When we first arrived in Brisbane, Australia, it was early and we were all tired and hungry – after we checked in to the hotel we decided to take a walk and find something to eat. The first restaurant we came to we stopped to see what was on the menu, I immediately knew I was in a foreign country after seeing it. I was so amused I had to take a picture of it and I am still trying to figure out what a spatchcock is!!!!
Our sponsor was kind enough to leave food in our house when we first arrived in Alice, so we got instant exposure to some Australian foods. In the fridge there was a bottle of Brekky juice, I spent about 36 hours trying to figure out what the hell a brekky was when I realized it was “breakfast juice”. Please keep in mind I was jet lagged. The bread is amazing; it is fresh bakery bread so while it tastes great it lasts only a few days. I have learned to freeze ½ the loaf and keep the other in the fridge. There is no wheat, it is white, seeded, or something in between – not sure what it is but it tastes good. Oh and I love the olive oil, it comes with a built in spout so when you pour it in the pan you look like the chef’s on TV. That image was immediately ruined when the oil splattered out of my pan and flames shot up from the gas burner!!!
Everyone knows I love cheese and nuts, we are still working on finding favorites. Sharp cheddar is called “strong and bitey”, medium cheddar is “tasty” and I do not think there is a mild. The Velveeta type cheese here is called Cheddar??? Feta does not come crumbled but at least they have it. The packaged shredded cheese has a weird texture so I think I will be shredding it myself. We have not been able to find salted almonds or in the shell sunflower seeds as of yet, but they have other delicious nuts here. The grocery carts are called trolleys and they continuously slide to the side, it is hilarious watching the boys push them along. The fact that we are in such a small, remote town means things run out quickly – I was at the store Monday and there was no lettuce, spinach or packaged salad.
What I have learned is that Americans are all about convenience, Australians are not! If you want carrots you buy a bunch and peel them the old fashioned way, no prepackaged baby carrots for the boy’s lunch boxes here. No packaged apple slices, no pizza crust, no lunchables, no frozen breakfast food, and there are very few snack foods. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but we are struggling to find fast breakfast ideas. Everyone cooks from scratch, so hopefully I will be an amazing cook by the time I return to the states.
What I miss so far – crescent rolls! Pinterest ruined me by showing me tons of snacks and desserts to make with crescent rolls, there will be none of that here. Oh and bacon, the only bacon here is like Canadian bacon, and there is also no breakfast sausage. Dillon misses lemonade more than anything; if you order lemonade you get Sprite! Jake misses American hot dogs and chicken nuggets, they have nuggets but he says the texture is different. We tried to find marshmallows the other day to make rice krispie treats but all the marshmallows are flavored. When you look at the recipe on the “rice bubbles” box here they make their treats with caramels.
We have found something that is awesome though, the TIM TAM – it is the most amazing chocolate cookie you will ever have. They come in white chocolate, double chocolate, caramel and honeycomb. We have tried them all! Believe me we are not starving, we are just having to adjust our shopping lists and menu.
My new favorite song this week:
Pluto Jonze -Plastic Bag in a Hurricane
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