Friday, December 24, 2010

U2 the greatest show in the world

Last weekend Jason and I attended the greatest show in the world- U2 (along with 60,000 other fans). However, it nearly wasn't to be with Jason locking the work garage door opener, his swipe card for work and the tickets in the car. For about 20 minutes we were wondering what to do as Jason couldn't get hold of any work mates. Finally we managed to get hold of Al, who was going to come down and save the day for us... and low and behold, someone came out of the building and we were in. Crisis averted.

The show started with Jay-Z rocking the crowd, for a rapper it was really good and he and his band really got the crowd going.

After the opening act we had about 30 minutes to wait.... until... U2 kicked things off with a rendition of Beautiful Day, on a beautiful warm night with the moon glowing overhead.

During the start of the show, Bono drew a comical analogy between cricket and rock and roll, referencing the day's Ashes Cricket showdown between Aussie and England. After likening each of the band members to cricket players, he got to the point. His observations that the Aussies and the Irish shared an "overwhelming desire to stick it to the Brits"... it was pretty funny and got great cheers from the crowd.

There was a great blend of old and new songs, including I will follow, Pride (In the Name of Love), Mysterious Ways, I still haven't found what I'm looking for, With or Without you, One, Sunday Bloody Sunday, and Walk On.

U2's 360 tour is probably the biggest ever and most impressive concert Perth has seen. It was visually epic, with Bono at one stage wearing a laser jacket and many cameras hidden all over the alien-like claw capturing every moment while he and The Edge strutted a range of catwalks allowing the masses to get up close and personal with the stars. Here's some shots of the stage:
One lucky lady will never forget her close encounter with Bono, after being pulled up onto the stage only to have him lay in her lap as he sang the romantic In A Little While. While she looked suitably stunned, he slow danced with her, only to leave her with a kiss on the back of the hand.

Here's a couple of shots of the band rocking it out:So, Poppy has now been to Crowded House and U2 and I was VERY tempted by Kings of Leon and Santana (both in March). But we decided against it.

All I can say is, what a great evening and if you get a chance, I recommend seeing U2 live!!! Wicked.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Week 19 baby belly

Well after a couple of requests I have posted the first of the baby belly shots...here I am at 19 weeks and 1 day. Nearly halfway there now.


I had my 18 week check up on Thursday and my doctor said that Poppy is lying on the right, and you can see that my belly button is being pulled that was as well...

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Mmmmm Pizza

So last weekend my brother (a chef) and sister in law (who is also pregnant) came to stay. We had a great few days but today's post is all about the new pizza stone. On the Saturday morning we were all trying to decide what to have for dinner. We all decided on home made pizza. For one, it meant we could use the new kenwood for the base. Also, Jason has been wanting a pizza stone for quite some time.

So after a day out at Fremantle we made a quick stop at the kitchen warehouse for a pizza stone and a pizza paddle and then coles for some ingredients. Jane and Quentin were after a potato, garlic and choriza pizza, Jason was after a meat lovers and bbq sauce, and I wanted pumpkin and cherry tomato.

Expecatations were high and they were exceeded, the pizza stone worked brilliantly on the bbq and the food was just delish!!!

Here's Quentin making the pizza, the potato and chorizo finished product and the meat lovers in the making (on the bbq). No photos of the pumpkin and cherry tomato pizza and I was soooooo hungry and it was soooo good.
The following night, while Jane and Quentin were at a wedding, Jason made us garlic bread pizza style on the bbq for dinner. Yummo. I can see a whole summer of homemade pizzas ahead of us.

I think Jason's summary of the kenwood mixer (my Christmas pressie) was priceless as well - in his words - its bought nothing but joy so far!!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

My first pavlova

This weekend we had guests over for dinner (fellow kiwis) so I decided that I wanted to make a good traditional kiwi dessert. The mighty pavlova. I had never made a pavlova before so I wanted a tried and tested recipe from my mum. She gave a few good tips and tricks, especially as I do not know my new oven yet.

As well as the great recipe I had the great new kenwood mixer Jason bought me for Christmas (only given early for the sake of the pavlova). So between the great recipe, the FANTASTIC new kenwood mixer and a good reliable pavlova making oven I achieved the following result:
Not too bad for a first effort really. It tasted as good as it looked as well. I did toss up between mango and passionfruit with berries for the topping, but good old berries won the challenge on the day.