Four day Auckland

I had delightful four days and nights in Auckland. My prediction about the French farmers' market was correct - and I wasn't even the one to suggest a visit!

There seemed to be a lot of purple vegetables at the market - purple carrots, purple cauliflower. And the pineapple mini in the car park looked like it could have fallen out of that tree.

Like so many of my holidays, I did a lot of eating during this one. On Sunday, while two of Soph's flatmates laid carpet they bought for a song off TradeMe, I made cheese scones which I've never made before (I just used the Edmonds cookbook recipe) and they were excellent. There was only smoky cheese in the house so I used that and it was really good. Then Soph made amazing BLATs and one of her flatmates made banana bread which had yoghurt in it (which gave it a slight tang and which I want to try using in banana muffins). THEN we had a roast dinner with some other friends bringing fresh orange and marscapone tart for dessert. In between all this food we played scrabble (I was very jealous of the old Scrabble set with wooden letters), drank tea and read The New Yorker.

I had Campari for the first time on Sunday night which is quite bitter but mixed with orange juice it tastes like grapefruit juice. I stole this photo from Sophie.

The day before we went to see Dark Shadows and played Balderdash late into the night. Quite the restful weekend after spending Friday night at the Grey Lynn RSA.

Monday night was Florence and the Machine at Vector Arena. The stage had five stained-glass panels at the back which seemed to change colour a little depending on the light. Their shape was kind of art deco and they were pretty simple but very lovely. Florence was great, such an amazing voice and seemed really likeable which is always nice. She came out wearing this great black cape and then had a beautiful floaty black dress on underneath. And of course, excellent red hair.

She played some of my favourite songs and I had a little cry during one of the songs from her first album. I don't understand some people at gigs though, WHY PAY MONEY TO STAND AND TALK THROUGH A SHOW? JUST SIT AT HOME AND LISTEN TO THE ALBUM AND TALK AS MUCH AS YOU LIKE. Also, a girl standing next to me went crazy when Florence started singing 'Dog Days' but then spent the rest of the song trying to call her friend and hold her phone up for her friend to hear the song, but the phone would drop the call and she'd try again and yell, 'Can you hear? Can you hear?!' into  it. So many people spent ages taking photos and videoing songs, it seemed like they weren't paying any attention to what was actually happening live. I mean, I took a couple of photos, obviously, right at the start and then put my camera away for the rest of the show. But some people were holding their cameras up for almost the entire show. It seemed weird.

Tuesday morning I had a coddled egg with my brunch which I don't think I'd ever had before and it was was yum - kind of cheesy and baked in a wee dish. In the afternoon I went back to Auckland Art Gallery to look around properly, seeing as last time we mostly just looked at a particular exhibition. It's been expanded and refurbished so well, so many great views out into the park as well as beautiful old parts of the gallery that have been restored.

I was pretty taken with an exhibition called 'Speed and Flight'. It was very small and featured 1930s line cut prints from the gallery's collection.

It was pretty hard going back to work today after such a nice weekend.

'Dance, dance, otherwise we are lost'

Last night I cooked my first ever roast. It was a success. I mean, obviously, sticking some meat in an oven isn't difficult but timing everything else that goes with the meat is, I have decided, an art. I also made apple and blackberry crumble, using the topping recipe my Nana always uses.

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
150 grams butter, cubed

You mix all the dry ingrediants together and then rub the butter into the mixture until it's all crumbly. Pour it over stewed fruit in a baking dish and bake at about 160 degrees until the top is all golden and crunchy. So good. Especially when drenched in cream...

This afternoon I went to the Roxy Cinema for the first time since it opened in April this year and saw Pina - A Film for Pina Bausch by Wim Wenders. I didn't really know what to expect of Pina, except that it's a 'dance film' and in 3D.

