Current Status: Holidays
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Just returned from morning tea at our (virtuous, frugal, hard-working) public sector client. There were cheerios, sausage rolls, and beer. Good to see the old ways kept up.
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(It had better not have whitebait in it, is all I'm saying)
Pffft. All things, even cocktails, can be improved with the addition of whitebait.
I went to Piha yesterday morning, before the weather all went predictably pre-Christmas bung, and my recurring Auckland summer thought came back to me: 'you know, if I had the inclination, I could swim in two different oceans and a lake today within the space of about three hours. Cool.'
I haven't ever actually *done* that, but the idea of it is weirdly thrilling. (I am a huge nerd.)
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There were cheerios, sausage rolls, and beer. Good to see the old ways kept up.
Lucky bastard! Here in the States the nearest thing to a cheerio is something called a Vienna Sausage and it comes in a tin. (That's if you disregard a breakfast cereal called Cheerios.) As for sausage rolls... there's a reason US cops are lampooned for eating donuts--savouries are not usual fare here. Was there lots of Wattie's tomato sauce to dip the delectables in? Oh, they're owned by Heinz now?
And an extra note on tui... they are great mimics. I used to live near Pukekura Park in New Plymouth, and trained a tui that lived near my flat to follow me down a park trail by getting it to mimic some tuneless tune I whistled as I walked along.
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It'd have to be a strong drink to deserve the name.. :)
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As Dorothy Parker might have said, "I like to have a rofflenui, two at the very most; three I'm under the table, four I'm under the host".
Maybe it has live whitebait in it, Japanese style? That'd make you roffle a little bit as it went down...
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Speaking of tuis, last week at the final Electric Quiz for 2008 at the Southern Cross, I accidentally won an orange and black Tui hat-scarf.
So yesterday I threw it in my suitcase and brought it to my parents' place, where it is now being enjoyed by one of the cats. The hat provides a nice kitty-shaped based, and the scarf bits build up support at the sides. Well, somone's having a merry Christmas.
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At my parent's house. Wine, food, old friends dropping by. Kids all tucked up. Notes for santa left. Waiting to be certain the wee ones are asleep before hitting the sherry and baby-jesus shaped cookies (which though much smaller are more popular than Mary, Joseph or the angel)
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Sydney's hot, hotter today (Boxing Day) than Christmas Day and so the Test is particularly popular. My wife's family are over from NZ which is great for all, particularly my youngest who's entirely spoiled - this Christmas she's 3 and a 1/2 so the Christmas experience is particularly intense.
I miss the Pohutukawa, tui and other fauna. I have wonderful memories of Pohutukawa blooms all across Mount Victoria, Wellington. I miss my family in Auckland too. It gets simultaneously harder and easier to be away from home - more and more friends in Sydney have young families like us and provide a strong sense of community.
Although we'd love to get away, the thought of Sydney less a good proportion of the usual population is appealing. We'll go to Moonlight Cinema, the Zoo and some further way parks and not have to content with huge traffic delays.
Merry Christmas and NY's too all. PublicAddress is a regular and much loved part of my connections with Aotearoa and beyond and I hope all who read/comment here enjoy whatever break they manage. Particular thanks to Russell for creating and sustaining a vibrant, friendly and incredibly informative space.
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Xmas 2008 - the definitive Catwoman has left the building.
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I miss tuis and pohutukawas and summer berries and cases of Lindauer and going to lie outside in the sun after Christmas lunch with a book and a g&t and a handful of Roses chocolates.
I did end up with some people to cook for, though. I made:
little toasts with cream cheese&salmon
vols-au-vent with goat cheese&spring onion mousse
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roast potatoes
roast sweet potatoes
stuffin' muffins
Quorn Turk'y
onion gravy
broccoli
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pavlova
steamed ginger pudding with caramel-date sauce
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candy canes
chocolate coated cherries
chocolate-toffee almonds
chocolate-dipped pretzels
shortbread(oh, ok, I didn't make my own little toasts.)
If you listen very carefully, you can hear my pancreas begging for mercy.
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the definitive Catwoman has left the building
I saw a show she did in Auckland in the 90s. She was totally captivating. RIP Eartha.
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Well, Christmas recap: finished work early on Christmas Eve with strawberries and bubbly, then headed home and out to a dinner with friends to celebrate their daughter's first month - which ran for an epic four hours!
Got home about 10pm, tried to snooze, then headed over to Pt Chev for carol service at quarter past 11, then Christmas Vigil until 1am - returned home exhausted, sleep and then up and at the folks' place again at 12 noon on Christmas Day. Long lunch blending into a long dinner with many, many family friends coming and going.
