Pink Champagne, Shahs and Safaris.


It’s raining hard outside.  Typically, this would have to be the day I was so on the ball that I managed to get a load of washing out on the line the moment it started.  On the plus side though, the house is an oasis of calm.  Major maintenance has been attended to, I’ve turned a blind eye to everything else and everyone is either having quiet time or napping.  It’s time for me to enjoy this hot cup of tea next to my laptop and tap away a few soothing paragraphs here on the blog.
Cocktail hour, SAHM style…..  Bottle confusion was not an issue. 

The one tradition Mr SSG and I have for Valentine’s Day is that we don’t celebrate it.  The glass of champagne I had yesterday, the first for close to a year, just happened to be pink and to be consumed on February 14.  I enjoyed every drop of it.  I have to say that having an opened bottle of champagne in the fridge makes me feel a bit reckless and bit like my younger self.  Except that my younger self would’ve opened the bottle on Friday night and quite possibly would have mixed up a champagne cocktail or two as she debriefed from the working week and ordered home delivery for dinner.

If you were interested, the champagne was a find from Costco.  It cost around $15 from memory and I’m very impressed with how it drank.  I haven’t just been paying lip service to Frugal February.

I don’t know if you’re a Priceline shopper but one of the problems I have is making it too late to the bricks and mortar stores to take advantage of the specials.  Or else finding certain items not being stocked at the branch that I frequent.  There’s also the issue of lugging your purchases around with you as you do the rest of your shopping.  For some reason, I only ever go to Priceline on ‘window shopping’  as opposed to grocery shopping days so there’s never a trolly to hold my purchases.  It’s a first world problem, I know.  Anyway,  I finally got around to using Priceline’s relatively new online shopping service.  Delivery was prompt and all those first world problems have disappeared.  The only down side is that those discount vouchers for members can’t be redeemed online.

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I have a new reality TV addiction and I have some lovely ladies on twitter to thank for this one.  It is…. Shahs of Sunset.  The series follows the lives of a group of Iranian American friends who live in Beverly Hills and it’s hard not to like the openly gay Reza and Lilly the Persian Barbie.  On the surface, Shahs looks like just another glossy reality TV series but at least everyone seems to have embraced their natural skin tones.  There isn’t a hint of orange to be seen on anyone.

I know it’s caked in layers of eyeliner, hair spray, labels and tight dresses but there’s something more to the series that I’m intrigued about.  Many of the cast would be unable to live the lives they do now if they had grown up in the oppression of their home country.  Lifestyle and career choices taken for granted in the US would have been punishable by law in Iran.  I’m also fascinated by the tensions that exist between the generations and how parents and children deal with them.

www.smh.com.au

The other exciting TV news from this week is that Maeve O’Meara is back with a new series of Food Safari on SBS.

Government House, Darwin

Last night’s episode celebrated the rich culinary history of Darwin and the Northern Territory.  It was fascinating and I regret that I didn’t have the chance to sample much of it when I was there last year.  Aside from the Indigenous cuisine, Greek, Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai foods also have a very strong presence in the Top End.

The climate also ensures that practically everything can be grown or cultivated in the region.  There has also been an intriguing blending of cultures – sambal cooked the Indigenous way is a firm favourite in the area and a favoured way of cooking fish in the ground has been borrowed from the traditional land owners by relative new comers to the area.  It’s not just the food that was a delight to watch, everyone is so friendly and relaxed!  Conversation is peppered with the local slang and everyone’s a ‘love’.  I can’t wait for next week’s safari.

Until next time, take care and talk to you soon.


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