Snow Weekend

I am VERY excited about my birthday tomorrow. Not only because I have some mystery parcels & cards to open but we're off on a weekend away to somewhere we've never been to before. Huzzah an adventure into the wilderness!




We're off to a little village on Lake Taupo called Omori and there are Thermal Pools ($5 entry BARGAIN) and we're right by the sunny shores of New Zealand's largest lake. Wonder if we''ll see a taniwha (Maori water monster)! Its going to be a very chilly (-3 low 13 high) but sunny weekend and we plan to hit the National Park for some sledging too. Theres an epic 2m snow base up on those mountains and I want to plough down them on the toboggan. I might let 2 year old Oscar have a turn. Hmm maybe I better get more toboggans.

Famous Spiegeltent Part II - Electric Boogaloo

What a great night! The town of New Plymouth looks spectacular with lots of cool coloured lighting. The old town clock has had a makeover and looks spectacular. You can just see a glimpse of it from my kitchen window at home so it was great to see all the lighting close up.





I JUST made it into the tent. I was faffing round taking photos and the Security Guard said "Lady get a move on we only have room for 320 people and I just let in no 319". Skates were ON!



The inside was cosier than I imagined which was great as Taranaki was hit by snow today and it was only about 2 degrees outside. Lots of pub like booths and a rich velvet striped canopy. I loved the chandelier. It was very hard to take photos without shoving your head in someones way so some limited pics here. The event was for the Taranaki Sing Songwriters club. My brother plays guitar in The Smiles which took to the stage after a few solo artists played for the 1st hour. Got every ones feet tapping warming us up. Good night!

Tonight at the Spiegeltent - The Smiles (-:

So tonight I am ACTUALLY LEAVING THE HOUSE and going to a gig. Yeah! The Taranaki International Arts Festival is on here in New Plymouth which is a Biennial event and there are some fabulous shows on. I'm not a theatre goer so the Cirque de Soleil type show SOAP isn't for me but is world class and getting great reviews. I did check out the NZ Graphic Novel Exhibit & Renegade at Puke Ariki. The Renegade exhibition is showcasing some of Taranaki's top contemporary artists like Michael Smither & John MacLean. There's a huge colourful Smithers cubist sculpture on display. You can buy it for a cool $20k!



But tonight I am off to the world Famous Spiegeltent where the Taranaki Singer Songwriters are putting on a free showcase. While I lived in Melbourne I had many opportunities to check out this cool mobile venue but when its on your doorstep you take it for granter I guess. So its on my doorstep again and this time my brother is playing under its old canvases with The Smiles so off I go. I'll post some pics of the tents inside treasure chest later.

RECIPE - Mushroom & Red Wine Soup

Here it is by special request of RayRay. Enjoy!

CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP ( with liquor yeah!)
45g butter
700g field mushrooms chopped
1 onion chopped
1 garlic clove crushed
2T flour (rice flour is great)
100ml red wine or sherry
700ml chicken or vege stock
175ml of cream (or milk if too rich)
salt n pepper
chopped flat parsley to garnish

Melt butter on LOW heat, then turn up to a MED heat & add onion, garlic, mushrooms. Cook for a few minutes. Remove from heat & stir in flour for 1 min. Return to heat & add wine/sherry. Gradually add stock continuing to stir. Season & bring to boil. Simmer for 20 mins.
Puree the soup in a blender. Cool it off a bit. I have tried doing this while hot and the top blows off the blender and you end up with 3rd degree burns!. Return to pan and heat, add all cream/milk except for 4T. Serve in 4 big bowls garnish with dollop of remaining cream and sprinkle with parsley.

RECIPE - Raspberry & Orange Upside Down Cake

After being sick with a nasty nasty stomach bug for what seems like half a lifetime, my appetite is back AND with cravings for bad sweet naughty food. And cake. Lots of cake please.

But the bug has left me with even worse food intolerances. So no wheat & no lactose whatsoever for Aunty. Not even lick the spoon after scooping an icecream for Oscar. And I really love doing that. So here is a delish sweet but berry tarty cake I made recently. I don't go in for the pretty looking iced cakes as I don't have the patience or skill. So this upside down cake is just perfect.


