My new pet "Pirate"

There has been something of a massacre in the turtle tank. The turtles live with a bunch of fish who have slowly been disappearing. Matt says that is what the fish are there for but I feed the turtles so I don't see why they need to eat the little fishys. I have become especially attached to a little fish who only has one eye, hence the name Pirate. I thought I had lost him to the wrath of the turtles a few times but he always reappeared looking a little more ragged but still swimming. I was up working on the computer the other night when I witnessed a full on fish dinner. As of today I have watched it happen four times and just couldn't take it anymore. I moved Pirate. He has a disadvantage missing an eyeball and all. He has been moved to a big glass jar that used to hold tea bags. I took another lucky fish so he wouldn't be alone. I named her Sally (who knows if it's a girl or not). I know when I go home Pirate will probably go back to the turtle tank but for now he is my new pet fish.

History on Money

According to most of the Australians I have spoken with the history of their own country is not exactly drilled into their brains throughout schooling years. The government is now making more of an effort to teach Australian history in schools especially with the population diversifying so rapidly. I have asked the names of the people portrayed on their money (by the way the bills here are made of plastic) and no one knows too many of them. So on my endless quest of curiosity and gathering of information only pertinent in pub quizzes I decided to find out what I could about these famous folks.

The fiver is too easy. Australia is still part of the Commonwealth so a picture of Queen Elizabeth II is imperative. Just for those of you that don't know here are the basics on Liz. She was born April 21, 1926 and is one of the longest reigning monarchs in Britain's history. Elizabeth II is not only the queen of the United Kingdom but also of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. She married her second cousin Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark) on November 20, 1947. Their marriage wasn't very popular with some of the other royals, surprisingly not because of the family connection but because Phillip was Greek Orthodox and had sisters who married Nazi supporters. Queen Elizabeth II has four children whom I am sure none of you have ever seen on the TV. The city outline of Canberra is on the other side of the five...of course the Queen shouldn't have to share a bill with anyone else.

The Ten shows the likeness of A.B. "Banjo" Paterson, an ardent Australian nationalist and prolific bush poet. Born in New South Wales in 1864 he was the son of Scottish immigrants. He had many professions including war correspondent, jockey and farmer but is most famous for his poetry. In 1890 he published The Man From Snowy River about the colt of a prizewinning horse who goes off to live with the brumbies (aka wild horses) and the man who tries to capture him. The poem was representative of Australia as a unique and valued nation separate from Britain. In 1895 he wrote the poem Waltzing Matilda which was set to music a few years later and became possibly the most famous Australian song ever. (see Damper Bread and Billy Tea post for more info on song).

On the other side of the tenner is Dame Mary Gilmore, another Australian poet best known for her tribute to the Australian people in No Foe Shall Gather Our Harvest. Born in 1865, Mary became a major player in the labor movement going so far as to move to "New Australia" a Utopian socialist commune in Paraguay. The settlement failed, Mary returned to Australia with a family and published her first book of poems in 1910. Through her writing she lobbied for better treatment of children, women and Indigenous Australians. She was honored with a knighthood in 1937.

The twenty dollar note shows Reverend John Flynn, a Presbyterian minister who was the founder of the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Born in 1880 he was raised near Melbourne and worked as a school teacher before becoming a minister. He began to set up hospitals in towns which were extremely isolated from other areas of Australia. With the help of a World War I fighter pilot he developed the idea for medical treatment accessed by airplane. He also helped to build many nursing homes and organized travelling ministers into the outback using the then novelty radio.

On the other side of the twenty is Mary Reibey. Mary was born in 1777 in England. At age thirteen Mary was arrested dressed as a boy, convicted for stealing a horse and shipped off to Australia for seven years labor. After working as a nurse maid she married and along with her husband and his business partner began a small import company. Business boomed but unfortunately for Mary both her husband and his partner died leaving her alone with seven children and the import operation. It turned out Mary had quite a head for business and mixed with a survivors spirit amassed a small fortune. She became a symbol for women entrepreneurs as well as a great philanthropist.

