I enjoyed the berries the best. The almond one was nice too; it was very honey sweet.
Mezze Bar
9 Durham Street East,
Auckland Central
1 hour ago
Kura
315b Queen St
Auckland Central
Contrary to the warming weather in the Northern hemisphere, the opposite is happening in NZ, where I am living for the moment. Autumn's coming! I found this lovely recipe for the pie from the Autumn flavour post from a French lady living in New Zealand. Who shares my name.
To be honest, it's been feeling like Fridays pretty much every day this week. But still, I'm glad the (real) weekend is finally here :)
How was your day? Mine started early, with a 8.30am appointment at the optometrist. My fourth visit in 6 weeks! Luckily, it was my last, until next time. Got my eyes re-re-re-checked, they are much much better now; got new contact lenses to trial. Yay! Next step would be to get specialised lens for my right astigmatised eye, but perhaps not quite now.
The tart crust is biscuity. It's not sweet, either, but that's actually perfectly balanced by the juicy grapes. Yum. I've been munching on carrots and hummus the whole afternoon, so don't really have space left for the tart at the moment, but I'm sure it won't be long before they are all gone.
It has been a busy week of assignments and tests for my sister and I on our first week back at the university. Tonight she has gone off for another evening test, and I am baking a vegetarian pizza just in time for her return home.
We like vegetarian pizzas in our household. Sis and I have decided to have at least one meal together a week, and it often seems to be pizza or pasta. Pizzas are easier because you just throw on your favourite toppings then chuck it in the oven. The idea for this pizza came from here, the second recipe from the blog, and probably not the last.
Having spent the past few weeks kneading away on bread doughs, I am taking a rest for a while. That's what pizza bases are for, so you don't get sore arms. Thank goodness.
Featuring some of my fave veges: zucchini, mushroom, capsicum :)
We like vegetarian pizzas in our household. Sis and I have decided to have at least one meal together a week, and it often seems to be pizza or pasta. Pizzas are easier because you just throw on your favourite toppings then chuck it in the oven. The idea for this pizza came from here, the second recipe from the blog, and probably not the last.
Featuring some of my fave veges: zucchini, mushroom, capsicum :)
Adapted from here.
Sometimes your dreams may be too weird or embarrassing to share, even if they are so fresh in your mind upon waking.
I had such a dream while having a nap this afternoon, after a very long day at uni, where I had survived on one regular latte and a row of sushi the whole day. By the time I was allowed to leave campus I was desperate for some food and, more importantly, sleep. I could have passed out on the hallway of my apartments, and boy was I tempted. Where were my keys?!
This is an excerpt of my dreams:
I am living by myself in this tiniest flat, and a bf who is very tolerant of my current miserliness. This is not helped by the fact that my sister is being mean to me and Mum has kind of neglected/given up on me. Anyway, I am sad and the bf tries to console me, but I find myself disgusting and push him away. I'm freaking out. He resembles the actor in Bridesmaids, actually, Chris O'Dowd. I saw the movie last weekend and enjoyed it immensely. He's cute in it.
The Chris O'Dowd look-alike takes me to a grocery store; I lose sight of him. On the way to the queue, I see a girl I know. I've been texting her a few weeks ago but she hasn't been returning my messages. I go towards her but she passes me. Thinking she hadn't seen me I go up to her and say hi, but this time she deliberately ignores me and would not talk to me. Why is she being so mean?!
Adding to my depressive state, the lady in the counter won't serve me, accuses me of having done something I haven't (I can't remember what). The angry Chinese lady will not believe that I am not Chinese and thus not understand Chinese. Her colleagues support her and I am getting angry and upset. Their swivel chair seats are digging into my thighs; I am surrounded by the counter ladies' swivel chairs and am claustrophobic. I try to call for help to the manager, a slim giant man like the monster of Pan's Labyrinth, but he's scary and has a menacing grip as he shakes my hand. I don't think he can help me.
Now I'm back home and outside the window I can overhear French people talking loudly. I strike up a conversation with them, wanting to make new French friends, but we get in a verbal fight with them, instead.
...Then I got woken up by a text message.
Feeling very groggy and disoriented, but the dream still quite fresh in my mind, as if from a horrible B movie plot.
