Fervent Anticipation

Fervent Anticipation

Virgil Evetts Is it just me, or is it shaping up to be an unusually good spring on the food garden front? Everything just seems that little bit more verdant, lush and bloom-laden this year.  I’ve not yet checked Met … Read more »

Blue Tick, Tick, Tick

Blue Tick, Tick, Tick

Virgil Evetts The following are some of my least favourite arguments against eating meat.  Included are my standard responses. Hopefully this will save us a bit of time and effort later on. ‘Eating animals is cruel’: Come on, really? Nature … Read more »

Foray into Afghani Cuisine

Foray into Afghani Cuisine

A few months ago after getting a book out of the library about Afghanistan food and recipes, we had a go at making Afghani bread and a beef kebab. Not having a charcoal grill handy in the kitchen and it … Read more »

Thanks for all the fish...

Thanks for all the fish…

Virgil Evetts Curse the universe and to hell with synchronicity. I had written a lengthy, but on reflection rather dry, piece about the ethics of eating seafood, but then opened the Herald on Wednesday morning to find what was effectively … Read more »

Chipping Away

Chipping Away

  Virgil Evetts I’m not a big potato chip person. I’ll nibble on the odd ready-salted morsel or two if you’re offering, but I won’t go out and buy them. This week, however, I have purchased and indulged in chips … Read more »

Bursting Beauties

Bursting Beauties

Virgil Evetts I’ve never been able to make my mind up about pomegranates. They’re a fruit I feel I really ought to like, with their good looks and ancient pedigree, but, I’ve always been somewhat underwhelmed. While visually arresting to … Read more »

Learning to love broad beans

Learning to love broad beans

Virgil Evetts Why did it take me so long to discover broad beans? I’ve spent most of my life with a head full of funny notions about them being horrid, farty things favoured mostly by the old and enfeebled.  If … Read more »

Annual Spring Rant

Annual Spring Rant

Virgil Evetts After a ‘good’ month of beating around the bush, Spring is definitely upon us up here in Auckland, with blossoms a-plenty, birds singing saucily and bees buzzing about the place in that knowing way. Oh, and it’s raining. … Read more »

Earthquake Eating

Earthquake Eating

Summerfields It is not every day that you find yourself huddling under a door frame at 4.30 in the morning while the house shakes violently around you in a 7.1 magnitude earthquake. After the shaking had stopped, we found we … Read more »

Dirty Habits Revisited

Dirty Habits Revisited

Virgil Evetts Over the weekend, for reasons mostly unknown (but at least partly because of Wendyl Nissen), I broke a 20-year habit of shunning uber-fake snack foods of the Twisties, Rashuns and Cheezles kind. To explain what, at a glance, … Read more »

Love That Liquor!

Love That Liquor!

Virgil Evetts Apologies for what could be perceived as a somewhat morally-challenged title, but after nine months of self-induced sobriety, I’m really rather enjoying the pleasures of a tipple or two. But I wouldn’t want you to think I’m roaring-drunk … Read more »

Blessed are the cheesemakers

Blessed are the cheesemakers

Summerfields We have a fantastic next door neighbour. We hang out at each other’s houses from time to time, we BBQ, and we occasionally brew beer. We have named our brew ‘Summerstiejn’ (a portmanteu of our last names).  It was … Read more »

Homemade Ice Cream - with the machine

Homemade Ice Cream – with the machine

Summerfields We’re always on the lookout for a new kitchen project. Some little challenge, or technique to master. Recently we enjoyed reading about how to make real, fair-dinkum, ice cream at home. Proper ice cream. Not frozen mousse, or frozen … Read more »

Nice Guy, that Rick Stein

Nice Guy, that Rick Stein

Virgil Evetts As you probably know, Rick Stein was in town last week to tread the boards in his first ever live stage show.  Unfortunately a scheduling clash (i.e. my best beloved is obscenely pregnant and due to pop any … Read more »