The 10-Year Rewind – Part 23 – What to do in a Blackout

Every day this month I am looking back on the 10 years since I started this blog in June, 2008. Part 23 is this one — What to do in a Blackout — from October 2012, and it's the last in this 10-Year Rewind series, as today, June 24, is the 10th anniversary of our gardening blog. Oddly enough, June 24 is also our wedding anniversary (we're up to #29, next year is going to be #30 and a big one for sure).

So it's only appropriate that I finish up with something about Pammy and me. It includes a recipe at the end for one of our favourite meals, Teriyaki Salmon, but before then it tells the story of two little lovebirds caught in an electricity blackout around dinner time ...

Talk about good timing. The teriyaki salmon was ready to serve, the baked small potatoes were crisp in the oven, the steamed buck choy had wilted nicely. And then the power went out. Not just in our house, but in 25,000 houses in inner-western Sydney. And the house was pitch black. For the next few hours.

The good thing about living in the same house for 21 years is that you know your way around in the dark. I just went to the cupboard where we keep one of our torches, turned it on, went to the cupboard where the candles and the matches have lain undisturbed for years, and two minutes later we were back in business, glowing dimly but happily enough. Dinner served. Yum. Then what to do?

Scrabble by candlelight, of course! Pam and I love our
new swivelling Scrabble board. We saw one in a movie
a few years ago, and then at the end of that year, Santa
(and Pam) gave me one. The board sits on a little
swivelly plinthy thingy, so you can spin it around so that
each  player sees all the letters right-way-up when it's
their turn to get a triple word score with a 'Q' and a 'Z'.

As we were so blessed with good timing for the blackout, the least I can do for the unfortunates who were halfway through cooking dinner is share the teriyaki recipe that never fails, because it's quick! Works brilliantly with Atlantic salmon.

100ml soy sauce
30ml mirin (or sake)
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
1 teaspoon finely minced ginger
1 dessertspoon sugar

Combine ingredients to make a marinade, then marinate the salmon (1 piece/cutlet/steak per person) in this for 1-2 hours. When the time comes to cook the salmon, cook it how you like it. I cook mine on a griddle plate, about 3 minutes either side, so it's still rather pink and underdone in the middle. Others prefer it more well done.