Shared Kitchen

Real food from scratch

Category: Julie’s Blog

Plenty of bang for your buck

Check out Rag Noodles with Fresh Walnuts (below). This is a super-simple dish to make, and the perfect home for a first attempt at making pasta. You can use all the raggedy pieces and make them look like you meant them to look this way!

Home is where the heart is

Home-cooked meals. Don’t you love them? It’s something most of us think about, dream about, reminisce about. If you were lucky, a mother, grandmother, or an auntie, or someone who emanated cheerfulness, warmth, caring and love (they were all women when I grew up, but don’t take offence, slip in whoever it was, or whoever you wanted it to be), stood by the stove, stirring pots of gorgeousness (yep, that’s a word), food that smelled so good you couldn’t wait to eat it, food that tasted so good you licked the plate clean (well, as a kid …), and food that spread such a wonderful feeling of happiness deep in the pit of your stomach. Read more …

Leeks – all you need to know and then some …

Most of us have heard of cock-a-leekie (a Scottish soupy stew made with chicken and leeks) but hat-a-leekie is something else. Why anyone would want to wear a leek in their hat is beyond me, but not to the Welsh who claim the leek as their national symbol – all to do with a bunch of …

Scones for Mum!

Scones, rhyming with ‘on’ or scones, rhyming with ‘own’ … doesn’t matter which way, they’re scrumptious!

Is this NZ garlic?

You are hearing it everywhere BUY LOCAL and for good reason. Buying local ensures those around you have jobs – you are looking after your fellow citizens and encouraging enterprise in your own backyard. Businesses are likely to be smaller, rather than huge multi-national conglomerates. You are more likely to know how things are grown […]

Totara Ladies Lunch for Hospice

Some years ago my darling brother Clive got very ill with a brain tumour. In his final days he was assisted by the wonderful staff of Totara Hospice. I’ve been a supporter since then. I was delighted when they asked me to be the guest host of their 2019 fundraising lunch in May. Well known […]

Waiheke Live!

Waiheke Happenings Festivals, Markets, Creative Arts, Song & Poetry … Easter weekend is the busiest weekend on Waiheke, partly due to the jazz festival which is held over the weekend at various venues. The festival is now called the Waiheke, Jazz, Art & Music Festival to reflect the wider range of events on offer, though […]

Autumn garden

Autumn – or fall in the northern hemisphere – is definitely with us here in New Zealand. Sun, showers, more sun, a good drenching, then sun-showers, fast-paced clouds and swirling mist, and on it goes. I’ve still got tomatoes growing, and chillies and capsicums, though everything is looking tired and ready to give up. Lettuces, […]

Ferment!

Have difficulty eating bread? Change to genuine sourdough bread and feel the difference.

Summer’s on the run

Splash of Colour 13th March 2019 My suggestion for this weekend is to get yourself off to a farmers’ market and to gather up a basket of gorgeously fresh produce, then to head home and cook your way through it. Vegetables and fruits are incredible in colour and shape and I always enjoy unpacking my […]

Quick tricks for summer dishes

It’s so hot here on Waiheke you might melt if you stay in the sun too long. You need a beach. Preferably at your back door. Or a pool to hop into. When I was a kid, a squirt with a hose did the trick. If you are in New Zealand, or Australia or another […]

Summer Salad

Brightly coloured jellied seeds of tomatoes twinkling like jewels, wafts of basil as if you have just crushed a meadow of carnations underfoot … and the bright fresh note of lemon rising to fill the nostrils … Add some gorgeous avocado to the mix and you have the essence of summer. You can make a […]