Delighting in a food coma

"...silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way. Wickedness is always wickedness, but folly is not always folly. — It depends upon the character of those who handle it."
- Emma by Jane Austen

Hello! We're busy playing the 'guess how big that aftershock was' game after a rather large shake (it knocked a few things out of our pantry so it's got to be at least a 5. Extra points for guessing where it was centred. You might laugh but some people had bets on one at work once!).

M and I have spent most of the day in a food coma after eating up large at the vegetarian expo and then eating lots of cake and bread at his parents' house (his Mum made this vegan orange cake especially for us. I think I'm going to have to get the recipe off her because it was delicious). I have to say though, a food coma is a bit more pleasant than the total exhaustion state we were both in last night after a rogaine based out of Castle Hill (it was crazy - we started in a snowfall and finished in beautiful sunshine a few hours later!).

First up, before we even got inside, we got vegetarian sausages with all the trimmings (mustard, sweet chilli sauce, onions and tomato sauce). I devoured mine in no time because I was starving (only having an apple for breakfast will do that for you...but I was determined to eat far too much at the expo so had to make sure there was going to be room). I think the sausages they used were the Frys ones. Later, inside the expo, I had a good chat to the people from Frys about their new products which are coming soon and I got all excited!


Next up I got all excited by these tiny little cupcakes and the vegan society stall so I had to get one of the lemon ones. It was eaten in no time (you could have eaten the whole thing in one go but I tried to make it last a bit longer).

I then downed a shot glass of vegan beer from the Cassels & Sons Brewery. Now that was quite nice and I might have to pop out there and get some but it was a bit early for me and alcohol to meet (11am). I think I got a whole lot more giggly after that.

Then it was time for some serious browsing of the stalls (while I giggled continuously and got all excited at the smallest of things). This didn't last all that long because I stumbled across another stall selling the most amazing looking vegan baking. Cat Rescue Christchurch had a big table filled with delicious-looking home baking but my eye was instantly caught by the ginger crunch so I had to have some of that.

After the mini sugar coma I was now in we decided something savoury was in order. We'd thought about pies but ended up going for samosas with chutney from, well I can't remember where from but they were delicious and very spicy.


Drink was definitely required after that but when we wandered over to The Lotus Heart stall I got carried away and ended up getting a slice of raw lemon cheesecake instead!! It was divine. They have got this whole raw dessert thing down to a T (or is it a little t? I've never written that phrase down before). Luckily M was a bit more sensible and bought us some sparkling orange and ginger drink to share.

You'd think we'd be full by now but the pies were still calling. We ended up getting a Country Pie to share from the Linda McCartney Foods stall. The pastry was delicious but the filling was slightly too 'meaty' for my taste. M seemed to like it though.

Then just to top it off, I'd come to the realisation I hadn't gotten anything chocolaty yet so I headed back to the lovely ladies at Cat Rescue Christchurch. I don't know who you ladies are but you do amazing work and are incredible bakers. When we have somewhere where I can have a cat I am totally heading your way. Anyway, I picked up a slice of peppermint chocolate cake which I picked at once we got home (it was incredible).


So yeah, basically the vegetarian expo was awesome and I'm most grateful for the lady at work who told me about it. As you can probably guess by this post (and like I said on the feedback form afterwards), I was pretty much just there for the food and it did not disappoint.

By the way, for those who were curious, the official quake magnitude is now up and it was a 5.5. Exciting!

Late night mumbling

"Bring me apples, Danby, and chestnuts too. Run, Danby, run. Bring me crab apples and horse chestnuts before it's too late, and get some for yourself."
- Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

Well here I am, up far too late cooking black beans because I, well, didn't get on to it earlier! I also just pulled a loaf of banana bread (the one from Veganomicon if you were interested) out of the oven and am now procrastinating writing this post while I gchat with M. You see, life has been a little crazy lately. Oh fine, my life is always crazy...but I love it!!

So basically, it's been a couple of weeks since I got back from Christchurch but I still haven't told you about our awesome dinner at The Lotus Heart...because you can't really go down there and not have a fine dining experience!

We got a starter to share which, because I am a bit bossy, I chose...cashew cheese and crackers. The menu describes it as house cured cashew cheese served with grapes and rosemary almond flax crackers and it's raw!


