Macadamia Nuts..........mmmmmmmmmmmm

I love, and have loved since my first bite in Waldbaums', macadamia nuts. Good ol' Mauna Loa, a gift from the gods of Hawaii. I remember flying out of Sydney Airport back in 2003 and seeing many, many jars of Mauna Loa and other branded macadamia nuts, I bought a large jar and off I went home to New York. Living here in South East Queensland my husband owns a home in Toowoomba and his neighbor has a macadamia tree in his side yard. Turns out, Macadamia nuts are native to Australia, not Hawaii, they were brought over to Hawaii and other southern hemisphere countries.  

They grow naturally in north eastern New South Wales and central and south eastern Queensland, Australia. Common names include macadamia, macadamia nut, Queensland nut, bush nut, maroochi nut, queen of nuts and bauple nut; and from Indigenous Australians' languages bauple, gyndl, jindilli, and boombera. We drove through a small town the other day called Bauple, they grow bauple (macadamia) nuts there. Bauple is where they were first discovered by  Ludwig Leichhardt in 1843.‘Kindal Kindal’ was the name given to the seeds of an evergreen tree by local aborigines on the eastern slopes of the Great Dividing Range well before British botanist Walter Hill and German botanist Ferdinand Von Meuller in the 1850s discovered and named the specimens.  A distinction was made between Macadamia integrifolia (smooth shelled) and Macadamia tetraphylla (rough shelled), which also produces a nut that is edible, although not as good for roasting as Macadamia integrifolia. The genus Macadamia was named after a scientist and politician of that time, Dr John MacAdam, who was prominent in encouraging the cultivation of the species.
This development has been driven by the Australian Macadamia Society, the industry’s peak body in a relatively short period. The first commercial macadamia processing plant was established in 1954 and now there are more than 850 growers across three states, producing around 40,000 tonnes, with 70% of production exported as kernel to the world market.

The main growing region stretches around 1,000 kilometres along Australia’s east coast; from the mid north coast of New South Wales up to Mackay in Queensland and the industry annually brings more than $400 million economic value to local communities.

Macadamias grow best in Australia because that’s where Mother Nature intended them to be grown. It was on the north-east coast of Australia that macadamias evolved more than 60 million years ago.

Commercial production of macadamia nuts, the only Australian native plant that has been developed commercially as a food crop, is centred in northern New South Wales and south-east Queensland. These areas provide the rich soils and high annual rainfall needed for the crop to flourish.
 Today the nut is marketed throughout the world and is grown from Atherton in the north to Nambucca Heads in the south as well as Western Australia.  The nut is also being grown overseas in Brazil, South Africa and Hawaii.  The Macadamia nut however remains the only Australian indigenous native fruit exported throughout the world. 

The unique flavour, the nutritional benefits and the versatility of the macadamia nut either raw, roasted or in recipes are increasingly being recognized in international markets. Export sales have grown continuously over the last decade with Europe and Japan continuing to grow.
Growing competition comes from South Africa and Central America, but currently macadamias account for less than 3 per cent of the world tree nut market, so with marketing into existing and new markets, there is unlimited potential for Australian macadamias. 

I think next year for Christmas I'll be making my Chambord, white chocolate, macadamia oblatne (wafer) cookies. I do miss having the wasabi macadamias, I can find them in the souvenir store in the city but they're too expensive for my limited budget at this time. 

The Modern Day Ford Falcon....from a Volkswagen fans view...

Let me just get a few things straight before I start this blog. I have never been a huge fan of Ford, other than the classic Mustangs. I always believed the acronyms Found On Road Dead, Fix Or Repair Daily, F****n Owner Real Dumb, never did I think of this one, First On Race Day, even though my dad had a '96 Ford Thunderbird, but that had more to do with my brother than my dad. I've been a  Volkswagen owner for most of my life, though I have owned, a Subaru, a Chevy Camaro Z28 and recently a Toyota Corolla, since I cannot at this time afford a VW Jetta in Australia. One thing I have always admired is a fast car, many a nights did I spend on 20th Avenue in College Point or Franny Lew, watching guys street race their cars, I loved that deep burbling sound of the engines....hey I'm a girl but love those Hot Rods.   

My first experience with a Ford Falcon was when I came to Australia the first time January 2011, my husband, then boyfriend, picked me up in his 2005 BA MK ll.

This is my husband's actual car. I'd never seen a rear wheel drive performance sedan. It's gotten awards for safety among other things. It was comfortable, it had a great sound system, and it had a V8, which kicked major ass. When we drove down south just after Christmas, the Falcon got us there without a glitch. But alas, nothing lasts forever and the 2005 had to retire to be replaced by a 2012 Ford Falcon XR6, both cars naturally stick shift, they do come in automatics too. Now for a little Falcon background for those still reading....

Ford Falcon was released in the US from 1960-1970 it was a huge sales success at first, it outsold rival compacts from Chrysler and GM introduced at the same time. During it's lifespan in the US, the Falcon was offered in a wide range of body styles, 2-door and 4-door sedans, 2-door and 4-door station wagons, 2-door hardtops, convertibles, a sedan delivery and the Ranchero pickup. Variations of the Ford Falcon were manufactured in Argentina, Canada, Chile, Mexico and to this day Australia. There were 3 1/2 generations of Ford Falcons in the US

Ford Falcon is a full sized car manufactured here since 1960, models from 1960-1971 were American influenced engineered for the harsher climates in Australia. From 1972 onward the Falcon has been designed, developed and built in Australia. The Falcon is one of the biggest selling names in world automotive history, selling over 3 Million cars in 7 generations to 2003. The Falcon is almost exclusively sold in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The current Falcon is known as the FG, and is the 7th generation model. The models are as follows XT, G6, G6E, G6E Turbo, XR6 and XR6 Turbo. The engine options available to the Falcon are: 4-cyl Eco-Boost, the in-line 4L 6-cyl, the 4L in-line 6-cyl Eco-lpi(lpg) and the in-line 4L 6-cyl Turbo. The Ford Falcon features a 5 Star Safety rating, the first Australian made car to achieve 5 stars. The XR6 Turbo received Motor Magazines Bang for Your Buck 2008 award. The first ever 4-cyl Falcon was released in 2012, it's fuel economy of a larger car is the same as a 4-cyl Toyota Corolla but with the power of a 6-cyl. 
My husband's awesome manual XR6 sedan (pictured directly above in silver) comes standard with 19inch alloy wheels, 6 airbags, 8 inch color touch-screen with audio and climate controls, reverse sensors, reverse camera, USB and i-Pod connectivity along with Bluetooth phone & wireless streaming of internet radio (since satellite radio is not an option here), full leather interior, leather steering wheel, full instrumentation, comfy seating for 5, the comfy seating comes in handy on long road trips. I would buy this car in a heartbeat if I had the money and to think, I'd give up my love of sunroofs for a white EcoBoost in automatic transmission.