A Very Lemony Chicken

Since the parents are away, it gives Matthew and I more time to be creative with what we cook. Before we went shopping yesterday, we drew a list of who was cooking what night and what ideas they had, well last night was me and I decided I would try to re-create a prepared roast chicken I had bought from the shops a while ago – Olive Oil and Garlic Chicken – it was amazing.

I started off with a chicken, cut the slit connecting the skin to the meat so I was able to put stuff under the skin, crushed a few garlic cloves and slid them under as well as a few slices of lemon, hoping for a garlic taste with a hint of lemon (hoping). Then I prepared the stuffing, adding a couple of cloves of garlic and some lemon juice as well. Then I stuffed the chicken, placed another slice of lemon at the opening of the chicken and stuffed some more garlic cloves in round the lemon slices.

Basted the chicken with garlic infuesed olive oil that I had made in the morning with a couple of drops of lemon juice in it. Put in to roast and plaved the veggies in 30mins later all basted with the same olive oil.

Well the veggies were perfect, roasted golden, right texture and a wonderful hint of garlic and lemon. However I very much went overboard with the lemon in the chicken ๐Ÿ™‚ couldn’t taste any of the garlic but sure could with the lemon.

Lesson for next time – cut back on the lemon ๐Ÿ™‚

At home

Yesterday Matthew and I arrived home.
Relativley un-eventful flight, watched a couple of movies, played some blackjack and poker, looked down over the sea and land, deciding where we were and then confirming it with the map on the tv, playing with my camera taking long exposures.

Sean picked us from the airport, then we were homeward bound, looking at the sights, seeing what had changed. After putting on some washing, I headed back to Sean’s place to get ready for a day at the races – Brooke had given us member’s and gate entry passes, so we were able to enjoy the day in resonable style, placing bets with Brooke’s father or the counter in the bar, cheering on the horses, consulting the form guide to decide the best choice and then sometimes winning ๐Ÿ™‚ A very, very fun day out until the flight caught up with me and I started falling asleep on my bar stool :O, After the last race of the day, Sean and I decided to skip dinner out and just go home so I could sleep and sleep I did for 12hrs or so.

Today was cricket as usual and a fun day it was, apart from the fact that it was the semi-final (they lost), Brooke, Emma and Donna all came out for the afternoon when the boys were batting, I had gone and vistited Barb and her family while they were fielding. So a girlish afternoon was had in the very warm winter sun.

Just had dinner, dreading going through my photos tommorow and heading off to bed.

Singapore, again.

Well we now back in Singapore waiting for the final leg of the journey to start in a couple of hours time, yet again chilling at the free internet.

I love getting stamps in my passport so I went through imigration here, got the stamp, walked outside and then back in and through immigration again ๐Ÿ™‚ out of it I got two stamps in my passport, an experience of the really humid air in Singapore and that is about it ๐Ÿ™‚

Got some final duty free shopping to do and then up to the rooftop gardens to get a Singapore Sling.

London was a mess, no one knew what was happenning, it took us 3hrs to get from Victoria Station to Heathrow, at each station we were told different things by different people, get told to go to this station and then that station would know nothing – it was a total mess!

I was on Tottenham Court Road when the explosions went off, I was inside a shop talking to an Australian working there, and then the sirens started, police car after police car raced down the road. After completing my transaction, I walked back to goodge street station only to be told at the door that this station had no incoming trains and we were to walk down the road to Tottenham Court Station, we were told that an inciddent had occurred at Oval and Warren St station, this later became a passenger incident.

After going on some very very packed tubes I managed to arrive at Victoria where I was meeting Matthew (he left Iceland a day after me). At Victoria the ATM’s and EFTPOS machines were down – I have not found out why. Cops where everywhere as were people with luggage trying to get to the airport.

When Matthew arrived, we decided not to do what we had planned for the afternoon since only two tube lines were operating completly, others partially or fully closed and just go straight to the airport.

After gosh knows how many different directions and changing tubes/trains/buses, we finally got to Heathrow. We were incredibley lucky that the check-in line for Singapore airlines was non-existent, went through with ease and went to have dinner in the pub.

