Blog

Local Inglewood duo Letitia Stevenson and James Donald have taken out the Inaugural Taranaki Ideas Summit with their start-up Yonder.

I'm rather partial to settling down to a platter of cheese and crackers and a good glass of wine to while away a Saturday afternoon, though these days with two kids in tow it is something of a rarity!

I love a good doughnut as anyone who knows me will attest to, and will boldly confess to being that person at parties, hovering around the food, eating far more chips/pies/cakes than is possibly good for me. 

For many a year oats were my breakfast go-to, mostly eaten in porridge form and sometimes soaked and turned into bircher muesli.  

Because Nectarine Salsa adds a whole new dimension to corn fritters.  Make this now while the nectarines are still good!

I hope that wherever in the world you might be, you've had a wonderful start to 2016 and you're feeling rested and ready to welcome in a brand new year. 

If buying for the sake of buying just doesn't sit well with you then get into the kitchen this Christmas and whip up a batch of something extra special for the extra special people in your life.  This Red Pepper Jam is really easy to make, looks the part (the perfect shade of Christmas red) and is irresistibly good.  They'll be asking for it again next year!    

Yip, that's me sitting right next to Fleur Sullivan of Fleur's Place (famously Rick Stein's favourite place to eat) and Giulio Sturla of Roots Restaurant, named New Zealand's best restaurant this year!  Together we judged food entries at the Egmont A&P show in Hawera.  A wonderful opportunity to rub shoulders with some of New Zealand's best foodies - lucky me!

Right now there are two things I find it difficult to pass by on the supermarket shelves.  Strawberries and asparagus.  While still a little pricey and not yet at their sweetest the strawberries don't always make it into the shopping basket.  The asparagus on the other hand without fail always do.  More-and-more I find we are eating asparagus raw and it is just delicious.  Make sure you buy unblemished, crisp bunches, the smaller the spears the better (sweeter and less woody).  This recipe for asparagus salad is quick and easy and will convert even the most staunch of asparagus-haters!  

Through these posts I get to satisfy many of my creative outlets; cooking, styling, photography and writing.  I am better at some than I am others and if I am honest with myself it is the writing that tends to stall my blogging.  I am inclined to be more flowery with my prose than I probably should be, a little too self-indulgent.  With this in mind this post is going to be a short one.  Get to the supermarket, get these ingredients in your trolley and makes these delicious wee treats - they may just become a pantry staple.