The Week(End) in Eats

A.K.A The Perils of Restaurant Lighting.

People who spend 10 minutes not eating while they get the white balance right?  Those people ...aren't me. :D

Cafe Paris - Hokitika. The food there was just amazing. It was all about flavours and the service was super quick,
even though there seemed to only be two people in the kitchen.
 I wanted to hug the chef, but he looked a bit busy, plus that would be unhygienic.

Cafe Paris really is like a Paris bistro. All it needs to be authentic is a little dog running around.

Beachfront Hotel, Hokitika. The man breakfast.

Our room. The view made everything taste awesome even though the continental breakfast was.. well, what you'd expect.

Breakfast. A french omelette with spinach and onion. 

Cafe Paris oven baked fish. The crust on this was kind of cinnamon-y and rosemary-ish.  With descriptions like that, it's probably fine that I'm not headed for a career in food critique.

Jase had the venison, which was berry-y. ;)  Is that a 'jus'? French terminology is beyond me.

I think that is either a) a garnish or b) a piece of grass that blew in the window.

This was the first trip where I regularly spied other people taking photographs of their food. The alert system for this occurrence involved a kick to the shins followed by a 'look over there' head swoosh from my companion. The Programmer is permanently cued to any camera activity and suffers terribly (and audibly) if the camera in question happens to be superior to his one.

It's interesting how times have changed since blogging took off. Six years ago, people definitely looked sideways when I got out the Finepix in restaurants.  Now, even the most uptight waiters hardly raise a plucked eyebrow.

Speaking of which: male waiters have nice eyebrows, yes?

Some Pics of Late and of Much Earlier

In case you haven't psychically deduced it, I enjoy photography. I really like food photography and wish I was better at it. Upskilling in that area is definitely on the 'to do once postgrad is finished', just like so many other things (roll on August!).

The Programmer has a thing for birdies (the feathered kind, haha), and takes some wonderful pics that never get seen by anyone but me.. and now and then, the lucky readers of Fit to Blog.

:D  Here are some pics taken in the last few weeks, and a random blast from the past.

******************************

 Dinner!  Following a suggestion from Lou, I made some zucchini fritters and served them with creme fraiche and salmon. This one definitely deserves a repeat performance 

(and not only to get a better pic!).

Sauerkraut, which was 1/3 red cabbage. The whole lot turned a luminous pink!  

Happy, happy, happy food.. 

More nut cheese. The almond/cashew combination is spinning my wheels right now.

Eggs, onions and green stuff.  Standard busy day fare.

Birdies

The Re:Start Mall.  Slowly Christchurch is coming back to life.  Lately there have been few aftershocks and much construction. Nearly all of the city is now open to the public (even if not actually open in terms of commerce happening) and it's beginning to look more populated and less apocalyptic.  

The Re-Start Mall is made of shipping containers. It's supposed to be temporary, but I hope it stays.  It's something a little bit different and interesting, forced by necessity to be unique, and who in Christchurch can ever see a shipping container and not think 'earthquakes'?  Nobody. Large metal boxes have become the default symbol of life in Quakytown.

And, a random selection from the archives (2003 - ten years ago!).  My old friend Il Tritone, who lives in Piazza Barberini. I've had a photograph taken with this statue on every visit to Rome (which I think is four or five times now, and I do realise how lucky I am to have lost count).

This was on my second trip. The first time (in 2001) I practically lived in the internet cafe that is/was across the road to the right of this pic because it took me two weeks to get over the shock of being a foreigner. The cafe was set up for spooked tourists: all the food  (and coffee - such a travesty!) was in vending machines so you didn't have to try speak Italian to impatient Romans. That place probably saved me from running straight back to NZ. ;)

The Week in Eats! Le Sigh....

I'm going to throw in a Week in Eats. I know it's Tuesday, and my 'week' never is, but it rhymes and I've had a killer few days in the kitch with not a lot to show for it.

Underway is the cooking quest which shall be known as 'Cookin' with Erythritol'.  I've got several hundred kg's of it, and have this idea to whip up a bunch of awesome recipes and then promote it on the home page...

But, I'm having issues. I'm not blowing myself away with displays of kitchen genius. It hurts my ego.

This lemon syrup cake didn't work. The cake was a bit dry and the syrup crystallised back to erythritol, rather than soaking in and making the cake good. The resident cake fiend still made a dent in it though.

