The Queen's Silver Jubilee Dinner

We live in a very small isolated community and need a new hospital and medical centre.  Because it will serve comparatively few people funding from government is limited, so we need to fund-raise as a community for the balance.

As usual, in its own alternative way, this vibrant community has come up with its own unique way of finding this money.

Golden Bay is a large land area with tiny settlements based around farming areas, beaches and small commercial areas, so the thought is that each of these areas will have its own fundraising initiatives.

So all across Golden Bay there are progressive dinners, dance-athons, plant sales and fairs.

As one of the fundraising events for our area we held a neighbourhood dinner last night.  Five women friends (and neighbours) got together and cooked up a storm for 32 people and the residents of Pohara came out in their finest attire to attend.

It was a glittering affair, with men in dinner suits and military uniforms and women decked out in their most exquisite costumes.  Some of us hired costumes from the local drama club so we could be absolutely fabulous!

It was a huge effort and even bigger fun, the preparations have been going on for weeks!  Initially the idea came from the woman whose house it was held in - they have a lovely large open plan lounge, kitchen dining area and a big new kitchen so the final preparation of the food was easy.

 We set the room up on Friday afternoon...

Cheri and her husband are crayfishers and they provided the divine entree and the Yorkshire puddings to go with the Roast Beef main.

The menu

Rosita cooked the beef - to perfection, I might add - she and I had a last minute stress meeting yesterday afternoon to decide just how much we both needed to cook for 32 people - we had no idea of quantities!

Rosita and me - I wore Rock Candies with my beautiful hired gown.

Anne-Marie peeled and roasted 40 odd potatoes, cooked Cauliflower and Broccoli au Gratin, kumara (sweet potatoes) and peas.

Some aristocrats and some who have gone a little "troppo"!

 I made my favourite pate as one of the entree (appetiser for you Americans) options - something I haven't made for years, but with retro being all the rage it seems to be back in fashion.  I also roasted pumpkin and steamed carrots. 

The event was held in Marg's house, so as well as being in charge of decorations she made heavenly trifle and fruit crumbles for dessert.

Our host and hostess - love the hat!

We were all so nervous about our cooking responsibilities that it was hilarious!  We were all making things that we had cooked a hundred times before, just the quantities were somewhat different and the pressure was on to have everything absolutely perfect!

It all turned out so well - we were all really thrilled!

 We all met for the clean up and coffee this morning and agreed it was well worth the effort.  We're now looking forward to the next event.

Isn't it fabulous how these events can bring communities and neighbourhoods together?

Avocado Green and Guacamole

I live in the land of avocados!

They grow abundantly here and over the past ten years lots of people seem have to cottoned onto this, so we have a constant, abundant and cheap supply of green goodness almost all year round.

I love them - I cold eat them for lunch almost every day on grainy toast and make guacamole at least once a week.  I like to eat it just with carrot sticks rather than a packet of toast or crackers, though I can do the carbs - I just try to avoid them mostly for snacks.  I find they stick to my hips - the carbs, that is.

We have a little vege stall up the road that we call on regularly - we get all sorts of fabulous goodies there, but my most regular purchase is the avos...

Oh, my word, yes!  They are "heavenly delicious"!

I make guacamole by mashing them with an equal quantity of cottage cheese, a clove (or two if you're not expecting company) of crushed garlic, the juice of a lemon, salt, pepper and something hot - I alternate between dry mustard powder, wasabi paste, chilli or a current favourite is horseradish paste.

This was a monster batch that the two of us still managed to scoff.

I'm always surprised when I see avocado green in any colour chart - it never looks like the colour of nice avocadoes to me - it's always way too dark.

The Avocado Green in my glass is a lovely colour, but doesn't look like avocado flesh at all...

Nor does our 70's avocado green bathroom suite - soon to be gracing the recycling centre!

This Week 30th June 2012

I'm enjoying this new habit of rounding up the week - looking through it and picking out the best bits, and this week has surely had some high spots!
1.  I'm enjoying finishing some work that's been hanging around waiting for my final design decisions - these chakra lotus flowers are almost there - just the clasps and final sizing adjustments to be made and they will be ready to have their portraits taken and enter the world.

There's a Turquoise based Chakra Lotus Flowers Bracelet here and one entirely in "Fire" colours

2.  There's something very luxurious about being able to tidy up - laying things out, touching them and dreaming of what they might become.  I've always had a love of touchstones and amulets - perhaps that's where this drifting and sifting might take me?  I find the sight of a tray of ordered glass so seductive!

Where are the hot colours?  On the bench being used!

3.  I've really enjoyed going down the Pinterest rabbit hole this week, following this train of thought that's been lurking.  I'm always quite happy with my own company and have enjoyed the clear mind space to play...

Enjoying being a hermit this week

4.  On the other hand, I loved our Matariki/midwinter feast at Ratanui Lodge last Saturday night.  The beautiful group of women I walk with in the mornings and their partners got together for an evening of delicious food, scrummy wines, elegant surroundings, superb service and the very  best of company.  Thanks guys, you do it so well!

The Lodge is full of the most elegant antiques

This was the dessert table - for after we had eaten our rich little Christmas puddings!

 

5.  It's wonderful to have all my walking friends home from their travels and a treat to hear the stories they brought back.

I hope your week has been wonderful too!  Spare five minutes to think about the best bits - it makes the world a happier place.

Pinking up...

 I've been making lots of brooch beads and they're almost ready for mounting onto boards and having their portraits done - I've tried for lots of colour in this batch.

They're great to wear on jackets and coats - my problem is that I always have to rat through my wardrobe every time I want to wear one - I tend to leave them on my coats - it's one way of storing them I guess.