It was pretty amazing, if a bit long for my short attention span. It's kind of hard to explain the film; it was initially conceived as a documentary about German choreographer Pina Bausch and her company, but she died suddenly early on in the project - hence the 'Film for Pina Bausch' part of the title. It's now performances of parts of pieces she created, historical footage of her dancing, interviews with members of the company she worked with, and, above all, lots and lots of dancing with amazing costumes and simple but striking sets and out in the city of Wuppertal where her company was based. I particularly loved the rain falling on the stage and the piece entitled 'Cafe Muller' where dancers dance with their eyes closed as tables and chairs are moved around them. All of the pieces have lots of repetition and evoke really strong emotions; in the interviews members of the company talk about Pina's mix of fragility and strength which is a strong theme in all of the pieces. The dancers' bodies are incredible - you can literally see almost every muscle moving and they work so hard. Some of the dancers have been with the company for over 20 years and they are so committed to their work, they talk about pushing to create honesty in their work and breaking down their boundaries. Dancing is their whole life.

Also, I was particularly taken by the suspension railway that was shown a number of times in scenes in which dancers danced in and around the city (you can see it in the trailer). I've never seen footage of what looks like an upside down train before. It's so strange and I'm not sure I'm a fan, it seems to dominate the landscape in a weird way because it's above everything - what if a carriage fell down?

Finally, the Roxy is lovely. Very elegant and art deco. I really loved these lights.

For one night only...

Amazingly Quick and Easy Chocolate Brownie

200 grams butter
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup cocoa

Melt all of the above, add:

1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs

Mix well, bake in tin for 25 minutes at 150 degrees celcius, or 20 minutes on fan bake. Especially yum served warm with vanilla ice cream...

Also, to record for posterity: on Friday night/in the early hours of Saturday morning, before my one night visit to Christchurch for my step-brother's 21st, while attempting to be suave and casual at Matterhorn, I walked into a glass door that I was adamant was open, despite having been told that it looked like it wasn't. My forehead is still sore today. There's something to be said for not keeping your windows/doors too clean. And for not trying to be suave and casual.

Paper and bran

Until tonight I hadn't seen any footage of last week's earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan. I had seen still images on Stuff and in the newspaper, but, while horrific, they're not the same as seeing those high rise buildings sway and that fast moving wall of water swallowing up land, houses, cars, trees, and people and carrying them along like toys. It's awful.

Once again I feel like the only thing I can do is donate to the cause and be grateful that I am currently safe and sound along with everyone else I know, both here and in Japan.

On Sunday I visited my friend Fiona who got married two weekends ago (I went to her Kitchen Fi Party last month). She and her partner had a ceremony at home surrounded by a very small number of their closest family and friends; then they all climbed aboard a green double decker bus and went for dinner at their favourite cafe in Lyall Bay. Looking at the photos and hearing Fiona and Bret talk about the wedding and the dinner it was clear that they had a very memorable day that really reflected what's most important to them. I had been to two of Fiona's dress fittings with her and provided some phone reassurance a few weeks before the wedding when she rang me worrying that she wasn't going to feel 'like a bride' or she would look silly because she was choosing to get married in a burgandy coloured dress; so seeing photos of her from the day was great - she looked beautiful of course and as radiant as any bride in a white meringue dress.

To decorate the house for the wedding, Fiona and Bret made 1000 origami cranes between them. They still had the wall of cranes when I visited - and as evidenced by these photos, it looks awesome! Fi had seen origami cranes used as decorations in various places (if I remember correctly, one of those places may have even been here) and when she looked into it she found out there is legendary significance in the folding of 1000 paper cranes, so she and Bret got folding!

They also had them on the table at the wedding dinner. Cute.

It was so nice to finally have a proper weekend at my new home without rehearsals or a million places to be and things to do. Being able to go grocery shopping properly for the first time in ages was ridiculously satisfying. As was being organised enough to make some bran and apple muffins for the week ahead. Last week I worked out that the walk from my house to work is 5km (I have been telling everyone this but it's because I still find it a bit hard to believe) so having just an apple for breakfast when I get to work every morning after walking 5km isn't quite enough - hence the muffins. I decided bran muffins seemed vaguely healthier than most other kinds of muffins. Whether that's actually true or not, I don't know.

