And....

Ok - confession time. I did not JUST buy the multi-cooker at habitat. In addition to paying the excess amount to purchase the multi-cooker, I might have also purchased a pizza stone. And a pair of kitchen shears.

For the longest time, I have been dying to try making the perfect New York slice pizza at home. Not that I have been to New York, so it's not like I know what it tastes like. But nevertheless, I wanted to make  pizza at home because buying pizza is such a rip-off. Plus, I always feeling like I need to buy meatlovers pizza or BBQ chicken or something to make my money worth while. I would NEVER pay for a magherita in Hobart. It's just sauce and cheese and they are not that much cheaper than the other sorts of pizza, so no thank you!

End rant about the exorbitant prices of bread and sauce, aka pizza.

So, it turns out that all my life I have been making pizza the wrong way... the crust was always soggy in the middle where the toppings were. I have tried quickly baking the pizza crust beforehand and then putting the topping on there and melting the cheese but to no avail. SO, imagine how excited I was when I stumbled upon this recipe for a delicious pizza crust. It did call for the use of a pizza stone, but instead I used my metal pizza tray. I put it in the oven and blasted it on full heat so that the pan was also piping hot when I put my pizza dough on it. And I used my wooden chopping board as a pizza peel. It was delicious. My mother was suitably impressed (she was visiting from Malaysia then, and she LOVES pizza). But I think we can do better with a pizza stone.

And we did. It was delicious. I'm never buying pizza in Hobart again.

It was simple, garlic and mushroom pizza. I will update this post with photos when I take them. (of course I'm making it this weekend again)

I also used my breadmaker to do the hard yards for me. I should mention that this is NOT my own recipe, but I can't remember where I got this recipe from now, so I can't credit the person who created it (sorry!) Recipe below:

·  2/3 cup whey (or just water, if you don't have any whey)

·  1 teaspoon sugar

·  1.5 teaspoons of dry yeast

·  1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour or 1 3/4 cups bread flour

·  1/2 teaspoon salt

·  1 tablespoon cornmeal (optional) 

Chuck all these ingredients in the bread maker, press “menu” until you get to “dough”  and press start. Check the dough after 8 mins and touch it, if it is sticky and too soft, add some flour (one TBS at a time). If too dry, add water 1 TBS at a time as well. The dough should not stick to your fingers (but tacky).

I also dusted the pizza peel (in my case, it was still my trusty wooden chopping board) with semolina, which gave it the extra crunch. I just topped it off with garlic, mushrooms, some extra virgin olive oil and some mozarella.

Turns out I can't roll a round pizza - this was taken on my "peel" with the dustings of semolina. 

Delish!

xoxo

I'm back baby dolls... :)

Ok - sorry I have been MIA from this blog. It has been a busy few weeks! First of all, I finished up at RBF, and that was a crazy last week of work, just trying to get everything done, so I was up at the crack of dawn (and I don't mean 9am, but rather 4am!) trying to get it done, but at the end of the day, I can only do what I can do! And let's not forget that Penny arrived - she is AMAZING! For those of you who don't know, Penny is my new Blackberry Playbook and she is everything I hoped she would be! All those BB haters out there - shame on you! I LOVE my Playbook. Sure it's got it's limitations, but it's a tablet, what do you expect. Her first photoshoot and review should be coming up soon - when I get around to it... seems like the theme of this month! :)

Then I had a week off before I started my new job, where I did nothing at all. Seriously. Nothing. I have never been so lazy in my whole entire life! The week flew by and very soon, I had to start my new job! It's pretty cool, it's nice to be in an office again, although I have to share, but eh, can't complain! At least I'm no longer in a cubicle! Although I have to say that I didn't mind so much being in a cubicle in my old workplace, because the building was nice. This one is NOT. So an office is a bonus really. I have one window where I am overlooking the warehouse. FANCY. :)

But I get to park at work and drive home during lunch, so that is a bit of a bonus. The people seem nice, but I do miss my old colleagues! Especially chatting with Miss Anna Banana about her latest purchases (have you guys checked out her blog?), catching up with Miss Honor about her weekend shenanigans (the weirdest still being when she flew to Melbourne randomly for a weekend to deliver a passport!) and of course the emails from Miss Jules who would keep me in stitches! But I suppose these bonds take time to develop...

