A bit of this, a dash of that

In this post I am going to show you some products I have run across and some photos that I've taken. It will be a hodge-podge of sorts.  

First, I'm going to show you a size comparison between New Zealand and the United States, because I'm guessing that most of you have never compared the two.  The population of NZ was 5.12 million in 2021. The population of the US in 2021 was 332 million. 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_Zealand_%E2%80%93_U.S._area_comparison.jpg

Here is an interesting product I recently ran across.  It was available from Whisky and More, a business I have been very impressed with, for a number of reasons, ever since I first ordered on-line spirits from them. 

This is the salty, olive-flavored brine that is left over after Telegraph Hill Olives produces their many choices of olives.  

They send recipe cards with their product that suggest all sorts of uses, including a 'dirty olive martini,' which is what the lady on the label is sipping, while she cooks.  

Jeanne used some of it once when she first, lightly boiled some Swiss chard, and then fried the chard with pork chops.  It was amazing. I have to admit that I haven't tried it in a martini yet.    

I have a special fondness for olives. Many years ago, I decided that I didn't want to throw out the brine when I finished a jar of olives.  Instead, I dropped boiled eggs into it and let it work it's magic for a couple of weeks. Then, voila,  "olive-pickled eggs" were born.  

When Jeanne and I moved to New Zealand, and discovered that canned quail eggs were available, I immediately tried a batch and found that they pickled much faster than chicken eggs did, as you might expect they would.  And the boys loved them.  They became almost a staple in our house.  

I tried making a batch of olive-pickled eggs with this brine, but found that it produced eggs that were too strongly flavored for our taste.  I haven't gotten around to trying a batch with diluted brine, but I plan to.  

This next product wins the prize for being the hottest (spiciest) drink I've ever encountered. I didn't think that Sweden was known for blistering beverages, but that's where this is produced. The Ghost Edition on the label refers to ghost peppers. In its bottled state, this stuff scares me. When I first opened the bottle, I tried the tiniest sip I could manage. There was a momentary pause, and then I thought I might have mistaken the shot glass for a red-hot nail. This stuff is beyond words-hot.  But let me tell you how I drink it. 

I measure out about half an ounce and dilute that by  8 to 10 times with either tonic water or club soda and toss in some ice besides.  The CO2 being released from the mixers causes a pleasant tickling of my nose and upper lip as I prepare to sip it, but if I inhale at that point, I will find myself coughing. The bubbles are actually carrying some of the capsaicin compounds from the peppers. It's incredible.  I've never run across anything like this before. 

It has a cinnamon flavor predominately, but other fruitiness comes through as well. At the dilution rate I mentioned, I feel only a very slight tingling of my taste buds, so I know that I have tamed it. However, I don't drink more than half and ounce at a time because I don't want to shock the lining of my stomach more than necessary. It does taste good but I think this bottle will last me quite a while.  

This is a tiny trial-sized bottle from Finland.  It tastes like salty licorice.  I'm glad I tried it, and I like the flavor of black licorice, but not when it's this salty.  

Recently, we went out to lunch with friends Judith, Les and Kevin at the Swanson RSA.  That stands for Returned Services Association and reminds me of our own VFW in many ways.  

One of the cold entrees available that day was a salad-like dish called 'ika mata' in the Cook Islands or 'raw fish' in New Zealand.  Jeanne and I both tried it and found it entirely acceptable, very good in fact.  The fish had been marinated with other ingredients that had given it a firm, semi-cooked texture.  The only thing I can compare it to is the texture of pickled herring, although the ika mata is not vinegary.  

When I mentioned that, Judith told us that she loves Rollmops.  I had no clue what she was talking about at the time.  However, the next day at the supermarket saw me investigating a refrigerated display where I found the jar you see below.  I bought a jar for Judith in thanks for telling us about it, and a jar for us to try.  

They turned out to be very similar to pickled herring.  The differences are that these fillets of herring are rolled up tightly and held in place with little wooden pegs, are not quite as sweet as the pickled herring I'm used to, have a stronger vinegar taste and also contain a hint of dill.  We finished the bottle quickly.  I found the vinegar a little strong for my taste but Jeanne liked them just the way they were.  

