Bringing in the new

Thistles and Kiwis,

The first and second of January are public holidays here in New Zealand. Lots of places are closed, things are quiet and the only people out and about are walking their dogs, going for a run, or in town, lost tourists trying to find a cafe that is open. Add in really bad weather (it rained nearly the whole of Wednesday and most of Tuesday), the general slowness of summer holidays, and the past few days seem to have just blurred into one long sofa of sloth.

Anyway, on Hogmanay or New Year’s Eve, we headed out for an early dinner in town at a favourite place, Floriditas. They were offering a special four course menu, with options for the main dish. We started with cured line-caught trevally, served with pickled cucumber, whipped avocado, gazpacho sorbet with wasabi. I loved this – the fish was perfect and the combination of flavours and textures went really well together. We opted for the wine pairing, and this a Nautilus brut cuvee.

The second course was a smoked Canter Valley duck breast salad, served with nectarine, raddichio and walnuts. The duck was excellent, and again the combination of flavours went so well. The nectarine was a little underripe, but I’ll let that pass. We drank a Prophet’s Rock Pinot Gris 2023 from Central Otago which was a perfect pairing.

The main course was a choice of moki (a fish) or lamb. We both opted for the Royalburn Station lamb rump served with grilled aubergine/eggplant a la greque, muhammara (a dip of red capsicum and walnut), goat’s cheese, olives. I loved this dish – perfectly cooked lamb and again, a wonderful combination of flavours and textures. The Framingham Pinot Noir we had with this was another good pairing.

Dessert was was based on a meringue, which is one of those things I really don’t like. This was still good though, coming with a strawberry sorbet, champagne jelly and vanilla marscapone chantilly cream. Karl loved this and gobbled it up declaring it a great success. The dessert wine was
DeBortoli Noble One Botrytis Semillon. We also had an espresso.

We came home, watched Dinner for One as per tradition, and managed to stay awake until midnight. The first day of the year began with bacon rolls for breakfast, just the thing after a late night. I made a moussaka for dinner, a bit of a faff, but a good project for a wet day.

It is now day two of 2025, and I am happy to report it isn’t raining and blue skies can be spotted. We are not returning to work until 13 January, adding on some days of summer holiday. Taking inspiration from Stanley Tucci’s latest book What I Ate in a Year and Alex Keerie’s recent post, I am planning more cooking and more writing about food in 2025. Let’s see if this happens!

My most recent Substack can be found here. Also entered in the weekend coffee share hosted by Natalie.

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.

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Published by Thistles and Kiwis

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

40 Comments

  6. The last of our family guests left home early this morning, so I am gradually catching up on blogs and emails missed. As usual, your food descriptions are droolingly good! I wish you both health and much happiness this year.

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  9. I love your cooking plans for 2025! It sounds like a delicious way to kick off the New Year. I can’t wait to see what you come up with, especially inspired by Stanley Tucci’s book and Alex’s post. Let me know if you try any new recipes—I’m always on the lookout for great ideas! Enjoy the rest of your holiday until {13 January}.

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  13. Your NYE’s meal looks and sounds amazing. Thank you for your weekend coffee share. Enjoy the rest of your holiday, happy New Year and all the best for 2025!

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  14. Hi, Barbara – I am impressed that you stayed up past midnight on NYE. Richard and I went out to dinner with friends at 6 pm and were home and asleep by 9:30 pm. We didn’t even make it until 10. Party poopers – I know!

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  17. I like the stillness after New Year, when some places are closed. We experience the same quietness those days. I went out for a very cold walk on New Years Day, and on January second my daughter and I went sledding. It is still very cold. The food you had are so beautifully displayed.

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  19. Happy New Year…

    Looking at the food pics like… erm I think it needs a bit more cooking.. I think my palette is more used to something in the congratulations realm and not rare or well done 😂

    ~B

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      1. It looks like with some stitching, band aid and painkillers it could walk right of the plate…. “Arise Sir Lamb” 😂
        ~B

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