In the recipe photo it looked a perfect raspberry red & orange combo but mines more of a muddy purple! But its a super delish muddy purple cake.

RASPBERRY & ORANGE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE
Serves 8 (or 3 in my house over a wet weekend)

1 1/2 cup Gluten free flour or plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
150g almond meal
3 large free range eggs
3/4cup caster sugar (1/2 cup of you like a tarty cake)
175g butter cubed & at room temp
2T grated orange rind
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
300g froz raspberries
3 tsp demerara (raw) sugar

Preheat oven to 170C (no fan). Spray a fluted non stick ring pan with oil. Line the base with good baking paper. Beat butter, sugar & orange rind together until light & creamy. Add eggs one at a time until well combined. Fold in combined flour & almond meal & juice.
Arrange half the raspberries at the bottom of the tin (which will be the cake top). Top with half the cake mix. Tap on the benchtop to settle. Repeat with remaining raspberries & cake mix. Tap tin on bench & smooth with a spatula.
Bake for 50-60 mins or until a skewer comes out of the centre clean. Set aside for 10 mins to cool. Take a clean flat knife and run carefully around inside of pan. Turn the cake onto a platter & sprinkle with demerara sugar. Serve with cream or ice cream or in my case eat half the cake neat over the course of 3 days. oops!

Cooking with Kids

I am so happy little Oscar loves baking as much as I do. as soon as my big baking box filled with flour, baking powder, cocoa, choccy buttons etc comes out of the cupboard he's off to find his stool to stand on so he can "help" Mum. I try to set up the ingredients in measuring cups before he clocks the baking box otherwise my little helper gets over eager and we end up battling over flour & sugar & milk. We have had one incident when Oscar ended up with a jug of oil on his head which we all thought was pretty funny until someone had to have TWO baths in one day!






By keeping the ingredients nice and simple the whole baking process is fun and kids start to remember what ingredients make scones or simple muffins. I also like baking for kids as I know I am putting in little or no sugar and flavouring my baking with raisins, berries, choc chips or cheese instead. Biscuits have WAY too much sugar in them for tiny growing milk teeth. Baking is a learning process for kids in so many ways too - following instructions, turn taking, taste & texture, nutrition. Its even a science class on chemical reactions especially if your little one tips in a cup of baking powder!

So get baking with the kids. Its messy, fun & delicious.

Dunkley's Craft Show Ahoy!

Hoorah for the Dunkley's NZ Craft Show! My stall was a great success at the show and I was pleased with my "budget" set-up with fuzzy felt flowers & calico backdrop. I even stole my husbands favourite orange couch rug for the display! He couldn't figure out what happened to it until he came to my stall. ooops! Here is Aunty's Natural Muesli on display. I had lots of people come & taste my samples and I hope they visit me at the Taranaki Farmers Market soon.

The other stallholders were good fun too and were really helpful when I was setting up.


Here is Ian sellng his preserves. It was his 18th year touring with the Dunkleys Craft Show.



There were so many fabulous stalls. Belgian Truffles, Vintage Vixen Jewellery, the lovely Angie with her jewellry too AND she won Best stall Display with her dazzling Vegas style lights. I also loved the Nana knitting stalls and bought a lovely Merino sleeping bag for my best mate Jane who has no 3 on the way next month. There was also a lady selling "Quake Art". Her studio was battered by the Christchurch Quake and she has created some cool art work from her battered paintings and broken mirrors.



Here is my honey supplier Fiona from Bees R Us. I use her Manuka Blend in my muesli which gives it a rich & sweet flavour.

She also has a Macdamia Bush honey which I am quite a fan of

The show was well advertised, well organised and a big hit. If you are considering having a stall at one of the shows I HIGHLY recommend. Stallholders go to a massive effort to get ready for these shows and sometimes the organisers don't let the public know its out there.

Thanks to the Dunkley family for a great weekend!