Foodlovers Foodtalk Forum
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Re: Au pair - 6 years ago
Thanks Helen and Ingrid My health is on the mend, but I get extremely tired from 3pm onwards, just when the urchins get home from school, so that 's when I need the aupair. I wasn't sure where to start, so that Backpacker page sounds like a great help. I hadn't really thought about the "rules" and "expectations", thank you. I will put pen to paper this weekend, figuring ouby Ruth - Foodlovers Non-Foodie Chat
Au pair - 6 years ago
Hi everyone, I hope you are keeping warm. Recently I had a health event, that is now limiting me. I am thinking about getting an au pair to help with the urchins after school, but not sure where to start. Any recommendations for agencies, pitfalls, and your experiences would be welcome. Thanks Ruth in Rotoruaby Ruth - Foodlovers Non-Foodie Chat
Re: What about a soup? - 6 years ago
That kumara and chickpea soup looks great Lorna. I am going to have to make that this week, now it soup season! The urchins ask for this soup a lot. It's simple and doesn't take too long to make. We just call it Choritzo soup. 1-2 Choritzo sausage 1 small onion about 1 tablespoon oil/butter 1 carrot 1 litre stock or water 1 cup alphabet pasta Dice the onion finely and cook in pot wiby Ruth - Foodlovers Food Talk
Re: Your favorite dessert - 6 years ago
The urchins asked for this today, we call it Plum Yum Yum, but we made it with feijoas instead, as the tree has been very generous. 8-10 plums, halved and pitted or we used 12 feijoas, cut in half and one good scoop out of each half (the urchins ate the rest of the feijoa) 115gm butter softened 1 cup (200 grams) sugar plus extra for topping (see below) 2 eggs 1 teaspoon (5mls)vanilla esseby Ruth - Foodlovers Food Talk
Gluten free cake - for icing - 7 years ago
Hi everyone, I hope you are all enjoying the sunny weather. I have been asked to make a cake for Thanksgiving for my American neice. She likes chocolate cake, and I had everything sorted. Yesterday she discovered she is gluten intolorent, so I would like to make the Thanksgivign cake gluten free for her. My process for icing a cake takes several days, as I can only do it once the urchins areby Ruth - Foodlovers Food Talk
Re: Does anyone grow pomelos in New Zealand? - 7 years ago
I had these in Vanuatu but they called them breadfruit. I wonder if the citrus "lemonade" is a type of pomelos.by Ruth - Foodlovers Food Talk
Re: Tamarillos - 7 years ago
I got these recently too, and my urchins didn't know what they were either. we just cut them in half (like kiwifruit/feijoa) and scooped out the centre and ate it, no sugar required.by Ruth - Foodlovers Food Talk
Re: Obatzda Dip - 7 years ago
Yes, we have eaten, as one of our au-pairs (from Munich) made it one night. We found pretzels at the market, so she wanted to share the dip with us. The urchins liked it.by Ruth - Foodlovers Food Talk
Re: Lemon Syrup Cake/Loaf - 7 years ago
So if I dont have yoghurt or sour cream in the house, what can I subsititute, or do something to milk to make it thicker / sourer? Thanks.by Ruth - Foodlovers Food Talk
Roasted chickpeas - 7 years ago
Hi everyone. Last week I ate these, and couldn't believe how wonderful they were, and why I didn't know about them before! I have spiced pumpkin seeds often, but these are better. They were served as nibbles before my tapa arrived, and they were lemony and salty and I ate the lot, I didn't share. I have since looked on the internet, and of course there are heaps of different spice flavourby Ruth - Foodlovers Food Talk
Re: Most versatile ingredient? - 7 years ago
Thank you for that J1. This was fascinating reading, and I have discussed your results with my urchins. I spend more on groceries than I do on my mortgage, so I need to sit down and think about my buying habits. I guess it wouldn't take long each week to put into a spreadsheet. Most versatile ingredient for me is Ginger.by Ruth - Foodlovers Food Talk
Re: Winter Feast - 7 years ago
OH Thank you everyone. Fantastic suggestions and ideas! Several of them catch my fancy... I will get my eldest, 13, to look over them too, and he can help me make whatever he decides on. I am sure it will be great feast, just have to get my act together, and have some more mulled wine. Thanks everyone. Have fun!by Ruth - Foodlovers Food Talk
Winter Feast - 7 years ago
Hi everyone, I hope you are keeping warm. I am kind of stuck for ideas as I have lost my cooking mojo. The urchins have reminded me that it is mid winter next week, and we should have a feast. I was reading Cheese Lovers nibble posting for ideas, but they seem a little grown up for my crowd. 8 Urchins aged between 10 and 14, and 10 adults. I was thinking about doing a roast, as I haven'tby Ruth - Foodlovers Food Talk
Re: Travel Essentials - 7 years ago
A sarong as it has several different uses other than beach/swim wear. As a curtain, as a sheet, as a towel. I also take a small tin of milo, as I often need a pick me up when I get to my destination, and I can drink this cold. I also take an elastic washing lineby Ruth - Foodlovers Non-Foodie Chat
Re: Anyone seen any good movies lately - 7 years ago
Recently I watched the Water Diviner, which I thought was a beautiful movie. This week I watched McFarlane USA which is a kid's movie. My 10 and 12 year olds watched it twice, and it has created lots of discussion in our household, about privilege, child labour, school work, and how a community can change a person's life. I would recommend it for all NZ children who moan about doing their hoby Ruth - Foodlovers Non-Foodie Chat
Re: Help me change a habit... - 7 years ago
