Autumn Joys

Tarte tatin ready for the oven

I love the light and air this time of year. Even after such a forlorn summer, the chill is invigorating, and the as the sun turns more to silver than gold, I feel enlivened.The blackberries we planted some time ago have finally decided to settle in, and the crop this year was constant and tasty. I thought a tarte tartin would be a winner with a few luscious berries added. I used a 10 inch cast iron frying pan, which I bought at the Panmure market for $10 and use for everything. Core apples or pears (peel them too, if you can be bothered, which I can't if the apples are thin skinned and nice), slice tidily, and roll in enough lemon juice to stave off the browning effects of oxidation. Set oven to 190 degrees, and take your pastry sheet out of the freezer - I use Paneton flakey pastry sheets which are easy and very good quality. Cut a circle of pastry to just fit your pan.Put 200g sugar in the frying pan with a couple of tablespoons of water and heat gently, stirring until boiling. After this point, lift heat to medium and swirl to spread the caramelization, being careful not to splash. Do not taste - caramel burns are like oil burns, painful and even dangerous. Stir in a knob of butter, and place the apple slices (with points for artistic merit) in the caramel, pour the blackberries over, and simmer gently about 5 mins until the apple is softened, turning if necessary. Place pastry on top, and put in the oven to bake until pastry is puffed and golden, about half an hour.Cool about 5 minutes, and check the pastry will dislodge from pan. Place a board over the top of the pan, and flip - confidence is everything - and there you have it. 

Gorgeous!

My favourite cheese (if it is possible) has finally been recognised. We ran this when we opened in 2010, and in my, albeit humble, opinion, this cheese will stand the test of time with the Whitestone Blues, Clevedon Buffalo mozzarella and others to become an iconic NZ cheese. It is the Darfield, and was awarded Champion Original Cheese this year in the 2012 Cuisine Cheese Awards. Anna Moorhead has combined art with food perfectly. The cheese is fresh, with a shelf life of about 3 weeks, I think, of creamy consistency, and pungent with white mould, not for the fainted hearted, with a French ash layer through the middle. When cut, this ash line schmears to become a seismograph reading, a memorial to the September Earthquake centred on Darfield, 20 kilometres from Anna and her father Ev's goat farm. I love it, and we sell plenty when it is available, as well as the wonderful Fromage Blanc. Grown men have been called to comment on the Fromage Blanc in a roquette salad with pears, roasted or not, and nuts...almonds or walnuts, dressing of avo oil and real lemon juice, pepper and salt. My favourite is on pizza, I am embarrassed to say, with Hungarian Deli's Black Pudding, and a sprinkle of roquette, maybe a squidgeon of grated Neudorf .

And the winners are...

2012 Cuisine NZ Champions of Cheese Awards WINNERS

Yealands Estate Champion of Champions Award 

Meyer Vintage Gouda – Meyer Gouda Cheese 

Cuisine Champion Artisan Cheese 

Very Old Edam - Mahoe Farmhouse Cheese 

NZ Cheese School Champion Cheesemaker 

Jacob Rosevear - Mahoe Farmhouse Cheese 

2012 Cuisine NZ Champions of Cheese Awards Category Winners: 

The Langham Champion Fresh Unripened Cheese Award 

Buffalo Mozzarella – Clevedon Valley Buffalo Company 

Countdown Champion Feta Cheese Award 

Brinza – Gibbston Valley Cheese 

Innovative Packaging Champion Soft White Rind Cheese Award 

Overbrook Brie – Talbot Forest Cheese 

Elldex Packaging Champion Goat Cheese Award 

Cilantro Chèvre – Cilantro Cheese 

Monteith's Champion Sheep Cheese Award 

Cumerino – Over The Moon Dairy Company 

Thermaflo Champion Washed Rind Cheese Award 

Galactic Gold – Over the Moon Dairy Company 

GEON Champion Cheddar Cheese Award 

Fonterra Edendale Cheddar – Fonterra Edendale (aged 26- 36 months) 

