Posted on Sep 30, 2005 in Bake, Eating Out | 0 comments

Blogging by Mail 2 – A baking fest! Spicy Chocolate Biscotti

Spicy Chocolate Biscotti Ever since having Chocolate and Chilli Biscotti at Underground I’ve been wanting to try making these and, biscotti weighing hardly anything in terms of postage for Blogging by Mail, this was the ideal opportunity. I used my trusty Aji chilli powder and ground cinnamon and,...
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Posted on Sep 30, 2005 in Bake | 4 comments

Blogging by Mail 2 – A baking fest! Tan Slice

Blogging by Mail 2 – A baking fest! Tan Slice
Although I was a late entrant to Samantha’s Blog by Mail 2, she very kindly let me get involved and I sent off my package to Deborah in the USA on Wednesday. Figuring out what to put in it was a lot of fun and I eventually settled on a mixture of homemade goodies and local foodstuffs. I just hope that...
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Posted on Sep 28, 2005 in Do, Living in New Zealand | 0 comments

Cooking classes

One of the things that I do enjoy about living in New Zealand are all the cookery classes that are on offer. Not only the usual night courses at the various schools around Christchurch, but also food shops offering classes in the use of their goods à la the Mediterranean Food Company and Café and tonight...
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Posted on Sep 26, 2005 in Do | 4 comments

Meme: The Best in the Last 30

Meme: The Best in the Last 30
Barbara at Auckland-based Winos and Foodies has tagged me for the foodie leg of Basic Juice‘s meme with two tails – The Best in the Last 30. You can read more about the meme here. Basically, the idea behind it was to write about the most wine-friendly dish I had eaten over the past month. To be...
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Posted on Sep 24, 2005 in Do | 2 comments

Food in films: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Food in films: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Last night I went to see Tim Burton’s faithful, yet curiously unsatisfying, adapation of Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Reviews aside – you can find a good one here – what fascinated me was the audible crack! every time someone bit into a Wonka bar in the film. It shows...
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Posted on Sep 22, 2005 in Lovely Lunches, Storecupboard Specials | 11 comments

Cooking quinoa

Cooking quinoa
Quinoa is something that I’ve been meaning to cook for quite a while. About ten years, in fact, ever since I read Nigel Slater‘s Real Fast Food. He has several recipes for this protein-packed ancient grain and, as with all his writings, I was seduced by the delicious descriptions. Not seduced...
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Posted on Sep 20, 2005 in Do, Storecupboard Specials | 5 comments

Potatoes – the whole sorry story…

Potatoes – the whole sorry story…
Anyone who knows me is well aware of the fact that I do not like potatoes. I am not a fan of the mashed potato, nor do I like boiled potatoes, potato cakes, potato croquettes, potato salad, baked potatoes or potato gratin. I avoid any dish which involves the word aloo in Indian restaurants and I don’t...
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Posted on Sep 19, 2005 in Do | 0 comments

Food in films: In Casablanca Angels Don’t Fly

The opening film in the Date Palm Film Festival in Christchurch on Thursday night was an engrossing study of Moroccan life entitled In Casablanca Angels Don’t Fly. The three main characters are economic migrants, dreaming of their home villages, as they work at a minimum wage job in a bustling...
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Posted on Sep 16, 2005 in Read | 2 comments

Some favourites from the 2005 World Food Media nominees

Just taking a look at the World Food Media awards website and some of my favourite food writers appear on their list of nominees. No Nigel Slater, alas, but Stephanie Alexander, Dean Brettschneider and Lauraine Jacobs, Nigella Lawson, Anthony Bourdain and Cuisine magazine are among those nominated for the...
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Posted on Sep 15, 2005 in Read | 3 comments

Nigel Slater newsflash

Nigel Slater newsflash
Ooh! I’ve just been on the Observer Magazine website – a great treat to browse though when you’re sitting by the computer with a cup of coffee and don’t have the real OM to hand on a Sunday – and I discovered that they’re running a series of extracts from Nigel...
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Posted on Sep 13, 2005 in Do, Eating Out | 7 comments

Tapas experimentation

After enjoying a visit to the Nelson branch of the Mediterranean Food Company, I had intended to visit their shop in Christchurch, which also includes a café, for quite a while now but, somehow, it just never seemed to happen. But when I did finally make it I had a very pleasant afternoon, browsing through...
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Posted on Sep 11, 2005 in Food for Friends | 4 comments

Moroccan meals: Lamb Tagine

Moroccan meals: Lamb Tagine
I’ve been getting plenty of use out of the ras el hanout that I made fairly recently and it is particularly good with lamb. Of course, being in New Zealand, there’s no shortage of the baa-ing beast although, as the Boyfriend told a former vegetarian friend after one such dinner, we only eat the...
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Posted on Sep 9, 2005 in Bake, Do, Living in New Zealand | 7 comments

Fair Trade spices in Oxfam

Fair Trade spices in Oxfam
My local Oxfam Fair Trade shop here in Christchurch has started stocking Fair Trade spices, including ground ginger, cinnamon – ground and sticks, whole cloves, whole and ground black peppercorns and chilli powder, all from Sri Lanka. I’ve only bought the black peppercorns so far –...
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Posted on Sep 8, 2005 in Cookery Books, Living in New Zealand, Read | 2 comments

Taste: Baking With Flavour by Dean Brettschneider and Lauraine Jacobs ****

Taste: Baking With Flavour by Dean Brettschneider and Lauraine Jacobs ****
Taste: Baking With Flavour is the third book from the partnership of professional baker Dean Brettschneider and contributing food editor at Cuisine magazine, Lauraine Jacobs. Their first two books – The New Zealand Baker and Baker, The Best of International Baking from Australian and New Zealand...
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Posted on Sep 6, 2005 in Do | 0 comments

Eat Feed – podcasts for foodies

Eat Feed – podcasts for foodies
When I recently received an email from Mia at Eat Feed telling me about their weekly foodie podcasts I was delighted. Having spent years involved with Cork Campus Radio, I love listening to radio, especially when I’m working from home, and RTÉ Radio 1 is the station I most miss while here in New...
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