Bran and Apple Muffins

1 cup bran flakes
1/2 cup milk
1 tblsp golden syrup

Soak all of the above for five minutes. Then add:

1 egg
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 apple (peeled, diced, and softened in boiling water for a few minutes)

Bake 20 minutes at 180 degrees celsius (or until they look ready...that's my highly scientific method)

Baby steps

On Thursday night I babysat the cutest baby in Hataitai. He loves looking out the window and pointing at everything and saying something that sounds vaguely like 'this'. Very cute. He got a bit over tired though so when it came time to put him to bed he cried and cried and cried and got himself all worked up, so I got him up again and the only thing that would stop him crying was sitting on my lap watching an episode of The Mighty Boosh...I like to think of it as expanding his horizons.


Someone else expanding their horizons is Katherine at work. We have been talking about sewing and things for a while and then earlier in the week I started trying to recruit her to knitting and Monday night Knitting Circle. Once she saw my scarf she was very enthused and rushed off and bought some yarn and needles and a little leaflet book that taught the basics. On Thursday night she apparently spent 5 hours learning to cast on and trying to knit with the book and YouTube. It sounds like she was doing some pretty interesting things, including somehow not slipping the stitch she'd just knit off the first needle to the second. I don't even know how that would be possible beyond a few stitches. Anyway, she bought her knitting in on Friday and we sat for over an hour, me knitting my sock and chiming in to help when she needed and her coming to terms with knit and then purl stitches. She picked it up so quickly and she was so proud, she even said to someone 'This has been the best hour of my life!' I managed to get someone from my old work to start coming along to Monday night Knitting Circle and Katherine is now keen so I'm slowing enlisting people in my travels. It's great!


On Friday night I had eight people plus me for dinner. I was slightly nervous because I've never cooked for that many people before (plus I slightly stupidly starting drinking at 3.30pm with one of the teams at work, so instead of leaving at 4pm-ish - everyone was going home early because it was a long weekend and we finish early on a Friday anyway - I left at 5pm and had to rush to the supermarket and come home and clean the bathroom before I even got to start cooking, all with the added bonus of being a bit lightheaded thanks to the two wines I'd had). Anyway it was very successful, everyone ate, drank and was merry. I made a giant bowl of pasta, vaguely following the recipe for this tomato and basil sauce with courgette and mushroom added in.

It felt a bit like Christmas day because we had to push two tables together to fit everyone and improvise some chairs, but it was a really fun time and I was quite proud of my efforts. Cleaning up the next day wasn't so much fun, mainly because after dinner we'd gone to someone's house and played Singstar and drunk a lot more and I was not so well the next morning. I had to take frequent little breaks whilst doing the dishes, vaccuuming, and putting the furniture back in its place. Needless to say, not a lot else was achieved yesterday but do I plan to finish the baby pinnafore buttonholes this weekend. I really do...

Cake, babies, football, and the Welsh.

I have made two sultana cakes this week from a super simple recipe that was apparently a favourite of my great grandmother.

400g sultanas (approx)
250g butter
3 eggs
Dash of lemon essence
1 & 1/4 cups sugar
pinch of salt
1 tsp baking powder
3 cups flour

Heat oven to 175 - 180 degrees celcius.

Put sultanas in a pot, cover with water. Bring water to boil and boil for 5 minutes. Drain water and mix butter into hot sultanas (this is my favourite part, watching the butter melt into the sultanas just makes me really happy for some reason).

Beat eggs, sugar and essence until thick and creamy white. Add to fruit mixture. Mix well.

Add dry ingredients (I always sift my dry ingredients but I'm not sure if it makes any difference).

Bake in 20cm x 20cm tin for 55 minutes.

Excellent with a cup of tea!

Today I took some to the cutest baby in Hataitai's 1st birthday party. A native tree was planted in a secluded spot looking out over Hataitai Beach (that may or may not be public land...) with his placenta (which I managed to avoid seeing, I'm sure it's just a squishy lump or something but I can wait thank you very much), and then it was a shared lunch party back at the house with lots of babies.



A woman was there with her twin boys and when we took all the babies to the park for a play after lunch, I got to help look after one of the twins. Walking back home we all took a baby on our shoulders which made for a very conspicuous group. I love babies but I'm glad to be able to give them back to their Mums and Dads at the moment.


