Xmas Carols at the Domain

I was asked, "do you have something like this in the US?" Not that I know of. It was 'bring-your-picnic-basket to the park' Xmas Carols in the Domain. Obviously, its too cold to have a picnic at night during winter back home.

We packed our picnic basket and met up with Natasha's parents and friends at the park. For about a couple of hours, singers from Australian Idol (the American Idol version) ie. Shannon Nolls, TV personalities, The Wiggles, and featuring the "Hoff"...as in David Hasselhoff (yes, he did sell a lot of albums and is apparently BIG in Germany), sang christmas carols all night. I can't believe I'm seeing Michael Knight/Mr Baywatch singing Xmas Carols in Sydney. And they had fireworks, too!!! Hopefully, we can make this a tradition every year.



















The following day, my company had their second Xmas get together. This was just for the Sydney office. We had dinner at our Exec Mgr's home in Artarmon (pronounced Artaaamon) across the bridge (in the north side). This is one of the rich areas of Sydney and his home must have been at least $1M...maybe even $1.5M or more. The lamb was great and many more courtesy of Terry. Below is one of the recipes I got from Terry...its easy to prepare and I really liked it. I'm gonna try making it one of these days. Try it!

Bean & Pea medley with mint & almond pesto (Serves 12)
Ingredients
450g soya beans (edamame)
Note you can get these from Japanese grocery shops (frozen)
800g green beans, trimmed
4 cups shelled peas (or 1kg frozen peas)
½ cup sliced almonds, toasted in the oven at 180C for 5 minutes until golden
Torn mint leaves to garnish

Method
Squeeze the soya bean pods to remove the bright green beans.
Cook the green beans in a large saucepan of boiling salted water for 2 minutes.
Add the peas to the saucepan and cook for 2 minutes more, or until beans and peas are just tender, then add the podded soya beans and cook for 30 seconds more.
Drain well and toss in mint and almond pesto (recipe follows) while hot.
Scatter with toasted sliced almonds and torn mint leaves and serve immediately.

Mint & Almond Pesto
Ingredients
1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped
1 cup tightly packed mint leaves
½ cup toasted blanched almonds
½ cup almond oil or extra virgin olive oil, plus extra if necessary
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
Place the garlic and mint in the bowl of a food processor and process to chop.
Add almonds and process again until coarsely ground.
With the motor running, drizzle the almond or olive oil through the feed tube and process until incorporated – adding more oil if necessary to bring the mixture to a smooth and flowing paste.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.