So how many people can ya cram on a bike in Hanmer Springs?

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

We are back in Hanmer Springs, in the South Island of New Zealand…

One day we decide to hire one of the tourist bikes from the company located in the center of the village for a spin.

These aren’t “regular” bikes as you might know them, these are  a bicycle built for 2…. or 3, or 4 or 6 !

The guy behind the counter advises us to take the smaller single (bench seat) one instead of the  bigger double bench seater versions because we are only two adults cycling, there’s no set of peddles in the middle  for big kid (but she can barely reach them anyway so no loss there) and little kid will be sitting in the metal basket seat at the front.

Apparently these can be harder to peddle than they look  (Yes, I can attest that that’s certainly true!) so the recommendation was to get the smallest one of these that you can get away with.

That turned out to be a VERY good recommendation.  Everybody knows where the big hill is in Hanmer, but guess what, the rest of the township sits on gently undulating land.. and some of it steeper than you first thought, until your wildly protesting leg  muscles remind you.

Never say that you haven’t been warned, this bike is a workout!  Forget Spin class or a 5 km run, this will have your legs shaking once you get off.  One valuable hint: it goes better the more adults you have to peddle them.

Whilst all peddles link to the chain drive, and there are two sets of little steering wheels in the front row, only one of these works, the other is a “dummy”, a fake!

Yes, it turns, but isn’t linked to anything.  Mr Kiwidutch, unbeknownst to me, was  forewarned about this fact  and  promptly secured himself the set that did work, so I was left to unwittingly discover that no matter what I did with my steering wheel that it was all to no avail. (much to Himselfs glee at my frustration and initial ignorance since I thought for the first minutes that I was driving  this thing and that something must be wrong).

It’s a work-out but a fun one… the kids thought it was hilarious, roaring throughout the ride “Mama, Papa…  Faster, FASTER!!!” .. leaving us all breathless by the end of the hire time.

The Deep and Meaningful thoughts of the young…

Our Daughter aged Five had completely different priorities… Pink or Purple, which one looks better? Glitter, or beads or the thingy with sequins ? Big choices (obviously).

Little Mr. at the same age is a totally different kettle of fish, philosophical, deep thinker (especially of late).  I’ve been endeavoring to jot snippets down straight away so that these little gems don’t get forgotten.  Here’s a sample, April has been a busy month, he’s been thinking a lot apparently.

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Good Friday, April  2nd 2010.

” going to the Kringloopwinkel (second-hand shop) with Mr. Five. On the way we play a regular game, I say  excitedly ” “Hey, Guess what?! “he eagerly replies ” “what?” I either say something  really really silly  (like ” Did you see the green giraffe driving that tram that just went past?” and he laughs hysterically, …or I say “ I love you very very very very very very very very very veeeeeery Much!”

Today it was the “I love you…”

Sweetly, five minutes later he does it back to me and I get a big hug as tight as he can manage as well for good measure.

On the way out of the kringloopwinkel he stops, looks serious and says “ Mama?” … “yes?”  ” Mama, if I was a thing, … if I was a thing in the Kringloopwinkel, then you could come in and choose me!“

Me: “Yes  of course you know I would be lined up early so that when the shop opened I could get in first and snap you up!” ( he was pretty pleased about that)

Needless to say I didn’t feel the need to complicate matters by asking why on earth he felt that he might be an item  on the shelf of a second-hand shop in the first place. That would of course be stretching logic and deep and meaningful waaaay too far for a five year old.

But I have been silently wondering about how his mind must have been working … all day long it’s been bending my brain.

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3rd April 2010

Mr Five (to his Father) “Papa, Why are we alive?”

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3rd April 2010

It’s stormy and wet. Inside play today. Himself has made a few paper planes for Mr Five.  Little Mister wants his own airline company (move over Richard Branson) and asks for a pen to write his name on his plane and then the word “airlines” after it.  His own name he can manage unaided.  Then all by himself he adds the word “airlines” which he spells as : ” Erlanzs“

Completely logical,  naturally.

—————————

Little Miss however has had her moments too:  whilst in the car going to an appointment ..  (Preceded by a BIG sigh)… “Mama. Papa, I  really don’t want to be a Grandpa“…

Hmmm,  fairly safe bet that you don’t need to worry about that one ever coming to pass my little lassie…

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April 9th, 2010.

Daughter aged eight.. “Papa, you have two children right?”

