December 30th Cooking with Cider

Cooking with Cider and our own at that. Tonight we enjoyed Slow Cooker Chicken  in Cider - it was quite tasty.

December 29th Paul Newman and my Cooking Mojo

I don't know if they are linked but wouldn't it be nice to think that Paul Newman caused my cooking mojo to return -  and not the ripe bananas that had to be used up?

December 28th Mussels

These Mussels weren't in Brussels

They were a real delight

Topped with home made Garlic Parsley Pesto

They really were the go

December 27th First World Problems

What is one to do?

December 26th Bluff and Blue

Tonight's snack aka dinner is bought to you by Bluff Oysters and Blue Cheese

December 25th My First Xmas

Hey Dudes, I am just too cool for skool and hanging out and enjoying my first Xmas with the Fam.

That wee dog behind me is Nathan's dog Paddy, and fyi she is 19 years old

December 24th Christmas Eve 2013

The Pav's in the oven

it hasn't collapsed and there was no shoving

The custard has stayed as custard should

and actually it tastes damned good

Xmas Carols are a playing in the background

My singing I know is a peculiar sound

Xmas presents are soon to be wrapped

With sticky tape and paper they will be trapped

And that is Christmas Eve for another year

I would like to raise my glass to you all in good cheer

Merry Christmas - Irene

December 23rd Checking Out Xmas Lights

Our lights are missing this year, which gave us the opportunity to get out and about and see others. Here is a shortlist compiled from the Waikato Times of Must Sees - courtesy of Alicia, Alvin and Ella. We set off all together to see what we could see

ps the photo chosen for my photo of the day, is testimony that I didn't take any decent photos of the lights. Although we did get to see the famed music set to lights, composed by a 17 year old student He did very well!

December 22nd Waikato River Explorer

Great afternoon at George's work Xmas do. A lovely one hour cruise down the Waikato River from Hamilton Gardens to Mystery Creek. A stop at Mystery Creek Wines for some wine tasting and then we cruised back to the Gardens.

A Welcoming Committee were there to greet us when we got back

December 21st The Humble Cherry

This is Christmas and all is Merry

Not least due to the arrival of the humble Cherry

A sign that Christmas is nearly here

appearing in our Southern Hemisphere

December 20th Beyond The Urn

If you look yonder beyond the urn here

There is actually the most Gardenias we have ever had flower here

The smell is just amazing. This is under one of our bedroom windows, and luckily the perfume floats inside

While I am at it with flowers, here is a very pretty Geranium as well

December 19th Fur Kids

I wonder if Minnie would notice if I brought one of these home with me?

December 18th A Man and His Best Friend

December 17th Oooh Arrrrrrr

Look at this lovely Xmas gift I received. This photo does not do the hamper justice, and this hamper wont do my lubberly blubberly much justice!!   A bottle of bubbles, chocolates, fancy schmancy crackers, Xmas mince pies and all manner of things. It is too nice to open.  What a wonderful and unexpected surprise. Thanks Judy and Chris xxxxxx

December 16th Can I Take You Home?

No one would notice if this went missing would they? Although squeezing this into a Green VW Beetle may pose some problems

December 14th & 15th. Saturday Sour Grapes and a Sunday Siesta

December 13th Friday The Thirteenth

So here is something pretty

December 12th A Cafe and Coffee

Time to stop and smell the roses at this Garden Centre cafe

December 11th Holy Moly It's Guacamole

I saved gifted Avocados from the dark side.I also remembered to label them, so one day in the future I didn't think they were some weird vegetable soup I had frozen

December 10th An Anniversary Dinner

Happy Eighth Wedding Anniversary to my darling husband. We celebrated with this Absinthe inebriated blonde watching over us (at Domaine Restaurant)

December 9th A bit of a nothing day

Except for watching episodes of Breaking Bad.  This show is extremely good and in my television viewing experience really flew under the radar. Making up for it now and watching the show. Although the Bear of Christmas 2013 wasn't too impressed

December 8th Another sign of Xmas

The first of the Xmas Lillies has flowered. Found a yellow one on the other side of the garden as well

December 7th Mexico and a Xmas Tree

Saturday night was my first time out since my last time out. We dined at Mexico, which is fairly new on the Hamilton scene and we had a lovely meal and good time with Alvin, Alicia and wee Ella, who is nearly 18 months old now and getting bigger everytime we see her

Just a tip if dining at this Restaurant that the tacos are a single meal, however all other mains are placed in the middle and it is great to share, which we did with 4.5 of us eating out. I can give a personal recommendation to try the Raspberry & Elderflower Margarita. And a wee chuckle from everyone else at our table. I am not a great Cinnamon lover - but the cinnamon crusted rim on the Margarita was definitely deserving of a good tongue licking to clean it all up. Just an add on - it is extremely hard to look refined when licking the rim of a glass

For those that don't know, Hamilton is the home of New Zealand's largest Xmas tree. Whilst I am a tad sad that we can't have our own Xmas light display this year on the plus side, it is actually good to be able to enjoy other displays as normally we are housebound whilst our lights are on so guests can see both inside and outside. Now I am enjoying getting up close and personal with other lights, and not whizzing past in the car.  Here are some shots of the largest tree and inner city surrounds

It's beginning to look a lot like Xmas, everywhere I go......................

December 6th The Hippy Trippy Plant

Another season of flowering for our one of two Datura plants. It has three colours in the flowering stage - starting with yellow when  it first opens, then progressing from white to pink. 

As for the Hippy Trippy name, I know there is some part of this plant which is highly favoured for it's hallucinogenic qualities and genuinely no idea which

December 5th Help?

Does anyone else have this problem and if not, can someone assist me? When I cut an avocado in half, such as here

it is easy to cut in half, and I can peel the half without the stone into pretty slices. However the half that still has the stone intact is always a mess - I can never take the stone out cleanly to make pretty slices. Is there a knack to doing this? If so, I would appreciate your tips please.

Whilst we are on the subject of Avocados, there is a dog in this world called Minnie who loves the shell and cleans them out for me. She hates peas to the extent of actually spitting them out of her mouth one by one. However give her an Avocado and she absolutely loves them and cleans every last morsel out. Go figure?

December 4th These Chickens Went to the Gym

OK the usual size chicken seen at the supermarket? Up to size 16 would be most common don't you think? Well I don't know what these Size 34 Chickens have been through - they have obviously been on super steroids and done maybe twice or even three times daily workouts at the Chicken Farm Gym. These are freaks of nature don't you think? If they were in the chicken yard, I think predators would be running from them. I wonder if before they went in the bag they said "I'll be back"

December 3rd Broadening My Horizons

I had some Wood Roasted Smoked Salmon in the fridge, and decided to try it in a Lasagne. This what I call an 'In My Head' Recipe - a Smoked Paprika & Garlic Bechamel sauce, Courgettes, Mushrooms, Cheese and of course the Smoked Salmon.  Can I pat myself on the back - it was a stunning Lasagne and a nice change from my usual Mince variety

December 2nd Engineer in the House

You know you have an Engineer in the house, when this is what he comes up with for an incense holder

December 1st She's Up!

Merry Xmas and Ho Ho Ho!!