just found out about this great site that increases your vocabulary while doing good stuff.
basically every word you get right donates 20 grains of free rice to the united nations world food program. it's free and wonderful.
it's fun and it makes you feel better about playing on the internet when you should be doing other things!!!
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Vknow has a nose for VINO
oh my gosh, alert the press, this is the find of the century. i am so excited to find Vknow, a wine bar and restaurant, up in fernhill and actually a few minutes walk from my house. i've driven by it numerous times, but for some reason never stopped in. now, i vknow better.
not so much a mom and pop operation as a husband and wife (and best mates) team each contributes equally and harmoniously to make Vknow the delightful restaurant that it is. though modest from the outside and located next to the only corner store in fernhill, upon entering you are transported from queenstown and kerplunked to north beach in san francisco or to little italy of new york. with one of the rooms covered in corked walls, there are beautiful bold paintings from local painters and lovely old posters celebrating wine and food.
it's a charming bistro that serves fresh, seasonal and quite varied menus all created by lizzie complementing her husbands palate pleasing choice of vinos. in fact, and i find this as delightful as the couple themselves, their wedding vows included lizzie promising to always complement danny's wines with her food and danny promising to always maintain a full cellar. how adorable.
the restaurant clearly showcases the passion that these two have for their respective expertises. danny has worked as a wine rep for numerous years before owning his own distribution business while lizzie has always had a nose and a hand in hers and other kitchens. danny even offers a "sunday school" where you can go and learn about and taste wines in an informal and fun setting. brilliant. i love it.
not limiting themselves to be only an italian restaurant, (although it's named after the italian word for wine, with a punny twist adding knowledge to the name), you will find some delicious pastas or a great thai green curry and even some venison.
i feel that the best way to judge an italian restaurant is by the pizza. thin crust and simple toppings make or break it. this is where i fault. i was so entranced and was enjoying the company of danny and lizzie so much that i completely forgot to take a picture of the food that they so graciously proffered. nonetheless, i will have to go back and dine there again, poor me.
about the pizza. i ordered the thin lizzie putanesca pizza - which interestingly enough, translates to mean "harlot's pizza" for various though debatable reasons - and it was "molto bueno". the crust was thin and crunchy on the outer rim while the center crust had been softened by the chunky though not overbearing tomato sauce all while still supporting the toppings.
pizzas should not be smothered in toppings. it is a delicate balance that Vknow got just right. each slice had the perfect amount of chili, tomato, pitted kalamata olives, capers and fresh basil mixed with the melted (i think it was) mozzarella cheese. spicy enough to warm a harlots heart, i finished half of the pie and sat contentedly talking with the lovely couple.
as dessert, though eaten first, i was given a "yukkie". though it looks a bit like a chocolate "dropping" and is served chilled, a "yukkie" is anything but. basically a chocolate shell encases a truffle like center of velvety chocolaty cherry and pinot noir goodness. it was about the size of a golf ball and oh so good. lizzie graciously offered the recipe so we can all try to make it!
yukkies
2/3 cup cream
1/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean
*bring all these to a boil stirring constantly.
*stir in 200 grams of chocolate.
*cream 300 grams of butter and add to the chocolate mix.
*add flavours (which in this case consist of 30 milliliters of central otago pinot noir and 200 grams central otago cherries)(though open to variation)
*refrigerate until hard
*roll into small balls. - refrigerate
*chocolate coat when ready to use then refrigerate.
*enjoy!! --- (you will i promise)
just to give you an idea of the type of guy danny is, while i was there, a youngish gentleman flicked a cigarette butt from his fingers just in front of his restaurant. danny walked outside and told the guy, not unkindly, that there was an ashtray just in the corner. and you know what? the guy said "oh sorry", went and picked up the butt and put it in its correct spot. his "green" perspective can be seen through his choice of beers; additive and preservative free, locally brewed and quite delicious, danny is proudly trying to leave a small eco-footprint in his wake.
they are open everyday except tuesday from 3pm till about midnight. they have quite an affordable takeaway menu and their mains never cost more than $30. i will probably see you there.
not so much a mom and pop operation as a husband and wife (and best mates) team each contributes equally and harmoniously to make Vknow the delightful restaurant that it is. though modest from the outside and located next to the only corner store in fernhill, upon entering you are transported from queenstown and kerplunked to north beach in san francisco or to little italy of new york. with one of the rooms covered in corked walls, there are beautiful bold paintings from local painters and lovely old posters celebrating wine and food.