We were invited recently by Evelyn to a hat party.  I decided that my hat would celebrate my years as a beach comber.  The picture shows my hat during production, although regrettably, I did not take any pictures of the finished work.  And it has now been disassembled.  

On top of the hat is the upper portion of a snapper skull, perfectly cleaned and shellacked.  In front of the crown are the upper and lower jaws from a puffer fish.  The white thing is an eight inch long barb from a sting ray.  

Later, I added a small star fish, various sea shells, and a section from a colony of tube worms. I could have come up with quite a few more items, but the hat was getting heavy and I chose to limit myself.  

About a five minute walk from our village, is the carpark behind Falls Bistro.  Next to the car park is a bicycle rental business and they also offer the skateboard track that you see in the background.  This area also often boasts works of art that are periodically rotated around the Auckland area.  Not long ago, I showed you a 'rainbow maker' in this location.  Today, it is this arrangement of shapes and patterns that captures the attention of all those passing by.   

Early morning, looking toward the northeast.  That's Jupiter above the Sky Tower and the Moon joining in.  

A closer view of the Moon with its Golden Handle showing on the right.  

Jeanne found this large preying mantis on our balcony this past April.  

This magnolia near the African Garden is blossoming.  (Taken on June 30, 2023.

This picture was taken a few days ago and shows part of our Market Day. As usual, it was a success. 

This coming Friday is 'Matariki Day' here in New Zealand, which signals the beginning of the  Maori New Year. 

This is a picture of Matariki, taken last year on Matariki Day.  I've always known this star cluster as the Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters.

Well, that's it for this week.  I hope you found at least a few of those pictures interesting.  

Next week, I'm going to take you for a walk from Britomart to the Fish Market in Auckland.  I've shown you pictures of that area before, but it has been a long time.  Certainly well before covid entered our world and messed up so much.  I enjoyed walking down there again after all this time and hopefully, you'll enjoy seeing what I saw. (like a young woman balancing by her toes high on the edge of the Sky Tower's SkyWalk platform.)     -djf 

Monte Cecelia (part three)

Greetings once again.  We have arrived at the third and final part of our trip to Monte Cecelia. 

I'm writing this on Saturday, the first of July.  Since we are in the Southern Hemisphere, today for us corresponds astronomically to the first of January in the Northern Hemisphere.  We are in the middle of our winter.  

For many years, during the time we lived in Michigan, we would start our new year by making a pot of seafood chowder.  My recipe arose and evolved from the oyster stew my mother used to make on occasion when we were kids.  

As it happens, our café was offering seafood chowder as one of the specials available tonight and Jeanne and I have just returned from enjoying our dinners. I think this is one of those synchronicities that I so enjoy noting.  Just pure luck that it turned out that way, but fun to experience.  

Today, we are going to look at a few more pieces of art in the mansion, and then stroll outside and into the gardens to admire a few more pieces on display beneath the sun.  

We'll also look again at the mansion and finally, enjoy our walk back to the entrance of the park.  

I'm fond of macros.  This was just inside the park. I had to take one more shot before I left. 

I hope that you've enjoyed following me around.  Till next week.  -djf

Monte Cecelia (part two)

We've consulted maps, we've ridden buses, hiked paths, admired scenery, and are now ready to see the inside of this house.  Let's get right to it. 

There is the front entrance.

Nothing like pillars to dress up your front door. 

That's the front door in the distance.  For this picture, I came in, walked across the open space, turned, and I am now looking back at the lobby. This building is not being shown as a home, with period pieces of furniture and so on.  It is an art gallery.  

I'm just wandering now.  I'd call this gallery rather minimalistic, but I don't know if that is the right term.  I just mean that it doesn't have as many pieces of art as I'd expect it might. 

This room has more than some of the other rooms do.  

I was hoping that the marble in this fireplace would photograph better than it did.  I wish you could see it. It's amazing. It's a piece of art itself.  

I should probably used a flash for this picture.  It's a bit dark due to light from the window above the landing.  A sure sign that I'm not a professional.  

In this one, I'm on the landing with the window behind me and the lighting is much better. 

I'm going to call it a day, so to speak, at this point and come back to exploring the house and grounds next week.  

