Final Bits & Bobs

Happy New Year my kittens! I hope everyone had a wonderfully scrumptious Christmas and New Year. We certainly did! 

 

I've been back at work for all of two days and think I need another holiday already. But once again I'm behind schedule, so I can't tell you about our holidays just yet. I need to finish off 2013 right. And what better what to do that than with a compilation of a number of bits and bobs from October through December to tantalise your eye sockets.

 

Impromptu BBQ at Red Rocks

 

We Wellingtonians like to take serious advantage of sunny days, as they come fairly few and fair between. Especially in springtime. So on a particularly beautiful Saturday afternoon in October, a bunch of the crew met up at Red Rocks to enjoy a delicious feed of sausages, chicken wings, potato wedges, and paua (abalone). Delish!

 

Matt cleaning out the paua.

 

Now that is a mean feed.

 

Mount Kaukau

 

Danielle and I spent another lovely afternoon walking the 500 steps up to Mount Kaukau (also known as Tarikaka), the highest point overseeing Wellington harbour. These little day-hikes are what makes Wellington such a liveable and incredible city.

 

 

Halloween, North-American Style

 

The family decided it would be considerate to show New Zealand how to celebrate Halloween properly. So when word got out that the North American Scum flat was having a party, the Kiwis were excited and everyone went all out with their costumes.

 

Kevin and I were inspired by the WOW show we saw in early October and decided to go as each other's better halves: half-man, half-woman. We destroyed some poor woman's wedding gown and Kevin took to the sewing machine with ease (he has much more patience with machines than I do). Natalie and I baked to the nines and we hosted the biggest party we've had to date. Unfortunately that was likely the last "biggest party ever" due to someone graciously vomiting in our neighbour's garden and it overall being a bit too late and a bit too loud. So we are laying low til everyone forgets it even happened before we strike again.

So domestic!

 

 

Mandatory day-after-Halloween breakfast that Kevin & I slept through...

 

Aurecon Masquerade Ball

 

The following weekend was the boys' company (Aurecon) mid-year function. The original party was supposed to be in August (hence "mid-year") but due to some shaky earthquakes at the time, it was postponed to November. This was good news for us, as we were in Canada in August. This year's theme was Quake-Delayed Masquerade. So we dawned our fanciest masks and clothes, and enjoyed a nice dinner, photo booth, and live band.

3 of the many Mexican wrestlers at the party

 

We couldn't help ourselves!

Mandatory day-after-Masquerade breakfast that we woke up in time for!

 

Camping in Carterton

 

A few weeks later Kevin and I ventured out to Carterton for a short weekend getaway. It would have been helpful, however, if we remembered to put gas in the tank at some point, as the car wouldn't start and we were scratching our heads trying to figure out what went wrong. Eventually, the problem was solved and off we went.

 

I will spare you the gooey romantic details, but it was certainly nice to get away just the two of us. Kevin went fly-fishing while I stayed at the campsite knitting (yes, I'm aware that we are both 80). On our way home, we stopped at our mandatory rest stop, The Big Apple, for a delicious real-fruit ice cream--a Kiwi favourite.

Sophia looking her finest. Now with zippered-access!

 

Best. Ice cream. Ever. 

 

Friendsgiving

 

A little belated for us Canadian folk, but we were able to celebrate American Thanksgiving in style with our American and Kiwi friends. Way too much food (with ALL the fixings) and SO GOOD!

 

Sending my love out to everyone for 2014! I am looking forward to the many adventures to come.

Invasion of the Parental Units 1.0

Wow, where do I even begin!? The last month has been a whirlwind of moving flats, Kevin's mum and stepdad visiting, travelling to the Cook Islands with them to meet up with my dad and his partner, coming back to Wellington to work for a few days, travelling to the South Island with my dad, and then trying to settle back into a routine. Phewf! After only working two and a half weeks of the last seven, I think I need a vacation from our vacation. And I've got 'heeps' of photos from all of these adventures, so let me start from the beginning...

Elaine and Dean came down on 18 January for a brief tour of Wellington before we buggered off to the South Pacific. That weekend, our flatmate Paul (official blog introductions and tour of our flat to come) was celebrating his big 3-0 by taking 18 of us on a sailboat around Wellington harbour. The weather was a bit gloomy, but the clouds held onto all of the rain and we enjoyed a booze-cruise that included "I'm on a Boat" being played only 4 times in a row.

The following day we then took the parentals over to one of my most favourite places in Wellington, Breaker Bay. We walked along the WWII information points and were lucky enough to have beautiful sunshine and turquoise waters.

Monday, we all hopped on the train over the Martinborough for a guided wine tour. You just can't do New Zealand right without a few (or many) wine tastings. So drink we did! 

Dinner that night was at Southern Cross for a delicious stone grill platter, which included a giant smoking-hot stone slab with raw lamb, beef, prawns, and halloumi cheese. You just put your goods on top and watch it sizzle to perfection!

The next day we had more beautiful weather and more delicious food and drinks. We joined a guide from Zest Food Tours through the Mojo coffee roastery, a gourmet chocolatier, Moore Wilson's gourmet grocery store, and ended at Logan Brown for an unbelievably decadent lunch. 

All I can say is, good thing I wore my stretchy pants. More photos and stories to come shortly! 

