Christmas!

Well with a new pad full of places to decorate and a blank canvas at the begining of December, what was One to do other than go compeltely OTT on Christmas decorating...

It started innocently enough with a tree...
Some knick nacks here and there...
Reindeer on the pillars....
A trip to spotlight later and there was serious sewing to be done to whip up a table runner...
And chair covers....
And table cloth and its almost lunch time...
OK, its an addiction, but unlike One's Nigella addiction, it comes but once a year!

Merry Christmas to you all

Shopping + Champagne = things One wasn't necessarily looking for

But of course desperately needed! A sideboard had been on the list of things to keep an eye out whilst shopping away and when popping in to pick up some bedside tables, One spied this out of the corner of an eye.



Its awesome and will really tie the whole room together once the new couches arrive in Feb/March.

Now to remember which drawer One's car keys are in...

An addiction

It is a truth universally known that One has a slight, well full blown, addiction to all things Nigella...

Its easy to forget said addiction when in aflatofonesown and all the Nigella has a place of its own and it looks so pretty sitting on its shelf. When moving time came around it was time for the mouses to go back into their houses for the big day...

And of course, the professional packers could not be entrusted with this important task of replacing the various Nigella pieces into the safety of their boxes, this was a job for One and One alone.

The Packers got their own back though with their labelling of the moving boxes, it went something like this:

Nigella collection, box 1
Nigella collection, box 2
More Nigella
Even More NIGELLA!!!
Seriously The LAST box of Nigella!!

Very funny packers! Importantly no Nigella was damaged in the move.

All One can say is One adores Nigella, thats why she has her very own shelf in the new study:




















And for the close up, in case you weren't sure what One was on about:

An outdoor room continued

The courtyard was a short project really, thanks to the help of Hans and his crane and then the ute for the collection of the chairs which came in these awesome enormous boxes that even look cool and stylish, the Italians think of everything!









From the Box, to the packaging inside, it was swish swish swish.












Unfortunately we have had some strange wet weather this December and so the courtyard was underutilised for a couple of days, but is still looked pretty nice from the couch.















And now the SO has put the new BBQ together and it cooks a mean ham, but more on that later, for now here it is!

Thanks for the memories...and free wifi

Well its farewell from aflatofonesown mark 1 tonight and thanks to the kind neighbour with an unsecured wifi connection only discovered having had all electrical goods packed.

The blogging has been grand and One shall be back on it in no time Internet connectivity permitting...

Presents!

One came back to the office from receiving the table delivery and had another exciting delivery from Em, Muz & Josie:

The bubbles will be put to good use on Wednesday night, thanks guys!

Cause we roll with cranes!

As well as leaving aflatofonesown mark 1, One has been busy organising aflatofonesown 2nd edition...

Part of the excitement has been selecting new pieces of furniture with the SO. It is such fun to spend hours trolling through websites and hitting the shops to try to find exactly what it is that is needed. Case in point, an outdoor table.

Requirements include being good in the outdoors, sturdy and big enough to sit a whole lot of people around whilst not being so big as to dwarf the courtyard.

This was a relatively easy brief to fill when the SO suggested concrete. The quest was then on to find a suitable concrete table and find it One did in York of all places! Hans at Techstone Moulding filled the brief, right down to the delivery...

BY CRANE!!

And so One came to accept delivery of the table thinking this is going to be heavy, sweaty work, but no, Hans had one more surprise - a crane!

Deliveries really are better with cranes, its just hook it up...


Lift...

Et voila!


And tomorrow, One and the SO shall collect the finishing pieces for this setting, the Tatami chair in anthracite:

All boxed up

One left aflatofonesown this morning full of things and came home to a fully packed house. One's favourite packing box has always been the port a robe, of which One has four in addition to the 40 other boxes labelled with great tags like 'Nigella' and 'More Nigella' and 'More Nigella!!!!!', One loves a packer who can tell it like it is!


Much like a scene at the end of a long running TV show, aflatofonesown is now all packed up and waiting for the final scenes to be filmed and ending with a flick of the light switch and the closing of the door for one final click of the lock.


The SO came home from Melbs this evening, takeaway burgers in hand (lucky because everything has been packed including plates, cutlery and foodstuffs. It is a strange night but an exciting one knowing that tomorrow night will be spent in the new pad, aflatofonesown but with a few extra rooms...

Slap Chop

This is too good - everyone needs a Slap Chop. Its going to make America skinny again, one Slap Chop at a time.