Himself:  “Yep… you and your brother, that’s two of you.”

Daughter “ ewww that means you had sex twice!”

(Himself manages a fixed smile and wisely decides that any further true enlightenment on this topic will be  “too much information” for kid at this point in her life.)

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Sunday April 18th 2010

Little Mr is running around in his Pyjama’s .. it’s early in the morning and still rather cool… we have wooden floors and they are definitely cold.

I stop him, and ask him to please put on his cuddle sack http://kiwidutch.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/for-when-it/ .. he looks at me in surprise and says ” But Papa said that just Pajamas was OK if I had socks on as well..”

I look down.. yes, he has socks on.

I counter with: “But darling, it’s really still too cold in the mornings to only have some thin pajamas on… even with socks, could you please get your cuddle sack or a dressing gown and put it on please“?

Mr Five replies: “aw… but whyyyyyy“?

Me: Because I don’t want you to get sick and get a running nose and a sore throat“

Literally one second passes before he replies…

“… and Papa does?“

(Papa’s response when he heard about this conversation later was: Nooo mama’s just more paranoid about their health“)

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April 21st 2010

There’s a Mrs W. at school… she’s married ( logically enough,  to Mr W.) but there are some more people with similar names around and I was trying to ascertain from Miss Eight that the Mr W. we were talking about was actually the husband of Mrs W.

I was explaining that sometimes people can have the same name so you can mix up who you thought they were, Daughter was confused.  I then pointed out that my Mother in Law has the same surname as me, and the same as my Sister in Law, and that we three also coincidently also share the same first two initials, but that only I was married to Papa and was their Mama.

Daughter tried to work it all out…

So…  (a) the Dutch part of Kiwidutch was me…

(b) Dutch with the same surname and same initials was Sister in Law,  and

(c) Dutch with the same surname and same initials was Mother in Law.

Little Mr sat silently looking confused..  for Daughter it was now clear who was who.

In a worried voice he blurts out ” How do we know Oma then“!?”

(Oma= is Dutch word for Grandmother =MiL)

———————————————————————————

There were more that I didn’t get jotted down because things got too busy and I couldn’t remember the exact words by the end of the day… but I’m endevouring to jot them down more often so that the little snippets of our kids thought processes and perceptions don’t get lost in the adult maze of busyness… our time as a child is short, we will be adults for a long long time, I’m trying to cherish the moments oft forgot.

Oops, Duh ….She’s done it again…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

If ever there was someone who’s middle name should have been “klutz” … it’s moi.

Gymnastics as a child/teen  (ligament damage and sprains galore) and snow skiing as an adult (extensive knee damage, broken bones) should have told me that my adventurous sporting days were numbered. Did I listen?

Nah… some years back I tried to resume another old hobby, Volleyball, we warmed up extensively, the match started, and a full 10 minutes into the game, I’m up in the air at the net and then down on the ground in a heap, my ankle turned over with a nice crunching sound and swelled up like a small melon in about 3 minutes flat, except it was a reddish blue looking melon and looking rather frightening.

Off to hospital, luckily nothing broken, but ligament damage, so all taped up and on crutches for weeks… and physio because it all went very stiff and unhappy in all that tape.  Fast forward some months, foot had healed, and not wanting to quit so easily, I’d like to re-start Volleyball. Both ankles nicely protected with special sport support bandages made for the purpose. What could go wrong?

Well, a little way into the game, I was diving  to try and block a spike shot coming mega fast over the net, the ball catches my thumb and next thing I know I’m without a thumb nail… yep.. ouch. First Aider’s were enough treatment that time, but the team were probably starting to guess my badly kept secret that I’m rather accident prone.

I gave up volleyball before they all got too nervous about me appearing on court a third time.

At the end of our trip to Maine USA last year, a friend of our hosts have us a ride on his jet ski… wheee hoo, now that’s fun! I’ve never done anything like this before… “Do I want to go faster?  You betcha!”  Hold on tight, ok.. now remember, I’ve never done this before, our life-jackets are wet from the spray so I slide my hands into the bands of friends life-jacket, it seemed like a good idea at the time in my ignorance. It definitely wasn’t good idea when several tight turns later I fall off, my left hand doesn’t some clean out of the life jacket and four fingers get bent backwards in the direction that Nature never intended. The local hospital staff were wonderful, even if the experience of getting my wedding and engagement rings cut off my very swollen ring finger was not.

