Even though I say it myself, I regard my culinary talents as adventurous, even challenging!
I only married in my 30’s, so had a fair bit of cooking experience in my bachelor days, despite living in Africa where cooks were often employed for most meals. Of course being an African male, I am an experienced vleis braaier, which is Afrikaans for ‘meat guerrilla’.
The braaivleis, known as barbeque in many parts of the world, is a cultural practice which involves the cooking of piles of meat. The cooking often takes place after a few drinks and is not really that important; the meat just has to look cooked. It often does in the evening twilight, after a few beers…
But I am not here to talk about meat, of which, I have realised, I eat too much. Accordingly, I have resolved to give up meat for Lent in accordance with older traditions and instead of beer.
My wife is perturbed as I said that I would eat more fish, which she is not fond of. So I have set out to show her that there is no need to fear, by cooking some fishcakes as a surprise.
In order to ensure a special dish, I used my pilchards in chili sauce, which I had been saving 
for a treat. I combined it with some bread crumbs of the nutty, seedy bread she prefers. To make the mixture more special and because she doesn’t like raw onion, I used sliced pickled onion, which I thought was quite innovative. To add some colour, I added a couple of sliced pepperdews, small red capsicums in a sweet syrup. I mixed in an egg for binding, salt and pepper seasoning and some finely chopped parsley from the garden. Simple!
Please note, this was my own recipe!
The mixture made six and a half cakes, which I fried in olive oil. Even though I say it myself, they were delicious! (A couple fell apart, so I had to eat them for lunch).
To my consternation, my wife turned down the fishcakes without hesitation – she doesn’t like tuna, chili or my cooking, especially when I try different ingredients…
Looks like I’ll be cooking for myself for the 40 days of Lent.
P.S. I had a nibble of half a cake before I went to bed. I must confess I had a very weird dream about riding a brown ox which was chased by a lion past a lion reserve full of identical lions following each other, holding the tail of the foremost one in their mouths…
w vegetables and fruit in their garden and keep chickens.
e it’s perfect for harvest. Sadly, it’s too late – it is already over-ripe and will have a rotten, fermented fruit taste and smell and likely a number of lively fat grubs.
Would you like some tree tomatoes! Called tamarillos here, they are bountiful on my tree and I can’t eat them all. Flying foxes and possums find their smooth waxy skin too difficult, so I have to dispose of the whole crop. Lots of giveaways, to protect me from gout, caused by too much tomato. (Definitely not beer!). What will I do when the second tree comes into fruit? – I may have to go commercial!
My deafness began 35 odd years ago when I parted my hair with a rifle bullet. Not deliberately of course, but carelessly, following the dictates of my empty belly and breakfast waiting on the table.
In about 2002, my children and wife’s complaints sent me to an audiologist and a set of hearing aids, which I used desultorily. They rusted up and were useless by 2010.
sounds are piercingly sharp, while others remain indistinct. One of my children and two of my daughters’ partners mumble, another lisps, my wife and the other two children are soft spoken.
Two metres away from me a pink and grey galah has swooped onto the hanging basket which serves as a seed feed for our avian visitors. The first visitor of the day there is usually the beautiful 
Indian blue ring-necked parakeet, obviously an exotic escapee, who stridently whistles at us to replenish the dish with sunflower seeds.
coloured rainbow lorikeets who perch in the nearby cabbage tree like Christmas decorations shrieking and murmuring. They are tough characters: I saw one back down a magpie on our lawn, hop-charging it until it moved on. They have just chased off the galah which is a much bigger bird too!
Earlier I had swerved around a snake which fortunately also took rapid avoiding action – a yellow faced whip snake, I think.
. I didn’t take much notice. I rounded the bend, and saw a puff adder writhing about in the dust right in front of me.
The Australian Pelican flies over occasionally – we love to see them on the water
d Cuckoo Shrike is a shy visitor, who seems to just sit and watch
The Blue Indian Ringnecked Lovebird is an exotic escapee, who loves the seed we put out. Very pretty and quite tame; tolerated by the other birds so long as he is polite.
we saw one chase a Goanna (monitor lizard, like a leguaan) on Stradbroke island. It is the cousin of the Burchells Coucal (Reenvoel) in Africa
take food from the hand, but was chased off by a dominant adult pair
o just about anyone.
Crows patrol and hang around – some hate their noise, but we love
Little Corellas fly over in flocks making harsh shrieks
with. They patrol the lawn for snacks.
Magpies really do sing for their supper. If there is no bread in the basket or we are a bit late in the morning, they start shrieking and crooning in unison – quite entertaining. They are quite tame and come and sit on chair backs across the table from me, when I am eating on the verandah! We are very fond of them.
The Noisy Miner birds visit in flocks to check out the scene but don’t linger – too much competition for food from bigger birds.
A pair of Pale-headed Rosellas live in the neighbourhood and visit every now and then
The Spangled Drongo is a pretty bird with a sweet call – not as piercing as the early morning call of its African forktailed cousin.
Willie Wagtail is a pretty bird, not quite as delicate and captivating as his kiwi cousin.
sillysocksonfriday 