tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43629177577764720072024-03-14T17:22:18.487+13:00This Upside Down LifeA British immigrant in Wellington, New Zealand. Talking about food, travels, life on the other side of the world, books, and trash tv. But mainly food.Suzannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676869975397269197noreply@blogger.comBlogger69125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4362917757776472007.post-52365007372678602019-02-02T21:13:00.001+13:002019-02-02T21:18:01.865+13:00Long haul with a three year old<span id="docs-internal-guid-bf62b060-7fff-01e7-7139-c2b4a8f21c01"></span><br />
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-bf62b060-7fff-01e7-7139-c2b4a8f21c01"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">In August, E and I took our long-anticipated trip back to the UK, with a stopover in Singapore each way. Here’s how we got on!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Flights NZ to Singapore</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With all my planning for the long haul flights, I’d completely overlooked the fact that first we had to get from Wellington to Auckland, pretty late at night by E’s standards (he has a regular 7-7.30 bedtime and is not a child who copes well with late nights). This first flight, an hour’s hop, was at 8.45pm. While the adrenaline of being at the airport got him through the first part, once we were on to the flight he wasn’t a happy boy due to tiredness – and my child is LOUD. While he’s usually well behaved on flights, and understands the seatbelt rules, he really didn’t want to stay put at all so it was quite a job to convince him to keep seated. He calmed down soon enough, and luckily, while we checked our bags straight through from Wellington to Singapore, we could check the stroller to Auckland then re-check it at the gate. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We hopped on the free inter-terminal transfer bus at Auckland, went straight through security then I got him in his PJs, handed him a snack and strapped him in to his stroller for the walk to the gate. He was asleep in minutes. He doesn’t usually use his stroller in ‘real life’ anymore (at this stage he was 3 years 9 months), so much so that I’d already debated not taking it, but just an hour into the trip I was so grateful that I’d decided to take it. I think he’d have slept all the way on to the flight had I not forgotten that we’d need our passports as well as our boarding passes – I was carrying him by this stage and had to put him down. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For the Auckland – Singapore flight we were with Air New Zealand, and had booked a Skycouch, basically a set of three seats that transform flat like a couch, or bed.. E was still quite grumpy for takeoff and his meal, but once the seat had been converted to the couch/bed, he was able to lie down and had about 7 hours sleep, a real achievement on an overnight flight – even I got a couple of hours (unheard of). I would recommend the Skycouch for anyone travelling alone with a small child, but that’s it – once the child got any bigger, or if there was another adult there, it would definitely be too small for comfort, and would feel like a waste of money. I found the staff quite abrupt and rude on this flight too, in contrast to the usual Air New Zealand helpfulness. The Dreamliner we were on was new, clean and smart.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As we had just short of 24 hours in Singapore, I’d booked us into the <a href="https://www.crowneplaza.com/hotels/gb/en/singapore/sincp/hoteldetail?newRedirect=true&qIta=99602090&icdv=99602090&glat=SEAR&qSlH=sincp&setPMCookies=true&qDest=75%20Airport%20Boulevard%20#01-01,%20Singapore,%20SG&dp=true&gclid=Cj0KCQiA-c_iBRChARIsAGCOpB2yLJgmXYe0O92h-qLVRyK1sz8U1Vc9K-dvE3tWDlb3NShJudUkO4kaAsETEALw_wcB&cid=123322&srb_u=1" target="_blank">Crowne Plaza</a> in Singapore Airport. It is incredibly convenient, located in Terminal 3 of Changi Airport and well signposted, just a few minutes’ walk from customs. We’d arrived early in the morning so our room wasn’t ready yet – instead we headed up to the pool. This was the one downside to the hotel – the pool was icy cold, even in the Singapore heat, and wasn’t much fun to hang out in. After a short swim we gave up and went for a wander round the airport. Changi is a perfect location for a stop off with a pre-schooler; there’s so much to occupy them, from riding the ‘magic train’ (the electric train that runs between terminals) to the photo opportunities to the shops. We then headed back to the hotel, grabbed a late breakfast buffet as an early lunch, then checked into our room and crashed out. The room was great, luxurious for an airport hotel, with a beautifully deep bath and very comfortable bed. I forced us up and out in the afternoon just to try to keep on Singapore time, bribing Eli with Mcdonalds from the airport terminal for tea to get him out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As our next flight was leaving at 2am, I bathed E and put him in PJs before checking our luggage in early - around 8pm Singapore time, another real bonus of staying right there at the airport . After a couple of walks round the airport in his buggy he was asleep again (and once more I was grateful I’d brought it); we both then got some more sleep in our hotel room before getting up to go through for the next flight.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’d absolutely recommend the Crowne Plaza for short stopovers. Any longer than, say, 24 hours and I’d get frustrated with the cold pool and not being closer to the city, but for a short, stretch-your-legs and get-some-sleep stop, it was the perfect location.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Singapore-Manchester flight</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m going to say it right from the start: this was a GREAT flight, and easily the best of the whole trip. The plane was new and clean, we got three seats for just the two of us, and the staff was incredible. It was my first experience of Singapore Airlines, but purely based on this flight I’d be happy to never fly with anyone else again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once E had woken up (he slept for another five hours but there was still seven to go when he woke up, which was slightly worrying despite the arsenal of distractions in my backpack for him), we loved the snacks available in the galley kitchen, and the way the cabin crew looked delighted to see us every time we walked up there, even though they couldn't possibly have been! The food was great, and the entertainment systems worked well with lots of choice. E didn’t find much on there that he wanted to watch but I think that’s more his temperament than a fault of the system. He was given free rein of the iPad but even then his attention span was limited, to my dismay. We did lots of colouring – and special mention goes to the Water Wow books, magic colouring using a water-filled pen which is genius.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A great flight, almost enjoyable which is no mean feat flying long haul with a three year old.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Manchester Airport</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We were down to earth with a bump at Manchester Airport. I’m not sure what has happened to it in the last 10 years or so but it’s gone incredibly downhill; it’s unwelcoming, unclean, unfriendly and tough to navigate through. Especially following on from the amazing Changi airport and the great flight we’d arrived on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The immigration agent asked my relationship to E (we have different surnames), then wanted proof. Luckily I’d thought ahead and had both copies of his birth certificate, plus a witnessed letter from Andy (my husband and E’s father) attesting that he was aware I was taking him out of the country by myself. The guy still wasn’t happy – he seemed to have his nose out of joint that I’d pre-empted these questions, and warned me to keep it with my passport next time (just for information, this is not necessary and not a requirement but an argument with immigration is not an argument I’m prepared to have). Next, we needed two pound coins for the luggage trolley which angered me so much – which non-national arriving in the UK would have two pound coins? The card machine was broken, so that wasn’t an option. Just as I was standing with two suitcases, two hand luggage bags, a buggy and a tired three year old, wondering how on earth I could carry it through, a kind family I’d spoken to in the passport queue took pity on me and gave me the coins. I could have cried with gratitude and tiredness, and sheer anger at Manchester Airport. Thank goodness our family were waiting on the other side of the doors, and seeing E break into a run when he saw Grandma was worth all the hassle.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Top tips</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">1. Include late night transfers in your planning - it's not just the long haul flights you need to </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -18pt; white-space: pre;">worry </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">2. Check stroller only through as far as each airport you are transferring through - you might be </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> grateful to have it in between connecting flights</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">3. Take a stroller even if your child is borderline too old for it - I've realised it's definitely better to </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> have it and risk not using it than vice versa</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">4. Take a letter for immigration if you are travelling by yourself with a child. I used <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/348110/Letter_of_Consent_for_Minors_travelling_to_UK_Apr08.pdf" target="_blank">this template</a>, and</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> had it witnessed by a friend who is a solicitor. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">5. Skycouch is potentially great, and you could get more sleep than usual, but only if you are </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> travelling with a small child. If you're alone you'd be better upgrading to premium economy with </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> the money; if you're with anyone bigger than a small child it will just be a waste of money.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">6. Book early check in at your hotel if you are due to arrive early in the morning</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">7. Drop luggage off early if you are staying at Changi airport, then you can get longer sleep before </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> going for your flight.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">8. Take pound coins for Manchester airport - I'm stockpiling already for our next visit!</span></div>
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</span>Suzannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676869975397269197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4362917757776472007.post-91949660516760202132018-07-10T14:08:00.001+12:002018-07-10T14:08:28.157+12:00Autumn Break on the South Island<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW59413427" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;">
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<span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US">The reason I always sign up to Airlines’ Loyalty Clubs is that, if you’ve got to fly anyway (and let’s face it, living in NZ flying becomes, if not exactly a necessity, then certainly a way of making life easier if you have the option), then you are gaining rewards for quite literally sitting around doing not much. In our house, all of us – including E – are members of the Air New Zealand </span><a class="Hyperlink SCXW9014214" href="https://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/airpoints" rel="noreferrer" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; user-select: text;" target="_blank"><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW9014214" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Airpoints</span></span></a><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"> scheme, and we have taken up the option of combining them in </span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="SpellingError SCXW9014214" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/gif; background-position: left bottom; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Shairpoints</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"> so we can pool them all. We collect them whenever and wherever we can – not only on flights but by shopping at New World, by using an </span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="SpellingError SCXW9014214" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/gif; background-position: left bottom; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Airpoints</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US">-affiliated credit card and prepaid debit card, and by shopping at other outlets for electrical items, amongst other ways of saving. I’m quite the magpie when it comes to loyalty points, because I know they pay out.</span><span class="EOP SCXW9014214" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":120,"335559740":259}" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span class="EOP SCXW9014214" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":120,"335559740":259}" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US">We recently had a short late-Autumn trip to the South Island, with the flights paid for via </span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="SpellingError SCXW9014214" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/gif; background-position: left bottom; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Airpoints</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US">. The flights themselves were great. Air New Zealand staff are, in my experience, always lovely, and we notice it even more when we’re flying with E. On the first flight down to Christchurch they greeted him by name, gave him extra snacks first, let him sit in the crew seats, and generally indulged him in a way that made the flight not just bearable but enjoyable. It makes me optimistic about our upcoming long-haul flight in August with Air NZ and Singapore Airlines.</span><br />
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<span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFA1OMFoAeV_U2B6k_LlCtulZwlxtpBJGYBAONd3bnr7jAtrD0EDmNdSPvAxQZyclH63C4IGmT48uUo5HLsPs1qaSkD-u0iP2XsO6r4nXZgIxm9toorYcooTTcdmKRDcOmSutAU2AbCoI/s1600/20180515_080609.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFA1OMFoAeV_U2B6k_LlCtulZwlxtpBJGYBAONd3bnr7jAtrD0EDmNdSPvAxQZyclH63C4IGmT48uUo5HLsPs1qaSkD-u0iP2XsO6r4nXZgIxm9toorYcooTTcdmKRDcOmSutAU2AbCoI/s320/20180515_080609.jpg" width="192" /></a></span></div>
<span class="EOP SCXW9014214" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":120,"335559740":259}" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , "arial_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US">Car Rental</span><span class="EOP SCXW9014214" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":120,"335559740":259}" style="font-family: "arial" , "arial_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span></h3>
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<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW9014214" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;">
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US">Everything was on time and we rented a car from </span><a class="Hyperlink SCXW9014214" href="https://www.blogger.com/" rel="noreferrer" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; user-select: text;" target="_blank"><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW9014214" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Snap</span></span></a><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"> at Christchurch – they were significantly cheaper than any other rental we could find and had the bonus that when we arrived there to collect our car the child’s car seat we hired for E was already in place, whereas previously I’d had to struggle to attach a new and unfamiliar seat. Top marks for Snap, and I’ll definitely use them again in the future when I’m down south. We had a zippy Toyota Corolla, which both Andy and I enjoyed driving, and which was perfect for the length of driving we were doing.</span><span class="EOP SCXW9014214" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":120,"335559740":259}" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<div aria-level="3" class="Paragraph SCXW9014214" paraeid="{e31a46f6-c629-4d5a-8c76-7d13ccfa9776}{3}" paraid="1039245919" role="heading" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , "arial_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US">Akaroa</span><span class="EOP SCXW9014214" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559738":460,"335559739":120,"335559740":259}" style="font-family: "arial" , "arial_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span class="EOP SCXW9014214" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559738":460,"335559739":120,"335559740":259}" style="font-family: "arial" , "arial_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
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<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW9014214" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;">
