Lunch and Palmeritas with The Foodies

The Argentinians are big foodies, both Him (Mr Foodie) and Her (Mrs Foodie).  Mr Foodie’s speciality is meat, big pieces of it, particularly on the BBQ.  He has a rather impressive (and somewhat intimidating) BBQ knife, that has its own leather pouch, and is specially sharpened by His Argentinian friend.  Mrs Foodie’s speciality is everything in between, and having tasted the most moreish pastry bites she made at two afternoon teas, I really wanted a demonstration and the recipe.

“Come for lunch before we cook”, She said and I gladly accepted.  My offerings were a Mushroom Quiche and Raspberry and Chocolate Brownies (which Mrs Foodie presented beautifully) .  The Foodies had remembered that I’d mentioned that I liked lamb and He had bought a lamb shoulder, marinated it and then cooked it lovingly for two hours on the BBQ.  That lamb has got to be the best I have EVER tasted (sorry Mum).  Beautifully moist, cooked to perfection and bursting with flavour.  Divine… We had spinach and avocado salad, homemade focaccia bread, cooked vegetables, and cucumber crudite with a moreish homemade dip.

As the boys happily played Mrs Foodie and I got down to business.  The moreish pastry bites are in fact called Palmeritas and are a traditional Argentianian food, and as Argentina is an immigrant nation (like NZ) they are also a traditional French food known as Palmiers.  Made purely from puff pastry (bought frozen from the shop), butter and sugar, they aren’t part of a healthy diet, but gee they are good!

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line a baking tray with non-stick paper.

Step 2: Cut your pastry to a square.  Thinly slick butter over the entire square.  Mrs Foodie uses a cheese slicer that was cheap as chips.  Pop the pastry and butter into the microwave for about 10 seconds to make it easier to spread.  Spread the butter over the pastry square.

Step 4: Sprinkle sugar over the butter.

Step 5: Carefully roll up each side to the middle.  Cut thinly and lay flat on the baking tray and then sprinkle more sugar over all the Palmeritas.

Step 7: Bake for 15 minutes or so, watching carefully that they turn golden brown, not burnt.  Turn, and cook for another few minutes.

When cool, eat – they are crunchy, flaky, perfect with a cup or tea of coffee.  Enjoy!

Mrs Foodie happens to be not only a fabulous cook, but a rather talented Graphic Designer and Illustrator – www.carolinababot.com

Sometimes it’s meant to be

Sometimes it’s meant to be.  Like today, while waiting for my mother in the changing rooms, this dress caught my eye.  It was the only one like it on a rack full of clothes, which was about to be sent away as they were odd sizes, but that particular dress was my (not so odd) size.

Mum and I were in Ezibuy, not a shop we usually frequent, but my mother was in need of clothes for a conference, and I had been sent their catalogue (which mum had liked) after purchasing jeans for the boys from NEXT (the UK brand they stock), which I wrote about in the blogpost Half Price Happy.

I’ve been wanting to have a few more dresses in my wardrobe as they can be flattering IF you get the right one.  This dress was the right one for me – gorgeous pattern, fitted like a glove, right length, and it makes an impact in just the right way.  But, the best thing was the price $69.99 and that was the full price.  I would have expected to have seen a ‘1’ in front of the $69.99, and would still have thought it a good buy.

Sometimes it’s meant to be, and this dress was meant to be mine.

Still broken…

Favourite cafe

The Cathedral

Today dad and I took the boys to the opening of an exhibition in the new ArtBox gallery (blog post to follow) here in Christchurch.   And for some reason, today the destruction of our city hit me all over again.

Perhaps I was so caught up in the anticipation of seeing actual art inside an actual building (albeit converted shipping containers), that I must have overlooked its location in the middle of what was our city.  The impact of the loss was more than it has been for a while as it struck me yet again that our central city, with all its beautiful old buildings REALLY is destroyed.

Next weekend it will be three long years since the most destructive of the earthquakes hit.  Daily life for me is suburban, and that’s intentional.

My eldest son says it makes him feel sick to  be in the city.  Most of the buildings have gone, but the ones that are left are horrendous to see.  He’s right, it does make you feel sick.  A sober journey to a colourful and stimulating exhibition in the heart of a still broken city.

Travel glamour…NOT!

Travelling for work always sounded glamorous to me, until I actually had to travel.  Then I realised it really wasn’t. Early flights, airports, waiting, taxis, windowless over-air-conditioned rooms, carb-rich foods, more taxis, another airport, more waiting, and a late flight home.  Not. Glamorous.

Today I travelled to Auckland for work, but despite being un-glamorous, I must confess I actually enjoyed not having two small boys in tow.  While I waited I sat in peace, read with no interruptions on the plane and spent the day with adults in a learning environment.  These particular adults are all teaching a course on Small Business Management and they are all small business owners themselves and it was fascinating chatting to them during breaks.  There were fashion designers, a B&B proprietor, a property finder, an artist, and one person ran a research station for dolphins (I think..).  Really interesting creative people.  Not a bad way to spend a day.

The travel itself made me realise it’s been a long time since I did it with any regularity, and when I did it was from London – the other side of the world from New Zealand.  The most exotic travel I do these days is on a gravel road up into the back of beyond.  We have a swish new airport here in Christchurch which was long overdue.  We are a small city, but have a lot of international visitors, and now have a gateway to impress – we even have air bridges with floor to ceiling images of sheep farms complete with the sounds of sheep baa-ing – I kid you not!  But, it would appear that boarding passes are passé – text messages are the quickest way through the gate, and while I pulled out my book, everyone else pulled out their kindle.  Times change fast and I’m feeling slightly left behind.

Travel wardrobe: I wore a black Country Road dress I bought online and has been a favourite item this summer – light, flattering and super comfortable it was perfect for today, and I wore for warmth my new merino-silk boxy cardigan, also from Country Road.  The silk with the merino makes it incredibly soft and beautiful to wear.  I was going to include a photo of my outfit, but as I didn’t do the clothes much justice, and haven’t mastered the skinny-pouting look, you’ll just have to use your imagination and take my word for it.

Have a great weekend and if celebrating Valentines is your thing, have a great night, and if not – don’t forget to say those three little words to your nearest and dearest.