And I also started my training to run 10K. Yup, you read it right. I started counting calories and started training for 10K, 100 push ups and also 200 sit ups. But alas, after week one and feeling extremely proud of myself, I was struck down with the flu. You betcha. I feel like history has repeated itself! Last year when I first started my job, I got a terrible flu the second week I was there. I had to take a day off. This time, new job, week 2... BANG. The flu. AGAIN. Ridunk.

So training will have to wait a week. But I will get back on it and I hope that at the end of 13 weeks, I will be able to run 10K.

Latest obsessions? I am officially a reality TV junkie AND Real Housewives tragic. I now watch all the Real Housewives series, you name it. Orange County, New York (one of my faves), DC, Beverly Hills (love), New Jersey (LOVE LOVE), Atlanta (meh - but I like the way they talk) and also Miami (which is a bit meh as well, but hell, I will watch it anyway!).

Oh, and turns out Audrina has got a show too. Luke stumbled upon it when he was watching some of his shows online, so I jumped on to check it out. First of all, I did watched the clip with Audrina's mom having a go at Lauren Conrad after Audrina got kicked out of Dancing with the Stars. What a crazy bitch.

If you haven't seen it, here's the video:

After reading the reviews, I thought that it would be a bit boring. It has been called the poor person's "Keeping Up with the Kardashians", but I got into it a bit. But then again, who are we kidding - I just admitted that I'm a reality tv junkie! Lynn Patridge does shit my up the wall though - she is sooo mean to Casey, and a mother should NOT be allowed to speak to her daughter like that!

So after I watched all of Audrina, I looked around to see what else was new, and thought that I should check out Mob Wives. And OMFG - this is AWESOME. I love all of them - they are so cool, and SO WEIRD. I mean, who talks like that? And do these girls (well, in all fairness two of them) really think that they are mafia princesses? BUT, I still like them. I don't think I could even pick a favourite, but I would probably say that I like Carla the least. She's more mellow and a bit boring compared to the other three. But I like them all!

Check it:

Anyway, enough about TV ranting - I need to write another post on the footy!

xoxo

Gossip Girl, Season 4, Episode 19

Just when I thought that the return of Louis (or Louie?) the Prince was a bit of a "so what?" It was far from it. I was intending on watching Gossip Girl while culling my wardrobe and clearing my bedroom, but it kept my interested that I just sat there and did nothing but watch the episode.

So Louis is back from Paris, bearing the shoe that Blair left him when she left Paris to come home to Chuck. She had just rejected Chuck for the upteenth time (this is turning out to be a saga, but quite a good one) and turns out that the kiss with Humprhey meant nothing to her, and she realised that all she wanted was to be friends. Unfortunately, Dan has fallen for her - even he can't believe it.

Enters a new character, Charlie, Serena's long lost cousin, who, for some reason (I don't know, she just wanted to fit into the Upper East Side elite or something) does everything a Nosey Parker can do to spy on Dan and Blair. It screws up Dan and Serena's friendship, Serena and Blair's friendship, Dan and Vanessa's friendship and possibly Dan and Blair's friendship. I hope you're happy Charlie! How many bodies do you want to leave in your wake? RUDE!

I hate when Serena and Blair fight. And looks like this one is going to be war.

Which reminds me - what happened to Ben? He was no where to be seen and I can't remember whether he and Serena broke up (CW network, this is why you need to stop taking these massive long breaks in the middle of a season!!!)

Chuck Bass is desperately trying to figure out if Russel Thorpe is lying to him about his father. And even though I was a little annoyed at Chuck Bass last week, he's still got the Bass appeal! Love him.

Nate is being boring and in a love bubble.