it's a charming bistro that serves fresh, seasonal and quite varied menus all created by lizzie complementing her husbands palate pleasing choice of vinos. in fact, and i find this as delightful as the couple themselves, their wedding vows included lizzie promising to always complement danny's wines with her food and danny promising to always maintain a full cellar. how adorable.
the restaurant clearly showcases the passion that these two have for their respective expertises. danny has worked as a wine rep for numerous years before owning his own distribution business while lizzie has always had a nose and a hand in hers and other kitchens. danny even offers a "sunday school" where you can go and learn about and taste wines in an informal and fun setting. brilliant. i love it.
not limiting themselves to be only an italian restaurant, (although it's named after the italian word for wine, with a punny twist adding knowledge to the name), you will find some delicious pastas or a great thai green curry and even some venison.
i feel that the best way to judge an italian restaurant is by the pizza. thin crust and simple toppings make or break it. this is where i fault. i was so entranced and was enjoying the company of danny and lizzie so much that i completely forgot to take a picture of the food that they so graciously proffered. nonetheless, i will have to go back and dine there again, poor me.
about the pizza. i ordered the thin lizzie putanesca pizza - which interestingly enough, translates to mean "harlot's pizza" for various though debatable reasons - and it was "molto bueno". the crust was thin and crunchy on the outer rim while the center crust had been softened by the chunky though not overbearing tomato sauce all while still supporting the toppings.
pizzas should not be smothered in toppings. it is a delicate balance that Vknow got just right. each slice had the perfect amount of chili, tomato, pitted kalamata olives, capers and fresh basil mixed with the melted (i think it was) mozzarella cheese. spicy enough to warm a harlots heart, i finished half of the pie and sat contentedly talking with the lovely couple.
as dessert, though eaten first, i was given a "yukkie". though it looks a bit like a chocolate "dropping" and is served chilled, a "yukkie" is anything but. basically a chocolate shell encases a truffle like center of velvety chocolaty cherry and pinot noir goodness. it was about the size of a golf ball and oh so good. lizzie graciously offered the recipe so we can all try to make it!
yukkies
2/3 cup cream
1/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean
*bring all these to a boil stirring constantly.
*stir in 200 grams of chocolate.
*cream 300 grams of butter and add to the chocolate mix.
*add flavours (which in this case consist of 30 milliliters of central otago pinot noir and 200 grams central otago cherries)(though open to variation)
*refrigerate until hard
*roll into small balls. - refrigerate
*chocolate coat when ready to use then refrigerate.
*enjoy!! --- (you will i promise)
just to give you an idea of the type of guy danny is, while i was there, a youngish gentleman flicked a cigarette butt from his fingers just in front of his restaurant. danny walked outside and told the guy, not unkindly, that there was an ashtray just in the corner. and you know what? the guy said "oh sorry", went and picked up the butt and put it in its correct spot. his "green" perspective can be seen through his choice of beers; additive and preservative free, locally brewed and quite delicious, danny is proudly trying to leave a small eco-footprint in his wake.
they are open everyday except tuesday from 3pm till about midnight. they have quite an affordable takeaway menu and their mains never cost more than $30. i will probably see you there.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
pidgin island party time
christmas in the middle of summer. hot hot hot. a bit strange, but not that different as i am from los angeles and have gone for a swim christmas morning. i digress.
yesterday we left for pidgin island to attend gd's belated work christmas party. his boss had set up an elaborate array of activities and food for his respective work group. we were all treated to his toys, ie, his jet boat, wake board, knee board, biscuit, amongst other things.
we slept in tents or in the cabin on the island. dining under the stars, a little break from our daily routine. it was great.
today we went wake boarding!!! it was great fun. renting a boat costs a bit of money and none of us have a wake board... so it was a luxurious treat.
it was a bit of a struggle for most of us as it was the first or second time that we all have gone. i have been once before but it was a long time ago and i wasn't sure i would be able to get up. however, i got up!!! and i was cruising around lake wakatipu like i owned it!!! gd did too and so did a lot of our friends.
it was good good fun fun.
:) till next time!!
yesterday we left for pidgin island to attend gd's belated work christmas party. his boss had set up an elaborate array of activities and food for his respective work group. we were all treated to his toys, ie, his jet boat, wake board, knee board, biscuit, amongst other things.
we slept in tents or in the cabin on the island. dining under the stars, a little break from our daily routine. it was great.
today we went wake boarding!!! it was great fun. renting a boat costs a bit of money and none of us have a wake board... so it was a luxurious treat.
it was a bit of a struggle for most of us as it was the first or second time that we all have gone. i have been once before but it was a long time ago and i wasn't sure i would be able to get up. however, i got up!!! and i was cruising around lake wakatipu like i owned it!!! gd did too and so did a lot of our friends.
it was good good fun fun.
