M@sterchef and the apathetic Australians.

I love Masterchef. A lot. To give you some idea of how much I love it, I make my Mum and Dad record it on TiVo while I'm away at uni and then, when I return home, I watch hours upon hours of the TV show and never get bored. I tweet #Masterchef while I watch and loved that #Masterchef was a trending topic worldwide on Twitter. I know the names of all the contestants, know their professions, their cooking specialities. Yep. Told you I was obsessed.

What I didn't realise was that the rest of Australia also felt the same way. Four million Australians - that's just under one fifth of the Aussie population - are set to tune in for the finale which will be screened at 7.30pm Sunday evening.

What I find incredible is that "the great debate" between Abbott and Gillard, which was scheduled to occur at, you guessed it, 7.30pm on Sunday night, has been rescheduled to the earlier 6.30pm timeslot because, when given the choice between the two, most would prefer to watch the Masterchef finale. This way, they can watch both pollies and amateur chefs battle for their lives... sounds like the perfect way to finish one's weekend.

At a deeper level, this shows that Australians are becoming politically apathetic. The future of our country and the discussion of policies which, let's face it, will affect us, just aren't as interesting as a cooking show.

I know I'll be interested to see the audience ratings following Sunday evening. I also know I'll be tuning in to both the Great Debate and to the Masterchef Finale. Which timeslot do you think will win the most viewers?

Oh and, as a side note, I hope Adam wins the finale. I love his delicious Japanese fusion cuisine and he just seems like such a nice guy. Then again, Callum is lovely and is incredibly talented! Really, the winner in all of this is Channel Ten. When other TV channels have to include Masterchef segments in their current affairs programs, you know they're getting desperate.

Photos courtesy of: http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2010/04/11/1225852/460526-masterchef.jpg and masterchef.com.au

Healthy Eating

I have been trying to eat healthily recently. Think lots of vegetables, brown rice, oats and poached eggs for protein.

This is a recipe I would definitely recommend - it is traditionally from provincial France - and it's something I've grown up with.

It has a movie named after it (which is very cute) and most people can't spell it, but it's called Ratatouille, and here's the recipe (serves 4):

Ingredients:

• 4 tomatoes
• 3 tbs olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 red capsicum, diced
• 1 yellow capsicum, diced
• 1 eggplant, diced
• 1 tbs tomato puree
  
• 2 stalks celery sliced
  
• 2 zuchinni sliced
• 2 carrotts diced
  
• 1/2 tbs chopped fresh thyme
• 2 tbs torn fresh basil leaves
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed

Method:

• Score a cross in the base of each tomato and plunge into a bowl of boiling water for 20 seconds.
  
• Peel the skin from the tomatoes and discard.
  
• Chop the tomato flesh into medium dice.
  
• Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat and add the onion. Cook for 2-3 minutes then add the celery, zucchini, carrots and capsicum and cook for a further 5 minutes. Transfer the onion and capsicum to a plate and set aside.
  
• Add the eggplant to the pan and cook over medium heat for 5-6 minutes. Return the onion and capsicum to the pan and stir in tomato puree. Add thyme and tomatoes.
  
• Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the basil and garlic.
  

Ratatouille is perfect for winter; it is delicious served hot on a bed of brown rice and you could poach some chicken (in a chicken stock) for protein too if you liked.

Photo courtesy of: http://progressives.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/ratatouille.jpg

Quelques films francais...

Over the winter holidays I decided to expose myself to some french films and was not disappointed.

In fact I am rarely disappointed by french films, with their originality, quirkiness and unpredictability.

These are the films I viewed and I'd really heavily recommend checking them out:

1. La Classe (2008)
I loved this movie, which happened to win the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and was also nominated for an Oscar. Having lived in France and attended a french school, I could certainly relate to the storyline; it provides an insight into a teacher and his class of 13-14 year olds who come from a plethora of cultures and backgrounds. It is at times humorous, at times heart-wrenching and always captivating.

2. À la folie... pas du tout (2002)
This title translates to He loves me, he loves me not and stars one of my favourite female actresses, Audrey Tatou. It plays in two parts, each developing an alternative point of view to a series of events. The film has a macabre twist to it, details erotomania, and really forces you to challenge your perceptions of truth.

3. I've Loved You So Long (2008)
Although this wasn't my favourite of the three movies, I still enjoyed it. It tells of a woman, who murdered her child and consequently served fifteen years of prison time, and once released, goes to live with her sister (who has two young children of her own). This is a dark film with heavy themes, but it does make you question the ability of murderers to be rehabilitated into society.

Image courtesy of: http://www.mymovies.it/cinemanews/2008/3607/la_classe_3.jpg

Ski Camp (After)

I promised I would write about ski camp upon return and, because I have been back for at least three weeks, it seems timely to pen my experiences.

To recap, I travelled with year's nine and ten at the school where I work, alongside several staff members and two gap students. We had lots and lots of fun over the five days, with one of the highlights of the trip being snow shoeing. This consisted of fitting tennis racket-esque covers over our shoes and trecking with stocks up snow covered mountains. This was so very rewarding as, at the peak of the mountain, there were the most spectacular views over to adjacent mountain peaks dusted in snow.

Another highlight of the trip was watching the year 10 students put a menu plan together on $200, which had to provide people with a three-course meal, as well as catering for breakfast the next morning. The students not only had to source their ingredients, but to cook for the group also. They did an amazing job, choosing a simple menu of garlic bread as entree, pizza for main, and ice cream with toppings for dessert. The next morning pancakes were on the menu, and the kids were really proud of themselves for accomplishing what they saw to be a rather challenging task. It was also lots of fun getting up at 4.30am with the kids to watch the soccer, and all sitting in a refurbished train carriage, snuggled in our doonas and pjs, cheering on the Aussies!

While the snow wasn't the best, it was still good to have a ski and I skied predominantly with the male teachers on the trip - we were fond of High Noon (because it was the most challenging piste with sufficient snow) but were also fond of coffees at the top of the mountain! The skiing part of the trip really made me excited for my ski season at the end of the year!

A very long drive home at the end of the trip meant that most of the kids had naps, and the teachers joined them in dozing away the six or so hours back to Bathurst. After three stops at McDonalds along the way (either for toilet stops or for food), we finally made it home and it took several days to catch up on the lost sleep from 6am-11pm days jam-packed full of abseiling, rock climbing, orienteering, skiing, snow shoeing and cooking.

I am to leave Scots in late August and I'm grateful to have been able to part with fond memories of skiing and traveling with the students and teachers.