Adventures of Julie-uli-uli & Captain Obvious

I know recipes can be a little boring to read, but hey, this one is quickly becoming one of my favorites and I think it's well worth having stored in your google reader for a rainy day.

Roasted Sweet Potato Fries with Rosemary and Garlic - as seen on Pinch My Salt

1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 small clove of garlic, peeled
2 T. olive oil
2 medium sweet potatoes

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Using a mortar and pestle, mash together the garlic, salt, and rosemary to form a paste. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, put ingredients into a small bowl and mash the garlic, rosemary and salt against the side of the bowl with a fork. It takes a bit more effort, but you’ll be able to work it into a paste.
3. In a small bowl, combine the olive oil and garlic paste; set aside.
4. Scrub sweet potatoes and cut off any blemishes that you wouldn’t want to eat. Slice the sweet potatoes lengthwise into 1/2 inch pieces. Stacking two pieces together, cut potatoes into 1/2 inch strips. Do the same with remaining potato.
5. Put potato strips into a large bowl; Add oil mixture and toss well until all potatoes are well coated.
6. Spread potatoes out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (the parchment is optional, but makes for easier clean up!). If you don’t use parchment, make sure to grease the baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray or some extra olive oil.
7. Roast potatoes for 30-35 minutes, checking every ten minutes and rotating the pan for even browning. Every once in a while check to see if the potatoes are browning too much on the bottom. If that’s the case, turn them over. I didn’t have that problem, but you never know! Keep a careful watch towards the end and remove as soon as the smallest pieces just barely start to blacken on the ends.

yield: two servings

Recipe notes: Two medium sweet potatoes will serve 2-3 people as an appetizer. I think you could toss in one more potato without needing any more garlic paste or oil. But if you are cooking for a crowd, double all the ingredients and plan on using two baking sheets. Remember to keep the potatoes in one layer and don’t crowd them too much or they won’t brown evenly. These fries are best served right out of the oven!

Julie's notes: I never seem to have rosemary, so I add in whatever spices I seem to have in the house - namely my "mixed herbs" which are mainly oregano, parsley, and basil. And they're all dried. Also, I have substituted sea salt for kosher. I always end up using more oil as well, and then the oil ends up on the pan in the middle of baking and the fries end up soggy in one area. Lessons from that - use a pan with sides and use the right amount of oil!

We're back on US soil. It took a little longer than expected - I'll write more later.

It's our last night in OZ.

It's been a great past few days - connecting with family and friends, revisiting favorite places, exploring new ones.

It's a bittersweet feeling. It's really hard to imagine not going to random mid-week Altona markets with Uncle John and Aunt Buelah. It's hard not to think next weekend we'll go out to breakfast with Ally and Anthony. No more meeting Lou and Reub for pizza. No riding on the 96 with Amber and Lee to go to church. No heading out to the farm to see Uncle Peter & Aunt Cheryl. This is the end of spur-of-the moment trips to Bells. The end of sunsets through the palm trees. So many lasts that didn't feel at the time as significant as they were.

Here goes nothing.

We're in Auckland, and tomorrow we fly back to Melbourne. It's been a great holiday - I have tons of pictures and cool experiences to share. We're excited to reconnect with people in Melbourne once we return, and are sad that our time there is coming to an end. But, we are super-excited to see the family in USA :)

Here are a few pictures from our trip thus far :)

Hello!

Yesterday we drove from Hokitika to the glaciers. It was so cool to see huge things of ice, kilometers long, making their way down mountains! We didn't get to hike too close to them, or on them. We could have at Franz Joseph, but heard it was better at Fox Glacier. So, we drove on to Fox, and all of the public access points were closed due to construction or flooding. Grrr. The only people who could get through were the paid tours. Paid tours that started at $90/person. Um, thanks, but no thanks! We did get in a few good hikes, tramps, if you will, that were pretty cool.

We drove on to Haast, and had a great dinner at a local pub.

Today we drove from Haast through the Haast Pass. It really reminded us of Hawaii - lush green foliage, including big tree ferns and hala. It rained most of the day, and is still raining now. I hope it clears up soon, but hey, that's what makes everything so green, so I'll take it.

