True Farmer's market, roadside

This is the way to go... can't get fresher and you just know not many people have handled it and breathed on it.
Pumpkin Pie here we come... by the way, add orange zest to the pumpkin fillling for real winter luxury.

A certain advantage to offspring

some of them bring home crayfish.
Oh yeah, oh my, oh boy.

 Charlie thought she had a new friend

 and then she licked it

and then we did.

Chargrilled with horseradish and lime, served with Caesar salad and who could ask for anything else!?

Bambi and Sweep

A weekend at Uruti Valley last weekend for Stew and his boy-mate McBrett whereupon the valley was deafened with gunshots and one bambi succumbed. Along with a goat which I've named after our childhood pet.

Alan is very kindly butchering and boning and very soon now you'll have some views of goat sausages and venison shanks casserole.

Goodness of friends

Thanks Pete
The fish pie is in the post

Had a kahawai delivered from his stocks and what else can you do with that...

along with the Feijoa and Ginger chutney from the fallen feijoas

Grapes of abundance in Roto-vegas

Love these unexpected deliveries of home-grown goodness. No spray, she said (other than the neighbour who might visit them in the moonlight...) still - a good wash will fix that

Grape jelly underway as we speak...
Had to make a white one and a black - I'm already imagining the colour
Thanks Ann!

too little too late...

apologies are not my thing... do I owe anyone this blog? No. And I don't feel that I let myself down..... it's not that I'm doing nothing out here! Just have a look at that excavation in progress, and think about how that's my usual work space in there. Not this week though! Rising Damp - funny maybe, but don't laugh near me. There we were sitting in our lovely carpeted new office-in-the-garage and then one day last week, wet feet. And the next day, wetter feet. Yes the rain had been pelting down but 3 days later no difference. So that afternoon we shifted the entire office out - 4 work stations plus the carpet. Same afternoon we went fishing (Anniversary Day regatta) and broke down in the middle of the shipping lane. Amongst the regatta, the tugs and the 1m swell. Nothing a tow from the Coastguard wouldn't fix though.

Two days later Stew (Engineer man) brought in the heavy machinery and there we were with dirt and dust and mess and noise and the whole house shaking. Carpet piled up in the main bedroom. Two work stations in another. Me in the third. And Em working on the kitchen table.

Therefore no apologies owed and none given - but I had the weekend in Rotorua and the morning that I left Stew was preparing the latest harvest from the sea.

Not only had he been for a little bike ride Saturday morning, but also spent a half day fishing with clients the day before. No break-down that day!

Charlie (cat) has decided she loves fresh snapper. So have I.

Too many tomatoes, too little time

A bumper crop, all ripe at once
Breakfast: take a plethora of toms, addd basil, feta, parmesan, basil, salt and pepper and a trickle of balsamic

 I love our grill - we use it for many things. The oven is too large to heat just for something like this.,

 Delicious! I think we might try to cut out a lot of white bread (sniff!) as I'm starting to believe the stuff I'm reading about wheat causing women to swell in the stomach area - to put it kindly.

Fortunately coffee and a pastry are only half an hour away... breakfast is usually a little larger than this.

Fishing tonight..

 Fishing last night - so I made sushi, such a simple thing and easy to eat with one hand while the rod is in the other...

 Caro contributed a home-made mince pie, home baked bread and we that with a bottle of Lindauer Summer (my new favourite sparkling...) while the sun set and the full moon rose.

 Bill Hohepa, you're a legend. We find he always knows what the conditions will be like. LOTS of tiddlers, we threw many more back than what were kept, but enough for lunch today.

luxury in the suburbs

How many of you can match my breakfast this morning - WHITEBAIT fritters. NZ Whitebait fritters. Oh the indulgence!
My Mum gave me some - Dad must be forgiven for throwing it in the green bin... fortunately we were wise to his tricks and found it there amongst the poppy trimmings and with a blowfly circling. Once that was all brushed off we were in business.

Take your 257 whitebait...

Add them to a bowl with eggs and a little flour - a very little please!

Mix.....

Fry in butter in groups.

The egg sets around the fishies.

And once it's brown, you EAT them.

Do NOT believe those West Coasters who say that they only work with mint sauce.

...and so we had crayfish for dinner

Tail the thing - take the tail in one hand and the head and legs in another, and twist while pulling apart. Put the body and legs in a large stock pot after taking out the 'mustard' - you'll see it up inside near the head.

Now split the crayfish tail in half through the length. This is ready to cook on the barbeque now.

I did however forget a very important step One - first, clean your barbeque. We had not looked at ours for many weeks, being mid-winter, and so it needed a fairly comprehensive clean to start with.

Heat the grill plate and when it's very hot place the 2 halves flesh side down.

 

In the second picure they've been turned over. They'll be cooked when they are bright red, and the meat has loosened from the shell.

You need to make a soft butter mixture with 100gm butter softened, juice and finely shredded rind of 1 lemon or 2 limes and 1 heaped teaspoon of horseradish. Whisk all really well to combine.

Once the tails are cooked, brush liberally with the butter and serve with your choise of accompaniments. We love vegetables so that was our choice.

Not sure how long it is since I've eaten crayfish but now I'm thinking I need to bribe Olie to get me enough for  my secret kitchen evening...    coming?

Parcel in the Mail

Look what came with the courier today...

I know, you're wondering what this has to do with food, but bear with me!
This courier parcel was from Wellington where we have a child (21 - but still called a child....) who likes to dive. In  the sea. For things like this.....

Rose hips from Rotorua

My sister has been waiting ofr the pruning of the roses before sending me some hips... aren't they beautiful?

I think I'll try making a recipe from the 1600's for a Rose Hip Tart - although I prefer a sponge top for fruit ...

Urban Foraging - Guavas

never knew what to call it - but I love hunting down all this free food.
Last opportunity was when we went to Ohope in the Bay of Plenty and found guavas at the ready...

Stew lay in the last of the summer sun and then....

was much braver than me