Home-baked Luggage

  Whose mother travels on the bus with her carry-on luggage bursting with home-baking? Mine does, that’s who. Mum’s carry-on bag contained no less than Plum Cake, Feijoa Muffins, biscuits, lemons to make a Lemon Syrup, and a pot of butter!   Mum stepped off the warm bus and into a bitterly cold wind that […]

Mushroom, Spinach, Feta, and Filo Tart

  This is not a particularly good photo, but the main thing is this is a particularly good pie.   The following certainly qualifies for the category of ‘Recipe Revamps’. This means the recipe has undergone more than an adjustment or a rearrangement of ingredients; it has undergone a complete transformation. I mention this because […]

Feijoa Tarte Tatin (and environmental integrity)

  Feijoa Tarte Tatin with ‘Lemon Delicious’ Puhoi Valley brand New Zealand yoghurt.   For this little story I get to use my favourite word, synchronicity. On a Friday night, Mum and her twin sister spent a large portion of their evening searching for a recipe for Feijoa Tarte Tatin. With feijoa season beginning in […]

Three Great Hawke’s Bay Red Wines

Here are three red wines that Mum and I enjoyed over the Christmas 2013 holiday season and into the New Year.   The three top wine picks I have chosen have many similar characteristics – this is just a coincidence. they are all reds, they are all from Hawke’s Bay they all come from the […]

Wine Review : 2013

Wine Review: Wines Mum and I Consumed in 2013.   And the winners are (this is all my humble opinion) :   3. Great : Moana Park, Hawke’s Bay, Syrah, 2011. 2. Greater : Squaking Magpie, Gimblett Gravels, Hawke’s Bay, The Chatterer, Syrah, 2011. 1. Greatest : Esk Valley, Gimblett Gravels, Hawkes Bay, Merlot Cabernet […]