The Quintessential Quince: Maple Chardonnay Slow Roasted Quinces

They dined on mince, and slices of quince,

Which they ate with a runcible spoon;

And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,

They danced by the light of the moon.

~ The Owl and the Pussy Cat, Edward Lear (1871)

The quince is a quirky little fruit.  

If you haven't experienced quinces before, they are a bit like a cross between a very hard pear and a quava in texture, practically inedible in its raw state but when you cook it for long periods, its white flesh slowly develops a gorgeous ruby red hue that tastes of fragrantly floral tartness. 

I know I'm romanticising them a little but heck I'm not the only one, according to myths, legend and wiki the quince was the fruit given to Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love by Paris the Prince of Troy and ancient Greek brides would nibble on quinces to perfume their breath before entering the bridal chamber.

This quintessential autumnal fruit is rather old-fashioned and these days isn't all that common to come by.  They are rarely seen in supermarkets plus the quince season is quite short. You kinda gotta know people who know people.

Forgive me readers, for I have not posted...

{quince pickle + oxford marmalade}

Forgive me readers, for I have not posted.
It's been 20 days since my last posting...

Peanut butter truffles

Practice is the best of all instructors ~ Publilius Syrus

My dancing instructors used to always drum into us to practise, practise, practise.  Everyone starts off completely rookie but to remember your routine / get down in the splits / perform well in front of an audience / pretty much get good at anything: you have to do it over and over and over again.

Which is all good and dandy when you're talking about whirling around in a sparkly costume but a completely different story when you're learning to put in a cannula.

Today was my very first go at putting in an i.v. line and...well, I wasn't a natural.  I managed to jab myself with a (clean) needle.  Then managed to stab straight through the house surgeon's vein and give him a massive bruise at the back of his hand.  Oh dear.

Surely I can only get better at it right?!?

I know at least that baking definitely gets easier with practice, as does making truffles.  Have made a few different types of truffles over the years: good old ganache truffles, eggnog truffles, raspberry truffles, oreo truffles and most recently these Peanut Butter Truffles.  And it's gone from a stressful messy process to a kinda fun messy process.  One can only hope this medicine thing is similar....

Apricot Cream Cheese Muffins for Dad

The second half of a man’s life is made up of nothing but the habits he has acquired during the first half. ~ Feodor Dostoevski

We are all of us creatures of habit.

I've only recently noticed just how many habits I've collected along the way: how I have coffee in the morning before the cereal, how I always sit on the right-hand side of the bus,  how I check the same websites every morning.

My Dad was no exception.  In fact he could've been the poster boy for habitual living.  We used to go out for lunch as a family every weekend.  For years it was BB's Cafe in Wairau Park.  And every single weekend he would order exactly the same things: a cappuccino in a bowl with chocolate, a ham and cheese croissant (heated) and an Apricot and Cream Cheese Muffin.

We were such regulars, I even ended up working at the place.  And Dad would still come in, every Sunday, for his coffee, croissant, and muffin. 

It's eight years today since he passed away.  And I can still see him sitting there just like it was yesterday, with the paper in one hand and a muffin in the other.  So today, I broke my morning habit to bake Dad's favourite muffins and remember all his quirky habits with a smile on my face and tears in my eyes.

Apricot and Cream Cheese Muffins for my Dad.  I love you.  I miss you so much.  

Resisting the inner fat kid: Roasted Kumara and Almond Salad with Feta and Chickpeas

I have an inner fat kid.

Much like the proverbial angel/devil on one's shoulder, my inner fat kid whispers delicious nothings in my ear:  Go on, eat that whole family sized block of chocolate, you know you want to...

And from time to time, I succumb to its urgings.  Yes, I ate that whole bar of Whittakers Hokey Pokey Chocolate. On my lonesome.  For breakfast. 

What's more, I've found the more you feed the fat kid, the stronger they get.