<div class="Paragraph SCXW9014214" paraeid="{e31a46f6-c629-4d5a-8c76-7d13ccfa9776}{9}" paraid="1038808249" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US">On leaving Christchurch Airport our first stop was at the Countdown supermarket next to the airport to stock up on essentials. We then set off for the 3-hour drive to Akaroa, on the beautiful Banks peninsula. I volunteered to do this first section of the drive, and I’m glad that I did – both Andy and E drifted off to sleep so I was left to enjoy the stunning scenery in peace. The road leads out through the Christchurch suburbs on to the dips and peaks of the peninsula. It heads through a handful of villages and townships before climbing the hill that then leads down towards Akaroa. If you are wise, you will make a stop at Barry's Bay Cheese Factory. If you are even wiser you will manage to do this leaving your sleeping child in the car with your husband, giving you free reign with the credit card to buy all the amazing cheeses they have on offer.</span><span class="EOP SCXW9014214" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":120,"335559740":259}" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<div class="Paragraph SCXW9014214" paraeid="{e31a46f6-c629-4d5a-8c76-7d13ccfa9776}{13}" paraid="551441574" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Paragraph SCXW9014214" paraeid="{e31a46f6-c629-4d5a-8c76-7d13ccfa9776}{13}" paraid="551441574" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US">We arrived early but because we were staying in the off-season, the lovely people at our Airbnb, </span><a class="Hyperlink SCXW9014214" href="https://www.airbnb.co.nz/rooms/18476517" rel="noreferrer" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; user-select: text;" target="_blank"><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW9014214" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Jaques Village</span></span></a><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US">, gave us a better apartment and let us check in early. It was relatively basic but spick and span clean with everything we needed for a night's stay. There are a couple of outstanding features – first is the extremely friendly and helpful staff, second is the great location. </span><span class="EOP SCXW9014214" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":120,"335559740":259}" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span class="EOP SCXW9014214" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":120,"335559740":259}" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
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<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW9014214" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;">
<div class="Paragraph SCXW9014214" paraeid="{e31a46f6-c629-4d5a-8c76-7d13ccfa9776}{17}" paraid="1263492212" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US">After a quick lunch (mainly cheese based) we set out for an explore. I admit, I was initially a bit dubious we'd find enough to do in quiet Akaroa to keep E occupied, but we actually had a great time exploring. </span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"> I don't think we could have stretched it out to more than a day, especially in the winter, but one night was the perfect time to spend here. </span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US">Akaroa was originally </span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="SpellingError SCXW9014214" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/gif; background-position: left bottom; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">colonised</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"> by the French before the British arrived in NZ, and it retains lots of ties to its French history. It was drizzling but not pouring with rain, so we first set off to walk to the lighthouse, an easy flattish walk along a very quiet coast road. Unfortunately, the lighthouse is only open to visitors on Sundays, but we still had fun exploring all around it. After that we strolled back into the town, with the canons and whale pots providing plenty entertainment for a little boy who loves climbing. </span><span class="EOP SCXW9014214" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":120,"335559740":259}" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span><br />
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<div class="Paragraph SCXW9014214" paraeid="{e31a46f6-c629-4d5a-8c76-7d13ccfa9776}{29}" paraid="276200999" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US">We had fish and chips for tea, then home to our very warm and </span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="SpellingError SCXW9014214" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/gif; background-position: left bottom; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">cosy</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"> apartment for the night.</span><span class="EOP SCXW9014214" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":120,"335559740":259}" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span class="EOP SCXW9014214" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":120,"335559740":259}" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
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<div class="Paragraph SCXW9014214" paraeid="{e31a46f6-c629-4d5a-8c76-7d13ccfa9776}{39}" paraid="1015493558" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US">We set off bright and early the next day, stopping at the fantastic Butchery and Deli first to stock up on supplies, headed back through the sleepy Banks Peninsula villages, and headed inland towards </span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US">Hanmer</span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"> Springs.</span><span class="EOP SCXW9014214" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":120,"335559740":259}" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span class="EOP SCXW9014214" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":120,"335559740":259}" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
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<div class="Paragraph SCXW9014214" paraeid="{e31a46f6-c629-4d5a-8c76-7d13ccfa9776}{49}" paraid="1871925254" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , "arial_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US">Hanmer</span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , "arial_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"> Springs</span><span class="EOP SCXW9014214" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":120,"335559740":259}" style="font-family: "arial" , "arial_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<div class="Paragraph SCXW9014214" paraeid="{e31a46f6-c629-4d5a-8c76-7d13ccfa9776}{57}" paraid="1440284743" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US">Hanmer</span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"> is a delightful little Alpine village about 90 minutes' drive north west of Christchurch. Popular all year round, it really comes into its own in the winter. It's surrounded by ski fields but the biggest draw, to us as non-skiers anyway, are the hot pools. As the village sits right on a fault line (in NZ you're never far from a reminder of how shaky these islands are), the hot springs are a result of the geothermal activity. It's a huge complex of pools and, with our son being half-boy-half-fish, we rightly guessed that he would be in his element. The pools are a large complex with many different kinds of spa, including a child-friendly warm but not hot swimming and play pool. After braving the dash from the changing rooms (pro tip: take flip flops), we spent pretty much two days there enjoying the warm water. Andy and I took it in turns to tag team and spend some time soaking in some of the adults-only hotter pools. As long as your child enjoys the water, you can easily kill a couple of days here. It really is cold there though in the winter months. We have a child who doesn't appear to feel the cold and was happy, but I'd definitely recommend taking robes or extra towels for warmth during that pool-to-pool dash.</span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"> This was the real highlight of the break for us – Andy and I have both enjoyed the pools before, but it was such a joy taking E and seeing how much he enjoyed it too.</span><span class="EOP SCXW9014214" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":120,"335559740":259}" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span><br />
<span class="EOP SCXW9014214" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":120,"335559740":259}" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM8W7UAifrqL4S68DtoE-kVyXmy2MeBMADqY5gUlyOzYZg7kJOKjETAvw7SN5v7U8AvP5rc8mGgN1HxFU0m_8HU7pwCbqcn3PkBvIq3r0dHbciTOkbtPeDa0g8jeOiK0JlMlLPuzovgP8/s1600/20180517_150744.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM8W7UAifrqL4S68DtoE-kVyXmy2MeBMADqY5gUlyOzYZg7kJOKjETAvw7SN5v7U8AvP5rc8mGgN1HxFU0m_8HU7pwCbqcn3PkBvIq3r0dHbciTOkbtPeDa0g8jeOiK0JlMlLPuzovgP8/s320/20180517_150744.jpg" width="192" /></a></div>
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<span class="EOP SCXW9014214" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":120,"335559740":259}" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
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<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW9014214" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;">
<div class="Paragraph SCXW9014214" paraeid="{e31a46f6-c629-4d5a-8c76-7d13ccfa9776}{65}" paraid="77157083" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US">We stayed at another </span><a class="Hyperlink SCXW9014214" href="https://www.airbnb.co.nz/rooms/21538339" rel="noreferrer" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; user-select: text;" target="_blank"><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW9014214" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">great Airbnb</span></span></a><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US">, bigger this time, with everything we could need – highly recommended. This time round we self-catered one night and got takeaway the next (really delicious Chinese from </span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="SpellingError SCXW9014214" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/gif; background-position: left bottom; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Mr</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"> Yunan – they even delivered) so didn't get to eat out, but Andy have I have previously enjoyed fabulous meals in No 31 and Malabar.</span><span class="EOP SCXW9014214" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":120,"335559740":259}" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<div class="Paragraph SCXW9014214" paraeid="{e31a46f6-c629-4d5a-8c76-7d13ccfa9776}{77}" paraid="171022008" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , "arial_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US">Christchurch</span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="color: #595959; font-family: "arial" , "arial_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 15pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"> </span><span class="EOP SCXW9014214" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":120,"335559740":259}" style="font-family: "arial" , "arial_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW9014214" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;">
<div class="Paragraph SCXW9014214" paraeid="{e31a46f6-c629-4d5a-8c76-7d13ccfa9776}{85}" paraid="1196267310" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US">Our final night of the trip was in Christchurch, as we had an early flight out the next day. We stayed at a </span><a class="Hyperlink SCXW9014214" href="https://www.airbnb.co.nz/rooms/10793450" rel="noreferrer" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; user-select: text;" target="_blank"><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW9014214" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">beautiful Airbnb</span></span></a><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"> which was possibly my </span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US">fa</span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="SpellingError SCXW9014214" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/gif; background-position: left bottom; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">vourite</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="SpellingError SCXW9014214" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/gif; background-position: left bottom; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> o</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US">f the trip – recently renovated with lots of little homely touches, including a box of toys that E loved exploring.</span><span class="EOP SCXW9014214" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":120,"335559740":259}" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span class="EOP SCXW9014214" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":120,"335559740":259}" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
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<div class="Paragraph SCXW9014214" paraeid="{e31a46f6-c629-4d5a-8c76-7d13ccfa9776}{99}" paraid="1938084805" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US">After the trip from Akaroa we were a bit too early to check in but, needing to stretch our legs, we headed to the outstanding Margaret </span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="SpellingError SCXW9014214" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/gif; background-position: left bottom; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Mahy</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"> playground. The city of Christchurch has had, and is still having, a very tough time over the last few years post-earthquake, but this seems to us to be a great way of demonstrating what they want their reimagined city to be. Stretching over a whole city block and named after the famous NZ children's author (she wrote, amongst many others, Hairy </span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="SpellingError SCXW9014214" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/gif; background-position: left bottom; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Maclary</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US">), the park has so much to engage children and occupy all their senses.</span><span class="EOP SCXW9014214" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":120,"335559740":259}" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<div class="Paragraph SCXW9014214" paraeid="{e31a46f6-c629-4d5a-8c76-7d13ccfa9776}{113}" paraid="116219523" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US">Later that afternoon we went to the Antarctic Centre which I think was the only disappointment of the trip – it seems very overpriced for not very exciting or engaging displays. E's </span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="SpellingError SCXW9014214" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/gif; background-position: left bottom; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">favourite</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"> (not mine but I hid it well in front of him) was the Haglund </span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="SpellingError SCXW9014214" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/gif; background-position: left bottom; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Ride,a</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"> short 10-15 minute ride in the vehicles designed for driving over the harsh Antarctic terrain – I was terrified but E was delighted and laughing. It wouldn't be appropriate for every child, certainly not the more nervous children, but our bold, no-fear boy loved every minute.</span><span class="LineBreakBlob BlobObject DragDrop SCXW9014214" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="SCXW9014214" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text; white-space: pre !important;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun EmptyTextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"></span><span class="EOP SCXW9014214" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":120,"335559740":259}" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8JHUZoiXyYmLaNxVTYoIACeUY2jtWqWNs4xTxkXLRT9S5eUyfLqYGXTcb4zanSgVfv4Q_46tH-kEq7zNpIzKSTlEbFu-kBAUoL-soKZRMa2QMNUxzc2XYbJCo08xmN0Xn30Eb_SuHo70/s1600/20180518_152504.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8JHUZoiXyYmLaNxVTYoIACeUY2jtWqWNs4xTxkXLRT9S5eUyfLqYGXTcb4zanSgVfv4Q_46tH-kEq7zNpIzKSTlEbFu-kBAUoL-soKZRMa2QMNUxzc2XYbJCo08xmN0Xn30Eb_SuHo70/s320/20180518_152504.jpg" width="192" /></a></div>
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<div class="Paragraph SCXW9014214" paraeid="{e31a46f6-c629-4d5a-8c76-7d13ccfa9776}{127}" paraid="294113626" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US">Getting to the airport the next morning was an early 5-minute drive and, after a hairy 15-minute detour due to roadworks, so was the drop off at Snap car rentals. The flight home from Christchurch to Wellington was on time and again was an excellent service.</span><span class="EOP SCXW9014214" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":120,"335559740":259}" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<div class="Paragraph SCXW9014214" paraeid="{e31a46f6-c629-4d5a-8c76-7d13ccfa9776}{131}" paraid="1281755667" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span class="TextRun SCXW9014214" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US">We arrived back home within a couple of hours of leaving Christchurch feeling rested and glad that we'd had such a great break.</span><span class="EOP SCXW9014214" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":120,"335559740":259}" style="font-family: "segoe ui" , "segoe ui_msfontservice" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span></div>
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Suzannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676869975397269197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4362917757776472007.post-41501740003535950532018-04-02T15:19:00.000+12:002018-04-02T15:19:18.317+12:00Travels with my son: It's all in the DetailsOne of Andy's many, (mostly) complimentary nicknames for me is twenty-tab-Sally, originating from the fact that whenever there is any kind of research to be done - from what car we buy to what we eat for dinner - I thrive in searching down every single option and combination of options out there. Sure, it cuts down on spontaneity but what I lose in that I gain in the fun (fun! I tell you!) of being completely informed at all times on all occasions. Of course, what I'm not good at is making the actual decisions, but I took the precaution of marrying someone who is good at that.<br />
