Tofu Tuesday: Oh Hello OOOOBY
I was photographing our CSA bounty last week when who should appear at the back door?
Author: Bunny Eats Design
Monday Bunday: Cat Rabbit makes me yook-gun
There is a phrase in Cantonese that we don’t have in English, called yook-gun which literally translates to meat tight. It refers to the feeling you get when you see something so adorable or whimsical and your muscles tense up and you get super aggressive. A great example of this is in the animated movie Despicable Me when Agnes gets her unicorn toy. It’s soooo fluffy I’m going to DIE!!! Cat Rabbit makes me yook-gun. Cat Rabbit turns me into Agnes. I am in love with these hipster rabbits. Look at their spectacles. Look at their eye capsules. Look at their indignant little mouths. Look at their pulled up socks. Look at their collars and bow ties and scarves and capes. The detail makes me want to burst into tears. They are the best in the world and it physically breaks my heart to look at these too long. Melbourne based textile-artist Cat-Rabbit has an amazing collection of plush personalities (not just rabbits). Please check out her website http://www.catrabbit.com.au for more fantastic beings. She also sells her toys …
Apocalypse Spaghetti is for Sluts
The Koala’s fascination with conspiracies and the end of the world coupled with my love of survival tips and post apocalypse fashion mean that post apocalyptic movies and TV programmes are held in high regard around here. I don’t truly believe that shit is going to hit the fan in our lifetime. But I guess the old adage, “Prepare for the worst, hope for the best” works in this situation. Before shopping day, or before OOOOBY box Tuesday, when I’m scraping together what little fresh food we have to make a meal or even using pantry only or freezer only ingredients, I always think to myself, “I hope society doesn’t crumble tomorrow, I’m not prepared today”. I hope that when it all comes crashing down, we will have a full fridge and pantry. Being city dwellers, there will be little fresh food at the end of days and while looting will be a popular past time, so will eating food from cans. Being able to conjure a few meals from pantry only ingredients is a …
Cauliflower Soup
This cauliflower soup was quick to make and well received at our house. Being fairly restrained on the ingredient list means that you can really taste each of the flavours. Get a good caramelisation going in the pan before you add water to intensify the flavours. This soup is perfect with garlic butter toast or fresh buttered rolls. Cauliflower Soup Ingredients 1/2 a head of cauliflower 2 potatoes 3 cloves of garlic 2 tablespoons olive oil 1/4 teaspoon brown sugar 2 bay leaves 4 cups water 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 rashers streaky bacon (omit for vegetarian version) 1 cup of milk 2 teaspoons sour cream Preparation Cut the cauliflower into bite sized pieces. Peel and cut the potatoes into 3cm chunks. Heat the olive oil in a hot pan and add the cauliflower and potatoes. I wouldn’t use a pot as you don’t want to overcrowd the vegetables, but you could cook in batches if you prefer. Peel and crush the garlic cloves and add to the pan with the brown sugar and salt. Resist …
This Week’s Specials – Week 5
I’m having fun writing a weekly menu and we generally stick to the plan. I admit I may be a bit ambitious when writing it. I also don’t think it helps to write a meal plan on an empty stomach! I came home with a few yummy things from The Food Show including 2kg of Southland Queen Scallops and 4 kinds of cheese! Still, this week, our pantry reserves are getting low and we haven’t been to the supermarket in a while so we’ll have to pick up a few things. This week our CSA box included: Vegetable Mushrooms Spinach Carrots Cauliflower Broccoli Fruit Newstead Gold Apples Gold Kiwifruit Winter Nelis Pears Mandarins …and a loaf of ciabatta. Meal Plan Week 5 Cauliflower*and potato* soup topped with with bacon and sour cream. Served with ciabatta* garlic* toast Individual cottage pies with carrots*, peas and mushrooms*, topped with cheesy golden mash Queen scallops and spinach* pasta, tossed with butter and served with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and a lemon* wedge Cheese fondue with ciabatta*, baguette, carrot, broccoli and tortellini Chocolate …
