Monthly Archives: December 2012

BERRY FEAST

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Wow what an amazing 3 days we have had. It all started at Warnambool Vic where we started our journey along the Great Ocean Road.  There is one little twist to this 3 day journey along this well known stretch of road and that is Mr Lucas Lifestyle rode it on a push bike. That’s right you are reading this correctly, he hopped on his push bike in Warnambool and under his own steam peddled for 67Km and ended up in Port Campbell. Day 2 was a much harder and longer day for Mr Lucas Lifestyle with a 98Km uphill ride ending in Apollo Bay. Day 3 was a little shorter and not quite as hard as day 2 with only 90Km and not as much uphill with the day ending in Torquey. Matt will post a full count on this ride in the next few days (after he recovers).

Berries!!! Berries remind me so much of the Christmas holidays, the hot sun and refreshing cold berries for an afternoon snack or desert. So when opportunity came knocking at the door to go and pick some fresh strawberries and blackberries we all jumped at it. Berry picking took place at the end of day 1 of Matt’s ride. We took a quick little 15min drive inland to a town called Timboon, and headed out to the berry farm. We were greeted by the owners of the farm, an elderly couple in their 70’s. They had owned the farm for around 20 years and were very knowledgeable. At $8.50 a Kg we just couldn’t help ourselves and picked over a Kg of fresh berries, we where even permitted to have a little sample while we were picking. The biggest berry of the day went to Tiana who picked a 96g strawberry, and it was sweet and tasty. So with fresh berries and a look around the area we headed on home to our van where we had this divine fresh fruit salad and custard for desert.

Fresh strawberries

Fresh blackberries

Fresh Mango

Halve the strawberries and place them in a bowl, then spread the blackberries over the top. Cut the checks of the mango and scoop it from the skin, dice and add it to the berry mix. Mix gently and serve with custard. It’s so refreshing and yummy!

CHOCOLATE & PHILLIP ISLAND

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What can I say we have just driven through some of the prettiest countryside the past few days. We have travelled from Shoalhaven Heads in NSW to Phillip Island in VIC, along the Princes Highway. I loved travelling along the road and seeing all the different wild flowers out in bloom, they were so lovely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So back on task we are now in Phillip Island and enjoying some of the sights, but the one place that really took my fancy was the Chocolate factory. Who doesn’t love chocolate, but if you are like me and can’t tolerate the dairy that they put into a lot of chocolate you will like this place, for there dark chocolate does not contain dairy. (guess who was now in chocolate heaven)

Processes to get chocolate

The process starts right back at the cocoa tree, where the cocoa pods are harvested. Harvest takes place every 6 months and the pods need to sound hollow and have a pale yellow through to deep red colour about them. Now that the pods are harvested they are cut open ever so carefully as not to damage the beans inside. The beans are then removed from the pod and left to ferment for around five to seven days. After this time the beans are spread out and left to dry in the sun for about six more days. Now we are starting to get down to the tasty part of this process, the roasting. The dried beans are then roasted; this brings out their flavour and also removes the remaining water content that they have. Roasting temperatures and times affect the taste of the cocoa. This is the point at which some people will recognise cocoa. After being roasted they are then put through a crusher to remove the shell and reveal the nibs that are inside. The nibs are what chocolate is made from. Nibs are also very nice to eat just the way they are. Grinding the nibs together produces a paste like consistency called cocoa liquor. The reason the roasted nuts turn to a paste is due to their high oil content which is then pressed out of the liquor, forming 2 parts to the original nib. Cocoa butter (oil) and cocoa cake (ground into cocoa powder). Not long now till we have sweet sweet Chocolate. Cocoa butter is then mixed with some cocoa liquor, sugar, lecithin and other ingredients to form chocolate.

So there you have it in short that is how chocolate is made. 🙂

HAIR CHALLENGE PART 6

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4th December 2012

 

OK it’s been just over a month since my last hair challenge post and all is going well. I am using a bi-carb wash once a week to 10 days to get rid of the extra oil, and I am loving the results. I have tried using an apple cider vinegar to condition my hair as well but that just resulted in having oily hair within a couple of days. So in conclusion to my hair challenge, I will be sticking to washing my hair with bi-carb soda. My husband as mentioned in the last hair challenge post has also taken on the challenge and is finding it is working well. I will mention that he isn’t using bi-carb soda as a shampoo like myself he is just using water. Both of our hair is looking shinny, clean and healthy. I don’t think either of us will be reverting back to using commercially made hair products. I would love to hear your thoughts about the whole no poo challenge.