But once a year

Well Christmas is wihtout a doubt, One's favourite time of the year and this year the SO and One are continuing the tradition started last year by baking a Christmas Cake. The first and most important step being getting the fruit sozzled like so:


And this year, another tradition is being added which also involves sozzled fruit:

The new addition is of course a Pudding. This is just the start, the next big decision is to suet or not to suet???

J&A Nuptuals

One had cause to whip up a cake for some nuptuals on the weekend.

One is somewhat impressed with Oneself.

The cake was scrumptious and had about 25 layers inside.

Stunning wedding!

Sunday Night Nigella

The SO suggested we play recipe roulette this afternoon as One wondered what was for dinner. So out came the new Nigella and down came the eyelids.

The moment of truth revealed a Thai style noodle soup and delicious does not even go close. Its full of ginger and chili, tamarind, turmeric and coriander and totally delicious!!

The List

As One mentioned yesterday, the list is alive and well. Plenty of progress has been made, mainly because its a fun list rather than a list of jobs that need to be done which aren't so much fun.

Yesterday it was a trip to no other store than....David Jones

The lovely Maureen helped out to no end and away with sheets, doona, doona cover, matress protector, towels, pillow cases we walked.

So the remaining items on the list are the BBQ, headboard, stereo, floorboards and a carport!

Dilemma

So far from being able to stick to the 'we don't need to do anything to the new pad' decree that followed the offer, SO and One have steadily built up a list of things that need to be done. The biggest of which is a kitchen upgrade which started simply being a new benchtop that led to new cooktop to new oven to new dishwasher and fridge....

The dilemma is this:
Which benchtop to put in??

Just Wrapped

Is this not the coolest wrapping paper you have seen in a while? It reminds One of MJ, who is en route to Perth which will be great! What is not to love, its hot pink and it has Zebras?!




jklj

Wrapping up

And so it was done, the time was right, the work was done and there was a new chapter beginning, it was time to put aflatofonesown on the market.

It has been a great ride and One will always love aflatofonesown but it was time to try something a little larger on for size with the SO. A new pad is on the way and aflatofones own shone through the first home open and sold itself.

Apple Pie in the Sky

Pee Hee, must be from Armadale

One was driving to work the other day and what was in front of One's very own car but this:

A Sale of One's Own

One has put aflatofonesown on the market and it has a beautiful, indeed impressive sign:

One, two, tree

One has been absent but One has been busy, doing things like cooking three different types of dumpling all at once in One's three steamers - thats right, here's the proof:
And yes, that is a double decker steamer in the back...

On the menu were Prawn & Chicken, Chicken & Pork and Pork & Prawn dumplings.

Delicious!

Love this postcard

One came home today to find this fabulous postcard in the mailbox at aflatofonesown.

One was quite excited to hear from C&L and then turned the card over and saw the picture. Yes, that is a Camel at a phone box saying 'Hello Israel! I love you'.

How awesome is that?

Rice-cooker cooking...

While One was in Sydney recently he took the opportunity to delve into MJ's recipe folder and there were some gems in there. Some quick and easy ones and some all day cooking marathons that One just knows will be worth it.

Tonight, One attempted the first recipe - a Rice Cooker Chicken Biriyani recipe. MJ had come across this one in the New York Times. One must admit that the rice cooker has never had such a work out and One had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn't up to the challenge. How wrong One was...

Reading the recipe it sounded delicious and so with much anticipation One chopped up the chicken and marinated it in the spiced yoghurty goodness. With the chook resting, One got the food processor out and started with the onion/garlic/ginger/chili paste.


Then it was a fry up in the rice cooker and then it all went in the rice cooker along with the chicken to cook.

25 minutes later, the coriander and mint went in and it was time to serve.


While it looks a bit anemic in the picture it was beautiful and light and full of flavour, thoroughly recommended (no surprise for a recipe from MJ's private collection).

Happiness is a full kitchen sink...

The other day One looked at the kitchen and realised that a kitchen bench full of dirty dishes and empty glasses is indeed one of One's favourite sights.

Not because One draws any delight from washing dishes (hence the dishwasher) but a bench full of dishes represents a lot of full bellies and a couple of hours (at least) of time with good friends.

These dishes were left after a lazy Sunday brekkie at aflatofonesown which thanks to Fluff was complete with bubbles.

Pies Glorious Pies

A few weekends ago, it was a stormy day and One was holed up in aflatofonesown having been to the farmers markets that morning. There's nothing quite like comfort food of a rainy day and so One decided to make some pies.

Not just any pies, but Maggie Beer's Chicken & Mushroom pies (well without the mushrooms anyway). The recipe comes from Maggie's Table, a bargain book One picked up at a Pop Up Book shop not far from the ivory tower.