Now for the fifty...on one side is Edith Cowan the first woman elected as a representative in an Australian parliament. She was born in 1861 in Western Australia to a politically involved family. In 1894 she helped found the Karrakatta Club, a group where women "educated themselves for the kind of life they believed they ought to be able to take." Along with the Karrakatta club she helped in gaining women the right to vote in 1899. She sought to give aid to many groups such as poverty stricken children and prostitutes. She coordinated food and care for injured soldiers during World War I. In 1909 she co-founded the National Council of Women and in 1920 won a surprising victory for a seat in parliament. She remained involved in various social issues late into her life.

The fifty also shows David Unaipon, Aboriginal writer, minister and inventor. He was born in 1872 and is of the Ngarrindjeri people. He was the first Aboriginal person in Australia to have a book published. His two most famous books are Aboriginal Legends (1927) and Native Legends (1929). He is also nicknamed the Australian Leonardo (da Vinci) because of his ingenious inventions and mechanical ideas. He even worked on developing a type of helicopter based on the principles of the boomerang way before modern helicopters were around. On top of writing and inventing David worked very hard to better the existence of Aboriginal people. He lived most of his life in Adelaide and worked for the Aborigines Friends’ Association for a long time. With his job he travelled around a lot of south-eastern Australia, giving lectures and sermons and sharing Aboriginal legends and culture with anyone who wanted to listen.

And finally, the one hundred dollar bill portrays on one side Dame Nellie Melba an Australian opera soprano. She was born in 1861 at "Doonside" in Richmond (now an inner suburb of Melbourne) into a musical family. She was the first Australian soprano to gain international fame and was treated like a modern day super star by her fans. By all accounts she had a magnificent voice. Unfortunately for her, accounts of her personality were also recorded and do not portray her in a flattering light at all. I think this quote I read says it best. "If a singer's greatness can be gauged by how detested she was by colleagues, then Melba would undoubtedly be the greatest singer of all time." During World War I she did work very hard to raise funds for the war effort and later in her career she helped new young singers so she couldn't be all bad. Auguste Escoffier, chef at the Savoy Hotel, London heard Melba sing at Covent Gardens and hearing of the divas love of ice cream, created a dessert just for her called the "Peach Melba". The same chef later developed "Melba Toast" for the soprano when she was ill and this became a staple of her diet.

On the other side of the $100 is Sir General John Monash Australian military commander of World War I. He was born in Melbourne in 1865, to a family of Polish Jewish origin. He worked as a civil engineer, introduced reinforced concrete to Australian engineering practice and engineered a bridge over the Yarra river which opened in 1899. In WWI he participated in the Gallipoli campaign and showing great organisation and decision making quickly rose thru the ranks. By 1918 he was appointed commander of the Australian Corps, promoted to lieutenant-general and orchestrated many military victories. Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery later wrote, "I would name Sir John Monash as the best general on the western front in Europe". After the war he was heavily involved in acclimating returning soldiers, the organization of the observance of ANZAC Day and always retained a concern for Jewish affairs.

So there it is.... my Australian history lesson of the day!!!

I was curious about all the faces on the money and just thought I would share the info.

