It was a wild night

Hunting is a popular sport in our farm area - not just for sport but to provide food for the table.  

I like quail and pheasant, but I really love duck. We cook it a lot in Sydney - the farm raised variety that is.  The dark meat and strong flavour of wild duck can be a bit of a turn off for me, but we were keen to try some techniques that remove the blood and calm down the wild flavour.

(Vegetarians may wish to stop reading now).

Our neighbours and farmers, the B's provided the mallard duck and pheasant for the feast and joined us for dinner. 

We planned to cook these in the WFO (wood fired oven)

Research on line suggested brining the meat before grilling or roasting, or alternatively braising  in a slow oven without brining.  We decided to try the two versions.

For the braise, we cut up 2 pheasants, put them in our le Creuset oven dish 

Added the juice of two oranges, some white wine, 2 star anise, 2 bay leaves and half a large onion diced and put it in a low oven indoors to cook for six hours.

We put the two pheasant and the other ducks into the brine - water, salt and brown sugar, and soaked for several hours, before rinsing and patting dry.

M reported that a lot of blood came out!

We wrapped the pheasant in bacon, and rubbed oil and salt and pepper into the ducks.

These were then roasted on a rack in the WFO, breast side up.

The meat of the pheasant was white and moist, the duck had great flavour. 

The braised duck melted in the mouth and the juices were delicious.

We had made plenty of side dishes - just in case!

Green beans, braised with bacon and onion, red cabbage and apple

BB's broccoli salad -with nuts and dried fruit

And a huge platter of potatoes roasted in duck fat.

Even though it is still summer here and this was more like a Fall/Autumn meal - it was a mild enough night to sit outside and the enjoy this delicious meal with our neighbours.

This was our version of  Duck Dynasty.

A return to Farmlife

Have been back on the farm for 4 nights already and it feels like I have never left.

Except the corn is now 12 feet high

This was the 5th June

This morning 

The Qantas flight from Sydney to Dallas is fantastic - 14 1/2 hours (that's 2 meals,  4 movies and a 5 hour sleep) followed by a short hop to St Louis .

All up including clearing customs and re-boarding in DFW - 18 and a bit hours!

M met me at the airport with some PDA (it has been 7 weeks) and then an hours drive to the farm in time for dinner- champagne with crab cakes and salad. 

I love a good crab cake - but can be disappointed if there is not enough crab, or they are too mushy, too dry or have no flavour.

These from Whole Foods were full of shiny slivers of crab, fresh flavoured and nicely crumbed. 

Our welcome home champagne tradition continues.

Saturday is now a bit of a blur- catching up on what has been happening around here with the renovations (a future post), bbq ribs from our local restaurant eaten on our porch and an early night.

Up early on Sunday for the Keyesport Triathalon- held the same day as Sydney's City to Surf which has 85,000 people walking or running 14kms from Hyde Park in Sydney's CBD to Bondi Beach.

We walked to the lake to cheer on the 75 competitors in the Keyesport Tri - which has a sprint and Olympic event.

 The organisers were very relaxed

Swimmers in the distance before diving into the lake

  I was inspired by this woman - one of the first  people out of the water and she is smiling.

You can see me M and I  (in shadow)

At this point there was not another bike rider in sight - but  according to our local newspaper two cyclists collided near here - both were transported  by ambulance to the local hospital for treatment.  

What are the odds?

There could not be two such different events in my farmlife citylife.

I have run the City Surf before and back in the day I also did a couple of triathlons as well as a very revealing biathalon in Sydney Harbour.

I think I still have a Sprint triathlon in me (1/4 mile swim, 13 mile bike ride and a 3.1 mile run) and there is definitely no Heartbreak Hill in this part of Southern Illinois.

Should l give it a go next year?

It was a grey day - and a farewell

It was a cold and grey Saturday afternoon - we headed out for a walk along the ridge when there was a glimpse of blue sky and spotted a wild surf as we looked over Balmoral. 

Very unusual so we headed down to get a closer look. No swimming today.

The tumultuous surf and grey sky echoed our mood.

Summer appears to be over. It's time for M to head back to the farm.

 As always it's a sad day - so we need some comfort food. 

We have a shoulder of lamb in the oven - champagne on ice, and a Chateauneuf du Pape to follow

As is our tradition - a favourite meal to end the last 5 months in Sydney together (any excuse!)

On the up side, only 4 and a bit weeks until I am back on the farm.

Autumn lunch

Our good friends J and W's home is a beautiful property on Coolangatta Mountain near Berry, 

2 and 1/2 hours drive south of Sydney.