I wasn't really happy with many of my shots today.  Something seems to be missing.  Maybe it was the big rooms and mostly bare walls. Maybe it was that the sun is still relatively low in the sky and lighting in here is odd. Whatever the reason, my purpose in doing these posts is to share what I see in New Zealand and I think I've accomplished that at least.  

See you next week.    -djf

Monte Cecelia Pah Homestead

Allie told me about this place.  She had visited it not long ago and was impressed.  I discovered that I could easily get there.  I would take two buses; the first would let me off across the street from our favorite bread company in Point Chevalier, (You know what that means.) and the second would deliver me to a spot just 1/2 block from one of the entrances to the park which surrounds the mansion. How could I not go?   

I think the word pah in the title comes from the Maori word pa, which is a fortified hill fort-like area.  There are many such pas around the Auckland area that I've seen.  Most of them have terraces with steep sides that allowed the defenders of the pa to have the upper hand, so to speak, over the attackers.  I've read that many pa also had kumara (Like a sweet potato) plots and deep holes dug for water storage.  

This particular pa was abandoned, Wikipedia says, in the mid-1800's and the land was eventually purchased by James Williamson.  He had his 'gentleman's residence' built between 1877 and 1879. 

The home and park now belong to the Auckland Council and are maintained for the public to enjoy. The home houses an art gallery on two floors and a café which Allie tells me serves a great halloumi sandwich. 

Today, I'd like to start to show you around this beautiful place.  It'll take at least a couple of weeks worth of posts to do so, of course.  I took a bunch of pictures.  

Let's get started. Walk this way...

Oh boy, it's a grapefruit tree!  Unfortunately, even though I sort of accidentally bumped a couple of the branches, no fruit fell.  

Climbing the first hill beyond the citrus tree, I find that there are other gorgeous trees here. The early morning light makes for a lot of contrast under the dense canopy.  

I am fully inside the park now and on the top of a small hill.  I am looking toward one of the 'Kings' that made up the 'Three Kings'.  The Three Kings refer to the cones of the volcano, Te Tatua a Riukiuta, as well as the surrounding suburbs.  That cone that you see is the only one left.  The others have been removed, mined away for the pumice that formed them.  

We have a ways to go before we get to the homestead, but I'm in no hurry.  The morning is perfect.  About 55 degrees, (F.) and sunny. It's about 10 a.m. 

There it is, in the distance. I mentioned earlier that this area was originally a pa, right?  That means it's a hill and I have more work cut out for me.  

This tree I believe, is a Moreton Bay Fig, and happens to be one of the largest specimens of the species in NZ.

Here we are.  

Next week, we'll go inside.  I love exploring old buildings and this one's a keeper.   -djf

What's happening.....

Metlifecare, the corporation that owns Waitakere Gardens Retirement Village, and 32 other facilities across New Zealand, is sponsoring a photo contest among its residents.  I am entering two of the four categories with three photos each, submitted in 'Gardens and Nature', and in 'Lifestyles'.  

Because of the many thousands of entries, I think my chances of wining are extremely slim, but I like the pictures I have selected and thought I'd show them to you here, just for the fun of it.  

In Gardens and Nature.

And, in Lifestyles

Notice the operator about to enter his booth. 

This one is not entered for its beauty.  I included it because it is so unusual. (in my opinion) 

That is Jupiter and it's four Galilean moons, arranged in the straight line.  They are, starting at the top, Callisto, Ganymede, Europa and Io.  The extraordinary part of the picture is the bit of light to the right of the moons.  I didn't know what it could be when I saw it.  It wasn't in any other picture so it had moved through my field of photographic vision very quickly.  I Googled 'satellites above Auckland,' and found a website that listed when the International Space Station had been above Auckland that night. Turns out it was visible above us at exactly the time that is date stamped for my picture.  How lucky can a guy get?  

 So, that's it. My field of entries. Short but sweet. 

Here is one last photo.  I considered sending it in, but did not because I don't have enough of our Atrium building in the picture.  It shows though, starting closest to the building, Venus, the Moon, Saturn and Jupiter. What a perfect line up. 