Almost home and I have suprises to share when I get there :):)

Final Night

Tommorow at 7:30am, I leave this home to go back to the home where I have a boyfriend, job and university but I leave behind the home where I have my family, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, neices and nephews. The people that I love so much and give so much to me.

It is something that I miss so much when I go back to Australia, hanging out in Herdis’s kitchen chatting about life, watching Matthew and Noni talk about guns, hunting and all things wild, late night chatting with Anika, singing with Hafรƒยพor, mucking round with Palli, flying and fine cooking with Toti and Anna, having a chance to be totally silly with the kids, just chatting with Karl and just hanging with family.

My last supper was cooked by Hafรƒยพor, Tuna Provencale aka Fake Chook because when my mum first cooked it Hafรƒยพor asked if it was chicken, Pabbi penned the name and it as stuck ever since.

Last night, we went to dinner at the Casa Herdis Pala og Noni, where we feasted on a wild array of foods ranging from reindeer and birds that Noni had shot himself, Plokkfiskur (my request) to icecream with homemade hot chocolate sauce mmmm. When I was in Iceland last time Herdis had cooked Plokkfiskur (very traditional fish meal made from fish, white sauce and potatoes), so when she asked for requests as to what to cook this time I had to ask for it ๐Ÿ™‚ so, so yummy:)

Today Matthew and I did some final tourist shopping, getting some more Appelsรƒยญn, myself buying a case(35) of Prince Polos (heaven in a wrapper), Matthew buying a drinking horn and myself picking up a little something for Sean and a handbag for me that has the Icelandic flag sequined on it ๐Ÿ™‚

I had hopped to find an outfit to wear to an upcoming wedding in October but my searches today were fruitless so I will have to find something in London.

Whilst in London I am staying with Mike who is a friend of Karls (cisco brought both of them over from Australia to San Jose when they finished uni), in addition to finding an outfit or two I am also going to visit the reading room in the British Museum where Karl Marx researched and wrote his books, see some more Van Gough and my first Monet in the National Gallery.

As well as a hop over to Lords when the first Ashes test is played on Thursday.

See you somewhere ๐Ÿ™‚

Happy Birthday Daniel

This afternoon Karl, Matthew and I went to the birthday party of our littlest nephew Daniel, who turned 2 ๐Ÿ™‚
Great turn out, lots of kids and five big kids (us three plus our step-newphew Stefan plus our eldest brother Palli) as well as the various older family relatives of Sigga and Hafรƒยพor.
As well as eating lots of cake, berries and other goodies, we spent some great time outside in the gorgeous sunlight, rolling and horseing round in the lush green grass, throwing the frisbee, chasing after Daniel as he attempted his escape missions again and again.
Lots of fun ๐Ÿ™‚
Here is the birthday boy with Karl ๐Ÿ™‚
Birthday Boy

new family, photos and ideas

Karyn and I found out tonight that I am related to her husband, dating back ten generations to the mid 1600’s – very cool ๐Ÿ™‚

I went flying with Toti and Matthew last night, which was amazing!!! Seeing Iceland from the air was just so so incredible, seeing the lava flows, the glaciated mountains which now have flat tops, the current glaciers, the drainage ditches etc, etc, etc it was amazing ๐Ÿ™‚ So grateful for Toti taking us up in the plane.

Hanging out with some of my brothers and sisters tonight, playing Fisheries (Icelandic board game similar to Squatter for the Aussies, where you have control a fishing fleet and have to survive the obstacles thrown at you – similar to monoploy but not really), talking and heaps of laughing as always.

Tommorow Karl, Matthew and I are thinking of going up a mountain near here, checking out some viking ruins, getting some shopping done and then hitting the night life tommorow night.

I have put up two new photos over on the plog. I also plan on making some new header images as well in the forthcoming days.

Nothing really exciting to say other than, that I am having a great time, Icelandic Beer is quite nice as is everything else ๐Ÿ™‚