Food & Travel
Banana Buttermilk Layer Cake
For the first time in years I have an oven that bakes cakes perfectly. The temperature is exact, the heat even. We’re on a bit of a roll with birthdays in this family at the moment so it’s been getting a bit of work out and each and every time, the cake has been baked to perfection. I’m pretty excited by this and I’m in the baking mode! I experimented with an old recipe for my son’s class birthday cake, which turned out well. This weekend I expanded on it again, and I’ve come up with a pretty delicious banana buttermilk layer cake. It’s also fairly simple to make.
Russell The Bay of Islands
I know that I only just got back from Australia, but I need a holiday already! Perhaps it’s the move, perhaps it’s the wet winter weather or all of the sunny holiday images from the northern hemisphere spamming my Instagram feed right now, but I’m dreaming of an escape. It’s an impossible dream, so instead I’m going to revisit my little getaway in Russell, The Bay of Islands from a few months ago.
The “How To” French Soirée
Just a few days now until Bastille Day and I thought that some of you Francophiles might have fun creating a little French dinner party for your friends. This “how to” French soirée is the kind of thing that I’d do and is not overly complicated:
Waiheke Island Getaway
If somebody is visiting Auckland and they’re here longer than a couple of days, I always tell them that a must see place is Waiheke Island. It’s officially Auckland, but it feels like a million miles away and yet only takes forty minutes to catch a ferry to from the city. It also has its own microclimate and quite often when it’s bucketing down on the mainland, the sun is shining and the water is sparkling blue on Waiheke. Well that didn’t exactly happen for us this time unfortunately but more of that later.
Friends for Dinner | Hot Smoked Salmon
Our friend Teia, has spoilt us many times with his homemade hot smoked salmon. I remember the first time he made it for us; Guillaume and I felt like it was a bit of a revelation. It’s something we quite often purchased pre-made, but when you taste the homemade version… well it really is something else.
Sonia’s Silverbeet Soup
With the weather turning a little cooler in the southern hemisphere, I always turn to soup. Well I lie a little, I do tend to eat soup all year round, but you know what I mean.
5 Food Questions with Nicola Galloway
Nicola Galloway is a trained chef, nutritionist, author of three cookbooks, and founder of the lovely food blog, Homegrown Kitchen. Her blog is jam packed with wholesome and seasonal recipes, with the ingredients quite often grown in her garden. The way Nicola embraces the best of the simple life, which was influenced by her upbringing, really makes me question the urbanite in me and suddenly I’m dreaming of my very own veggie patch, hens and fruit trees. She has also just released a 2015 seasonal recipe calendar, which I can’t wait to get my hands on! If you’re not yet a reader of Homegrown Kitchen, make sure you pop over to discover it for yourself and click on the motion video on her about page to get the perfect picture of what it’s all about. Today it is with great pleasure that I have Nicola as my guest, answering my 5 food questions.
1 Day in Auckland: Interior & Sightseeing
“I will have only one full day in Auckland, can you suggest a day of sightseeing mixed in with some interior shops for me to visit?”
This question was asked by Cyndi, a lovely blogger out of California who will be visiting at the end of the month. I’ve been asked this question a few times before and I have to admit, I’ve been pretty slack with my answers, giving only a few suggestions here and there. Earlier in the year I met up with another blogger visiting Auckland and took her on a mini interior and homewares tour which she enjoyed. We did get a bit carried away at lunch so didn’t manage to see everything intended, but it was fun all the same. So I’ve taken this and coupled it with a few sightseeing suggestions. I hope that by posting this, a few other locals or visitors might add their “must sees” in the comments. We can start a bit of a conversation here for Cyndi and future travellers to Auckland!
