Posts from 2012

Posted on Wed, 08/08/2012

Inspired by the cooking culture in Italy and France I am trying very hard to get myself organised and have interesting food in the house for meals. We tend to get busy and sidetracked, and then when we remember to eat, make...>>>

Posted on Fri, 10/08/2012

I have come back over to the house in an especially mellow mood tonite. We've had a pretty full on day, with our first cookschool in the current series ( and the first class that Rick and I have done in about 3 months, so...>>>

Posted on Wed, 15/08/2012

This link is to some videos of the quite unique and very special Julia Childs. Rick can't watch her. She literally makes him cringe, but I think she's fabulous in how comfortable she is in her own skin, combined with the...>>>

Posted on Wed, 15/08/2012

It is hosing down outside. Again. And while I bemoan the fact, I remain very aware that people in the South Island are coping worse then we are, so while its unpleasant yet again, it is bearable. I was out for a walk...>>>

Posted on Thu, 16/08/2012

The cookschools are a source of enjoyment for Rick and I for a whole host of reasons, and the range of people that we get to each class, means that we are constantly kept on our toes. In yesterdays class we had a rather...>>>

Posted on Thu, 16/08/2012

The two of us have very little time for most of what is on the TV as supposedly representative of chefs and the restaurant world. It is usually so hyped and so false, that we seldom bother tuning in. Mario Battali is one...>>>

Posted on Mon, 20/08/2012

It's wet, which is a pain, becos I wanted to do some weeding in the vege garden today, but the rain is acting as a serious disincentive. I think we will still head over to the Mount this afternoon, even if it does mean getting...>>>

Posted on Tue, 21/08/2012

Croissants are sorted. I made another batch on Saturday, using some more of the restaurant poolish, and this time making some amendments to the recipe to allow for dry yeast. And although I started making them in the morning,...>>>

Posted on Tue, 21/08/2012

Sometimes I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry when I see some of the behind the scenes, layout and capital investment in major venues. This video is a tongue in cheek depiction of the chef and restaurateur who run the food...>>>

Posted on Tue, 21/08/2012

I had a gin and tonic at work tonite which is most unlike me, becos I very, very seldom drink spirits. Wine is my preferred alcoholic tipple. But some bottles of Lighthouse gin arrived from the Wairarapa today, and I wanted...>>>

Posted on Thu, 23/08/2012

Liked the interview with Brian Turner in the Herald this morning. A man who says much, succinctly.   I have faith that 'emotion and reason will get you to a place of genuine feeling. Vulnerability is what I've felt...>>>

Posted on Thu, 23/08/2012

 Courteneys year of racing in America  is about to come to an end, and she is heading home next week. We have both our daughters due home actually, becos Hannah and Andrew will currently be getting on a plane in...>>>

Posted on Thu, 23/08/2012

By chance in some of the food reading I do online, I had happened to come across references to these pastries known as Kouign Amann, a couple of times over the period of a couple of months, and had been impressed enough by...>>>

Posted on Tue, 28/08/2012

We had friends for dinner on Sunday nite, and one hadn't really got her foot in the door before she was quizzing Rick as to his opinion on whether or not Lance Armstrong was a drug cheat, given all the publicity over the...>>>

Posted on Tue, 28/08/2012

Spring IS coming... ...>>>

Posted on Wed, 29/08/2012

One of the very special aspects of having my family home, is that my children take me to places that I wouldn't ordinarily get to go, if  I was  reliant on being self propelled. Sometimes that means they take me...>>>