Nightingales and Kangaroos

I love opera. I would in no way consider myself even close to being an expert on the topic but I do love it. Matt had never been to one so we decided to go to her Majesty's Theatre to see The Love Of The Nightingale. The libretto (lyrics or book) was written by English playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker and the music was composed by Australian Richard Mills. I was so excited to go with Matt to his first opera and thought how wonderful that this was an Australian work. I read a tiny bit about the show and it seemed pretty typical...3000 year old tale, Greek tragedy, inspired Shakespeare and the like, all standard stuff really. So off we went! About fifteen minutes before the end of the first act I started laughing. My laughing had little to do with the man sitting next to me who kept hacking up phlegm and lots to do with how horrible this opera was. I was trying to stifle myself and I made the mistake of looking at Matt's face which sent me off again. The libretto was simple. I don't mean simple in that sweet, classically simple but perfect way. I mean simple in the most derogatory way possible. I was dying for an aria of any sort. I can get into minimal staging if the lighting is interesting but it wasn't. The costumes weren't doing anything for me either. They were boring at best and absolutely nonsensical at worst. Maybe modern opera is like modern art. Someone throws a pile of toilet seat covers on the floor and can talk it up so other people say it is astounding, groundbreaking art. Blech!!! I asked Matt how he felt about staying for the second act. Needless to say we left and went to the pub where we met a lovely couple, Maddy and Alex, who were just about to start University. Maddy asked if this was the opera that was advertised with "adult themes". I hadn't heard or seen anything too adult so just kind of brushed it off. We had a great time talking to these two about history and things to see in Australia. We went over to Fitzroy Gardens afterwards to feed the possums. The gardens are full of the Brushtail variety and they are pretty used to the tourists. One of the little guys even hopped up on the park bench right next to us and let me pet him. I did a little reading up on this opera and it seems I am the only one who didn't like it. Loved by critics and award givers The Love Of The Nightingale is heralded as Australia's best opera ever. Matt says its more like a bunch of screaming cats.

I was even happier we left when I read on to discover the second act consisted of a graphic rape scene. Must be those "adult themes" Maddy was asking about. I don't like to watch movies with scenes like that so I am surely happy I was spared that operatic experience. I was much happier feeding possums.

On Sunday we went with Alan and Cheryl (she is such a trooper being 7 months pregnant and all) on a nature hike in Sunbury. Alan and his dog Knarkle take this route almost everyday around 5am. We, luckily, decided to go a little bit later. There were Rosellas out and some Galahs. We unfortunately didn't see any Cockatoos. There were many Milk Thistle plants that had gone to seed. Thistles are my favorite flowers but the plants still looked pretty to me in their dried out state. Yes, I love weeds. Alan thought they may have been imported to Australia but according to The Medical Journal of Australia they grow naturally here. We kept hiking along looking for some Roos. Alan pointed out what looked like either a sheep or goat up on a paddock but mentioned that was odd since there were never any sheep in that specific field. As we got closer we realized it wasn't either but an incredibly rare albino kangaroo. Alan had seen him before but told me they were hardly ever seen out in nature. We couldn't get close enough for me to take a decent picture but it was amazing to see him with my own eyes and not in captivity. When I was looking for a picture to use here the only albinos were in zoos and reserves. I borrowed this one from Australian photographer Simone Byrne. I wanted to get a picture of my own so I took off up this insanely steep hill determined to get closer to the illusive white roo. I started running but that lasted all of 30 seconds. By the time I got to the top I was painting like a dog in the dessert and could have easily thrown up. Of course the albino roo had kindly decided to hop off DOWN the hill. I was still so excited that I was lucky enough to see him. The climb was worth it anyway for the beautiful view of the hills and I could even see the city off in the distance. When we were climbing down the hills there was a ridge that Cheryl got to first. She called me over and there were tons of roos. They all started hopping down thru the hills. It was magnificent to watch these awesome animals cover the same amount of terrain it had taken me at least a half hour to cover in seconds. Knarkle bounded on down the hill in true doggy fashion after the Roos. Because of my little detour up the big hill we had to cross the creek at a different point which was something of an old car graveyard. Some of the cars had been in the bottom of the creek bed so long trees were growing thru them. I, of course, was the only one who slipped around and got my feet covered with mud. Alan wrapped up our fantastic day with a traditional Sunday Australian roast with leg of lamb, potatoes, pumpkin and other veggies. Alan is quite the cook I must say!! And lots of thanks to Knarkle for being the best tour guide dog ever!!!

Food Post: Part One

Over the past few years I have been lucky enough to form a wonderful friendship with author and consummate "foodie" Colleen Rush. We have had many outings together on the food terrain and even had a homemade sausage making day along with Tonette and Zsofi. You can read about the sausage adventure on Colleen's blog. http://jujube.typepad.com/jujube/2007/02/i_finally_broke.html These "foodie" posts are for Colleen who requested a full food report. Hopefully everyone else will enjoy them too.