OOOOBY Box Week 5
We are now in week 5 of our weekly CSA deliveries from local company OOOOBY. All three of us look forward to OOOOBY Tuesdays and the cute name probably doesn’t hurt. This week included lemons and potatoes which are on our “do not want” list so we didn’t receive them. We don’t want potatoes and lemons not because we don’t like them, but because we do. Rather than praying for potatoes each week, we buy them in bulk so that there is always a sack to be used. Our lemon tree is giving us delicious, juicy lemons this winter so no need to have those delivered either. This week our CSA box included: Vegetable 8 Mushrooms (Conventional Sprays) 1 giant bunch of Spinach (Self Certified Organic) 6 Carrots (Conventional Sprays) 1/2 a head of Cauliflower (Conventional Sprays) 1 Broccoli Fruit 7 Newstead Gold Apples (Conventional Sprays) 11 Gold Kiwifruit (Certified Organic) 6 Winter Nelis Pears (Certified Organic) 6 Mandarins The most interesting thing in the box: Mushrooms. Not that they are strange, but because this is the first time we’ve seen mushrooms …
Tofu Tuesday: Hay
Rabbits are supposed to eat a lot of hay. It’s good for them and it keeps their weight in check. Tofu goes through phases of hay eating. Most of the time, hay is at the bottom on the list of things he wants to eat. So this is a fairly rare occurrence. He looks particularly like a sea otter in this photo. Don’t you think?
Monday Bunday: Rabbit heart wallpaper
I’ve posted a Monday Bunday wallpaper before at the start of last year. Time for another one! This sweet bunny heart illustration would be great in a nursery. Designer unknown.
Design at The Food Show
I’ll be honest. I buy food and wine that has beautiful packaging. My pulse quickens, I may gasp aloud and I’ve been known to squeal with delight. I am an absolute sucker for pretty bottles, labels, quirky illustrations and unique materials. As a print designer who also happens to be obsessed with food, I would love nothing more than to design just for the food. All day, every day. Heaven. Yesterday at The Food Show was like food design geek OVERLOAD. So many lovely designs. So little time. It was a lovely surprise to see The Good Tempered Chocolate Company at The Food Show. The ornate, hand drawn logo I designed for Hayley was on display for everyone to see. Excite! Hayley’s hand made chocolates are to die for and she sweetens me up by bringing me her wonderful treats to sample. I had the pleasure of trying her new Peanut Butter Deluxe Chocolate a few weeks ago and she launched it at The Food Show. Hayley shared a stall with Pic’s Really Good Peanut Butter. The …
Eat Well. Travel Often.
This poster by designer Ian Coyle speaks to me. When I was 9 months old, my parents and I flew from Hong Kong to New Zealand. They moved to country they had never been to before with an infant. I can’t say I’d have the courage to do that. In the years since, we were lucky enough to travel back to Hong Kong fairly often. Usually we would travel with stopovers in other countries. I’ve been spoilt. I find inspiration in travel. In both food and in design and in life. Travel gives perspective and nourishes in so many ways. I’d sooner blow all my cash on travel than save for a house. Being a homeowner is so overrated. I hear so many stories of people who plan to travel in their retirement. Only they die young or are not physically enough when the time arrives. Which is why Gunther Holtorf’s story is so touching. Gunther Holtorf is a 74 year old German man, who, in 1989, following the fall of the Berlin Wall, packed …
Brown Sugar Stewed Apples
