Kiwi Food

Today I learned the difference between a 'Sausage Sizzle', a 'hot dog' and an 'American hot dog'.

1. Sausage Sizzle:








A 'Sausage Sizzle' is a sausage (usually what Americans would call a hot dog, but sometimes, if you have a fancy Sausage Sizzle, a sausage) on a piece of bread with onions and tomato sauce. It is very common to have Sausage Sizzle fundraisers, so 'Sausage Sizzle' may also refer to an event.

2. Hot dog:










A 'hot dog' in New Zealand is what one would call a 'corn dog' in the states.

3. American hot dog









An 'American hot dog' is what we Americans would call a hot dog- mystery meat sausage on a bun.

Newton, 17 weeks old

Poor little Newton tried to attack a reusable grocery bag.

I tried to tell him not to, but he wouldn't listen...



...I think he learned his lesson.

Day 123

Yesterday was the final round of the bake off at work. It was epic.

Entry #1:









Chocolate mousse with a crispy wafer and raspberry sorbet. Served with raspberry and balsamic reductions and crushed pistachios. Fancy looking and pretty tasty.

Entry #2:









Lemon meringue pie with homemade lemon ice cream. Refreshing!!

And the winner...









"Tiramisu-Zen". A little bit booze-y for my taste, but very impressive looking.











It was topped with roses, a Buddha, a candle, chocolate dipped strawberries and a white chocolate river.

Newton, 16 1/2 weeks old

Welcome the newest member of the New Zealand All Barks!! (Not to be confused with the All Blacks.)

Day 121

This past weekend was very exciting because...

...After more than 100 days in New Zealand, Jon, Newton and I left Auckland for the very first time!

We went on an adventure to Paeroa, the Antique Capitol of the NZ (I don't know if this is true, but it said so on a cardboard sign, so it must be) and the home of Lemon & Paeroa.

Paeroa claims that L&P is the national drink or soft drink or beverage of New Zealand. This may or may not be true. Wikipedia says that L&P is "World famous in New Zealand", so that's good enough for me. (I, personally, don't think it tastes very nice...)

Paeroa consists of about three streets and TWO (possibly more??) giant soda bottles!! It is like the Kiwi version of a giant ball of yarn- very exciting!! It also has some very nice grass, which Newton really enjoyed.















Giant bottle of L&P #1



















Giant bottle of L&P #2















Paeroa grass

We also went to Karangahake Gorge where, I believe, people used to mine for gold. There were also old train tracks there. We were going to go on a short walk/hike, but there was a tunnel that we had to go through and it was slightly flooded, so we just looked around a little bit and went home. It is a good thing because Newton had been eating miscellaneous things off of the ground all day and ended up getting sick. (He's fine now.)













Crossing a bridge












Newton, not feeling very well

Kiwi Food

Fairy Bread

From Wikipedia:

Fairy bread is sliced bread (usually white) spread with margarine or butter, and covered with hundreds and thousands of sprinkles which stick to the spread.

Fairy bread is commonly served at children's parties in Australia and New Zealand.

I have polled several people, and have come up with my own recipe for Fairy Bread (even though I have never actually seen, made or tasted Fairy Bread).

1. Cut the crust off of slices of white bread

2. Spread with margarine (butter tastes better, but is too difficult to spread)

3. Top with sprinkles (must be rainbow sprinkles)

4. Slice

5. Eat

Day 110

Yesterday was Ponsonby Market Day on Ponsonby Road. It is a day put on by the Ponsonby Business Association where there are sales, street food, stilt walkers and all kinds of fun stuff.













Newton and me on Ponsonby










Live music - a group called "French Toast"










Jon eating a fancy Sausage Sizzle from Nosh










Yummy roasted pig










A bicycle parade!!

Newton, 15 weeks old

As of Tuesday, Newton is a graduate!!















He celebrated with a new carrot toy...















...and a pirate shirt that came all the way from California!!

Kiwi Signs

It is fairly common to see people drive/park on lawns, sidewalks and other places that you may not expect to see cars. Apparently you are not allowed to do so at Cornwallis Park.

Day 104

Saturday I got to go to my first Kiwi BBQ!

John, Rox's fiancee , invited Jon and me to a family reunion / BBQ. We ate chicken wings, sausage, french fries (chips) and Tongan donuts (similar to Johnny Cakes). It was really yummy!











John's family is really nice. Everyone was very friendly and they taught Jon how to play cricket and a Samoan version of baseball. (I was busy making sure Newton played nicely with the little kids.) John's little cousins are pretty funny- one of them showed me her itchy chicken pox!!