Anwway, during the course of the morning a couple of callers to aflatofonesown were talked into staying for lunch.

The pastry is a sour cream pastry which was absolutely delicious, the filling was chicken, leek, corn and peas in a white sauce that wasn't too heavy. Perfect for a warm Sunday lunch.

2 cakes, one weekend

These are two cakes One made last April/May.

The first was for 'the mini' as she is affectionately known who, as the cake would tend to suggest, was turning 1. Don't think for a moment the location of the different coloured smarties occurred by accident, it was a thoroughly thought out selection so that there were no double ups on the colours.


The second was for fab flatmate who was turning the big 30, but had never had a cake from the Woman's Weekly Kids Birthday Cake Book (the original, not the latest re-invention which much like Cambridge is a pale imitation of the real thing). Upon hearing this, one declared that FF must have a cake of her own from the book and Lilly Ladybug was selected.


Why won't people have more babies so One can make more fun cakes?!

Love Sydney

The love is for many reasons, but also party for the unexpected that is always found when on foot in Sydney.

A few months ago SO and One headed to Sydney for Em's Baby Shower, which was full of delights.

After hours of gluttony and gossip, One, the SO and MJ decided to wander back to Surry Hills 90210 when we came across something One doesn't believe One would see in Perth, mainly because Perth isn't a pedestrian friendly city.

It tasted so good but now One can't sleep...

Picture this: The SO headed off to regional WA to visit some sites and One headed into the Office to get on top of a couple of things. One then headed home via the supermarket to pick up some bits and pieces for an afternoon of napping, cooking and reading.

On the menu foodwise was a cheats chicken satay, hard core beef massaman recipe (it takes 3 days) and some fish burgers for during the week. Book on hand for breaks was Lonely Planet Scandinavia. Of course, there was also a nap given it was a leisurely Sunday afternoon.

The afternoon blended into evening and before One knew it, it was dinner time with the delicious smelling satay winning the race to the plate. Delicious.

Fast forward 2 hours, One is laying in bed (having decided to get an early night and hopping off to bed at 9.30) and is unable to sleep. Unusual, usually head hits the pillow and One is out. What is going on? Maybe the nap has given One extra stamina? Surely not, this is not normal, OK, lets have a drink and back to bed.

Sleep still not forthcoming.

What could it possibly be? Was it coffee, no, last caffeine intake was at 9.30am. What has one eaten? Cheats (box) chicken satay. One slowly comes to the horrible realisation, surely not, what self respecting gourmet sauce range uses MSG?

Yep, One has been dosed up with MSG and so will now spend the night fighting to get to sleep and tomorrow feeling like One has consumed a cask of cheap red wine...

The Suite Shenton Park Gets it so Wrong while Must gets it SO right

Dear Management at The Suite,

Some of your service staff are not the friendliest people in the world.

Best,

One

o o o O O O o o o

Dear Management at Must Highgate,

Your staff rock, are friendly, are knowledgeable and helpful.

Best,

One

o o o O O O o o o

OK, where did those letters come from? Well, One and the SO popped in to one of Perth's new "Melbourne style" bars, The Suite on Nicholson Road in Shenton Park for a celebratory drink. The SO had just received a great promotion and it was time for bubbles. Bubbles (French of course) were purchased and it was time to drink them. The Suite was packed and One was on the look out for movement at one of the clusters of couches.

Movement, a group gathers their things, One pounces Friday night style and scores the Couch.

Cue Bitchy Blonde waitress:

BBW: 'Did You know there is a waiting list'
One [shocked]: 'Excuse me'
BBW: 'Did You know there is a waiting list'
One: 'No, I'm sorry I didn't'
BBW: 'There is a waiting list, people are waiting'
One: 'Obviously had I known there was a waiting list I would have waited'
BBW: 'humph' [storms off]

Had there not been a bottle of Laurent Perrier to drink, One would have left at that. And do you think that BBW asked if One would like to go on the waiting list? No, she certainly did not. BBW just stormed off, leaving One to find another (and more helpful) member of staff to put One's name on the all important waiting list.

Fast forward 30 minutes, One and the SO arrive at Must, the bistro isn't too full, the bar is packed but there's a high table. Two glasses of bubbles come quickly, One thinks, well maybe there is room in the bistro. One asks the Lovely Bistro Lady if there is room for a cheeky 2 for dinner. LBL says that she is just working out capacity and asks where One is standing, pointing to the SO, LBL says well you get back to your bubbles and I'll let you know but worst case I can do the bistro menu at your table. Perfect!

So lessons for The Suite, be a bit sweeter in your delivery...

