Aussie term of the day…
“She’ll be apples” – Basically means “It’ll all be fine” or “Whatever
is wrong will right itself in time.” Often times they just say it as "She'll be right." It originated with the term “apples and
spice” which translated into “nice”.
When it morphed into the more slag version, the spice part was dropped
but the apples part remained, and there you have it!
To finish off the day I got to have a lovely stroll down
by Riverway with Elyse, a gal I have met through the church here. She is super fun and it was awesome getting
to walk around and talk with her while getting gapped up at by swarms of turtles and
fish expecting us to feed them.
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| The beautiful Ross River |
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| Elyse and I by that gigantic brightly colored snake. |
We did
not, an oversight on our part on forgetting to bring bread, but we go to see
some other people feed them. That’s pretty much same thing though, right?
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| Turtle turtle, tuuuuurtle! |
Today has been a really good introduction for me into a
number of things very traditionally Australian. Like
Anzac biscuits. Apparently their history stretches way back to WWI when boxes
of them used to be sent to Australian soldiers in care packages from
home. Once they got there they were as hard as rock to be sure, hence the name "hard tack," but they still
had a helping of nutrition and a long shelf life free from the foraging of
insects who didn’t give them a second thought. Huh. They were often crushed up and
put in tea.
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| The ones we made today, which you will read about in a minute... |
I also had a bit of an introduction into the ways of the
Kangaroo harvest as one of my lectures for today focused on its incredible sustainability. Apparently it is one of the most sustainable harvests
in the world. Kangaroos are very
sensitive to changes in measures of rain since their main diet consists of grass.
This means that a poor year for rainfall also means a poor year for kangaroo
populations. And they also take a long while
to rebuild populations after a crash.
BUT, what makes kangaroo harvest so sustainable is that they harvest
based on a fixed proportion, not a fixed quota, meaning that the number of
hunting permits handed out each year is based on how big the population
is. I believe that sustainably 15-20% of
the population can be harvested without any adverse effects. For instance, if one year there are 1000
kangaroos in one area, then 200 permits will be passed out. If the next year there are only 500
kangaroos, then only 100 permits are handed out. There is also a big draw to hunting the big
males which then leaves the females to reproduce and increase the population. A
number of other factors are included of course, but it was still super
interesting to learn about!
And speaking of kangaroo, I got to actually eat some
today! One of my housemates had bought some recently and, upon hearing that I had
never had it before, insisted that I try some.
I will tell you, that meat was amazing! Seriously better than any meat I
have ever had in the states. No
joke. And apparently it is super good
for you as well. Very low in fat and,
according to my Wildlife Ecology teacher, if you were to switch to eating
kangaroo meat, within 2 weeks your cholesterol would drop by 2%.
Bec also made something called a “Slice.” Look it up because
I’m not all together sure what it is. It’s
like a layered crunchy mass of sweet caramely amazingness that you put together and bake it and it’s
like a giant crumbly cookie bar.
Jumping back to Anzac biscuits (which by the way is
actually an acronym for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps… ANZAC). I got to make some today! After getting out of classes for the day and
having all this free time on our hands, Michelle and I decided it was time to
give these things a go. I mean after
all, if I’m going to be living in Australia I better learn something about the common traditions!
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| Michelle and I making Anzac Biscuits. Aaaaaaand there's Tom photo bombing the picture... |
Honestly though, that cookie dough (well… they would call
it bickie dough…) is to die for! And the
fresh cookies? Mmmmm! I think I must have eaten WAY too many…
Anzac Biscuit Recipe
1 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
I cut desiccated coconut
¾ cup brown sugar
125g butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup (essentially molasses)
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons water
Step 1: Preheat
the oven to 160°C. Line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper. Sift the
flour into a large bowl. Stir in the oats, coconut and brown sugar.
Step 2: Put
the butter, golden syrup and 2 tablespoons water in a small saucepan. Stir over
a medium heat until melted. Stir in the bicarbonate of soda.
Step 3: Pour
the butter mixture into the flour mixture and stir until combined.
Step 4: Roll
level tablespoons of mixture into balls. Place on the trays, about 5cm apart.
Step 5: Press
with a fork to flatten slightly. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Step 6: Set
aside on the trays for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack so it cools
completely.
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| Best dough in the world. |
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