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My day job, too, requires the ability to analyse and - joy of joys - draw up spreadsheets that allow decisions to be made across multiple criteria. So when the time came to book flights back to the UK for E and me, I rolled up my sleeves, opened my twenty tabs, and made some lists. I decided we needed:<br />
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1. A reputable airline that I knew and trusted. If it was just me, or even Andy and me, I might be tempted to wing it a bit in the name of a good fare, but travelling solo with E, I needed to know who I was dealing with. <a href="http://blogs.bootsnall.com/Suze-H/">My backpacker, bargain-basement travel days</a>, for now, are behind me.<br />
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2. A stopover. Everyone has an opinion on stopovers. Some people (my Mum, for example), prefer to go straight through as quickly as possible - but she's one of the lucky ones who can sleep on an aeroplane. I am not one of those lucky ones and, in the name of sanity and sleep, need to be able to get off the plane, stretch, sleep, shower, eat, and wear out E ready for the next flight.<br />
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3. Flying into Manchester. Avoiding a transfer in NZ when you live in Wellington is nearly impossible; most of the long-haul international flights leave from either Auckland, Christchurch, or require a change in Australia. A second transfer in the UK was just a step too far.<br />
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So, throw all these in the mix, add in a further requirement of not TOO extortionate, and what do you get? Well, even though my twenty tabs included all the flight comparison websites and some travel expert websites, the cheapest deal I got that ticked all the items on my criteria list was directly on the Air New Zealand website, using the <a href="https://flightbookings.airnewzealand.co.nz/vbook/actions/intmultistopsearch?_ga=2.14283575.1831510277.1522638897-1910568688.1512433644&_gac=1.184287506.1519345534.EAIaIQobChMI1qb2_uK62QIV2QcqCh3gOAQ3EAAYASAAEgLyRPD_BwE">multistop trip tool</a>.<br />
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So in August, E and I will be setting off to fly Wellington-Auckland-Singapore with Air New Zealand, where we will stay for a day and wear ourselves out in the pool of our hotel, before flying Singapore-Manchester with Singapore Airlines. Coming back we will fly Manchester-Singapore with Singapore Airlines, have 48 hours in Singapore before flying Singapore-Auckland with Singapore Airlines and the final leg, Auckland-Wellington with Air New Zealand.<br />
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Can't wait.Suzannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676869975397269197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4362917757776472007.post-39808887635951619552018-03-11T10:43:00.002+13:002018-03-11T11:58:08.601+13:00Travels with my son: Planning a long-haul flightWhen you live upside down, on the other side of the world to your family, long haul travel very rapidly becomes one of the realities of life. We've gone back to the UK twice in the eight years we've lived in New Zealand, in 2011 and 2015 (when our son was 10 months old), and we're incredibly lucky that most years in between we have family able to make the journey here to visit. This year will be different, though. I had a huge amount of leave banked in work - only saving it for the proverbial rainy day - so Andy suggested I head back with E, our boy. Andy can't get away from work at that time of year so it'll just be the two of us. While the thought of making the trip a year ago made my blood run cold (E was very, very good at being two...), this time round he'll be close to four when we go and while I'm preparing for the worst, I'm also expecting the best.<br />
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E is a lucky boy in that he's already got plenty of flights under his belt at the tender age of three, and we live so close to the airport that we can see the runway <a href="http://thisupsidedownlife.blogspot.co.nz/2013/06/the-new-view.html">from our living room</a>, the first flights of the morning our wake-up call, the comings and goings of the airport our ever-changing wallpaper. He's therefore very familiar with the logistics of air travel, while at the same time it's still enough of a novelty to get him enthusiastic and excited about.<br />
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I'm by nature a planner. Understatement of the year. I research and organise spreadsheets for just about every event, and holidays are no exception. Throw a pre-schooler into the mix and my planning reaches peak levels. The separate elements to plan and book so far have been:<br />
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- Packing lists<br />
- The flights<br />
- Stopovers<br />
- Travel insurance<br />
- Itinerary for the UK (including all-important shopping lists)<br />
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I'm going to be writing the next few posts about this, and about tips I've picked up in our previous travels with E.Suzannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676869975397269197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4362917757776472007.post-29181853288035129042016-06-08T13:46:00.000+12:002016-06-08T13:46:19.140+12:00So apparentlySo apparently, pregnancy and 'morning' (hollow laugh) sickness put you off food. <div>
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So apparently, babies and toddlers keep you quite busy.<div>
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So apparently, all this can happen and suddenly your baby is a beautiful 19 month old boy and you pause to gather breath and realise you haven't written anything in two years.</div>
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So apparently, you miss it. </div>
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And maybe, just maybe, life has fallen into a rhythm where writing might be possible again, only this time with a frantic toddler hanging off my legs as we cook and eat.</div>
Suzannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676869975397269197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4362917757776472007.post-26922201806901209462014-02-22T14:53:00.003+13:002014-02-22T14:53:47.202+13:00Gluten-Free Lemon & Ricotta Cake<div style="text-align: justify;">
I went on a course once that was almost cult-like in its attempt to change your life through the power of positive thinking. We had to practice all sorts of mantras and meditations, visualising our better selves becoming the best possible version we could be. No limits, we were told. Dream big. Whatever you want to, you can do it. It speaks volumes about the size of my ambition that one of the things I dreamt of having was perfectly manicured nails. And the thing is, it might be a load of hogwash, but for a couple of months back in 2001, I had awesome nails. </div>
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I tell you this because one other thing I really remember from this course was the idea that if you tidied up for visitors, you were insulting yourself; you should value yourself so highly that your house should be visitor-ready spick and span at all times, just for you. And while I love the thought of that, I'm assuming I'm not meditating hard enough on having a perfect house because, well, frankly I'd rather be doing plenty of other stuff, nails included, than spend a million hours per week cleaning my skirting boards. I will always, always be the person who, the night before a visitor, runs round manically with the hoover in one hand and the duster in the other, while with the other hand (still counting?) stir up something welcoming and hopefully delicious in the kitchen. I definitely assume that distracting someone for long enough means that they won't be bothered about the lack of domestic goddess-ness round here.</div>
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This is one such welcoming dish, whipped up in the middle of a cleaning frenzy the night before lovely Ruth came to stay for a couple of nights. She is gluten free, and so I knew that I had a responsibility not only to spruce up the guest room, but also to make something we could all enjoy. This is a really lovely cake; the ricotta gives it a creamy tanginess, and serves as the perfect canvas for the sharp, sweet lemon syrup. This gets better after a day or two, so perfect for making the night before the visitors come, and is sturdy enough to freeze well and to cart about in a lunch box. </div>
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You can even serve it up for breakfast the next day, making you a pretty perfect host all round. Skirting boards notwithstanding.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3TmYqOS7YWQFkHSGORcOQ8iMVuaOEhqDXHWMWYIc34FrmKyTxnkLiT2W1vNQZrtQipHQxYKtIZ0iHJQHteFOGRuycHXU26A5zGv73JQ-T17ZtQUbZUAV288K2Ef9dGvC5Qe575iVAYPU/s1600/IMG_5695.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3TmYqOS7YWQFkHSGORcOQ8iMVuaOEhqDXHWMWYIc34FrmKyTxnkLiT2W1vNQZrtQipHQxYKtIZ0iHJQHteFOGRuycHXU26A5zGv73JQ-T17ZtQUbZUAV288K2Ef9dGvC5Qe575iVAYPU/s1600/IMG_5695.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Lemon & Ricotta Cake (Gluten Free)</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
225g butter, softened<br />
225g plus 125g caster sugar<br />
2 eggs, beaten<br />
1 tablespoon natural yoghurt<br />
250g ricotta cheese<br />
150g ground almonds<br />
100g polenta<br />
1 teaspoon baking soda<br />
1 lemon, juice and zest<br />
2 lemons, juice only<br />
100ml water<br />
Blueberries for decoration<br />
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Preheat your oven to 170C. Grease the sides, and grease and line the bottom, of a 23cm loose-bottomed cake tin.<br />
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In a large bowl or using a stand mixer, cream the butter and 225g sugar together until they are light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, yoghurt, ricotta, almonds, polenta and baking soda until smooth and everything is combined.<br />
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Pour into the tin and bake for 1 - 1.5 hours. Keep an eye on the top; if it looks like it is browning too much before the cake is fully cooked, cover it with greaseproof paper. The cake is done when a skewer inserted into it comes out clean with no crumbs.<br />
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While the cake is cooking, make the syrup by combining the water, remaining sugar, and lemon juice in a small pan. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, until the texture has turned syrupy. Remove from the heat, then stir in the zest.<br />
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When the cake is cooked, leave it in the tin and pour over three quarters of the syrup. Leave to cool completely before removing it gently from the tin. Scatter blueberries over the top, then drizzle with the remaining syrup.<br />
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Serve with yoghurt.<br />
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Yields 8-10 slices.Suzannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676869975397269197noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4362917757776472007.post-23211919138323560822014-02-16T22:01:00.002+13:002014-02-17T13:41:55.806+13:00Feel The Fear & Do It Anyway - Puff Pastry<div style="text-align: justify;">
I was having a conversation at the weekend about "fake it till you make
it". I recently took advice about being assertive from friends whose confidence I admire. Some of the best advice I was given was to just pretend I was
confident when dealing with a particular situation, and the actual confidence
would follow hot on its heels. Now, in real life I don't think I have enough experience of assertiveness, in true people-pleaser style, but the one place I know for sure this works is the kitchen. Oh yeah, I'll show my utensils
who's the boss of them. So, just proving that I do listen to advice, I made
puff pastry.<br />
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You've all heard them - all the chefs who say don't bother making your own;
the frozen stuff is just as good, and I'd nod along in agreement because, well,
that's easy isn't it? But I needed to assert myself over SOMETHING, just to prove to myself I could, and so the
puff pastry got it. I used Leith's recipe - I figured a cook book from a
cooking school wouldn't steer me wrong, and I was right. And here's the thing.
It was surprisingly easy. Yes, you heard me - puff pastry was easy. Sure, it
took a lot of time, and I don't think I would have been able to pull it off
during one of my hungover cooking sessions, but give me a lazy Sunday, no place
else to be, and I really enjoyed it. It takes a lot more water than a regular
pastry, but this results in a beautifully smooth, soft dough that is a genuine
pleasure to work with. And it worked! The darn thing actually worked. Once it was done - because I am still not capable of making a decision and sticking to it - I turned it into a
hybrid of millefeuille and tarte tatin.<br />
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Right, I'm off to take my newfound confidence elsewhere. I've nothing to fear but fear itself, and other platitudes. If only platitudes tasted as good as puff pastry.</div>
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<b>Caramel Apple Millefeuille</b><br />
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<b>For the puff pastry:</b><br />
225g plain flour<br />
pinch salt<br />
30g plus 140g unsalted butter<br />
120-150ml iced water<br />
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Sift the flour and salt together into a large, roomy bowl. Rub in the 30g butter, and add enough water to turn it into a soft dough, using only a knife at this stage to bring it together. On a floured surface, knead briefly until just combined. Put in a plastic bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes.<br />
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Flour the surface again and roll the dough into a rectangle that measures about 30 x 10cm. I have a useful silicone pastry mat that helpfully has measurements up the side, but you would be able to guesstimate it with no damaging outcome.<br />
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Take your floured rolling pin, and gently tap the butter into a flat rectangle about 8 x 8cm (it should be narrower than your pastry). <br />
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Put the butter on the pastry and fold both ends over to fully enclose it, starting with the third closest to you, then bring the far end over that. Press the sides together to keep the butter in. Turn it 90 degrees anti clockwise, so the folded edge is on the left. <br />
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Roll it out, lightly and working as quickly as you can without ruining your work, until it is 30 x 10cm again. Fold it in three again, starting with folding the edge closest to you up,<br />
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then bringing the top edge down and over.<br />
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Give it a 90 degree turn again and repeat the process. Now the pastry has had two turns, and it needs to rest, as no doubt do you. Put it in its bag in the fridge for 30 minutes or so, before repeating this whole process at least twice more, until you can see no more streaks of butter.<br />
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To bake it, heat your oven to 220C. Roll the pastry out one final time until it measures about 20 x 30cm. Put it on a baking sheet, and prick it all over with a fork. Bake for 20 minutes, until risen and golden.<br />
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When it has cooled, cut it into three even pieces.<br />
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<b>For the Caramel Apple Millefeuille:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
1 apple<br />
1 tablespoon butter<br />
1 tablespoon brown sugar<br />
0.5 teaspoon cinnamon (I have a hunch that rosemary could be used to good effect here instead of the cinnamon)<br />
200ml cream<br />
1 tablespoon brandy<br />
Icing sugar<br />
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Cut the apple into wedges. Heat a frying pan over a medium heat, and melt the butter. Gently fry the apple wedges for a few minutes, then sprinkle over the brown sugar, cooking for another few minutes and turning once or twice until the sugar caramelises. Remove the apple from the pan and leave to cool.<br />
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Whip the cream and the brandy together until firm enough to hold its shape.<br />
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To assemble, take one of your puff pastry sheets, spread it with half the cream and a third of the apple slices.<br />
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Repeat with the next sheet of puff pastry. Top with your final piece of pastry, and decorate with the last of the apple slices and dust over some icing sugar.<br />
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Suzannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676869975397269197noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4362917757776472007.post-44022764813839438702014-02-02T21:20:00.001+13:002014-02-02T21:20:54.290+13:00Suggestibly Yours - Baked Greek Lamb & Orzo Stew<div style="text-align: justify;">
As I'm sure my nearest and dearest, and especially Andy, would tell you, I am incredibly suggestible. Dangerously, flittingly, skittishly so. And not just about the little things, like which dress to buy or what colour to paint my nails - although definitely about those things too - but sometimes, often, other stuff too. I'm genuinely embarrassed about just how many of the big decisions in my life have come about because somebody just happens to mention something casually in passing. I'm not complaining, you understand - my life would be much worse if a friend hadn't spoken to me on the phone one day late in 2005 and mentioned "you should think about going backpacking" - but, at the other end of the scale, my whole misguided attempt at a corporate life started at the moment someone said to me while I was at university "I think you'd be good in Human Resources". I don't know if it makes a difference that I like and respect the first person; I neither liked nor respected the second, and I suspect it says more about me that I listened to both of them, but the fact of the matter is, other people have affected my life path more than they will ever realise, or I will ever acknowledge.</div>