Hi Vanessa. I really liked eating potato chips in the evenings watching movies. I decided it was the "cruch" that I craved. Anyway, I switched to rice crackers, and made sure that there were no more potato chips in the house. This worked the best! I could eat a whole packet of rice crackers, but they don't have as much fat in them as the bag of potatoes. After a while I went "by Ruth - Foodlovers Non-Foodie Chat
Re: A vent about school lunches and such - 7 years ago
Hi Jenna. My son used to say the same thing, that he gets the best lunch trades too. I guess children do want real food, and are sick of the junk they get. I now get my son to make an extra bun and fruit to give to the child he keeps trading with. (yes overweight, always given sweets and packaged food same as what you described) That way my boy gets to keep his lunch, and the other child get sby Ruth - Foodlovers Food Talk
Re: Charred Broccoli - 7 years ago
Thanks for that Helen. I have roasted Cauliflower many times, but never considered brocolli. Going to try this for dinner tomorrow night.by Ruth - Foodlovers Food Talk
Re: Homemade pumpkin seeds - 7 years ago
Hi Vanessa. I have done this for years with pumpkin seeds. Just scoop them out of the pumpkin and wash the orange sticky stuff off. Put them in an oven tray, and roast for 15 - 20 mins on about 150 Deg C. Now the tricky part. Turn them on their sides, where the two sides join, and crack the pointy end gently with your teeth, and the inside pops out. I guess you could put in a nut cracker anby Ruth - Foodlovers Food Talk
Re: Feijoa jelly making - sugar question? - 7 years ago
I managed to get 20 cups of feijoa juice - so using the maths, 20 x 0.75 = 15 (I did 3/4 cup of sugar to each cup of juice (I had to go buy more sugar). 15 cups, of sugar, so I added one more for luck. (16). I also added the juice of 2 lemons. I also added the rind of the two lemons. I split the juice between two large pots - 10 cups in each, and 8 cups of sugar in each. In one pot I addeby Ruth - Foodlovers Food Talk
Re: Feijoa jelly making - sugar question? - 7 years ago
Well, I am going to try it today. I have had the bag hanging all night, and have a pot full of green grey juice. I know the ratio has something to do with pectin, and the chemical reaction between the sugar and the pectin causes the jelly to set. I will be adding lemon juice. I found this link where she reduced the ratio to 3/4 a cup, so it was more tart (which I dont mind) and the jellyby Ruth - Foodlovers Food Talk
Feijoa jelly making - sugar question? - 7 years ago
Hi everyone. I have had a surplus of feijoas, so thought I would make some feijoa jelly from the skins. All the recipes have 1 cup of sugar to 1 cup fruit juice. What are your thoughts on reducing this to 3/4 cup sugar? Does this effect the setting of the jelly, or does it just take longer, as the liquid has to reduce more? I don't really know the science of jam / jelly making. Over the yeby Ruth - Foodlovers Food Talk
Re: Pondering obesity and all that sugar - 7 years ago
I noticed the sugar content in the food when I was in the USA. At one place we stayed, the breakfast consisted of muffins and cereals. My children tried them, but didn't finished them, "they were too sweet". It was just like eating pure sugar. Horrible. Portion sizes were over the top, we just ordered children's sizes (even my US friend decided to as well) as there was alway so muby Ruth - Foodlovers Food Talk
Re: What is NZ's national food? - 7 years ago
I have had a number of international visitors lately, and I have struggled with the concept of NZ food, as that is what they would like to have. I think we have borrowed, mixed so many different cultures / flavours. For example, my european visitors loved trying Nashi, passionfruit, persimmons, and feijoas for the first time. Pavolva is similar to Angelfood Cake, so not really a novelty for Ameby Ruth - Foodlovers Food Talk
Re: When I make _____, I always add _____ to make it taste even better. - 8 years ago
Whenever it has cocoa in it, I add 1/4 tsp cinnamon.by Ruth - Foodlovers Food Talk
Re: The things you want to know no matter how silly - 8 years ago
I have always wondered how many grams a 1/2 cup of butter is, and the other day, a recipe had 8 tablespoon of butter. I ended up searching on the internet.by Ruth - Foodlovers Food Talk
Re: 50th anniversary - 8 years ago
Drive. I hired a convertible and drove from Denver to LA with my urchins. It took a month. There is lots to see, just need to do some research first. Experience the vastnest of Arizona (route 66), the colours of New Mexico, the Rockies in Colorado. The advantage of a convertible, is being able to look up in the canyons, instead of leaning out the window. Have fun!by Ruth - Foodlovers Non-Foodie Chat
Re: Advent Calendar - 8 years ago
Hi Raewyn. Great idea. I have put a link below to our advent calender, which are numbered socks. I dont know how to add a picture sorry. Each sock has a daily activity for the family members to do. My urchins are older now 12,11,10,& 9 so the activities have changed a little, eg One activity this year we went out after dark, and watched the satellites overhead. (Eat junk food all day aby Ruth - Foodlovers Non-Foodie Chat
Re: Virgil - 8 years ago
I use many of Virgil's recipes. A generous man who shared his knowledge. This is a sad time.by Ruth - Foodlovers Non-Foodie Chat
Re: Dried Broad / Fava Bean - 8 years ago
Our local Moshims store (Rotorua) sells the dried fava beans, and lots of other mysterious dried stuff. I would love you to share your recipes using this type of dried bean. Have fun!by Ruth - Foodlovers Food Talk