QCONZ Champion European Style Cheese Award 

Parmesan – Talbot Forest Cheese 

NZ Labs/Bureau Veritas Champion Dutch Style Cheese Award 

Leyden Vintage – Karikaas Natural Dairy Products 

Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Champion New Cheese Award 

Buffalo Hard Cheese – Clevedon Valley Buffalo Company 

Fonterra Champion Original Cheese Award 

Darfield – Gruff Junction 

AsureQuality Champion Flavoured Cheese Award 

Garlic & Chive Gouda – Meyer Gouda Cheese 

Ecolab Champion Blue Cheese Award 

Vintage Blue – Whitestone Cheese 

Goodman Fielder Champion Export Cheese Award 

Kapiti Kahurangi – Fonterra Brands NZ 

New World Champion Favourite Cheese Award 

Kapiti Kikorangi – Fonterra Brands NZ 

  

Caspak Champion Cheese Packaging Award 

Whitestone Range – Whitestone Cheese 

Curds & Whey Champion Home Crafted Cheese Award 

Mozzarella by Adrian Walcroft 

Curds & Whey Champion Ho

I had an interesting customer in some time ago, fresh from Japan, where she is a contributor to an online children's fashion magazine popular in Japan and France.Her name is Maki Kakimoto, and she was kind enough to notice my store, and write about it on her blog. The blog is lovely.. a record of a mother with children in another country, how it looks and feels. http://milkjapon.com/blog/kakimoto/2012/03/spencers.html

The mag is MILK and it is great.
www.milkmagazine.net

March

Hungarian Deli sausages

In the Saturday Herald yesterday, in the ARTISAN FOODS section, a wonderful article about the Hungarian Deli. We do so well with this product which I bought when we opened as Istevan was the only butcher who could make me a sausage the old way, all taste and no preservatives. I love the idea of a sausage using the last bits of a beast so no part is discarded as waste, then mixed with herbs and spices; a celebration of the animal which is sustaining us, and the artist who balances the tastes, made to last long periods of time through periods of such hardship as a European winter. The double smoked sausages are not reliant on preservatives to maintain their freshness, so are ideal for campers and sailors. I have said to customers that if they ever need to escape across the seas in a canoe, Istevan's sausages will ensure they do not arrive hungry at their destination. They are not designed to be eaten in huge quantities, although the it would be easy to overeat the Hunter's and Debreceni, but to savour, and to enrich soups, stews and vegetables.  

Hungarian Deli sausages hanging out with cheeses from Gruff Junction and Evansdale

I have put some flyers out in answer to what do we do...but I hope people will still come in and browse. I will never be a supermarket with everything arranged in rows, wrapped in plastic with fancy labels. I want customers to come in and buy my cocoa because it smells amazing and take it home feeling really good about preparing food for people they care about.

We will continue to change, as I am now beginning to understand that what we do is introduce people to great food, and my jobs is to find beautiful new product made by artisans, or imported by people who know and care about their business.

So here it is, this is some of what we  are doing just now

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Spencer’s

7 Roberta Avenue

Glendowie

Auckland

Tel   5851448

www.spencersblogspot.com

from the SUNDAY HERALD “SUPERB COFFEE” “CRIMINALLY GOOD FOOD”

We’re a corner store. And we want to change the way you shop - for the better - quicker, healthier and happier.  With prepared foods made with care from quality ingredients you see on our shelves, fresh seasonal produce, products to take the chore out of housekeeping, expert help, and our everyday value pricing on the everyday groceries you need . . . every day. Simple, direct, not too fancy - full of good things waiting to be discovered. In fact, we want to make shopping an experience you actually enjoy.

Have a look at what we are doing just now

Breakfast and Lunch

Hendersons Free Range bacon, and ham, Organic pullet eggs 6.00 dozen, Free Range Jumbo  eggs 9.00 dozen, baked and frozen danishes, croissants, breads  (pick up our gluten free order form),  muffins, mighty sandwiches, ready to go salads, beautiful Evansdale Farmhouse brie, Gruff Junction goats cheeses, Zino sisters preserves...  Teas to savour, Tokyo lime, rosebud, jasmine princess pearls, and then the coffee - ahhh

Mains Meals

To Start

Deli selection for bruschetta – olive selection, pesto, tapenade, hummus, preserved lemon, sundried tomatoes, Danish feta, smoked , venison biersticks, Buffalo salami, award winning cheeses

Spencer’s Free Range Chicken liver Pate  -  Free range chicken livers and chestnuts or artichokes, simmered in butter, wine, and brandy with sweet paprika, wild fennel, orange, porcini mushrooms, spring onion, salt and cracked pepper and pureed to a smooth paste. Suitable for hors d oeuvres with crostini and gherkins or radishes or celery sticks, sandwiches, or Beef Wellington