SO good. I just wish you got more. I loved the cashew cheese. It was so creamy and awesome! Of course, I had to get their ginger beer because it is truly awesome as well...I need some new words to describe all the awesomeness!!!


For our mains we got a couple of dishes to share. I've pretty much tried everything on the vegan menu so they weren't anything new but that doesn't make them any more delicious. First up, the Portobello Magic which is portobello mushrooms served on golden brown potato rosti with wilted greens and grilled vegetables (I stole that description from the menu too!).


It is so ridiculously filling and delicious although perhaps a little overboard on the orange sauce. And then we had to get pizza...the veganio pizza in fact with its delicious cashew nut aioli. They clearly work magic with cashews here.


Anyway, I almost wished we'd got the large size so we could have taken the leftovers home. I love pizza! But you can't come all the way to The Lotus Heart and not have dessert. I mean, there is more than one vegan option on the menu! In fact, there are, like, 3 (out of 4) vegan options!!! First up, (raw) banana-nut pie with raw vegan ice cream.


I remember ordering something of the same name here a couple of years ago and it being okay but this time it was incredible. And there is no words to describe how good this raw ice cream was. We also got a slice of vegan chocolate cake, also served with the rather incredible ice cream.


I love cake! Anyway, basically The Lotus Heart makes the most awesomest of food and I can't wait for my summer holiday and the next trip there.

Chips chips chips chips, we like chips

He was not an ill-disposed young man, unless to be rather cold hearted, and rather selfish, is to be ill-disposed.
- Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Sing the title as a round...it's great fun (then try singing happy birthday followed by 'For she's a jolly good fellow' also as a round...that's even more fun although we may have drunk a fair amount of wine by then)!

A little celebration was called for, despite the fact it was a couple of weeks late so my kiwi brother (as opposed to my American brother), my lovely cousin D and I trouped off to my parents place for delicious food and good times.


Dinner was tofu stir-fry and oven chips (kumara chips for me but there were potato chips too). Mum seasoned them with kelp salt which was super delicious, and I convinced her to leave the skins on...I've now made my parents converts. Awesome.


I've been dying to try a raw dessert for ages so this seemed like the perfect opportunity. I ended up deciding on The Real Cheezecake from Ani Phyo's book Ani's Raw Food Kitchen. Very costly to make so I'd been saving it for a special occasion but it is super easy.


It was sensational (better than I expected to be honest)...very filling but not too rich and everyone loved it which was cool. I thought they might think it was a little too weird or something but no, it was welcomed into everyone's stomaches with open mouths.


Wine and apple cider...they do say don't mix your drinks and they may be right! Also not so good when you have a race the next day but I couldn't stop laughing most of the night so that can't be a bad thing right?

Oh, and just in case anyone else was interested...Beauty and the Beast in 3D was awesome. I may or may not have needed tissues.

It's all very exciting...

But he could not move. He could not make the effort. He lay there with his face turned into the gentle stream of falling water and did not stir again.
- Angel - Seeker by Sharon Shinn

...otherwise known as Saturday in Christchurch.

It started with coffee...or, more specifically, since I've never drunk a cup of coffee in my life, a ginger chai latte with rice milk from The Orange Tree.


I then wanted vegan pancakes and nobody was going to stop me...I doused them in maple syrup and they really didn't last long at all. I love pancakes (oh, and they can make them gluten free too if you so desire)!


I've only just recently started climbing again after various injuries and events got in the way. Unfortunately winter is not really the best time for climbing outside so we just hit up The Roxx. Just so you know, I don't normally climb in socks (or polypro pants for that matter) but my feet were too cold.


There was an emergency peanut butter sandwich consumed partway through (well, not partway through a climb because that might be a little crazy).


Yes, I have chalk all over my hands...they don't normally look that weird.

Climbing makes me hungry so we went exploring for a stop of lunch/afternoon tea. And what did we find?


Yep, it's Eternal Delight - a raw vegan cafe. I didn't even know they existed (well, in New Zealand anyway). It was all terribly exciting but I had to remember we were going out for a fancy dinner so we couldn't eat too much so we decided to split a main and a dessert. B chose the Italian pizza and salad.


Seriously this was amazing. I don't know how they did it but just looking at the photo right now makes me want it again real bad. The salad especially was very impressive (yes, the pizza was great but there was something about that salad...).

