Flavor of the Month: July

Queenstown

View of the ranges on the way to Cardrona

Last Sunday morning I flew with my Dad down to Queenstown, a surprisingly small skiing village in the South Island. What ensued on the following four days was mainly eating and skiing, with the odd bit of sightseeing thrown in. The village is great for eating out - my favourites include Fergburger, Winnie's Pizza, Amisfield Winery & Patagonia chocolates. But one cannot ignore it's true purpose. Thanks to a light sprinkling of snow on Wednesday, The Remarkables, Cardrona and Coronet Peak ski fields offered fresh powdery skiing for the week. I could say more, but I think the pictures below speak for themselves…

beetroot, apple, celeriac soup from Amisfield

The Remarkable Sweet Shop in Arrowtown

Poached Rhubarb

It's madness. One moment I'm all engrossed in my computer screen in a warm and glowing living room, next I look out the window and the sky is a purple haze, trees are receiving a battering and the rain is making a racket on the windows. It's as if the weather is saying "Helloo!! Can you hear me!?!?" like a restless child trying to coax some dramatic reaction out of their parents. Not now, rain, I'm poaching rhubarb. Winter is well and truly happening.

Raspberry Quinoa Porridge and a new regular!

Firstly, I apologize for by brief disappearance from cyberspace. Since my last post I've had heaps of fun at my senior ball, held a bake sale at two local markets to raise money for Sir Edmund Hillary's Himalayan Trust, and on top of all that sat mid-year exams! So it's been pretty busy lately. Yet amongst it I managed to make myself a hot breakfast or two and come up with a new regular post! Was it procrastination maybe…?

I therefore introduce Flavor of the Month, where I share my favorite things of the moment, every month! It'll be a good way to keep me blogging regularly, yet won't be too demanding. Fingers crossed I can stick with it!

Apples

Image

With the colder month upon us, the refreshing crunch of an apple is now just what I need to bring a bit of vitality and freshness back. Also, it is oh so sweet and comforting in a pudding, cake or a classic pie. Delish.

Long-sleeved Dresses

I do try to embrace winter, really I do, but there's always a part of me that is stuck in a summery mindset of light dresses and cool treats. To try and curb my craving for the warmer months, I have been on the hunt for an elegant yet playful long-sleeved dress. Any suggestions?

Dress

Movie Night

I recently went to a close friend's birthday party. It was nothing fancy. No theme, no party favors, no gimmicks. Just a tight bunch of her closest friends, enjoying good food, a surprisingly decent movie (Step Up 4) and each other's company. It was unbelievably good fun.

Ice-cream

It's funny. As soon as the days grow shorter and blustery, I find myself tiptoeing my way to the freezer in the laundry, ready to eat ice cream straight from the tub. My favorite is usually chocolate ice-cream drizzled with berry jam (don't knock it 'till you've tried it), but lately I've found that I can settle for vanilla when the craving possesses me. If I had a less hectic schedule, I would dedicate one saturday to making my own, but for now I'll fantasize over gourmet flavors like blackberry and lavender and all these.

Recipe for left image here.

Have I mentioned my latest infatuation with breakfast? It's hard to justify, but it started somewhere around my boredom with usual old "cereal or toast" option on weekday mornings. I mean, there must be something more, right? So, when the weekends rolled around, I got inspired. Smoothies - green or otherwise -  packed with fruit and nice and thick. Pancakes stacked with honey and banana sandwiched between the layers. Omelets. Bagels, topped with fresh veggies, pesto and cheese and grilled. And a super-healthy quinoa porridge. 

If you have been tuned in to the food universe lately, you'd know that this ancient super grain is So Hot Right Now. Packed with protein, vitamins and a unique nutty flavor, it's not hard to figure out why.

S'mores Brownies

Say s'mores, think campfires. Think bonfires on a beach, in a field, encircled by friends, talking and laughing and licking fingers and sticks free of gooey sugary delight, which not too long ago was a light-as-air pillow of sweetness.Think summer.










But now, as the rain and the storms arrive at our front door with their suitcases, asking (demanding) if they could stay on our couch for a night.. or two.. I find myself longing for that summery sweetness once again. Oh well. At least now I have the perfect excuse to spend my days in a kitchen with an indoor sun, baking the cake version of this summer reminiscence.

Pumpkin Cannelloni

Ok, so there aren't many photos for this recipe, frankly because it's hard to make this dish look as good as its flavor and aroma.

But here's the thing: you know when a meal doesn't look that great, and then you taste it and you think "oh my god, this is sooo good, I can't believe I just judged it for its appearance"? Well, this is one of those dishes. An ultimate comfort food.

The autumn air embraces you as the distant fields are painted gold by the sun's first strokes.

 Cocooning the robust china in your palms, you hasten to eat it's contents before the dawn's last breath renders your breakfast unsatisfying.

 Spoon delves in, past the sticky golden apple towards the creamy underbelly.

 A quarrel between the red tape of the sliced apple and your spoon is rapidly dissipated, and the supple fruit, riddled with flakes of oat in a vanilla-speckeld cloud slip over your tongue.

Lunch for One: Roasted Vegetable and Quinoa Salad

Dad insightfully commented the other day that my cooking is either incredibly decadent, or very healthy - switching from one extreme to the next. He was right. Not only do I love rich desserts and adore eating baked goods fresh from the oven; my love affair with food has gone on long enough for me to realize that 'good', healthy food can be just as tasty and satisfying.

So today - spurred partly by guilt for being a little indulgent this past week - I made myself a hearty, filling bowl of slow-roasted veggies tossed together with that so-hot-right-now superfood otherwise known as quinoa (pronounced keen-wa). Not only that, I partly invented the recipe. Not bad, if I do say so myself.