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And obviously, <i>obviously</i>, the same goes for food, too. Whether that suggestion comes from a non-connected place (when I read <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/A-Fine-Balance-Rohinton-Mistry/dp/057123058X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391326703&sr=8-1&keywords=a+fine+balance">A Fine Balance</a> a few months back I cooked my way through the India of my memory as I sobbed my way through that book), or something more tangible like a new cookbook (see my recent obsession with Jerusalem as an example), it's to my cookbooks and to my kitchen I will head, until circumstances and funds let Andy and I head off for more adventures. So when somebody mentioned to me that there was a Greek Food Festival in Wellington this weekend, there was two places I was heading. One was to the festival on Hania Street to stuff myself full of Bifteka and Dolmades, the other was to my bookcase.</div>
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I've cooked this before, but using a larger leg of lamb which falls apart as it slowly bakes in the tomatoes and gentle spices, reminiscent of so many sunny days. This time, though, cooking for just the two of us, I used lamb chops, slow cooking them still, and then breaking them up through the pasta at the end. The orzo is beautifully silky, and makes a real point of difference from rice. Served with sharp, salty feta crumbled over, this is Mediterranean comfort food and might, just might, stave off the old backpacker's itchy feet for a while.</div>
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<b>Baked Greek Lamb & Orzo Stew</b><br />
<i>Adapted from Tessa Kiros, Food From Many Greek Kitchens</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
4 large lamb chops<br />
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1 lemon<br />
4 tablespoons olive oil<br />
0.5 teaspoon paprika<br />
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped<br />
4 spring onions, roughly chopped<br />
1 tin crushed tomatoes<br />
1 teaspoon dried oregano<br />
1 cinnamon stick<br />
Salt and pepper<br />
200g orzo<br />
Feta, to serve.<br />
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Preheat your oven to 180C. Squeeze the juice from the lemon, half the oil, paprika and garlic over the lamb and rub it in well, making sure it's all covered.<br />
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In a large, ovenproof pan, pour in rest of the oil, followedd by the lamb. Add the spring onions, tomatoes, oregano and cinnamon, and sprinkle over some salt. Put in the oven for 30 minutes. <br />
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Add 250ml of hot water (if you had any lamb stock, that would be a good substitution) and cook for an hour.<br />
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While this is cooking, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta according to the packet instructions until it is al dente. Drain well.<br />
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When the hour is up on the lamb, stir the pasta through the sauce with 375ml hot water. Return to the oven for another 10 minutes, until the pasta is completely reheated and has absorbed most of the sauce. Using a fork, remove any bones that were in the chops, and gently shred the meat into large chunks.<br />
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Serve, with ground pepper and crumbled feta over the top.<br />
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Serves 4<br />
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<i><br /></i>Suzannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676869975397269197noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4362917757776472007.post-60099654373099715562014-01-28T22:03:00.000+13:002014-02-10T08:23:54.013+13:00A Random Recipe: Beef & Lamb Meatballs with Broadbeans & Lemon<div style="text-align: justify;">
I made these with a hangover. It's the one problem with food planning, I find. Unpredicted hangovers. At the start of last week I was all, Monday: <a href="http://thisupsidedownlife.blogspot.co.nz/2014/01/alchemy-pasta-bianco.html">Pasta Bianco</a>. Tuesday: Pasta Bianco (oh yeah, I totally give in to my obsessions). Wednesday: Out for a friend's birthday. Thursday: Beef & Lamb Meatballs with Broadbeans & Lemon.</div>
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In fact, it <i>should</i> have read blah...obsessive pasta...blah. Wednesday: Out for a friend's birthday. Plus pre-meal drinks. Plus after-meal drinks. Plus staying out till 12.30am on a weeknight (you crazy cat). Thursday: YOU WILL WANT TO SLAM YOUR HEAD IN THE DOOR TO TAKE AWAY THE PAIN OF A HANGOVER. WHY IS EVERYONE SHOUTING?</div>
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But - and here's the really fun bit - I'd already taken the minced beef out of the freezer, meaning I had to use it that night, or lose it forever. And as much as the thought of having to stand upright for as long as it took to make these was pure pain, so was the thought of not eating at all that night - remember, feed a hangover - or throwing good money after bad and not using up the beef.</div>
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So. I made these, hungover and no doubt somewhat delirious. They took a smidge longer than I daresay they would have done if I were in the prime of health, and they had a few more steps than were ideal in my delicate state but, still easy enough to do and, as always with Ottolenghi, his spices were bright and unusual enough for me to sit up and take notice. And, please somebody pass me a medal, I even double-podded broad beans. Heroic, undoubtedly, but also very worth it to get the contrast between the two kinds of beans. It fed my hangover perfectly - the meatballs were substantial enough that it was just the right level of dense protein hit needed for a hangover, and the broad beans and lemon nudged any vitamin buttons I felt I was missing that day.</div>
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This is my entry into this month's <a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/p/random-recipes.html">Random Recipe</a> challenge, hosted by Dom at <a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/">Belleau Kitchen</a>. It came from my Christmas present from my lovely and generous inlaws, a book I've mentioned my love of already, Ottolenghi's Jerusalem. I've also noticed it's my second Ottolenghi meatball recipe, but that's the joy of a truly random recipe. Will it replace those lost brain cells? No. Will I make it again? For sure. Will I get hungover on a weekday again? Who am I kidding? Luckily I've now got some of these in the freezer for next time.<br />
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<b>Beef & Lamb Meatballs with Broadbeans and Lemon</b><br />
<i>Adapted from Ottolenghi, Jerusalem</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
For the meatballs:<br />
300g minced beef<br />
150g minced lamb<br />
1 onion, finely chopped<br />
120g breadcrumbs<br />
Handful each fresh parsley, coriander, mint, dill, chopped<br />
2 cloves garlic, crushed<br />
1 tablespoon baharat spice mix (shop bought is fine; I used a bargain buy I'd got a few months ago called 'Persian Spice Mix' which had mostly the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baharat">same ingredients</a> in - otherwise, look at those ingredients and DIY)<br />
1 tablespoon ground cumin<br />
2 teaspoons capers, chopped<br />
1 egg, beaten<br />
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For the sauce:<br />
4.5 tablespoons olive oil<br />
350g broad beans, fresh or frozen<br />
4 thyme sprigs<br />
6 cloves garlic, sliced<br />
8 spring onions, cut into 2cm slices<br />
2.5 tablespoons lemon juice<br />
500ml chicken stock<br />
salt and pepper<br />
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For the meatballs, put all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix until thoroughly combined. Form into 20 balls, each about the size of a ping pong ball. This is easier if you divide the mix in half, and then into half again, and aim to get five balls out of each section.<br />
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In a pan large enough to later take all the meatballs, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil. In two batches, fry the meatballs so they are browned on the outside, a few minutes for each batch. Remove from the pan.<br />
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While they are cooking, blanch the broad beans in boiling salted water for 2 minutes. Drain and let them sit under the cold tap for a minute, to cool them down. Double pod about half of them, by pressing gently on each one until the skin splits and removing the bright green beans from inside. Discard the empty skins.<br />
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In the meatball pan, heat the remaining oil. Add the thyme, garlic, spring onions and fry gently, stirring all the time, for a few minutes. Add the unshelled broad beans, 1.5 tablespoons of lemon juice, and just enough stock to cover the beans. Cover the pan with either a lid or with a double thickness of tinfoil, and cook gently for 10 minutes. Return the meatballs to the pan, stir gently, then add the remaining stock. Cover the pan again and cook for 25 minutes, when the meatballs should be hot all the way through.<br />
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Just before serving, add the remaining lemon juice and shelled broad beans. Serve immediately.<br />
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Serves 4<br />
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Suzannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676869975397269197noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4362917757776472007.post-90783853533239124332014-01-26T13:26:00.001+13:002014-01-26T13:26:40.010+13:00Some Like It Hot - Pilpelchuma<div style="text-align: justify;">
To my recollection, there has been only one dish I have eaten that was so spicy it overwhelmed me. It was a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_papaya_salad">Som Tam salad</a>, and I ate it at a Thai food stall in Kuala Lumpur. I was weeping, Andy was mopping my brow and the owner of the stall brought me over some watermelon to cool down. Alas, on that day in the case of Suze versus food, food won. But (and this is the crucial bit), such is my obsessive relationship with chillies and spicy food, the second, the very second I woke up the next day, I wanted to go back and eat it all over again.</div>
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I always find it one of the peculiarities of life in New Zealand that properly hot food is quite hard to find. Argentina was the same actually, and we ate at was, at that time,<a href="http://www.mumbai.restaurant.com.ar/"> the only Indian restaurant in Buenos Aires </a> so often that we were recognised as regulars, and the Gosht Saagwala would appear at our table as soon as we sat down. It's also quite odd to me that when you order at an Indian restaurant here, you're often offered the choice of three heats: Kiwi hot (mild), Indian hot (medium), and English hot (supposedly hot, although us two chilli addicts never find it that hot) - when surely it should be served at the heat the recipe calls for?</div>
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So I always like to have some kind of hot sauce hanging round at home to add instant oomph to dishes that need spicing up. I discovered this as part of the <a href="http://thisupsidedownlife.blogspot.co.nz/2014/01/super-spicy-carrot-salad.html">Ottolenghi carrot salad</a>, and happily, there is now a jar of this intense, thick with garlic and chilli paste sitting in my fridge, just waiting to be added to some scrambled eggs, or rubbed over the skin of a roast chicken, or tossed through vegetables before roasting, or bringing new life to sorry leftovers. This is very much an adaptation; I had to go with the quantities of spices I had in. I can't vouch for it's authenticity, but I can vouch for it's spiciness, and that makes this chilli addict very happy indeed.</div>
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<br />
<b>Pilpelchuma</b><br />
<i>Adapted from Ottolenghi, 'Jerusalem'</i><br />
<br />
10 dried Guntur chillies<br />
12g ground cayenne pepper<br />
12g paprika<br />
1 tablespoon ground cumin<br />
0.5 tablespoon caraway seeds<br />
20 garlic cloves, peeled<br />
1 teaspoon salt<br />
75ml olive oil, plus a little extra for preserving<br />
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Boil the kettle. Put the chillies in a bowl and cover them with boiling water, then leave them for half an hour. Meanwhile, pour some boiling water into a clean jar, to sterilise it. Pour it out after 10 minutes, then leave to dry naturally, and be sure not to put your fingers inside the jar.<br />
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In a large, dry, nonstick frying pan, spread the cayenne pepper, paprika, cumin and caraway seeds. Toast them over a medium heat for a minute or two. Let your nose guide you: when you get a lovely waft of toasting spices, they are done. Put them into a small food processor bowl along with the garlic cloves and salt. <br />
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Drain and deseed the chillies, then put them in the processor with the spices. Pulse a few times until everything is well mixed, then, with the motor running, pour in your olive oil until it all comes together in a thick paste.<br />
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Spoon into your jar, and cover with a thin layer of olive oil.<br />
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This will keep in the fridge for a few weeks. Doubtful it will last that long, though.<br />
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<br />Suzannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676869975397269197noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4362917757776472007.post-52054652612589342682014-01-20T09:46:00.000+13:002014-01-21T08:22:28.596+13:00Super Spicy Carrot Salad<div style="text-align: justify;">
It's a shame, really, that Wellington doesn't get much of a look-in with the tourists that ply New Zealand. Time and time again, when we speak to visitors, we hear the refrain of "Auckland-Rotorua-Taupo-Wellington<i> just for one night before we get the ferry</i> - everywhere on the South Island". No matter how many times Lonely Planet calls it "the coolest little capital in the world", no matter how often the guidebooks say it punches well above its weight, size wise, and no matter how much the locals shout loud about what a very interesting, friendly city it is to live in, those tourists just keep ploughing southwards. </div>
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And we do have lots, actually, to offer. Not only the obvious stuff like <a href="http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/pages/default.aspx">Te Papa</a> (been here 4 years and I still haven't worked my way round the whole thing) and <a href="http://www.wetanz.com/cave/">The Weta Cave</a> (those clever people who have worked on a couple of little local films), but how about taking a day and mooching along the <a href="http://www.wellingtonwriterswalk.co.nz/">Writers' Walk</a>, or drive around the 30km of coastline that's right here in the central city, stopping off at <a href="http://www.maranuicafe.co.nz/">Maranui Cafe</a> for lunch then on to see the seals at Red Rocks?</div>
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Most of all though, at this time of year, you should check out <a href="http://wellington.govt.nz/events/annual-events/summer-city">Wellington Summer City</a>. There's, like, a million things going on, most of them for free and out of the goodness of the council's hearts. The best ones are the concerts and the films. Already this year we've been to an Ohmygodtherearesomanypeoplehere Beatles tribute band in the Botanic Gardens, but the one that has got everyone pretty excited is The Princess Bride showing. Yes, all my friends and I are of a certain age. What of it? </div>
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At these events, it's up to you what you take with you, and you see all combos from the sleeping bag and a 6 pack of beer, to deck chairs and smoked salmon. For us, I tend to go somewhere in the middle, with blanket and cushions (never forget the cushions, especially if you are at the same certain age as us), a bottle of our finest champagne (coughLindauercough), crisps, ostensibly for Andy although I will eat them and whinge about them being Salt & Vinegar, dips, and something delicious and homemade.</div>
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And <i>this, </i>people, <i>this</i> will be gracing my picnic blanket at every event from now on. I'm utterly addicted. It started off by daydreaming about those lovely carrot salads you get in France - do you remember those, doused in oil and lemon and parsely? Divine - and ended up with me spying a riff on this in my new Ottolenghi book, Jerusalem, a Christmas gift from my lovely in-laws. It has those lovely sweet, fresh flavours you get in the French carrots, but with a knockout spicy punch of flavours that come from the spice paste. I dressed it with parsley, rather than the suggested rocket, at the end, because I had lots of it (seriously, it grows like a weed here), and I personally think that parsley is an even better fit for carrots than coriander is - I'd love to see Carrot & Parsley soup on a menu. </div>
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And yes, I know, I know, it includes a paste that you have to make in advance. Don't hate me. BUT you can use shop-bought harissa, AND believe me, you want to make this paste, AND I will give you the recipe next time. I just wanted you to really want it.</div>
