All posts tagged: Year of Firsts

10 tips for charcoal barbecue noobs

Published by

The Koala doesn’t spend much time in my kitchen our kitchen, but like most red-blooded kiwi males, The Koala is happy behind a barbecue (with beer in hand). We haven’t had a barbecue for a few years so The Koala and I bought ourselves a charcoal barbecue for Christmas. Introducing our Charmate 57cm Premium Charcoal BBQ. There were 3 options for this size which we dubbed the cheapie ($80), the middle of the road ($200) and the Weber ($400). We went for the $200 option and also picked up a cover, a barbecue tool set, a lighter, Manuka wood chips and 2 bags of hardwood lump coal. Yes, we got ourselves coal for Christmas! We must have been bad this year.   Gas barbecues are super popular here in New Zealand because they are quick, convenient and cheap to run. But we figure, we cook with gas in our kitchen every day. We know what gas cooking tastes like. We would like a new experience please!   Charcoal is different to gas (no shit). You get a …

Year of Firsts tag

Published by

The Koala and I have just come home from a long weekend at a sweet house by the beach celebrating my sister and her boyfriend’s birthdays. It was wonderful to hang out with them and a group of their best friends. Being married and with a tight group of my own friends, I don’t meet new faces often. I’m an introvert but it’s great to get out of your comfort zone. New experiences encourage growth. Over the long weekend, Elise over at The Confetti Room proposed a Year of Firsts tag, where bloggers write a list of 20-30 firsts they want to experience this year and blog about them. I was lucky to sit next to Elise at the recent #brunchclub Auckland event and within 10 minutes of meeting, we discovered we went to the same primary school in Rotorua. It’s funny to wonder if our paths may crossed over 20 years ago. Serendipitous! I am all about bucket lists and new challenges. Especially food related ones. Two years ago, I started the link up party Our Growing Edge to challenge fellow bloggers to …