Meatless Mondays 2.0

More tales from the weekday kitchen my little lobsters! But you'll see no seafood on these counters, as I'm back with some delicious Meatless Monday recipes. 

The first time Kevin and I tried to make Vietnamese salad rolls turned out to be a big disaster. I bought some sort of rice paper that fully dissolved in water and it resulted in us making Vietnamese salad instead. How was I to know they would dissolve... the packaging is all in Vietnamese!

Second time around, I went to our local asian goods store and got things down pat. With a scrumptious peanut dipping sauce recipe found here, these are right up there on my list. And it turns out that I am more skilled in rolling salad rolls than my male counterpart. After two rolls, he was fired.

This may look like porridge, but actually was my first attempt at making risotto. After lots of stirring, and stirring, and stirring, it turns out I like mushrooms! This Spinach Feta Risotto is much better than it looks, I promise you.

This meal may not appear to be meat-free, but it is! Spicy Black Bean Burgers are a staple in this household. And the nice thing is that you don't need a BBQ, as these are pan-fried. Add whatever condiments and fixings you choose, and you've got yourself a tasty tea.

Toodaloo!

Meatless Mondays

A large portion of my time outside of the office, my bed,  and the yoga studio are spent in my kitchen. I have been blessed with a kitchen that is at least three times the size of the kitchen in our cardboard-box-of-an-apartment in Vancouver, with ten times the cupboard space. And as any good housewife should, I love to cook and bake. When Kevin and I nestled into our tidy little flat in Wellington, we incorporated the growing Meatless Monday trend into our weekly routine. 

Apart from the obvious and immense environmental and health benefits of this international movement, it has given me an unnecessary (and extremely enjoyable) excuse to scour my favourite food blogs to an even greater extent, trying to find a clever and delicious vegetarian meal that will satisfy my righteous carnivore of a male counterpart.

Below are a few of the best tasting Meatless Monday meals from the past few months. And there will be more to come, so long as Mondays still come around every so often.

This is a rendition of Peanut Soba Stir Fry from my absolute favourite food blog, Budget Bytes. Almost all of the recipes I have tried from this blog have been delicious, on top of the fact that she takes pictures at every step (I'm clearly a visual learner). I omitted the frozen vegetables for fresh, each time I put together a different concoction of what is left in my veggie crisper, and added tofu as a protein source.

No recipe link for this bad boy. But, on a fairly regular biweekly basis, Kevin and I indulge in some homemade pizza. The dough is a sporadic combination of yeast, sugar, water, flour, salt, and olive oil, and it tends to change each time. The base is a indescribably good double layer of a pesto-cashew cracker spread and a sweet chili cream cheese. And once again, a slew of random fresh vegetables, tofu (protein for my growing boy), and cheeses.

This is my new favourite recipe. Hands down. I am always up for the challenge of cooking Indian food, but so far it has never turned out quite perfectly. Until this. You won't even care that it's animal-less, for all you meat-at-every-meal kind of kids. This Lentil Chickpea Curry is worth the large number of ingredients and time it takes for the lentils to cook. And while it may not be the most aesthetic dish, the taste more than makes up for it.

Well, that's all for now, but I do hope to keep you all up to date with more Meatless Monday recipes. And hey, maybe you'll join the movement too! Hei konā!

Quarter of a Century

Ahh!!! Life seriously seems to be getting in the way of me documenting life on my blog! But I guess that's a good thing, actually living life. Well I figure that since the simple task of walking home yesterday has left me fairly horizontal today (no worries, nothing too serious), I am able to catch up on catching you up. That, and catching up on the life and times of Cory and Topanga while Kevin is off on a work chartered fishing expedition all day (yes, the only TV series I have downloaded on my laptop right now are all of the BMW seasons).

So last Wednesday, as many of you may or may not know, the most wonderful and important person in my life turned 25. Have I left you stumped on who? Well, keep guessing... 

Since he clearly does not have enough toys yet, I thought it best to add to his collection. What I didn't realize was that, after getting a ride home with this big, awkward box on the birthday boy's big day, I forgot wrapping paper and we do not have any form of adhesive tape in our flat. And while it may not be the most flash wrapping job, not only was everything 100% recyclable, I think it did the trick!

I was entirely shocked that he hadn't guessed his present, since I had to measure like every inch of his body to send in for custom-made waders. Kevin claims he's not like me, who gets a tad worked up when I know I'm getting a surprise but don't know what it is... I may be a tad over-dramatic at times! Now our closet is stocked full of wetsuits of all sorts: swimming, surfing, fishing--take your pick.

Since Kevin's birthday fell in the middle of a work week, we kept things pretty low key. We spent the evening making homemade pierogies, something we had talked about doing for a longtime. And boy did they turn out delicious! Fairly labour intensive, but most definitely worth the time and effort.

In other news, we now have wheels!! Kevin and I are now the proud owners of Sophia, the station wagon, dutifully named after Sophia the llama for sale Kevin has been eyeing on the TradeMe online classifieds. Now I don't have to trek 2 kilometres to go grocery shopping with my giant travelling backpack. I tried driving home from the grocery store last weekend, and may or may not have had a minor stroke. I think I may need some Kiwi-style drivers-ed. 

I hope all you mothers and grandmothers have a very Happy Mothers Day this Sunday! Haere rā.