I love summer barbecues. Yesterday Matt and I went to Sergio and Amanda's barbeque, which was amazing since the weather was great and there were no mosquitos. Also, there were not a ton of people there, only 8, which I think is ideal since it gives everyone the chance to talk to everyone. After being inspired by the barbeque last night, I noticed that Dominion had baby-back ribs on sale so I purchased 4 pounds and cooked up a rib feast for my parents and brother. They turned out pretty well, although a little scorched from our too-hot grill. Here's the recipe, care of good housekeeping. One change I did make was to do the pre-cooking in the oven instead of on the grill - I think my dad would have had a fit over all the wasted propane if I had the grill going for an hour before the food was actually being grilled! Also, I didn't bother with making the sauce - the Diane Chicken and Rib sauce did just fine.

Best BBQ Ribs

- triple-tested at The Good Housekeeping Research Institute

Ingredients
Baby Back Ribs:
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
4 racks pork baby back ribs (about 1 pound each)
2 extra-heavy-duty foil cooking bags (17" by 15" each) or heavy-duty foil
6 ice cubes

Barbecue Sauce:
2 cups ketchup
1 cup apple cider or apple juice
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
Directions
1. Prepare outdoor grill for covered direct grilling over medium heat.

2. Prepare Baby Back Ribs: In small bowl, combine paprika, brown sugar, salt, chili powder, black pepper, cumin, and ground red pepper. Pat ribs dry with paper towels. Rub spice mixture all over ribs.

3. Place 2 racks of ribs side by side in foil cooking bag. Place 3 ice cubes under ribs; seal bag. (Or, place two 30" by 18" sheets of heavy-duty foil on work surface to make a double thickness. Place 2 racks of ribs side by side on center of stacked foil. Place 3 ice cubes under ribs. Bring long sides of foil up and over ribs; fold several times to seal well, then fold in ends to seal tightly.) Repeat with 1 more cooking bag or 2 more sheets of foil and remaining ribs and ice cubes.

4. Place foil packets on grill rack. Cover grill and cook ribs 1 hour, carefully turning packets over with tongs once halfway through grilling.

5. While ribs are grilling, prepare Barbecue Sauce: In 4-quart saucepan, combine all sauce ingredients; heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, 30 to 40 minutes or until sauce thickens slightly, stirring occasionally. Makes about 2 1/2 cups.

6. When ribs are done, with kitchen shears, cut an X in top of each foil packet to let steam escape, then carefully pull back foil to open. Remove ribs and place directly on grill rack. Cover grill and cook ribs 7 to 10 minutes or until browned, turning over once. Brush ribs with some sauce and cook 7 to 10 minutes longer, brushing with some more sauce and turning frequently.

7. To serve, cut ribs into 1-rib portions and arrange on platter. Pass remaining sauce to serve with ribs.

Editor's note:
If you like, precook ribs. After opening packets in step 6, transfer ribs to platter; cover and refrigerate until ready to complete grilling (up to overnight).

Today I visited Toronto. Upon entering the city, I realized just how huge it is compared to Melbourne. Although the streets were familiar, everything seemed a bit different, probably because I haven't been into the city in a year. Cars seemed to drive by faster, the timing of the pedestrian crosswalks was quicker. People seemed to move at a more urgent pace, hurrying off to meetings, into shops or toward Union station to catch a ride home. Everything seemed bigger and faster. Well, I better catch up to everyone else, I don't want to fall behind!

So everyone, I'm back home.

Alright, so I'll admit, I haven't been blogging. My year in Australia was such a whirlwind I easily got swept into and forgot to document along the way.

What can I say about my year? It was fantastic. I learned so much beyond studying the MBA program offered by Deakin University. I learned more about myself, my needs, and where I'd like to be in the future. I've met so many wonderful people along the way, international students from around the world, professors with years of industry experience and other Canadians, like myself, who decided to take the plunge and give this whole living-abroad-while-studying option a go.

