I have been a Madonna fan since my pre-teens. Ever since I heard Like A Virgin & Material Girl get played repeatedly at The Sydney Royal Easter Show when it was still at Moore Park!
One (amongst many) of my favourite songs is Don’t Tell Me.
I am including 2 YouTube videos of this song for you to view. The original & an unplugged version from the David Letterman show.
Don’t forget to leave me a comment. Please enjoy!
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As is custom in my family, we made the annual trip to the Sydney Easter Show last Sunday. The day was also marked by my Brother’s (Maddoggie) 49th Birthday.
Because we moved further south, our day began by leaving home a little after 6am. ShadowKnight, Duff, Mum T, Dad T & myself travelled up in 2 vehicles. We stopped along the way for Maccas Brekky before arriving at Maddoggie’s house in Sydney. My 2 nieces were awaiting us & were quite excited about the day ahead. We did the presents then headed off to Homebush.
We started out our day once arriving at the Show similar to years before. We immediately headed off to rent a couple of lockers (This year we had 4 large lockers) then head into the Showbag Pavilion. We waited a few minutes for the crowd to roll into the building once the doors were open, then shot straight in. There wasn’t many people to have to mingle with which was fantastic. We got all our Showbag purchases done & immediately took them to the lockers to hide them away till the end of the evening.
From there we decided this year to hit the rides next. We played a few sideshow games trying to win an Elmo. No such luck! My nieces H & L went on a few rides with each other which pleased me & made me extremely proud of them! They tried a couple of new rides & were also quite pleased with themselves. They went on a couple of rides they were familiar with then finally talked me into going on the Ferris Wheel with them. This seems to have become a custom of ours as for the past 3-4 years we have done this as the last of the rides for the year. I am somewhat afraid of heights & really don’t enjoy rides at all so to do this each year gets my adrenalin pumping & the hands sweating!
We wondered off in different directions after this. Maddoggie, H & L went to see the animal pavilions & wonder about together. The rest of us headed into the Fresh Food Dome to check out the Art, Craft & Baking competitions, then into the Agriculture section. We find this each year to be one of the busiest areas no matter what time of day you hit it. This year we actually had room to breathe in the crowds which was a nice change of pace. However we did have to walk single file a few times & keep an eye out for each other. Our group of 5 split as well & SK & I wondered around looking at the things we enjoy the most. Again as is custom, we found the Chilli Factory stand & bought a Showbag deal. We chose 5 different sauces & chutneys which SK will enjoy over the year. We actually passed up the Mourish Nuts stand, which we normally buy from each year. However we did sought after a Honey stall. After coming across the 2 we found last year, we decided upon buying a $19 Showbag from Clayridge Farm. Inside the bag is 1 jar of Honey, 1 jar of Creamed Honey, 1 Lip Balm, 1 Honey Dipper & 1 bottle of BuzzMe Honey Drink. We purchased an extra bottle of drink so SK & I had one each. We quite enjoyed it last year so were happy to get it again this year. We found out Clayridge actually sell Online & have offered Free Delivery for orders over $20 Aus wide (except W.A). this has delighted me as it doesn’t take long to order over $20 worth of items once you check out their range. Upon seeing their website, they also sell Lavender products which delights me to no end!
Afterwards we met back up with the rest of the crew & headed into the Main Arena to get seating for the evening & have a few bites to eat.
The evening show was awesome with one of the biggest Fireworks displays i’ve seen there yet! The entertainment is thrilling for young & old, with continual action right into the night. We left at the end of the Show to drop off the Sydney-siders to their homes, then travelled on South before arriving home not much before midnight. We quickly went through our bags, chatted about the day in general then hit the sack.
It was again a fantastic day with no regret at how much we actually spent on the day. It’s a once a year event & we expect to “waste” money on the day. Many people prefer to spend as little as possible & though we prefer to do the same, we know that our day at the Show is enjoyed without a second thought given to the loss of money. We don’t go too overboard & this year spent a little less than normally expected. So we are indeed happy with ourselves & look forward to next year’s Show already!
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SK loves his mum’s cooked tripe. Frankly I think the smell of it cooking is disgusting & makes me want to leave home whilst it cooks.
My Father was quite fond of tripe too. So I have not been able to escape it my whole life.
I came across this vid on YouTube this morning. Gordon Ramsay puts a new modern twist on tripe in order to bring it back to the dinner table.
Willing to give it a taste test??
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Have you ever heard of a Turdurkin????
I came across this item this morning whilst scouring the net for yet more recipes & ideas. I am cooking a Lamb Backstrap tonight & even though I have a good idea how I am going to do it (as it is my first attempt), I was looking around for a little more.. inspiration? I am confident it will be nice, as I am with all of my cooking. However sometimes I enjoy reading recipes even if it is for just one piece of advice or to add something to my already existing recipe.
So as Google is in fact my friend, I came across this product from The Meat Boutique which is situated in Ryde, Sydney. They do home deliver apparently across the country so I am interested in comparing what they have compared to my local Butcher. however you can always order online then pick up from their location.