Misty morning but no misty head

One awoke this morning without a misty head for hte first time in the past couple of weeks. One was finally waking up in One's own bed and finally not waking up to an alarm.

It has been a hectic fortnight with a planned trip to Sydney and an emergency dash to Melbourne for work which has kept One on the go go go.

But One did wake to a misty morning, it was beautiful looking out the living room window to a soft sea of white hovering just above the rooflines in the leafy western suburbs. It was so quiet as if everyone had stayed in their slumber with the blanket of mist keeping them tucked right in.

Pottering around aflatofonesown for the first time this month was a great start to the day, uggs were on and One was warm. Then it was out into the fresh air at the Subi Farmers' Markets to do the groceries. the SFM may just be One's favourite market thus far (3 and counting have been trialled), they are more urban than the Freo version and a bit more rustic than the Claremont ones.

As the day progressed, the mist lifted and it was a beautiful sunny clear day with just some touches of cloud off on the horizon. One picked up One's glasses from the optometrists and can now see far and wide without squinting, spent some time in the office (productive but not necessarily enjoyable of a weekend), caught up with Chookie for a coffee in Shenton Park and did a spot of present shopping in Subi.

All round quite a fun day.

Aussie Aussie Aussie with a touch of Scandi Scandi Scandi

Recently while in Sydney on a weekend getaway, One came across a photo of this vintage cake. As you can see, it was an Australian themed cake, complete with little markers for various Australian things, including Crown Princess Mary down in Tassie.

From memory, it is a lemon butter cake with passionfruit icing. It was for MJ's naturalisation celebration.

La Lola

The SO took One to La Lola on Saturday night for a bite to eat. One has been wanting to go to La Lola since One first heard of it opening a little while back. La Lola is the new venture of the former head chef at Bar One which as many know is one of One's favourite haunts.

Bar One is one of those places where the staff are great, the food is great and the fit out is great. Its great all round. One gets what One wants and One is happy.

La Lola is the new kid on the block and a bit like a new parent, all about the ground rules. La Lola's menu kicks off with a set of rules:
1. No bookings or B.Y.O.
2. No separate billing
3. Ask your waiter for the bill which will be brought to your table
4. $25 minimum for eftpos or credit card payments
5. We do not accept American Express or Diners Club cards
6. All food items served on the premises can not be taken away due to health code

Ground rules have their purpose - everyone then knows what they're buying into. The rules are probably also to deal with the Western Suburb WAGs that are likely to be queuing up to get into the hot new thing on Hampden Road. Plus there is barely an inch to move in the restaurant and the rules are probably to keep bums on seats as much as anything else.

The rules are in order of need. Don't try to make a booking and don't bring your own booze. Fine and on this especially cold and wintry evening there is no shortage of heaters out front while One waits to be let in. Unfortunately as this is suburban Perth and not Sydney and so there is no deal with the nearby bar that lets One wander over for a lazy tipple while waiting for One's table to be ready. Luckily the wait was not long and within about 10 minutes One was requested to head through the main dining room and into the Lounge. Which is really just a private dining room down the back of the restaurant. Again, its a tight squeeze and so along with cleaver design tricks (recessed salt/pepper/EVOO/cutlery receptacle) there are the less desirable elements - no backs on half the chairs and being so close to your neighbours you can't help but hear their intimate conversations.

The food is nice, without blowing One away. Good quality Italian trattoria bits. One had a pork belly, sweet and sour onion, mozzarella and radicchio pizza. Nice, but nothing amazing. The SO had a Rabbit Ragu with fettuccine, it was heavy on the pasta and light on the ragu and very very oily.

La Lola - its not for an intimate date night, but it will certainly give the WAGs a great venue for a girls night out (provided they play by the rules).

Man Flu

aflatofonesown has been inflicted with man flu, the worst type of flu known in this universe and probably beyond. The SO is sick, so sick in fact that he may drop dead at any moment.

So not wanting his last moments to be hard, One put the SO to bed yesterday afternoon and trotted off to the chemist for some palliative care supplies. Luckily the pharmacist was familiar with man flu and understood the need to act quickly and decisively. Psydoephedrine as well as a concoction of Vitamin C, Horseradish and Garlic was desperately needed. Although only in small packets, he may not survive through a 10 day course of medication.

The man flu also gave one the chance to let Sali and Peta have their first run. Sali and Peta are a little multi function piece by Marc Pascal that One picked up on a recent Sydney Sojourn from the BGs at CSF. One thought it would be a great to put the SO's butter and marmalade in. It has also come in handy when delivering One's medications to him.

The SO is on trice daily meds consisting of a liquid multi-vitamin, cold & flu tablets and the C, Horseradish & Garlic. Hopefully he will make it through the night.

