The Domestic Goddess is back

...and so is the TV watching goddess. Last night I saw 2 eps of Flight of the Conchords on 2 different channels on the same day. First one was great - they dissed nightclubs and Australians and I thought it was hilarious! I have heard others talk about this series and it wasn't until I caught my flight last week from Tokyo to Sydney that I saw about half an episode on the in-flight entertainment. QANTAS shut down the entertainment system 20 minutes before landing, so I missed half of it. I was happy to see it and am quickly becoming a fan. Maybe enough of a fan to raid JB HIFI and getting the series on DVD (I was thinking of going to get some MJ music anyway - they have a 2 CD's for $15 deal. All my MJ music is on tape. I've got the Dangerous album on cassette! As well as Roxette's 'Look Sharp'. Both of those albums are classics and I want to keep them. But for a better sound, it's better to get them on disc. May as well get my FOTC fix as well!)

Yesterday I also made a delicious vegetable soup - I've always made chicken and it was nice to know I have the knack for making vegetables - as well as chicken - so tasty. It's the same process I use for making chicken soup and there's a very useful tip that I use to make sure there is not such an overpowering vegetable or chicken flavour. I'll divulge it later, when I blog the recipe, even though some of you know it already! Maybe this will be my new thing. Blog about recipes that I would like to make, post the ones that I am going to make during the week, make them and have a review. Now that I have some more time on my hands and am wanting to expand my kitchen repertoire. My Mum wants to do the same as well and has an infinite supply of cookbooks and magazines with a huge list of recipes she has always wanted to make. With my newly keen interest in cooking, it will help me to plan out menus and be more organised in the kitchen instead of going straight for the junk food for lunch or dinner. What do you think?

Today I helped Mum with a recipe called Spinach and Lamb Cobbler, which is similar to a casserole with spinach fritters on a bed of minced lamb and red kidney beans. It's in the oven as I type this and we are hoping it comes out. I'd like to post the recipe a bit later after I've taste tested it. But I have a feeling I will like this one. It incorporates ingredients that I like - so it's nothing new, just a different take on lamb. I'm looking forward to eating this one.

Later in the day my Mum and I will be going up to the central Post Office in my area to pick up the last box I had sent from Spain 3 weeks ago. I wasn't expecting it until September, but it was a lovely surprise. I hadn't picked up the box earlier because the PO requires identification with my current address. The only photo ID with my home address would be my driver's licence, but when I moved to this place last May, I had delayed going up to the DMV (VicRoads is what they call it here in Victoria) to change the address, so it had my old one on there (it was a little bit of denial, as I didn't want to move). But it's been 14 months since the move and I've spent 9 of those months overseas. I have definitely accepted the move now! So yesterday I went to VicRoads to change my address. I was in and out in 5 minutes. Now I have the ID to take to the PO (Speaking in abbreviations is fun, btw!) So after having this lamb cobbler for lunch, we'll be on our way to getting my box. And I am still in the unpacking stage. My suitcase hasn't left the living room. Plus my first box from Spain and today my second box, also my loads of clean laundry which is piling up quickly. But before I start putting laundry away, there are plenty of clothes that I want to give away. Being away for 9 months has accustomed me to wearing and owning very little clothes and now that I have my wardrobe back, there's just way too much in there. So I am going to be giving away a lot of clothes. If I don't plan on wearing them, if I don't like them and if they don't fit, they are going.

Everytime I return from a big trip, there is always the feeling of renewal. You've just come back from vacation and you want to bring that renewed feeling you got on holidays into your everyday life. I managed to enrol for my PT course on the day I arrived from Japan, started classes 9 days later, moved out to my other place 3 weeks after getting back from Japan and found a job 3 weeks later. I'm on a roll now and I'm loving it. I've even managed to apply for some work and will be going into my previous workplace later this week to see the 'vibe'. The staff want me back but the manager seems to be a bit uncertain about it. She's a lovely woman, but I'm not sure she would want me back, or perhaps is looking for a full timer and knows fully well my long term career objective of opening up my own PT business. Perhaps I'm just making too much out of nothing, but I am on a roll and I want to see where it takes me.

The cobbler is almost done. Will post a recipe blog later :)