Also the Phoenix on Friday night was very chilly but fun. We were in the Yellow Fever Zone (where all the Phoenix fans sit), I loved all the chants that seemed almost constant - I think really a lotof the guys there would secretly love to be in a rowdy choir. I could just imagine someone down in front of the stands conducting them - starting different rows off in rounds and creating harmonies. When it got to ten minutes left on the clock, everyone took their shirts off and waved them around despite the freezing cold wind. Ahh sporting rituals.

Last night I got a bit carried away and watched the entire first season of an amazing series called Gavin & Stacey about an English guy and a Welsh girl. It is so funny. Welsh accents are amazing. I think I'm going to have to go to Wales now. I love Gavin and Stacey's respective best friends and their families; all such well drawn hilarious characters. I can't even try to pick a favourite, they are all so realistic but so crazy. I'm excited for season 2, but I might need to pace myself a bit or I'll give myself a hernia from laughing.

So many things

This morning I got a real punch in the feelings. That's the best way I can describe it and I quite like my little invented phrase so I am recording it here for posterity (I must have invented it, I searched it on Google and found nothing - which is the true measure of all originality).

Now, to matters more relevant. On Sunday I made Coconut Whispers for the second time and following my dissatisfaction with my last attempt, I put the oven on 'bake' not 'fan bake' and watched them like a hawk. I actually sat on a chair in front of the oven with a cup of tea and watched them; that's how dedicated I am to biscuits with an even all-over colour. And it was worth it:


So perfect! And very tasty. I took them to work for our daily 3pm ritual of collectively completing the Five Minute Quiz from The Dominion Post and won many fans. Although everyone kept saying, 'Ahhh are these macaroons?' To me they don't really look anything like what I think of as macaroons, but I have limited biscuit knowledge.


Sunday was also a classic movie Sunday. We watched A Streetcar Named Desire because Citizen Kane seems determined to thwart us. I went all the way to Aro Video (which really, isn't far) especially to get it and the man said, 'Oh sorry, that case shouldn't be on the shelf, the disc is out.' Luckily Ed had a back-up of Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh proportions. I had seen a production of the play a few years ago by Almost A Bird Theatre Collective (I just looked it up and I can't believe it's almost three years ago now, that is scary) which I really enjoyed (not least because I have a major crush on the guy who played Stanley) so it was interesting to see the film adapatation. I always like it when the original writer of a novel or play helps to write the screenplay for the movie version. It makes me feel like it's more authentic. And the guy who directed the movie was also the play's original director so that pleased me even more. Anyway, I really enjoyed it, even though the length of Stellar's fringe was so criminal as to be distracting. Why even bother to have a fringe that short? As either Ed or Alex said, they really dowded that actress up in comparison to Vivien Leigh.

Vivien Leigh was pretty amazing, she was just so extreme. She played Blanche DuBois in the original West End production for 326 performances so I guess she'd had a lot of practice. Apparently, she later said that playing Blanche 'tipped [her] over into madness' and she did actually suffer from mental illness herself so she probably had a lot of insight into the character. I didn't like her with blonde hair though. Marlon Brando was a babe with terrible diction. And that's all I have to say about that.

It's weird, I was thinking the other evening as I walked somewhere, I quite like watching things in black and white but I never try to imagine the colours and I wonder if some people do when they watch black and white movies? Apart from one point when Blanche asks for her yellow dress, I didn't try to imagine what colour her other dresses were or the paper latern she puts over the naked lightbulb, although now that I think about it I picture it being red. Weird.

Anyway, Monday night was Monday night Knitting Circle and I trudged on with my sock. I didn't get very far because I made a mistake on the first row and had to unknit it and then I helped teach Penny how to Inc1 (increase 1), and felt really proud that I could teach someone something about knitting, and then I had to console and offer moral support to Anita because she had to do something heartbreaking.


It's very hard to see (because the lighting in the Southern Cross is terrible for photos and actually not ideal for knitting either) but the cable on the in-progress arm warmer is much smaller and tighter than on the finished arm warmer.