I have tried to find things that are specifically Australian. Many foods, like America, were imported from other countries and adapted to this culture. I will start with the most iconic Australian food I know....Vegemite. Vegemite has been around since 1922 and is a spread made from Brewer's Yeast. Vegemite was a distant second to the popular English Marmite until 1935 when the Kraft company ran coupons for free Vegemite with the purchase of cheddar cheese. Popularity boomed again in 1939 when Vegemite gained official product endorsement from the British Medical Association as a significant source of B vitamins. During World War II Vegemite was a staple for Australian troops. The yeasty spread gained international fame in the 80's with the release of Australian band Men At Work's Land Down Under. http://youtube.com/watch?v=DNT7uZf7lew I have tried Vegemite and while it isn't awful I would say it must be an acquired taste.

Anzac Biscuits (aka cookies) are considered by many to be the national cookie of Australia.

There is a possibility they are a variation of Scottish Oatmeal Cakes but they became specifically Australian in World War I. There are two variations on the story of Anzac biscuits. Some people say these cookies were made by soldiers in the trenches with provisions they had at hand and to diversify their food rations. The other thought is that these biscuits were a popular treat made by women on the home front and sent to the soldiers. I made a batch and they are quite yummy. The main ingredient that isn't so popular in the states is Golden Syrup which is made in the process of refining sugar cane. It is similar to honey without such a strong flavor. You can find the recipe here. http://www.recipelibrary.net/content/view/18/3/

Pasties are definitely an import from England but have became very popular in Australia. Pasties were originally made in Cornwall for men who worked in the tin mines. The miners were unable to leave the mine for a lunch break and were covered with dirt and sometimes arsenic from the tin. The outer pastry could be peeled back and the miners would eat the inside contents of the pastie without contaminating anything. The filling of the pastie varies containing various meats, vegetable and potato. Some even used to contain two courses, meat on one side and sweet fruits on the other. The dirty outer crust was traditionally always left in the mine to appease the "knockers" (aka brownies or Irish leprechauns) and distract them from mischief. Pasties have been in literature since the 1100's first noted in a story by Chretien de Troyes. Shakespeare makes reference to pasties in three of his plays. Pasties are very tasty and best with a little bit of ketchup.

"Australians eat more meat pies per head than any other nationality. It is the country's signature dish, a cultural identity with a squirt of tomato sauce."
One in the hand, Sydney Morning Herald, August 27, 2003. So yes, this is another English import but has become uniquely Australian just by the vast quantity of pies that are made and consumed here. There were companies that only made pies established as far back as 1883. The largest meat pie company in 2007, Four N'Twenty, makes 50,000 pies and hour. Where hotdogs are the common food at sporting events in America one could not attend an Aussie Rules Football match without consuming a meat pie. This one was purchased at the Beechworth Bakery and is named after Ned Kelly.

Lamingtons are made with sponge cake, dipped in chocolate and sugar then rolled in coconut. They were named after Baron Lamington, Governor of Queensland from 9 April 1896 to 19 December 1901. Lamington was originally the slang term for the homburg hat that the Baron wore and then the cakes were named for him. Usually served simply as small squares but sometimes slit in half and stuffed with cream. I know you can get delicious Lamingtons in Chicago at Tipsy Cake on California Ave. I hesitate to recommend this bakery for custom orders having witnessed a birthday cake debacle caused by them but they do make wonderful brownies, lamingtons and rasberry scones. http://www.tipsycakechicago.com/

Tonight I am going to attempt to make a Pavlova. I will post some more finds after my attempt at this traditional Aussie dessert.