I love erythritol for sprinkling. It's perfect as a sugar substitute on things like pancakes and porridge, and does the job in smoothies and hot drinks, but baking is a bit hit and miss. I've made one batch of amazing friands, but otherwise, it's been a series of fails.  I need to do some research. Any ideas?

Is there a trick to cookin' with erythritol?

**************************

Some Eats of the Week

(no breakfast pics today, I think you may start to throw stuff at me if you see any more buckwheat pancakes, right?..;):

Somebody ordered another two bottles of this. :D Not me...

..ok, it was me.  I shouldn't tell fibs, it gives me the guilts.

I have Swiss chocolate, from actual Switzerland, which for some reason is better than the locally made stuff, even though it's supposed to be the same recipe.  Pressies from Miss J (been missing her so much lately) :(    To develop some context, those are Swiss Alpine Marmots in the background (it's a wildlife calendar).  

These creatures can be spotted in the Swiss Alps, skipping around like Heidi. They make a crazy squealing noise when alarmed, or perhaps they just like to freak out the tourists from behind.  There is a stuffed one in my sister's lounge, which is kind of gross, but Miss J loves it. As a toddler she used to put her arm around it and stand there watching TV.

Gerry's Wraps, made here in Chch. What I like about these is, you can roll them and they don't crack up. They are super pliable, the ingredient list is short and there are many gluten-free varieties.

Something I did with.. mushrooms.  I like baked mushrooms, just like that. This may not be normal. Also, the presentation lacks.

Fermentation. There is much of it going on in the corner. Almond+cashew cheese (on the right), sprouted buckwheat mush and veges.

The wrap being put to its proper use. Those are panko coated pork schnitzels.

Using the classic sauerkraut recipe, I am attempting to create 'something' using cabbage and zucchini. I think this will be fab. I added grated and cubed zucchini.  That calico jar top makes me feel so earth mothery.

The semi-failed chocolate zucchini cake.  All gone now. ;D

Don't worry, there will definitely be another shot at that cake. Every day my zucchini plant welcomes me home with a gift of ever increasing size.

Pork salad.

..and now it's time to put on my blue blockers and start thinking about nothing.  I'm still not a sleeping pro, but there is improvement.  

If you have any tips about sleeping well that I didn't cover in this post, or if you can clue me up on making erythritol great in cakes, then please comment me.

The Week in Eats!

THE WEEK IN EATS (+ MY NEW HOBBY!)

The Week in Eats + Dog Pee Drama

What have I been doing this evening? I'm so glad you asked because it's super interesting.

The Programmer and I were peeling back the carpets in our newly purchased rental property to determine if they were totally wrecked with dog pee, or only partly so.

While gagging and holding our breath(s). My eyes were stinging.

Good news! The underlay is rubber and the floorboards look ok.  ;-/  The carpets? I've booked a professional to make that call on Monday. Holy Cow. how the tenants lived in such conditions, I have no idea.

And from that, I shall now smoothly segue into The Week in Eats! Not smooth? Sorry, my brain is short circuiting on dog pee ammonia and I can do no better.  This set of pics is mostly a repeat performance for some of the last two week's eats as I had that funky, self-perpetuating mutant post issue.

Lower sugar avocado ganache (still have some in my freezer!)

Pork and veges with pickled ginger (SUCH a fan)

Everything I could find in the fridge that day...

Avocado ganache fudge

Lemon Buckwheat pancake

No-Lettuce Salad

Almond Cheese

The Buckwheat Pancakes are definitely getting bigger.. This one is with berries, banana and coconut yogurt.

Salat

mashed kumara with balsamic shallot sauce

'Dinner'

Chicken salad with almond cheese sprinkled over

Salmon, veges and 'slim pasta'. The almond cheese makes another appearance

Another buckwheat pancake, mushed up (it's important to have variety, ahaha)

And, with that, I'm off to do something very important: take a shower. After tonight's mission, I feel... a bit stinky. It's seeped into my pores or something. Dog pee - the gift that just keeps giving...

The Week in Eats

Good Afternoon! It's time for the Week in Eats. However, you'll be excited to know that with the completion of exams, I have time to tackle the 'stuff to blog' backlog, which includes that long-promised article on the psychology of long-term weight loss. I'll try and get that finished over the weekend, now that I actually have weekends!  (yayyyy!)

Week in Eats, F3 Check In and 'a thing'

Eats!

It's important to fuel those study efforts with awesome food. You may notice a certain 'thrown together' feel to this Week in Eats. This is how I eat when kitchen time is limited.

The Week in Eats

The Week in Eats