With all the delicious winter apples we’ve been receiving in our CSA box, I wanted to do something with them that was easy and warming. It’s hard to eat cold fruit when you feel cold yourself and stewed apples are a great way to use up apples. My simple recipe uses ingredients you probably already have. I did a similar treatment to rhubarb last summer and you can see that recipe here. Brown Sugar Stewed Apples Makes 2 to 4 servings Ingredients 2 apples 1/2 cup soft brown sugar 1 tablespoon cornstarch Optional: 1 shot limoncello Preparation Peel apples and cut into quarters. Slice off centre, pips and discard. Cut the remaining quarters into 5 or 6 pieces each. Add apple and the other ingredients to a small saucepan on medium heat. Cook for 10 minutes stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Be careful not to burn the sugar, so if the sauce becomes thick and sticky, it is done. Serve on porridge, cake or ice cream. Refrigerate what you don’t use. Note: Under no …
The Food Show 2012 – Top Tips
The Food Show at the ASB Showgrounds in Auckland started today. It kind of snuck up on me this year. I guess hibernating over winter does that. I really enjoy the Food Show and unlike other foodie events, this one is aimed more at the every day consumer rather than the gourmet. We are lucky that we have two big foodie expos here in Auckland and I like to think of The Food Show as the supermarket and home cook expo, whereas Taste is the restaurant and gourmet expo. The Food Show a mega space and walking through the maze of exhibitors will tire you out. Take breaks when you can. Seating is pretty rare at the expo, but there are many seated food demonstrations in the makeshift theatre if you want a reprieve from meandering the halls. If you are heading that way this weekend, here are some tips I’ve compiled from years of experience… Food Show top tips: Avoid queues and buy your tickets online. Bring cash (notes and coins) as there is a …
Meal Plan Week 4
I never was a weekly meal planner, but I guess it was only a matter of time. I am a obsessive list maker. I bet there is loads of psychology on list makers. I’m sure they have merit. I feel a kindred spirit in other obsessive list makers. Over the last month of CSA boxes, meal plans have helped us get through our produce. Without a plan, every meal would feel like a quickfire challenge from Top Chef. This is my fourth meal plan and serves mostly as a guide. Meal plan week 4 Honey-soy-lemon roast chicken drums, kumara and potatoes* with garlicky* pan-fried silverbeet* and buttered peas Stir fry beef with cabbage*, garlic*, broccoli*, onion and udon noodles Lamb sausages with cabbage* and mandarin* slaw, baked potatoes with sour cream Deviled pork sausages with and pink lady apple* on kumara* mash, served with a side of steamed broccoli “Whatever is left” vegetable soup with toasted cheese ciabatta Bacon and avocado* pasta topped with shaved vintage cheddar Avocado* on toasted ciabatta* Fruit and yoghurt Banana*, …
OOOOBY Box Week 4
After a break, this week we are going back to OOOOBY’s original box. After reviewing OOOOBY’s service last week with all prices and produce calculated up, the Original Box is great value for money. This week our CSA box included: Vegetable 5 Kumara (Certified Organic) 2 Garlic (Certified Organic) 1 bunch Silverbeet (Certified Organic) 1 Avocado (Certified Organic) 1/2 Cabbage (Conventional Sprays) 1 Broccoli (Conventional Sprays) Fruit 7 Pink Lady Apples (Conventional Sprays) 10 Green Kiwifruit (Certified Organic) 10 Mandarins (Conventional Sprays) The weirdest thing in the box is: Nothing in the CSA was weird this week, but we did receive three small snails. A fair reminder that the produce is fresh and organic. Add Ons This week we added on a few extras such as pure apple juice, ciabatta and a bunch of fair trade bananas. Recipes This week there are 3 recipes included by OOOOBY and they were two salads and a frittata. CSA Link Party I am part of a CSA box link party. A link party is a weekly or monthly …
Tofu Tuesday: A Piece of Sunshine
In the tradition of Auckland weather, it’s been switching between heavy rain and blue skies like nobody’s business. Here is a picture of Tofu the bunny enjoying the sun. I thought that a green fascinator would be quite dapper and festive. As sunny as it was, the grass was still damp so you can see the tips of his floppy ears are wet through. No doubt his paws were wet too. Tofu doesn’t mind the wet. Is that normal?
