Chocolate Dairy Food a.k.a. Chocolate Pudding

Happy is he who still loves something he loved in the nursery:  He has not been broken in two by time; he is not two men, but one, and he has saved not only his soul but his life.  ~ G.K. Chesterton

There are some foods from childhood that are best appreciated only as a kid: Hubba Bubba Bubble Gum, Fruit for Yonks and Roll Ups a.k.a. plastic fruit leather, lolly pops that make your mouth go blue, fake cheese slices. 

And then there are childhood favs that I'm pretty sure I will still love when I'm 80: fairy bread, marmite and chip sandwiches, and Chocolate Dairy Food.

Now those not in New Zealand, what we know as "chocolate dairy food", you know as "chocolate pudding", a creamy cold treat made of milk, cocoa and cornflour.  They were the quintessential lunch time snack for the average kiwi kid, sold in little plastic pottles in packs of six, so you can hang them conveniently on the edge of the supermarket trolley when Mum and Dad did the grocery shopping (I still do that...).  Nowadays, it's marketed as a kiddie snack that's a source of calcium but every now and I buy a pack as a treat for myself...of course since calcium is good for adults too and all.

Shameless Plug: Let Them Bake Cake - A Fisher & Paykel Bake Off

Ok ok this is a total shameless plug, but the lovely folk at Fisher & Paykel Appliances sent me a super awesome goodie box and I loved it so much I wanted to share with you all in case you were keen to win one too!!

Fisher & Paykel Appliances are sponsoring NZ Hottest Home Baker and are running an online Bake Off!  All you have to do is upload a photo of something you've made on the Let Them Bake Cake gallery and let people vote on your baking creation. There is a grand prize worth $10,000 and also bonus prizes each week of these super cool goodie boxes.  They give away 20 goodie boxes a week so there's a pretty good chance of winning one! 

Mint and Coriander Zucchini Ribbon Salad for one

We should look for someone to eat and drink with before looking for something to eat and drink. ~ Epicurus

I love cooking. 

Before this weekend, I thought I knew why I loved cooking.  Turns out, I had no idea.

I thought I loved cooking because of the process of turning raw ingredients into something delicious. A love for the magical alchemy of spices, heat, and seasoning.   See when I lived on my own in Dunedin, the reason I lived off eggs on toast and frozen meals and didn't cook myself proper dinners, I told myself, was because I didn't have a proper kitchen and all my gadgets.

However, when my husband went away on a boys trip this long weekend and I found myself cooking for one again. And despite having a perfectly equipped, well-stocked kitchen, I reverted to the old eggs on toast for dinner.  Sacre bleu! 

Talk about a revelation.  Cooking for one is no fun.  Looks like, my love cooking isn't for any poetic enjoyment of the art itself, but simply a love of sharing good food with people I love.   Food and kisses are made to be shared no?