As a sweet treat I picked the Superfood Black Forest Cake which uses goji berries instead of cherries. The guy gave us a discount because it had fallen over. He said that normally it stands tall and proud. Again it was pretty awesome. We decided we'd have to come back here for their Friday night fine dining next time I'm down.


And then we raced home to check trademe (like eBay I guess but specifically for us here in New Zealand). You see, I had placed an auto bid on a road bike as the auction was going to close while we were out so I had no idea if I'd won or not. But guess what?! I won!!! This is exciting news number 1 (more to follow in the next post). I will probably post photos of it everywhere at some point. It's awesome!

Anyway, moving on! Dinner was a special occasion made even more special because B and I were joined by my beautiful cousin D and her boyfriend. So basically, it was dinner with my bestest friends in the whole world and it really can't get much better than that. We decided to go to The Lotus Heart because it's fancy and they do awesome food.


Fries first...you can't really go wrong with that (plus their homemade tomato sauce is real good...they should bottle and sell it 'cause I'd definitely buy it). B ordered tea and I had to take a photo...I want this tea set.


D and I went with their homemade ginger beer...you also can't go wrong with that. I order it every single time.


For our mains B and I decided to order a couple of different things and share (D and her boyfriend did the same). We got the vegan pizza which had their special cashew vegan aioli on it...I have to try this 'cause it tasted super cheesy (well, at least my memory of cheesy).


We also ordered the curry of the day. Somehow I have managed to delete the photo I took of this...oops! Anyway, I can't remember now what it was but it was tasty which is really all that counts. I think the waiter was quite impressed that we polished off all this food with such ease (and then casually asked for the dessert menu too).

Dessert...raw pumpkin pie with raw ice cream. Oh my god! This was really REALLY good. So good that I was very surprised. It was also a ridiculously large portion and I couldn't even finish it which is quite a rare thing for me. I had to take the leftovers home (there was no way I was letting it go to waste!).


And to finish off an awesome night? We went to live comedy...a perfect night (especially because B and I tried to book too late so they'd sold out but somehow 2 people cancelled right before the show was about to start so we got their tickets).

Raw beaches and lanterns

One can spot a fellow musician in any context, even amongst policemen.
- Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

My lovely cousin D decided she wanted to compete in a running race and chose the 6km North Shore Coastal Classic as her first attempt and I accompanied her round the course. She did an amazing job, running almost the whole way while I talked my head off and probably drove everyone else around us a little crazy! It was a nice gentle cruise for me which was a good recovery after the day before and the weather was glorious so all in all it was a good day.


Anyway, after the race I whipped us up some food from her Christmas present to me, Ani's Raw Food Kitchen (admittedly we only just exchanged gifts last week 'cause we're a bit behind the times!). First up was a scramble using the Love the Chicks Pate as the base with diced tomato, capsicum, avocado and baby spinach.


This was the recipe that caught my eye when I first picked this book up ages ago on a typical browse in Borders and I knew it was the first thing I wanted to make when I got the book. It was super easy to make (chuck everything in the food processor and off you go then stir in your veggies...easy as pie) and tasted really good but it was very rich especially after all that time out in the sun and we didn't end up eating that much.

The second course was the Coconut Breakfast Cakes with maple syrup and melon. I ended up using LSA instead of ground flaxseed and mixed in chopped walnuts and blueberries too.


Now these were delicious which totally surprised me 'cause when I first read the ingredients I couldn't understand how they could taste good. The LSA I used (and the flaxseed I buy) is obviously a much darker colour to what she used 'cause mine came out a lot darker than the picture but oh well! I will definitely make these again and mix up the ingredients and additions even more.

On Sunday night The Chef and I hit up the Lantern Festival at Albert Park in the city (along with his family and the entire population of Auckland it seemed!). I wish I'd taken my camera 'cause we got some awesome (and crazy) food and there were some beautiful lights. Veg "chicken" nuggets, veg "corn dogs" (ewww!), BBQ corn, banana leaf rice with bean curd, vietnamese spring rolls (also not that crash hot unfortunately) and freshly squeezed orange juice. There was so much more to try too but my stomach was too full by then!

Anyway, it's the year of the tiger and tigers are my favourite animal so that rocks (and the tiger lantern was beautiful - you can see a closeup of its face here)!