Still, can't complain of the sleep I got. Even though the dream probably reflects the stressful and gloomy phase I am going through at the moment, it's only a passing phase, and the sleep helped greatly regain some much needed energy. Glad it's public holiday tomorrow, as well. :)
I had such a dream while having a nap this afternoon, after a very long day at uni, where I had survived on one regular latte and a row of sushi the whole day. By the time I was allowed to leave campus I was desperate for some food and, more importantly, sleep. I could have passed out on the hallway of my apartments, and boy was I tempted. Where were my keys?!
This is an excerpt of my dreams:
I am living by myself in this tiniest flat, and a bf who is very tolerant of my current miserliness. This is not helped by the fact that my sister is being mean to me and Mum has kind of neglected/given up on me. Anyway, I am sad and the bf tries to console me, but I find myself disgusting and push him away. I'm freaking out. He resembles the actor in Bridesmaids, actually, Chris O'Dowd. I saw the movie last weekend and enjoyed it immensely. He's cute in it.
The Chris O'Dowd look-alike takes me to a grocery store; I lose sight of him. On the way to the queue, I see a girl I know. I've been texting her a few weeks ago but she hasn't been returning my messages. I go towards her but she passes me. Thinking she hadn't seen me I go up to her and say hi, but this time she deliberately ignores me and would not talk to me. Why is she being so mean?!
Adding to my depressive state, the lady in the counter won't serve me, accuses me of having done something I haven't (I can't remember what). The angry Chinese lady will not believe that I am not Chinese and thus not understand Chinese. Her colleagues support her and I am getting angry and upset. Their swivel chair seats are digging into my thighs; I am surrounded by the counter ladies' swivel chairs and am claustrophobic. I try to call for help to the manager, a slim giant man like the monster of Pan's Labyrinth, but he's scary and has a menacing grip as he shakes my hand. I don't think he can help me.
Now I'm back home and outside the window I can overhear French people talking loudly. I strike up a conversation with them, wanting to make new French friends, but we get in a verbal fight with them, instead.
...Then I got woken up by a text message.
Feeling very groggy and disoriented, but the dream still quite fresh in my mind, as if from a horrible B movie plot.
Still, can't complain of the sleep I got. Even though the dream probably reflects the stressful and gloomy phase I am going through at the moment, it's only a passing phase, and the sleep helped greatly regain some much needed energy. Glad it's public holiday tomorrow, as well. :)
First day back to uni! Started with a test at 9am... No slow starts allowed, huh. Fortunately I think I was just awake enough to scribble down the essentials. :)
Back home for lunch, I was famished. What's for lunch today? Right down the bottom of my Eats folder on Pinterest, I came to this post. Looks pretty! Unfortunately I am not a fan of baked/cooked apples, because I prefer mine fresh and crispy, not warm and soft.
Being too hungry to make the bread myself, I substituted it for a filo pastry. Store bought. Apparently, aka phyllo; the Greek word for 'leaf', with a Middle Eastern origin.
I love the warm crispness of the thin filo leaves.
Wondering if I should have added eggs into the pastry braid, but it's too late now. Baking at 200 degrees Celsius as I type this, until golden brown. About 15-20 minutes. Yum!
Back home for lunch, I was famished. What's for lunch today? Right down the bottom of my Eats folder on Pinterest, I came to this post. Looks pretty! Unfortunately I am not a fan of baked/cooked apples, because I prefer mine fresh and crispy, not warm and soft.
Being too hungry to make the bread myself, I substituted it for a filo pastry. Store bought. Apparently, aka phyllo; the Greek word for 'leaf', with a Middle Eastern origin.
When I get my own place I would really like some olive trees, lemon trees and mandarin trees. I will probably need to live somewhere with a warm climate. I wouldn't mind :)
I went to look at a flat on auction this morning. Instead of looking at the house itself as it appears, one has to look at its potential. The house we looked at was built in the Seventies. There were two bedrooms, each leading out into the back courtyard. Separate laundry room, bathroom, toilet. A cute deck and a sun room. A small kitchen, and decent sized living area.
It was a decent sized and decent priced unit for a first house, though if I bought it I would probably want a lot of work done on it.