To summarize, here are a few of my most memorable times in Australia, in no particular order:

Living with my boyfriend, Matthew
Realizing that I can accomplish difficult tasks which I never thought before possible
Enjoying the beautiful natural wonders that Australia has on offer - the Great Ocean Road, the Great Barrier Reef, and the majestic mountains of Tasmania
Seeing wildlife in person that as a child I've always marveled at in books - Kanhgaroos, Koalas, Platypus and Wombats to name a few
The feeling of accomplishment when I received my results from my first term and knowing that yes, all my hard work has paid off

And finally (yes this one is cheesy), knowing that my dreams can come true, as I remember not so long ago, I was visiting Matt and just thinking about the possibility of studying abroad together. This entire experience was a dream come true, exploring a (somewhat) foreign country and its culture. Coming out of this entire experience, I now realize that really, the world is not all as big as I was brought up to believe, and that fears of the unknown can be easily cast aside to reveal new and exciting experiences.

As for the future, I've got a better understanding of the path in which I'd like to follow in terms of my career. I've decided to work toward those goals and have been researching what next steps need to be taken in order to achieve them.

I'll end this post with my favorite photograph that I took in Australia - here's in image of the 12 Apostles from Gibson Steps beach.

Hi eveyone,

Here are some photos from two day trips - Dandenong Ranges National Park and Frankston. The weather is getting warmer here and we've been having some nice sunny days. Enjoy the photos!

Also if you'd like to see more photos, they can be found here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aus-mat-mel/

Melissa

Dandenong Ranges National Park










Frankston

It's been two weeks since I've come to Melbourne. Things are starting to settle in. Classes have started, and I have started my exercise routine again (running for 1/2 hour every other day or so). I run in Flagstaff Gardens which is pretty close to the apartment. A lot of runners use the gardens as well, so I feel quite comfortable running there. I find it interesting how there are small diffferences between Toronto and Australia. I say small because really, Melbourne feels a lot like Toronto. For example, the trees are different, the food is a bit different. The walmart is different (only slightly). They say hash key instead of number sign. They eat Tim Tam cookies (which are really quite good) instead of chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies. Hungry Jacks instead of Burger King. Donut King instead of Tim Hortons. A streetcar is called a tram. Their trains remind me of the TTC subway. The doors of the train are sometimes manual.

All differences aside, school has set in and I've now realised that yes, again, I am a student. The courses are different then Waterloo in one respect - the sheer volume of information I am exprected to process is much greater. At Waterloo, the subject matter was difficult (Math), but here the subject matter isn't so difficult - it's just that there is a lot of it. Which means there are more topics, more things to remember. Or more picking through everything and finding out what is important to remember. The program so far, after observing for 1 week, will be challenging.

Since I have 4 classes that span over 3 days, that leaves me with 4 days off in which to study. This works out well because then I can allocate 1 free day for each of my subjects. This term I'm studying Organisational Behaviour, International Banking and Finance, Financial Reporting and Analysis and Human Resource Management. Seems manageable, for now at least, I'll let you know when I'm up to my ears in assignments and I'm struggling to keep up!

Other then that things have been settling in - as is the routine. I miss my parents and my friends at home a lot, and since it's winter here I feel as if I'm missing summer too. But I have faith that things will turn around, I hear it's quite warm near Christmas time. Gosh that will be wierd - 30 degrees heat and no snow at Christmas!

Bye for now, and I hope all is well, I've been meaning to take more photos and I promise I will, it's just that we've been having many overcast days so the photos havn't been turning out so great. But I promise by my next post I will have put up at least 10 good pics of Melbourne!

Keep in touch,

Melissa

I just turned on the news and there was a hurricane recently that wiped out many banana farms in Australia. So usually, bananas are only $2 a kilogram, and $12 a kilogram is very very unusual.

Also went to Burwood campus today for student orientation, the campus is nice and strangely, a lot like Waterloo.

Things I've noticed about Australia:

People drive on the left and walk on the left.
The water in the toilet really flushes the opposite way then in Canada.
All the electrical outlets have little switches on them to turn them on or off.
BANANAS ARE $12.00 A KILOGRAM!!!!
Big W in Australia is exactly like Walmart in Canada.