Now for something completely different

[arxcards]

Yes, Kempsey.

Co-incidentally, 15km west of Hat Head.

 

Call in on the way to Brisbane for the cruise back to Sydney 😄

[By The Bay]

Why not see a bit of the Hunter Valley and visit Aird's of Lochinvar. They have Akubra hats. They are less than an hour from Lake Macquarie. 

[Blackduck59]

Okay that's enough already.  

I  got in to work okay but it started to snow pretty heavily (for here), and the traffic reports came in. So being fairly confident my Subaru with all wheel drive and winter tires would be okay; I wasn't at all confident that others on the road would refrain from running in to me.

I got home fairly safely although there were some slippery moments. 

Edited January 17 by Blackduck59

[Blackduck59]

We have a nice fire going, and it is quite cozy. Unfortunately it is still snowing and it will freeze overnight so the already bad roads will be worse 😟

[JJK2008]

1 hour ago, Blackduck59 said:

Okay that's enough already.  

I  got in to work okay but it started to snow pretty heavily (for here), and the traffic reports came in. So being fairly confident my Subaru with all wheel drive and winter tires would be okay; I wasn't at all confident that others on the road would refrain from running in to me.

I got home fairly safely although there were some slippery moments. 

YUK!!!! Stay Safe.....spring is just around the corner.....almost.

[MicCanberra]

Hope the Groundhog isn't sleeping in till May

[Blackduck59]

2 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Hope the Groundhog isn't sleeping in till May

We have our own special Marmots on the Island Mic, they are very endangered critters; and we don't bother them over trivial little weather superstitions. Ironically they make their home on Mount Washington, our island's major ski hill. 

[Blackduck59]

Sockeye salmon for supper. 

 

[Blackduck59]

Oops forgot the picture 

[Mareblu]

Looks delicious, Lyle😋

[Blackduck59]

Thanks Linda, Sockeye is our go to salmon, It has a nice colour and pleasant flavour. Put us on the cooked fully list of salmon lovers, we don't really like the skin, so I start the fish presentation side down and then flip it over, if the skin sticks to the pan that's okay you just run the flipper between the skin and the fish, leaving the skin in the pan.

Edited January 18 by Blackduck59

[Mareblu]

20 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

Thanks Linda, Sockeye is our go to salmon, It has a nice colour and pleasant flavour. Put us on the cooked fully list of salmon lovers, we don't really like the skin, so I start the fish presentation side down and then flip it over, if the skin sticks to the pan that's okay you just run the flipper between the skin and the fish, leaving the skin in the pan.

Then pass it to me🙂

[Blackduck59]

Then I would have to scrape the scales off (a loathsome task) Of course I would do it if a I had a guest who enjoyed the skin 😉

[MicCanberra]

The salmon fillets I buy already have the scales removed.

[Blackduck59]

2 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

The salmon fillets I buy already have the scales removed.

An excellent service from your fish monger. We have only one actual fish market here and a couple grocery chains that have good fish/seafood sections (including live tanks for crab, lobster, clams and muscles. I don't think any of them would scrape the scales for me. If I'm expect guests I will buy whole fish and scrape and filet it myself.

[Mareblu]

1 hour ago, MicCanberra said:

The salmon fillets I buy already have the scales removed.

Ditto

[lyndarra]

1 hour ago, MicCanberra said:

The salmon fillets I buy already have the scales removed.

Same here.

[MicCanberra]

Our salmon isn't as fresh from the river/ sea like Lyle's is likely to be.

[Blackduck59]

Much of our commercially available fish is actually frozen at sea. The only way to be sure the fish is fresh is if it has the head on and gills intact. When I see that, I will check the eyes and gills and if the eyes are clear and the gills nice and red then I'll buy the whole fish and process it at home.

[Mareblu]

10 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

Okay that's enough already.  

I  got in to work okay but it started to snow pretty heavily (for here), and the traffic reports came in. So being fairly confident my Subaru with all wheel drive and winter tires would be okay; I wasn't at all confident that others on the road would refrain from running in to me.

I got home fairly safely although there were some slippery moments. 

Not at all fun to drive in.  It's so beautiful, though.  Ethereal.  

[Mareblu]

19 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Our salmon isn't as fresh from the river/ sea like Lyle's is likely to be.

No, and certainly not the same quality, as it's usually farmed.  I found some beautiful, rich, red Canadian salmon imported by Harris Farm in Bowral last year.  It was another level.  Very costly though, so maybe only a yearly visit to Bowral, as I can't trust myself in the fresh fish section at Harris Farm.  I actually prefer the taste and colour of ocean trout, but it's usually not deboned.  The skin on the ocean trout can be grilled to a perfect, rich crunch.  We're lucky we have a vast variety and abundance of exquisite fish in our own waters, usually white fleshed.

[Blackduck59]

1 minute ago, Mareblu said:

No, and certainly not the same quality, as it's usually farmed.  I found some beautiful, rich, red Canadian salmon imported by Harris Farm in Bowral last year.  It was another level.  Very costly though, so maybe only a yearly visit to Bowral, as I can't trust myself in the fresh fish section at Harris Farm.  I actually prefer the taste and colour of ocean trout, but it's usually not deboned.  The skin on the ocean trout can be grilled to a perfect, rich crunch.  We're lucky we have a vast variety and abundance of exquisite fish in our own waters, usually white fleshed.

I think Lynn said she paid $2.99 per 100 grams for the sockeye we had tonight. We call ocean run trout "Steelhead" and they are a prized catch for anglers. Steelhead has a more orange flesh than sockeye which is quite red. Of course many people pay a premium for "Chinook" often called spring salmon or king salmon. Around here the really big Chinooks (more than 30 pounds) Tyee salmon. Many people really like Chinook (and of course the local "southern resident" Orcas are rather picky eaters and pretty much only eat Chinook). We prefer sockeye and coho. Another species are pink salmon which are very oily and to me and many others only suitable for smoking. We never buy farmed salmon.

[Bubbeh]

I just bought 500gm of smoked salmon (Tasmanian) for $26 from Woolies.  Pretty proud of myself.

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, Blackduck59 said:

Another species are pink salmon which are very oily and to me and many others only suitable for smoking. 

I don't  like smoking salmon, it is easy enough to roll but a bugger to light.

[Blackduck59]

So now we have a new wrinkle, we have plans to be in Melbourne for a few days before we fly out to Auckland on the 13th of March 2025. Well here we are looking at the calendar and of course the F1 race is at that time. I love F1 but they are messing with my plan and I couldn't afford the to go to the race anyway. This will be the second time I've been so close to a race and unable to go. Getting a room anywhere near Melbourne will be impossible at that time. Perhaps we will need to reassess our Melbourne timing and maybe plan to move our Philip Island stop to that time and drive to the airport from there on the 13th.