I learnt to ask about the ventilation, and the date of the last renovation, and if the council had approved the extensions built. I also learnt to check the positioning of the sun. All the windows of one side of the house had been replaced, meaning perhaps it didn't get as much sun and the original wooden frames had decayed from humidity and moulds. The other side was well preserved. Lucky K had come along, because otherwise I wouldn't have thought of these things!
Back to uni tomorrow. I'm going to take today slow and quiet. It's going to be very full on for the next few weeks...
Anyway, M, C and I had a chocolate fondue late last night. M had a giant Easter egg and marshmallows she wanted to get through, and we were only too happy to help her. There were an array of fruits - bananas, peach, pear, feijoa, grapes - and also a Merlot. The other girls had wanted a white wine but I made them try a red one this time. Plus it seemed like a more appropriate pairing for the chocolate, in my amateur wine knowledge.
Happy Weekend!
Had a cooking session with C this afternoon, with this recipe as a guide. I had first tasted these when my Russian friends made them for one of many pot luck dinners we enjoyed in Paris last year. I had loved it, the soft texture of the potato pancakes I had never tasted before. Having written down the long and difficult name (it would have been mean to even try remembering it by heart), I have safe kept the recipe for... tonight. :)
The recipe recommended apple sauce or berry jam, but we had neither, so we just had them with sour cream. Plus spinach from my little 'garden'. :)
Pancakes, beer and the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind brought a close to a happy afternoon and evening. Thanks C! Now back to the studies...
My friend from Christchurch suggested that I try this recipe for an easy as banana cake. We all love easy recipes, right?
The deal:
- Chuck in all of the following in a bowl:-
- 3 mature bananas
- 175g sugar
- 175g butter
- 3t vanilla essence
- 4 eggs
- 200g flour
- 1T baking powder - Mix
- Bake at 160 degrees for 50 minutes
- Cool, EAT!
I didn't put any cinnamon because I don't like them. I always find the taste too strong, and I always seem to put too much in, so I omitted them out completely.
You could cover the cake with chocolate, which would have been awesome, but... I baked this just before shooting out the door to work, so didn't have time.
The only thing I had to buy to make this was the bananas. Supermarkets don't generally sell mature bananas though. I had to quicken the process by putting the said fruits in a bag with tomatoes. Apparently bananas will mature quickly when put in with tomatoes or apples because the apples/tomatoes produce Ethylene gas that will ripen bananas. Tried and approved! :)
Went shopping on an impulse today, because work suddenly got cancelled - while I was on the bus there. Argh. So met up with C on K Rd for some op shopping. She got these jeans short cut offs whereas I scored a sky blue Oxford shirt and a pattern print skirt in bright blue. Pretty happy with our purchases we said our goodbyes for the day. Yay! Perhaps I will wear the skirt this weekend, I think my friends and I are going to have dinner at a nice restaurant coming Saturday. Excited!
On a baking roll! Felt like something sweet, so instead of buying packaged goods from the store, I decided to treat myself to some brownies. Sweet, but not too sweet, as in not sickeningly sweet.
This recipe is called the Ultimate Chocolate Brownie, voted the best recipe from the Search for NZ's favourite recipe website...from a lady with the same name as me, hailing from my hometown to boot. I had to try it!
I had couscous for dinner last night, but was still feeling a bit hungry so, after trying to shake it off, decided to bake English muffins... At 9.30 at night... Since the recipe requires for around 3 hours waiting time for the dough to rise, I am still up at midnight, determined to finish making these treats. Hungrier by the hour.
I am using this recipe from Budget Bytes, a great food blog I had found a while back.
Instead of following the recipe exactly, I modified it a little. For example, I used a wholemeal flour instead of a white one. Hope it works out well. I don't even have the most basic ingredients in my kitchen. Like a large skillet. Will get there slowly, though.
These days I have been baking a lot of bread. There's one Focaccia recipe that I always go to. It's the best recipe ever! I will blog about it later.
I've also experimented with other recipes I found online. For first time attempts it is usually safe to follow the directions closely, but not always. There was one that required 2T of salt. I thought, 'hmm, that's a bit much, isn't it?' But went along with it, nonetheless. The loaf turned out beautifully, aesthetically at least. It was the saltiest bread I've ever tasted. Ever. I am sure it should have been 2t salt instead of T. Beurk! :(
Ok... the mini muffins on the pan now... Hurry up, you!! And please don't disappoint me...