Pizza Bases

No more cheese on toast with Spencer’s cooked pizza base! Take our frozen uncooked pizza bases home with toppings chosen from the deli section – Tomato passata, pesto, salami, chorizo, ham, selection of olives, pepperdews, Roman style artichokes, mozzarella pearls, grated pizza cheese, mix it up with some fresh mushrooms, basil, tomato, courgette, rocquette and create your own pizza masterpieces at home. Throw it in a cast iron pan if you don’t have a pizza stone, 200 degrees, and don’t spoil beautiful bread with overcooking...

 Homemade meat patties      

Organic beef steak mince with spinach and grated carrot, with either Raewyn’s spice mix or a herbal. Serve on toasted ciabatta buns or foccacia with our very special salad greens, beetroot, grated carrot, tomato, cucumber, Katos roast garlic aioli or hollandaise, a terrific relish from Zinos, and you have a gourmet burger to experiment with every week.

Sausages  

The only way you can spoil these sausages is to overcook them, or cook at too high a heat

More to come so watch this space.....

Hunters veal and venison  - Serve on a mash of potato mixed with puree of spinach, silver beet or cavalo nero , with sauerkraut,  or salad of rocquette, fromage blanc, toasted almonds and pears dressed with lemon juice and a good oil.

Debreceni  - Traditionally used in a casserole of tomatoes and capsicums with rice, this sausage makes a perfect frankfurter, or serve as you would any other wonderful sausage.

Colbasz csabal (chorizo)  - Use as any chorizo in minestrone type or risotto recipe, but I really love a frittata made with boiled potatoes and parsley . Fork eggs with salt, pepper, and parsley, gently melt colbasz, and throw in potato cut to whatever dimensions you fancy. Pour in egg mix and cook on top of stove until firm. Place under grill until co oked through and serve in wedges with salad or roast veg.

Smoked Buffalo Cocktails – fabulous on a bbq, or with a relish as hors d’oeuvre

Free range chicken and herb  -  Gently roast or bbq

Free range pork  - Great for breakfast, lunch or dinner

Malaysian Beef or Green Curry

We keep this in the freezer so it is ready for anything. Either add veg and serve on rice, or serve as is with rice and a salad of finely sliced cabbage, beans, julienne carrot, sprouts...

Pasta Nostra

Fresh lemon linguine, truffle potato gnocchi, venison and porcini ravioli, artichoke and ricotta.  Use with our house tomato sauce or your own version of mushroom, puttanesca, or spinach sauces – we have the ingredients.

Free Range Chicken Stock

With your choice of Carneroli or Arborio for a real risotto, try adding porcini mushrooms and their soaking water, rocquette and fromage blanc, roast pumpkin and feta, or folding in Roman style artichokes before serving with parmesan.

Asian style is great too; bring the stock to the boil with ginger, garlic, julienne carrots, celery, beansprouts, bok choy or spinach and extra water for a one pot dinner. Add pork balls with/without seaweed, rice noodles/vermicelli/udon as you fancy. Serve with dipping sauces of soy, sesame oil, fish sauce and lime, coriander or chilli to smart it up.

Roast Free Range Chicken

Great as is for a quick meal with minted potatoes or Israeli couscous and our beautiful salad greens/ rocquette mix.

Shred into a salad of rice vermicelli or ribbons, soaked in hot water, bean sprouts, julienne capsicum, blanched broccoli, bok choy, beans and peas, boiled peanuts,  and dress with chilli, fish and soy sauces with lime and sesame oil. Limited only by your imagination.

Simmer the bones for a tasty stock, add orzo and some small pieces of vegetable for a tasty lo cal lunch.

Desserts

Handmade gelato, sorbet, and try the clafoutis sometime – either seasonal fruit or sour cherry

ASK ABOUT OUR WEEKLY, HOLIDAY and ENTERTAINING BOXES, AND ALLERGEN FREE ALTERNATIVES

I am so thrilled, we have another great review, with thanks to lovely Cate Foster. We  have been so lucky with the press,  and this time Cate has written about the wonderful walking around Glendowie. We are so lucky to have a little bit of country in the city, with historic Karaka Bay, said to be a landing spot for one of the great Tainui canoes involved in the great Maori migration, and a site of Treaty of Waitangi signing in 1840.