I got a cast (above) because Dr’s said it was important not to inflict any more damage whilst things settled down and Himself and I had to get through several airports with baggage and tired kids to get us home from the States. Obviously they didn’t trust me to keep out of trouble. It was a wise precaution, some people really don’t look out for other passengers when bording or where they are flinging their things when aiming for the overhead lockers on planes. I got bashed not once but twice, the cast took the impact well.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

It’s gotten to the stage that when they dug up the footpath in our street  to repair a pipe, and left a trench with a plank over it for people to cross the trench,  I wanted to cross the street to navigate around it.  Himself asked ” where on earth are you going?”  I repiled ” Schaatje (sweetie) there’s a plank, there’s a hole… if one person in the whole wide world can fall in that hole who do you think it would be?“  He laughed, said “Very good point, walk around!“

This weeks stupidity (left)  is that I have washing hung out on our balcony washing-line. It’s been a fabulous morning, but in the early evening I hear heavy spats of rain… I’m wearing slippers that have zero traction in the wet (several near misses with kitchen spills taught me that)  but it’s been unnaturally dry in The Netherlands of late, so I’ve completely forgotten this fact.

In my rush to rescue the laundry, I’m moving way too fast,  slippers hit the wet balcony floor and whoaaaaa, in an ungainly splat, I skid feet first and hey!  the solid balcony brick wall stops my slide rather nicely. Cr@p this hurts,  ow ow ow….

Himself brings me a bucket of cold water and it hurts even more, elevation …. OK, just don’t move, don’t even breathe.  I grit my teeth and focus hard so that I don’t say naughty words in front of the kids.

I try to go to bed, but even the lightest of blankets has me in tears.  Hospital time… this time it’s broken toes on my right foot… wonderful. (Not)

They have decided to park me in a plaster cast for a week because apparently this helps a lot with the pain and I have buckets of that.

If all goes well then next week it can come off and I might get a light cast if needed.

Oh Goodie, my Old friends…. crutches. Yea ! … and my New best friend?… Tramadol.

And what sucks most of all?  It only rained for 10 minutes. (sigh)  Moral of this story? I’m mulling over the possibility that it’s possibly due to Kiwi’s like me that the Kiwi is a flightless bird.

Walk with me at your own risk.

Oi !!! Are YOU Blowing Raspberries at this idea???

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Today I’m whisking you back to New Zealand, to continue on our Christmas Tour…

It’s a beautiful day, Boxing Day 26th Dec  and we are still in Christchurch for the morning before heading back to Hanmer Springs.

My cousin and family have an excellent suggestion: let’s go berry picking at a local berry farm. The Kiwidutch kids aren’t too sure at first, Himself is keen, but never done anything like this before (city slickers all of  ‘em LOL) The rest of us are veterans at this and so we pile into vehicles and head out to Tai Tapu…

This is where my Kiwidutch daughter not only remembers that she might actually like raspberries, but wants to see how many she can gobble down in the shortest possible time.  Little Mr. (Four at the time) on the other hand looks unconvinced,  tries a raspberry,  screws up his face in disgust and spits it out … he’s perfectly happy to pick them as long as no one forces him to eat them. ( Honestly, fussy kid!)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

We split up, armed with out buckets and head down the rows…  One for you ( bucket), one for me…. one for you (bucket), one for me…

I think that’s one definition of Happiness…  just add raspberries and sunshine.

We tally up our haul and head to the counter to pay for them. Yum…

Question: what’s better than a fresh raspberry picked by your own fair hands?

Answer:  a) the family memory of a brilliant morning where kids learn where their food comes from, and the work required to pick it and how good it is to taste berries plucked directly from the bush…

b) a  fresh raspberry in your tummy, sweet tasting and gorgeous…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Gallipoli: a Loss, a Win and a turning point, Never to be forgotten.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Most countries like to commemorate a military victory….

In Australia and New Zealand on April 25th, we celebrate a military Loss that took  place in April of 1915.  A Loss that is unique, because it forged identities for two nations, a pivotal point in both nation’s histories, a watershed moment that redefined and has linked two nations in a very special way ever since.

Wikipedia put it better than I could so here’s a quote:

Anzac Day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. The acronym ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, whose soldiers became known as “Anzacs”.

Anzac Day remains one of the most important national occasions of both Australia and New Zealand. This is a rare instance of two sovereign countries not only sharing the same remembrance day, but making reference to both countries in its name.

