The Daily Good News
Not sure if those pies have Carolina Reaper in them, but speaking of Cenny Coast, I went to a few chili festivals at The Fragrant Garden nursery up at Erina. They were great fun. Fella who ran it, now deceased, also wrote a book called 'The Fragrant Chili' which is worth getting your hands on for chili history, trivia, growing tips, and recipes.
Still on the Cenny Coast, there's a brewery up there, Six String Brewing Co, also at Erina, that occasionally makes a chili beer. Last time it was available I slowly worked my way through all available stock on the Coal Coast, then when the last bottlo was running low I rang up the brewery and asked if they had any left.
"Yes, we do," the man said and I rejoiced.
"But only on tap."
I liked the beer but not enough to drive three hours north and sit alone in a tap room drinking it.
Don't know when they'll make it again but it's still the first thing I check for whenever I walk into the local bottlo.
A few months ago I was raving about a pair of boardies I fell in love with. Black , basic and comfy as fuck. A bit hard to come by in the shops , then my lady found a website and ordered a pair.
No boardies turned up. She flicked off an email asking what was going on. No reply , so she sent an email to PayPal thinking we’d been stitched up.
Then the company got back to us. Turns out their website wasn’t meant to be operational yet . They were very apologetic and said they’d refund the money , which they promptly did...stoked.
And then TWO pairs of their hell boardies turned up free in the mail as an apology ! Fuck yeah !!!
Nice work, Staysurf . Consider me a huge fan.
PS Sorry if that’s not the perfect account of what actually went down. I’m recalling second hand from a seperate country. Epic boardies , exemplary service.....that’s all that matters. Thanks Staysurf
Will this rain bring forth the Carolina Reaper ?
Good laugh Blowin.
"..sauce in the eye, oh no"
Carolina Reaper....I’m intrigued.
Wouldn’t go near one myself but it renders these two normal people into semi-retards within 30 seconds.
Heheheh fast forward to 9:00 that’s hilarious. They are in some serious serious pain
There's about 20 reapers on the bush, only one of them is currently ripe, the rest will be by the weekend which is when I was gonna give it a go.
But now I'm having second thoughts after that last video.
peace of piss ,dip em in chocolate and pretend there strawberries and choc......or give em to someone you hate.
Surf is proper pumping this morning.
Uncrowded, sheet glass 8 feet plus freight trains and I have a knee too dodgy to surf.
So ....let’s get positive. Had a beautiful dawn stroll along the beach, watching the sunrise . Then a delicious breakfast and a swim which was like diving through molten silk. Now it’s chill out and watch the crew come in from their morning session and just KNOW deep down that they couldn’t possibly be half as happy as they seem .
Surfing .....who needs it !
I do.
The..best... Simpsons...episode...ever!!!!!
Even has a cameo from James Woods!
Oh bummer about the knee Blowin.
A week of absolutely pumping surf here in Welly. 10 surfs on my DS.
Get that knee working, Blowin!
I’m trying. Seems to be rapid improvement, but I’m not sure if it’s true recovery or the false dawn of reduced inflammation/ result of rest.
Haven’t been diagnosed beyond Dr Google who has limited the possible injury to either brain tumour or scurvy. Currently hedging my bets and performing YouTube recommended physio for both outcomes.
Can you get your hands on a knee brace? DonJoy, I seem to remember they're called.
Already got one. Not the full leg JJF effort . Covers the knee with a couple of stiffeners down either side. It definitely makes a difference but I’ve just got to go easy surfing till it’s stronger.
On East coast still ? Srilankas be worth a watch today...high tide coming up ?
Daily good news is rekindling the old love affair with Indo Jungle peanuts ( Kacang ).
Such sweet , tasty , crunchy delights. Probably not recommended to eat the entire 500gm packet in one sitting though......buuuuuurp.
Good news is coming back to your car after a surf and remembering that you’ve still got half a bacon and egg roll (with extra grilled tomato and onion thanks) and half a cup of coffee waiting for you.
Luxury!
.... or the time I found a two day old vegemite sandwich thrown down the back of the kombi late a night while suffering a bad case of the munchies!
Good timing.