 Churchill Park is a beautiful Premier Auckland park, and still a casual walking place through cattle and paradise ducks, offering a wonderful place to watch the sun go down over the city, and a lower creek walk with peeks of some well known gardens. 

This pic from  Jimby K on Flickr

Tahuna Torea is probably our jewel with the old Maori fish traps now sanctuary for birds and our small native animals, a boardwalk with plant identification tags which are interesting for tourists and locals alike, and the sandspit stretching almost all the way across the Tamaki Estuary to Buckland's Beach at low tide. The godwits use this long beach for feeding and restoring on their holiday from Alaska or Siberia, and there are a few rare locals who have told me of marveling at the parent birds preparing their young for the long, long journey, round and round, landing, taking off, landing, taking off, over and over again. I guess some of them never make it back.'


Thank you Cate,  for sharing your adventure with us. And for the comments about "superb coffee", and "criminally good food". I hope you enjoyed the red rice - I would love to see you again.


I have moved the shop around again, they say a change is as good as a rest! And 
I am asked more and more for semi prepared food, something special for tonight...a good curry, lamb in pomegranate, tasty mince pie. I have always made my own curry pastes, but lately I have been using the instant pastes I sell in the shop, and I think it is no different to buying from the heaps of pastes I remember in the markets of Thailand and India. The taste is very good, and authentic, and it gives the customer an idea for an easy meal. Still fun to put your own together though!

I had agreat girl working with me last night preparing bruschetta and pastries for a 21st party. Her father is Kiwi and mother is of Canadian descent, and she is working for a jeweller in town. She mentioned this great website www.grooveshark.com This is such a winner I  can't believe I hadn't heard of it before, A bit like i tunes but way easier for those with a bit on our minds. So I 
wandered through the pages and fell apon a terrific group Brazillian Girls Try this http://grooveshark.com/#!/brazilian_girls

Biography

None of the members of Brazilian Girls are Brazilian, and only the lead singer is a girl: still, it's a name that invites investigation, and New York-based Brazilian Girls achieved some popularity through their self-titled debut album in 2005. Their style is electronic-based but they also fuse salsa, samba, reggae and jazz into the mix, and singer Sabina Sciubba sings in five different languages. Second album Talk To La Bomb(2006) brought more warm reviews.

Just when I wonder whose insane idea this all was, something always happens to remind me we are on the right track.. This week we put the NICE BLOCKS in. What a great idea - Tommy arrived with a car load of gorgeous ice blocks, all organic juices, fair trade, just the business. I    asked him why he thought no one had picked up on such a great  idea before, and his reply was that it is really hard. Well yes, I guess that is the thing, and it puts all but the most committed players off. Our commitment to good food and home wares is in the same box, really hard, but when I see the groundswell from people like Tommy and James, striving to offer only the best at affordable prices, I am sure we are just a bit ahead of our time.


Twenty years of supermarket advertising has convinced young men, and moreso, young women that they offer the quickest, most cost effective means to buy food. I remain unconvinced, but then I was roaming Glen Innes fifteen years ago buying spices, fish, vegetables, and meats from people who knew their product intimately. Anything to keep out of the supermarket. I know good food when I see it and I don't need to choose from 26 options to buy the same thing each week.


I had a customer in yesterday who works in a holistic medical practice in Mount Eden, and we both commented on the stress our young women are putting themselves under in these modern times. While many men help so much more, I see it still usually to be the women in the household who have the ultimate responsibility for housekeeping, home making, and child rearing. Not always, but usually. Added to this is the expectation of at least a part time job, earning at least 20,000 and preferably 50,000 per year, and the need to look good - young and vibrant. A big ask. When my generation fought for women's choice, we never considered we might be creating a trap where we were expected to fulfil all these roles. And how does a man support a woman in all this? No easy answer to this either.


So my customer was saying her medical practice is full of women making themselves unwell because of their attachment to these ideas of time and money parameters.I get many women down from the hospice wearing scarves, looking for healthy options in their food and cleaning products, moving away from budget teabags and looking for beautiful, quality leaves they will enjoy for no more money, just a little more ritual in the making. I wish quietly to myself they had done this before they had to face the chemotherapy which has catalyzed their new thinking.


