Sweet Treats for Little Valentines.

Why have kids adopted Valentine’s Day when they’re far too young to fall in love and ask “Will you be mine?” The answer is easy. Kids love being spoilt and eating sweet treats. And as I’m all for encouraging my grand kids to learn how to bake I’m happy to aid and abet them. This [...]

Christmas presents for foodies

Happiness is having Christmas sorted, and I’m well on the way. It’s been fun tracking down festive goodies in all sorts of different places. Looking for something new and different did take time, but the journey was part of the fun. I started at Delish bakery and café in Forrest Hill where I found a [...]

The Christmas cakes I never made

I was honestly going to make a Christmas cake this year, but I was diverted from my mission by a cake which arrived at work for us to sample mid-week. It was full of fruit which had been soaked in alcohol for months so it tasted just like a Christmas cake should .The dried fruits [...]

Julie Le Clerc’s new cookbook: Made By Hand

Thanks to her clever op shopping Julie Le Clerc’s Made by Hand is a very stylish book to look at. Over the years she has collected lots of charming old table ware, kitchen utensils, pre loved tablecloths and napkins and has used them to great effect in her food styling. But in my mind there [...]

An eco-friendly lodge for nature lovers

Ten years ago two young Australians, Lizzie Corke and Shayne Neal, dreamt of creating an Ecolodge that would have a minimal impact on the environment and be a restful haven for nature lovers from all over the world. They set to and built it using recycled timber from local timber yards and mud bricks .The [...]

Baking for Hospice: How you can help

“Who hasn’t reached for the cookie tin or for a big slice of chocolate cake whenever they’re upset? There is something so comforting, heart-warming and soul-lifting about home-baked goodies, and as every baker knows, there’s a lot of love that goes into baking. So what could be better to show the hospice patients, their families [...]

Earthquake kits for foodies

Last weekend my daughter flew up from Wellington. She persuaded me to go shopping for a disaster getaway kit. Auckland may not sit on a major fault line as Wellington does, but we are not immune to volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and earthquakes so may as well be prepared. Wellingtonians have been far more diligent at [...]

Kai Te Pai Cook Island Day

Today I went to watch some great cooking and dancing on the Cook Island day at Auckland Museum

Minced: Inspirational recipes for every day – cookbook review

Minced – Inspirational recipes for every day is a new Kiwi cook book in which mince of one kind or another is the major ingredient in over 100 recipes. The authors, Sue Hamilton and Dana Alexander, don’t aspire to be MasterChefs who prepare amazing dishes that require a long list of ingredients and are tricky [...]

Bella Pacific lime tart

The recipe has kindly been provided by Tracey Barton and Alison Dobson-Bonney, from The Brown Bag Lunch Company Bella Pacific Lime Tart Ingredients Base 200g unsalted butter, softened 250g (2cups) plain all purpose flour 30g (1/4cup) icing sugar 1 egg lightly beaten Filling 6 eggs 375g (11/2cups) caster sugar 60g (1/2cup) plain flour 125ml (1/2cup) [...]

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