Melbourne's Golden Mile: Part One

All along the streets of downtown Melbourne there are little gold coins embedded in the sidewalk. If you follow these coins you pass by some of the most important architecture in the city. We purchased a guide book specifically for this walking tour called Melbourne's Golden Mile. The trail is long so we decided to break it up into two days. We also started on Sunday when alot of the bank and office buildings on the first half of the walk are closed. Matt and I started our walk at the Block Arcade built in 1893. The Block is located on the corner of Collins Street and Elizabeth Street which was a creek before a street that used to be a dividing line in Melbourne. The business section of town was split from the retail centre, considered the most fashionable area of town for many years. The Block Arcade is the largest arcade in Australia full of domed ceilings and mosaic floors. There are little side alleys reminiscent of Europe filled with coffee houses and restaurants. We stopped for breakfast at one of these places and I must say I had one of the best breakfasts of my life. I LOVE eggs benedict!!! Love, love, love!!! Caffe Cortile made a variation with smoked salmon that was better than any I have ever eaten. Everything from the coffee to the service was perfect. If you live here or ever come visit you have to check this place out. http://www.cortile.com.au/

The Block Arcade also houses one of Australia's best chocolatiers, Haigh's Chocolates. Not only is their chocolate fabulous but they are part of the campaign to save the bilby. The bilby is a native marsupial that has been pushed almost to extinction due to development and the introduction, by the English, of rabbits and foxes. In 1993 The Easter Bilby was introduced by Haigh's to take the place of the Easter Bunny in Australia. The popularity of the Easter Bilby has risen and so has the population of the living bilby. There is even an Australian Bilby Appreciation Society.

http://members.optusnet.com.au/bilbies/About_Bilbies.htm

Just as a side note The English are rarely referred to as "English" here but more commonly as POMS. There are a few explanations for this nickname. According to the Te Ara Encyclopedia "After the Second World War, New Zealanders began to describe English immigrants as Poms, Pommies, or occasionally Pommy bastards. The word was not an acronym of the term Prisoners of Mother England, nor a version of the French word for potatoes (pommes de terre), which English soldiers ate during the war; it was rhyming slang originally used in Australia. The word ‘immigrant’ produced ‘pomegranate’, which was shortened to ‘Pom’ or ‘Pommy’."

Our next stop on the walking tour was the Royal Arcade which is vigilantly guarded by two giants, Gog and Magog. These two giants occur widely in religion and mythology from Revelations in the Christian Bible to the Qur'an to Hinduism. These Australian giants are based on the British tradition. The giants are considered guardians of the city of London and images of them have been carried in the Lord Mayor's Show since the days of King Henry V. They supposedly descended from one of the 33 wicked daughters of Roman Emperor Diocletian. The daughters killed their husbands and were banished to the sea. They drifted aimlessly until landing on what is now modern day Britain. The daughters coupled with demons and gave birth to giants including Gog and Magog. The giants were supposedly later slain by Corienus who fled the Trojan war along with Brutus, who according to folklore settled Britain. Here in Melbourne Gog and Magog simply keep time and have been doing so since 1892.

We continued up Collins Street seeing many beautiful churches including Scots Church and St. Michaels. The top of Collins Street used to be the most fashionable of addresses and was home to many in the medical profession gaining the name "Doctors Commons". Of all the doctors who lived in the area James Beaney aka Champagne Jimmy was for sure the most colorful. He brushed off the new-fangled idea of antiseptic and often performed surgeries in a old coat dried stiff with other patients blood. His fingers were encrusted with large diamonds and he doled out champagne liberally for medicinal purposes of course. Even though he faced legal troubles for illegal operations he still held a design competition for a new Melbourne surgery center resulting in the Alexander Club which is also along the tour.

We decided to stop off at the Old Treasury which has been turned into the City Museum.

There was an exhibit on haunted Melbourne which would have been better if there were more pictures and less plaques with tiny writing to read and there was also an abysmal display of political caricature paintings. However the historical displays were fantastic especially the old vaults. The vaults of the Treasury have been transformed into a small collection of mini movie theatres each discussing a different aspect of gold mining and the effects on Melbourne. For example because of the gold rush Melbourne's population went from 29,000 in 1851 to 123,000 in 1854. The quarters of the treasury keeper and his family have been preserved so you can see what life was like back then. The building itself was designed by 19-year old JJ Clark and is absolutely gorgeous. It is here that I also learned about the argument over who founded Melbourne. There is a debate still today over who is the real "father" of Melbourne, John Batman or John Pascoe Fawkner. You can read a little more about the history here. http://www.vivid.ro/vivid64/pages/postcards64_melbourne.htm

