Sept 29 - A Top Night Out

  I didn't set my alarm today but I still woke up at 7:30am.  I took my blood sugar (5.3) and got up, went to the bathroom and undertook the required sample taking process, then headed straight off to Dorevitch to have some blood leeched out of me.  I was there by 8:00am but there were already 12 people ahead of me!  On the plus side, I got a good nurse this time, she was able to find a vein in my left arm without much issue.
  I was home again and able to eat by 9ish.  I cooked up a yummy breakfast of one slice of Bürgen Wholemeal & Seeds Bread spread lightly with Rosella Reduced-Joule Chutney topped with one slice of Bega Extra Light Tasty cheese and then toasted in the toaster oven, then all that was topped with two slices of short cut bacon and one egg, sunny side down.  I love eggs for breakfast.
  After breakfast I didn't much feel like going on the cross trainer so I decided to have a walk instead.
  I went next door to see if Benny the German Shepherd wanted to come with me and he did.. but he didn't.  He was excited to get the lead on but when he realised it was only me going with him he refused and walked me back to the house.
  So I set off by myself and walked to Blackburn Road and back.  It was a 50 minute walk of 3.8km.  According to google maps it should take 47 minutes so I'm pleased that I am relatively on track with their estimate.  I did stop to take a few photos after all!  I saw some pretty little white lawn daisies and a pink climbing geranium, a lovely looking claw-foot bath, some baby trees (you may call them saplings if you wish) and a crested pigeon!

Yes, you heard right, claw-foot bath.

  When I got home from the walk I was going to jump straight in the shower but then I managed to catch Teddy online.  We had a nice long catch up during which I made and ate lunch.  Lunch was 50g of Yumi's Hummus with ten Vita-Weat Multigrain Rice Crackers and a large unpeeled carrot cut up into eight sticks, six brazil nuts and two dried peach halves.  I didn't want to eat too much for lunch, knowing I was going out for dinner, but I wanted it to be filling enough that I wouldn't be too hungry by dinner time.  When it got to half past one it was time for Teddy's stories (11:30pm Friday in Boston), so off he popped to watch TV.  He's a devoted watcher of Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
  It was a little while after this that I remembered that I needed to look respectable this evening so I finally headed off to the shower.  I actually really like having showers in the afternoon on weekends.  By the afternoon the sun has heated up my bathroom and the sunlight makes the room bright and glowy.
  Then it was on to a few chores and bits and pieces, a bit of preparation for tomorrow's walk and picnic with Miss Mischief, flicking on the start of the Grand Final and eventually, time to head off and collect my dinner companions.
  I had a lovely dinner tonight with Mr Smart, Masterchef and Mr Masterchef, at The Moor's Head in Thornbury.  What an amazing meal!  So different, new and interesting taste sensations at every turn.  The boys tried a Lebanese Cabernet which, while the thought of it raised their eyebrows at first, turned out to be quite a decent drop.  I was the designated driver for the evening, as usual, so I stuck with a 250ml Tamek Sour Cherry Nectar.

  After contemplation and debate over the menu we decided to go with the $25 per head banquet.  That got us three entrees and one salad to share and one manoushe or pide choice per person.  The entrees were chef's choice, we were given the radishes and salt, the pickled vegetables and olives and baby peppers stuffed with feta and walnuts.  The last of the three was the clear favourite, though all were enjoyed.
  For our four 'inauthentic pizza' choices we chose with a method of partly each choosing a flavour but part general consent of the group.  We went with the Beiruti manoushe, the Sultan Mehmet Pide, the Erkin Koray pide and the Istanbuli pide.  For our salad choice we took a vote and the chick pea salad won!  The pide and came to the table divided into sections of four, the manoushe into eight and a big carby feast began.  My favourite, unsurprisingly, was the Beiruti, my choice, as I'm a sincere fan of labne, za'atar and fresh tomato.  The combination was magic.  It was also realy nice to have a meal quite heavy in veggie choices and the differ substantially from what we think of as pizza in that they aren't slathered in cheese.

 For dessert (because if you're going to indulge then do it properly) Masterchef, Mr Masterchef and I split The Tilyan, a Lebanese inspired version of a Nutella pizza, served with airy light wisps of Persian fairy floss.  I ask you, how many calories can something that light really have?  It's practically weightless!
  After dessert and the eventual settling of the bill, we headed back to the Masterchef homestead for wine and Pictionary!
  We played four games in total, first girls vs boys.  We girls were pipped at the post!  We led the whole game but they caught up while we failed to win a few 'all plays'.  Then it was non-partners, my one winning game, played with Mr Masterchef, then couple vs couple and I regret to say that I may have let Mr Smart down a teensy bit on that front.  Still, as I said, better that the married couple win lest they argue or have to ban Pictionary in the household.  Then we returned to a follow up battle of the sexes and unfortunately we girls again let the gender down.  Ah well, 'tis only a game spake the losers.  At any rate, Mr Masterchef was very chuffed to find that he'd been on the winning team all four games.  Apparently his normal win rate at Pictionary is less than impressive.
  The most hilarious moments come up in Pictionary.  Tonight's funniest was during an all play where the subject being drawn was 'Devonshire Tea'.  I managed to get Masterchef onto the right track of 'high teas' as we regularly go to those with Miss M and FlyGirl but getting her to add the 'Devonshire' bit was proving incredibly difficult.  Mr Masterchef was having similar issues getting Mr Smart to guess right.  It was only through his rather detailed illustration depicting four Hobbits and Gandalf the Grey that he eventually got Mr Smart to utter the word 'shire'.  We then both got very exciting, gesticulating wildly at our respective team mates only to illicit the simultaneous responses "Buckinghamshire Tea" and "Nottinghamshire Tea".
  Sometime during the third game there was a rather amazing moment.  My alarm went off to take my blood sugar and I made last call for guesses on my blood sugar reading.  As I placed the blood on the test strip Mr Smart called out 8.4 and guess what, not even ball park, he straight out guessed it before it appeared on the screen.  I'm convinced he's following my consumption closer than me and has developed an uncanny knowledge of the inner workings of my body!  I thought it would be must higher due to my dessert indulgence.  I'd even also had two sips of Mr Smarts rather delicious raisiny muscat.
  After the hilarity of Pictionary, there was conversation, more wine and a generally whizzy jolly time.  It's always fun hanging out with the Masterchefs.  Mr Smart and I headed off just short of midnight and went back to his place to watch tonight's Liverpool match.  Suarez scored 2 goals in the first half, one of them inside 2 minutes!!  I've decided I quite like soccer, especially when it's exciting like tonight's match.  Liverpool won five goals to Norwich's two by full time and with the match concluded I had to head home.  I'm glad I stayed up late, even though I have to be up at 9am to get ready for my walk and picnic with Miss Mischief and it's now just past 3am!
  Hope you've all had fantastic Saturday nights too!
  Jess