The town of Wanaka is pretty cool - it's a ski/resort town in the mountains. We ate lunch there, and it looked cute, even in the rain.

I'm a little disappointed because we don't have enough budgeted to go jetboating, but I'll get over that. It looked like a really cool trip - Dart River Jetboat Safari. CO says I'm whining like a spoiled brat. That could be true, I suppose.

It's kind of funny, after being in OZ for a while, I am beginning to be able to tell different accents - like between British, Aussie, and Kiwi. It's kind of fun. I wish I could imitate them, but alas, no such luck.

Until next time...

We have internet access in our hotel in Hokitika :)

We arrived in Christchurch, full from a meal on the plane. Air New Zealand is fabulous! One of our friends from Melbourne, A, used to fly with them and I could picture her being one of our air hostesses.

Christchurch really has an English feel about it, I think. We found it to be really cute. We didn't stay there long - just overnight- but it was adorable. I can only imagine how cute Lyttleton and Akaroa are... go there if you have a chance!

Today we drove across Arthur's Pass and did a hike in the National Park there. Talk about wonderful views from the moment we left Christchurch! It was one of the best drives we've taken. Hiking in the middle was good too - it helped break up what could have been a long day in the car. We're in Hokitika now and it's pretty good. We ate dinner tonight at Stumper's and it was good and cheap. We might go ponunamu (greenstone) shopping tomorrow!

It's odd how much NZ reminds me of Hawaii. The terrain is beautiful, it's green and volcanic, and the ocean is breathtaking.

I can't wait for the adventures tomorrow will bring!

It's that time folks, that dreaded time, where I face my worst fear. Packing. And this time, the military isn't here to help me out. Sad day.

We're entering our last few weeks in the southern hemisphere, and packing up all of the stuff we have accumulated in the past few months. And it's A LOT. We leave tomorrow to go to New Zealand for a while, and I'm not sure if/when I'll have internet access next. We'll be staying at the cheap hotels, so Free Wi-Fi is probably not included. I'm excited to see what adventures we will have there!

I am also proud to announce that Christmas presents for CO's family are in the mail. Seriously. It's nice to have that bit of shopping done and over!

Oh, sisters, presents are on! Respond to the email I sent, please :)

There's nothing like the sound of those three magic words as soon as you walk in the door.

In the wrong context, they bring about fear and trepidation.

One should never rush into the three little words unaware, but that is exactly what I did last week.

As a substitute preschool teacher, there's nothing scarier than hearing these three magic words -

Hand, Foot, & Mouth... (disease).

Who hires a substitute teacher and doesn't notify them that there's an outbreak of Hand Foot & Mouth Disease first?

Yuck.

So, I'm trying to shop for Christmas. It's kind of difficult, as I have the responsibility of shopping for both my and CO's family... but I'm a gift-giver, so it's very fun. While shopping today, I found an adorable baby present -

Baby Cupcakes!

All of the stuff on their website is in the more expensive range, but they have cups of "gelato" that include a cup, a rolled up onesie (the gelato), a spoon, and a (plastic) cherry on top! They also have "cupcakes" that include a bib and baby socks formed into the shape of a cupcake and put into a silicon cupcake mold! Too cute!!

And, as always, I love Sweet Baby Things - they use the money to help fund their adoption and are from the same area that I am! I love their little blankets :)

Here are some long overdue pictures!

Yeah, who ever thought of the "silent r" was genius...

I headed up to Cairns this weekend and it's tropical - so it reminds me of Hawai'i. Gosh, I miss that place.

I'm excited to take a trip out to the great barrier reef - really quite excited, as a matter of fact.

But, I find that on my trips without CO, things go wrong. Things like oops, all of my travel info is at the travel agent's still. Whoops. Things like oh yeah, 5 minutes before I'm supposed to board a massive thunderstorm rolls through the city. Yup. Happened today. But it all worked out, and I explored the city of Cairns today and bought some essentials (aka towel, 30+ sunscreen, Coco Chex- my new fav).

