Top cat

Our very cute little kitty cat turned one this week. He has grown a bit, well quite a lot actually, but he remains as cute and playful as ever (although we would prefer it if he were a bit more affectionate).

Ben got special cat food treats for his birthday and we celebrated with cat cup cakes.

Happy Birthday Ben!!

Gnocchi

There has been a bit of talk on the subject of gnocchi. The girls remembered making it with me when they were smaller and I talked about getting a lesson on how to make it from the only expert I know -Nonna. I remember Corina, my cousin Simone and I getting a lesson from her one day, rolling the dough out on her kitchen table. Sadly, it has been a long time since I've made it and I could find the recipe which makes me wonder if I actually wrote it down. I did remember some important steps along the way but of course mine was always going to be different to Nonna's because it's gluten free.

Eadie was really keen to have gnocchi for dinner and keen to help. Ruby and Ava were distracted by the TV which may have been a good thing in hindsight as it allowed Eadie and I to talk and I got to share the secrets I learned from Nonna.

Here's how we did it, captured again, in images (so quicker to get something posted if you just let the photos speak for themselves) (a bit lazy, yes, I know).

Kale chips

Michael Van de Elzen is a bit of a guru. He owns one of my favourite restaurants in our local village – Molten. Last year he did a TV show called the Food Truck where he made healthy fast food options and took them to public events. Of course, the cook book followed and, thanks to my friend Tracy, I have a copy.

One of the things he made which was a hit with the kids was kale chips so I thought I'd give it a try. I've never cooked kale before; it's got quite a rubbery leaf.

You simply pull the leaves off the stalk, wash and dry them. Sprinkle with a little olive oil and salt and pepper. Spread on a baking sheet and cook for 10 minutes at 175°C. They do shrink considerably, but they are very tasty. Even my fussy eater liked them.

Here's the recipe, but really, you don't need it.

Plums

We have two plums in our backyard. One is full of fruit now and, apparently, when it finishes, the other of starts.

What does one do with so many plums? Well, I've made plum shortcake, spiced plum chutney, grilled plums on the BBQ and plum crumble. When I accumulate a few more jars I will make some plum jam [I'm really annoyed that I tossed out so many when moving!]. If you have a favourite plum recipe, or one where another fruit can be substituted for plums, I would love the recipe.

Mini lamingtons

I wanted to squeeze in this post before the close of Australia Day. At least it is for us in the southern hemisphere.

These mini lamingtons are are healthy alternative courtesy from the healthy chef and were a pleasant treat at the end of the day.

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie

Well folks, it has been a while but I'd just like to say:
Happy Australia Day!

When friends of ours from Cairns dropped in yesterday on their way home from travels in South America, we took the opportunity to kick off our Australia Day celebrations a day early. As we all know, no Aussie BBQ is complete without steak, lamb chops, snags and my favourite brown rice salad all washed down with some beer and wine. And to top it off? An Aussie pavlova of course (just don't tell the Kiwis).

PS. There have been some requests for pics of our new home. I had planned to blog about it when all the boxes were unpacked however I now realise that could take a while. Watch this space...

A day out

Last weekend the sun was shining and we got a real taste of summer. But this is New Zealand and we will probably be wearing your jumpers again in a few days. As the saying goes: Make hay while the sun shines. And that's exactly what we did with a short drive over to the seaside at Takapuna.

Eggplant Curry

Eggplant is one of my favourit-est foods in the whole world!! There is a Malaysian restaurant not far from where we live that is famous for it's eggplant curry. Then when we were in Sri Lanka Aunty Daisy made it for us. It was to die for!

Aunty Daisy told me how she did it then I Googled it when I got back home and came up with a recipe that seemed like a good blend.

I've never been very good at cooking curries and Asian food. Perhaps it has something to do with my Anglo-Italian upbringing. Anyway, this curry turned out really gooood.

In a nutshell:

• Prepare the eggplant then fry it up (no, it's not health food)
• Fry an onion with a mixture of spices
• Add some chopped tomatoes
• Stir through some coconut milk
• Lastly, stir through the eggplant.

Delish! Leave a comment if you want the full list of ingredients/instructions.

OK, you asked for it; here it is.

Ingredients

3 medium sized eggplants, chopped into bite-sized pieces

1 onion, chopped

4 tomatoes, chopped

1 teaspoon curry powder

ginger

chilli

2 cloves garlic, crushed

½ cup coconut milk

salt

sugar

Method

Sprinkle the chopped eggplant with salt and let sit for at least ten minutes to extract the bitter juice. Wash and dry, then fry in some oil.