This Turdurkin is in fact….. wait for it…. a Chicken inside a Duck inside a Turkey! It is cooked in a long slow oven of 4hrs@160 & costs $125. I am considering this to be a wonderful Christmas feast as all these meats featured on our table last year. SK advises me Easter Sunday is indeed approaching. LOL!
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Recently I cooked a seafood dinner for ShadowKnight & myself. We started with Wok Cooked Fragrant Mussels made famous by Jamie Oliver. Then followed it with Smashed Potatoes & whole baked Lemon Sole. The fish was marinated in similar flavours to the mussels minus the Lime Juice & Coconut milk. The mussels were my favourite & I am definately making this on Good Friday for those of our family that DO eat seafood. It was absolutely devine! I have made the recipe available for those of you who would like to give it a try. Please enjoy!
Ingredients
2kg / 4½ lb best live Mussels
Olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
3 sticks of Lemon grass, outer leaves removed, finely sliced
2 fresh chillies, red, green or both
3 tablespoons finely sliced ginger
2 handfuls of fresh coriander, pounded or finely chopped
1 tablespoons sesame oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 Spring onions
Juice of 3 limes
1 x 400ml tin of coconut milk Place your mussels with a couple of lugs of olive oil in a large, very hot wok or pot. Shake around and add the rest of the ingredients, apart from the lime juice and coconut milk. Keep turning over until all the mussels have opened - throw away any that remain closed. Squeeze in your lime juice and add your coconut milk. Bring to the boil and serve immediately.
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Over the past few weeks our household has religously watched Hell’s Kitchen 2 on Austar. This has turned into a bit of an obsession for SK & myself, watching Hell’s Kitchen, The F Word & Kitchen Nightmares episodes on YouTube in bed before sleep.
I don’t know what we are going to do when we have watched everything available as nothing else compares!
Gordon Ramsey is an offensive, insulting man. However, he also knows his shit. I am a weakling emotionally & there is no way known to man I would survive under his pressure. I think those that have come before him are extremely brave & should be commended for getting through it alive.
There is a lot to be learnt from Gordon & those that can take his insults on the chin will come out with a wealth of knowledge.
Here I’ve added a YouTube video of my all time favourite “Ramsey Rant”. This has become a constant call in our house.
What do you think?
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Sad news came over the radio yesterday that Ashley Cooper passed away in Royal Adelaide Hospital at around 1.00PM local time (1.30PM AEDT). There has been a Tribute page set up at Ashley’s website where you can read & post your own tribute to Ashley & his family.
Say G’day to those who’ve passed & swap stories with Brocky. May you rest now.
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The V8 Supercar Season has kicked off in Adelaide for the Clipsall 500. It has been a fairly eventful weekend with crashes in all races, the most focus being on Fujitsu Series Driver Ashley Cooper. The crash he was singularly involved in saw him treated on track by paramedics with an Emergency Tracheotomy followed by being rushed to Royal Adelaide Hospital where he is now on Life Support.
Thoughts are with his family who are by his side.
Ashley is an Ulladulla family man. Perhaps his residing so close to where I grew up has brought my attention to him in the depth that it has. My feelings are that no matter who has been injured & wherever they reside, my thoughts are always with them & their respectful families. I know the anxious feeling I have right now of hoping for good news any minute is that of when our annual pilgrimage to Mt Panorama was saddened with the passing of Mark Porter after his accident on Friday 6th October 2006. Mark ended hisfight & sadly departed on Sunday, 8th October 2006.
I remember Friday evening, Saturday & Sunday morning was spent with SK , Duff & myself searching news on our mobile phones for updates at our campsite. It was a sombre feeling trudging to trackside knowing someones life hung in the balance for the sport we were there cheering on & supporting. I cannot explain the emotions we dealt with. I feel them all over again.
This motorsport has a huge following. We all agree that Holden vs Ford rivalry is strong & enjoyable, as most banter is harmelss fun. However knowing that the drivers risk their lives everytime they get behind the wheel makes us all respect each & every one of them. No matter which team they drive for, or which badge they shine.
Please pull through Ashley. Your Family, Friends & Fans need you. Godspeed.
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With the V8 Supercar Season about to start our household is becoming quite anxious. We have already received our application letter for this years Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 campground & we are looking forward to the pilgrimage from our new house to the mountain.
To celebrate the beginning of the season I thought I would place this vid found on YouTube on my blog. I’d love to hear from other enthusiasts out there or those of you had just got a kick from the vid. I’m a HUGE fan & even though this Driver isn’t aware yet that he doesn’t drive for the right team, I got a massive kick from this video.
Do I get a chant of Aussie Aussie Aussie….????
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Here is a good vid I found on YouTube. It’s promoting the WWE No Way Out Elimination Chamber matches. This PPV took place yesterday in Las Vegas & SK, Duff & Myself thoroughly enjoyed watching it last night.
The official theme song of the 2008 No Way Out: Seether “Fake It”.
Hope you enjoy watching this.
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