Chambord & Hot Chocolate

Working in a hot commercial kitchen often drives a person to drink. At the bottom end of the scale, there's water, essential for coping with the heat; there's also soft drinks (I'm looking at you, Golden Circle Creaming Soda, damn your economically-priced, sugar-soaked hide), through to Red Bull, providing energy for many a flagging chef. And then there's the "heavy stuff", downed by the vat load by the more idiosyncratic members of the chefing profession.

Getting A Bit Chilli...

 

They've been a little slow to take off, but my chillis now seem to be flourishing. Keep an eye out for them in a post reasonably soon...

Remember My Blackberry Patch?

Well, some of the blackberries ended up in this!

First Apples Of The Season

Alkmenes, a type of Cox's Orange Pippin.

Alkmene's are lovely and crisp with an acidy bite, not dissimilar to a Granny Smith. These are a little over ripe, hence the beautiful candy apple red colour and bold fleck.

The next varieties of apple to arrive at the fruit department of your local supermarket are Cox's Orange Pippin, followed by Gala and Royal Gala. Late March/April will see Braeburn, Fuji, Jazz, Pacific Queen and Pacific Rose. 

Autumn's on its way, people. Make hay while the sun doth shine...

Back On Deck!

I lost a big chunk o' stuff off the laptop thanks to a weird power problem, but fortunately I make back ups on a regular basis - that is, except for the photos and written material I had for the next three posts (not to mention a bite sized piece of my music collection). After re-inserting the hair I pulled out of my head in frustration, I'll just simply have to re-trace my steps - ce'st la vie. Here's hoping you guys are still around - if you are, I really appreciate your patience. Normal service resumes now...

Aaaargh!!!

A thousand apologies for the lack of posts - my laptop's thrown a major-league wobbly & I've been out of commission for the last week. Finger's crossed, it'll be sorted by tomorrow.

In Wellington & Want To Learn More About Wine?

Wine blogger and writer for M2 and Homestyle magazines Jules van Cruysen is teaming up with cult beer bar Hashigo Zake to bring Wellington a series of fun and informative wine tastings - the likes of which Wellington hasn't seen before!
 
First up is "Wine for Newbies!".

Be prepared to taste nine exciting cult wines over the course of an evening and learn

• how wine is made
• how age affects wine
• what dirt-oir is
• how to taste wine like a pro 

and much, much more.

All for only $25 and only at Hashigo Zake on March 2 at 6.30pm. Seats are strictly limited so secure yours by contacting Jules, or call into Hashigo Zake to make a booking.

UPDATE Jules is planning one for Hawke's Bay soon - I'll keep you posted...