All these things this week reminded me what it  is what we set out to do. To offer lovely foods and home-wares, not as expensive specialty items for guests, but for the everyday table. I would bet my breakfast that the saving in less impulse buying of "bargains""and reduction in waste at the back of the frig would more than offset any savings from corporate purchasing power. There is a place for the supermarket, to be sure, but it is once a fortnight, after buying what is available from artisans, not the other way around. Come in, buy your children a NICE BLOCK so they will enjoy the shopping process, or involve them in the purchasing so they learn to eat well, enjoy an organic fair trade coffee yourself while you shop. Look around, and see what might suit your weekly needs from your local stores, talk about what is fresh, available at  a special price or just enchanting to take home and share with your family. 


If it works, plan an order to pick up, a week of fine food, boxed ready to go. Some ideas...


Chicken, roast veg in Israeli couscous, rocquette, yoghurt and mint dressing
Veal and venison Hunters sausage (no nitrites, gluten or nonsense), potatoes for mash, sauteed courgettes, tomatoes, lil sweetie capsicums in garlic and olive oil
Risotto with Spencer's free range chicken stock, roasted mushrooms with porcini (expensive but a couple of dollars goes a long way) or roast  pumpkin, salad greens fragrant with lemon balm and three basils dressed with olive oil, lemon, garlic)
Kebabs of organic beef mince, ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander, turmeric on new season basmati rice, Zinos hot aubergine chutni, small salads - cucumber/yogurt/ coriander  raita, roast tomato, grated carrot with fried cumin, 
Pizza bases (frozen uncooked) with tomato passata, chorizo, mozzarella balls, basil, artichoke hearts, olives
Penne with garlicy Omega clams, rocquette salad with fromage blanc and aavocado dressing
Takeaway Green BeefcCurry, fresh coriander, new season organic jasmine rice, salad of roquette, cress, sprouts, julienne capsicum or green mango dressed with fish sauce, lime and a squigeon of chilli


I will price this up out of interest, and add
Earthwise washing powder, washing up liquid, Methven body wash
Ciabatta, bread rolls,baguettes, ham, cheese, Zinos beetroot and horsradish relish, mesclun
Harraways organic rolled oats (porrige, bircher muesli), Zinos marmalade, strawberry jam, fruit, tray organic eggs
Ginger syrup, Elderflower cordial
and see how we look.


My pick is quicker, cheaper, tastier and way more fun!


Thanks to Tommy and James for the inspiration...

Our  Angel

2012 Christmas Tree

My design background just rolls in this website   

http://www.toxel.com/inspiration/2008/12/11/unusual-and-creative-christmas-trees/

Holly, George and I interpreted it in our own way, and it was stunning. We should have spent more time really, but it is a great place to start.

I have read for years about great chefs choosing a picnic for Christmas and I confess to feeling a little sad that the trappings of our celebrations were becoming lost, but now I get it! This year was my brothers turn to "do "Christmas, with his wonderfully creative wife Sally. They graciously  chose to bring everything up here so I could join in without worrying about the shop. So we had a picnic in Dingle Dell, and no trappings were lost at all, I might add. Dingle Dell is a  wonderful gift to Auckland city, a wandering park of leafy rooms which amble down an inner city  valley. Nik constructed a great prawn and avocado starter on the BBQ, and I took a platter of pre dinner treats, Buffalo Salami,  piquant pepperdews, baguettes, and a couple of the salubrious Gruff Fromage Blanc. Pete and Sally took a wonderful Turkey roll, boned and filled with mince, nuts and all sorts (must ask for the recipe), while my other brother and his wife took a homecured ham and salads of greens and roast veg. My parents took two Baba au Rhum avec plenty of Rhum, and fruits. We lay on the grass, drank a little wine,ate, chatted, drank a little more wine, played croquet and boules badly and drank a little more wine. Nobody had to clean because family were coming, on because they had left, the teenage progeny did not have to be good so could chill and reacquaint with each other, no dishes and we ccaught up with some friends from Nelson who happened  past - it was like having caterer with no stress or mess. I just loved it. Thanks so much to to Pete n Sally, Bob n Ali, Mum and Dad, and Nik it embraced all Christmas is to me.

Thinking further about cyberplaces of interest, have a look at Holly's blog

lying in the daisies on Tumblr. It is just lovely.

