Jodie's Back!

Jodie has been back for a week now, and I've been sooooo glad to have her back.

We have had a couple of days off this week, which meant we got to have a couple of sleep ins, and special breakfasts... pancakes and huevos rancheros! We've had a couple of special dinners too, including Jodie's favourite curry for her return, pizza nite(tm) with our bread maker making fresh pizza dough, and Beef Wellington last night. Jodie's culinary repertoire never ceases to amaze me, and beef wellington is my new favourite [having never had it before!]. I can't wait for our next pizza nite(tm)! I'm hoping to have them often enough to avoid making a MASSIVE 'the lot', just because you can. Next on the list is BBQ Chicken and Mushroom. I think Jodie is going to do something with tuna...

We have a full house tonight, since it's a long weekend here, and have had the fire going all afternoon, which is a favourite with the guests.

Epiphany

I had another big day. I had two rooms of guests, which turned out to be 5 breakfasts, since someone changed their minds about the pancakes... They weren't so nice by the time I got to [try and] eat them 2 hours later. After a 10ish checkout I was ready to do the rooms. I didn't put my lunch in the microwave until 1300... so there is definitely something about the way Jodie and I do the rooms together that makes it much more efficent. It doesn't feel like twice as much work while Jodie is away... it's more like three times as much!

My afternoon was spent ironing table cloths, reseting the dining room, trimming 5kg of bacon [I portioned the 4kg of sausages yesterday], washing, drying, dishes, diswasher, greeting guests, lighting [and piling wood on] the fire. By the time I had that under control that it was about 1800 - and time to nuke the curry!

It was during this, that I realised why running a B&B is so much fun! It's because I get to do it all with Jodie. We spend most of the time talking, laughing and providing much needed comic relief to one another. When things go awry in the kitchen and I'm by myself - I don't even swear - since there is no one to hear it [I know you'll apreciate that, honey]. When there's a 'mess' in the bathrooms, at least I can make Jodie laugh [and / or squirm] by describing it in great detail. Nothing much is too linear when we work as a team - if one of us is behind in our usual list of tasks, the other pitches in, so I get constantly surprised when things are just done. When it's time for a break, I'm either brought a coffee [luxury], or I get to make one for Jodie [a little present]. Making a coffee for myself just seems mundane.

Now it's off to bed. I've already made the fruit salad this afternoon, and pancake batter is at the ready, so I'm prepared for hopefully four breakfasts tomorrow.

Jodie, where for art thou?

If you guessed Adelaide, you'd be right. After a rigorous training and assessment program, I have been assessed as competent in every aspect of running Schouten House. So Jodie is able to have a couple of weeks in Adelaide while I run the show here.

Tonight I've got two rooms of guests, so tomorrow will be a full test of how I'll cope. Not that I haven't done it before. While Jodie was unwell, I looked after one room of guests single handed... So my assessment included thing like making beds, doing washing [both washing machine and dryer]. Most other things we tend to share anyway.

The biggest challenge will be breakfast service. We usually take turns in 1) taking orders, making and serving drinks, and serving breakfast and 2) cooking breakfasts. We have it on good authority that one person should be able to cope with 3 rooms by themselves - so 2 shouldn't be a problem.

Today was a busy day of preparation for me. It's getting cold, so chopping firewood was a must. Vacuuming is still rewarding, although the novelty has worn off. I baked shortbread, and had it out of the oven just in time for coffee for one set of guests. Yesterday I cooked mung bean soup, and today was a new Rogan Josh curry. With 3 cups of beans and 2kg of lamb respectively and an open 2.95kg tin of baked beans, I'm set for food for the next little bit. We also froze a bunch of meals recently so the freezer is stocked too. I managed to have the Rogan Josh simmering early so it had about 6 hours of slow burn. Delicious.

Both George Henry and Irving Norman have been keeping me company, and I think they miss Jodie almost as much as I do. It has just occurred to me that I think talking to cats maybe weirder than talking to myself. At least they seem to agree with me more often than I do. Just to put your mind at rest Jodie, I've given them their treat, checked their water, food and ensured that their air-look security system has not been breached.

Birthday Girl

Here is a recent picture of the birthday girl down at Schouten Beach.

Jodie started her day with coffee in bed, followed by scrambled eggs and smoked salmon. Then unfortunately we couldn't escape from a few chores... but in the afternoon, we went to Kabuki by the Sea and had a drink and enjoyed the view with Terry. For dinner, we started with Champagne and oysters...



The oysters were all gone before we knew it!



Next up, we had Yellowfin Tuna Steaks, which were awesome! Very thick, only quickly seared, with a pepper crust, and a wonderful salad.





We were helped by one of our new favourite wines... A 2005 Spring Vale Vineyards Pinot Noir.



The dessert was spectacular. Jodie and I [well... I helped] made the two best mousses I have every tasted. The chocolate one had a hint of some special cognac. The white chocolate mousse was made with real vanilla bean, and was perfectly balanced.



All in all a wonderful day! I might have to get Jodie to add something to the post, because as per usual, I seems a little food oriented! [Update: Jodie has commented on the post]

Jodie and Cameron in the Guest Lounge

Our guests from last night wanted to take a photo of Jodie and I for a memory of the place [and the people], so I jumped on the bandwagon, and asked them to take an extra one with our digital camera.

Today, it's raining, so the open fire is quite an attraction. As well as the pots of tea we do for the guests when they come back in from the cold.

Jodie

The most common request [by far] that I've received for my blog is that I post a picture of Jodie. I'm only too happy to oblige, with my new favourite photo, which was added to the peppermint bay web album.

I also have to comment on the weather in Hobart! When I left for my holiday in July, I was used to it being 5 degrees celsius, and walking home in the dark. Now, the average temperature over the last three days when I've walked to work has been 14 degrees. After work, walking home, it's been 15 degrees, and still light. Hobart is hooning towards summer!

Jodie and I have been cooking again... but more about that later...

Home

I arrived back home this afternoon, absolutely exhausted from the travel, but with enough wits about me to make sure I stopped off for a quick coopers pale ale for breakfast at about 0830 this morning in Adelaide.

I was absolutely exstatic to see Jodie at the airport, and she has looked after me very well, and I'm looking forward to a good nights sleep... before work tomorrow.

I'll post some more photos from the trip over the next few days, and might even try out google's picassa web albums to post a larger number of pictures than is sensible for a blog...