The Gallipoli campaign:

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

When war broke out in 1914, Australia had been a Federal Commonwealth for thirteen years. In 1915, Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of an Allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula, under a plan by Winston Churchill to open the way to the Black Sea for the Allied navies. The objective was to capture Istanbul, (Turkey) an ally of Germany.

ANZAC forces landed at Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Turkish Army commanded by Mustafa Kemal (later known as Atatürk). What had been planned as a bold strike to knock Turkey out of the war quickly became a stalemate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months.

At the end of 1915, the Allied forces were evacuated after both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. The Allied Gallipoli casualties included 21,255 from the UK, an estimated 10,000 from France, 8,709 from Australia, 2,721 from New Zealand, (One percent of New Zealand’s population at that time) and 1,358 from British India.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

News of the landing at Gallipoli made a profound impact on Australians and New Zealanders at home and 25 April quickly became the day on which they remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in war.

Though the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives of capturing Istanbul and knocking Ottoman Empire out of the war, the Australian and New Zealand troops’ actions during the campaign bequeathed an intangible but powerful legacy. The creation of what became known as an “Anzac legend” became an important part of the national identity in both countries.

This has shaped the way their citizens have viewed both their past and their understanding of the present.

Gallipoli shares similarities with the battle of the Somme… both battles were examples of where commanding officers were criticised for incurring exceptionally severe losses while failing to achieve their territorial objectives.

(Photo at Left: Her Excellency Ms Lydia Morton, Ambassador of Australia, and Her Excellency Ms Rachel Fry, Ambassador of New Zealand)

One of the things that brings hundreds of thousands of Australians and New Zealanders to the Dawn Services  each year is the reminder of the futility and personal impact that continual battles of attrition have had on these two small populations, who contributed a disproportionate percentage of their young men to wars fought in distant shores.

War Memorials in the center of every small town and big city in both countries carry the inscribed names of sometimes entire family’s, Father’s, Son’s, Uncles and Brothers, who perished in the trenches at this time.

Australians and New Zealanders recognise 25 April as a ceremonial occasion to reflect on the futility of war and to remember those who fought and lost their lives for their country. Commemorative services are held at dawn, (the time of the original landing), mainly at war memorials in cities and towns across both nations.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

One of the traditions of Anzac Day is the ‘gunfire breakfast’ (coffee with rum added) which occurs shortly after many dawn ceremonies, and recalls the ‘breakfast’ taken by many soldiers before facing battle. Later in the day, ex-servicemen and ex-servicewomen meet and join in marches through the major cities and many smaller centres.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

In Turkey the name “ANZAC Cove” was officially recognised by the Turkish government on Anzac Day in 1985. In 1934, Kemal Atatürk delivered the following words to the first Australians, New Zealanders and British to visit the Gallipoli battlefields. This was later inscribed on a monolith at Ari Burnu Cemetery ( ANZAC Beach ) which was unveiled in 1985

“Those heroes that shed their blood And lost their lives. You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies And the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side Here in this country of ours. You, the mothers, Who sent their sons from far away countries Wipe away your tears, Your sons are now lying in our bosom And are in peace After having lost their lives on this land they have Become our sons as well”

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

After we have attended the early morning Service in the Hague, we transfer to the Australian Embassy, where a buffet breakfast is waiting. Our Breakfast is not a “gunfire breakfast”  but rather a sumptuous buffet of croissants, scrambled egg, sausages, quiche, rolls , butter, jam and huge trays of fresh pineapple and watermelon, served with tea, coffee etc.

This is a chance for all the kids present to tumble out onto the Embassy lawn and run off some of their excess energy after being so good and quietly observing the Two Minute Silence during the ceremony, and for the adults to catch up with one another.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Some Kiwi’s and Aussies travel from around the Netherlands to attend the ANZAC Services in The Hague, so there are a few faces that we only see here, on this day. We come together to Remember, to teach our children that Freedom has often been bought by those who paid the highest price, and that it should never be taken lightly.

A relaxed time of catching up with old acquaintances and meeting new  Kiwi and Aussie friends ensues…

We wear Poppies as a sign of remembrance…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Lest we forget….

Embroidered Flowers For Elizabeth, a very crafty book Review…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Yesterday I received the book in the post that I won in a random draw of new forum members of the Australian stitching company and publisher, Country Bumpkin.

My winning book is called “Embroidered Flowers for Elizabeth” and  is signed by the author Susan O’Connor.