:) till next time!!
Monday, January 14, 2008
Gimped out with Shotover Canyon Swing!!
smiles, i was all smiles. we, in fact, were all smiles. let me explain. today i did a "shotover canyon swing".
imagine the biggest swing you have ever seen. bigger. bigger than the tall swings we had as a kid because back in the 70s we had cooler metal playgrounds. it's much bigger than that.
how about 109 meters big? high above the river below there is a platform off which from you will walk the plank, matey. there are a number of ways to get off the platform which i'll get into later. once off the platform, you free fall over 60 meters reaching up to speeds of 150 kph and soaring into a 200 meter arc.
ok, that's the technical stuff. amazing. the crazy part involves getting off the platform. there are a number of tried and true ways to commence operation swing including but not limited to: the superman, doing flips, the elvis cutaway, the gimp, the chair, and finally the bin laden. each of these is an elaborate and heart stopping way to do the deed.
i let them choose for me. wise choice? you'll see.
even more of a mind f*$% are the two guys, pat and will, getting you ready to jump. yeah, the ones that are strapping you into, in my case, a chair and a gimp mask. yesh. i just said gimp mask. (how often do you get to say that at a sunday dinner??!)
walking blindly onto the platform, i was afraid that the next step would be my last as my brain forgot the details of my now yellow gimpy world. being tugged and pulled by my harness the boys questioned the strength of my straps and whether certain things were buckled or not. as i had a yellow mask over my face, i could not see and myself absurdly questioned the safety of my harnessed body.
see, though i knew that these guys were masters of their craft, this was part of their shtick. with high safety regulations, they would never ever endanger anybody but it was a part of their evil plan to scare me. and well, they done good.
lulling me into a distracting conversation about my life in queenstown, they pretended to release me a few times before pulling off the mask and letting me and the chair fly.
watch my face, it's funny :)
i screamed like the girlie that i am, soared like a monkey through the trees as the wind and raindrops (yes it was raining) fell on my grinning face. after being pulled back up, i felt an amazing bond with will and pat, (something probably like the bond that kidnapees feel with their kidnappers) the two that graciously helped my departure off the platform, hugged them both and grinned some more.
i stayed and watched the other people in my group as they each flew off in their own particular way and shared in their beautiful frightened and fantastically enjoyed swings.
it was a great day.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Frisbee golf and Speight's Ale House
tucked away in the queenstown gardens is the best activity we have. it is free, outdoors and lasts about an hours time! what can this be, you might wonder? frisbee golf of course!!
played exactly like golf, but with a frisbee instead, there are 18 "holes" which are either chain baskets (sounds kinky) or trees which are somehow marked. scored like rego golf, and with the same objective, one tries to get the frisbee in the basket with the least amount of throws. the first time i played i got a 31. over. i wasn't very good. gd got a 9. it was his first time under double digits.
last night, my friends, t, m, and k and i played round. it was near 7 pm but the sun was still shining. the wind was strong and kept us cool, but we had to counter the wind with our throws. good times. good times. this time i got a 21 but we had to skip a few holes due to the twilight movies in the park. so, i guess it doesn't really count...
we had post game drinks and dinner at a lovely pub slash restaurant called Speight's Ale House. one of the oldest buildings in town, (or so it seems)(scholars still debating...) the building is unmistakable in its stony glory. they've got an outdoor seating area with cool built in metal swivel seats and regular ole wooden benches. we got there just before closing and they graciously seated us and provided us quickly with vittles and brewed beverages.
i had the famous Chicken Parcels. famous in that everyone tells me that they are good, and true to their word(s), the parcels were delish. wrapped in flared filo dough pastry was an interesting medley of chicken, creamy melted cheese, chunks of peach and bacon. it was a slightly sweet and savory combination that still lingers in my salival memory tastebuds. the filo dough was flaky and light and golden. there were large chunks of both chicken and peach which indicates to me that they actually care about feeding people. all in all, it was a parcel that i would hesitate to send around to you but i can't so boo.
normally it comes with crispy potatoes which would have been nice, but as i am trying to watch my figure, i got a large salad. and to their credit, they didn't skimp, but i got a rather hefty salad which i couldn't finish. possibly because i ordered kumura fries too. the kumura is similar to a sweet potato and came with sweet chili sauce and sour cream. yum.