Anita said she realised this earlier but was in denial and then when she finally acknowledged it she thought it might be because she was knitting tighter or something. But then she checked the pattern and realised she had been missing a knit row every time. And that the two arm warmers looked rather different. When she got to Monday night Knitting Circle, she agonised over whether to rip the second arm warmer back or whether she could live with them being different. I decided to help in the best way I could and buy her a ham and cheese toastie. I also said I would support her in whatever she decided to do (although secretly I wanted them to match). She decided she could live with them being different. Then a few rows later she dropped a stitch and couldn't get it back, which she declared to be a sign and ripped the whole thing back to nothing and cast on again. I bought her a ginger beer. She is a true knitting battler.

I salute her.

Get your cook on

At the moment I have the house to myself and I am having such a good time. It's not that I dislike my flatmates or anything, I just really like being able to put music on as soon as I get up and sing as loud as I like and do a little dance around the lounge without anyone watching. I had great plans to finish the book I'm reading and do the heel turn on my sock and write a draft budget for taking our show elsewhere next year...but none of those things happened. This happened though:

I made Coconut Whispers from the beautiful book Ladies a Plate. Mine didn't look as perfect as the ones in the book but they tasted really really good. They're very quick to make too. I think next time I'll try having the oven just on 'bake' instead of 'fan bake' to try to get a more even all-over colour.

Alex, Ed and I went a bit crazy and had classic movie Sunday two weekends in a row. I especially bought a cheap wee DVD player for my TV so we could have it at my house and I even decided to make dinner for everyone (including Alex and Ed's respective partners). Making dinner for five people is probably not a big achievement for most people and sure, I've done it before for my family. But I don't think I've ever had more than one friend over for dinner at a time and made something from scratch (i.e. without the help of a 'Maggi Cook in the Pot' packet mix) so it was a bit fun for me. I had lofty ideas of making Julia Child's beef bourguignon but I didn't have all day or the right type of casserole dish that can be heated on the stove top as well as put in the oven. So I ended up making a beef and mushroom with red wine casserole from the good old Edmond's cookbook. It was delicious! It's made me realise that I don't have to be just a Maggi packet girl - although Maggi is indeed magic when you get home from work hungry and want something decent in not too much time. So I still stand by my Maggi love.

Last weekend for classic movie Sunday (which was actually a Saturday, but let's not quibble) we watched Singin' in the Rain which I have seen before but was happy to watch again. It's fun and frothy with amazing tap dancing and some excellent songs like 'All I Do Is Dream Of You', 'Make 'Em Laugh', and 'Good Morning'. My favourite quote was 'She's so refined, I think I'll kill myself.'

This afternoon we watched Key Largo. I had never heard of it before but when I asked for Citizen Kane at the video shop (are there even any videos left at 'video shops'? I don't know, but it seems wrong to call it 'the DVD shop'. Maybe this will be one of those things where we still call it 'the video shop' and our kids will be like, 'Muuuum, that's so old fashioned.' I hope so.) the man said they didn't have it but if I was looking for a classic he'd recommend this one. We decided to give it a go because it has Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in it. Overall, it was pretty funny; it's not meant to be, but some of the things they say are just so ridiculous. It's all very suspenseful with gangsters and a hurricane. Mostly I love the way Humphrey Bogart talks, so it was nice to see him again after Casablanca.

A big jumble of variousness

Spot the difference:

Okay, clearly there are quite a few differences and I look like some kind of Bride of Dracula who has overdone the botox. But I've been staying down at my Mum's on the farm in Hurunui for the last few days and the first night I was here I saw a pile of green velvet curtains in a washing basket in the corner of the lounge (sadly Mum doesn't usually have green velvet curtains casually heaped about the house; they're from one of the houses on the farm that's had a change of tenants). So naturally I had to take the opportunity to do my best Scarlett O'Hara impression (from the scene in which she makes Mammy turn the green curtains of Tara into a dress for her visit to Rhett in prison) and have a photo to share with the world. My Mum wasn't at all phased when I put curtains on and told her to take a photo of me pouting like a smug fish; however, my sister sat on the couch saying, 'You are such a freak. Mum, why is she doing this?' so due to my resident heckler I didn't have time to study the original Scarlett image closely, hence I'm missing the whole lifting of the skirt action. But you get the idea.