The “Elizabeth” of the title is the English Queen Elizabeth I, and the book depicts flowers in the theme and style that can be found in Elizabethan embroidery.

The Elizabethan era is characterized as a time that enjoyed efficient, stable government largely due to the reforms put in place by Henry’s VII and VIII, and together with successful overseas expansion this era enjoyed an increase of wealth comparative to the era preceding it.

Poetry and music flourished, and whilst leisure time was still rather limited for the masses, festive days were a chance for those who had established some wealth to show off their finery.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Elizabethan and Tudor portraits by notable painters such as Hans Holbein the Younger, Anthony van Dyck and Nicolas Hilliard show richly decorated garments embellished with embroideries, Blackwork, jewelery, fine laces, silver and gold threads, and featuring floral themes as well as insects, birds and fruits.

In the book there is a concise, albeit short historical background, (naturally these are not great volumes of historical information available on embroidery existing at this time in history) and at the beginning of the book (photograph on Page 8, and pictures in the photo at right) showing Margaret Layton’s linen jacket, embroidered with silk circa 1610, an exceptionally beautiful  and very rare surviving specimen of Elizabethan clothing that is an amazing inspiration for any stitcher in itself…

This book continues the A-Z style of instructional diagrams, complete with clear and concise photographs that illustrate each stage of the stitch so that even a beginner could master the technique displayed.

Certainly some stitching experience would be an advantage, so that tension and evenness of the stitching could be maximized in the final stitched result, but I am also sure that with the aid of the photographic sequences, that any determined beginner could also achieve a very acceptable result.

One nice feature of this book is that Susan gives instructions to complete an embroidered blanket, where each of the elements in the book can be put harmoniously together to form a single project…

…but that if the entire project is too big for what the stitcher requires, then each of the parts can easily be used to make a separate, smaller project, ideal for decorating household items, clothes or as a framed piece.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

When I saw the colour code for the yarn used, I had a small panic because I knew that Paternayan Wool Yarn would be next to impossible to find here in The Netherlands, but that’s been thought of too and Page 73 of the book features a tread conversion chart not only Paternayan Wool to DMC stranded cotton, but also to Au Ver à Soie, Soie d’Alger , a beautiful French Silk thread.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

One small improvement that I can see and might suggest could be that for instance on Page20-21 where the stitching directions for the Poppy are given, it might have been nice to have the poppy bud stitching directions also in the step-by-step photograph instructional diagrams instead of solely in written text.

For people like me who have a good knowledge of basic embroidery stitches but who have not ever put the stitches together to make a flower like this, and with no possibility of a local class or someone to show me in person, the maxim of “ a picture tells a thousand words” would indeed be helpful as I take my first tentative steps alone into this kind of stitching.

Don’t get me wrong, there are step by step photographic directions for the petals of the Poppy on Page 22, but the bud is more complicated (or appears so, with regards to the positioning of the satin stitch) and there are no step by steps for that. Seeing the entire Poppy project depicted from beginning to end would give beginners like me in this work a little (OK, a lot) more confidence.

Wonderfully detailed photographs both aid and inspire the stitcher…

Thank you Country Bumpkin for a beautiful book… now all I have to do is try and decide where to start…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

All in all, this is a wonderful book, if there were additional step by step photographs showing how the all the flowers were built up in their layers were available for every component of the project, then for me at least,  it would be a perfect book.

My rating for this book would be 8/10 as I read it though… and possibly more, but I’ll have to stitch something out of it first to really test how well a beginner can follow the instructions as they are set out.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Watch this space for a future stitching updates on this post.

Embroidered Flowers for Elizabeth // Author: Susan O’Connor // ISBN 978-0-9805753-4-7

Published in Australia  by Inspirations Books // Country Bumpkin Publications, Australia.

A THREE ingredient Salad that will kick all the others into orbit…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

I have a small confession to make…   My post yesterday was made to lead you to todays one.

There’s method in my madness.. Why? because the cousin that we shared Christmas Day with had a salad on the dining table that we fell in love with.

It’s easy, tasty and  healthy…  it has only three ingredients but it’s a wonderful mix and when I started making it for other friends it was snapped up in a flash.

So, here’s todays treasure… an ultra simple salad that can be make in minutes with fresh seasonal ingredients, a true taste that sings “Summer”…

…which needs no additional dressings, is healthy and which is an exciting change from  the same-old, same-old offerings at pot-luck gatherings and your staple holiday menu.

