Glorious Garlic - definitely no vampires round here

It finally stopped raining! FINALLY!  I was afraid that I was going to miss my date for planting out the garlic.  

I put garlic in nearly everything, I love it.  I reckon it goes in about 80% of my evening meals.  My favourite meals all have garlic in there somewhere!  I planted some last year and was only moderately successful, it looked like garlic and tasted like garlic but in miniature.  It was about half the size that it should have been.  I think it may have been because I planted it a bit too late, or perhaps because our spring/summer was so dry this year and they didn't get quite enough water to plump out?  

Leeks - the ghetto vegetable

I saw something as I was walking through Dunedin a couple of days ago that perfectly proves the point I was trying to make with this blog.  It was a great example of not needing a lifestyle block or even a veggie patch to grow vegetables.

OK so admittedly a main street in central Dunedin isn't exactly the ghetto but it was still the last place I was expecting to see vegetables growing!  In the window boxes of what I assumed was an office building were some very healthy looking leeks and celery, I had to cross the road to make sure I wasn't imagining it :)

A perfect recipe for a rainy Sunday

A soggy Sunday after an already saturated Saturday ... It's been raining for two days solidly. I'm unusually happy about this as I needed an excuse to hunker down indoors all weekend.  It's far too wet to get out in the garden even if I wanted to!  I've spent all day in the kitchen today (well apart from the hours I have spent on the sofa) and it's been wonderful.

Making Feta – feeling smug

I made Feta at the weekend … I am AWEsome!!! Ha, it’s actually not that hard to make but I have this massive sense of achievement like I have just climbed Mount Everest or something J  I’m not normally so self-congratulatory, honest, but I am just that impressed with myself.  The best bit is that it tastes like Feta cheese too, not sure what I expecting it to taste like?!

Autumn - My Favourite Season

Our beautiful chestnut tree, the main provider of lawn leaves

I love autumn, as sad as it is to see summer go I do love that cosy feeling that autumn brings.  I really missed autumn when we lived in Wellington which is surrounded by evergreen trees so you didn’t get that sense of the change of seasons.  Of course in England autumn is the best season as there is Halloween, Bonfire Night and the exciting run up to Christmas, not so much to look forward to here but I still get that feeling of anticipation.


Apples – Autumn Comfort Cooking

Apples ... great all year round eating for snacks and lunchboxes, but I am talking about apples for cooking with.  The evenings are getting darker and it’s getting a bit colder so that is driving me to thoughts of warm comfort food in the form of apple crumbles and apple pies mmmmmm!  I’m not a sweet treat fan generally but I do love apple desserts, and they’ve got to be healthier for you because they’ve got fruit in, right? … right?!?