Again, like the Jupiter picture, I was lucky.  I had walked outside because the weather was so beautiful and looked up.  I quickly returned to our apartment for my camera. I set up just outside our café.  Having them arranged so perfectly is a very unusual occurrence.   -djf

My salute to National Cheese Day

Good morning to you all.  It's National Cheese Day today, June 4, 2023.  In honor of this day, those of you who read my blog regularly, will undoubtedly expect me to fill my post with pictures of delicious cheeses and who knows what other delights? But you'd be wrong.  

Okay, in the interest of those who were really hoping for cheese pictures, here is one good one.  It's from a wine tasting event at Maison Vauron in Newmarket.  

The rest of my post today however, will be made up of cheese inspired limericks. Yes, limericks. National Limerick Day was on May 12th, and you escaped being deluged with other limericks during that week. But there's no avoiding Doug's poetry today. 

I have always liked limericks, and every now and then sit down and spew a few of them into the computer, where I let them ferment until they're ready to spring on the unwary.        

Are you familiar with limericks?  An English poet by the name of Edward Lear is credited with making these short poems well known. (His birthday was May 12)  He wrote 212 of them I learned.  Here is what's listed as the world's most famous limerick to give you the feel of the style.

There was an old man with a beard,

who said, "It is just as I feared. 

Two owls and a hen,

four larks and a wren,

have all made their nest in my beard." 

Personally, I try not to repeat key words in my rhymes. Be that as it may, what follows are my offerings for the day.  You're free to criticize them too if you want to. It seems to me that I might have published some of these at another time, but if so, it was so long ago that hopefully, you'll have forgotten them. 

But first, It's important that you read the poems with the correct rhythm. Here's another one to get you used to the meter. 

I need a front door for my hall,

the replacement I bought was too tall.

So I hacked it and chopped it,

and carefully lopped it, 

and now the darn thing is too small.   

These are mine.

Do you like eating cheese like I do?
Camembert, Asiago, a blue?
What I say is, "Why wait, 
Reach up, grab a plate, 
I'll crack a new wheel just for you!"

I once met a man from Belize,
Who'd filled up his pockets with cheese.
The weather there: hot, and 
like it or not,
It all melted: ran down to his knees. 

Here is one in its unfermented state:

I once met a lady from Nizes.  
Who made cheese wheels of two different sizes.
She'd wear her best gown,

And roll them to town,

Always selling out ere the sun rises.     

And this is the fermented version:

I met a young lady from Nizes. 

She makes cheese wheels of two different sizes. 

She's quite the success,

Has three stores, no less,

And is currently selling franchises. 


A lady I know said, "It's true, 
my favorite cheese must be blue, 
No cheddar or brie, 
Will satisfy me,
I want Stilton, French bread and a brew!" 

As you enter a shop selling cheese,
take this advice, if you please.
As you study their wares, 
don't scratch in your hairs, 
And of foremost importance, don't sneeze.  

Mr. Casei Culture's my name, 
turning milk into cheese is my game.  
Before milk is too old,
with bacteria or mold,
I produce treasures of world-wide acclaim.  

I once tried to make a fondue, 

but it turned out more like a cheese stew. 

I used chopped paneer,

and a bottle of beer, 

Had to thicken it up with a roux.  

'Bout that cheese in Belize that got melt, 
The guy scraped off his jeans as he knelt. 
The cheese, it was blue,
What else could he do?
His pants might have looked clean but they smelt.  ( I think this one might have fermented too long) 

Well, that's it for cheese limericks for today.  I hope that some of you might be inspired to try your hand, or brain, at writing some limericks on any subject at all, but during this week, a cheese limerick would be most appropriate.  

Here are two more on other subjects that I wrote at various times.  

A limerick poet said, “Benches

rhymes with wenches, and stenches and quenches. 

I've worked out some verse

that is ribald and terse,

But can't seem to fit in the word drenches.”

Four more lines are all that I need, 

for my limerick to finally succeed.

Just two more to go,

and what do you know?

I'm a poet, I'm sure you've agreed!  

I think a limerickist's (I know, I know, I made that word up) best friend might be Rhymezone. 

https://www.rhymezone.com/

Happy Cheese Day everyone!   -djf (start thinking)