Welcome home Marion

This weekend has involved much of what a weekend should. Breakfast with friends, a full supermarket shop, coffees, hanging out at Cott with the little fellow, the SiL and the SO before some time in the kitchen doing some prep for the week ahead.

Saturday night was spent at home with a reisling and a curry courtesy Marion from Masterchef. One was quiet excited to see one of Marion's currys on the shelf and was not disappointed by the end result.

The box is much like an Old El Paso Mexican kit with a simple list and various packets inside...

The key difference between this pack and anything else One has seen is the complexity of flavours that emerge. Its like you have worked on it from scratch but everything is just in the box for you with tips on how to customise the curry. In the dried herb packet were some chillies - leave them out for mild, put them in whole for medium and chop them up for hot. Terrific idea Marion!

Here's the end result:
Delicious!

Its beginning to feel...

...a lot like Christmas at One's place.

This weekend has been a much needed break from work and the realisation that Christmas is a mere four months away!

So, it was time to get cracking on the Christmas cake, off to the shops for Sultanas, Raisins, Currants and Brandy, this fruit needs to get into the booze!


And after the initial whiffs of Christmas Cake fruit bathing in brandy, One decided to get cracking on some Fruit Mince too:


There's no peel in either as One is always a little disappointed by it, but the Cake Fruit does have Candied Clementines which were just lusciously delicious before their date with St Agnes and the Fruit Mince has cooked apples in it too.

Seriously exciting!

One has impressed oneself this evening.

Leaving work at 5.45, One headed home and went for a run around Mount Lawley before coming home to make some dinner.

At the same time, One had a few beetroot in the fridge and so One pickled them. Super easy - boil the Beets until tender, peel, slice and at the same time take some of the water from the boiling along with red wine vinegar, sugar, spices and its all done.

Voila

Crown Princess Mary does Monaco in STYLE Part 2

One had not seen Crown Princess Mary's transition to party frock, but she rocks this frock. Not sure who the gentleman is, but massive props for pink features to set off Mary's frock!

Merry Christmas (in July)

One received a parcel at work the other day, well it wasn't quite just a parcel, it was rather large, some may say its a traveling chest size, and One couldn't disagree...


But its full of Nigella bits and bobs so Merry Christmas in July!

New Obsession

One is well known for his love of all things Royal - Royal Houses, Royals and Royal Weddings in no particular order.

Of course HRH the Duchess of Cambridge is high on the list of fav Royals, behind Princess Mary but ahead of most others. Now there are high hopes for the DoC making this role her own and so far she hasn't been the most intriguing public person, but no one can fault her fashion in Canada. Plus it has brought One to a fab blog: What Kate Wore - check it out!

Crown Princess Mary does Monaco in STYLE

So after the disappointment of the beige approach to Monaco's Royal Wedding by the Monegasques, thankfully Crown Princess Mary of Denmark came through with the goods.

First for the pre-wedding concert, she rocked out this one shoulder red number


With some fab hair
Then for the wedding she rocked out this green number with a fab head piece.

Queen Charlene

Meh, is all that I have to say about the dress all together...

But Charlene does good veil, pity Albert didn't give her a tiara to wear on the wedding day though...

20 Hours of Beef: 12 Hours in

Not much more to say really is there...

20 Hours of Beef

A few weeks ago a recipe landed in One's inbox that involved 20 hours of cooking, a blow torch and the need to purchase a meat thermometer. One was sold at 20 hours!

Tonight was kick off and it went a little something like this...

Smother rump olive oil, pepper and salt.

Then the real fun began, the blowtorch came out to play...

Brown the beef all over with the blow torch before popping the rump into the oven at 50 degrees to 20 hours...

Freestyling in South Melbourne

The SO and One had a sneeky getaway to Melbourne a couple of weeks ago. After a luxiously long sleep in and reading the papers on the Couch we headed out to South Melbourne for brekkie and between the car park that was found and the cafe we thought we were headed to stumbled upon this little place:

So Melbourne- small side street, surrounded by warehouses and studios was this little gem. Just terrific all round, plus some interesting non-egg breakfast options. But One needed to look no further than the Welsh Rarebit! Delicious!!