This morning I awoke to really strong westerlies, strong enough to blow the wheelie bins over, which isn't a step on the Beaufort Scale but it should be. Cursed the wind 'cos, despite being a favourable direction, the sheer strength was ruining a primo swell - solid 4ft, long interval, from the south-east.
Thing was, there was little wind at Bellambi, just 5kms to the south, and little wind at Wattamolla, just 30kms north. The wind was localised which meant it was katabatic winds off the escarpment (air cools up on the plateau overnight, gets pushed over the edge by light westerlies in the morning and the cool, high-density air falls with gravity, creating strong, localised, but usually short-lived wind).
Went home, did some work, fed the kids, dressed them, then tagged out when it felt like the wind was dropping. Drove up my favourite street and with the wind easing and waves sparkling like De Beers diamonds, enjoyed an uncrowded session.
Best run of swell....
I would have killed for a westerly, no mater how strong Stu.
that deep SE angle was so prime for here, but with a high tide and northerly running through it, basically unsurfable.
so glad we at least got a day of pumping surf from Uesi. Switching into "good surf" mode was unreal, an almost alien feeling.
seems like every swell is fucked by bad winds in the absence of the traditional summer Tradewinds pattern.
Woke this morning to find the dragonfruit have all gone into simultaneous flower. Such spectacular looking plants when they do so. The bees were going nuts .
Plan today was to preserve energy for the big high tide this arvo and hopefully get a favourite slabbing right on but the waves looked too good and now I’m pleasantly knackered at 10AM.
Fuck , I can’t rave enough about the Desert Storm . Even though my knee seems to be getting better I can’t get off the thing. Had it in some 4 foot barrels a couple of days ago and it was like a guided missile through the guts of some smokers , yesterday it was chewing through sections on some super fast reef runners and just now it was making short thrift of bowling 6-8 foot walls.
It loves it all.
Top 5 boards of my life easily.
This rain is amazing. It’s like Snow Day at Springfield. Watching the rain radar over here and there’s not really much there except for a little smudge which just won’t quit. The reality is a constant, steady drizzle which gets a bit heavier every now and again.
Chilling , eating tasty treats. Might even go and get a sneaky long neck and drink it whilst listening to the patter on the roof and leaves. Couldn’t really be fucked going up the street but.
Australia......Gedditintaya !!!!
Dreamscape.
Remember the dial up days? Me too. As someone who has been waiting for at least 6 years for the nbn the good news is that it finally arrived at my place last Wednesday.
About 3 years ago they had it constructed up to about a half a km away, but that's where it stopped. The nbn rollout map saw our address getting pushed back every year. Our typical ADSL internet was a line speed of 3mb/s which somehow managed to run enough tech stuff at the same time, just, kinda, most of the time, sort of. However it was near impossible to watch vimeo vids. Netflix suffered, and the internet through the TV was unusable. I guess as bit of a consolation for the delay they installed FTTC Fibre to the curb (not curve) which I imagine is a fair step up from the node type.
Anyways, I was told that I would get a 20 minutes heads up text or call before they arrive. Old mate calls and says where are ya I'm at your house.
.
I arrive home to find my wife had let them in and it was already working. Old mate said that they weren't supposed to install the modem, only the nbn device, but he did it anyway. Legend. For that I scored him a 10.
Harvey Norman were flogging off 450 mhz computers with 8gb hard drives for $5000, and this was the Number 1 song at the time, for far too long.
My old internet having a real bad day.
The nbn...about fucking time! Happy surfing!!
To make way in the vege garden I've harvested most of my chillis. If anyone knows a good chilli sauce please point me in the direction and I promise to use words like "delish" and "lovely jubbly" when reporting back.
Carolina Reaper (hottest chillis on Earth), still plenty more of these on the bush.
Chubby jalapenos
Manzanos and Habaneros - which were the hottest chiilis before the eggheads started crossbreeding them in their labs.
Bwaaa ha ha ha ha haaaaa...!
Hard to write the sadistic laugh of a mad scientist cross-breeding chilli's from Hades.
Wow! That's some harvest.
Look up malaysian/singaporean chilli sambal. Or chilli puti. Both freeze OK too.
I watched a youtube vid of a bloke making a killer hot sauce just recently- i'll see if i can find it.
I’d be weaponising it into a spray to defend my house with if I were you.