Photo credit

But let's talk about the dresses! There were a plethora of beautiful pink dresses on display as Manhattan's who's who (including some women who were absolute bitches!) attended Lily Bass' Pink Party. I personally love everything that Blair wears anyway, and once again she was perfectly stunning in her Oscar de la Renta gown. However, I thought in this particular episode, Serena and Lily might have outshone her!

Serena's dress was a tight, short little number. And while I don't usually like dresses like that, they definitely suit her as they accentuate her long legs and trim figure! No wonder all the top designers want to dress her. BUT, what I really liked about this dress is the detail on the back. The open back dress with suede applique and a mini bustle was absolutely stunning. Loved it!

Photo credit

As for Lily, my research tells me that the stunning one shouldered chiffon gown she wore was a Charles Chang-Lima number from Bergdorf Goodman. Stunning!

Photo credit

Bring on episode 20!

xoxo

Rosie and the Lazy Song...

My poor darling Rosie has hurt herself and she will need to undergo surgery. AGAIN. I can't believe it, the silly thing. But we love her too much to keep her limping. We have to fix it! Fingers crossed for tomorrow then!

On another note, how awesome is this video?? It is so my theme song (the bit about not doing anything, not the bit about the other stuff....) But the monkeys are hilarious! Love! They actually made me laugh out loud!

Hope you guys like it too!

xoxo

The Dance Scene - Episode 2

I don' know whether Lauri Ann (or how you spell it) thinks that she is a bad ass or something, but I don't understand her. WHY do you need to haze Kherington? Is that really necessary? I am still undecided about Kherington. I'm undecided about the whole show actually. I think that it's a good background filler TV - and I wouldn't care whether I missed the show or not. I just can't decide. Give me a few more episodes.

Although, having said that, I do enjoy the dance scenes - I always wished that I could dance, but alas! I was born with two left feet and a voice that would scare the dogs away.

Ugh - time to wrap this up - Chelsea Lately is on and I just can't stand her. AND that is an understatement to say the least!

What is this week going to bring! Bed time! Night peeps!

xoxo

Khloe and Lamar - Episode 2

Photo Credit

So the latest installment of the Kardashians franchise. For starters, I like the theme song better. Kourtney and Kim take on New York just had the stupidest (no offense ladies) music at the start. Stupidest. This one is way better. So it's a good start.

The voice Khloe uses to speak to Lamar is annoying. Oh wait. I do it too. :)

Say what you want - I really like the Kardashians. I think they are really tight and the bond between them is amazing. There was this other show about three sisters "Wild Things" or something like that, and that was complete trash. They didn't seem as connected as the Kardashians, I lost interest very quickly.

Tonight's episode: Rob starts managing the BG5 girls (btw, who the hell are they?) and Khloe has had enough of Jamie and his lazy ways.

Fashion alert - the big leopard print head gear Khloe wears. Pretty cool - although I'm not sure whether it's something that I could pull off. I just look stupid with headbands, so I'm not even going to try.

Funny scene - None tonight - a little disappointed. It's a bit on the serious side!

OMG scene - Khloe changing the locks on the door and confronting Jamie. Awkward turtle. I think a girl should not get between her husband and his best friend. I do know where she is coming from though. Jamie had no right saying to her that he has known Lamar for 20 years and Khloe just "popped up" a year ago. Get over it bro.

My personal opinion - I'm sorry, I don't like Malika. She is such an extra and she plays up to the cameras. Very annoying. Very very extra. Very very annoying. Everytime she is on the screen, I will yell something to her on the screen, I think I might be annoying Luke. Oops! :)

That's all I'll say about this episode - I liked the episode, but it's not one that I would watch over and over again. I do like that Khloe has put her foot down though, but it appears that the fight between her and Jamie is just beginning.

Off to the next show!

xoxo

New episode of Gossip Girl!!!

It all began with this post on my facebook wall:

Gossip Girl ep 18 now out! Yayeeeeeee!!!!

That was from my bestie Elizah. We used to watch all our tv together, then I think we started liking different things, but it appears that the planets are not awligned and we now like the same stuff again. She sent me this wall post on Tuesday night and I was silently cursing her because I had to study that night, and this distraction was really the last thing I needed. Luckily I managed to exercise some willpower and held off watching it until the next night!

