The Roundup: October Newsletter

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH RORY MCMAHON

Tell us a little about yourself

I have been working for Vocus for just over a year and prior to that I worked at Primus/M2 for 11 years before they were acquired by Vocus.

I have always had a passion for internet & telecommunications and the systems and infrastructure that underpins it. My first real job out of high school was for an internet service provider called iONet back in Western Australia and my first job after I moved from Victoria was for iPrimus. I am also one to never be satisfied with just one career and have been an AV/lighting tech for as long as I have worked in I.T.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

Vocus has an incredibly open and transparent workplace culture, which helps me to know where my work fits into the big picture. I love working on projects that have a significant impact and touch on a variety of systems and infrastructure.

Most of all I love that I get to work from home as a part of a larger team from all over Australia.

What is a hobby or pastime that you enjoy?

I also have a great love of art and music and have enjoyed a successful second career as a lighting designer, producing live shows seen by hundreds of thousands of people. I have also produced a fair bit of music and have been in a few bands. More recently I’ve delved deeper into creating visuals and 3D art. I plan to produce several virtual reality/metaverse experiences in the future.

What is your favorite recipe/dish?

I love cooking, always have even as a child, although I am not much of a recipe follower, if I am trying something new, I will skim read the recipe and just make it up as I go.

Being that Halloween is not far off, I would highly recommend making yourself a pumpkin pie, if you have never had one before you’ll be surprised how good they are. You can pick up a gram cracker pie base at some supermarkets, usually in the international food section, most recipes will call for pumpkin varieties that we don’t have in Australia, but I usually just use a mix of butternut and Japanese pumpkins.

Here are the steps to making your own pumpkin pie:

Pre-heat your oven to 210 degrees, cut up the pumpkins a bit and remove the seeds and skin, smear with a little butter and place on a baking tray in the oven for about 45 minutes.

In a mixing bowl add 3 eggs, 75g (1/3 cup) white sugar, 55g (¼ cup firmly packed) brown sugar, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp ground ginger, ¼ tsp ground nutmeg 250ml (1 cup) of milk and a pinch of cloves and mix well.

Remove the pumpkin bits before they begin to brown or discard any browned bits. Reduce the heat in the oven to 190 degrees and put the gram cracker pie base in the oven for a few minutes while you prepare the filling. Put the pumpkin in a pot on the stove (low heat) and add the bowl of mixed ingredients, simmer and mix constantly for 5-10 minutes, I’ll usually taste it and add a little more of any of the spices I feel it needs, then poor the mix into the gram cracker pie base and place in the oven covered for 25 minutes, remove the covering and back for a further 25 minutes, test with a knife or skewer it should come out clean when it’s cooked enough, just be careful not to burn the crust.

Remove the pie and allow it to sit for a while before you serve, it will firm up more as it cools, serve at room temperature with a little whipped cream and Enjoy!