Ingredients:

- fresh mint (chopped)

- fresh strawberries (chopped)

- beetroot, cooked and sliced … here’s a wonderful recipe if you want to make your own LOL

http://kiwidutch.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/new-post-73/

The recipe can’t be more simple, just one simple step is needed …

1) wash and chop the three ingredients and mix together.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

How simple is that ! YUM !

Auntie Heather’s Awesome Picked Beetroot / Beets…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

My Auntie Heather in New Zealand, has been making this recipe for as long as I can remember and people have been demanding the recipe for that long too…

Now it was my turn to request this treasure, because it’s my most favourite beet / beetroot recipe ever.

The SECRET of this recipe is simple and is the “cup for cup” rule, so for every cup of the boiled beetroot juice used, you must use one cup each of the sugar and vinegar.

I have given the recipe for 1 cup of beet juice and depending entirely on how big a quantity you are doing at a time, you will need to increase accordingly on a per cup basis.

Yield/serve size is therefore variable. How easily magic is made!

There are other recipes full of added extras but this one relies on the full taste of the beetroot juice and never needs to need anything else. Good for salads etc but beetroot lovers have permission to just take a fork and eat a whole jar.

Thanks Aunty Heather!

Ingredients:

4 beets (reserve 1 cup beetroot juice from cooking the beets)
1 cup sugar
1 cup white vinegar

Directions:

1. Place clean glass jars the oven and set the oven temp on low to sterilize them.
2. Boil the beetroot / beets in water until cooked.
3. Remove the beets from the beet juice, (reserving the juice) Peel and slice the beetroot/beets.
4. For every cup of beet juice that you have, add 1 cup of sugar and one cup of white vinegar.
5. Bring the juice mixture to the boil.
6. Place sliced beets into the warm glass jars and pour the juice mixture over the beets to fill.
7. Place on lids and seal.

What do you mean “A Warm Christmas”? Don’t sweat it !

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Whilst large swathes of  the Northern Hemisphere shivers under layers of snow and plummeting temperatures  in December,  the Southern Hemisphere heads into their Summer.

December/January is synonymous with the 6-7 week Summer School Holidays and many workplaces close down completely between Christmas and New Year as everyone heads to the beach, BBQ and under the sun umbrella.

Decades ago the Christmas Cards featured snow scenes and Northern Hemisphere  Christmas icons like Holly and Robins, and the influences of  Northern Hemisphere  colonial past  persevered into the annual tradition of  massive Roast Turkey dinners, complete with stuffing, roast pumpkin, parsnips, potatoes, onions, carrots .. lashings of gravy and a heavy fruit pudding doused in custard or rum sauce to top it off.

I remember as a kid, hot days with even hotter kitchens and sitting down to a meal  in a heatwave where it was so warm that any attempt at formal attire was abandoned and we sat sticky and perspiring  in sun-dresses as we tried to enjoy an evening Christmas Day  meal that had been slaved over for most of the day but that everyone was really too hot to enjoy.

Times slowly changed in New Zealand as people realised that a bit of the “Old World” traditions were a great thing but that embracing all of them didn’t really suit the Kiwi climate… so Hams became as popular as Turkey at the Christmas table, Turkeys could be served hot or cold and salads and lighter fare replaced the enormous roast dinners.

It makes sense, it’s so much more refreshing, less work in a sweltering kitchen and easier to eat and enjoy when the temperatures are hovering around 30 C    (approx 90 F).

The Kiwidutch’s have been invited to my cousins for Christmas…  these cousins did a trip around Europe last year and stayed with us whilst they were in The Netherlands.. we had a brilliant  time.  When we arrived in New Zealand they were quick to invite us round for Christmas Day, so I have bought some baking and some Corned Beef / Silverside to contribute  to the table…

http://kiwidutch.wordpress.com/?s=silverside

…where it  joins an amazing smoked Ham, various salads, a chicken roasted in the BBQ outside on the porch, veggies and fresh fruit, bread and olives… yum!

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Christmas Day is a late and leisurely lunch that extends into everyone relaxing and chatting  in the shade around the outside table in the balmy evening sun…  and I make a vague attempt at an “Arty” tomato photo, with limited success LOL.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

All the kids are playing happily with their cousins toys and running around the garden. Now that’s a cool Christmas Day with family…

A step-by-step guide to Kiwi’s Real, Traditional Fish and Chip perfection…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

We do have Fish and Chips in The Netherlands… but it’s definitely not the same sort of Fish and Chips that I grew up with in New Zealand.

