Sugar Thursday and Message Cookies

I'm going to tell you a secret. Well it is, not really. It's one of those secrets that you can tell a few people but no one will really dob you in. Ok, here it is: we eat cake in English class.

Lettuce Redeem Ourselves

I'll admit it. I had a very bad day today, food-wise. I started out innocently enough, but boredom and procrastination led me time and again to the kitchen, seeking out chocolate, lollies, meaty pasta and pad thai. It got to the point where I was making single portions of chocolate chip cookie in a mug. That was the bottom. After that I felt a little bit sick. So I got up, and did those jobs I was meant to do. It actually felt quite good doing something, because before then I had been feeling lethargic, disappointed and angry at myself. And dinner was another attempt at redeeming myself too.

Chocolate Framboise (Chocolate & Raspberry Cake)

It started with cake. Back in July, I had seen all these impressive, beautiful stacked cakes on Pinterest and I so wanted to make one of my own. But I knew that it would be a waste to just suddenly decide to make one which could serve more than ten people, and offer it to our household of three. So I needed an excuse - and what better than a party?

It's not my birthday and it wasn't a christmas party (though the party favors were somewhat festive). Instead it was simply a summer party. This gathering was reminiscent of birthday celebrations of my childhood, or at least of children's storybooks. I made a treasure hunt; we had egg-and-spoon and three-legged races from between one pair of hay bales to another; and the spread - well, how about I show you…

The Best Prawn and Parsley Frittata

Yesterday, at my school prize-giving, our Head Girl (renowned for her speech-making) delivered a speech about success, about its definition. Success, at least to me, does not necessarily mean driving a fancy car, nor even gaining a prize at prize-giving. As my head girl put it, success is 'setting out to do something, and then doing it'. Achieving your goals. But then going beyond them, doing what you never thought you could do. Surprising yourself.

60's Design and Tacos

This past week has been full-on, and I've only spent four of these days at school, thanks to a mid-term break on Monday. Sunday was a city day: Made a classic banana cake in the morning before heading to the art gallery with Mum to see California Design - an exhibition about how California influenced architecture, product design, fashion and a way of life from 1930 to 1965. It was inspiring to be surrounded by so may objects that carried with them curiosity, discovery, and opinion. The exhibition also encouraged my personal interest with architecture and furniture design, particularly when I learnt about Charles and Ray Eames' meticulous ergonomic research and testing for their project simply named Chair.

The 'Z' chair / A cool lamp

Early afternoon we met Dad at the City Works Depot, which is home to several new and exciting places to dine and treat yourself. We had lunch at the Food Truck Garage, a recently new installment serving up fresh and re-vamped twists on classic takeaways such as burgers with a beef & beetroot patty, lettuce, tomato, gherkins and a mysterious "awesome sauce" (which earns its name). There are also hot dogs, tacos, home-made drinks and a weekly-changing specials, not to mention an effortlessly-cool, laid-back vibe.

I've been back to the grindstone stone since Tuesday, and working hard at that. The prospect of being House and/or School Prefects next year is weighing on my mind a lot lately and on those of my friends. It's odd and uncomfortable when you realize your competition is those people who you talk to everyday; being torn between wanting the best for yourself and the best for others. But as they say: que sera, sera. As the end of my school year is fast approaching - I effectively don't have a 'tern four' - study for external exams has continued off the back of mock exams just a few weeks ago. Oh, so intense!

Thank you thank you thank you, therefore, for long weekends, when you can spend the whole afternoon in the kitchen and not feel (too) guilty, taking time to make a dinner as completely from scratch as possible. Since my craving for home-cooked mexican, I hadn't found anything satisfying but simple enough to fulfill my hankering until now. Early in the afternoon I made the tortillas, stacked them, wrapped them up in tinfoil and left them on the bench. I put the chicken on to marinate in the fridge. Before dinner time, I barbecued the chicken, put the tortillas in the oven to warm up, made the salad, sliced the chicken, sliced up half an avocado and plated up. BUT I kept each component separate, so we could each make our tacos just the way we liked them.

Psychogeography and Peanut Chicken San Choy Bau

In the last issue of the lovely Frankie Magazine, Eleanor Robertson pondered the art of wandering through your own urban habitat. She writes, 'Psychogeography is best described as bushwalking in cities. Bushwalking is satisfying because nature is beautiful, and with attention and some luck you can experience cool things happening… The same is true for cities, with buildings and architecture creating the landscape, and people creating the interest and drama'.In a time where no one has enough of it, she recognizes the importance of taking the leisure of appreciating urban space by just being there, as opposed to just passing through.

So yesterday, as the First Official Monday of the School Holidays, Mum, Dad and I did just that. We took a trip into the Auckland CBD and experienced it with fresh eyes, made new discoveries. First stop was breakfast, at a bagel-ry named Best Ugly. The topping combinations were nothing new, but just a little outrageous - cold smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, red onion and a little sprig of dill on mine and Mum's poppy seed bagels, a sesame-crusted one topped with hot mustard, pastrami, melted swiss cheese and gherkin for Dad. This was good food, done superbly.