Had a sleep in on Boxing Day then off to Bethells Te Henga in the afternoon in the glorious surf.
Today seems a bit overcast so might get necessary shopping bits and bobs done before hitting the beach again on Sunday. My break has been glorious so far and I wish all of you the same.
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Now heres a fun thing to do during the holidays. Just needs cardboard boxes and paint.
Wow! That could take off! I'm sending that to my 7 year old grandson. I think we'll all have a busy New Year.
Speaking of whitebait - which I know you weren't Stephen but others were - we started Christmas Dinner (actually Christmas Eve dinner because of various fine adjustments that had to be made by various people on Christmas Day) with whitebait fritters. Ten eggs, five tablespoons of flour and just over a kilo of (gently washed and drained of course) whitebait. The turkey almost seemed like an anticlimax - except it wasn't.
Happy New Year to you all. I do like this blog and all of you clever, witty and nice bloggers.
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And I'm sorry to hear that Eartha Kitt is no more.
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For those unused to the sounds of NZ birds - here are some of the birdsongs -
nzbirds.com (files are .wav)
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Christmas day and my family, consisting of four households, came together at a palatial home that my sister was house-sitting.
There was a mountain of presents, but the biggest prize of the day was watching the kids. With five-year-old nephew handing everything out, three-year-old son marvelling at everything as it was opened and one-year-old daughter crawling about and pulling the bows off the presents.
Each household brought enough food to feed the other three, as well as themselves. As we worked together to get the feast cooked, we snacked from a table laden down with cheese, bread, crackers, dips, cherries, chocolate and Turkish delight. So when dinner was finally ready to be served, we could barely contemplate eating the food we had prepared.
As we were gathering at the table and starting to fill the plates, nephew brought up a crimson mixture of cherries, chocolate and cherrios, delaying dinner as we cleaned up. Then, with that sorted, we gathered again at the table, only for nephew to bring up the rest of the contents of his tummy over half the carpet. We all quickly grabbed buckets and towels, and dinner was abandoned in some good humour.
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Not that I don't love you guys enormously, but not being here (or at work) has been fabulous. We're home now, Canterbury is turning on the weather, the kids are at the school pool every day, and my best friend gave me Pride and Promiscuity: The Lost Sex Scenes of Jane Austen for Christmas - the perfect present.
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The pohutukawa in Wellington seem particularly good this year. The ones outside old St Pauls have been stunning. For some reason the best pohutukawa displays come out just as Wellington has emptied out for the holidays. But Scorching Bay on Boxing Day was glorious - blue sky,white sand, aqua sea full of swimmers, magnificent scarlet trees among the green along the hills, pleasantly hot sun, lots of families picnicing. Then the white ferry came round the point and you could almost hear the Warratahs singing.
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And just a bouquet to Wellington City Council. Scorching Bay, like many other local beaches, has recently been made a lot more wheelchair accessible. Thanks.
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Likely off to the remodelled Pt Chevalier Beach this evening. Tide is a bit later than optimal, but with the new sand we are away laughing two hours either side of high water. The bad weather rolls in tomorrow and Tuesday according to MetService (whose three-hourly maps I love to bits), so may think of some indoorsly things to do then - museum trip? A spot of writing (reviews or blog post)?
God, this is luxury.
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Today started with making dips. i tried out my new (another xmas one) Breville Wizz Stainless plus. Most pleased :)Managed a red roasted peppers and sundried tomatoes dip and a quacamole and a smoked gemfish and lime dip. Then, this afternoon I have preped 3 pizzas and t'other half made one. The only thing left is a spanish roast capsicums dish for the last of the nibbles, that a friend will make when he gets here (doesn't know that yet). Why you ask? Well, my birthday is new years eve and most people exit for 31/12, or other friends are where we will head later next week, so.... I figure today is as good as any to celebrate 45 albeit 3 days early .
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Well, my birthday is new years eve and most people exit for 31/12, or other friends are where we will head later next week, so.... I figure today is as good as any to celebrate 45 albeit 3 days early .
Just imagine I drunkenly shouted "Happy birthday Sofie we love you!" at you now, then.
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Kingsland, right, Sofie? :)
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Random holiday request: the ideal summer beer. I have tried the Monteith's Summer Ale many a time but am tiring of the honey-spiciness and require a suitable light refreshing alternative (preferably not at highway-robbery boutique prices, but if it's good enough...). Thoughts?
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Radler? More citrus than cloying honeyspice.
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