Monday Bunday: Bunny Bar
Bunny Bar packaging and branding by design company Strohl, makes use of cute doodles and sweet typography to give these snacks an organic, handmade feel. Part of a more refined brand, this product was to appeal to a younger market. Each pet bunny is colour coded to represent each of the different flavours: Mimi Merry Mango Strawberry, Squeaky Cheeky Choco Cherry, DeeDee Dot Cherry Apricot and Rocco Choco Banana. The founder raised 18 pet rabbits as a child, hence the company name: 18 rabbits. I’d buy these.
July Book Review: Lobster Karma by Karen Gallas (Kindle Edition)
Lobster Karma by Karen Gallas, 2012. Gasper Destiene is a self taught food critic who has just signed a contract to write a bible on American cuisine. But after a lifetime of wrestling with good and evil, her conscience takes a turn for the better and she turns vegetarian overnight. An inexperienced vegetarian has no place writing about real American food and Gasper knows it. But what is a girl to do? Gasper finds vegetarian food lacking (real American food has meat and soul) but cannot bear to eat meat. That is until she meets Tatupu. Tatupu can turn water into wine…culinarily speaking. Tatupu, the big, brown and beautiful Hawaiian chef who left his home to follow a girl. Tatupu who everyone can’t help but fall in love with because his heart is bigger than his smile. Tatupu who excelled in cooking gloriously fresh chicken, pork and fish in classic luau style but then when he had to, attempted vegetarian cooking. And nailed it. Gasper’s husband, Milo, is so ridiculously supportive, I’m not sure if …
Glasses make my world hi-res
All through high school, me and my bestie were in complete denial that we needed glasses. Instead, we would squint at the whiteboard, at the TV and at oncoming buses hoping to make sense of our blurry world. When we finally both got glasses, we didn’t wear them all the time, even if it helped us to see. Nowdays, she wears contacts full-time and I wear glasses full-time. Even though I wear glasses 90% of the time, if you flicked through my Facebook photos, you wouldn’t know I wear glasses. I wear contact lenses on special occasions and photos of me reflect this. I guess I’m not that comfortable in my glasses. I’m used to seeing the world through my glasses, but I’m not used to seeing myself in the mirror with them on. Maybe it’s time to get new glasses. I’ve signed up to Pinterest recently and pinning a whole lot of hotties wearing glasses has given me more confidence and I think it’s about time I invested in some sexier specs. Am I …
Make French Onion Soup
I’ve always wanted to try French Onion Soup. I guess it’s the golden cheese and toast topping that sets it apart from other soups. It always looks so rustic and lovely and caramalised onions are delicious so I added it to my to do list at the start of this winter. This winter has not gone well. I’ve been sick for six weeks so far with a cold and then a nasty, lingering cough. As much as I love hibernating in winter, I prefer the choice of hibernation. I jokingly call this quarantine, but I’d trade all these days off work to be well again. I get chest and back pains if I sit or lie a certain way, or strain my chest muscles the tiniest bit. I feel pathetic. I can’t open tight jars, I can’t cut pumpkin or kumara, I can’t fill the kettle to the top and carry it two steps to it’s spot away from the sink, I can’t reach up to get things out of high shelves, I can’t lift a roast …
An OOOOBY Review
OOOOBY stands for Out Of Our Own Backyards and is an Auckland-based company that offers Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). CSA has been popular in other countries for years and with the trend towards organic and locally grown foods as well as growing in our own backyards, it is a recipe for success. Last week, we switched from the vege/fruit original OOOOBY Box to the Vegetable Box. The Vegetable Box costs $8 more than the Original Box but has a hefty amount of vegetables. With double the vegetables, it was too much for two people. We’re both back to working 40 hour weeks at the moment so I’m not eating at home as much. Therefore, we are taking a break from our subscription this week so I’ll take a moment to review OOOOBY’s services so far. Boxes We’ve had three deliveries and tried two different boxes out of their range of four. We tried the Original Box and also the Vegetable Box. We haven’t tried the Fruit Box and Family Box which don’t suit our two-person …
Bunny Eats Design 