I must admit I do feel guilty for man-handling Stewart's salad (see before
and after) but everyone at the party thought it was a better, more
attractive, more popular salad than mine. mine is the one in the aluminum
bowl. In hindsight I like his more too. Sister ann Gracious of you... Christine

Guest posting from Ann in Rotorua

Nanna and I went to 'The 3rd Place' a café where all the profit goes to charity.
It is always full and the atmosphere is busy, clean and 'Christian'...
cleanliness is next to Godliness. I say this seriously not as a joke. Nana had 'the usual' - a scone and a cup of coffee (anything that is made to resemble an instant black coffee). The cheese scone was "crunchy on the outside and doughy in the middle" but looked absolutely gorgeous, if that matters.
My heated Roast Vegetable salad was perfect.

The thing I like is; the staff are adorable and concerned, and not unlike mothers dressed up as waitresses. You half expect them to ask if they can band aid your finger and darn a sock while you are waiting for your order. I 'bagged' a custard square for Harry and he said " it was fabulous!"

I'm sure Dee Pascoe works there... she used to sell cars.

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.

Vinnie you can live with us

because Vinnie you have all the best friends (like Oli), and a father who gives us his very own wild duck salami

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!?

persimmons

Just in case you never saw a persimmon tree in fruit.

Big Fat Dog

One of the fave things to do is visit Big Fat Dog (the Big is mine....)
Breakfast Sunday was all the excuse we needed.

Fat Dog's a bit of a Rotorua institution - hard to get a table on a weekend, but the coffe and the portion sizes are worth the wait

my grandmother is a legend

Birthday time in Rotorua and while the food at the Dinstinction Hotel is nothing to write home about, it's clean and the staff are attentive and although we were the only people there for lunch, the 2 wait staff were patient and made the birthday lunch relaxed and enjoyable.

beaut burgers, inexpensive, fresh, delicimo

 so much fish and chips that a 97-year-old couldn't eat it all. Nothing left though.... Scrummy!

sensational big pots of mussels

How long since I saw banana split on a  menu? Years and years.

Best price on Moet in the whole wide world

Go Public! This sweet bar on Courtenay Place charmed us with the decor, the lovely music and the sensational price on Moet. $50 per bottle - we were sold. Or was that bought?

 

Jelly airplanes

Woop woop Air NZ!
Flew down to Wellington with Flipping what's their name? Jetstarve...
BUY a coffee? Not likely... 30 minutes check-in? Get a life...
Boring in-flight magazine? Keep it!
But AIR NEW ZEALAND on the other hand, on the way back today, had a choice of 3 treats - biscuit, pretzels or jet planes. Free. With tea or coffee. Also free. Yay! Stew was so sick from dinner out last night that he couldn't eat his. So I had them. And I love Kia Ora in-flight mag - I always pull out several articles to share with people.

I must admit to being a little bemused by the safety message delivered on-screen by Richard Simmonds ... quite bizarre. The staff stood rather grimly through it, when all we wanted was for them to join in. DO THE PONY! A little pre-flight 70's aerobics? All they needed was the bright lycra, a few sequins and big hair. Come on hosties, be a sport!

At least we no longer have to imagine them in nothing but body paint....

Bees can't be ignored, honey

Are you noticing articles cropping up in unlikely places lately, about honey bees?

Turns out (to those of us who didn't realise) that these small fellas are pretty darned important. Not only are we seeing a rise in home bee-keeping, but there are examples like the team of 4 girls from Oturu School (Far North of NZ). At this school the environment plays a big part in learning. Pupils sell produce from their bees and trees and olive pressings. The girl-team are making their way to take part in an international problem-solving competition  at the University of Wisconsin, after winning a place in a national competition. Their idea is to educate people about the importance of bees so that the dwindling populations of honey bees can be revived in New Zealand and globally.

Taggart Siegel, a film-maker who lives in New Zealand 3 months of every year, is also a mouthpiece for bees around the world. His documentary about them, Queen of the Sun, has received acclaim around the world. Seigel calls bees "the legs of the plant".

40% of our food is reliant upon bees - and in an agriculture-based country like NZ, that means we need to take notice.

High Tide Tea

When one holds a High Tide tea - as you do - there are certain visitors who must be expected, and they didn't disappoint.

Maintenance session at the rowing club turned into a bit of a do. Shared breakfast...yum!

Those Apple Strudel scones from Baker's Delight were awesome - cinnamon and sugar, lovely apple flavour.
Bacon. Maple Syrup. French toast. Orange Juice. Fresh coffee. Fruit. Luxury.

 Porridge with Evan's amazing stewed rhubarb

No rowing today, but who could resist coffee in a great big mug down on the water-line with scones and lashings of butter?

 The date scones are pretty darned good too...

Membrillo - Quince Paste

Why why why did I not share this at the time.... made it just before Easter when quinces were in the shops - they're not now though!
This traditional Italian/Spanish paste is nice nice nice - deliriously amazingly delectable with a strong cheese.

Take your so-ugly-they're-beautiful quinces and cover with water

Boil them until the skins crack. At this stage they're easy to peel, and you can take the skins off when they're cool enough, and remove the pips and cores.

Boil again until soft.

Now strain off the water, puree the fruit and add the same quantity of sugar - weight for weight.

Slowly bring back to the boil while stirring to make sure the sugar is all dissolved.

You need to let this cook now for ages - let's say an hour but it may be longer. Stir occasionally. It changes slowly from a light beige colour to a strong pinky red and gets very thick.

Once you think all the moisture has boiled away, pour it into a baking-paper lined tin. Some people now bake this on low heat for another hour to make sure it's going to set.
I was over it by then - ours is set just enough but gosh it's good... I wrapped it in several blocks in baking paper and it keeps in the fridge for ages. If you let it. I didn't.

Goody goody strudel

I have news from a very good source who tells me that Baker's Delight have a new kind of scone (Apple Strudel - sounds good!) on the market, which might prompt me to hold a High Tide Tea at the rowing club. I've tried their scones before and though mine are pretty good - theirs are actually better. And quicker. Can't go past a good date scone on a wintry morning at dawn. I'm assuming that cinamon and apple versions of this will have a similar appeal, no?

But only with enough butter to see where your teeth have been...

I've been asked to review them - let's see next week!
And watch this space for a chance to win your very own Baker's Delight vouchers.

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.