Self-Portraits and Postcards

I'll eventually break this up into two projects - a self-portrait project and a "postcards" project, but I was so excited with the tutorials I found today I was editing everything in sight.

Plus, I wanted to add some more photos to flickr and make ONE MORE post in the month of June. :)

HAVE A GREAT CANADA DAY!

Summer... I mean Winter

It's really hard to think of June as being the middle of winter. There are only two types of weather in the NZ winter - cold and clear, and warm and wet. When it's cold I can do laundry. When it's wet I don't have to put the heat on in the house. I'm enjoying it, though. Still no snow to shovel!

On June 23 Travis and I celebrated 5 years since our first date. :) And then on June 24 we celebrated 5 years since our second date, and we went out for dinner and took the train there and back. We went to Tasca in Newmarket. It was very yummy and romantic. I can't wait for the next 5 years!

The whole week was busy. I'm trying to stay busy to keep myself out of a winter funk.

Today it rained. Boy, did it rain. I spent the morning making an excellent breakfast (instead of going mountain biking like I was supposed to). I did a bit of designing in the afternoon after going for a walk, and then I decided to re-create the chicken croquettes that we ate at Tasca the other day. Here's the recipe I came up with, and they were yummy. It would probably feed 4-6. I don't think we ate half of them.

Amy's Chicken & Potato Tasca-inspired Croquettes

2 potatoes
500g ground chicken breast
1 slice bread
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
2 tsp fresh parsley
1 tsp grainy mustard
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
salt
pepper
oil for frying

Boil or microwave the potatoes. Drain. Mash.

Soak bread in milk.

Combine potatoes, bread & milk, egg, mustard, garlic, parsley, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper, and ground chicken. Chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Take 1 cup breadcrumbs, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper and mix.

Heat oil.

Make long, skinny meat logs using approximately 2 tbsp chicken. Roll in breadcrumb mixture. Deep fry in oil until browned. Set on paper towel to absorb excess oil.

What I did was also put them in the oven on 350 deg F while I made the rest of the meal to make sure the chicken was thoroughly cooked. (approx 25 minutes)

They're really yummy. A bit time consuming, but not much more time consuming than making regular meatballs. You probably wouldn't need to bread and fry them... if you want them healthy, you could probably just bake them. :)

I wish I was doing more interesting things, but since our car is broken down, I won't be going anywhere until we fix it. I do have Canada Day off, so I'll be doing something interesting, I'm sure. Perhaps go to the art gallery, maybe swimming (if the car is fixed and I can make it out to Te Atatu). I'll just spend the day out of the house, downtown, and having a nice time by myself on my day off.

New Photos from Mt Taranaki

Trav has posted some photos of what we've been up to lately on his flickr page.

Our weekend in New Plymouth for the "May Long Weekend" was great. I loved that city. It's so beautiful - on the coast, lots of parks and gardens. We didn't get the grandiose view of Mt Taranaki from the city because it was so cloudy, but the city itself was nice enough without the view.


Trees in Pukekura Park


Reflection of the Bridge in Pukekura Park

Our hike up and around Mt Taranaki was really awesome. I was really hoping that since I have been working out that hiking would be much easier. And, for the most part, it WAS a lot easier - on the way up. The way down the mountain still killed my knees and I've had to take a week to rest them up again. Hiking would be so much better if I didn't have to come back down again. We walked in the rain for probably 50% of the hike. I was as sweaty inside my coat as I was rainy on the outside. We stopped for lunch at an overnight hut, and I attempted to dry my wool undershirt before the next leg of our hike. It worked pretty well, too.

Travis walking across the highest swing bridge on the Waingongoro Hut track, Mt Taranaki

We had a wonderful time this past weekend, too, despite first thing on our Saturday outing the car's radiator decided it's life was over. However, it wasn't an ordeal - I was parking the car when it blew up. We found a mechanic within driving distance, and Travis moved the car the 2 1/2 blocks and left it there for the weekend. From there we bought a Tongan mat for our wall (it's pretty big - about 6 feet by 3 1/2 feet... still looks small on our gigantic walls). Come to think of it, it was a REALLY boring weekend - but one we both needed. I cooked, Travis uploaded pictures, I made a lot of coffee... it was AWESOME. AND we watched the entire first season of Six Feet Under.

Well, it's time for work and I just found out that my connection to the mother ship expired on Saturday. I asked for a renewal key on Thursday. This sucks. I won't be able to get any real work done today unless someone goes in and fixes it for me, which would SUCK for them. Sigh.

Lots and Lots

A lot has happened since my last post. Or since Travis's last post.

We've moved.

Many of our friends have gone on holidays, or are leaving very soon.
My coffee table was stolen out of my garage. I was working on refinishing it.
Fall is officially here, including copious amounts of rain.

However, at this moment in time, it's so awesome outside - not a cloud in the sky - I had to post this photo of me working on my front deck. :)




Later that day.... (like 2 hours later)