Yo...Jealous, much?

What would you give to be able to grow a giant like this broad beauty...? Someone Girl knows grew it. Not Girl.

Chicken Pics...

Pics of "the girls"...

계란 있네...

Girl totally did not expect to find eggs so soon...Yeong Ju had only been in her new home for a day and was still looking a little freaked out from the whole transition from huge chicken run to smelly cardboard box in jolty car to new chicken house. But lo and behold, there, in her nest of peastraw, lay a smooth small brown egg! She took a rest from laying the day after that and this morning, produced another (slightly bigger) brown egg. Now if only Eun Ju would do the same...

Korean Words (Phrases):

계란 (gye ran) egg



은주와 영주
(Eun Ju wa Yeong Ju)
Eun Ju and Yeong Ju

The latest addition to Girl's suburban backyard

Introducing Yeong Ju and Eun Ju...Girl's two bantam hens...

Eun Ju is the darker coloured one and Yeong Ju is the lighter coloured one with a bit of a comb. Yeong Ju (who also happens to be the prettier one) is a real bitch to Eun Ju, pecking her and generally tyrannising over her. But while Yeong Ju does a runner when the cat comes a-prowling, Eun Ju stands her ground and gives him the eye...quite a profound lesson to be learnt indeed...

Chja popochka...?

한국 음식을 정말 좋아해요.

Girl has been on a mission to learn how to cook some basic Korean dishes as Korean cuisine features a wide range of vegetables. Girl thinks that this will help her lose a couple of pounds and get that cholesterol count down!!

Common condiments used in cooking are sesame seed oil (used in just about every dish), the ubiquitious hot red pepper paste and soy sauce.

If you would like to learn how to make dishes such as sigeumchi namul (spinach) and gaji namul (eggplant) and (Girl's favourite) bibim naeng myeon (cold spicy mixed noodles), head right over to maangchi.com for a wide range of recipes, video demonstrations and more!!

Korean words and phrases:

참기름 (cham gi reum) sesame seed oil
간장 (kan jang) soy sauce
고추장 (go chu jang) hot pepper paste
시금치 나물 (si geum chi na mul) spinach side dish
가지 나물 (ga ji na mul) eggplant side dish
비빔 냉면 (bi bim naeng myeon) cold spicy mixed noodles


한국 음식을 정말 맛있어요!!
(Han guk eum shil eul jeong mal mat-iss-eo yo)
Korean food is really delicious!!

제가 한국 음식을 정말 좋아해요.
(Jey ga han guk eum shil eul jeong mal joh-a-hae yo)
I really like Korean food.

잘 먹겠습니다.
(Jal meok-kess seum ni da)
A polite phrase you say to the person who prepared the meal before you begin eating. Literally translated, it means "I will eat well", implying that the food will be delicious because of the skill and care taken by the person who prepared it.

잘 먹었습니다
(Jal meok-keoss seum ni da)
A polite phrase said at the end of the meal to inform the cook that you have enjoyed the meal he/she prepared and to thank them for the delicious food.

The Return of Girl to the Land of the Living...

Girl is officially on holiday!

This means that Girl can once more join the throngs of people who have lives apart from their work...

And since it is now Autumn where Girl is, it is harvest time!

Proof that Girl's attempt at planting cherry tomatoes was a success and one which will hopefully be repeated next year...

And to remind Girl of the hot summer past...a picture of Girl's collection of succulents in various pots and containers picked up from various garage sales and op shops.

It is now time for Girl to tidy up her garden and to make plans for next year...

Girl will definitely have...

• cherry tomatoes
• spinach (and more spinach!)
• lettuces
• capsicums
• zuchini
• garlic shoots and spring onions

Girl will pass on patty pan squash next year, cute though they may look on the labels, since they were a resounding failure this year...

Now onto the flower garden...

Silence is Golden...

But in Girl's little corner of this world, things have undoubtedly not been silent...which, in an ironic way, is the reason for Girl's failure to post anything on this blog for about 2 weeks. But despite Girl's seeming taciturnity, there were certainly still crumpets and tea...well, not exactly crumpets... but there certainly were crusty loaves of bread for dunking into soup and for mopping up hearty stews and a pillow soft loaf, sweetly studded with sultanas...

Yes! Girl, in her quest for the perfect loaf, finally stumbled on the reasons why her loaves were not turning out as well as they should have....they are listed below in no particular order...

1. Girl was not kneading her loaves enough before the first proving...

2. Girl was not letting her loaves prove for long enough...

3. Girl was kneading her loaves too much after knocking back the dough (after the first prove)...

4. Girl was not letting her loaves prove for long enough before baking...

5. Girl was not using a loaf tin to bake her loaves in...thereby resulting in foccacia-type loaves (the recipe that Girl used produced quite a wet dough) when what she really wanted was an up-right loaf that she could slice and pop in the toaster...

This is a sultana loaf that Girl made by tweaking the basic white loaf recipe that she had. She added 3 handfuls of sultanas, 25 grams of butter and a tablespoon of honey and substituted some of the water for milk. The loaf was baked in a 200c oven for fifteen minutes then was removed and the top covered with tin foil to stop it burning. This loaf took about an hour to be cooked to perfection. But whether the extra time needed was due to the higher fat content in the loaf or the tin-foil cover, Girl does not quite know. Girl's self-control was tested severely as she waited for the loaf to cool sufficiently for it to be cut. When she finally cut the loaf, she had three slices straight away, to make up for lost time...