                                                                                                              

I love lemons.  I love the taste of them in almost anything - someone called themselves a lemophile a while ago, and that really resonated with me!

                                                                                                                

I've tried to grow lemon trees at every house we've ever lived in and I'm sure I've left some amazing future specimens scattered around the country. 

Something eats all the new growth on our trees here and we think we may have tracked down the culprits - WETAS!!!  The largest insect in the world apparently!

I'm trying to discourage them my putting crushed eggshells around the trees - that's a lot of eggs!
Does anybody have any better ideas?  We never see them - I think they come and feed at night - they take the most enormous bites.

In the meantime I went and bought a lovely lot of lemons at the market last week and have tried preserving them for the first time.  I want to use them in tagines - they're apparently only slightly lemony in flavour - salty/sweet.

They're sliced almost through in quarters then packed with rock salt and into a jar then covered in lemon juice.  This took around 20 lemons!!

I used a recipe from Made in Morocco by Julie Le Clerc

A sumptuous recipe book full of the most amazing photography

I think this is my favourite photo - "Petits Taxis"

After I had begun this method I found another recipe by Annabel Langbein's Free Range Cook which I wished I had used - it used only a few lemons and seemed much less messy...

She slices 2 lemons into 6ths completely then freezes the slices on a tray, then packs the frozen segments into a clean jar, adds 2 heaped teaspoons of salt, the juice of a lemon (to cover the segments), adds a bay leaf and covers it all with oil.
Ready in a week, but will improve over several months, and once opened, keep them in the fridge.
How easy is that?

Maybe next time?
                                                                                                               

What do you think of the new pink background?

I've been looking for something a bit more colourful for ages, and pink seems a nice colour - feminine, heart chakra energy and all that.

                                                                                                          
Speaking of heart chakra colours, I've been wearing quite a lot of green lately and thought I'd show you these beads I made years and years ago that I still wear and love...I call them Cherry Blossoms these days.

Relishing Sunday

I told you that I bought a big bucket of ripe tomatoes last week - well I made them into relish today.  It was a perfect Sunday, just pottering around with the lovely smell of cooking relish permeating the house.

I'm a bit of a sucker for kitchen equipment - I have lots of old and new gear and love a new toy, but one of the most useful things I have in my kitchen is the grottiest.  An old friend showed me  how to funnel jam and relish into the jars - just cut the top off an old plastic vinegar bottle.  I made this gorgeous item years ago and it's lived in the cupboard coming out on special preserving days.  It doesn't win any prizes for glamour, but it sure as hell wins the practicality prizes!

I made 4 times the quantity of the recipe in the old Edmonds Cookbook - an old Kiwi standard!

It made 24 jars - that's enough for a jar every three weeks or so for a year and a good few to give away.

 

TOMATO RELISH

1.5 kg tomatoes, blanched, skinned and quartered (I skip the blanching, skinning and anything fussy)

4 onions, quartered (I actually like mine chopped a bit finer than this

2 tablespoons salt

2 cups brown sugar (there's no way around this - you need to use real sugar - it acts as a preservative.  You can, however, use raw sugar, but there's little difference)

2 1/4 cups malt vinegar

3 chillies

1 tablespoon dry mustard

1 tablespoon curry powder

3 or more tablespoons maize cornflour (so it's OK for wheat free friends)

Another 1/2 cup malt vinegar

Put tomatoes and onions into a non-metallic bowl.  Sprinkle with salt and leave for 12 hours.  Drain off all liquid formed.  Put vegetables, sugar, first measure of vinegar and chillies into preserving pan.  Boil gently for one and a half hours, stirring frequently.  Mix mustard, curry and cornflour with second measure of vinegar and mix to a smooth paste.  Stir into relish.  Boil for a good 5 minutes.  Pack into sterilized jars.  Makes about 4 x 350ml jars.

illy & Mojo had a sleep-in and didn't get out of bed till almost 1 o'clock.  So of course the bed remained unmade until they'd finished with it.  They refused even to open their eyes for this photo.

We went into town late in the afternoon and hung the last sign.  Apologies for the awful photo, quite apart from the fact that you can see my finger, you can't see the gorgeous copper roses that the Toy Boy made to adorn the top.

Counting Sheep

I've been having lots of fun making these little sheep. They began as a project for the Beads of Courage Programme, but have since become something that other people are interested in and I really enjoy giving each one an individual personality.


I was asked a few weeks ago to work on a flat floral bead, which has teased my imagination a little. I've inserted man made "diamonds" into some of these beads - something I hadn't done for ages, but I think that this style rather suits the twinkle.

I've also been making loads of tomato relish, trying to use up some of the beautiful heritage tomatoes that the Toy Boy has growing in the garden. This is a tried and true family favourite here, something I do every year. I just love preserving food for the long cold winter months - I feel like sich a Domestic Goddess!

Home from the fair

We're just home from the first of the Martinborough Fairs. We enjoyed our "South Pacific Cruise" on the ferry to Wellington, where we stayed with our son and his partner, then travelled up to Martinborough very early on Saturday morning.
Boy! It was a scorcher with temperatures well into the 30's, but we have a wonderful spot on the eastern side of the square, where we get the morning sun and are sheltered from the wind. Apparently there were 25,000 people there, though it really didn't seem that busy.
Had a fabulous meal in Wellington at La Belle Italia in Petone while we were there - real authentic Italian, with fresh, fresh food and incredible service.
It was real family time in Wellington - my sister and niece helped out on mine and the Toy Boy's stalls, and my brother-in-law, who is an amazing cook, treated us to one of his creations on Sunday night.
We have come home feeling filled-up on family and fabulous food!