That time of year again......

Yup it's that time of year again when florists work around the clock and love is in the air. Thought I would share this recipe & images with you all out there in blog land of a shoot I did recently for a client. I think it fits the Valentines brief perfectly and super easy to make. And yes the client and I did eat this dessert and the spare afterwards. Result - both decided it was super delicious and were looking for more!

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Need a long weekend......

Yay for a long weekend in New Zealand for Waitangi Day. It's timed perfectly for those of us out there fighting the return to work blues and wishing we were still in the middle of their christmas holidays!

To make the most of the warm evenings over Waitangi weekend we cranked up  the barbecue and gave our new outdoor table & chairs a test drive. The results were table & chairs = big tick, lamb/salad = yummmm,  plus a few vinos to wash it all down. So good night had by all!

This moroccan inspired lamb recipe is equally good cooked on a barbecue or the stove. It takes a bit of prep, but you can do the dukkah in advance so it doesn't take too long to pull together. 

Enjoy!

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Summer - sort of.....!

After complaining in my last post about the lack of summer the weather gods finally turned on a few hot humid days last weekend just to tease us, then turned the water works back on again for the rest of the week. I'm still hoping the remainder of summer is going to be sunny but I'm not holding my breath on that one! 

So on the hot humid days I had a go at making some jellies with fruit from the garden. The blackcurrants needed picking so this recipe looked perfect for a test run. Adding the blackcurrant shots after the elderflower jelly is set is optional but adds an interesting look to the jellies if they are are in glass containers. The idea came from Jellyologist Jess Mentis (www.thejellyologist.com). I've been following Jess on Instagram for while now and her jellies look amazing. Often they have different colours or flowers inserted in the jelly. Hmmm more practice needed I think on my own attempts.

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Summer - what summer......?

I have to say that summer has been a real disappointment this year, particularly with the last week being wet & miserable in Christchurch. Over the weekend to combat the bad weather blues I've was craving a bit of comfort food.  

So after a bit of umming and ahhhing and several sessions of looking in the pantry and fridge for inspiration, I settled on throwing together some gnocchi with extras from the garden. 

I love this Summer Pesto recipe as it uses lots of things from my garden, and is quick & easy to make. Even with lots of overcast wet days my kale crop has done well, with the plants now turning into triffids. I could be eating kale every day and I'm sure the plants would still keep up - downside I'd probably develop a greenish appearance! 

You'll have to excuse the rather rustic appearance of my gnocchi as I was in a bit of a rush and didn't roll them properly - never mind they still tasted good even if they left someting to be desired in the beauty stakes. 

Bon appetit!

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