Brunch at Savour and Devour, Grey Lynn, Auckland

There's something about the name 'Savour and Devour' that makes it really fun to say out loud.  Go on, say it with me: Savourrrr and Devoooouur.  You can't help but say it in your late-night-radio-DJ voice, sporting your best come hither look.

But the cool name is not the only reason to go to Savour and Devour, the food was pretty incredible too.

Lemon cupcakes with brown sugar cream cheese frosting

A.k.a. how to make cupcakes when you're running late for yum cha

It was my cousin's birthday the other week and at the very last minute I decided to make her some cupcakes. So with just over an hour till we were due at yum cha, and still in my pj's, I started baking.

Vintage or FAIL?

"Men are like wine - some turn to vinegar, but the best improve with age"

Pope John XXIII

C and I recently moved back into Mum's place to save up for our wedding.  We were clearing out the kitchen cupboards to make room for my copious amounts completely normal sized hoard of baking gear when we stumbled upon a treasure trove of old bottles of wine.

Now, we are talking high quality vino here: a 2000 Bordeaux, a 1999 Chardonnay, a couple of 5-10 year old Australian reds.  My dad was a big red wine enthusiast and between bottles he bought and ones we got as gifts we seem to have amassed a bit of a collection over the years.  There was even the red I bought for him in France when I was on exchange there back in 2000 that he was going to open on my 21st birthday.  When dad passed away, there was no one else in the house to appreciate the alcomohol and so the bottles sat in the back of the pantry, gathering dust, forgotten...until now.

So what to do with this antique wine hoard?  I mean we could try to sell them but they've been sitting in the kitchen cupboard this whole time...not kept in a fandangled temperature and climate controlled cellar of any sort.  Will they still be good? Or will they be vinegar?

C suggested that we should open one bottle at a time, take them to a dinner party or out to a restaurant and basically play wine russian roulette.  It will either be an amazing drop or will it be super bad: Vintage or FAIL?

Cinnamon Scrolls are like ugg boots

If someone asked you what the most comforting smell in the world was what would be your picks?

For me, the top three would have to be vanilla, fresh linen and cinnamon.

Cinnamon is just one of those smells that wraps around you like a fluffy rug, it's like ugg boots for your nose, cozy and comforting...one whiff will give you warm fuzzies all over.

At Home Restaurant

The Concept.

Instead of going out for a BYO with friends, get everyone to pitch in with a small koha or donation and host a dinner party at home.  BYO recession style.
 

The Inspiration

Once upon a time, two consummate foodies and good friends of ours, T & B went out for a cheap and cheerful BYO with friends.  They went to a Japanese eatery in downtown Auckland and found that the food was alright but not great and they mused that for the same price everyone spent out that night, they could have cooked up a mean feed for all at home.  And so the idea for the 'At Home Restaurant' was born.

Genius.

Green-Eyed Gadget Monster: Nordic Ware Rose Bundtlette Pan

I am a sucker for all things kitchenware.  Often in my wanderings in the food blogosphere, I spy other bloggers' amazing kitchens and their enviable collection of kitchen gadgets and machinery.  And I turn into a wee green-eyed monster and basically covet everything in their kitchens.  So I thought I'd share my moments of envy with you all in a new baking = love feature: the Green-Eyed Gadget Monster.

My penchant for kitchen appliances includes a healthy obsession with baking pans.  Ooooh baking pans.  Lately, I've been lusting over this mini rose bundt pan and when I read this post from spoonful of sugah and her rave review about the Nordic ware pan, I just couldn't stop thinking about it.

Lychee & coconut cupcakes and food crushes

To celebrate my brother's girlfriend getting a JET placement I wanted to make her and her family some congrats cupcakes.  The plan was originally to make matcha cupcakes, but I wasn't sure how much they like green tea flavoured baking (people seem to wither love it or hate it) so I decided to try a different, but equally asian flavour combination: lychees and coconut - with a coconut cupcake base and a lychee swiss meringue buttercream frosting.