This week’s small pleasures #371

Thistles and Kiwis

Today, Monday, is the Wellington Anniversary holiday, so after two days back at work for me, a long weekend was on the calendar. It has certainly helped to ease me back in to sitting in an office! It has been hot here, so looking at the snow and freezing weather in other parts of the year is almost cooling.

It has been a bit of an odd week, with me not feeling 100% on Monday and Tuesday (I blame lack of sleep) and family news of my step-son being back in hospital and my niece having pneumonia and a cracked rib, neither of which is at all good. But of course there have been lots of small pleasures too, including the summer season, which makes me smile (even if our house feels like a little oven at times).

In the basket

The Wonky Box delivery was a bit of a disappointment this week, with two leeks but only three potatoes, a cucumber, one sweetcorn, a bunch of wee carrots, more garlic and….horror or horrors….beetroot, a vegetable neither of us like. I might try one in a beetroot and carrot salad and see how I get on, but the others will need to go to a new home.

So there was a need to stock up with other produce: courgettes for this lovely salad with burrata, aubergine, asparagus which I roasted to have with salmon on Saturday, a little bunch of broccolini, tomatoes, a grapefruit, lemons and plums, white fleshed nectarines and, not pictured, perfect peaches.

Summer eating

On Wednesday I enjoyed the perfect summer sandwich with mozzarella, tomato and basil at Shelley Bay Baker on Leeds Street. I made a sausage and potato dish with potatoes sliced into wedges, topped with tomatoes and then some good sausages, which was excellent (and leftovers for lunch), and a quiche made with some of that leek, bacon and tomatoes, which I managed to get to the table without dropping this time! There was also a plum streusel cake to use up some of the plums.

Eating out

On Sunday we headed over to Chaat Street in town for lunch, treating ourselves on this holiday weekend. We ordered papri chaat (pictured top left and described as ‘Indian nachos’ which were so good), Kashmiri kanti (a lamb and tomato dish which came with the bread – please ignore the water on the table where the jug had been!) and butter chicken. What a feast!

I know nearly all the small pleasures have been food related this week, but there you have the things that made me smile over the past 7 days!

Simple things

  • Biting into a perfectly ripe peach while starting a new book.
  • Enjoying summer days.
  • Replenishing my ‘to be read’ pile.
  • Watching an excellent drama based on the Kerstin Ekman’s book Blackwater (we watched it on TVNZ+).
  • Seeing my pot basil spring back to life after a good watering.
  • Spending Monday afternoon reading a good book while sipping sparkling water with fresh mint.

What were your small pleasures this week? Here are some other blog posts from a few fellow bloggers looking at the good things in life.

Thistles and Kiwis is a Wellington, New Zealand based blog written by Barbara, who likes cats, summer, good food and pretends to garden.

You can find Thistles and Kiwis on Facebook, and also on Instagram @thistlesandkiwis. If you want to get in touch, email me on lofgren@thistlesandkiwis.com

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Published by Thistles and Kiwis

Loves summer, sunshine and cats. Beginner gardener, likes eating, cooking and reading about food

39 Comments

  2. Hi Barbara thanks for the mention and I always enjoy your small pleasures post. Over the last few days, Mike and I have been in demolition mode as we prepare for new bathrooms. The small pleasure (or large pleasure) was seeing my 75 year old husband in his element, being physical and getting stuck in, with help from his offside – me – to do the demolition work ourselves. Have a lovely week.

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  4. I wish I was dining at your house! I like the look of the sausages, tomatoes and potato wedges, and the Quiche with leeks, bacon and tomato…delicious!
    Sorry to hear that you have two members of the family who are not well, hope they both get better soon.

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  7. The biggest pleasure for me is to be spared the six hour round trips of last week, visiting my husband in hospital in the next town – broken ribs and a punctured lung. He is on the mend, my trees are growing apace after some rain, our swimming pool is clean, and I have plenty of novels to get through. I enjoy reading about your gastronomic excursions!

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  8. Thanks so much for the mention! We did enjoy our second Christmas. Best to your stepson and niece. How stressful it is to have loved ones in the hospital. The food looks delicious, and this post reminded me of the wonderful produce that summer brings.

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  10. Reading this after last week’s deep freeze here, it gave me a little warm boost! I love the idea of a fresh peach and starting a new book. And you could send me those beets (as we call them in the U.S.). I love them! That’s one of those vegetables that people either love or hate, isn’t it?

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  11. Being in one of those freezing cold places right now, one of my small pleasures this weekend was a nice roaring fire in the woodstove!

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  13. You certainly ate well. I would have been happy with beetroot. My stepdad used to grow his own and I loved it, just boiled, and fresh out of it’s skin. Hope the health news improves.

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      1. I roast mine. Cut off the top and bottom, cut it into 4 ans, and roll it in olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt and roast in the oven or on the BBQ. No need to peel. It’s so good this way.

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  15. I hope all of your family is on the mend and you are sleeping better. Again the food looks amazing. I love peaches and it won’t be long before we have ripe ones here. Thanks for the mention. Have a wonderful week.

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  17. Oh no, there is nothing worse than getting produce delivered that you are not a fan off. I get a produce boxed delivered, and the company has an option where we can opt out of certain items, and that way they will never appear in your box. On my know list is parsnips, red apples, and grapefruit.

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