Food and Sth Korea

I realise that, despite the title of the blog, I have had very little focus on drinking and eating, so thought I would remedy that today. Recently I visited my daughter http://jorpins.blogspot.com/ who lives in Sth Korea and discovered that the country has the most delicious food.

My favourite I think was Bibimbap, a dish with rice at the bottom with a slightly tangy sauce then a mix of fresh chopped vegetables, or chicken etc, mushrooms, whatever. It is very healthy and absolutely delicious. The other favourite was the dumplings, in soup or just on their own with a sauce. When I came home I so much missed the food that I tried my own version of bibimbap, after I found a great Korean supermarket where I could buy the sauce and (joy or joy) frozen dumplings.

So I tried my hand at Bibimbap. Had the rice in the bowl, added the sauce, some julienned lightly cooked carrots and snow peas, cooked some spinach in sesame oil with garlic and pine nuts and added that and some chopped spring onion. It was not as brilliant as the ones I had in Sth Korea but was pretty good.

And, of course our meals in Sth Korea were always accompanied by beer, or Soju, a sort of rice wine that is eminently drinkable.

The Victorian election result and Jack my dog

Well there you are I managed to upload a photo, here is oneof the loves of my life, the lovely Jack... A constant source of amusement and comfort. Her sheer joy in the park when she finds a dog who will play with her is absoltely contagious and her constant cheerfulness and deisre to get close makes me feel incredibly good. I know I know, she is only a dog, get over it, but there is something so lovely and unconditional about a dogs love that is like no other.

And it's just as well I have her otherwise finding a number of things to be happy about would be hard this morning otherwise I would be desolate at the possibility of the coalition claiming government in Victoria, policies about women's rights are non existent, their response to child protection is blaming and unhelpful and their applling law and order policy would have the numbers in prison increasing.

So feeling somewhat dejected I have still worked on noticing things that give me joy. The first was we shared the election night with a number of our friends who are very like minded so we were able to share our disappointment, and several reds and lots of great food contributed by everybody. The second is my grandsons stayed overnight so I woke up to their laughter and enjoyment of life and went for a walk in the park with drizzle and had a great time. The bike path was flooded and looked quite beautiful and we had the joy of watching a cyclist pedalling his bike through the flood with water going just about to his knees, but he was not deterred! And then of course there was Jack. So, life can still be good, something which we might need to keep reminding ourselves of over the next few years.

Noticing what gives us joy and happiness

Well I have just come back froma conference on Children, Community and Connections in Adelaide - the city of sun it appears. It was inspiring and reinvigorating - thanks have to go to Margaret Sim from UNE, who introduced me to epigenics - the influence of the environment on the brain. And specially to Paula Barrett www.pathwayshrc.com.au who passionately provided gems of information and wisdom, including that parenthood should not be a search for perfection but that if you are a 'good enough parent for the child in front of you' and love and support your child then that will create healthy children. She also said beign aparent was hard work and that all children will have bad times and good times.

But one thing she said which particularly resonated (after the maudliness of my last post) was that for us to have healthy lives we need to notice the things around us that bring us joy. And we shoudl do that at the start of each day. So, my goal now is to do that every morning. This morning I woke to the sound of rain and the drought here is still close enough to celebrate every rainy day knowing our tanks are filling and the trees and plants are soaking it all up.

I looked at the giant oak tree on our nature strip, a tree that even after 30 years being in this house brings me joy with its size, its changes with the seasons and its provision of a haven for possums and birds. And then of course there was my dog Jack, who came and jumped on my bed and curled up at my feet. I have only had her for six months and she is a constant source of happiness, always cheerful, always happy to see me.

And while he drives me bonkers sometimes there was a happy Erwin, tidying up the mess I leave behind everywhere, The other suggestion to keep our aging brains active is to do something new to stimulate our synapses. So this blog is for me a new thing, I am trying to teach myself to play the ukelele and can now play Mary had a LIttle Lamb and then, inspired by my amazingly creative daughters I have started to draw - when I work out how I can download photos on this thing I will share my drawings with you.

Anyway enough for today, the dog is restless and the wet park awaits. I'll take my camera this time so hopefully will catch the flooded bike path which looked os beautiful last time it happened. Remember to think positive thoughts!

what to drink when feeling maudlin

Well, this is my first blog post. I am thinking I will write about wine and food appreciation with a bit of life, love and family and a bit of politcs and thrown in. This is because I thinking drinking and eating is what life revolves around.

So to start off tonight I am feeling a bit sad because of the news of the NZ miners and because one of my delightful daughters is in Sth Korea while we all wait in anticipaiton to see what other madness can be created by the North. It would be so much easier if she were safely here in Australia, the country of low crime rates and no wars on its soil except of course for the war against the original inhabitants when my predecessors blythely took their land and massacred them at will.

So I had thought that a little gin might be appropriate, given it is associated with a bit of maudlinness, however I did have a case of a new Pinot Grigio delivered today and the weather is slightly warmish so I have chosen to indulge in that instead. It is a Richland Pinot Grigio and very drinkable. I should say I don't see the point of spending inordinate amounts of money on alcohol, which does not mean I am a cheap drunk! So instead I have these lovely people who ring me every now and then and tellme what they have available that is reasonably priced and then 'hey presto' a couple of days later it appears at my door by magic as it were.

So far I have found it eminenetly acceptable and has helped me feel slightly more at peace with the world, except I have a nasty fly buzzing around. Have to remember to close the fly wires next time.