After continued exposure to the handmade crafts industry and seeing all the great stuff our designers put together for this issue of the Creativity! Magazine, I was inspired to have another go at digital scrapbooking. I’m not sure I’ll ever go so far as to have these layouts printed and bound in a book, bu they’re fun to make and will look nice as part of a slideshow on my digital photo frame!
Am starting to think this photos-while-running thing might actually turn out to be a lot of fun.
In an effort to revitalise my blog, I’ve decided to take it upon myself to bring my camera on my after work runs. Maybe I’ll learn a little about photography, maybe I’ll capture some unforgettable images I would never have gotten if I hadn’t just been out there taking photos. Some of them are bit blurry, but I’m still going to give myself credit for taking them while on a run.
Working with all of this scrapbooking stuff has set my little designer brain to churning, and the task of designing a site that crafters feel comfortable and familiar navigating sent me scouring the web for digital scrapbooking inspiration. Here’s my first shot at putting together my own 12 x 12 spread of our family trip to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. The koala art I snatched up from DeviantArt is ©2007-2009 *lastscionz, and I truly hope he doesn’t mind my borrowing it for this little project.
Despite their popularity, the emu is not the only enormous flightless bird to call Australia home. The Cassowary is dangerous, more exotic, and has been around since the age of the dinosaurs (and so is by default a much more fantastic animal than the Emu, which you can feed kangaroo pellets to at the petting zoo). The cassowary was also a highlight of our trip to far North Queensland.
We never got to see one in the wild, but have plenty of cassowary photos to share. Best put by my sister-in-law…
SARA: Oh and don’t forget the cassowary poop too–it’s our only evidence that they actually exist.
Enough said about our wild cassowary sightings.
I hadn’t realised how popular the cassowary was with FNQers until we really started touring around. As it turns out, the big black bird with the crazy blue head is the icon of the Aussie tropics, and our little group had their own feelings about it. Before we left the rain forest, we had spent more time searching for cassowaries in the wild than almost any other activity, since, according to the road signs we spotted frequently, they are roaming all over the area. Since they weren’t popping out of the bushes around every turn as we had hoped, we started to come up with our own ideas about what they’re actually like…
…did you know that they’re actually a highly advanced species that houses mounted lasers in the crests on their heads? The locals will tell you they’re dangerous, but never about the lasers.
As I was chatting up some of the locals (one of which was bleeding from a head wound), it was revealed that the local male cassowary was ejected from the area for picking on humans who came to frolic along the ocean side. What he didn’t care to elaborate on is that the feisty birds will lock you in their hypnotic stare and you hardly have a chance to get away before they unleash their deadly raptor talons on you, slicing out your intestines and lasering the shit out of you. My guess is that the head-wound man eats this certain cassowary’s leftovers twice a week.
We also decided that Samuel L. Jackson’s newest blockbuster should play off his prior successes, and be titled “Cassowaries on a Plane.” If you have a good think about it and consider the lasers, they’re way scarier than snakes.
During our nocturnal rain forest tour, the guide advised us that earlier that day, his tour group had happened upon the local cassowary couple mating. We were not to be so lucky in the middle of the night. We did, however, discover that it’s a delightfully corny and enjoyable in-car passtime to randomly shout out “CASSOWARY!!” and point at absolutely nothing besides sugar cane at the side of the road. Not funny in text? Trust me, you should have been there.
Enough stories for now…the family and I can rehash them when we’re together again…
that is, unless the cassowaries rampage down from the North and gun me down.
It’s already been a couple of weeks since we returned from our non-stop holiday here in OZ and it is high time I got something blogged, before all the fresh memories are lost to time and the business of day-to-day life. It seems my sister-in-law has beat me to the punch with getting the gist of things related to the rest of the world via cyberspace @ her blog (http://sieksfamily.blogspot.com/).
Instead of having a go a posting photos about everything we did and saw, I think I’ll make it a bit easier on myself and hack things up into digestible chunks. The best part about the trip was getting to spend time with my family, whom I haven’t had a chance to see face-to-face for over two years, and make some new memories with them. Here’s the first one I really enjoyed…
Since our trip included a good bit of adventure time in tropical North Queensland, it was inevitable that we would seek out some of the strange and somewhat rare fruits that grow only in that part of the country. Prior to coming on holiday, Mom had heard from a friend abotu the legendary Black Pudding Fruit, more locally known as the Black Sapote. Before even crossing the ocean and landing in OZ, Mom made it clear that Black Sapote would be part of our trip.