the beer, oh yes, let's not forget the beer, was a distinction ale. it is a 5.0% ale that is smooth and on the darker side of an ale. though not as dark as let's say a newcastle brown. not as nutty either. but it was good, easy going down, and complimented the dinner nicely.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Monty's, oh dear!
happy new years everyone!!! if you're in new zealand, you probably want to be in queenstown for NYE!! people from all over the world come to partake in the numerous bars walking distance from each other, the festivities and the fireworks. it gets a bit too crowded for my taste (can you believe, this coming from a los angeles native)(oh the irony). our hostel is full, activities such as skydiving and bungy jumping are booked solid, the phone is ringing off the hook and you have to turn away boatloads of people looking for accommodation. it's frustrating and fatiguing, but fun all the same.
picture this, the permanent /semi-permanent population of Queenstown is about 10,000 people. i'd say at least 1/2 of these folks are long term travelers (like me). during the high seasons, ie. winter and summer, the town has enough beds to bump the population to about 35,000 people!! new years is one of these times! ok, enough ranting, at least for now...
my bf, gd, runs an adventure tour group, called adventure junkies. they do 10-day adventure tours starting in christchurch and ending in queenstown. full accommodation is included along with all the exciting activities you can imagine. we had dinner on the eve of the new years at a pub/restaurant called Monty's. now, i've eaten there a few times, nothing huge, but pub food, fish and chips, some bread and Mediterranean dips, their mushroom soup was good, so i couldn't wait to meet the new group and eat some good vittles.
i ordered the "oh deer" which was pan seared venison butterflied layered with pate stacked on grilled veggies tossed in a berry vinagarete sauce. sounds delicious. i ordered it medium rare rare. so, more rare than medium.
looks good right??
horror of horrors it comes to me just about as well done as it could be. grey/brown all the way through, with not a pink portion in sight. i was very disappointed.and due to the fact that most everyone at the table were chowing down, i ordered a calamari salad so it would be faster.
before they took my "oh dear" away, i nibbled on the veggies (just to try) and the sauce was aaaallright, but looked like a chunkier version of "international house of pancakes" blueberry syrup all over my veggies. the venison was dry and just unpalatable. i understand that Monty's was busy, it was new years, but that's what made it worse.
in the end, the calamari salad came quickly. yay. and was a simple salad with sauted calamari rings in a vinegary dressing. it was an anticlimactic culinary experience that began on such a different note. i ate quickly and was glad to leave.
it was a most disappointing dinner. to be fair, about their fare, their lunches are quite good, and reasonable, but i will review one in detail at a later date to give them a chance to redeem themselves.
the beer, as always was good. try the summer ale.
anyways, everyone else's food was good, and the adventures continued well into the New Year 2008!!!
picture this, the permanent /semi-permanent population of Queenstown is about 10,000 people. i'd say at least 1/2 of these folks are long term travelers (like me). during the high seasons, ie. winter and summer, the town has enough beds to bump the population to about 35,000 people!! new years is one of these times! ok, enough ranting, at least for now...
my bf, gd, runs an adventure tour group, called adventure junkies. they do 10-day adventure tours starting in christchurch and ending in queenstown. full accommodation is included along with all the exciting activities you can imagine. we had dinner on the eve of the new years at a pub/restaurant called Monty's. now, i've eaten there a few times, nothing huge, but pub food, fish and chips, some bread and Mediterranean dips, their mushroom soup was good, so i couldn't wait to meet the new group and eat some good vittles.
i ordered the "oh deer" which was pan seared venison butterflied layered with pate stacked on grilled veggies tossed in a berry vinagarete sauce. sounds delicious. i ordered it medium rare rare. so, more rare than medium.
looks good right??
horror of horrors it comes to me just about as well done as it could be. grey/brown all the way through, with not a pink portion in sight. i was very disappointed.and due to the fact that most everyone at the table were chowing down, i ordered a calamari salad so it would be faster.
before they took my "oh dear" away, i nibbled on the veggies (just to try) and the sauce was aaaallright, but looked like a chunkier version of "international house of pancakes" blueberry syrup all over my veggies. the venison was dry and just unpalatable. i understand that Monty's was busy, it was new years, but that's what made it worse.
in the end, the calamari salad came quickly. yay. and was a simple salad with sauted calamari rings in a vinegary dressing. it was an anticlimactic culinary experience that began on such a different note. i ate quickly and was glad to leave.
it was a most disappointing dinner. to be fair, about their fare, their lunches are quite good, and reasonable, but i will review one in detail at a later date to give them a chance to redeem themselves.
the beer, as always was good. try the summer ale.
anyways, everyone else's food was good, and the adventures continued well into the New Year 2008!!!
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