Shopping with Dyllan and Dora

Sunday Dinner: Korean Beef

A trip to Costco on Friday inspired me to have a family dinner party tonight.  After buying 3+ lbs (the small pack) of Costco flank steak- I decided a family dinner at our house was long over due and Korean beef was the perfect meal.  We had a few birthdays to celebrate- Brenden turned 28 on April 5th, Libby also turned 28 on April 25th, and Marianne's birthday was the 15th- plus Lionel got a new (permanent) job- teaching P.E. at St. Pauls in Manly.

I woke up early to marinate the steak- which made the rest of the day free to do whatever.. so I made cupcakes ( they don't sell rainbow chip here- so I made my own version).

I love having Libby and Marianne over for dinner because they always bring a dish.. so it makes having a dinner party super easy!  Marianne brought prawn fried rice, and Libby made a wild rice dish with corn, cilantro and salmon. And I added stir fried asian vegtables.

I thought I had Mom's Korean Beef recipe stashed somewhere- so I searched for it in my email and came across this... an email mom sent Teri for a recipe swap.  The email was titled: A Recipe from the Sussex House: (I tripled this recipe- and it fed 8 hungry people with 1 slice left over)

Kerry Sussex ksussex@hotmail.com	2/28/09
to tschramm

Teri,
Here is your recipe. Wonder how many you will get! This one is a favorite at the Sussex household.
Korean Beef

1 lb flank steak
2 T sesame oil
1/4 C soy
3 crushed garlic cloves
1 1/2 t rice wine vinigar
a few twists of ground black pepper
1 1/2 t crushed toasted sesame seeds
1/3 t cayenne pepper
2 green onions chopped

Thin slice the flank steak diagonally and marinate several hours (or overnite) in the remaining ingredients. Barbeque the meat for just a few minutes (rare is best) and wrap in washed iceberg lettuce leaves. Yum!

Your real estate advisor for life,
Kerry Sussex
John L Scott, Mercer Island
7853 SE 27th Street, Suite 180
Mercer Island, WA 98040
206-230-5135 206-236-5162 FAX

And for desert... birthday cupcakes

Anzac Day in Terrigal

sunrise from our room on Anzac Day

Beach run

Avoca Beach

Girls waiting for a wave

Girls jumping in the water as the waves came up

So much fun getting away- even just for a night.  We finished off our Anzac day by picking up Dyllan at Dan's parents house- and coming home for a BBQ.

Pearls and moms closet

Photo of the day:  Dyllan LOVES my closet- all my jewlery, shoes, the big mirror... its one big toy closet in her eyes.

On another note....Tomorrow is Anzac Day here in Australia.

While Dyllan's at Yunny and Lozzo's place overnight- Dan and I are taking advantage of a Bug free night- with a holiday tomorrow- so we are going up to the central coast (where we first met) for the night at the Crown Plaza to relax and get away on a mini vacation.  Sometimes its fun to get away, even if its only for a night.. and isnt too far away!  Cant wait!

Thai-rific

Last night we headed over to Dee Why to one of our favorite Thai restaurants on the beach.  Dyllan provided Dan and I live entertainment (comedy act, dance act, animal education) the entire time.

Cheers!  Every chance Dyllan gets for a "cheers" she takes.. food cheers, drink cheers..everything needs a cheers!  She must have a lot to celebrate.

Showing us all the animals on the Zoo program- acting out each one.  Lucky she brought her hat as a prop.

Hershey Kisses on the beach after dinner

Have you ever noticed the names people come up with for their Thai restaurants?  Not just Thai.. most asian restaurants have the most random/lame/uncreative names I have ever heard.  Really?  You are going to open a restaurant... go to all that trouble... money, sweat, and tears.. to open your very own business... a restaurant you will keep in the family for years to come... an neighborhood favorite.. and call it something like Bumble Bee Thai???  OR  Take a Seat Thai??  Then- there are a string of super similar.. yet still random and totally irrelevant names like: Lemon Thai, Red Onion Thai..

Then there are some creative ones.. kinda funny.. but really cheesy ones like:

• Thai Tanic  (oh and there is even one called Thai Panic - what? was Thai Tanic already taken, so you figured Panic would do?!)
• Thairiffic (this one is pretty clever)- and again since this one was taken there is also a Thai Terrific (haha!)

Then some really random ones...

• Tommy Thai Smile- WHAT?!  Can you imagine coming up with this name?  "Yep, thats it.  Great name"
• U-Thong Thai - again.. WHAT?  Does that mean something or did they just think that was clever??
• Thai in a Box - right.  duh. like Jack-in- the box.. but Thai food.
• Simply Thai- another very creative name
• Sailors Thai - yep, whenever I think of Thai food I sailors always come to mind..
• The Best Thai- ohhh so, this is the best Thai restaurant, I didn't know- good thing the name told us that, phew.