We ended our first half of the Melbourne Golden Mile walk at the Exhibition Buildings in Carlton Gardens. I couldn't get the song Waltzing Matilda out of my head so I got Matt to sing it with me as we walked along...I am so goofy. These buildings were designed for the International Exhibition of 1880 which attracted over 1.5 million visitors to Melbourne. The buildings themselves look very similar to the White City in the 1893 Chicago World's Fair except these building survived. In fact these are the only structures of this type to survive in the world. The walk was fantastic and I am certainly looking forward to going on the second part of the tour!!!

Trams and Birthdays

Melbourne's tram system started in 1884 with horse drawn trams. Cable trams were introduced to the city the following year. Today Melbourne has one of the largest tram and light-rail networks in the world. In the 1980's some of the older model tram cars were refurbished and transformed into restaurants. Matt and I took one of these restaurant trams around downtown Melbourne. Everything was perfect. The inside is decorated beautifully like movies of I have seen of the dining car on the Orient Express. Fringed swag curtains draped the windows and white table clothes covered the tables. All the people on board seemed very nice. We met a couple from outside of Ballarat who were planning a trip to Sturgis. I did do something on the tram that I am feeling a bit guilty about. They had kangaroo for appetizers. After all the petting and loving of the kangaroos I did feel bad trying it but I figured while in Australia..... Australia is the only country I know of who eats both of it's national animals, kangaroo and emu. Imagine cooking up a little bald eagle for lunch. I must say I wouldn't go out of my way to try kangaroo again. Kind of a cross between venison and hanger steak the taste was fair but mixed with the guilty feeling and only ok taste it won't be high on my list of favorite eats. The rest of the meal was absolutely delicious coupled with wonderful views of Melbourne at night.

The tram stopped once along our journey for people to get out and stretch their legs. As we pulled up beside the park a few furry visitors came running towards the train. There were some brushtail possums who were very excited to see us. The chef gave out extra fruit bread to feed the little guys and a warning to watch out for your fingers. Evidently these cute little possums rarely but sometimes bite and when they do they don't let go. Matt concurred having been bit by one in Tasmania. It seems they try to take you with them once they clamp down. I let Matt feed the possums while I took pictures. I like my fingers. There was alcohol flowing pretty freely on the tram and some singing started including a lovely rendition of Dancing Queen and special dance performance by the chef. We wrapped up the night with the whole tram joining in for Sonny and Cher's I Got You Babe.

The next day we went to a PIXAR exhibit in Federation Square. We had to go down there anyway to pick up the newest Harry Potter book. YAY YAY YAY!!!! I promised not to start reading until the weekend was over. The PIXAR exhibit was fantastic. It both inspired me and I must admit made me insanely jealous. The artists in this exhibit had SO much talent. There was one artist Simon Varela who did charcoal underwater studies for Finding Nemo that were absolutely incredible. There was a surprising amount of collage work used in character development...surprising to me anyway. It is always fun to see all the stages some of my favorite cartoon characters went through and how they evolved. I may have made one fatal mistake in going with Matt to this exhibit. There was a lady who could possible steal away his affections. Someone I could never compare to. How does a regular girl like me compete with a Porsche named Sally?? Ahhh well!

Saturday was Luke's (Matt's nephew) two year old birthday. We headed up to Sunbury to get together with Luke and the rest of the family. I had a great time with Matt's mom, Sandra and his sisters, Rebecca and Tracy. Barry and Laurel, who are wonderful, got there just after Matt and I did. I also got to meet Matt's aunt Belinda and cousin Melanie along with lots of Rebecca and Nick's friends. The kids had a really cool blowup castle to play on. Sandra had a really cute picture of Matt as a baby with huge chubby cheeks. It was great to spend time with Matt's family.

