Vacay

So I haven't posted in a little bit but with good reason. I'm currently enjoying the sunny skies of the northern hemisphere and now that I have Internet access I am going to attempt to post things from my trip. The first one, unsurprisingly, is food related. What can I say, I love to eat. For the first part of my trip I spent 5 days in New York. Here is a quick snippet of some of the local (and delicious) eats I consumed (all too easily) during my time there.

she visits: new eateries

This week considering I've been studying for exams, since I'm an expert at procrastinating, I did manage to get out to a couple of new places.




Now, Mexico isn't new to me but I hadn't been to the Takapuna one before and I think I definitely prefer it to britomart purely because there's a bit more room to breathe. I went there on thursday night after my exam to catch up with two friends and had the special quesadilla which was cauliflower and chorizo. Super yummo

mexico.net.nz

Now this place was entirely new to me but I was keen to check it out. They have a great alcohol selection and do mostly smaller plates. We stayed for a couple of drinks and had some snacks to go with it. The fries with truffle aioli were to die for although they were more like chunky hand cut chips and there were about 7 of them. Next time I'm in devonport I will definitely go back for a drink...or 3.


bettes.co.nz

she makes: spotty shorts

I'm heading to the USA next week and given it will be summer there I've been mentally putting together outfits to pack. I came across these shorts while looking for inspiration online and immediately loved them. I decided since I couldn't afford to purchase them to instead do some DIY on a glassons pair I've had for a few years and to be honest, forgot I owned.

Before...

I placed some plastic bags inside the shorts so that the paint wouldn't seep through to the other side. I used the end of an old Lip balm and a pencil to get two different sized dots. They came out great as I wanted them uneven like the Rebecca Taylor ones. 

she eats: c-food

craving something substantial and warm for a winters night I decided to throw together a yummy pasta dish. flatmate loved it so it must have been good :)

Creamy Chicken and Chorizo Pasta

Serves 2

1 chicken breast

2 chorizo sausages 

4-5 button mushrooms

1 courgette, grated

1/2 red onion, diced

1 clove garlic, crushed & diced

2 cups penne

1/2-1 cup cream

Put penne on to boil. 

Heat oil in frying pan and add onion and garlic. Fry until clear. 

Add chicken and fry until just cooked. 

Add chorizo, mushroom and courgette and stir until just cooked. 

Add cream and let simmer until liquid reduces. 

Add drained pasta to the pan, include a couple tablespoons of pasta water and stir through go combine. 

Serve with some fresh Parmesan.

*drools*

As you can see I thoroughly enjoyed mine :)

she makes: baby blanket

a friend of mine has recently just given birth to a baby girl. a few weeks ago we held a baby shower for her and given i am on a pretty tight student budget I had to think of something to get her that would be meaningful but wouldn't break the bank.

I decided to make a baby blanket as I didn't think she had one already and it would mean I could make something relatively cheap but it would be a bit special. I made a rather simple design using one later of cotton and one layer if polar fleece. at the time of making the blanket i didn't know the sex of the baby so I went with gender non-specific colours and i knew Brenda was keen on navy so i went with that in mind.



I didn't follow any specific instructions but I did find this post which was the same blanket style I was using and had some great pointers. I also used leftover fabric to make a cloud pillow and Brenda sent me a pic of the bassinet all done up with its new threads :)

she bakes: chocolate brownie

gym mebership. Yes. I would recommend getting one if you want to chow down on these bad boys. 3 cups of sugar and 7 eggs? Oh Lordy. But might I say, absolutely delicious! Just be careful to stop after 1 or two pieces and you'll be fine ( I had 3 in one sitting...as did my flatmate). I have yet to figure out the complexities of my oven and I'm convinced it's possessed so it took a bit longer than the recipe called for but it still turned out perfectly. I used this recipe and I will definitely be keeping this one in the bank. I didn't use raspberries but I did use both dark and white chocolate and the flavour turned out great. X

she bakes: russian fudge

There isn't much to say about this one. Russian fudge is my favourite kind of fudge and nothing beats a home made batch. I used this recipe which yielded perfect results. Word of warning - don't attempt to use the low fat condensed milk. I attempted to use the low fat version and it didn't amalgamate properly. Not sure why but I haven't risked using it again. Just figure that if you're going to eat fudge you may as well do it right. 

she shops: poppin tags

I found this crop top at the recycle boutique when I was living in Palmerston North and I only just rediscovered it in my wardrobe now. i haven't worn it yet and now I'm so keen to whip it out. It's such delicate fabric and it's made in New Zealand which is even better. And all for only $8!

she bakes: do the hokey pokey

Hokey pokey is a kiwi icon and its something I love. Craving something sugary with minimal ingredients in the house I decided to whip up some homemade hokey pokey using this classic Chelsea recipe. It turned out great and I dipped it in chocolate for some extra appeal.

she bakes: chocolate goodness

i found this recipe in a magazine and liked the sound of it. I thought it sounded like a bit of a twist on a melting moment. I wasn't sure about the whole fridge thing and I don't like coffee so I just made a buttercream filling with drinking chocolate and it was amazing. I also made the biscuits a bit thicker so they were more like melting moments. They were an absolute win.