Hoping Christmas brought everyone the best of family and friends, with maybe a little good food and wine, and wishing everyone a blessed 2012

Peasant pizza

Pizza has to be the ultimate peasant food. Flour, water salt and yeast tended with love and leftovers! We were blessed the other night by a visit by dear friends presently living and working in Switzerland, and a one time sailing coach, now good friend of Holly's. "Nothing in the frig" was overcome in no time.


6 cups flour,  preferably pizza flour, and you will notice the difference, but anything will do.
Make a well in the middle for 1 teaspoon sugar and 2 good teaspoons of dried yeast. Add about 1/4 cup blood heat water and leave to fizz. Around the edge of the bowl, put in 2 teaspoons salt (or as you like) and a good glug of any oil. When the yeast is fizzing, add water to bind and make a yielding dough, It will be about 2 cups, but depend on the flour and weather. If you can leave it to develop the yeast for half an hour, then do, otherwise roll it out into pizza rounds. We like ours thin.


Toppings are up to you - the world will not fly off it's axis if you do not use tomato sauce, oregano and parmigiano, but you will notice a difference if you use honest ingredients Personally, I think butter chicken and BBQ pork are better reserved for another evening, but I tend to be a little purist in the country food area. Then a little round of oil, a sprinkle of cheese, pecorino or parmigiano, mozzarella ( we keep mozzarella pearls in the freezer for just such an occasion), into  cast iron frypan and cook in oven preheated to 200 degrees. Don't cook too long - I have made the mistake often of thinking brown will be tasty, but I really think it spoils a beautiful bread.


Try Hungarian Deli Chabay, chopped tomato, roquette and Gruff Junction fromage blanc. The fromage blanc refuses to melt ... perfect


Pesto, cooked chicken, , blanched spinach with a sprinkle of parmigiano or capsicum.


Artichokes (Roman style stalks on are the best) roast tomato and mozzarella


Black pudding is a winner


The interesting thing is the cost. Some of the ingredients are expensive by weight, but the total for an evening meal with a big salad of greens, nuts, avos whatever, would be no more than most meat based meals. A treat for students, and great drinking food as it just keeps on coming.


I will keep adding  toppings to this list, so let me know your favourites.

#713                I am so loving this blog, with little truths for every moment

Christmas Countdown

We are heading for Christmas already! 


On Sunday, my son turns 16, avec mussel entree, followed by roast lamb, pumpkin, kumara, garlic potatoes and salad, as we do every year. Strawberries for dessert probably, and then he will need to study for a Maths exam Monday morning. We will celebrate again after exams!


Monday is Halloween, and being of the opinion that any excuse for a party is fine, I am working on a pumpkin gelato, spiced with cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon. I am trying to get squid ink to blacken up the licorice gelato, which will look gorgeous with the pastel allsorts I have found. If I can find some plastic spiders, the cabinet will be perfect.


5 November is Guy Fawkes, and BBQ night. We will be having a mix of Hungarian Deli Veal and Venison Hunters Sausage, Debrecini franks, and the beautiful Smoked Buffalo Cocktails. I tried my first order of Buffalo product from Clevedon on Friday - the mozzarella lasted in the deli cabinet for half an hour, the ricotta one day, and I am now down to the last of six yoghurts. The flavours were plain, Heilala Vanilla, and Lemon Zest. All lovely. I am so lucky to be allowed to offer such artisan product. A salad of buffalo mozzarella, small tomatoes, basil and Olivado olive oil will be great with the sausages, and perhaps another of cucumber with Buffalo yoghurt, dill tips and salt. Baked potatoes in the oven, and a relish, maybe the new Zino sisters Chilli with Tequila, or their Tomato Kasundi, or better still both.


And then Holly's birthday - who knows what that will look like, but it will be fun to have an eighteen year old daughter. Holly and a girlfriend from Canada are planning a summer holiday around the East Cape with a tent, a small BBQ, a camera and a surfboard. I am so jealous! But I guess my job will be to pack the hamper...


And then Christmas. We will have been in business our first year by then. My goodness, what a year.
I am preparing notes to pop in customers grocery bags to tell them what we plan to offer for Christmas - it is going to look a bit like this

Free Range Hams                                                                                                         about $250 for a whole ham. 