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Come to Wellington, and you can share a bit of mine. I'll even give you some of Andy's crisps to go with.</div>
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<b>S</b><b>picy Carrot Salad</b><br />
<i>Adapted from Ottolenghi, Jerusalem</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
6 large carrots, peeled<br />
1 onion, finely chopped<br />
3 tablespoons olive oil<br />
1 tablespoon Pilpelchuma paste (recipe next time) or 2 tablespoons harissa paste<br />
0.5 teaspoon ground cumin<br />
0.5 teaspoon caraway seeds<br />
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar<br />
0.5 teaspoon sugar<br />
salt<br />
small handful flat leaf parsley, chopped<br />
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In a large pan, cover the carrots with cold water and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until they are just tender, 15-20 minutes. Drain and cool.<br />
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Meanwhile, heat half the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion, and fry until golden brown.<br />
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Cut the carrots into slices about the thickness of a coin (pound or dollar; take your pick).<br />
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Put the carrots and onions into a mixing bowl with the rest of the oil, the spice paste, cumin, caraway seeds, vinegar, sugar and plenty of salt. Mix well until everything is evenly coated.<br />
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Now, leave it. Walk away. Give the flavours at least half an hour, just to give them a chance to mingle.<br />
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When you're ready to serve, dish it up on to a platter or tupperware box, scatter your parsley over, and get ready for your tastebuds to be blown away. As you wish. And if you got that reference, welcome to the Of A Certain Age club.<br />
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Serves 4<br />
<br />Suzannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676869975397269197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4362917757776472007.post-41439192931663538652014-01-15T19:45:00.002+13:002014-01-15T19:47:23.696+13:00Alchemy - Pasta Bianco<div style="text-align: justify;">
I have a very addictive personality, which is why I don't let myself do certain things. And in my case, 'addictive personality' is totally a euphemism for 'complete lack of willpower'. Things that I like, I really, really like - I'm the ultimate page-turner, leaving the carpets shamefully un-vacuumed and the shelves woefully un-dusted until I have torn through the latest book I'm reading. If I find a new tv programme that hooks me in, I want to race through the entire series until it ends and I come to my senses, room darkened, not certain if I'm looking out at twilight or dawn.</div>
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That's why I give a wide berth to those things like Candy Crush Saga that I keep getting invitations to. Not going to go there. Farmville? Not for me. I know, with an unshakeable certainty, that I would lose weeks I could barely afford to those things. I'm filled with admiration for people who can play the odd game or two and walk away, but for me, it would go the way of my ill-advised Sims adventures, and end with the point where it starts to invade my dreams.</div>
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There is one exception to this rule, and it's something I love but can happily walk away from. Called <a href="http://thisupsidedownlife.blogspot.co.nz/">Little Alchemy</a>, it's one of those ingeniously simple (or simply ingenious?) ideas that's a great way to while away a few minutes here and there, without desending into addiction. It's based on the idea that you combine two elements to make other elements, and is much more fun than I've managed to make it sound.</div>
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I've recently discovered the food equivalent of Alchemy. It consists of four ingredients - well, five, if you count the pasta water (and believe me, this is where the magic happens). It is the absolute definition of being greater than the sum of its parts. The ingredients, I'd be willing to guess, you have in your house right now, and if that's the case - well, what are you waiting for? So simple, but please, don't let that fool you. They combine into something unctuous and startling, and nothing short of magical. This recipe is adapted from Jamie Oliver, but I've seen it cropping up all over the place, sometimes with the garlic, usually called something along the lines of Pasta with Butter and Cheese (does what it says on the tin!). I like the name Pasta Bianco though, White Pasta, deceptive, like the dish itself in its simplicity. </div>
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I've had it twice this week already, and I'm trying to work out when I can next get my fix. Can you spot my new addiction?</div>
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<b>Pasta Bianco</b><br />
<i>Adapted from Jamie Oliver, Jamie's Dinners</i><br />
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100g spaghetti or linguine<br />
30g butter, preferably unsalted but don't let only having salted put you off making this<br />
20g parmesan, finely grated. You don't really need to weigh this, just estimate as big as your thumb, and count yourself lucky if you've got big thumbs.<br />
1 clove garlic<br />
Salt and pepper<br />
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Put a large pan of water on to boil, and salt very generously. When it is at a rolling boil, add the pasta and cook according to the packet instructions - my linguine took 11 minutes.<br />
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While it is cooking, take a small pan and, over a low heat, melt your butter. Crush the garlic, or grate it using a fine grater, and add it to the butter. Cook gently, without browning, for a few minutes. Remove from the heat.<br />
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When the pasta is cooked how you like it, and this is the important bit, before you drain it dip a cup into the water and remove a scoop of the starchy water.<br />
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Drain the pasta. Put the garlic and butter into the pan that you cooked the pasta in. Add the pasta back, and give it a good stir. Add about half the parmesan, stir it round, then follow by a tablespoon or so of the water. See how the consistency changes? The water combines with the butter and cheese to make a creamy sauce. Add the rest of the parmesan, save a small spoonful, and another spoonful or so of the water, until it is a glossy-looking sauce that coats the pasta easily. Season well with salt and pepper.<br />
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Turn into a bowl and top with the small amount of remaining parmesan.<br />
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Eat, and marvel at the wonder of alchemy. Ours is not to reason why.<br />
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Serves 1<br />
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<br />Suzannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676869975397269197noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4362917757776472007.post-86440968958725826182014-01-14T20:51:00.003+13:002014-01-14T20:52:27.987+13:00My New Year's Gift To You<div style="text-align: justify;">
Now this, my friends, is the kind of salad you want to have in your back pocket, so to speak. It is possibly the dish I have served to the most people, over my lifetime, and have noticed that it is both an excellent, rock solid standard, and a game changer - people <i>wolf </i>this down, and on more than one occasion I've had someone turn to me, cheeks stuffed full of new potato, eyes wild, and declare "but how can this be? I don't even <i>like</i> potato salad".</div>
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I do claim an unfair advantage on this one, it's true - I come to it from a place of love. Just as I'm convinced that the perfect roast potatoes can only be made by cooks who love them above all over things (in our house, it's Andy's job for this very reason - I'm definitely a mash girl, and boy do my roasties know it), so I believe the same is true of potato salad. It's long been a true favourite of mine, and I remember a million years ago at university when my mum gave me some money for groceries and told me to make sure I bought a treat, potato salad was the thing I went for. </div>
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The secret is definitely in the dressing, and in particular, the white wine vinegar which isn't the most obvious ingredient, it's true, but it does amazing trickery in adding some tang and background flavour.</div>
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I have given you catering-size quantities, that's undeniable, but one taste of this and you will know why. Whether you're feeding a crowd or just feeding yourself, this is comforting and fresh and tastes of summer. Keep it in the fridge and dip into it as and when. You will thank me, and so will all those in your life who are languishing in some misguided potato salad denial.</div>
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<b>Potato Salad</b><br />
<i>My own recipe, developed through years of delicious experimentation</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
1kg new potatoes, with the peel still on<br />
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar<br />
3 tablespoons olive oil<br />
1 tablespoon grainy mustard<br />
1 cup mayonnaise<br />
1 bunch spring onions, finely chopped<br />
Handful chives, chopped<br />
Handful fresh mint, chopped<br />
Salt and pepper<br />
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Keep the smallest potatoes whole, and cut the larger ones in half so they are all approximately the same size. Put them in a large pan, cover with cold water, add salt, and bring to the boil. Boil gently for 15 minutes, until a knife slides easily in to a potato with no resistance.<br />
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While the potatoes are cooking, mix the vinegar, olive oil and mustard until emulsified. Season with a good pinch of salt.<br />
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Drain the potatoes well and put into a large bowl. Immediately, while they are still hot, pour over the vinegar dressing.<br />
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Cover, and leave to cool completely.<br />
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Before serving, mix together the herbs and the whites of the spring onions with the mayonnaise. Stir this through the potatoes, making sure to stir through any vinaigrette that's lurking at the bottom of the bowl. Check for seasoning and add any salt and pepper if you think it needs it.<br />
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Put into your serving bowl, sprinkle over the spring onion greens, smile, sit back and wait for the conversions.<br />
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Serves 8<br />
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<br />Suzannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676869975397269197noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4362917757776472007.post-9062111665652114032013-12-11T13:49:00.000+13:002013-12-11T13:49:15.079+13:00Getting Organised - Bread Sauce<div style="text-align: justify;">
Ten years ago, I did a post-graduate diploma in a subject intended to help my then career. Part of the diploma was peer-reviewed, and had to be a practical working example of how organised we'd become since starting the course. Truth time: I've never been renowned for my organisational skills, with the major exception of food. Like most other people blessed with the food-obsessive gene, if I start thinking about dinner the second I wake up, I already consider that a second too late. The working example I brought in was the hefty ring binder used by Mum and I every Christmas to do our food planning.</div>
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It really is a thing of wonder and one of the things, people aside of course, that I miss the most now I live here. We'd routinely cook for no less than 10 people, and loved every second of it. The ring binder held shopping lists, make-ahead lists, photocopied recipes from books that were tattily past their best, and past menus.</div>
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Here, our Christmases are quieter, tending to be just the two of us (which actually, for now, is just the way we like it), but we still can't quite break away from the Great British Christmas dinner, even if we do now cook the turkey on the barbecue, <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/8117871/Wellington-enjoys-sun-soaked-Christmas">last year in 30 degree temperatures</a>. Still, I can't shake the need to get organised and start everything that can be started nice and early, to be stashed in the freezer, fridge or pantry and served up on December 25th.</div>
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So. Bread Sauce. Not the flashiest name, admittedly, and not even the flashiest sauce. Its roots are medieval, and it feels like it, not because it tastes dated, but because it is so, so good that as you dollop it on to roast turkey or roast chicken, the scent of cloves, bay and nutmeg so tantalising, that you can understand how it has become such a staple.<br />
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I can understand that if you haven't grown up eating it, the concept might be odd, but every year I am torn between persuading people to try it, ever to be converted, or keeping schtum and having the gloriousness, all to myself. Oh, and it's just fabulous on the mandatory leftover sandwich. It freezes perfectly, and only needs thawing and gentle reheating, on the big day. I used leftover baguette this year, and I love the silkiness the texture of that bread gives, but it is just as good made with any good white bread.<br />
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But, since I am sharing only a recipe and not my actual bread sauce, give this a go.<br />
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<br /></div>
<b>Bread Sauce</b><br />
<i>A Traditional Recipe</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
1 unsliced white loaf, or 1 baguette<br />
1 litre full-fat milk<br />
2 tablespoons cream<br />
1 onion, peeled and quarter<br />
4 cloves<br />
2 bay leaves<br />
1 teaspoon peppercorns<br />
freshly grated nutmeg<br />
salt<br />
30g butter<br />
<br />
A couple of hours, at least, before you start the sauce, remove the crusts from the bread (you don't need to be too diligent about this), slice thickly and leave to go stale.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, stud each onion quarter with a clove and put them in a pan with the milk, cream, bay leaves, peppercorns, salt and a good grating of fresh nutmeg. Over a medium heat, bring nearly to the boil but don't let actually boil. Put the lid on the pan, and leave it to cool down and infuse with the spices. <br />
<br />
You can do both these stages a day before you want to make the sauce.<br />
<br />
Fish the onion and spices out of the pan. Tear the bread into chunks and drop them into the milk. The bread will swell, soften and break up in the sauce.<br />
<br />
If you want to freeze it, do so at this stage. If you want to serve it straight away, gently reheat it, and, just before serving, stir through the butter until it melts.<br />
<br />
If you have frozen your sauce, defrost it and then reheat gently, stirring the butter through as above.<br />
<br />
Serve with roast turkey or roast chicken, or with leftover sandwiches. Decide for yourself whether you want to share.<br />
<br />
Serves 10.<br />
<br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
<br />Suzannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676869975397269197noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4362917757776472007.post-71131130263342595722013-11-23T17:17:00.000+13:002013-11-23T17:17:13.391+13:00Regression Therapy - Malt LoafGod, I love <a href="http://www.soreen.com/">Soreen</a> so much. While I wouldn't go so far as to claim it as a universal-to-UK experience, having either a couple of crumpets or a couple of slices of squidgey, dark malt loaf spread with salted butter on the return from school, sofa pulled up to the fire and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088546/">Jonny Briggs</a> on the tv would certainly be something that would ring a lot of bells with my generation.<br />
<br />
When we were challenged to make a sweet or savoury loaf for this month's Bake Club, malt loaf leapt unbidden into my mind, and once it was there, there was no shifting it. Soreen can't be bought here and so, if I wanted malt loaf, I was going to have to make malt loaf.<br />
<br />
It required a fair bit of detective work but eventually I discovered malt extract was available for sale here in NZ and, what's more, it inspires the same kind of nostalgia that I have over malt loaf. I'm not sure exactly what it is about malt - sweet yet wholesome at the same time, the throat-nudging granularity of barley taking the edge off the sugar hit - but combine that with juicy sultanas and you have an after-school, after work, or just after anything, feast fit for a king.<br />
<br />
This recipe makes two loaves and, trust me, if you can leave it a few days after making it, well wrapped up, it will reward your patience a hundredfold as the stickiness and maltiness increase, day on day.<br />
<br />
This has to be served with salted butter; actually, more specifically, it has to be served with Lurpak.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<b>Malt Loaf</b><br />
<i>from <a href="http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1411653/sticky-malt-loaves">BBC Good Food</a></i><br />
<br />
150ml hot black tea (1 tea bag will be enough)<br />
175g malt extract, plus extra for glazing<br />
85g muscovado sugar<br />
50g raisins<br />
250g sultanas<br />
2 large eggs, beaten<br />
250g plain flour<br />
1 teaspoon baking powder<br />
0.5 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda<br />
<br />
Preheat your oven to 150c. Grease and line two 1lb loaf tins with baking paper.<br />