I had a great dinner tonight - mahimahi! Mmmm! Again, I sat, eating my mahimahi, looking at plumeria and palm trees, and past those to the ocean and Hawai'i felt so close, yet so far away. But in case you come to Cairns, go to Splash for dinner. Affordable and good food :) Yay!

Well, I had better go to my room and get some sleep - the tour leaves early tomorrow - Later!

"No, we don't put our zucchini in our pockets. We need to eat our zucchini."

Yup, I'm substitute teaching at a daycare. Swell.

CO and I have made friends with a couple of Kiwis, or people from New Zealand, through our church. We had them over for dinner the other night, and we told them we're planning a trip to NZ in the next few months. I've already done some research, but it's always good to get advice from someone from that country. Anyway, we're sitting there and the woman says to us, "You guys are the kind that would like tramping. Oh, honey, we know some good tramps to recommend to them!" She went on for a while about how she knew a lot of good tramps all over New Zealand.


Ha. In New Zealand, tramping means hiking. But you should have seen CO's face...

We visited Milton Vineyard while in Tasmania and it was fabulous!!

We really liked their Pinot Gris 2008, and their 2005 Pinot Noir. We have contemplated buying a case. Yum yum yum!

... come on Newsies fans...

And I'm off to the races again!

That's true folks - I'm going to a horse race. Today was the day of THE horse race, but we're going on Thursday. I'm so excited! I got a new, super-cute dress, a fascinator (a mini-version of a hat or a really expensive bunch of feathers), and am really excited to spend a day drinking champers and people-watching!

So to explain more, Spring Racing Carnival is in full swing. Today, the Melbourne Cup was held. It is appropriately called "the race that stops a nation." In Victoria (my state), the banks, post offices, and several businesses are closed. CO still has school, but today is a holiday. Kids are out of school. Derby Day (another race) was held last Saturday and it was really fun to see ladies in their dresses (frocks), hats (fascinators) and heels. They go all out!

I guess Spring Racing season lasts something like 50 days, and we're in the best week. CO and I aren't going to Melbourne Cup, we're going to "Ladies Day" or Oaks Day. I think it'll be a lot less crowded, at least I hope it will be.

Just a reminder, please go out and vote! CO and I mailed in our ballots what seems like ages ago, and are excited to see how the elections end up... VOTE!! I think you can get a free Starbucks drink if you do! (If that's not incentive enough, I don't know what will be!)

... and I quote,

"She has the attention span of a retarded goldfish"

Lol.

Eavesdropping can be fun.

Well, we're back from Tasmania, and as soon as I can figure out how, I'll do so... but we had a great time hiking, spending time with family, visiting wineries, and seeing echidnas :)



I did end up quitting my job. It just wasn't worth it. But, being a nice/lazy person, I agreed to stay on until she found someone else, and she has interviews lined up for Friday.

Yeah, no shocker there. But funny how it works - my brain keeps thinking of delicious fall-ish/autumny recipes. Like applesauce. And apple pizza. And pumpkin pie spiced everything. That's swell, Julie... what's the deal? Uh. Here in OZ it's spring. Or so they tell me, it's still pretty cold.

I tried to quit my job today. It was just getting to me too much and making me cranky all the time. I told the mother of the kids and she asked me to think about it. I'm so non-confrontational I said ok.

I'm super-excited about this weekend - we're going to Tasmania :)

Oh, and has anyone been to New Zealand? I'm looking for travel tips!

THE list. You know, the one we get to look at, analyze, and choose where we want to be for the next few years. THE LIST.

What do you do if you don't really like most of the options?

CO has always gotten cool assignments. This time, Alabama's on the list. Uh (pause). I'm not sure I'd be suited for Alabama. There's one good place on the list - we'd be happy to live there. We'd already have a house, a church, friends within a few hours...

sigh.

CO and I watch travel shows. It cracks us up because one is offering a series of free trips that you can win. And the destinations? France, Italy, the Mediterranean and a great US destination - Texas! Ha! Really, Texas is the best they could come up with for the US? Heaven help us.

Here are a whole bunch of pictures... some seem to be missing still and I can't find them on my computer :(