I have been waiting for AGES and have been dying to know what happened between Lonely Boy and Queen B! All kind of anti-climatic, and think may be blasphemous, but this episode kinda made me over the whole Blair and Chuck thing. Never in a million years I thought that I would be rooting for Humphrey, but I was in this episode because I was so sorry for poor Daniel.


Another couple of new introductions - Serena's cousin, Charlie, who looks like she could be a potential love interest for Humphrey, especially since he has just gotten his heart broken by Blair. He is so desperate, I seriously don't know why I'm rooting for him. Plus, there is also Charlie's mother, who is Lily's sister, and her name escapes me right now.

I wonder what purpose they will serve in the show...

Oh, and Serena's biological father is back in the scene and looks like Blair's prince from Paris is back.

The plot thickens. I know this first episode back didn't live up to its standards, but I think its only warming up. :)

Ok - so this is a little late, but hey - MKR has been such a biig part of my TV viewing schedule for the last few months, that it is difficult not to talk about the final.

Talk about close!

Congratulations Sammy and Bella! Even though Bella kinda annoys me - I do have to admit that they deserved to win. Kane and Lee did a wonderful job as well, and especially coming from out of no where - they were amazing!

I really thought that Kane and Lee would win though. I was very impressed with how chilled Lee was throughout the whole process. Kane was freaking out a bit (let's not even talk about Bella's cry in the kitchen - what was up with that) but Lee held it together and didn't seem to sweat anything. Good job girl!

All in all, I'm glad that the grand final was so close. I think it really showed that the best two teams made it to the end. It would have definitely been very disappointing if it was a blow out.

I guess the big question now is: what am I going to watch now? :) Bring on Season 3!

I love you Manu!!!

Winners and Losers...

Channel 7's latest show, Winners and Losers is pretty addictive. Although I'm not a huge fan of Australian drama (never got into Home and Away, All Saints, McLeod's daughters - I seriously fail to see how some 7 people living in woop woop can be interesting), I thought that I would give this one a go (especially seeing how I missed the Packed to the Rafters band wagon).

The premise was interesting enough. Four old high school friends, reunited after the high school reunion. Humiliated the main antagonist, had the best night of their lives, renewed their vows to be BFFs and bought a lottery ticket. As predicted, they win the Division 1 lottery. One of the girls didn't put in any money toward the ticket and the second episode was around whether or not she should be entitled to a quarter of the $8 million. Of course, as predicted. they gave it to her.

Despite the fact that she was whingy and annoying and I seriously don't understand how she got a role in this show.

Would you have parted with that money? I'm not sure myself.

All in all, very good entertainment for a Tuesday night. After a hard day's work, all I want to do is to plop down on my couch and watch mindless tv. So that's all it is, mindless TV. Good enough, I think.

Nicole's Bridal Shower

So Nicole's bridal shower (take 2 of course) ended up being pretty cool. Well, I thought it was at least. We had it at James Squires, which is a nice open pub (or bar) in Salamanca Square next to Barcelona. Speaking of Barcelona, the last time I was there, it was not enjoyable at all! Not just the company I was with, but it was to too crowded and hot and seriously, the food was only average at best.

James Squires on the other hand - I loved the layout of the place. Claudia, Jillian and I were there for the 2010 grand final, where it ended as a draw between St Kilda and Collingwood. I had a really good time and was so excited that it was Claudia's first grand final (first AFL even) experience!!Might even make it a grand final tradition.

Anyway, moving forward...

James Squires was very accomodating, absolutely fabulous. I would definitely recommend them as a perfect venue for a dinner party and drinks. Although I should say that none of us thought that the food was all that great. I ordered from the pub menu (and was promptly told off by Miss Mitsakis - but I didn't care, I wanted wings...) I ordered the chicken wings and beer battered chips. Chips were meh - I think the chips at the Devil's Kitchen are better. The chicken wings were way way overcooked and very disappointing. The serve was pretty huge and I was impressed when it first got to my table (for once, I don't think I remembered to take any photos). The wings definitely tasted like they were boiled or something before hand before lightly grilling them. So needless to say, they were completely overcooked, and it was a rare occasion where I did not finish my food.