With the recent rain it was brilliantly lush and verdant - can you believe only a month earlier it was a dry, brown landscape?

We have spent many relaxing weekends here over the years and we always enjoy fabulous food and wine, overlooking this stunning panorama.

Their outdoor living room has been the scene of many a raucous dinner with course after course served from the wood-fired oven.

Last weekend was no exception.

Saturday night, we ate tapas style from the oven- a melted greek cheese with roasted red pepper,  chorizo and potatoes, skewered quails wrapped in proscuitto with braised fennel and leek. 

You will just have to imagine how these dishes looked - it was all hands on and no time to take photos.

Next morning after a walk we were ready to prepare the next meal. 

The Chinese style pulled pork neck was in the wood fired oven early to cook slowly for 4 hours.

The pork had been marinated in hoisin sauce, soy, rice wine, ginger, honey and five spice.

J and I pottered leisurely around the kitchen, catching up, chatting about food, recipes, health, travel and life. As we have done so many times before.

The pork was pulled out of the oven to rest, butternut pumpkin roasted and a fennel salad with mint. coriander and chilli tossed.

Wine poured.

Time to eat!

A late lunch in the autumn sun, overlooking the farm, with great friends, food and wine.

Nothing better!

Country Trader

There is no better way to spend a grey Saturday afternoon than wandering around

  The Country Trader, in Waterloo, Sydney.

My love of french antiques can only be sated by immersing myself from time to time in these beautiful rooms, where tantalising vignettes of decorative items are surrounded by authentic French furniture. 

The price tags are mostly way out of my league - but it is a very satisfying experience and less tempting to purchase than if they were closer to what I could afford -  if that makes sense.

Three times around the store I was still finding items I hadn't seen before.

M would love these I know.

This collection of Portugese green majolica (not antique)  reminded me of my growing collection on the farm.  This is great value and I use it all the time. 

There is even a pic of a piece on my blog header.

Not sure this would be comfortable for TV watching

Another pretty display.

My living room?

For our farm patio perhaps?  Pity I can't freight it!

This armoire would go beautifully in our farmhouse dining room - including the champagne of course.

Have always loved blue and white pottery.

Thou shalt not covet...

But I can look, can't I?

A blog hiatus

Did you notice that Farmlife Citylife has been on hold for the last 8 weeks?

Real life just got in the way.

A family trip mid January to Waikehe Island in New Zealand to celebrate my sister A's significant birthday was eventful. 

She had to fly back to Australia with my nephew L - who was extremely ill - before the party started.   

We celebrated somewhat flatly without her.

L's subsequent hospitalisation has been of course very worrying. 

On the work front,  this is always a very busy time in the lead-up to the event I manage - this year particularly so. I seemed to have been hunched over my computer and phone for 12 hours a day since New Year. 

No time or desire to blog.

The good news is L is on the road to recovery after surgery and six weeks in hospital.

It has been a long road for him - but it has been a joy to see him getting stronger in the last week particularly. I am in awe of this gorgeous young man who has managed to keep his good nature and  humour intact throughout some very stressful and painful times.

Work-wise the awards event went very well. Have had some great feedback- which makes it worthwhile.

In any case I  have finally been able to think about something else, catching up on sleep and with friends, sorting my business admin out, thinking about new projects, walking, doing yoga, reading, watching TV, cooking again and letting the tension of the last couple of months ebb out of my body.

Am looking forward to being  a blogger again! 

Sing the truth

Still thinking about the Sydney Festival concert in the Domain last night -   Sing the Truth  

It's been a while since we have ventured into the crowds of these concerts unless I had VIP ticket, by chance.

I don't know if it is middle age but we have spent a lot time in the past thinking that going to one of these concerts may be difficult.

It wasn't.  It was fabulous.

The heat had broken unexpectedly in the afternoon and it was cool - which also one of the barriers we had about going to one of these concerts. Along with crowds, finding somewhere to sit parking, sitting on the ground....
What has happened to us?

What got us there was Lizz Wright - one of my favourite singers. Listen to her voice and lyrics of Speak Your Heart - you will be hearing it at my funeral.



She didn't sing that song last night - but what a night. 

She performed with Angélique Kidjo and Dianne Reeves, singing classics mixed up with a beat of Africa.  

For a while it looked as though they had missed engaging the Sydney summer crowd,  by being a bit too serious and more used to a smaller crowd, but by the end of the night we were on our feet dancing  to the beat of Africa. 

And Sydney in Summer.  Wonderful.  I can feel my dancing muscles again.

PS We booked our parking on line.