Food & Travel
Our Queenstown Getaway
Queenstown: This is truly a very special place. I first went there many years ago as a child with my parents when we did the big tour of the two islands. Even then at a tender young age, it left an impression.
Chocolate & Pear Cake
Happy first day of spring! Okay not exactly the spring weather that we were hoping for here in Auckland but we have seen the back of winter, which always puts me in a good mood!
A Food Stylist’s Life with Denise Vivaldo
Painting a tomato with red lipstick and filling the white of a fried egg with denture paste are just some of the tricks that I learnt a couple of weeks ago as a guest at Denise Vivaldo’s, Introduction to Professional Food Styling here in Auckland.
Denise Vivaldo’s Upcoming Auckland Food Styling Class
Styling: Jazreel Chan and Photo: Dario Milano
No, this is not my food styling, but it might very well be soon! Some exciting news is that I’ve been invited to attend the upcoming Denise Vivaldo’s Introduction to Professional Food Styling class in Auckland. As you can imagine, I’m over the moon about this!
Read more on Denise Vivaldo’s Upcoming Auckland Food Styling Class…
Lemon, Lentil & Spinach Soup
Lentil soup. It takes me back to when I travelled through Turkey. My friend and I were on a backpacker’s budget so we’d quite often find ourselves eating a bowl of this soup at cafés along the way. It was nourishing and utterly delicious, I always had to resist from ordering more.
Le Petit Chef by Opinel
It’s no secret the benefits of kids getting involved in the cooking from a young age. While at times I have to admit I try to steer them out of the kitchen when I need to whip something up quickly, most of the time I embrace it and they adore it. Two things I make sure they stay clear of though, are boiling liquids and chopping things that requires a sharp knife. Opinel has changed the latter and have released a knife range for little hands called Le Petit Chef.
Orange Pippin Apple Tart
The Sunday before last I was strolling through the La Cigale French Markets in Parnell and saw a bucket of orange pippin apples. I’ve never been so excited about seeing a particular variety of apples before. What made these apples so special to me was a tear sheet out of Vogue Entertaining & Travel of an Orange Pippen Apple tart recipe that I’ve been hording for years. Fifteen to be precise! While the recipe calls for orange pippin apples, I’ve never had any luck finding them and I’ve only ever made it with pink lady apples before.
5 Food Questions with Kelly Gibney
Photograph by David Straight
Today, please welcome Kelly Gibney of the Kiwi food blog, Bonnie Delicious as my 5 Food Questions guest. I totally admire Kelly’s approach to food, she is a lover and advocate of whole food and shares delicious and (mostly) guilt free recipes that she’s created with her readers. While that’s her love and main aim, she is by no means rigid with her approach and her love of good food doesn’t stop her from exploring all of the tastes on offer from time to time. I think she’s hit a nice balance and secretly wish that I could do the same. Kelly has worked most of her adult life internationally in the food industry; she describes this as her “seedbed for her food passion”. Today, alongside looking after her young daughter and authoring the Bonnie Delicious blog, she organises feasts at The Golden Dawn, which is a bit of an institution here in Auckland and has recently opened a seasonal coffee shop repurposed from a shipping container. In the next couple of weeks Kelly, along with another foodie, Delaney Mes from Heartbreak Pie, will be cooking up something really special for Auckland’s very first Kinfolk Meal at the beautiful Indie Home Collective, which was sold out, mind you within hours of going live.