Some of the girls ordered the gnocchi and the saganaki, which were both very salty. On the other side of the table, Nicole's family ordered some beef cheeks, which were on the opposite end of the spectrum. They were under-seasoned. So overall, the food was very disappointing.

But, the atmosphere was fabulous and it was the perfect venue for a bridal shower. All in all, I was very happy with the choice of venue AND for once, I would say that thanks to the staff and the venue itself, I would recommend it for a night out. And I RARELY do that if the food isn't great!

Nicole's cake was the chocolate dump it cake (recipe in an earlier post). I sliced the cake in half and spread some raspberrry jam (a handy little hint from Miss Honor Keele) and also a chocolate frosting infused with Bailey's. All I wanted was for the cake to look pretty - and I hope I managed to do so!

Yes, they are sad frogs!!!

For Nicole's present, I didn't feel comfortable asking people to spend more money buying more presents as a majority of them had already travelled to Sydney for the hens/bridal shower Take 1. So I asked them all to bring a photo of themselves and Nicole, and a cocktail recipe. I bought some pretty paper, brought some pens and sticky tape, and got the people to decorate their page. The decorated pages with the cocktails recipes will then be bound to make a cocktail recipe book!

All in all, quite a sucessful low-key, surprise bridal shower. With all the stuff I had going on for the week, I was pretty proud that I managed to pull it off!

A couple of reviews...

Well, I think that might be a bit misleading - these are not reviews per se... just some observations...

KFC Mantime Burgers (actually I'm not even sure what they are called)

I was very tempted to try this one - I mean, what's not to love? Original fillet  - good. Cheese - good. Bacon - GOOOOOODDDD (even though I think I'm over the concept of bacon - but that's another story altogether). I stood at the KFC counter and could NOT bring myself to order THAT. A bunless burger? Two pieces of meat, salty meat, plus salty cheese PLUS salty bacon - and nothing to balance out the salt? NO THANK YOU. Anyone willing to prove me wrong?

So this burger is a FAIL for me.

Telstra "Get Closer to Adam Goodes" Ad

I don't even usually like Adam Goodes, but man, I love him in this ad! Especially the scene where the guy is trying to go to the toilet - absolutely HILARIOUS!!! I always love a good ad - I hear the music and I run out from wherever I am just to watch it! Hope you guys like it as well!

Ruthless Rob...

I can't believe how ruthless Rob Mariano is! Voting out Matt again (although I thought that he was a little naive), but I'm ultra annoyed that he went after my boy Mike. I LOVE Mike - so hot! But he was always going to be a target if he didn't win Immunity, so  let's just hope that he does something on Redemption Island and come back into the game and kick ass!!

What's not to love? :)

David is annoying and Philip is CRAZY!!! They need to get rid of him. He is a ridiculous excuse for a man! He talks about stealth, but he's the blabbermouth which has told EVERYONE their strategy at Tribal. It's ridunk.

In saying all that though - I've always liked Rob! If Mike doesn't win, I sure hope that Rob does! He is hilarious, but I cannot STAND the skanky harem he's got around him! (with the exception of Andrea - she's ok)

Yes, I still watch Survivor. And yes I love it!!!

Cameron...

I'm back!!!

Yes, I have been away, but only because I have been crazy busy at work  and by the time I get home, I collapse on the couch and am dead to the world by 9pm. But yes, I'm back with a new partner in crime:

That's right. Luke and I have invested in a digital SLR. And word on the street is that this is the best entry level camera there is on the market. So we researched on ebay. The price was right, and the purchase was made!! Welcome little camera. I think I will name you Cameron. Cameron the Camera. (yes, I am very creative).