I have had a really nice few days down here in the middle of nowhere. I haven't achieved much knitting but I have been going for brisk country walks every morning and eating delicious things which seem to balance each other out quite nicely. This photo is a bit of a cheat because I didn't take it, I was still in bed. It's pretty cool all the same.


The frost was still going strong when I got up though, so I did take this one:


On Friday Mum and I went to the Mud House Winery cafe for lunch. We stopped off first at the Rainbow Food Shop in Waikari, where every Friday they have fresh handmade bread.

And pinwheels with cinnamon and coconut and jam...

And good old fashioned branding:

Where the Rainbow Food Shop is very unassuming, The Mud House is very picturesque:

The best part about it though was the amazing Beef Bourguignon pie (have I mentioned before that I LOVE food?)

Look at the cute 'B'!

I haven't just been eating though; I made some pretty average scones, some pretty good muffins, leeks in white sauce that were not appreciated by the fussy eaters that consumed them (although my notoriously fussy sister did concede, 'Yeah, they're pretty good') and I believe I have managed to perfect the art of poached eggs, finally.

Seen here with avacado on toast. Good enough to serve at Euro I reckon. And yup, those are the same free range eggs that came from the Rainbow Food Shop carton. YUM.

It hasn't all been about food though. We won the Fire Brigade raffle at the Star and Garter Hotel in Waikari, which included gourmet grocery items such as 2 minute noodles and a tin of sardines, topped off with a concrete toadstool for the garden. All the excitement got a bit too much for this little boy though, who fell alseep against his Dad's legs after eating his Friday night fish and chips.

Last night Mum and I went into Christchurch for dinner and to see a documentary in the New Zealand International Film Festival. I was really glad it was on while I was down here because it was one of the films I had wanted to see but had missed the screenings of in Wellington. It's called Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work and it was definitely worth it. That woman is amazing. 77 years old, she's a workaholic in a gruelling industry who will never be satisfied with or accept what she has achieved. She's very insecure which partly explains why she has allowed herself to become so frozen by plastic surgery and botox in an effort to stay looking young and why she's so desperate not to be forgotten that she'll do anything if it keeps her face in the public eye. But in spite of her insecurity she's also tough as nails and incredibly determined. She's still got some pretty shocking content in her comedy-wise and the clips from her hey day when she was appearing regularly on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson illustrate that there is so much more to her than the red carpet commentaries and interviews I knew her for before seeing the documentary. She was a leader in terms of female comedy and her longevity is testament to her tirelessly putting in the effort required to stay alive in show business. She's pretty amazing that's for sure.

Finally, this afternoon I got to visit Stephanie who I met through uni and who now has two very cute twin boys who are also very well behaved. She has been sewing them cute little pyjama pants and knitted them a really awesome hooded vest (apparently called a 'gilet'). Which makes me think I'm neglecting my knitting terribly as I'm not running around after twins!

So really, I'm going to have to go back to Wellington for a rest and to get some knitting done.

Weekend in pictures

And some words. Because I can't help it.

My little brother Hunter's hockey (he's the one in the foreground)

My cousin Hamish's 5th birthday cake

There's still some orange in the Wairarapa

And a beautiful moon

Some belated birthday presents: Cath Kidston's Make!, Hadley Fierlinger's Vintage Knits for Modern Babies (which was on my birthday list from back in April, I'm so glad I got it, it's so pretty and the patterns are so cute!) and some lavender bags

Joined the girls from Outdoor Knit

It was out with the old

And in with the new...

More biscuits on another present, my very own cake stand in pale green glass (so now I can stop borrowing my Nana's one!)

Amazing cake with caramel sauce at my friend Ed's 'Baking, Board Games and Beer Birthday'

A strange game called 'Imaginiff' (why two 'f's?!)

Overall a pretty good weekend!