Sweet As Book Giveaway, seguimi e vinci il mio libro di dolci

(continua a leggere per la versione italiana)

I am on holiday and traveling, so I am not really able to blog these days. At present I am in Christchurch, we had quite a big earthquake this morning, 5.1! Six more tremors followed, but we are all OK. Still, an interesting experience, and I may post some photos on a later day.

I will be away for about two weeks, so in the meantime I thought that I could leave you with a giveaway to consider: my dessert book Sweet As... (New Holland Publishers). All you have to do to enter is:

1 Follow me (put you avatar under the blog title)

2 Leave a reply to this post.

The competition is open to all and I will choose the winner by random number generator, and remember: it doesn't matter where you live in the world, I will post the book to you :-)!

The book is in English, there are over 100 recipes, (vegetarian, not vegan, although some are vegan), dairy free and wheat free recipes are listed in the index. below are some sample pages.

And if you already have the book you could present it to a friend, I can write a dedication on it :-). You have two weeks from now so... Good Luck

Alessandra

Sono in giro per la Nuova Zelanda per due settimane e non ho molto tempo per il blog, quindi ho deciso di fare un piccolo giveaway del mio primo libro di dolci: Sweet As...

Per vincere il libro basta diventare un follower e lasciare un commento in questo blog. Il concorso è aperto a tutti, vi spedirò il libro in Italia o all'estero. Vi ricordo che il libro è in inglese, ma è molto facile da seguire ed ha moltissime foto. Ci sono oltre 100 ricette di dolci, torte, biscotti, gelati, dessert ecc., tutte le ricette sono vegetariane e molte sono senza latticini e/o senza glutine (chiaramente indicate nell'indice). Avete due settimane di tempo da oggi: Buona fortuna!

Cauliflower and Borage Curry

This turned out to be a fantastic vegan curry, and quite innovative too: I have never seen a curry made with borage!!!

Yes, borage again! I have tons of it in the garden, you can eat the flowers, the stems and the leaves, but I limit myself to the smaller tender leaves. They are prickly, but that goes away with cooking.

The only thing to remember is to discard the pods with the seeds that have already formed (they are too hard), like the one in the photo below. Flowers and flower buds are soft, and can be cooked.

Sizzle one tsp of fenugreek seeds and one green chili with one tbsp of vegetable oil.

Add one small tsp each of turmeric, ground coriander, ground fennel and paprika, and also a good pinch of salt.

Add one onion, chopped, and sizzle for two minutes, and then add half cauliflower, cut into florettes. Coat the cauliflower well with the spices.

Add one can of coconut milk, and then one can of water (to rinse the coconut milk can). Cover and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the borage, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add one tsp of masala powder and simmer for other five minutes, or until all the vegetables are soft. At the end decorate with fresh borage flowers.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Great Barrier Island, fuori dal mondo!

Dopo il viaggio su barca a vela a Waiheke abbiamo preso il traghetto per Great Barrier Island. Mentre Waiheke è piena di turisti, l'isola Great Barrier è rimasta isolata. Naturalmente Waiheke è a soli 30 minuti di traghetto dal centro di Auckland, mentre per Barrier ci vogliono due ore e mezza per il traghetto veloce e quattro per quello lento (e adesso c`è solo quello lento https://www.directferries.com/ferries_from_new_zealand_to_great_barrier_island.htm), e raramente si vedono turisti stranieri, sono quasi tutti Kiwi che hanno la seconda casa qui. Confronto a Waiheke, pieno di vigneti e caffè, Great Barrier rimane un posto... fuori dal mondo (anche se tecnicamente fa parte di Auckland!).

The day after sailing in Waiheke we took the ferry to Great Barrier Island. While Waiheke is well patronized by tourists, the Great Barrier has remained a bit 'isolated'. Naturally Waiheke is only 30 minutes by ferry from central Auckland, for the Barrier you need two and a half hours (on the fast ferry, four and a half on the slow ferry) (updated, now there is only the slow one https://www.directferries.com/ferries_from_new_zealand_to_great_barrier_island.htm)  and you don't really see foreign tourists there, mostly Kiwis who have a batch there. Compared to Waiheke, full of wineries and cafes, the Barrier has remained kind of... relaxed (even if technically it is part of Auckland!).

Bye bye Auckland (seen from the ferry)

Arrivederci Auckland (vista dal traghetto)

La traversata è molto bella e a volte si possono vedere balene e delfini, ma purtroppo questa volta non siamo stati fortunati.

The sea crossing is very beautiful, sometimes you can see whales and dolphins, but unfortunately this time we didn't.

