Singular Scene

So Singular in Each Particular

Life Lines.

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One of the things I’m most thankful for in my life is that while I live ‘overseas’ from my family it’s close enough to get home at a moment’s notice. We had one of those moments just last weekend when my Dad messaged me that his mum, my precious little 101year old Grandma was likely to be leaving us.

On Saturday August 28th she did just that, quietly in her sleep after only one day confined to her bed. She was ready, she had been for a while, and we all suspected that this year it would be our last with her. But even in the acknowledgement that her advanced, wonderful years she wasn’t going to last forever there was a little part of me that thought maybe she would… maybe she’d be one of these who got to 107… or more…

But sadly no, she’s gone and with her a generation of men and women who’ll be remembered by some, recorded by others but really only known by a few. I count it such a privilege to be one of the few.

There aren’t enough words to chronicle her life, in many respects it was unremarkable, born in 1908, married in 1936 after a very long engagement (slowed down by the war and her prospective husband’s desire not to pressure her family’s finances), bearing 3 children and raising them with all the advantages of comfortable middle class, moderated by a staunch Methodist faith tradition, Mabel Henrietta (Finlay) Teal was remembered, by all those who spoke about her in the funeral service, as a woman who was deeply interested in others far more than her own situation, devoted to her family and completely engaged by cultivation of orchids for which she won many awards in the Auckland area. She was quick to laugh, quick to serve and quick to love and if I think too hard about the gap she’s left in our family, the changes wrought by no longer dropping by her little home whenever I’m in Auckland, a tear catches in my throat and I shift my thoughts back to the happy place, the one where she’s with Grandpa, catching him up with stories of us.  Stories where we’re doing things with our lives that in some cases defied her understanding (websites? computers? coding??).  Stories of love.  Just as we’ll tell stories about her long into our future.

I’m forever grateful for the time we had – grateful it was so long, grateful for the memories of holidays with her and Grandpa, grateful for the letters I’ve kept where her wit and wisdom shine through the spidery cursive writing.  Grateful she was my Grandma. Grateful I knew her. Grateful she loved me and all the rest of us (3 children, 11 grandchildren, 19 greatgrandchildren (+ 2 on the way).  Grateful.

So, godspeed Grandma – See you on the other side.

xxx

Denise.

Made of Awesome

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So, I changed the thumbnails over there on the right to reflect the fact that I’m far from posting awesome anywhere close to once a week… Happily I’m sitting in an airport today with little else to do or think about and so I’ll update the links for you!!!

Video: I’m linking to this one, partly because, it’s fantastic – a beautiful love story – and because the people involved are friends of mine!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfZMyHpmhJU4 Kris and Rach are amazing people and their story is challenging and yet amazing as they fight Kris’ cancer together. http://www.triplem.com.au/sydney/shows/grill-team You can also hear them interviewed on local Sydney Radio where the video made the hardmen of the grill team all cry!

Photos: Came across this site http://www.pictorymag.com/showcases/in-deep/ which as some stunning photos… the feature ‘in deep’ is beautiful but also a bunch of other great galleries to check out as well.

Reading: Just finished Chocolat – Loved it but had reverse disappointment that the book wasn’t the same as the movie!! At least not the same as I remember… I may have to watch the movie again just to be sure (who am I kidding, great excuse to see Johnny Depp in action needs no justification)

Listening: I haven’t always been that keen on the offerings of Australian Idol winners but Stan Walker is pretty special… I bought the latest album ‘From the Inside Out‘ and LOVE it.

Surf’s Up: There are some very cool magazine style sites around with fantastic articles. I think I need an iPad to do them justice actually (slowly talking myself into one…) here’s the one I found most interesting recently… ‘Cabinet‘

Post of Note: I just love this story!! It’s a bit long and involved but really cool to hear when the People’s Justice happens in a place like New York!! http://www.whatever-whenever.net/blog/2010/08/justice-in-brooklyn/

Dipping one’s toes in the Rockpool

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As I mentioned yesterday, in the course of my adventures with Nobill and the Chairman I had the chance to have dinner at Rockpool, Sydney on Wednesday evening. [insert cheer here].