The differences run deeper than just the varying fish varieties that are caught in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere’s, the batter is completely different in both texture and taste and the end result in The Netherlands is never the wonderful crunchy batter that I love about New Zealand Fish and Chips.

The chips are usually smaller too, more what I would call Kiwi “French Fries” here in the Netherlands and what the Dutch call “Belgium Patat”  for the New Zealand ones. ( i.e. large chunky pieces of potato sliced thickly, not thinly).

I miss my Kiwi Fish and Chips to death sometimes and every now and again get a hanking to make my own.

Over the years I’ve been tweaking my recipe each time to try and get maximum crunchiness out of the batter,  to find out the best way to size the  fish pieces for easy cooking,  and the best batter mix that sticks nicely to the fish and the best cooking method to get the batter to stay on the fish (and not end up in a crispy black lump on the bottom of my fryer) .

I have a very basic arrangement for my frying: a deep pan with oil, not a fancy electric fryer, if you have an electric one then just follow the instructions that come with it for best results.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Ingredients, Chips:

potatoes, peeled and sliced into thick lengths.

oil for frying

salt for seasoning

vinegar for seasoning (optional)

tomato sauce (preferably “Watties”) (optional)

Friet sauce or mayonnaise (optional)

Batter for Fish:

300 ml beer (about 2 cups)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

6 heaped tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon mild paprika powder

1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning

pinch salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Frying the Chips: (Do these before the fish)

Pat your raw, cut chips with a clean, dry teatowel/teacloth to absorb any starch, (the teatowel/ teacloth goes into the laundry after this job)

Heat your pan of oil so that it is up to temperature for frying. (place a small piece of potato in first to test it) bubbles should form quickly around the potato and you should see the oil “boiling” around the chip, if there is no movement immediately, then the oil isn’t hot enough yet.

DO take EXTREME care when deep frying with oil, any burns will be deep and painful and NEVER leave a pan of hot oil unattended,  (unattended fat fryer’s catching alight are a major case of house fires).

Fry your potatoes, in batches until they are golden brown and almost all the way though, when they get to this stage, remove from the heat and drain on paper towels to absorb the excess fat.Continue until you have done all the chips, they will be light brown and almost completely cooked.

Set the chips aside to finish after the fish is cooked. After the fish is cooked, pop the chips back into the fryer until they are cooked through ( 1-2 minutes), drain off the excess oil onto kitchen paper towels and serve immediately with the fish.

Frying the Fish:

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(any beer will do…)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Whisk all the batter ingredients together until you have a smooth batter with no lumps.

(photograph © Kiwidutch

Cut the fish into small pieces, I cut my double fillets in half lengthwise, and then in half width-wise so that the pieces are fairly uniform in size and cook evenly. The pieces will be almost rectangular and a little longer than my index finger (and 2-3 times as wide)

(photograph © Kiwidutch

(photograph © Kiwidutch

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Take a piece of you fish fillet in your (clean) fingers, hold it by the thinnest end of the fish and dip it into the batter, letting about half of the excess drip off and then carefully, slide it thick end first into the hot oil.

I hang on to it VERY carefully for about 15-20 seconds with my fingers about 2-3 cm (just over an inch) away from the oil and then I gently let it drop. Do this slowly and you should not get splashed by the oil, and the fish will not stick to the bottom of the pan.

My deep fry-pan does come with a basket, and I use the basket when I’m frying the chips, but I personally prefer to remove the basket  when doing the fish and just very carefully slide the fish in. DO  make certain that there are no drips of water on your hands or the fish, if water comes in contact with the hot oil it will splatter enormously and you could get burnt.

Clearly this is  also NOT a recipe that you would consider making with any children close by.

(photograph © Kiwidutch

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

I find that I can get up to four small pieces of fish into my fryer at once.  If I try more they stick together and it all gets very messy very quickly.  I let them get quite brown so that even the thickest part of the inside fish is cooked though, and then I carefully lift them out with a metal slotted spoon, putting them onto some sheets of kitchen paper to blot off any excess oil .

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The batter should be wonderfully crisp and crunchy.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

I have the batter pretty much as I want it now… from now on I will only be tweaking the seasonings a bit more, maybe some herbs?….  If I can make it even better, then I will post updates in the future.

Yum… Enjoy!