Yum!!!!!!! :D
I am using this recipe from Budget Bytes, a great food blog I had found a while back.
Instead of following the recipe exactly, I modified it a little. For example, I used a wholemeal flour instead of a white one. Hope it works out well. I don't even have the most basic ingredients in my kitchen. Like a large skillet. Will get there slowly, though.
These days I have been baking a lot of bread. There's one Focaccia recipe that I always go to. It's the best recipe ever! I will blog about it later.
I've also experimented with other recipes I found online. For first time attempts it is usually safe to follow the directions closely, but not always. There was one that required 2T of salt. I thought, 'hmm, that's a bit much, isn't it?' But went along with it, nonetheless. The loaf turned out beautifully, aesthetically at least. It was the saltiest bread I've ever tasted. Ever. I am sure it should have been 2t salt instead of T. Beurk! :(
Ok... the mini muffins on the pan now... Hurry up, you!! And please don't disappoint me...
Fork in the base of the pastry, spread with wholegrain mustard, top with tomatoes and fresh goat cheese. I also added spinach here. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with herbs.
Bake for around 20 minutes at 200'C.
Simple and totally delicious.
I had a dream last night featuring my cousins, TS, JC, J... When are you coming to visit me?!
Another week gone... One more week of holidays! I'm so going to get fully rested before uni starts again. Please!
72 Albert Street
Auckland Central
I went to the Auckland Art Gallery, finally, to see actual artworks rather than for the food. My favourite section was the linocut prints of the 1930s by such artists as Cyril Power, Sybil Andrews, and Ethel Spowers.
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| The Giant Stride, Ethel Spowers (1933) |
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| The Gale, Sybil Andrews (1930) |
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| The Tube Station, Cyril Power (1932) |
I am back at school, though not younger. I make friends with the classmates, becoming surprisingly popular. Think they look upto me because I am older, more mature.
Invitation to a boy's house, with a bunch of his mates. I'm teaching them something.. Can't remember what.. Then the boy's Dad comes home. Introduction time. It's time to go. Good bye. I'm running down the stairs, weird maze like stairs, green carpeted with golden specks. Past rows of cars - this must be an apartment complex such as the ones in Korea.
I'm in a hurry to get home, for whatever reason. A girl passes me, recognises me, and greets me in a very pleasant way. My girl crush, haha. I didn't even realise she recognised me. But, oh, I need to run, so sorry!
It's all about the timing, isn't it, over and over again.
Invitation to a boy's house, with a bunch of his mates. I'm teaching them something.. Can't remember what.. Then the boy's Dad comes home. Introduction time. It's time to go. Good bye. I'm running down the stairs, weird maze like stairs, green carpeted with golden specks. Past rows of cars - this must be an apartment complex such as the ones in Korea.
I'm in a hurry to get home, for whatever reason. A girl passes me, recognises me, and greets me in a very pleasant way. My girl crush, haha. I didn't even realise she recognised me. But, oh, I need to run, so sorry!
It's all about the timing, isn't it, over and over again.
You ran about in my dreams (in your dreams) with me (that wasn't really me), trying to save us both. Apparently that means we were connected in some avatar sort of way, so sorry you're tired from all the running but it's kind of good feeling.
My sis made us a nice tuna pasta dish for lunch and I was so pleased. She even let me have second helpings. I baked bread and shared it with her.
Third optometry visit in two weeks, lasted an hour and a half. Yet another one in a fortnight's time. Better not forget to use up all the drops liberally, so my eye gets better soon.
Reading upon beautiful aesthetic bodies for an anthropology essay. A long way to go still... But very interesting.
My sis made us a nice tuna pasta dish for lunch and I was so pleased. She even let me have second helpings. I baked bread and shared it with her.
Third optometry visit in two weeks, lasted an hour and a half. Yet another one in a fortnight's time. Better not forget to use up all the drops liberally, so my eye gets better soon.
Reading upon beautiful aesthetic bodies for an anthropology essay. A long way to go still... But very interesting.
I kept my promise. Will you keep yours, I wonder? Please, don't let me down.