<br />
Mix the tea, malt, sugar and fruit until fully combined and the fruit has started to swell a little in the liquid. Stir in the eggs.<br />
<br />
Mix in the flour, baking powder and bicarb. Divide the mixture evenly between the two tins. Bake for 50 minutes. <br />
<br />
When they are just out of the oven, dip a pastry brush (silicone if possible, for cleaning reasons) into your tin of malt extract and use it to glaze the top of the loaves, which will become gloriously sticky.<br />
<br />
When they're completely cool, wrap well in foil and leave for 2-5 days until at sticky perfection.<br />
<br />
Makes 2 loaves<br />
<br />Suzannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676869975397269197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4362917757776472007.post-61310592562886747802013-11-20T08:26:00.001+13:002013-11-20T08:26:47.955+13:00Our Own Interests - Celery and Chard GratinEvery so often, Andy or I tentatively suggest a new outing, a new hobby, a new interest, to see if the other would be up for joining in. "I see they're doing salsa lessons down on the waterfront this summer" we casually throw into the conversation. "I see Dolly Parton is playing up in Auckland". "I'm thinking of starting a book club". "I want to go to the gaming exhibition at <a href="http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/pages/default.aspx">Te Papa</a>".<br />
<br />
(Three of those were mine, one was Andy's, and I'm not telling which).<br />
<br />
At this point the other will start looking wildly round them, clutching at their hair and clutching at straws, until we come up with the ultimate safe get-out clause.<br />
<br />
"I think it's important that we have our own interests".<br />
<br />
Seriously - that line has got both of us out of more socially-induced awkwardness than anything else. A real relationship saver, and I selflessly offer it up to you to use as you wish.<br />
<br />
Celery, I would say, is my own interest. Andy is definitely happy to palm that one off on me. I go through a fair bit of it, it's true, as the basis of most soups, stews, sauces, but that does mean that there's usually a few sticks, looking limply folorn every time I open the fridge. And as there's only me to eat it - strictly my own interest, you might say - I love finding new ways to use it up.<br />
<br />
This recipe, inspired by an <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/nov/08/celery-soup-gratin-recipes-ottolenghi">Ottolenghi article in The Guardian</a>, is great, with the proviso that you really, really do have to like celery to enjoy it. As much as I agree with him that it is often unfairly maligned, there is no escaping the fact that this is a very celery-ish dish. The lemon in it was incredible though, and lifted the whole thing out of the ordinary. And let's not forget that topping - almost 50% parmesan. No arguments from me on that front, whatsoever.<br />
<br />
I will keep this as my little secret.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<b>Celery and Chard Gratin</b><br />
<br />
<i>Adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi</i><br />
<br />
4 celery stalks, trimmed and chopped but not too small<br />
1 bay leaf<br />
1 lemon, half the zest taken off in strips with a peeler, the rest of the zest grated<br />
300ml milk<br />
280g silverbeet (Swiss Chard), leaves shredded, stalks trimmed and chopped<br />
1 tablespoon butter<br />
salt and pepper<br />
1 tablespoon plain flour<br />
1 slice wholemeal bread, grated or blitzed into breadcrumbs<br />
Handful parsley, chopped<br />
40g parmesan, grated<br />
<br />
Preheat your oven to 180c/350f<br />
<br />
Simmer the celery, bay leaves, and lemon zest strips in the milk for about 12 minutes, until soft. Strain and reserve the milk (you should have about 200ml left after simmering). Set the celery to one side; discard the bay and lemon zest.<br />
<br />
Clean the pan (I used my non-stick frying pan but it is coming to the end of its days and non-stick isn't so much a misnomer any more as a downright dirty lie), using as much elbow grease as your pan requires.<br />
<br />
Fill your clean pan with water, bring to a boil, and add the chard stalks. Cook for 2 minutes, add the chard leaves, and cook for another minute. Drain and dry well.<br />
<br />
Wipe the pan again so it's dry. Melt the butter over a medium heat. Saute the drained chard for a couple of minutes, then add the celery.<br />
<br />
Add the flour and stir for a minute or so to cook it out. Gradually stir in your reserved milk, lemon zest, and the juice from your lemon until you have a thick coating of sauce for the vegetables.<br />
<br />
Put this mixture into a smallish gratin dish.<br />
<br />
Mix the breadcrumbs with the parsley and parmesan. Pour this topping on top of the vegetables, and bake for 30 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the top is crunchy and golden.<br />
<br />
Don't serve this immediately out of the oven; instead, leave it 10 minutes or so. <br />
<i> </i><b> </b><br />
Serves 4 as a smallish side or 2 as the highlight dish.<br />
<b></b><br />
<br />Suzannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676869975397269197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4362917757776472007.post-13814749914375649042013-11-11T20:40:00.000+13:002013-11-11T20:40:36.126+13:00Eat Your Greens - Broccoli PestoWhat's your favourite vegetable? Are there some that you just won't touch, even under pain of terrible things? I was musing the other day and I can't think of one vegetable that I don't adore which, I'm sure you'll agree, even for an indecisive omnivore is taking things a bit Too Far.<br />
<br />
It does mean, though, that when I head down to the <a href="http://www.harboursidemarket.co.nz/">Harbourside Market</a> on a Sunday morning, after I have a nosy wander round the stalls, but before I indulge in the best breakfast in Wellington, bar none (Masala Dosa from the Brahman - $10 of pure happiness and therefore worth every cent), I do tend to get overexcited and completely overestimate the amount of vegetables that we need for just the two of us (and just the one of me, really, on the three nights a week that Andy works).<br />
<br />
I am never averse to simply-cooked vegetables, cooked till just al dente (except my secret food shame, <a href="http://thisupsidedownlife.blogspot.co.nz/2013/03/secret-food-shame.html">overcooked cabbage</a>), but when I have such a volume to get through, I have to get a bit creative with what I do with them.<br />
<br />
This Broccoli Pesto came about on just such a night. I was musing that I was keen for summer to start for a million and one reasons, one of them being my basil would grow and, if all goes to plan, I will have enough this year for a regular supply of pesto. Until then, until then... what could I do? My eyes fell on a head of broccoli, a seemingly everlasting reminder of my market profligacy. <br />
<br />
Par boiled so it has still got plenty of crunch, colour and texture, then mixed with the pesto classics, parmesan, garlic and pine nuts, a good handful of parsley and some cream to bind, this has the beautiful grassy flavour of broccoli combined with the nubbliness of pesto.<br />
<br />
Use it on it's own, or use it as I did as the base of a pasta dressing with peas and bacon, just use it. Because you need to eat your greens, you know.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<b>Broccoli Pesto</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
1 head broccoli<br />
20g parmesan, grated<br />
2 tablespoons pine nuts<br />
1 clove garlic, crushed<br />
1 teaspoon olive oil<br />
1 handful parsley<br />
2 tablespoons cream<br />
salt and pepper<br />
<br />
Chop the broccoli into florets, then chop the stalk into one inch pieces.<br />
<br />
Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, and parboil the broccoli stalks for 2 minutes, adding the florets after one minute. Drain well.<br />
<br />
In a food processor, blitz the pine nuts, garlic, parsley, oil and salt and pepper until the nuts have been ground but there are still a few larger bits left - this is important for texture. <br />
<br />
Add the broccoli and pulse until mostly broken down into small pieces.<br />
<br />
Add the parmesan and cream and pulse until well combined.<br />
<br />
When you use it, retain a cupful of the cooking water from the pasta. Use this to 'loosen' the pesto when you add it to the pasta, stirring through a spoonful at a time until it melds into the sauce and it coats the pasta easily.<br />
<br />
This pesto freezes very well.<br />
<br />
Serves 4<br />
<b><br /></b>Suzannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676869975397269197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4362917757776472007.post-25757575918186872142013-11-10T15:44:00.001+13:002013-11-10T19:16:56.697+13:00A Dish to Remember - Piperade<div style="text-align: justify;">
I'm blessed with a good memory. Exams, as long as I can learn the subject by rote, have never been too taxing. I'm sure I exasperate my husband with my ability to remember every. little. thing. But when it comes to food, I'm Rainman. Along with the list of Andy's likes and dislikes that I have committed to memory, I have freaked my friends out with my tendency to have conversations like:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"I know you miss Marks & Spencer Smoked Mackerel Pate, so I've made you some". </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"When did I tell you that?"</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"Three years ago, in passing in a conversation".</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
One friend doesn't like eggs, one doesn't like parsnips, one doesn't like cooked apple. You get the idea. It can make catering for groups of them an exercise in elimination, rather than blissfully picking one thing and sticking to it.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The same applies for recipes. I have an uncanny recall of recipes I've read just once, let alone a few times. So when it comes to a book I have probably read, cover-to-cover, novel style, more than any other, it's no wonder I can virtually recite the index from memory. Delia Smith's <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Illustrated-Cookery-Classic-Edition/dp/0563214546/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1384049526&sr=8-2&keywords=delia+complete+cookery+course">Complete Cookery Course</a> was the first 'grown up' cookery book I owned just for me, rather than borrowing from Mum. It was a gift as I headed off to university - and what a gift. I still recommend it to this day for people just setting off on the cooking journey. Delia holds your hand through this in an informative, slightly strict at times, no-nonsense fashion, and I for one am still reaping the rewards. Back in the days, before laptops and internet invaded student halls, there was just me and this book, and I read it, and read it, and read it.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So when I woke up this morning, and the word "Piperade" jumped into my head, I wasn't especially surprised, even though I'd never cooked it before. I knew it contained eggs and peppers, both of which I had lying around. I also had all the other ingredients, and so made it for a brunch. Very glad I did; the sweetness of the slow-cooked vegetables makes the eggs incredibly sweet and creamy. My young, grown-from-seed basil is aniseed-strong, and was a great highlight to the eggs. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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I'll be remembering this one for the future.</div>
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<br />
<br />
<b>Piperade</b><br />
<i>Adapted from Delia Smith, 'Complete Illustrated Cookery Course'</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
1 onion, finely chopped<br />
1 red pepper, finely chopped<br />
1 tomato, chopped<br />
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped<br />
4 eggs<br />
2 teaspoons butter<br />
1 teaspoon olive oil<br />
A few basil leaves<br />
Salt and pepper<br />
<br />
Heat the oil and butter in a medium pan over a low heat. Add the onion and cook for about 10 minutes, until soft but not brown.<br />
<br />
Add the pepper, tomato and garlic, and continue to cook slowly for another 20 minutes, until the vegetables are sweet and soft. Season well with salt and pepper<br />
<br />
Beat the eggs well then add them to the pan, stirring constantly. After a couple of minutes, before they are firm, remove from the heat and continue to stir for 30 seconds.<br />
<br />
Serve over toast or, as I did, a grilled field mushroom. Garnish with basil and serve immediately.<br />
<br />
Serves 2Suzannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676869975397269197noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4362917757776472007.post-57982975918005552582013-11-05T21:15:00.001+13:002013-11-05T21:15:42.958+13:00Mum's Christmas CakeThere are some things you should know about this cake.<br />
<br />
Firstly, it comes from a recipe book my mum got not long after she was married (I'm guessing about 1970). It predates me by lots of - ok, a few - years, and has been made faithfully by our family every year since then. Sure, we've had odd flirtations with other cakes, by way of Nigella's <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/chocolatefruitcake_84675">Chocolate Fruit Cake</a> and Delia's <a href="http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/cuisine/exotic/caribbean/creole-christmas-cake.html">Creole Cake</a>, but this is the cake that we return to, time after time. On this point too, you should know that we adore Christmas Cake, with its fruit and spices, and are therefore self-appointed connoisseurs. Bear that in mind when you consider our loyalty to this cake.<br />
<br />
You should know that it is never, ever dry, which seems to be the biggest crime that fruit cake is often accused of. Instead - and I am not discounting the effect of lots of alcohol in this matter - it is rich and moist (gah I hate that word but sometimes it is the only option), buttery and juicy.<br />
<br />
You should know that last Christmas, when I made some to sell, a happy customer returned in January specifically to tell me it was (and I quote) the best cake he'd ever eaten.<br />
<br />
But mostly, I want you to know that, bar the teensiest of substitutions (I can't abide glace cherries, and used to leave a neat gleaming pile on the edge of my plate - seriously, does <i>anyone</i> eat them? - so use dried cranberries instead), this IS Christmas. The mixing of it, Christmas tunes sparkling away as the soundtrack, the fruits steeping in alcohol beforehand, the gradual transformation into the mixture so familiar to me from my youth, the smell of it as it bakes and cools, the look of it. It is the joy of Christmas in one neat package, and that is why I continue to recreate it, year after year. Truly, nothing is better than the comfort of Christmas traditions.<br />
<br />
The earlier you can make this, the better.<br />
<br />
<b>Christmas Fruit Cake</b><br />
<i>From the Stork Cookbook, circa 1970</i><br />
<br />
NB: Because of the date and provenance (UK), all weights are in pounds and ounces. I have given the weight in metric also, but if you have the option, the original will likely give the better results.<br />
<br />
For a 9 inch round cake or 8 inch square. Since moving to New Zealand I have become the proud owner of a <a href="http://www.woodencakebox.co.nz/">wooden cakebox</a>, which gives amazing results, but any heavy cake tin will do. Grease and line it inside, and wrap the outside with brown paper secured with string or a paperclip - this will protect the edges of the cake during the long, slow cooking.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
13oz (370g) currants<br />
9oz (250g) sultanas<br />
5oz (140g) raisins<br />
3.5oz (100g) dried cranberries<br />
3.5oz (100g) flaked almonds<br />
3.5oz (100g) mixed cut peel<br />
1 grated lemon rind<br />
2 tablespoons brandy<br />
2 tablespoons sherry (ideally Pedro Ximenez)<br />
9oz (250g) plain flour<br />
1.25 teaspoons mixed spice<br />
0.5 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg<br />
2.5oz (70g) ground almonds<br />
8oz (230g) unsalted butter, softened<br />
8oz (230g) soft brown sugar<br />
1 tablespoon black treacle<br />
5 eggs<br />
<br />
At least a day, and I don't mind if you give it two days, before you start, soak the dried fruit, flaked almonds and lemon zest in the brandy and sherry, stirring every so often. The fruit will absorb the alcohol and go plump and juicy.<br />
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<br />
<br />
When you want to make the cake, preheat the oven to 140c/290f/gas mark 1<br />
<br />
Sieve the flour, nutmeg and mixed spice. Add the ground almonds.<br />
<br />
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the treacle.<br />
<br />
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating each in thoroughly and adding a little of the flour mixture with every egg.<br />
<br />
Add the remaining flour mixture with the prepared fruits. Stir gently but thoroughly until well mixed.<br />
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<br />
<br />
Put in the prepared tin (or box) and smooth the top with the back of a wet spoon.<br />
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<br />
<br />
Bake in the pre-heated oven until very firm, a minimum of 3 hours (it took 4 hours in my oven). If it isn't done after 3 hours, check back at regular intervals.<br />
<br />
When it is baked and a cake tester comes out clean, remove from the oven. Leave in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out, remove the paper and cool on a wire tray.<br />
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<br />
<br />
When completely cold, wrap in double greaseproof paper and store in an airtight tin.<br />
<br />
Every week, feed the cake by pricking the top all over with a skewer then gently pouring a tablespoon of brandy over so it seeps into the holes.<br />
<br />
I will be decorating the cake a week before Christmas and posting up instructions with pictures.<br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><br />
<br />