Cameron's stats are as follows:

Type	Digital single-lens reflex camera
Sensor	CMOS APS-C 22.2 x 14.8 mm (1.6x conversion factor)
Maximum resolution	10.1 effective megapixels, 3,888 x 2,592
Lens	Canon EF lens mount, Canon EF-S lens mount
Flash	E-TTL II automatic built-in pop-up, 13m ISO 100 guide number, 27mm (equivalent in 135 format) lens focal length coverage; compatible with Canon EX Series Speedlite external hotshoe-mount flashes
Shutter	focal-plane
Shutter speed range	1/4000 to 30 s and Bulb, 1/200 s X-sync
Exposure metering	Full aperture TTL, 35-zone SPC
Exposure modes	Full Auto, Portrait, Landscape, Close-up, Sports, Night Portrait, No Flash, Program AE , Shutter-priority, Aperture-priority, Manual, Auto Depth-of-field
Metering modes	Evaluative, Partial (approx. 10% at center of viewfinder), Center-weighted average
Focus areas	7 AF points
Focus modes	AI Focus, One-Shot, Predictive AI Servo, Live Mode in Live View; Quick Mode in Live View
Continuous shooting	3 fps for 514 JPEG frames or 1.5 fps for 5 RAW frames
Viewfinder	Eye-level pentamirror SLR, 95% coverage, 0.81x magnification
ASA/ISO range	ISO 100 to 1600
Flash bracketing	Yes
Custom WB	Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten Light, White Fluorescent Light, Flash, Manual, user-set
WB bracketing	± 3 stops in 1-stop increments;
Rear LCD monitor	2.5 in color TFT LCD, 230,000 pixels
Storage	Secure Digital Card Secure Digital High Capacity
Battery	LP-E5 Battery Pack
Dimensions	126.1 x 97.5 x 61.9 mm
Weight	450 g (body only)
Optional battery packs	BG-E5

Type	Digital single-lens reflex camera
Sensor	CMOS APS-C 22.2 x 14.8 mm (1.6x conversion factor)
Maximum resolution	10.1 effective megapixels, 3,888 x 2,592
Lens	Canon EF lens mount, Canon EF-S lens mount
Flash	E-TTL II automatic built-in pop-up, 13m ISO 100 guide number, 27mm (equivalent in 135 format) lens focal length coverage; compatible with Canon EX Series Speedlite external hotshoe-mount flashes
Shutter	focal-plane
Shutter speed range	1/4000 to 30 s and Bulb, 1/200 s X-sync
Exposure metering	Full aperture TTL, 35-zone SPC
Exposure modes	Full Auto, Portrait, Landscape, Close-up, Sports, Night Portrait, No Flash, Program AE , Shutter-priority, Aperture-priority, Manual, Auto Depth-of-field
Metering modes	Evaluative, Partial (approx. 10% at center of viewfinder), Center-weighted average
Focus areas	7 AF points
Focus modes	AI Focus, One-Shot, Predictive AI Servo, Live Mode in Live View; Quick Mode in Live View
Continuous shooting	3 fps for 514 JPEG frames or 1.5 fps for 5 RAW frames
Viewfinder	Eye-level pentamirror SLR, 95% coverage, 0.81x magnification
ASA/ISO range	ISO 100 to 1600
Flash bracketing	Yes
Custom WB	Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten Light, White Fluorescent Light, Flash, Manual, user-set
WB bracketing	± 3 stops in 1-stop increments;
Rear LCD monitor	2.5 in color TFT LCD, 230,000 pixels
Storage	Secure Digital Card Secure Digital High Capacity
Battery	LP-E5 Battery Pack
Dimensions	126.1 x 97.5 x 61.9 mm
Weight	450 g (body only)
Optional battery packs	BG-E5

So is this the new thing that I've decided to dabble in? Yes, photography. And in particular, food photography. What can I say - I am greedy by nature. :)

So Cameron arrived on Friday and I have been busy snap snap snapping photos. I have added some to my Flickr photostream (and I have opened a Flickr account).

