Yesterday we had a working bee at the marae. I made two vegan banana breads, and a double batch of anzac bikkies for the whakanoa morning tea. The whakanoa is the final part of the powhiri process where we “break bread” together. In this way we go from a state of tapu back to a […]
Breakfast buckwheat groats
If you are looking for a gluten free easy as pie breakfast to make, look no further. Buckwheat groats tick all the boxes. Buckwheat is technically a seed so contains no gluten and when cooked has an earthy, nutty flavour. There are many health benefits to adding buckwheat to your diet either in groat or […]
Freezing peaches
When it comes to preserving I am a romantic, a traditionalist if you like. I’ve always prefered to fill agee jars and have everything on shelves in my pantry where I can admire and appreciate all my bounty. Freezing produce has never had the same appeal as I’ve found that a lot of things just […]
Plum Clafoutis
So many plums, what to do with them all! I’ve bottled some and frozen some for sauce making come autumn. We’ve made plum, crumble and orange blossom water poached plums, and plum cordial. However I’ve been wanting to make a baked plum custardy thing so did some googling and came up with this desert called […]
Pickled Beetroot
This summer we had an excellent crop of beetroot. Grown from seed and planted into a relatively new garden bed they quickly grew fat. I decided to pickle most of them as I didn’t want them to suddenly bolt in this extreme summer heat. I left some in the ground, stored some in the fridge […]
Plum Cordial
When you have a home orchard, it’s impossible to predict which of your fruit will produce in abundance. There are so many variables; as the trees come into blossom the weather may threaten pollination; as the fruit ripens you are competing with birds and possums and again the weather leading to fungus diseases like brown […]
My silverbeet feta pie.
When the silverbeet is pumping and the chooks are laying fit to bust this is my go to dinner. It’s super easy, nutritious and uses lots of home-grown produce. You can use any greens in the pie but my favourites are silverbeet, sorrel, fennel tops, parsley and spring onions. Add a block of feta, 8 […]
Flourless avocado brownies
It’s not very often there is an over abundance of ripe avocados going spare in this household, but today there was. We were gifted a boxful from a family member and some were damaged/ripe and wouldn’t make it through another day. So, even with all my Christmas baking organised I couldn’t bear to waste these […]
Christmas Cake.
Making an old favourite Christmas Cake today. This one harks back to my gluten free years. It’s based on Maria Middlestead’s Christmas cake from her book Cooking Naturally. What’s especially nice about this cake is the addition of chunks of fresh ginger. I’ve made it quite late in the piece as it should sit for […]
My Anzac Biscuits
I’m on a baking roll right now. I love baking, always have. Biscuits, cakes and breads. It’s in the blood I think. I blame my grandmother, my mum’s mum. She filled the biscuit jars once a week. Peanut brownies were a weekly affair and then there was the yo-yos, queen cakes, kisses, lamingtons, melting moments […]
Old-fashioned Bran Biscuits
Here’s another keeper. Old-fashioned bran biscuits. I was flicking through one of our cook-books recently and came across Tui Flowers recipe in The great NZ Cookbook. This a dry but moreish plain biscuit that is perfect with a cup of tea or a cold glass of milk. Inexpensive to make with very little sugar this […]
Homemade Hummus
I spent this morning making focaccia, hummus and preserved lemons with a bunch of women at the marae. It took us an hour. It’s pretty quick and easy to magic up a delicious and super economical feast. The hummus was amazing! so much nicer than anything you could buy. You just can’t beat fresh and […]