Too many tomatoes.

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Happy New Year!

Well, I know it is waaaaaay into the new year already, but it has been chaos with hospitals, beagles and family. But all seems to be settling down now.

 

What's he plan for 2015 you say? Well, mainly to get sorted... Lol. The plan involves posting far more frequently, more recipes and knitting patterns.... As well as more garden.

 

Soon you will see an undated Olaf pattern for straight needles.... Recipes for eggplant and potatoes, greenhouse updates and probably more doggie pics.

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Culinary Legacies and the Experience of Time

I've been thinking a lot about my favourite foods recently.... Like, a lot. They are so different from that of my immediate family, and that's when the realisation that my own food experiences have been shaping and changing my own diet.

Crazy.

In Friday I sat down at my favourite Turkish restaurant, Zara's in Upper Hutt eating a falafel Iskender. Gorgeous thing. There was a side made of mint leaves wrapped around rice of some description, served cold. It was wonderful, but while eating it I realised we hardly ever had rice growing up. True, we did have "Rice Risotto" in a box, and rice pudding... But not the range of rice flavours. Now with a pantry with wild rice, basmati rice, brown rice, and jasmine rice, it's amazing to think that I'll eat it a couple of nights a week.

When did I first eat falafel? Well, it was a trip to Wellington with a friend and his mother, to buy a suit for a wedding. We had kebabs for lunch. I was a vegetarian so just ordered the vegetarian option, and my love of Turkish food began.

My other favourite is Mexican food. Normally at the Martinborough Fair which we attended yesterday, there is an amazing Mexican man serving traditional street food from Mexico. He runs a business in Wellington, and I always try something new every time I go there. But a toasted flauta or a breakfast burrito fill me with spicy joy.

When did I first have Mexican food? I was staying in Christchurch on a school trip, and the mother of my host family made nachos with corn chips, canned beans and sour cream. The spice changed my life, and not long after returning home, I was making it for the family... Slowly trying new meals. Now I have several traditional Mexican cookbooks and my own tortilla press.

And then Indian food. We never had curry growing up.... Well... I lie. My grandfather used to make a cabbage and raisin dish with plenty of curry powder and whole chillies. Once in a while a wonderful Sri Lankan woman stayed with my grandparents, she would make a curry on occasion. It was spicy and I liked it.

Pass over the next 10 years and I married an Indian. His family and manny many cookbooks, as well as tips from every Indian restaurant I have visited, and now I can make so many wonderful curries, sides, breads and dips.

Growing up we never had onions, garlic, pasta unless it was mac 'n' cheese, brown bread, couscous, lentils, spinach, chillies, zucchini, coloured lettuces... The list goes on.

So why think about this today?

Yesterday eating Swiss rosti... And Thai flavoured nuts.... And weeding my bok choi.... Talking Hot Pot and Steamboat with a Cambodian and a Phillipino, reminiscing about living in China... That's when I realised I need to keep branching out and trying new things.

Bring on Hungarian Langosh. Deep fried, garlicky, salty, and light. Gorgeous I could have tried the chimney cakes, but why? I know I love cake.











I guess the moral of the story is this: expose yourself to food. I've eaten foods I hate, but at least I know why I dislike them. Expose your children to different cultural food experiences. You never know when you will find yourself eating taro leaves or dragon fruit. Try something new every single week... Whether it's a food, a meal, a cuisine, a drink, a spice. Something. Life will be all the better for it.

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China: The Glory of Feasting

I have now been in Changchun, China for 4 days. And in this time we have done sooooo much eating.

While naming the food is, well, impossible, it is delicious. And weird, like spicy, warm lettuce salad for breakfast!

However, more shall follow. This post is mainly a test as I am not sure if I can currently break through to post a blog while actually IN China.


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Mandarin Jack 'o' Lanterns

Today we did a halloween themed morning tea. Fortunately I have a bevy of creative minions at my beckoning, and we made short work of the following task.





Super simple... Take bags of mandarins and a paring knife.

Carefully slice 2 triangle eye shapes, use the point of the knife to peel the skin away from this section. Use the knife to carve out a mouth shape the same way.

We made super happy super sad and slightly creepy ones. And they were a hit. See, look how impressed I was with myself:



I also made chocolate witches hats. Using Hershey's kisses and mini chocolate biscuits, and a very hot cup of water, melt the bottom of the kiss on the side of the mug using the radiating heat. Stick to the chocolate biscuit.



And the rest of the spread also looked amazing too:


Finally the students hung a plastic bag skeleton from the ceiling....


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Muffin Tin Monday- Rawr Dinosaurs!

Muffin tin Monday is one of those online events that I love participating in when food is low on my list of priorities, or when the kiddos come for tea.

This week was Dinosaurs!



So I have brontosaurus sandwiches, a dinosaur foot print dip for crackers and carrot sticks, and a muffin with dinosaur sprinkles.

Seriously, that was the best job icing I have ever done!


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5+ a Day Challenge: Day 4

It's been a struggle to eat right today, with 33 teenagers in the capital city, Wellington. Admittedly, it's the coolest little capital in the world. We hiked all over the city, having a blast.

Breakfast
- blt bagel - sans bacon
- hash brown
- hot choccy (yup, maccas)

Lunch
- tank juice (apple, orange, pineapple)
- 2 slices of the best marguerita pizza ever!

Snacks
- cookie
- Scroggin

Dinner
- Kumara soup (though the husband got takeaways.

5 portions - I'm not counting the hashbrown as a portion, nor the tomato on the pizza, which was made fresh. So wonderful. I also bought new bento stuff... I'm so bad!



But this is cool... Chard or silver beet growing outside the train station. Community food looking gorgeous! That's Ghandi in the back!





Plans are afoot for a better day tomorrow.


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15 Posts... 15 Days

This is the plan....

I have school holidays... (YAY!) and a list of 200 things I have to do (BOO!)... and that doesn't include any of the normal day-to-day stuff.  So I figure, I need to stay focussed on what is important during this time.  The plan is simple... 15 food posts in 15 days.  Something that will force me to write in the blog every day, even though the rest of my life will be chaotic.

Well... plans are good.

Wordless Wednesday: Pineapple in Samoa