A stunner, glazed in citrus and Angostura bitters

Free Range  Pavlova                                                                                                    somewhere in the $30 space

Morello Cherry Clafoutis                                                                                              $35

Whole 1kg  rounds Fresh Cheese, Brie, Smoke, Cumin                                       $35

Gelato cake                                                                                                                    $26 - $39

Smoked Buffalo cocktail sausages

Hunters Sausage, Debreceni, Chorizo                                                                     $20 to $30 kilo

Ryans  FR BBQ Sausages, bacon and pork, lemon grass                                    $18.00 kilo         

Par baked baguettes   (7mins to serve)                                                                     2 for $5.00

Breads other (bake 7mins on the day)                                                                      $5.40
180 degrees oat biscuits

Salad greens French or Asian Blend                                                                        $3.00 100gm

Ducks                                                                                                                              $25-$30

Sliced Oranges in Elderflower                                                                                    $7.95

Elderflower cordial

Gruff Junction Goats Cheeses - just lovely goat cheeses

Christmas cakes , meringues, varied baking

Zino Sisters Preserves allsorts and very good                                                      $4.50 or $8.50

T Leaf teas, Estate first and second flush,

herbal, Rosebud, Lavender, jasmine white tea                                                     $11.00 to $18.00

Coffee from Hummingbird in Christchurch                                                             $10 TO $15

Hakanoa Ginger beer                                                                                                $4.00 per bottle

Chocolate dates boxed                                                                                             $10 to $50
Damson Collection Artisan Chocolates                                                                 $20
Varied Deli items, Pepperdews, Artichoke hearts

The wind was howling this morning when I arrived at the shop, and the strong smell of salt told me the tide was out...so invigorating. The estuary is never dull, and has a charm which even in the depths of winter will enchant me.

Glendowie Park

Seafood is so often thought of as summer food, and oh, what summer food. I Pipi, blanched to open, drenched in salt, pepper and vinegar, wrapped in brown bread and butter, or frittered, maybe with a little sesame oil in the cooking butter. Scallops, raw, in the shell, with a drizzle of tamari sauce and a squirt of wasabi. Paua, sliced thinly, and tossed quickly with butter or good oil, garlic, and fresh watercress. Cockles thrown into a pan of oil and garlic, a good glug of wine and parsley, eaten with bread, crusty or chewy doesn't matter, and a salad fragrant with mint, any of the basils, chervil. I have always meant to try kina with pasta again, as the memory of my last try has faded a little, but it is so hard to go past Hone Tuwhares recipe

on the shore again, we seek out the pooled

rocks at low tide, delicately

plucking the prickle-needled king

(sea egg), opening it, and scooping 

out the vulnerable and tremulous

orange segments, clinging inside

its globular shelter. And well...

Slurp is all you hear, as we hold it

a-dangle above our gaping mouths,

dropping it quickly into a

ngungly-snuckly, throat contraction flat out

right the way on past the

Adam's-apple check out slithery gump

O, sexy!

m-m-m-m and m-m-m-m-

my millennial thanks to you, 

Tangaroa!

That would have to be a recipe for summer bliss...

But last night I cooked mussels, wintery mussels, and they were so good, we ate them before I could take a photo!

I started with plenty of good Olivado olive oil and two cloves of garlic crushed, then added about 1 1/2 kg quartered potatoes, two tsp Rapunzel Organic powdered vegetable bouillon and water to almost cover as we had no stock. I left it to simmer with a sprig each of rosemary and lemon thyme until the potatoes were cooked through. After washing the mussels in plenty of cold water, I put them in the pan with two good handfuls of spinach and a grind of pepper. I covered the pan, and left it to steam until the mussels opened and firmed up a little, then added a last little splosh of oil. We were  late with dinner so I was hungry, but really, it was just the perfect thing for a bleak winter night.

Have a look at www.omegaseafood.com for more recipes

 Omega have vac packaged mussels and cockles so they keep in the frig for ages, ready to go, so will put a recipe for this emergency comfort food beside my stocks.I hope I can do this again, as sometimes these spontaneous meals are hard to recreate. Next time, I will have bread to mop up the juices so we don't have drink from the plates!

So many lovely things to offer, and I haven't ven included the cleaning and bathroom ranges, or the homewares!