A terra! Che posto tranquillo! Abbiamo affittato una macchina e ci siamo diretti alla 'capanna' di Steve. La macchina ci è servita fino ad un certo punto, e poi abbiamo dovuto proseguire a piedi, provviste in zaino, per il bosco per arrivare a destinazione.

Landed! What a tranquil place! We rented a car and moved towards Steve's batch. The car was good up to a point, then we had to walk in the bush to get there.

The bach
La 'capanna'

La cucina era fuori. Non ho fatto foto di piatti stavolta, ho solo preparato spaghetti e insalata la prima sera, e una frittata con gli spaghetti avanzati la seconda sera.

The kitchen (outdoors). I didn't take pics of the food, basically I just made spaghetti and a salad on the first night, and a frittata with the leftover spaghetti on the second night.

Sala da pranzo e soggiorno all'aperto. Tre padri, una madre (io), sei bambini (dormito in tende) e tutto all'aperto!

The dining/living room (also outdoors). Three dads, one mum (me) six children (slept in tents) and the great outdoors.

The view
Campeggio con vista!

La fonte. Niente elettricità, bagno (c'era un long-drop, buco scavato nel terreno con un baracchino sopra, peccato non aver fatto una foto, era uno dei migliori che abbia visto in NZ); l'acqua per bere, cucinare e lavarsi doveva essere portata (in salita) con dei secchi.

The water supply. No electricity, no bathroom (there is a long-drop but I forgot to take a photo, pity, it was a well built long-drop!); the water for drinking, cooking and washing, had to be carried up to the batch with buckets.

The beach. Great Barrier Island has some lovely beaches.

La spiaggia. Great Barrier ha delle spiagge molto belle.

Siamo rimasti tre giorni e due notte, e siamo tornati ad Auckland in aereo. Ci vogliono solo 30 minuti e gli aerei sono piccoli (questo era per 10 persone, incluso il pilota).

We stayed 3 days and 2 nights, and flew back to Auckland. Flying only takes about 30 minutes, but the planes are very small (this was for 10 people including the pilot).

Le cuffie sono necessarie in aereo, e il viaggio può essere turbolento (per fortuna è stato calmo).

You need to wear ear muffs in the plane, and the ride may be bumpy (fortunately for me it wasn't).

Ma che fantastica opportunità di vedere Hauraki Gulf dall'alto!

But what a great chance to see the Hauraki Gulf from above!

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Ritorno a Waiheke, a bordo di Timetama

Senza parole

Photo by Alessandra Zecchini © (except the first one)

Cape Gooseberry Cake, and a gardening surprise

When I got back to New Zealand, in October, I noticed that the tomatillo had self-seeded in the veggie garden. I thought "good!" and left it there. At first there were just a few little plants, then they took over half of my top terrace garden bed, and became a forest. I though "oh!" but I left the plants there, imagining a surplus of Mexican green sauce for the summer.

The plants grew, but the pods remained small. Initially I thought that this was due to the fact that I didn't actually plant them, or looked after them. Then I got suspicious, and I tasted one.

They are NOT tomatillos, they are Cape Gooseberries!!! How did they get there I have no idea!

Usually I pick Cape gooseberries from my neighbor, but he is too far away in the bush... the only explanations is... birds??? I am not sure.

Anyway, we like them, and pick some every day now. I decided to improvise a dairy free cake.

I mixed 3 eggs with 200 g of sugar, 200 g of self raising flour, 100 ml of vegetable oil, a little vanilla essence and a few cut Cape gooseberries. Not much of a recipe really, I made it in 5 minutes, and baked it for about 30.

And here it is, my cake, fruit of my surprise crop!!!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Te Henga, and Sugar-craft Owl

I posted about Te Henga (Bethells Beach) before (here), this is one of the best West Coast beaches... of course not a swimming beach for me: just look at the sign!!! But it is a magical place, especially for surfers. The sand is black and you need to walk quite a bit to reach the beach... so make sure that you wear some foot wear, like Flip-flops, (thong sandals, flip flops, zories, slip slaps, thongs, pluggers, toesies, jandals) or you will burn your feet!

The view is amazing, magical and surreal. And almost empty...

The waves are strong, swim between the flags (not that I would, but my husband and the kids do go in, they are stronger swimmers than me, even the my 10 years old boy!).

Volunteer life-guards keep the watch

We took our German wwoofer here, overseas visitors are always amazed at the scenery here.

No recipes today, but I would like to show you my marzipan owl. I made it with ready made marzipan and used sugar sprinkle leaves for the feet, sugar cachous for the eyes, and candied fruit for the beak. I hope that you like it :-)

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©