<br />Suzannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676869975397269197noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4362917757776472007.post-75845925319643374502013-06-25T22:06:00.000+12:002013-06-25T22:09:05.414+12:00Riding Out The Storm - Spicy Sausage Patties<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Here is why Andy is my most favourite person in the
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On Friday night, when the city
was being cruelly and mercilessly battered by Mother Nature, in the worst storm
since 1968 (200km wind!), when we were holed up in our house with what must
have been the <a href="http://thisupsidedownlife.blogspot.co.nz/2013/06/the-new-view.html">best view in the house</a> of the ravaging seas, instead of being
miserable and scared, he suggested we make the most of the opportunity and turn
it into a mid-winter feast for two, of the sort we normally indulge in around
Christmas time.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Thus Mulled Wine (Andy’s ultimate recipe, through years of
dedicated and selfless testing, will be coming soon), Charcuterie, many, many
cheeses, Pringles, crisps, dips and nuts were on the menu, and for viewing –
what else would do in such circumstances but <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099785/">Home Alone</a>?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I made the dip from an old favourite recipe, and to
accompany all these picky delights, I made another picky delight, turning, as I
do with extraordinary regularity, to Nigella Lawson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These Spicy Sausage Patties are from her book
‘Kitchen’, a book which resonates so loudly with me with its talk of the pivotal
role of the kitchen in a home.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I haven’t yet had my dream kitchen, my warm room that takes
up the entire lower ground floor of my dream home and is the first place that
everyone stops when they visit our house, but I will, one day, and I will know
it the second I see it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, I know
it will be a replica of the kitchens in those exquisite granite houses on <a href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=The+Chanonry,+Aberdeen&hl=en&ll=57.167641,-2.101629&spn=0.006317,0.021136&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=7.049238,21.643066&oq=the+chanonry&hnear=The+Chanonry,+Aberdeen+AB24+1RN,+United+Kingdom&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=57.168338,-2.102912&panoid=h_LX_pRz0H-J5zYZC_MBUA&cbp=12,0,,0,0">The Chanonry</a> in Old
Aberdeen, which I used to shuffle past, a frozen and unhappy university student, and
wonder at the pangs that those lamp-lit, warm vignettes I glimpsed through the
windows created deep within me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Already
I was lingering, unwilling, on the route to a so-called respectable law degree
that was meant to lead to a so-called respectable career; already I was
delighting in the distractions of food and all the wonderful trappings that
surround it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Warmth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Home.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
So no, I haven’t yet had my dream kitchen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But with a husband who will see the potential
joy in any situation, wants to experience life to the full, and who, on the
stormiest night that Wellington has seen in 45 years turns our home into a
candle-lit place with food and wine and laughter, then I can do no more than count
my blessings at the miracle of our haven while the storm swirls around us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Well, that and make food for the journey.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm12PqwkHY0eXJA0901z0UXQnX77WWx4e40RFY2Meh5TpNfEIX3sLbA3tAIc16lVHiKtOrEXKP0hQVrbOYbQ9CZ6WloX_BgReHNiv-pDXG8XDkm0BoKFoDvZhbizEmwQKK3PTdY7K8XuI/s1600/IMG_1825%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm12PqwkHY0eXJA0901z0UXQnX77WWx4e40RFY2Meh5TpNfEIX3sLbA3tAIc16lVHiKtOrEXKP0hQVrbOYbQ9CZ6WloX_BgReHNiv-pDXG8XDkm0BoKFoDvZhbizEmwQKK3PTdY7K8XuI/s320/IMG_1825%5B1%5D.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<b>Spicy Sausage Patties</b><br />
<i>Adapted from Nigella Lawson*, Kitchen</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
500g good quality sausages<br />
1 inch piece grated fresh ginger<br />
1 green chilli, chopped<br />
1 red chilli, chopped<br />
2 teaspoons English mustard<br />
1 garlic clove, peeled and finely grated<br />
1 large spring onion, finely chopped<br />
2 teaspoons chopped fresh coriander stalks and leaves<br />
2 tablespoons olive oil<br />
Approximately 10 iceberg lettuce leaves<br />
2 limes, cut into wedges<br />
<br />
Squeeze the sausage meat out of the sausage skins, and put in a bowl with the ginger, chillies, mustard, garlic, spring onion and coriander. Mix well.<br />
<br />
Use a tablespoon to measure out each patty - take the mix from the spoon, form it into a mini burger shape, and put on a plate. Cover with cling film and leave to rest for an hour.<br />
<br />
When you are ready to serve, heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Cook the patties for about 3 minutes each side, until cooked all the way through (you will need to do this in batches unless you have a giganto-pan).<br />
<br />
To eat each patty, squeeze lime over and wrap in a lettuce leaf.<br />
<br />
<i>*Like everyone, I am more than aware of the horrible situation Nigella Lawson is currently in. Others have expressed my thoughts on the matter far more eloquently than I could; so I will just say I hope she is safe, I hope she is with people who love her, I hope she can take some comfort from the outpouring of love and admiration for her from strangers such as myself, I hope she finds peace soon, and I hope some good can come of this. I wish her strength.</i></div>
Suzannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676869975397269197noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4362917757776472007.post-44667337231925549522013-06-21T09:00:00.001+12:002013-06-21T09:20:03.786+12:00Chicken with Cream, Mustard and Tarragon<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Sometimes I think this blog should be titled, or at the very
least subtitled, “Starting Over: A Million and One Ways to Use Up
Leftovers”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I’m only half
joking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The thing is, though, that is
the way we eat most of the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s
just the two of us, I am determinedly in the ‘mass catering’ mindset, and seem
incapable of cooking for fewer than eight hefty appetites at a time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At every given point in time we are usually
pushed for either time or money (and very often both) – right now it is time
that is at a premium; we currently just have one night per week to spend in
each other’s company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rest of the
week is either just one of us, home alone, or working in the evenings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As much as I would love to have limitless
hours and dollars to dream up a weekly menu, and shop daily, right now even
brushing my hair daily is an achievement, so I’m all about cook-once,
reap-the-rewards-many-times kind of cooking<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>that both frees up my evening hours, while still allowing me a creative
challenge: how best to keep these leftovers interesting?</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This recipe is from ‘Real Cooking’, a book from a wonderful
food writer, Nigel Slater who, thankfully, feels very much the same way I do
about having a second go at things – or evidence would suggest that he does,
anyway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a wonderful phrase part
way through this book regarding roast chicken: “Only the very wasteful would
fail to make a broth from the bones”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Exactamundo, Nigel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am many,
many things, but very wasteful I am not, especially when it comes to my beloved
food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Elsewhere in the same section are
suggestions for transforming leftover roast chicken meat into something not just
‘not bad, for leftovers’, but great in its own right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this recipe, chicken is mixed, very
simply, with roughly-given quantities of cream, mustard, cheese and tarragon
(given that this is necessarily a fridge-scavenging exercise, rough quantities
are the only kind that can truly count), topped with breadcrumbs, and
baked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The result is luxury.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8AOzu8lTp_LA0DTGu0KNA60NDjC5n_ZvS_c3zeUY3YgPDvKYXjZ0KVQuoZ7XCIA8yP6Oo5LFSo3hYZ7169Z-CdufAlFoYFCE1YtS6i0X76wcAzk_TS4x-I_5Cj-nSDN5-bYkMaWDtIAw/s1600/IMG_1821.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8AOzu8lTp_LA0DTGu0KNA60NDjC5n_ZvS_c3zeUY3YgPDvKYXjZ0KVQuoZ7XCIA8yP6Oo5LFSo3hYZ7169Z-CdufAlFoYFCE1YtS6i0X76wcAzk_TS4x-I_5Cj-nSDN5-bYkMaWDtIAw/s320/IMG_1821.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chicken with Cream
and Mustard</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Adapted from Nigel
Slater, ‘Real Cooking’</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2 handfuls leftover roast chicken, cut into bite-sized
chunks</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
200mls cream</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
1 tablespoon grainy mustard</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
0.5 teaspoons dried tarragon (this would be even better with
fresh)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
1 handful grated cheese; anything will do (I used 50:50
parmesan and Cheshire)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pinch salt</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2 handfuls breadcrumbs (about 2 slices of bread)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Preheat the oven to 200C.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In a bowl, mix the chicken with the cream, mustard, tarragon, cheese and
a pinch of salt.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pour this mixture into an ovenproof dish, scatter the
breadcrumbs over the top.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Bake for about 25 minutes, until the breadcrumbs are golden
and the sauce is bubbling.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Serve with a green salad or green vegetables; I went with a
huge pile of sautéed, salted cabbage.</div>
Suzannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676869975397269197noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4362917757776472007.post-90439782351106158532013-06-18T20:46:00.001+12:002013-06-18T20:46:52.722+12:00The Gift of Walnuts<div class="MsoNormal">
I was lucky enough to be given a bag full of fresh walnuts
recently, from a friend who doesn’t like them, and nor does her husband. Short of uprooting their walnut tree and
planting it in a pot on our balcony, accepting them gratefully was the best I could
do. And I was so glad they’d ended up
with me. Creamy, sweet and savoury at
the same time, and yet with none of that oily bitterness that pre-packaged nuts
seem to end up with.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We don’t own a nutcracker, but even if we did I would have
been unable to find it in the midst of the move; experience has now taught me
it would have been in the very last box I looked in, so I resorted to the
bottom of a coffee jar, gleefully bashing the nuts then picking out
that delightful centre.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1nu9KsUC4S22ZmuD1oqjNi0K4DMkxlmhuLNX9pGQy3b-3nGR2JmwaDOGHSAIehNyWpUcpFvAouLTrktL1VvYhmvGXjD-d9YH5LsS3N3CdlkMBxMZgYCce7mKQ46b0ztBE6tqIC0Lc3Zk/s1600/IMG_5512.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1nu9KsUC4S22ZmuD1oqjNi0K4DMkxlmhuLNX9pGQy3b-3nGR2JmwaDOGHSAIehNyWpUcpFvAouLTrktL1VvYhmvGXjD-d9YH5LsS3N3CdlkMBxMZgYCce7mKQ46b0ztBE6tqIC0Lc3Zk/s320/IMG_5512.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I’d eaten my fill just as a snack, I wanted to
experience them as part of a meal. My
kitchen haul produced real autumnal ingredients; along with these nuts I had
the world’s largest cabbage, a good hunk of Kapiti blue cheese, pungent but not
palate-burningly strong, and the end of a box of Risoni pasta.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
This was a real joy of a dinner – enough textural interest
from the walnuts and slippery-smooth pasta, background earthiness of the
cabbage and salty tang of the cheese. An
unintentionally well-balanced meal, that left me giving thanks for those odd
folk who don’t like fresh walnuts. Their
loss is definitely my gain. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz6MN5MsXUqY_r7fyRQqvCmVL92cvh1WPgbNmJ2xUDXmOOxP9CuFNa42U5_4PJ1jFU3wudyUBrv1A2WXt9ct7WPKNokD6tys1uPLQAejgQKuqeCH8m_zyCkPxOG5otSni35bHYUvFhAH8/s1600/IMG_5513.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz6MN5MsXUqY_r7fyRQqvCmVL92cvh1WPgbNmJ2xUDXmOOxP9CuFNa42U5_4PJ1jFU3wudyUBrv1A2WXt9ct7WPKNokD6tys1uPLQAejgQKuqeCH8m_zyCkPxOG5otSni35bHYUvFhAH8/s320/IMG_5513.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Risoni with Walnuts</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>A recipe, if it can be called that, by myself</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
100g risoni pasta</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Handful fresh walnuts</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Handful shredded cabbage</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
1 tablespoon olive oil</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
20g blue cheese</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2 tablespoons cream</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In a large pan of salted, boiling water, cook the risoni according to the instructions on the packet.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Saute the cabbage until it is just done and retains some crunch (although I have admitted to my love of <a href="http://thisupsidedownlife.blogspot.co.nz/search/label/Secret%20Food%20Shames">overcooked cabbage</a>, this is not the place for it). </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When the pasta is cooked, reserve half a cup of the cooking water, drain the pasta, then tip it into the pan with the cabbage, keeping it over a low heat. Stir through the cream, half the cheese and the walnuts, adding as much reserved pasta water as is needed to bring the sauce together.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Serve, sprinkling over the rest of the cheese.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Serves 1</div>
Suzannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676869975397269197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4362917757776472007.post-53580805469196396652013-06-14T20:53:00.002+12:002013-06-15T22:50:58.126+12:00The New View<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is the view from one of the kitchen windows in our new
house<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNqkLFe4Jhhi3PgqZiec3JbZSwe4qaKiZ9uY4DT8q4QlzYT4Pp99HMOUq-3rhsuU3N7UWtXQWwB38UKuww53WJG1Z3M8G1G64HMFekNUMozbI0Z4KCy3It8jeaWeXXiRmaW70nOBM8Y0s/s1600/IMG_5542.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNqkLFe4Jhhi3PgqZiec3JbZSwe4qaKiZ9uY4DT8q4QlzYT4Pp99HMOUq-3rhsuU3N7UWtXQWwB38UKuww53WJG1Z3M8G1G64HMFekNUMozbI0Z4KCy3It8jeaWeXXiRmaW70nOBM8Y0s/s320/IMG_5542.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And this is the view from the other window.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqbu5Mh_b-jbsFlxZt09wa9LizGHr_PFWxAL9q1RDtdddpWGz-W7FiZ8sOlGS5OQP6YCDQdGWiCiTpNajzZfpRa6WJoxerDh0qGE2I5Xtf_cGAF_AWGGVUCjQ4DPB7oJM2P9OqrGMfx0s/s1600/IMG_5535.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqbu5Mh_b-jbsFlxZt09wa9LizGHr_PFWxAL9q1RDtdddpWGz-W7FiZ8sOlGS5OQP6YCDQdGWiCiTpNajzZfpRa6WJoxerDh0qGE2I5Xtf_cGAF_AWGGVUCjQ4DPB7oJM2P9OqrGMfx0s/s320/IMG_5535.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The view was one of the main reasons we fell for the
place. We first found this road two
years ago, when we were in the process of searching for our last place. The house we saw then was impractical but
charming, and turning it down was not a decision we made lightly. Ever since then, whenever we drove up the road,
Andy said “I have a feeling we’re going to end up living here one day”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And so it came to pass.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Things are still in a bit of a mess here; we’re both working
most days of the week and so progress in sorting this collection of boxes and
rooms into something resembling a home is taking longer than either of us are
comfortable with.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But whenever we get down by the remnants of unpacking, we
look out the window. We already have a
new tradition after a night out, of standing out on the balcony with a cup of
tea or a glass of wine, depending on the kind of night it’s been, putting the
world to rights and watching the tides move across this bay that we have come to
love so very much in the last couple of years, and love even more now that we
have a different view of it.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Suzannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676869975397269197noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4362917757776472007.post-24310082533616090062013-06-08T19:40:00.000+12:002013-06-08T19:40:02.499+12:00Meeting Your Heroes - Vietnamese Ribs<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I’m the type
of person to get starstruck. As much as
I would love to maintain an aura of chic cool around celebrities – my all-too-vocal
cynical side screams “they’re just <i>people</i>”,
truth is, the aura I project is more giggling schoolgirl than European Woman of
the World. A couple of times I’ve met
real heroes of mine in very informal settings (a dog walk; a family party) and
my blushing stutterings have provided much embarrassment to me (and no doubt
them), and much amusement to all others around me. And I’m not even talking Mandela or anything;
think 90s popstar and 80s footballer.