Thanks so much to Matthew and Lorissa Olsen, who recommended me for the Lifestyle section of the Weekend Herald. It was a really nice article about how lucky we are to live here. I have had a lot of interest from it, even from locals who didn't know we were here. 

Check it out             

nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10732791

Also interesting this week, was a Herald report on the Global Women conference. Speakers included Nicola Bell from Saatchis, and Sarah Paykel who helped establish Lush. The article discusses the challenges of new businesses, the main one being money. Time and again, I have seen women carve businesses out of the air with no money, just sheer grit and determination, while still maintaining a primary role in home making and child rearing. For those who left a career of their own to support a business with husbands, bring up children, or anything in between, heading back into the workforce on their own can be daunting, especially if flexibility is still a consideration. Flexibility often comes with a compromise of small hourly rate,  repetitive work, or contracts including such items as forbidding texting during work hours. For some women, these parameters can make living, working and mothering a tightrope walk, and beginning a business of their own looks to be the only real option to regain some control over their lives. Capital is tied up in homes, or the primary business, so adequate funding  is not available to put a new business on it's feet quickly. Tenacity, resilience, and focus are required by the bucketload, and a positivism which can, at times, be a challenge to muster.
I get by with a little help from my friends. My mother and father, in their eighties, are my emergency courier drivers, picking up eggs, baguettes, stationery and meat when I mismanage the ordering. My mother usually does the shop washing, and reassures me I will be ok. My friend, Nellie, is a constant source of courage and ideas from her experience managing a French cafe. My son, George, without whom I would not be still here, works tirelessly, asking for nothing, and chastising me gently for putting items in use in the big display chiller. He especially keeps me looking at the shop with fresh eyes. My daughter runs the shop when I need to be out with George, cleaning and offering just wonderful, creative ideas. My husband did the fitout, and a terrific job it is, and he even carried all my goodies at the market for me last week.My brothers and their wives have supplied preserves, pumpkins, gift cards, product samples and business expertise whenever they have seen me struggle.Suppliers are always great with new ideas for display, promotion, and anecdotes of how they have handled similar business dilemmas. Kimberley cleans, makes gelato, coffee, and puts the shop in order, often for nothing but a thank you. Gabriella comes in if I need her, even if she is unwell, and does magic things like ringing to see if it is alright to mop the floor. Greg and Katie, at Glendowie Primary, introduced the wegers, and will drop their school bags and get behind the till or gelato counter if they see I am not coping on my own. Even my customers have insisted on paying more if I have undercharged, brought gifts of food, fruit for the gelato and herbs to give away, thanked me for being here, and encouraged me to see how far I have come. They are starting to feel comfortable in the shop, and looking for product which will work for them. As a general rule, they are endlessly patient with my mistakes. I am so grateful, and it keeps me feeling that my place is here just now.
Have a look at the article anyway, good pointers for the fellas too, not just gals.

nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10735096

Bruschetta Tray

I had a lovely order a couple of weeks ago - a tray of bruschetta for a vegetarian luncheon, with a wrap stack.
It was hard not to get carried away...
Gruff Junction Lyttleton Blue with walnuts, crunchy celery and slices of pear rinsed in lemon
Smoked cheese from Evansdale with the lovely Zino Sisters beetroot and horseradish chutney
A schmear of sour cream beaten with dill tips and salt, covered with overlapping, thin slices of cucumber
Sundried tomato hummus with roasted tomato and olives
Sliced goats feta with lemony roman style artichokes and roast marinated mushroom
Fresh Evansdale farmhouse brie with Ziino Sisters Date and Orange chutney
Creamy Gruff Junction Fromage Blanc with a salad of beluga lentils in olive oil and lemon, topped with chives and a small square of pepperdew

The other thing Ive been loving is Rebecca Hay's Hakanoa Ginger Beer, and Ginger syrup. The ginger beer is good, very good...just like we used to make. It is refreshing not to have to suffer too much sweet, great in summer, but just as good on a winter night. I've dropped the rest, and kept the best!
The syrup is so versatile, ginger latte with hot frothy milk, ginger toddy, with hot water and a squeeze of lime (my favourite), dessert topping, marinades, and I am chasing down a recipe for coleslaw dressing with fish sauce, rice vinegar etc. Will post it when I find it. Ginger is great this time of year, but offers great relief all year for motion sickness, morning sickness, any nausea,and sniffles or chest colds. Watch this space, this product is a winner.