Showing posts with label weekend plans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weekend plans. Show all posts

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Yesterday.

Yesterday I...

Bought a fancy fork for $1.
Decided to paint it.
Made feta.
Planted an apple tree...
... and an apricot tree.
Pampered my strawberry bed.

Enjoyed the smells of almost Spring.
Made a delicious loaf of rosemary and lemon ciabatta.
And laughed at my hilarious dog.
 All in all, a successful day.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Afternoon Tea

This weekend just been I felt like giving crumpets another turn. As I always end up with more than Paddy and I can eat, I invited a few friends over for a nibble. Once I laid out the spread, I was very pleased to see it was bascially all homemade! We had crumpets with butter and apricot honey, and elderflower champagne. One of my friends brought over some amazing REAL maple syrup to go with the crumpets. If you don't know how maple syrup is made, you really should read in it. It's fascinating!

A delicious Sunday afternoon tea with lovely people, made straight from the heart.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Braided Bread

I had a baking binge when I was home last this weekend, having been making mental lists all week. Top of my list was having a go at the gorgeous braided bread from this wonderful blog.
The recipe and technique are here, and I did exactly as I was told. It's not quite as smooth and sexy-looking as the model bread loaf, but I'm still pretty pleased with my efforts!


The recipe is a delicious, rich dough, which I am definitely planning to tuck away for future use. There are tons of different ways to braid bread, that I never even knew existed! I can't wait to have a go at a new style this weekend, I've got challah in my sights...

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Christchurch Farmers Market

Every Saturday morning, without fail, Paddy and I can be found at the Christchurch Farmers Market. With the exception of that I grow myself or get from generous friends, I buy all of our produce and eggs from here. We eat very little meat in our house but are looking to start purchasing this from here as well. I love knowing I am supporting local businesses, with the added bonus of most of the produce being either certified organic, or at least spray-free, and freshly picked that morning. And on top of all of that, it is no more expensive than going to a supermarket. I highly recommend everyone hunts out their local farmers market and pays it a visit!

Aside from good coffee (my one a week), gorgeous, fresh, local produce and friendly stall-holders, the whole vibe of the place is great. It is always chock full of kids and dogs and people pleased it's finally the weekend!

There is always live music as well, and this morning, much to our delight, our favourite was there! Craig Smith is a very talented musician, and was the sunshine to my already wonderful morning. I highly recommend his CDs, and especially his children's one.

The Wonky Donkey Song is without a doubt, my favourite children's song. New Zealand obviously agreed, as it won the Apra Children's Song of the Year in 2008. Another great thing about Craig is all his CDs are packaged in recycled materials, AND he gives a proportion of his earnings from CD sales to various community organisations such as kindergartens and Women's Refuge. What a great guy!

Here is my haul from the market this morning.

Curly kale (organic), two pumpkins, a leek (organic) and a dozen free-range eggs.

Smaller than usual as we still have some left over produce from last week due to a lovely two days away in Wellington. It is slightly frustrating for me to be buying kale as I have four plants of it in my garden! However, they are spindly wee fellows and if I tried to pick their leaves, there would be nothing left of them! Hopefully they will take away in early spring and see me through summer. I can't get enough of kale! I like it roasted, steamed or sauteed mostly, but I'm sure there are many other delicious ways to have it. Does anyone have any great kale recipes they wouldn't mind sharing with me?

It is the last weekend of my university holidays so I have lots of tidying of a very neglected desk to do, as well as some cooking and baking. A ton of silverbeet from some friends will become Hunza Pie and I have a new (secondhand, but new to me) bread book that I am very excited to make something from, in addition to my standard weekend loaf of sourdough. Carbo-loading anyone?!

What are you up to for the weekend?