. So I couldn't plant my spaghetti squash seeds there.

I knew if I asked Jonathon to water my seeds while I was in the city they could be overlooked. Solution: buy seedlings. So I bought tomatoes, jalepenos, strawberries, zucchinis, and chilies! I planted them secretly in the cover of darkness. Not really. But still I was covert, and then right by the jalepenos I planted my spaghetti squash seeds. See how I did that? I knew they'd get water!!

He did say it didn't make sense to have these veggies in our backyard, but agreed to water them. (This is becoming a really long post about something relatively pointless... Sorry!) So after a few weeks my little baby spaghetti squash plants have become to come up! My jalepenos ACTUALLY have lil baby peppers on them! (Sidenote- the jalepenos are turning black, like they have a sunburn, can I still eat them?) I have a strawberry! One that is actually red, the rest are ripening. The zucchini looks like it might be shooting, and finally the tomatoes are blossoming!

I never knew I could be so excited about growing my own fruit. Now just cross all of your fingers and toes that my spaghetti squash produces!

Love y'all!

Tori

PS Gardening tips are appreciated!

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!

Yesterday reached over 100F and I was dying. Just so stinking hot. The air conditioning in the front half of the house (living, kitchen, dining) decided to break. Awesome. So I spent a lot of the day in the bedroom, reading and yoga-ing.

This brings me to my next point. It's too hot to pretend Christmas is a winter wonderland. I didn't want to do a traditional tree. So I did burlap and sunflowers!

As you can see it turned into more than just sunflowers and I really went with yellow flowers. I love love love it.

How cute is the wrapping? I know. Presh. And yes I've done most of the Christmas shopping already, and wrapped them. I get serious anxiety shopping in Australia, I have a completely irrational fear that I may not be able to find what I want or it may exist but I don't know what store to go to. So I just got it all done early all at once. Not to worry I'm working on my phobia with lots of shopping!

Funny story about why my tree isn't all pretty and lit up. I bought lights, about 100 feet of them, which is wayyyyyy too many for my small 3.5 foot Christmas tree. I didn't realize that at the time. Ooops. Guess I'll hang them outside!

Not to worry just because I decorated for Christmas, I'm not ignoring my favorite holiday of all! Thanksgiving!! I'll write a post later this week about my menu and party!

Love y'all!

Tori

Flies and Tuna

I managed to snap a picture of the flies sitting on my arm after my run. There aren't as many for the first 15 minutes, but once I start sweating (lovely) they swarm! They go for moisture- eyes, nose, mouth are favorites. Luckily my sunglasses cover half my face! It's a real challenge to not inhale any.

This was my first run in hotter weather. We are just getting into summer and temperatures are rising. 26C is only 80F but the sun was blazing hot overhead!

I like to post my heart rate monitor, because it is pretty much the most amazing and motivating electronic thing ever!! It beeps if I go too slow or fast, so I can stay in the fat burning zone. Plus, looking at a calorie burn of 411 after only 35 minutes is awesome and accurate. Love it. My only regret is I didn't get one sooner, and that I haven't utilized all of the features on it. Still you should get one!

I included my post run snack. Seaweed rice crackers and tuna with American mustard (yes I have to specify). Any other ideas for post work out snack?

I did have a teensy bit of knee pain during the first 10 minutes. So now I shall go foam roll, and cry and rejoice at the same time. It's a twisted system.

Until next time!
Xxx