(Oh) Dear Myer

Dear Myer,

Really? Even though One is opposed to Botox, what kind of customer are you seeking to attract with this plan?

Best,

One

For as long as there have been budget airlines, One has stuck with the mainstream where possible. Budget when 20,000 feet in the air just doesn't seem to add up. On the few occasions One has ventured onto the budget side of air travel, it has been uncomfortable both on the ground (strange schedules and obscure airports) and in the air.

The press has finally picked up on this and One cannot agree more with this article. It is time that some etiquette and glamour came back to the air.

Breakfast in Copenhagen

One and the SO hit up Scandinavia in April and during the time away had some pretty amazing food. But on a cold morning in Copenhagen Europa was the chosen venue for some breakfast. Located at 1 Amagertorv, Europa is a perfect spot to sit, sip and people watch.

One chose the Gameltorv, a breakfast selection consisting of ham, cheese, yogurt, preserve, a little almond and carrot mix and a croissant to finish things off.

The Scandinavians don't do breakfast much but with snazzy little dishes like this, One cannot understand why. Not even a 5 degree temperature could keep One away the next day for a second Gameltorv to send One on his way to Amelienborg.

Introducing Guiseppe

This little fellow (on the right) is Giuseppe. He joined the family a couple of months ago now and One can't imagine transportation without him.

He's a Vespa and he's zippy and stylish to boot. Tis always fun nipping into work cutting through traffic while feeling a touch European...

This picture was taken at the work car park where Giuseppe likes to hang with his homies like Vincenzo (on the left).

Been a long time...

It has been a long long time, so much has happened and One doesn't quite know where to start. But One will not start logically at where One left off, but rather will start where One is right now and that is on - il divano - the italian couch...


While they took a ridiculous amount of time, they are fabulously lovely to sit on and while away the hours. Next up will be coffee tables in a few weeks time...

A New Addition

One's clan is about to expand by a little one. Its very exciting indeed.

One has been very restrained in indulging the excitement to date, however on the weekend, One figured that with 5 weeks till due date, it was time to get a little prepared...

This of course involved hitting up baby shops and buying pretty much everything that was unisex (little one is currently known as Neicnew in this ahouseofonesown).

Of course Fab Sister-in-law doesn't need more washing to do and so One through things through the wash. Result was confirmation of an obsession...


Seriously, the little socks, the singlets, the onesies! What is not to adore?

This is One obsessed Uncle-to-be signing off...

Another home and a brand new kitchen

There is nothing One loves more in the home than a kitchen. Sure there are good times relaxing on a fabulous couch, hours spent sleeping in a comfortable bed but nothing quite compares to what One can do with a fabulous kitchen. It is One's firmly held view that a visitor to a home should never leave hungry or thirsty or wanting in some other way.

When ahouseofonesown was first spied, One and the SO did not think there was much to do and indeed there hasn't been. A fresh paint job and some window furnishings and that is the extent of it.

However, the kitchen exhibited signs of neglect that simply needed to be freshened up.

In true P-T renovation styles, the SO and One hit the renovation bandwagon with gusto and came out with a simple plan. New appliances and bench tops. With a little help from our friends to work out exactly which bench top.

Now its part way through the week and a half implementation process and this is where we have landed:

Plus most excitingly, good friends are visiting at the moment so G&A will be here to celebrate the finished kitchen (touch wood) come Thursday!

Black Swan

What a perplexing place One finds Oneself in.

This movie has had much hype both in the lead up to, and indeed since, its release. Natalie Portman is excellent in the movie, although One feels that she plays these contradictory characters often and given what little One knows of Ms Portman, it seems there is a little of the contradictory about herself.