Is it just me?!  Or do asian food restaurant names baffle you too?!  Maybe they really do it for a good laugh.

The talkative twos have hit Dyllan.. hard.  "Wassat?  Wassat?  Whhhhattts that?!"  is one of her favorite things to ask these days.  Today, over a shared plate of nachos, I decided to play her game as long as she could handle.  "Wha sat? "  she began.. as she asked me as she pouted to every single item in the pantry.  I answered each question with a new item, and she seemed pleased.  Then she turned to me and pointed to my shirt.. and asked "Whats dat?"  and I replied "Shirt" and she gives me this big cheeky grin and says "no mama, thas boobs"!!  I started dying laughing at her.. she started cracking up back.. then repeated over and over again "boobs".  Where does she learn these things?!  ...Tatyana?!  Do you know anything about this??? 

Wild one eating her nachos pointing to everything...

Cool hat Dyllan G.

Sydney Triathlon Cheer Squad

Last Sunday we ventured into the city bright and early to cheer on David while he raced in the Sydney Triathlon.  The girls made posters and cheered on the athletes- while we drank coffee and played the "who would you rather.." game.  It was early- but worth waking up for!  David did well and we all had a fun morning.

Dyllan and Frankie

Dyllan and Frankie.  Cheerleaders in training.

Poppy and Tatyana

It was so fun having Poppy and Tatyana come visit us a few weeks ago!  Dyllan constantly shouts out their name, still!  Last night we got a walkie talkie voicemail sent to us from Tatyana- on Voxer- an app you can download and communicate (for free) with anyone else who has the app.  Its so great to be able to hear peoples voices- little messages people leave me throughout the day (many in the middle of the night cause of the time change).  

Thanks for the Voxer messages!  I love hearing from you.

She's getting SO big!

Welcome Home Businessman Dan

Dan has been quite the jet setter lately.  Last week to Adelaide, this week to Melbourne.. can't wait to have this guy back home again.  Maybe next time Bug and I will get to jet set around with him.. hoping we will all get to go to Perth in the next month or so.

Rain, Rain and more Rain

It has not stopped raining in over 24 hours!  Unlike Seattle, when it rains in Sydney it tends to pour rain.. only for like 10 min at a time or so- then stops for a while, then starts again.  But today- it has been pouring the entire day.

I almost forgot to post a photo today ( a photo a day is actually much harder than I expected- especially if I haven't even taken any today..)

So today I thought I would share what I actually do love about the rain (I just don't love rain every day)

Image from here

Add caption

The Voice Australia

So there isn't much on TV in Australia.. ever.  In fact- most nights we don't watch anything because there is that little on.  Its not even worth flipping between cops, Simpson's, and world news.  But last night The Voice started.. and its a great show (so far)- and this girl last night had an AMAZING voice.  And a rough upbringing:

Karise Eden has had a tougher life than most, and she's only 19 years old. A State ward who grew up living in more than 20 refuges, this once very shy girl found music after being fostered to a loving family who owned a music store. The family shared their love of music with Karise and introduced her to the guitar. Musically inspired by Janis Joplin, Axl Rose, Bon Jovi, Ian Gillian and Amy Winehouse, Karise has gone on to play festivals and various venues with her fostering family. She's never had a singing lesson in her life. If her career as a singer doesn't work out Karise would like to work with women who have been exposed to domestic violence.

You have to listen for yourself...

Kebab Picnic on the Beach

Yes, Dyllan did have her OWN kebab!

Watching the ferries come in

Some new friends.

Breakfast in bed with Dolly

Its 6am, and Dan is outa town... Daycare opens at 7:30am and I need to be at work by 8:30 in the city.. so what does Dyllan do while I get ready for work?!  This... breakfast in bed of course.. with her good friend and sister.. Dolly Newton.

Summer Sunday & Sangria by the Beach

Summer Sunday around here are the best!  Everyone, it seems, flocks to the beach.  People are out BBQing, biking, swimming, sun tanning, surfing, playing beach volleyball... there is usually live music at the cafe's and restaurants- and people like to stay out a little longer to enjoy just one more drink.  We usually try to get out and enjoy the weather, markets, or beach... and yesterday was no exception.

After spending the first half of the day cleaning out our attic (so we have room when Dad and Tatyana come in ONE WEEK!) - we ventured down to Manly to play at the beach then drink sangria and listen to live music at Manly Wine Bar.  It was the perfect treat after a productive day.  We even managed to squeeze in some Skype time with Danny and Teri in Phoenix.. this was a first for us- we really should use Skype more often!!

Happy Sunday!