Farmers Markets

One has a new love. Its not unexpected, but it is new and exciting nonetheless.

Having had a string of holiday flings, One thinks its time to be honest and commit to the new love.

Farmers Markets. There, One has said it now and its out there. In the past two weeks there have been two dates with two different markets, perhaps that makes one a philandering marketeer, but One doesn't care.

The produce is so lovely and fresh and the 'Farmers' generally friendly and charming that One is happy to market around. On top of the produce, Farmers markets tend to have a lot of things in common with living in a small community - rivalries and hushed words in the form of gossip. That's right, gossip and we all know how One loves a good old goss.

Last Sunday morning (after a few too many drinks last Saturday night) One ventured to the South Fremantle Growers Markets slightly hung over but definitely on the lookout for a selection of fresh produce. What One found was delicious coffee and crepes to soothe a sore head and then so many little goodies. The highlight of which had to be the seven seed sourdough bread made by the Kneading Women. Now the gossip at the South Freo markets surrounds the move of the markets from Montague Street to Lefroy Street. Apparently it was something to do with the free loving hippy residents not wanting all the cars parking near Montague Street. Which sounds a bit rich to One, but a few further visits One is sure, will find the back story. Another reason for the return visit is to pull out the gumboots which are the footwear of choice for patrons at South Freo.

Today, One went to the Mount Claremont Farmers Markets, which are on a Saturday rather than a Sunday which One finds slightly more convenient than a Sunday market. Perhaps it is just psychological, but the thought of not having a full kitchen as the new week begins is too much. So having hit up the Mt Claremont market, One walked away with a great selection of veggies as well as some beef and curry sauce. The curry sauce lady from Pickle John and Chutney Mary thought that One looked like a good cook, this perplexes One to some extent, however its obviously a compliment One will accept with open arms. Beef Vindaloo here we come!! Mount Claremont is more of a school fete approach to a market, everything is on the basketball courts rather than the school oval and so gumboots don't seem to get much of a run. However, the lady at the beef stall is great and looks like she should be driving a Range Rover on an Estate in England.

Next week, One is off to the Subi Farmers Markets. High hopes have been set by the fact that there are gumboots in the logo.

Preparation

One has had a wonderful weekend, good food, good wine (although a little too much), good shopping and good cooking.

One even prepared some caramelised onions to have on hand in the fridge. Originally, one was going to make an onion tart but a nap got in the way of that and so it was a couple of jars of caramelised onion.

Nigella has jars of caramelised onion on her larder list for Nigella Express and says that they're one of her favourite ways to get cooking quicker. One loves a caramelised onion and will be enjoying them tomorrow in a roast beef sandwich. YUM

The sandwich is going to be on organic five seed loaf that One bought at the Farmers Markets this morning in Freo. There was everything from seafood to Thai food and jams and honey to crepes and cappuccinos with some buskers and lots of cute kids and puppies running around. It was FREEZING but One was rugged up and ready for deliciously fresh produce to come home. Now the fridge is heaving and ready for a week of eating.

Roasts (not the comedic type)

One loves a Roast and isn't quite sure what one loves more - is it the Roast at the meal that it has been cooked for, or is it in fact the days following the roast where a sneaky left over is snatched out of the fridge at any time of the day or night, or even the following lunches when a delightful sandwich or baguette has been made with all the deliciously yummy left over bits? Today lunch involved a fresh baguette from Breadmakers at the Herdie, butter, horseradish cream and then beef, cauliflower cheese, sweet potatoes, caramelised onion and a dollop of warm gravy to finish it off.

Roast beef is the king of roasts so far as One is concerned. Roast chicken just doesn't seem as special given that you can readily pick one up from all manner of stores for about $10. Roast Lamb is far to stinky and fatty for One's liking and while pork does present the opportunity for crackling, it just doesn't get there in One's book anyway.

Great things

One left work on Friday at 4.55pm, it was magnificent. The weather has been glorious of late - cold cold cold but with clear blue skies.

So having arrived at aflatofonesown by 5.10, One wasn't quite sure what to do. So after contemplating this for all of 5 minutes, One decided it was time to make a Roast. Off to the supermarket to pick up bits and pieces for the dinner and what did One find, but this:


Sarsparilla - delicious and an unexpected surprise given it isn't the easiest thing to find in Perth. One developed the taste for Sarsparilla during holidays in Queensland as a child and has never lost the desire for it, even when some manufacturers decided to re-badge it as SARS during hte avian flu epidemic, there was not a second thought given to drinking the delicious aniseedy drink YUM

The Perfect Wedding Cake

That is all.