Exploring the Land of the Long White Cloud

I sure won't be whining when I am knee-deep in the bounty of my garden but gosh darn did it ever take ages to get it sorted. (Not that it's technically done either!) It was my big plan the Sunday before last to spend the day getting the garden ready. But a sleep-in until 10am quickly kiboshed that plan. Especially since I still had to get some seeds to round out the goodies that are to come. First there was weeding to prepare the space. And the soil was in pretty sad shape so I added a pile of compost. But even that was a can of worms (oh I am too funny!) because for some crazy reason there was so much rubbish in the compost that we inherited with the new house. So many twist ties and lots of plastic pieces of clothes pegs and other things that not only will never breakdown but also, based on the proximity of the compost bin, are baffling as to how they ended up in it. It was dark Sunday evening before I even placed the first seed in the soil. I managed to take care of th...

I have gushed about my favourite chef, Annabel Langbein , and her amazing recipes and cookbooks to many of you before. So be prepared, this entry may contain more gushing. You may recall that I bought The Free Range Cook  on our second trip to New Zealand and although it is heavy and bulky when we're talking about a life in a backpack, I felt it was well worth carting around for weeks to have it when I got back. So it's only natural that I also receive her email newsletter. And it's only natural that I would stick my hand up when they put out a call for people to join her Foodie Panel. I was lucky enough to be selected which meant that a free preview copy of her next cookbook was mailed to me so that I could host a dinner party for friends cooking with the book. When it arrived, I spent a few evenings poring through it and imagining all the yummy creations that would come from it... And I admired how well it complemented my collection of cookbooks... The...