Matt and I had been reading about this place called CHILL ON. It is Melbourne's first and only "Ice" bar. Everything including the walls, bar and glasses are made with ice. I had watched a special on an Ice hotel in Sweden that looked really interesting so we decided to check it out. They "rent" or I should say make you wear big ski coats over your own coat and gloves. The gloves are a good idea since the glasses are ice but I could have done without the other coat. The bar itself was exactly as promised...all made of ice. It was pretty with lots of ice sculptures and a yummy berry flavored drink was included. We took some pictures, drank our drinks and then the novelty started to wear off. I am happy we saw it but wouldn't say it would be a good "local" bar.

I will post about the Heritage Walk tomorrow.

Billy Tea and Damper Bread

I think Matt really thought I had lost the plot completely when I called him to see if Mick and Bec would mind if I dug a fire pit in their backyard. I had been doing a little reading on traditional Australian food and wanted to make Damper bread. Nowadays most people who make damper cook it in the oven but I wanted to go the way of the of the Australian bush and cook it in the ground. Since it has been so wet here I was given the go ahead. For those of you who might have doubt in my outdoor skills I dig a lovely fire pit if I do say so myself.

I cooked dinner for Matt, Alan, Cheryl , Matt's dad Barry and Matt's step mom Laurel. Everyone pitched into the damper action. Cheryl had called a few days before and became my conseiller of damper. She had grown up making it with her family. She even added more fun to the plan asking if I wanted to make some Billy Tea. I had no idea what Billy Tea was but evidently it goes hand in hand with damper. She even went out and got all the supplies including a camp oven( a somewhat cleaner way to cook the damper than just throwing it in the ashes).

Matt and Alan got the fire going. Unfortunately, the camp oven had to be "cured" before use which takes two hours so we went for the foil method...just wrap the dough in foil and set it in the bottom of the fire covering the top with ash and burning logs. I learned a bit about the history of damper from all the dinner guests. Damper was the bread of Australian swagmen traditionally made with flour, salt and water...stuff that could be carried around easily. I went for a little fancier recipe that I got off the Internet http://aussieslang.com/features/australian-damper-bread-recipe.asp

I personally had never heard the term "swagmen" and didn't think to ask what it meant so I looked it up this morning on Wikipedia my personal favorite online resource. " A swagman is an old Australian term describing an underclass of transient temporary workers, who traveled by foot from farm to farm carrying the traditional swag." In American terms I think the closest equivalent would be like the hobo with the kerchief on a stick. Chicago and much of America was filled with hobo camps throughout the depression. "Hobos" differentiated themselves from so-called "bums" by a desire to work but a necessity to travel around to find the elusive work. A high level of swagmen travelled throughout Australia in the depression years of the 1890's and 1930's as well. The most famous "swagman" is immortalized in what some Australians think should be their national anthem "Waltzing Matilda". This is a great version of the song with further explanation of some Australian terms.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=INdjRCNcZj0

When we first pulled the damper from the fire I thought I had a dismal failure on my hands but HOORAY!! The damper actually came out not half bad. We dug the middle out of the charred outside and it was quite tasty...somewhere between Irish soda bread and scones. I made some homemade honey butter to go with the damper....YUMMY!

So next on the agenda was the Billy Tea. The tea thing seems pretty straight forward. You put in water, one handful of leaves for each cup of tea needed and one extra handful for the "Billy" (the name of the specific tea pot). Next set the Billy on the fire until the water boils. Now, here is where things get tricky. The leaves are all floating around in the tea so you have to get them to the bottom of the Billy somehow. The Australian way is centrifugal force. The Billy is swung round and round over your head until all the leaves are forced to the bottom of the pot. I was all ready to swing until a huge protest of nervous Aussies stopped me. I am sure their heads were filled with scenes of emergency rooms and third degree burns...silly Yank spinning a Billy. But Cheryl had faith and being the consummate professional went first and showed me how to do it. Then I did it!!! I spun the Billy and not one drop of the boiling water touched me. I really felt like I was inaugurated into The Aussie Club.

We had a great time out by the fire drinking our Billy Tea! Thanks to all you guys who were here and helped me make the Damper and Billy Tea like a real Australian.