By the way, as I am writing this, I have got one eye on the television, and it is the opening round of the AFL Season. Adelaide plays Hawthorn. I should say now that I hate Hawthorn with a passion, and Adelaide is currently losing - so this is bringing terrible memories to Round 1 last year when Jill, Luz and I were in Melbourne watching my team get absolutely throttled.

So where was I? Well, long story short, I am back and will be updating more often and hopefully with better photos.

xx

Friday 28 January 2011

Friday lunch. After a yummilicious dinner of won ton noodle soup, I thought that the easiest thing would be to pack the leftover won tons for lunch.

Have I mentioned my awesome new lunchbox?

It's be the Nude Food Movers - and I love it! I think it's a great tool for packing a healthy lunch. In my effort not to go hungry, I am determined to follow the "rules" and graze all day, which means to eat about five to six small meals a day.

So, what did I pack for lunch? I guess the question is - what was leftover? I had leftover dumplings, half an orange, a cup of chicken broth and 3 chinese mushrooms. So I packed them all! I put the chicken broth into a microwaveable cup and popped the chinese mushrooms in it. And in my lovely lunchbox (which I will now name Lou-Anne), I packed the dumplings, chili sauce (which was also leftover), the orange, some cherries and a container of custard and peaches. Easy easy lunch. And it kept me well fed through out the day!

Did I mention that I LOVED my lunch box? :) I think I might actually name it Larry, as opposed to Lou-Anne, I think Larry has a nicer ring to it and growing up, I LOVED Robert Downey Jr's character in Ally McBeal who was called Larry too.

Speaking of celebrity crushes - I have never met any woman who hated Colin Firth. I love love love Colin Firth and even more so after I went to watch the King's Speech. Luke and I usually have date night on Thursday night, but this week, we decided to have date night on Friday night. We also decided to use Christie's very generous present (a $100 gift voucher to Gold Class) to enjoy an evening of Colin (that's for me - Luke was there for the story line) and a late dinner afterward (which I should mention - it was very hard to find in Hobart!)

I'm not a movie critic, but by golly, that was an awesome movie! I thought that Colin Firth's potrayal of a monarch was absolutely superb. His stammers were conpletely convincing and it kinda opened my eyes to the fact that not everyone wants to be king. I thought that Geoffrey Rush was brilliant too, but I don't think he was better than Colin Firth. For starters, he was playing someone eccentric - he didn't have to potray someone tortured with a speech impediment. Plus, he was also playing an Australian. Not to take anything away from his performance, because I thought that he was BRILLIANT, but I thought that Colin was better.

Anyway, after the movie ended, Luke and I raced to Blue Eye, a new seafood place where Tacos used to be. I think it is owned by the same owners of Flathead in South Hobart, so our expectations were high. I forgot to bring my phone, so no photos on this meal.

When Luke booked the table, he was informed that the kitchen would be closing at 9pm, so we needed to be there just beforehand. We arrived just before and managed to get seated. The wait staff were terrific - I mentioned that we would just order the mains because we were aware that the kitchen was closing, but she assured us that it would be fine to order a starter if we wanted to (and yes, we wanted to). So Luke and I shared a serving of chili salt squid, which was served with warm chorizo, artichoke and rocket salad, with a saffron aioli. It was delish! The squid was so tender, I barely used any effort in slicing it in half with a knife.

For mains, upon recommendation, I ordered the pan-fried blue eye. I was considering the steak (because I was having a conversation with my colleagues that morning about steak) but then Luke suggested that I should have seafood, considering we were at a seafood place. So I did. And I didn't regret it! I had the pan-fried blue eye, with sauteed potatoes, mussels and saffron and mushroom tapanade. It was so delicious! My only criticism was that I didn't have a spoon to eat all the delicious saffron broth at the bottom of my plate. Now why didn't I ask for a spoon? Oh that's right, I was busy stuffing my face! :) The blue eye was cooked perfectly - it was tender and juicy. Initially I thought that the potatoes were under-seasoned, but the fish was seasoned so well, it didn't matter!

You can check out the menu here. I highly recommend blue eye!