sartoric

I kept up the fine Australian traditions of "what can I be arsed with" and "really, it's just another day". So, there was a ham and cheese sandwich. I don't want to raise culinary expectations too early in the year.

Me too.

So I bought this half leg of beechwood smoked ham thinking I'd glaze and bake it, serve with potato gratin yada yada. The heat of yesterday killed any idea of turning on the oven, so Mr Ham just got sliced and served with cold stuff. I did make a potato salad..... Happy 2017 to all.

In a similar vein, Trev, our 4.5 kilo turkey provides many meals for two... Here are some turkey vegetable pies, served with fresh tomato chutney and salad. There will be one more turkey dish on the near horizon, and a half breast is in the freezer !

A simple steak on the barbie with turkey gravy. Served with warm potato salad, barbied corn, and a couple salads.

No, that's just wrong. I'm talking bread, toasted one side, smear mashed banana, sprinkle with grilled bacon, top with grated cheddar cheese and grill until the cheese bubbles. Terminology clarification, by grill, I mean the top element in the oven. Get it out of the bucket @liuzhou

Try bacon with cheese and banana....

Smoked salmon, goats cheese and caper quiche, with a salad.

Turkey samosas with salad, mango chutney and cucumber raita.

I went bargain hunting at the supermarket on Boxing Day, and picked up a half price turkey. I called him Trev, he was organic, free range and 4.5 kgs. He roasted nicely with a bacon and herb stuffing, potatoes, sweet potato, pumpkin and parsnips in duck fat, plus garlic spinach and cranberry sauce. See also the "I will never again" thread for tips (ahem) on handling the meat thermometer.

I will never again touch the meat thermometer which has been wedged in a turkey thigh for 20 minutes in a 180 C oven. I'm not sure what I was thinking, it's a new meat thermometer...and perhaps I'm a special kind of idiot. I have white stripes on the fingertips of my index and middle fingers, plus the thumb of my right hand. It used to be the most helpful hand, but not so much now. I'm pleased to have ice. It still hurts....a lot.

Not a lot I can tell really, it's a bowl with a plastic insert sitting in a metal frame. No drainage holes, so I figure something that likes water might work. I will find seeds or a plant and report back The jar of green stuff is Cahill Comfrey Comfort "Boneknit". It's for bruises, sprains, scars and fractures, not that I have any of those he he. It's made by a friend who's a RN and keen gardener, she's hoping to develop a range of products. In the black tall bottle is Rogue Society small batch gin from New Zealand, might go nicely in the glasses I reckon.

Everyone knows to give us food (or drink) related gifts. Quite the haul here....the white thing on the left is going to grow watercress.

Last nights dinner, easy fried squid with flat chips and salad, plus a spicy mayo dipping sauce.. It's Christmas morning here in Oz, Seasons Greetings to all, ho ho ho.

Thai red curry with pork, pineapple and peas. Served with jasmine rice, mango chutney and a pappadam.

Sirloin steak with blue cheese butter, baked potato, roasted tomatoes and spinach salad.

Thai style duck laksa. Duck stock, coconut milk, Thai laksa paste, bok choy, sliced duck breast, noodles. Slurp.

A favourite meal which I've shared before. There's always some variance with a chicken schnitzel dinner. Here I use the new Tabasco chipotle sauce to spice the tomatoes. The mash is pumpkin, potato and horseradish, the salad is baby cos with a New Zealand lemon dressing, plus there's the usual caramelised onion and fried sage leaves.

A little lunch today - the relish on slices of aged cheddar on sesame Vita Wheats. 'Twas marvellous ! No photo, scarfed it down.

Duck larb. I used leftover roast duck chopped finely, warmed with two birds eye chillies and dressed with fish sauce, lime juice and roasted ground rice. Served on iceberg lettuce and topped with mint and spring onions. Easy and tasty.

Whaddya expect for $1.99 a pound ? I can't buy any beef here for less than $5 a pound, either marbled or granite finish.. Spiders are no biggie. They're scaredy cats who run away mostly, and we are MUCH bigger !

@JoNorvelleWalker, like many Aussies we have a drinks fridge (downstairs in the laundry). Easy to free up space by removing something (in this case 2 six packs of cider), plus the freezer comes in handy for stock and stuff. There is nothing worse than lukewarm drinks that should be cold, warm beer is the worst

I roasted a duck, my first ever roast Daffy. Taking advice from here, I dried him uncovered in the fridge overnight, then stuffed a handful of thyme, a slice of orange and crushed garlic in the cavity. Served with roasted potatoes, parsnips and pumpkin, plus a gravy made from pan juices and a few morello cherries.

You'll probably be horrified to hear this, but I have a bamix brand MW rice cooker, and always cook my rice in it. Thirteen minutes to perfect rice. Pappadams work a treat either sprayed with oil or not. Heat Peking duck pancakes, or any other flat bready/batter type things. Paper towels moistened can help. I zap frozen peas, steam green beans and blanch other green veggies, par cook cauliflower florets, it's an endless list. A bechamel sauce is so easy and much less mess than in a saucepan. Invest a few yuan in glass or MW appropriate cookware. I could go on. Signed MW tragic...

Salt and pepper squid with Shelby fries, red cabbage slaw and stray mango relish.