July 2010

The talented folk at Home Base Collections are at it again with a wintery range of sheepskin cushions backed with their fabulous printed fabrics. Not only that, but they have also created a sheepskin rug 'inspired by the classic peggy square, from 50 pieces of New Zealand grown short clipped wool'. Snuggling up with these beauties on a cold and rainy weekend would be divine!

Click here to contact Home Base Collections for more information.

photography Home Base Collections

Selaks is bringing back the Roast, with this Sunday August 1st being announced as National Roast Day.
Writer Edna Ferber once said: “Roast Beef, medium, is not only a food. It is a philosophy.”*
It’s a viewpoint Selaks entirely agrees with. As winter takes a hunger-inducing hold on the nation, New Zealand’s leading wine company feels it’s time to celebrate our gastronomy by dedicating a day in its honour.
There are reports that the roast is disappearing from our menus, and a recent survey by researchers at Chatham House shows that steep rises in food prices are likely to consign the traditional Sunday roast to a rare household event within two decades.
With a proud 76 year history of bringing family and friends together over good food and wine, Selaks is determined not to see this culinary stalwart become just a page in our country’s rich epicurean history. Click here for recipes and roasting tips from Kiwi Chef Paul Joblin and Selaks.

*Ferber’s complete quote: “Roast Beef, medium, is not only a food. It is a philosophy. Seated at Life's Dining Table, with the menu of Morals before you, your eye wanders a bit over the entrees, the hors d'oeuvres, and the things a la though you know that Roast Beef, medium, is safe and sane, and sure.”

In the spirit of National Roast Day we thought we would share a recipe for our favourite, roast lamb. Featured in our April/May issue with a mint and walnut salsa from Chef Dean Hyde for our Sunday Family Lunch story.

The Perfect Roast Lamb

1.5 kg leg of lamb
½ cup olive oil
2 tbsp flaky sea salt
1 tbsp ground fresh pepper
3 large peeled garlic cloves
2 sprigs rosemary
500 ml water

Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Before roasting allow the meat to come to room temperature. In a small bowl combine olive oil, salt, and ground pepper. Massage this mixture over the lamb. With a sharp paring knife stab 12 holes in the meat to a depth of 3 inches. Cut garlic and place in holes with a sprig of rosemary.
Place lamb in roasting dish, and pour in water to help keep the meat moist while cooking. Place in oven and cook for 1 1/2 hours.
After this time the water should have evaporated. Turn the oven up to 180 degrees Celsius and roast for a further 20 - 30 minutes. During this cooking period start basting the meat around every 5 minutes with the juices from the roast. This will make a tasty meat glaze over the meat.
Once you are satisfied the meat is cooked to your liking, removed from the oven and cover with tin foil, while still in the roasting pan. Leave the meat to stand like this for about 25 - 30 minutes; it will help the meat to become tender and succulent.
Transfer to a meat plate suitable for carving and serve.

Mint and Walnut Salsa

2 cups mint
2 cups parsley
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
½ cup roasted walnuts
1 tsp sugar
¼ cup white wine vinegar
½ cup olive oil
Salt & pepper

Place all ingredients in food processor and blend until mixture has made a chunky sauce. This will only be a few seconds. This salsa will keep in the fridge for up to a month in an airtight jar.
 

Photography Lisa Gane     Styling Alice Lines


 

Weighing in at 14 tonnes, measuring 12.5m in length, 2.6m in width and 3.9m high, Kong is hard to miss! Kong is Hafele's newly outfitted mobile showroom filled with state-of-the-art Hafele products, and is coming to a town near you.
 
After attending the official launch at the Hafele Christchurch Design Centre on Friday 16 July I can assure you that Kong is bursting with the latest technology and stunning products, that made me not only a little jealous but left me wondering why my TV didn't slot nicely into my own kitchen bench! The launch was an entertaining evening with John 'Cocksy' Cocks as the MC and plenty of Hafele staff on hand to impart knowledge and share in the delights of corner cupboard storage.

Photography Lisa Gane
 
After traveling the length of the South Island, Kong will cross the Cook Strait and thunder his way towards Wellington to show off his wares. Then moving towards Auckland, Kong will make his presence felt in towns along the way. Upon arrival in Auckland, Kong will be the star of the Auckland Homeshow. From here Kong will travel around the North Island visiting customers, architects and educational institutions along the way until December 2010. Enjoying a quick rest before continuing his trip in Wellington and surrounds until March 2011 when he will finally board the boat to return home.
 
