After surviving primarily on cereal and sandwiches for the previous two months, The Pickle suggested that if we go halfsies on our grocery bills, "we" could make some decent meals "together". So, we persisted through a strong bout of indecisiveness and formulated a grocery list (we have to be selective because we've only got a mini-fridge with no real freezer to speak of...like if by my mentioning it you pictured any space large enough for a gerbil to live in, you're over-shooting) We stuck to our list fairly well, aside from subbing out some chicken mushroom thing I'd made up with ingredients for chicken tikka masala, basmati rice, and naan and adding a giant wok to our trolley. We ate lunch at the shops (and by shops, I mean monstrous mall, but that's the American thing to say), and by the time we got home, I was too exhausted to cook dinner. We'd gone to bed around 4am the morning after NYE and I woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, like a squirrel on speed at 7am. Unfortunately, I fell victim to jet lag, and poor Pickle had another meal of cereal :(
The next morning, however, we decided to conquer breakfast. We read the directions carefully on the button on our wall to ensure that should we set off the fire alarm (a likely occurrence), we would know how to appropriately respond because if you set off the alarm and the fire brigade shows up, you will be fined so hard your grandchildren will pay. |
Once we formulated our fire recovery plan, we set out to make some scrambled eggs. After getting out our new wok, we noted that the stovetop (no oven...just 2 burners) is gas. This was an whole new conundrum for us, as neither of us have used a gas burner before. Finally a chance to put my grad school education to good use! I used my keen instructional technology skills to locate this handy tutorial... | |
After a few false starts (and what may or may not have been a shriek from The Pickle), the stove was on and we were cookin'! I made some scrambled eggs with cheese and cut up one of the fresh mangoes we'd bought (3 mangoes for $5...this may be the best deal in all of Australia!). The Pickle even offered to help by making toast.................................and then by re-making toast. |
Eventually, it all came together and we had a decent brekky (i.e., breakfast). We ended up eating outside at a picnic table because we don't have Air Con in our studio, so by the time all of the cooking was over with, it was actually cooler outside than in (...also, there may be less ants out there.) We did improve on our cooking skills...for dinner, we managed steak and potatoes! |
Living here so far is a lot like camping...except we have a luxury air mattress and a TV screen the size of a small computer monitor. It'll be a glorious day when our household goods arrive and we can move into a more permanent situation (one that hopefully includes Air Con!), but in the meantime, there is some fun in the challenges, and I'd say I'm a happy camper :)