I said, her from the city, so her got to be witty...

 

I try with my fashion photography. And sometimes I try, get a gorgeous participant, and get it a little bit right. Or at least I like to think so. Here is a selection of some of my recent pappage!

Emily x

A rocky (easy) road to gluttony.

Well this weekend I decided to let my sweet tooth just do its thang and I just ran with it. And it ran straight into the nearest supermarket and bought up loads of ingredients for rocky roads. Always the obliging host I cooked (sorry melted) it up and it thanked me.

These were literally the easiest things to make, and not only easy, very very very tasty! I deviated from your traditional recipe to use ingredients that I wanted inside, so here is my take on your traditional rocky road :

Ingredients : 

Marshmallows

Honeycomb pieces

Shortbread biscuits

Giant jelly beans

Fudge

Raisins

Milk chocolate buttons

I smashed / cut a few of those ingredients down so they would be a bit more meshed together within the rocky road. I then melted the chocolate. Then came the tricky bit - listen up as this can be difficult without proper instructions... I then put all the ingredients into the melted chocolate and stirred. Complicated I know.

And voila! Pour onto a baking dish lined with cooking paper, and leave to set in the fridge for an hour or so.

Mmm mmm! Don't they look good? Yep they tasted good aswell. And they look pretty impressive. Next time I have to make something to take anywhere these will be top of the list. There pretty hard to screw up as there's no real cooking involved, so be prepared to wow at a party with a quick, stress free cake!

Rocky Road I salute you! (although my hips do not)

Emily x

gentlemen prefer blondes. and im leaving.

Going a little bit bleached on the tips of my hair is I feel a very good life decision. After 25 years of living as a brunette it was time for a change (albeit a small change) and I just LOVE it.

And talking of life changes I've made a slightly more important decision than dying the tips of my hair. After a fulfilling 7 weeks living in Auckland I have decided to uproot once more and head off to Wellington in search of greener (hobbitish) pastures.

Auckland has been such a great introduction into New Zealand life, and New Zealand people, and I really could not have asked for a more exciting, friendly, fun time then I have had here. But my dream here was to find some production work on films, and unfortunately Auckland is not the hub for that. 'Wellywood' is.

So in two weeks I will be packing my very large bags and travelling with my 80kg of clothes down to the southern tip of the North Island. An artistic hub, I am very excited to explore all that Wellington has to offer. To all of the lovely Aucklanders who have made this time here so special for me I thank you dearly, and look forward to partying my final weeks away with you all!

Emily x

Me looking all sad and shit because im leaving.

floppy hat you big dream you

 I love my floppy felt hat. The fact that half the time I cant see past it only further allows me to daydream that I am in the 70's. Until of course I smack into a very grumpy passerby and I am brought back into reality. Note to self though : Auckland's decidedly strong winds do not always make this the most practical item ...

Emily x

 

New Zealand Fashion Week : Ruby and Liam show

So last week Auckland's fashionistas debuted their shows on the runway. Set in the Viaduct Events Centre, the venue housed several catwalk shows, hair and nail salons, bar, the designer garage sale, and fashion seminars.

Now although I enjoy fashion I have to admit that this was the first catwalk show I have been too. I loved it, and I hated it. One thing I hate that comes part and parcel of the fashion scene is the pretension within it. Looking around before the show people appeared to be more conscious of themselves and others, rather then just relaxing and enjoying it. Yet amongst the eyeballing there was an air of excitement which I found myself caught in.

Since I've been in Auckland the standard of its home grown fashion brands have really impressed me. Hip, yet tailored is something the Kiwi's really have nailed, and the RUBY and Liam collections showed just this. I found myself eyeing up several summer dresses which unfortunatly I just cant justify buying. Entitled 'Run, Run, Run', the collection was inspired by one girl's Parisian adventure, and carried this theme off beautifully. See more of RUBY's clothes here : http://www.rubynz.com/collections/season/liam-aw12-lookbook/

For a small country, damn Kiwi's do it well.

Emily x

 

a tasty disaster

Too many cooks spoil the broth right. Well in this case it only needed one cook to ruin it. Myself. Jamie Oliver I am not, and attempting to make a recipe with guesstimation of ingredients does not always work. I used my 'just add extra sugar' motto as that usually tends to help. Unfortunately when the thing you are attempting to make is caramel and needs exact ingredients it doesnt always work as well!. Ah well.

I was attempting to make gluten-free, white chocolate caramel shortbread. I made gluten-free, white chocolate toffee biscuits. And when I say toffee I mean teeth breaking stuff. Also mouth scorching stuff - in my haste to try my caramel concoction I removed the top layer of skin from the roof of my mouth.

But regardless of my burnt mouth and the fear that I could crack a tooth with each hard bite they were still rather tasty.

If you wish to make your own (USE MEASUREMENTS!!) then here are the ingredients / instructions...

Shortbread : mix together till crumbly then pat into greased baking tray. Cook for 20mins on a medium heat.

250g Rice Flour

100g sugar

150g butter

Caramel :
Whilst shortbread is cooling mix together caramel over a boiling heat. About 7 minutes will do it...10 minutes will turn it too much into toffee...(!) so when it starts going darker and slightly thicker take straight off heat! Spread onto the cooled shortbread and leave to cool.

400g Condensed milk

100g butter

50g sugar

 

Chocolate topping :

Microwave / melt 300g white chocolate and spread on the top of the caramel. Leave to set. Voila!

 

Emily x

 

Dumpling Delight

Squid and green beans with cumin




pork and fennel dumplings



So on Sunday evening I got taken to Barilla Dumpling, an extremely popular Asian Restuarant. Fluro lighting and plastic tableclothes do little to dim its appeal, and the que for a table was out the door.

An impressive menu with even more impressive prices -  $10 for 20 pork and fennel dumplings, its hard to not be taken with the place. The busy surroundings adds to the atmosphere of the place, and with the asian written board menu its not hard to picture myself back in Vietnam. The food (as in Vietnam) comes out when its good and ready, so don't expect your dishes all at once.

After an extensive debate we settled on three options - pork and fennel dumplings, squid and cumin with green beans, and the fried french beans with spicy salt - something which my dining companion raved about. And once I had tried it I could see why. Covered in almost a tempura batter, they were light and crispy, and oh so delicious.



fried french beans with spicy salt



Condiments ahoy each table have their own pots of soy, asian vinegar, and mild-chilli oil...something which pleases myself as I like to drown each chopstick held bite. Tea also comes complimentary to your table. And something to make the purse strings even happier...Barilla is a BYO so you can have your own cheap bottle of plonk without having to worry about shelling out the average $50 charge for one in a restaurant.

Don't expect great service, or lush surroundings, but do expect delicious food that is great value for money. A must visit for any Aucklander with tastebuds!

Emily x