Week or so ago a mate came around and took a bunch to make some chili sauce. Told me over the weekend that it's "diabolical" which is a nice compliment.
"I promise to use words like "delish" and "lovely jubbly" when reporting back."
Don't you fucking dare.
Nor should you use words like "nourishing", "wholesome" or the dated "amazeballs".
And chillies are certainly not part of your "journey to wellness".
Namaste.
Dammit, can't find it- cleared my history.
Basically roast the chilli's drlzzled in oil, let cool, de-seed with gloves then stew them with cider vinegar, garlic cloves, salt, brown sugar and reduce by half. Blend and strain through a chinoix.
Bottle in sterile bottles or jars and enjoy.
Keeps for ages.
Might be white vinegar- may have to check.
Travelling through SE Asia years ago, i made it a rule to eat food piled with most chilli i could stand. My rationale was it would make my stomach a hostile environment for any nasty belly bugs that may wish me harm.
Must have worked- didn't get crook once.
Salsa Roja:
2 or more habanero chillies, 1 ripe tomato, 2 tbsp finely chopped red onion, 1/4 red capsicum, 2 cloves garlic, 1 tbsp fresh coriander, 1 tbsp virgin olive oil, 1 tbsp malt vinegar or blanco tequila, salt, fresh black pepper. Use food processor, Chop all ingredients finely, add oil and vinegar/tequila and sufficient water. Pulse briefly do not puree, add salt and pepper to taste and serve cold (will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks)
Additionally I make chilly powder out of my Habaneros / Trinidad scorpions. Use very, very low oven heat and do over several sessions to ensure they are dried out completely. Need to cut open the fruit and remove stems - can leave seeds in
Cheers!
Oh yeah, peel the tomato, I pour boiling water over to make it easier to peel
That sounds bloody good saurusv1!
+1 on the tomato peeling tip. An extra little tip is to score the skin a little first (in an x shape) - pour the boiling water on and wait for a bit and the skin peels itself off.
"Might be white vinegar"
Ha ha...that's the kind of loose, freeform cooking my wife does, Zen.
Baking soda? Creaming soda? Whatever!
@Saurus,
Salsa Rojas sounds good....even, dare I say, it sounds delish.
Oi Stunet, eaten one of those Carolina Reapers yet? Unless I missed it somewhere...
Nah....I had enough of an experience to know not to progress. That was with an offcut the size of my pinky fingernail, and still I had to go sit in a corner and opt out from reality a while.
Fuck eating a whole one.
Chilli infused olive oil is another good one. Goes beaut on a vongole.
why peel the tomatoes?
Some people don't like stringy bits of skin in their sauce (my mrs being one).
I find it a waste to chuck them out, so I just eat the skins after I peel them!
I've never bothered to peel them in any recipe where it said too and never found a problem.
just blend it in.
It just doesn’t get any better than Autumn.
Today was the PERFECT autumn day. Not too hot , not too cold . Proper Goldilocks weather. Cool morning with deep , ultra blue skies. No wind tending lightest Westerly. I felt like something doing something different so we went early to a clear water hole and had the most beautiful swim you could believe. Not one person around.
The ocean is everything to me , but the bush is a solid second place getter.
North coast of NSW has gone from record and heart breaking drought to classic rain drenched paradise. A million shades of green and everything is indeed standing up alive.
The big dry was devastating to the bush but the bounce back of life has been stunning. Those trees resilient enough to survive have gone gangbusters. It’s a shame that so much foliage and fruit was dropped but that’s life .
We went to reap a bit of harvest from a bush block we’ve been tending for about 15 years now. Mangoes didn’t handle the drought but the foliage is super healthy now. Blueberries, mulberries ( third fruit in 9 months ! ) and passion fruit are good. Avocados gaining condition rapidly. Kaffir limes ready. Macadamia on the way. Pineapples looking amazing. Veggies pumping. Coffee on its way.
My envy is now a far brighter shade of green than anything in those photos!
What a beautiful piece of land, lucky man blowin
Fuck yeah....Australia is an incredible place.
Got it for a song back then and myself , my missus and my brother built a house for my parents there.
East coast is so inviting but the West coast is where my heart is.
Dedicated to good news ....