Dom's Experimental Rissole Project (DERP), Mk. IV: Baked, not fried.

This is a very simple recipe (I'm a bachelor; what can I say?), but it tastes better than any of my more complicated attempts. Rissoles (large meatballs) are an unsung hero of Australian food culture, and I am doing my part to make sure they are promoted.

This recipe provides 3 generous servings, or 4 if your oven can fit a few more vegetables.

( Cut, but you know you want to read it! (clickie) )

In my last post I promised that I would say something if the situation with my girlfriend changed.

On Saturday night we got lost driving around Margaret River, low on fuel, in darkness so pitch black we couldn't even see each other in the car. We stopped for a while to enjoy each other's company, wait for the rain to settle down, and to laugh at our predicament, and suddenly I realised this was probably a more memorable moment than I could achieve at any restaurant or beach.

So I asked her to marry me.

Then, she said yes.

The relationship between the number of real life friends who read your livejournal, and your ability to ramble on for pages on confusing emotional issues, is a linear and negative proportional one. With a very high correlation coefficient.

I can demonstrate this by way of a highly technical diagram (brought to you by the powers of MS Paint):



I am still dating, and I think things are going really well, but that's about all I am really comfortable saying about that. I will say something if the situation changes, but that's all the news you're liable to hear for a while.

I commenced lecturing back at my old university last Thursday, working a day a week in addition to my other job. I was a bit of a nervous wreck for the first lectures, but I am really looking forward to next week and the rest of the semester.

This is shaping up to be a very good year. It's certainly the best couple of months I can remember for a long time.

Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

-- Jude 1:24-25

It is amazing to have a God in whom we can trust for our support.

How much more amazing that, even when we turn away from him to go and do our own thing (sometimes more than once, for months, or even years), we have a God who wants to find us fallen, pick us up and clean us.

Then support us all over again.

Praise be to the Lord, the provider of second chances, and third chances... and so on.

Somewhere in the realm of a few hundred attempts:

My spiel about my weekend was mostly uninteresting, so I present the abridged version, with poor quality mobile phone pictures!

Esplanade Hotel in St Kilda (1). Krispy Kreme (so I could tell lordrifus the donuts still taste terrible) (2). Hotel (3). Australia Day in Melbourne (4-6). National Gallery of Victoria. Australian Open Women's finals (7) and Men's doubles finals. Crown Entertainment Complex (8). Caught up with salix_03 and Fred, who kindly organised a trip around Melbourne via horse and carriage (9). Work. Bennett's Lane Jazz Club (10). Work. Home.

( Pictures follow (clicky) )

I'd planned to keep all of these posts in a separate journal but just in case someone didn't see:

Manhunt: Perth is tomorrow! 1pm in the city.

After this I'm hanging up my manhunting hat and hoping someone feels compelled to take up the torch.

I've been getting back into a few computer games lately.

I'd like to specifically mention Puzzle Pirates, which I'd describe as a "massively multiplayer popcap game" that I'm mightily addicted to. Playing the game mostly consists of playing small tile-based games (like Popcap's bejeweled, among others) or ye can while away time playing cards.

Check it out via the link below, and if ye decide to check it out (through that link) it'll automatically add ye to my crew. It's free to try out for as long as you like, but you need to subscribe (for about USD$10/month) to do some of the more advanced stuff like own yer own boat or become an officer.



I've also been playing through quite a few popcap games, courtesy of this deal. They're all rather cleverly designed.

I've also been playing through the new Sam and Max episode (clickie), which was fun, and have picked up a complete collection of the Myst series for a bit of video game culture. Myst was clever, but I think it must have mostly been popular for the innovative use of video at the time. Going through the rest of the series should be interesting.

While I didn't make any new years resolutions, it occurs to me that I have a list of things that I've promised myself I will do this year.

• Run one last manhunt event


• Run a regular dodgeball game


• Run a regular cards night


• Cook more often

We'll see how we go.

I hope that everybody enjoyed their new year celebrations, and that you all win at 2007.

Adapted from a whole bunch of unappealing sounding recipes on the internet:

Parfait a la Dom


Ingredients:

(all quantities analysed retrospectively and may be completely wrong)
300g frozen mixed berries
1-2tsp natural vanilla essence
400mL (2/3 large carton) whipping cream
80g (~1/3 small tub) philly cream cheese (linky)
2tsp sugar
Mint ice-cream

Method:

1) Thaw berries a bit, stir with sugar in a large mixing bowl until sugar dissolves
2) Place whipping cream, cream cheese and vanilla essence into a mixing bowl and beat until thick (removing the beaters from the mixture should cause soft peaks to form)
3) Add cream mixture (save about 1/3 cup) to berries, and fold through until you like the colour of the cream
4) Add a scoop of icecream to each of 6 wine glasses
5) Divide berry mixture evenly between all glasses
6) Garnish with a dollop of cream (the stuff you saved earlier), a mint leaf, sliced fresh strawberry and chocolate malt sticks
7) Refrigerate for 2-3 hours before serving. This will give the berries a chance to defrost, and the ice-cream should be around the same consistency as the cream mixture

Variations:

Could probably have dusted with cinnamon instead of the malt sticks.

Could also try adding a layer of fudge and/or fresh cream (maybe the remainder of that carton) in between the existing layers.

Nutritional information:

Not nutritional.

Notes

I have been mispelling refrigerator all of my life.