Case in point, Ms Portman is a vegan and refuses to wear any leather products. However, is she quite happy to model for Dior, a fashion house with a love for leather? Yes she is:

According to some articles/blogs on the net, Ms Portman even had Dior make her vegan version of various Dior shoes. The net result surely being that Dior's leather shoes have gotten a rush of publicity and increased sales too.

The movie much like these contradictions is in part great and in part schmultzy. The plot starts with an obsessive mother and daughter combo and follows Portman's character on her journey from chorus dancer to prima ballerina. The movie deals with themes of dangers readily apparent in any modern day career where the perceived or actual expectation of perfection and excellence results in a pressure often mostly applied by ourselves. Not wanting to ruin the movie, One will refrain from further comments on the plot and let you see it unfold for yourselves.

As an aside, Mila Kunis (of That 70s Show fame) who plays the new girl in the NY Ballet Company, fresh off the plane from the West Coast is great too. She brings a freshness to the stodgy institution that is the NY Ballet to bring contrast to Portman's establishment vibe. Oddly, Kunis has been dating Macaulay Culkin for the past 9 years.

Would One see Black Swan again? Certainly.

Can One see a single edit that would have removed the schmultz? Certainly.

Getting Occasional in ahouseofonesown

Yesterday was the SO's birthday and after going for breakfast at the Hobart Street Deli we headed towards Claremont for a coffee.

That was until One remembered he had spied some occasional chairs on Stirling Highway so we stopped off to have a look and found the chairs for the bedroom which are on the list, but understandably not at the top of the list of urgency.

And before One knew it, there they were:

and the close up:

Introducing Betsy...

A little lady has come into our lives. Her name is Betsy and she's brought a lot of chop chop along with her


Betsy chops and stirs and cooks and steams all by herself...

The biggest excitement comes from the complete lack of washing up, this is all that was used to make dinner:
That's right, a knife, chopping board, spatula and Besty who practically cleans herself!

Perth: Moving along

Much is said of Perth's lack of culture and of its quiet streets- both in terms of people traffic and architecture.

It seems that the tides are turning and the people of Perth are receiving more of what is expected of a metropolis with an expanding population and the associated mixing of cultures.

One noticed this building on the way home from work today. Its the new Central TAFE building and while perhaps not to everyone's taste is a sign of new influences that are coming into this fine city.



On top of that, Perth is getting its very own fringe festival and is hosting more and more international exhibitions. Part of Peggy Guigenheim's collection is in town at the moment and there's more art on the way...

Guess where One is going...

NOMA!!!

To exciting, One can't quite believe that we managed to get a booking. Noma is currenty ranked as the best restaurant in the world and there is this crazy booking thing where One must go on to the NOMA website on the day that they announce they are releasing bookings for the month in which One would like to dine at NOMA.

2011 is off to a cracking start indeed!

New Exciting and more than 10 our of 10

One is well known for excellent taste in the arts and particularly music and this evening One is super excited.

Not only is One about to introduce you all to the newest addition to our family, who is currently hard at work and not only is the SO en route from Melbourne, but One has tuned into Eleven for the very first time. The act of turning the TV on isn't the cause of excitement, but rather it is the show being broadcast....

.

One loved the original and the naughties re-boot can only continue to impress surely with cheesiness and terrible acting! The re-boot is up to Series 3 in the US and after being canceled by Channel 10, it is now airing on Eleven! TOO EXCITING

The Toast Stealer

Picture this: 9.30am, 5 star resort, Broome, balmy weather, breakfast underway.

One walks to the toast stand and puts a slice of raisin bread in the big conveyor toaster machine, waits, waits, waits, One turns, picks up some butter, turns back, raisin toast stolen.

A fat, grey haired man darts back to his table about a meter away, butters his toast then realises he has in fact stolen One’s toast. Makes remark to wife and daughter sitting at table who look across at One. One stares back.

One then puts another piece of raising bread in the toaster and waits again, this time not allowing a momentary distraction to loose One’s toast, all the while tapping One’s toes loudly so that the Toast Stealer knows One is on to him.