After landing in Cairns, it was a couple of days before we had a chance to encounter any fruit stands, but on our third day in paradise, the opportunity struck. Cruising along the Cook Highway toward the Daintree River, we saw a sign for Tropical Fruit sales. We pulled in and immediately set to inspecting the few curious goods the roadside shop had to offer. Indeed, the woman had plenty of Pudding Fruit to sell, but none that would be ripe for eating that day. A little disappointed, but comforted by the purchase of some other oddities, including stubby Sugar Bananas, a crusty looking Mamey Sapote and some super-soft and squishy Custard Apples (another must on the fruit sampling list).
Back on the road, we stopped for a well presented Daintree River cruise before continuing on our way North toward Cape Tribulation. We were told by the croc lady that if we were interested in tropical ice creams, we were best to stop at the original ice cream shop across the river, not the newcomer, who had bigger signs and nasty ice creams.
Sure enough, we found the ice cream shop, and marveled at the variety of fruits in their orchard. Alex, ever a quick thinker on his feet, procured a large, fresh, ready-to-eat-on-the-spot from the shop owner, who also let us sample her Black Sapote ice cream which would be on sale the following day. Admittedly, the Sapote ice cream was not the best of those served at the stand, and didn’t really taste all that much like chocolate… I could tell everyone’s interest was piqued as to how the actual fruit would taste.
Ready to continue our journey North, everyone piled back into our silver minivan and we prepared to pull away. Before I could shift into drive, Alex jumped out of the car. “Wait a minute,” he said, “I want to take a picture of this tree!” In seconds he was out of the car and snapping photos of a soursop tree at the edge of the orchard. It was time to keep moving, however, and he quickly trotted back and jumped into the navigator’s seat. We pulled out of the drive and were back on the highway before he said it with a tone of dread.
“omigod.”
A moment of silence passed before he reached his hand underneath him and pulled out a very crinkly, very smashed, very unhappy packet full of what was once a large, fresh, ready-to-eat-on-the-spot Black Sapote. “Oh fuck, it’s oozing everywhere!” he blurted before he burst out into laughter. The entire group paused for a second in which concerned glances were passed around before everyone lit up in peals of excitement and hilarity. The thing about Black Sapote, we were soon to discover, was that it looks more like a green fruit filled with feces than any sort of pudding.
Amidst peals of giggles, the packet was passed to the back seat, and spoonfuls of rich, creamy, dark brown pudding fruit were passed around the car as we sped North toward more adventures. In the end, we ate most of the sapote, and learned some valuable lessons: if you’re going to eat sapote, it’s best done with a knife and spoon, but if you’re going to smash one, there’s no better way to do it than with your ass.
I made this, and it was wholly delicious. Substituted thin slices of round steak for the roast beef since that’s not really something you can procure at the deli in Australia. Even using store-bought frozen pizza crusts and “Pizza Perfecto” cheese instead of provolone, the final result was delectable. Original recipe was part of the Professional Pizza Guide, which also features a “Sunny Side Up” breakfast pizza that will have to be sampled one of these days.
Philly Cheesesteak Pizza
1 Medium Onion, sliced
1 Medium Green Pepper, sliced
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
8 oz. roast beef, shaved
3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 batch Sicilian Thick Crust Dough
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp crushed garlic
4 cups Provolone cheese
1/4 cups Parmesan cheese, grated
Saute vegetables in 1 Tbsp olive oil until limp; add roast beef. Cook for three more minutes. Add Worcestershire sauce and pepper; stir and remove from heat. Set aside. Brush prepared dough with 3 Tbsp olive oil and spread crushed garlic over entire surface of dough. Top with a light layer of shredded cheese, then meat/vegetable mixture. Top with remaining cheese, then Parmesan. Bake in preheated 500F oven until cheese is melted and bubbly. Let sit 5 minutes before cutting and serving.