This week’s small pleasures #44

So here we are again with a round up of this week’s small pleasures.  In a week that saw heavy rain, with flooding in parts of the country, a sick cat and only time for one Pilates class and no Xtend Barre (again…), there were still some small pleasures.

Oysters

I was up in Hamilton this week, and had dinner again at Palate.  I could not resist the oysters with freeze dried balsamic vinegar and lemon again, but this time opting for the chicken for the main event, served with sweetcorn, dried peppers, coca beans, mozzarella and oyster mushrooms.  Fantastic food in great surroundings with excellent service. Oh and the wine was a 2014 Chardonnay from Greywacke.

The weather – eventually

The weather improved and the sun came out.  There isn’t really much more to say is there?

Short trip over to Martinborough

Since the weather was good today, Sunday, we drove over to Martinborough for lunch, and to buy some wine.  It was a glorious day, and one of the first times I have stood at the top of the Rimutaka Hill Summit when there have been blue skies – see featured image at the top.

Time to read

Yes – I’ve actually had time to read and am racing through one of Donna Leon’s Commissario Brunetti novels.

Two blogs I have enjoyed this week:

Crumbs and food around the plate – hints on food photography from Celebrate Creatvity.

And really want to try this way of cooking tofu from The Minimalist Baker.

Scone overdosing

From raspberry and coconut scones to a fruit cobbler, there has been a lot of scone mix around this week!

Thanks to Mani at A New Life Wandering for the original idea of a weekly small pleasures post.

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