Even my heroes are lowbrow. In
fact, the only celebrity I’ve ever managed to keep my head around was the late,
much disgraced, Jimmy Saville – long story but he once tried to snatch a lemon
& blueberry cake out of my sticky mitts and I stood firm, staring him
fiercely right in the eyes like a mama bear defending a cub. All things considered, I'm glad he was the one I didn't fawn over.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Which is why
the world of Twitter is a world of wonder to me. Andy once said to me “all you use it for is
arguing with celebrities” which isn’t <i>strictly</i>
true – I would find that exceedingly dull, and I do still get the fear that
people can somehow see me through the screen – I would indeed be the world’s
worst troll – but there have been a couple of occasions when I’ve challenged a
celebrity on something they’ve said <i>and
they have actually responded</i>. Again,
most of the time we’re talking lowbrow, B list British TV faces, but while they
might not like what I’ve said, they’ve taken the time to reply and I’m always
properly grateful, like the little starstruck fan I am. And yes, I do realise that admitting this is
the absolute ultimate in uncool – which is what I specialise in, apparently.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">So imagine
what happens when one of my culinary heroes, the eloquent and informative
Aussie-Vietnamese Chef Luke Nguyen, takes the time to respond. I mentioned him in a tweet, saying that I’d
just had these Ribs for dinner, and how abso-flipping-lutely amazing they are,
and he, bless his lovely little cotton socks, replied saying something along
the lines of “glad you liked them, I’m having the same for my lunch!”. A lovely man and someone, for once, who is
deserving of the hero moniker.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">As are these
ribs. Proper hero ribs. Sticky, melting, well-balance Vietnamese
flavours. I roast them as suggested in the
recipe, but next time I’m very tempted to stick a bit of water in the tray and
slow roast them for ages, really let those flavours get to work and make the
meat even more unctuous and fall-off-the bone.
Served with plain steamed rice and garlicky broccoli, they are one of my
favourite dinners of all time. A real hero of a dish. And I’m
glad I told Luke Nguyen so.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmB2TqvBQuwtdgokVwSSI2neNR1qGr2yTYwRtOZrAJ09yE08WZuKzL36BiCPOV8M9Hb2u_1zRD2TvsTBC2ibBr8Ox-Xrhdzy_Hp5icCdOq454jJHaNE87LwlQoeNMcG2kY7r1sI30YpIg/s1600/IMG_5526.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmB2TqvBQuwtdgokVwSSI2neNR1qGr2yTYwRtOZrAJ09yE08WZuKzL36BiCPOV8M9Hb2u_1zRD2TvsTBC2ibBr8Ox-Xrhdzy_Hp5icCdOq454jJHaNE87LwlQoeNMcG2kY7r1sI30YpIg/s320/IMG_5526.JPG" title="Pork Spareribs" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>Roasted Pork Spareribs (Suon Non Quay)</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><i>From Luke Nguyen, Songs of Sapa</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><i><br /></i></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 18px;">1 tablespoon shaoxing Rice Wine</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 18px;">2 teaspoons soy sauce</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 18px;">2 teaspoons fish sauce</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 18px;">1 tablespoon oyster sauce</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 18px;">1 tablespoon honey</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 18px;">0.5 teaspoon five-spice</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 18px;">3 garlic cloves, smashed</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 18px;">3 garlic cloves, finely chopped</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 18px;">500g pork spare ribs</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 18px;">6 spring onions, thinly sliced lengthways</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 18px;">First, marinade your ribs. In a bowl big enough to take everything, mix the rice wine, soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce, honey, five-spice, all the garlic cloves, and add the ribs. Leave to marinade for as long as possible, at least 2 hours but these bad boys could take much longer if you get organised in time.</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm6-gBnKX3TLqXClBuUFnSFFYysGpy4Fwzs0qMxdQGL-WDe1vXlPZNnHVc1sRVRDA9WV0UIZBqKJwFYhE2t4QX2fACTREE8RFHh42gpyzpLlQLElhlQ5zLs0Mxdtq6Lq3yp0guXef-_JA/s1600/IMG_5523.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm6-gBnKX3TLqXClBuUFnSFFYysGpy4Fwzs0qMxdQGL-WDe1vXlPZNnHVc1sRVRDA9WV0UIZBqKJwFYhE2t4QX2fACTREE8RFHh42gpyzpLlQLElhlQ5zLs0Mxdtq6Lq3yp0guXef-_JA/s320/IMG_5523.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 18px;">When you are ready to cook them, preheat your oven to 200C. Put the ribs in a single layer in a roasting tray. Bake for 30 minutes, basting every 5-10 minutes with the spare marinade.</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 18px;">When they are golden and crispy on the edges and fully cooked through, chop them into seperate ribs, and garnish with the spring onions.</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 18px;">Serve with steamed rice and broccoli.</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 18px;">Serves 2</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
Suzannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676869975397269197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4362917757776472007.post-74507327050194989142013-05-13T20:48:00.003+12:002013-05-13T20:48:36.970+12:00Better than it initially sounds: Broccoli Burgers<div style="text-align: justify;">
I was a vegetarian once, you know. One of those clichéd teenagers who turns veggie because her friends are. I somehow overlooked the fact that most of my favourite meals revolved around meat, and instead turned into the world's worst vegetarian. I thought if I snuck some ham from the fridge and nobody saw, then <i>it didn't count. </i>Once, as we were driving to the home of an elderly relative for what was going to be an excellent Sunday lunch, Mum, I suspect knowing I was an open door against which she could lean, suggested we didn't tell our host I was a vegetarian as she wouldn't understand and wouldn't be prepared. As Mum predicted, she got no argument from me and I merrily tucked into roast beef and the best Yorkshire Puddings the world has ever known, and returned to my version of vegetarianism the next day. It was sausages that got me in the end. Delicious sausages, wolfed down after a big night out with my cousin, were just about the best things I had ever eaten, and I knew then that the jig was up.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Nowadays I am a committed omnivore, and do my bit by buying happy meat where I can, and local where possible. I don't know whether the teenage me would be proud or not of the fact that, without thinking about it at all, there are days that easily pass with me following a vegetarian diet. My interests today would, admittedly, be more about my appetite than anything else, but whenever I pause and think about the effects of campaigns such as <a href="http://www.meatlessmonday.com/">Meatless Monday</a>, then that makes me even happier. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I definitely ate versions of these Broccoli Burgers as a teenage vegetarian, probably by Linda McCartney or in the form of those delicious crispbakes that Marks & Spencer used to do (do they still make those? I miss them). I do admit, though, that just the name - Broccoli Burgers - is enough to make even a total Broccoliphile like me do a small inward sneer before I catch myself, have a think about it, and realise that a) I love, love, love broccoli and all the other ingredients in these, b) having these cheesy, moreish burgers in my freezer, ready to be defrosted in the oven or in a frying pan or even for a couple of minutes in the microwave would be a great easy, quick dinner for us, and c) I just need to grow up if I am inwardly laughing at something that even rubbish-veggie teenage me would totally be on board with and adore. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I managed to take the world's worst photo of these but it was in the middle of <i>another</i> endless bout of packing, and my biggest achievement today was not kicking the packing boxes out of my way in a teenage rage. Moving in five days. Luckily I have a stash of these burgers in my freezer to keep me going.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1UYqUULQXd-FCCtmD9w_nXZCHBR6wvQ8UUBpqruBDOZbGnVbsZwLf7PTLYepM-idd2GET3L_s5TiD1AQ4tlZXYmS4jQwM73ou6pGinjAw56PoArvnUR5uql36BpDrSR6tpRY-C34yQtQ/s1600/IMG_5529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1UYqUULQXd-FCCtmD9w_nXZCHBR6wvQ8UUBpqruBDOZbGnVbsZwLf7PTLYepM-idd2GET3L_s5TiD1AQ4tlZXYmS4jQwM73ou6pGinjAw56PoArvnUR5uql36BpDrSR6tpRY-C34yQtQ/s320/IMG_5529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Broccoli Burgers</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Recipe sent to me by a friend who has no idea of its provenance; I therefore apologise if I am ripping someone's recipe off. I'll gladly add the author here.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
1 whole head of broccoli, including the stalk, grated or processed</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
2 slices of bread, whizzed in the processor</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
1 handful of cashew nuts, whizzed in the processor</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
1 onion, finely chopped</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
1 handful grated strong cheddar</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
2 eggs</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
1 heaped tablespoon grainy mustard</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Splash tabasco sauce</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
1 tablespoon olive oil</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Salt and pepper</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Preheat your oven to 180C.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ofr5AKrJ1NQxLxtSqrXNfYLfh7PcQY0sdqBDG9kfhpcFkSBKA9Cn5IftCgeeT6-XNUsdQY17DGt7rl8YY0-YOI3UbV-Vx_6s-B2V6hEUNR6e5M3VewS9zMYobeKlJgBsFtV3TQYeOlM/s1600/IMG_5475.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ofr5AKrJ1NQxLxtSqrXNfYLfh7PcQY0sdqBDG9kfhpcFkSBKA9Cn5IftCgeeT6-XNUsdQY17DGt7rl8YY0-YOI3UbV-Vx_6s-B2V6hEUNR6e5M3VewS9zMYobeKlJgBsFtV3TQYeOlM/s320/IMG_5475.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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In a large bowl, mix everything together really well and make burgers - I got 10 out of these. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0246JEV8wV7LQExxg11GALUAGopMaKC3F947_VxOzNa1ZcYSz3miy5Z4plgbWvEv3LRTIf9cmmeJFPsVhpBqnQ8KBE8BRSmvXkDgwVCX5yfHUTQNE6-deGrKIQaTr-FT1kPEfr0wx2HI/s1600/IMG_5477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0246JEV8wV7LQExxg11GALUAGopMaKC3F947_VxOzNa1ZcYSz3miy5Z4plgbWvEv3LRTIf9cmmeJFPsVhpBqnQ8KBE8BRSmvXkDgwVCX5yfHUTQNE6-deGrKIQaTr-FT1kPEfr0wx2HI/s320/IMG_5477.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Put them on a greased baking tray, and bake for an hour, turning them over half way through.</div>
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Serve as a regular burger, on a bun, with cheese, mayo and lettuce.</div>
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They freeze incredibly well. You can reheat them straight from the freezer, either for 10 minutes in a hot oven, or 2 minutes in the microwave. </div>
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Makes 10 burgers.</div>
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Suzannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676869975397269197noreply@blogger.com4