This is kind of a big deal –  for a start, the price is the first disqualifier from making it a regular haunt… the 8 course degustation menu costs $195 – plus 10% service charge (given the number of people required serving up this menu to 13 of us, it makes sense…) plus the matched wines ($95pp) it runs to a rather a lot more than my pocket could stand.  Other features such as the fact it’s primarily a seafood restaurant is another reason I’m even less likely to make it a habit!!  But hey, when you have a chance like this, you take it up… they don’t come by every day.  It was also a good challenge for me to go beyond my comfort zone and eat food I wouldn’t normally think I’d like (it’s not that I’m fussy – just not particularly adventurous…).

Having said all that, I have seriously tried to get a taste for shellfish and crustaceans, prawns etc but have never been able to culture my palate to them, so when it was decided to go with the full menu I pleaded shellfish allergy to eliminate a few of the elements that I knew wouldn’t go down well.

So, here’s the menu with my added explanations of what it was we were eating. I wish I’d taken photos, but in the end I was a little embarassed to be so ‘uncouth’ as to document it all to that extent… you know, given that I was dining with rather a large number of physicists and ‘people of import’… I can happily say that I totally enjoyed everything laid on my plate – sushi included so, for me, the evening was an unqualified pleasure!

  • Sterling caviar on prawn toast – to modify this for me the caviar was served without the prawn.  This ‘amuse-bouche’ looked like a monotone freckle (of the chocolate variety) was served on circle of delicate wafer, and while barely a mouthful was delicate and interesting.  My first ever caviar and that it was enjoyable was the first bonus of the evening!!  Guess Mum’s law of ‘a little bit of everything’ paid off..
  • Fragrant crab broth with hand picked queensland mud crab, dashi custard, tapioca and wild bamboo pith – this one had to be modified to suit so I had the ‘vegetarian option’ featuring (wait for it, my other least fave thing) mushrooms.  However, it tasted gorgeous and I got past how the mushrooms squeaked/felt and actually, it was lovely!
  • Chirashi zushi of tuna, prawn, bonito, ocean trout and squid – this one was served for me without the squid and was amazing – I’ve never gone the raw tuna before and it really was gorgeous… however, in considering eating it in the future I reckon I might have got spoiled by my first real sushi being served at Rockpool so I may still give it a wide berth!!
  • Green lip abalone, red braised thirlmere goose, chicken crisp and fine noodles with xo dressing – this one was replaced by Beetroot and horseradish tart with autumn vegetables and beetroot reduction.  Here’s where I out myself as a real philistine and say that actually I’m not a big beetroot fan either… and honestly, for whatever reason the 3 things I’m least likely to choose are these… seafood, mushrooms and beetroot. I think it was a cosmic joke by the universe that I had to get over myself and get into it.  I’m totally glad I did!
  • Crispy whiting with melanda pork belly, artichokes and olives – If you didn’t look carefully you’d have been hard pressed to pick which was the pork belly! It was a tiny button on the plate, perfectly circular and so delicately cooked – gorgeous. But too small!!! Guess we had to save room for the rest!!
  • Redgate farms partridge pie with melted leeks and borscht sauce – now if you saw this you’d have said pie?  This wasn’t served in a dish, but was a beautiful ball of filled pastry on the plate, the meat and sauce rich without being overpowering and absolutely stunning to look at and taste!
  • David blackmore’s full blood wagyu rib eye (score 9+), hot and numbing oyster blade, tendon with soy and rock sugar sauce – I could have eaten this 3x over. Absolutely perfect.
  • Pink grapefruit and pine nut tartlet – one acronym. OMG.
  • Baked alaska; pear sorbet and spiced mousse – this one looked really impressive but sorbet centre really didn’t cut it for me, felt a bit bland actually.
  • Coffee and petits fours – Passionfruit marshmallow, hazelnut in chocolate, mini madelines and salted caramels.  *dribbles*

If you’re interested, Be the Foodie has pictures here – not all the images match completely what we had, the menu changes according to season/availability but you’ll certainly get the idea!!

In all, it was a fantastic experience and a really great evening!