Click here to find out when Kong will be in a town near you.

Lock Saturday the 24th of July into your calendar for the inaugural Auckland Art & Craft Fair as this is an event not to be missed! 
Organiser Jessica Whiting takes time out of her busy schedule to give us the ins and outs of whats involved, and how it all came about.

What made you decide to launch The Auckland Art & Craft Fair? With running the Auckland Craft Collective it was a natural progression, the Collective is all about raising awareness of handmade to the public, assisting sellers with practical support and increasing the value of handmade products as opposed to mass produced. We wanted to do something in Auckland, as there wasn't anything on this scale here — one of those "why don't we have something like this here? Lets just do it ourselves!" moments.

Is this project along the lines of things you have done before? Absolutely not, haha, it's been a steep learning curve that's for sure! Because I already have experience in the craft industry and have been making my own work for nearly 2 years, it's definitely something that I felt I knew enough about to try my hand at it and so far I haven't been proven wrong...

Was it a bigger undertaking than you thought? It has been quite a mammoth project! Because it's not a straight market, it's more like the craft/handmade equivalent to NZ Fashion Week I would say, we have a VIP guest list, goodie bags for our guests, a limited edition artist catalogue I have designed and printed and of course the venue (Auckland Art Gallery, Art Lounge) is one of the best in Auckland — it really shows the caliber of the event and it's quite special. The event has required a lot of attention to detail and with having two people organising it, it has worked to have specific tasks with each of us and means there is a strong voice and continuity across the Fair.

The Fair will be on in the Art Lounge of the Auckland Art Gallery

What binds all those involved together? Each of our vendors make everything that they have at their space themselves, they all create work of the highest quality and we feel that what they create is unique, clever and just generally really awesome!

Will this be an ongoing event? Absolutely, we are planning on having two a year, one in Summer and one in Winter. We tentatively have the Summer one penciled in for the beginning of December.

Tell us about the market money, where did the idea come from? I can't imagine many people wanting to part with it! It really is beautiful, it's going to be hard to hand it over! Similar concepts have been done at other events. Due to the 'plastic' age that we live in not everyone has cash so by providing 'market money' it enables people to get 'cash out' that they can spend with our artists. The idea to have it specially designed was one of the first things I came up with! I think we even had Illustrator, Sarah McNeil on board before the venue was confirmed! Each Fair we will be commissioning a new artist to design our money — the Fair is all about showcasing amazing talent, why stop at the tables when we can showcase it everywhere!

Sneak peak of the market money designed by Sarah McNeil

Frankie Magazine is a great sponsor! How did you get involved with them? I contacted Frankie co-founder, Lara Burke as she had recently featured my own work on the Frankie blog, I told her about the event and she was really keen for Frankie to be involved — we are really lucky to have such great sponsors on board with the likes of the Auckland Art Gallery, Base FM and of course the Auckland Craft Collective — they really identify with our event, it's a match made in heaven!

You have a great line up of vendors? Did you have to turn anyway? I know, right? They are an amazing group of individuals and we are so proud to have each of them as part of the first event. Narrowing down the list was by far the hardest part, we had to turn away so many people it was heart breaking. Still, we're hoping that with the summer one, we will be able to have more space and can say yes to more people.

Will you have a stand? Because of the size of the venue and the limited space we had available, we thought that taking up a table each would have been a little mean! There will be so much happening on the day, I don't think we will have time for selling — I am planning to however, have a few of my own things for sale off to the side and of course some information about Foxes, my new store launching the day after the Fair.

 
We wish you the best of luck and can't wait to hear how it goes! 

It's the end of the week and you've decided you're looking forward to a home cooked meal... and then you remember that the weekly shop ran out two nights ago! But don't despair because premium meat cuts, expert recipes and advice are now available at Neat Meat! Their user friendly online store offers overnight, chilled delivery - same day in Auckland if you order early! Follow their 6-star rating system to butchery bliss. homestyle’s pick? Try the gamey goodness of Razorback Wild Boar with kumara mash, creamed silverbeet and a gutsy red to wash it down Click here to visit the butchery.