Fry the onion and garlic in a small amount of oil until soft. Add the curry powder, ginger and chilli and cook until aromatic. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and coconut milk until combined. Lastly add the eggplant pieces and stir. Add sugar to taste.

I hope you like it as much as I did.

Sri Lanka -- off the tourist trail

Well, here it is – finally. I've included a few pics which I feel reflect the atmosphere of Sri Lanka. It was very hard to edit so I apologise in advance.

One of the first things you notice in Sri Lanka are the tuk tuks. They are the most common mode of transport for short distances and they're everywhere! On our first day, we managed to cram all five of us in the back of one which is a pretty good effort give we are not midgets.

Temples and statues. Steve gave Ruby the nickname 'little buddha' because she took to wearing her hair in a bun on the top of her head.

There was plenty to experience in the way of food too. We were always very well fed and felt great on the (mostly) vegetarian diet we adopted whilst there. I wasn't expecting curries for breakfast, lunch and dinner but we got used to it fairly quickly.

In Kandy, with our friend Wasa.

Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage was a bit 'staged' but we did get to see elephants on mass. Cute little ones too. 

The tea plantations near Nuwara Eliya in the highlands. We toured a tea factory and learnt about the whole tea process. There were hundreds of tea sacks ready to be packaged and sent all over the world. We gave up looking for a decent coffee and opted to embrace the tea which was a good choice. I guess you could call us tea connoisseurs.

Our friend Was a took us out for a bite to eat one night. We stopped at this Hindu temple along the way for a spot of culture. That night we had one of our most enjoyable meals at Sri Ganeshananda Brahmins (did you get that?) where the food was served on banana leaves and we ate with our hands.

One of the highlights of our trip was Polonnaruwa. A hot, dry inland town. We stayed with 'Aunty Daisy' in a small village outside of town. After spending four hours on a local bus and 20 minutes on a tuk tuk we finally arrived in the midday heat which, on this particular day, was 38.5°C (the hottest place in the country!). After brief introductions and a cool drink we headed to the river for a picnic which was another 25 minute walk through dry rice paddies. The picnic consisted of, well, curries – very delicious. Aunty Daisy and her friend Chappas whipped up the most amazing selection, all done over a wood fire! 

At the river there were signs of elephants everywhere in the form of footprints and dung. This was a popular place for them to visit at the end of the day. The elephants and locals have a mutual respect for each other. We stayed until late in the hope of seeing some but sadly it wasn't to be. Instead we got to enjoy the delights(?) of an all over body exfoliation courtesy of the little fish. The unexpected nibbles were enough to make you squirm and squeal. People pay big money for this in Asia!

We felt Sigiriya was close, yet so far away (a three hour drive) given the soaring temperature. There were also reports of several tourists being taken to hospital for wasp stings which I didn't particularly fancy. So we opted to hire a driver to take Steve and I to see some of the local ruins while the girls stayed behind to play in the well and feed the cows. 

Later that afternoon the same driver took us to a secluded water hole in a reserve which was gorgeous – and close to another spot which crocodiles reportedly inhabited. Maybe that's why we didn't see any other people there? On the drive to this place Steve saw a croc swimming down a river where locals were swimming a bathing. Eek! After sun down, we went spotlighting for elephants down by the lake on our way back but sadly we didn't see any there either (apparently they were at the river that night!). We did eventually see a herd across the lake the next day. 

It was hard to say goodbye to Wasa (and the kittens and dogs) but we had other sights to see on the south coast, namely Hikkaduwa and Galle. Being on the west coast, Hikkaduwa was a lovely place to enjoy spectacular sunsets. I can't remember the last time a spent and entire day on the beach just reading, sleeping and swimming. Pure bliss.

The old Dutch Fort in Galle was a nice place to pick up some tasteful souvenirs. It was a little touristy, but we spent most of our time off the tourist trail so it was to be expected. A nice place to spend the day.

There were so many things in Sri Lanka we didn't get see, but we weren't disappointed – quite the opposite. We got to experience things we never expected. 

The true highlight however, has to be the people we met along the way and the things they did to make our holiday memorable. Thanks Wasa, for showing us a great time and for looking after us. Thanks also to Aunty Daisy and Apu for making sure we were never hungry.