Like when my two besties came down for a girly catch up weekend a couple weeks back.  It was a glorious weekend of gossip and giggles, wine and cheese and chocolate and churros.  An epic eat-a-thon weekend.

{harbourside markets, wellington, nz}

But, alas when one is knock, knock, knocking on 30s door, one finds that for every binge, there needs to be an equal and opposite detox.  So the plan was to atone my eating sins with exercise and healthy food for a few weeks. 

It was super hard.  Inner fat kid was not happy.  Inner fat kid resisted.  There was a lag period, a struggle for dominance, a battle of the wits with the casualties being a whole pack of hokey pokey flavoured marshmallow easter eggs, another whole packet of pineapple lump easter eggs, half a block of blue cheese, lots of ice cream and half a block of black forest chocolate.  Junk food: why you so tasty??

But eventually I triumphed, with the help of some delish salads like this Roasted Kumara and Almond Salad with Feta and Chickpeas.

New skills and how to pipe two toned frosting swirls

You know, like nunchuck skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills... Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills. ~ Napoleon Dynamite

I'm not sure I've actually done any tutorials on this wee blog yet.  Am just a wee bit skittish about calling this a tutorial as such - "tutorial" implies that you know what you are talking about, and since I don't most of the time let's call this is more of a sharing of a neat trick or a cool new skill I learnt: Two-Toned Frosting Swirls.

And as we all know, mean frosting skills are up there with nunchuck skills. 

Speaking of tutorials and mean skills, we've just had out first week in neurology!  While they haven't let us loose in the hospital quite yet, we've gotten to interview and examine real live patients!  It's been awesome, learnt so much, tried and failed to not gush like a total fangirl watching the consultants do their thing #suchanoob (oh yes I did just hashtag...)

Anyways I digress.

I've ooo'ed and ahhh'd over this gorgeous rose tinted frosting effect for ages but never actually tried it.  Most tutorials I'd looked up on the web called for gel food colouring and I never got around to ordering the stuff online (lazy, I know!).  But then my husband got a job at Colgate Palmolive and I was tasked with making some toothpaste themed baking to celebrate, so with my good old kiwi number 8 wire hat on I nutted out a way of making the effect without forking out for the fancy colouring.

You had me at White Chocolate Raspberry Croissant Pudding

You're terrible, Muriel ~ Joanie, Muriel's Wedding

I love croissant pudding! I love it for the pudding it wants to be. And I love it for the pudding it almost is. ~ Jerry Macguire kind of.

I've been a terrible blogger.  It's been almost a whole month since my last post and that is far far too long!  I apologize unreservedly and to sweeten the deal thought I might share this gorgeously decadent, utterly romantic, perfect for Valentine's Day, dessert with you my lovely readers.   Will you forgive me and be my blogger valentines? Would I have you at White Chocolate Raspberry Croissant Pudding?

Caramelized Banana & Bourbon Loaf and the Quest to be Quiz Master

Cheating on a quiz show? That's sort of like plagiarizing a comic strip. ~ Mark Van Doren, Quiz Show

I have two significant quizzes in my life at the mo.  So been feeling rather quizzical lately.
 
The first quiz is a bit of a quiz rivalry.  

I have a intense friendly contest with my friend Johnny.  Now, just because we do it for fun, it does not mean we don't take it very seriously.  We take it very seriously indeed.

There is a running tally.  There are double points days.  There is a title up for grabs: Quiz Master.

Although Johnny tends to, and has for the year or so we've had this context going, consistently kicked my behind, I am happy to announce that I was today's Quiz Master.  Yeeeeeeuuuss!  

I really needed it too.  Having lost my quiz mojo this week, bottoming out on a measly 5/15.  The shame of it.  In my frustration, I even stooped to accusing my friend of Armstrong-ing his results.  Sorry Johnny.   

Hopefully, he can be as forgiving as this Caramelized Banana & Bourbon Loaf.

{happy bananas in a caramel bubble bath}