This week’s small pleasures #455

Thistles and Kiwis

Today is not only the first of September, but also the first day of spring (if you measure seasons in months that is). Even though I have lived here coming up for almost 13 years, I still can’t quite get used to the way that it is always green here, you only need gloves a few days of the year in winter and … people wear shorts all year round.

Anyway, here we are, after a week of glorious sunshine on many days and a heavy downpour of rain on Sunday, which laid low my plans of tidying up our little patch of garden. Karl is still in Scotland, returning on Wednesday – so looking forward to seeing him.

Dinner out

I had, to put it mildly, two rather intense days at work this week, so I took myself out for dinner on Wednesday to Supra as a de-stress. This proved to be the perfect antidote, with some wonderful food, a chance to sit and read, and a glass of wine. I started with spicy raw beef, smoked oyster cream and Jerusalem artichoke crisps which was a burst of different flavours and textures and a very memorable dish. I then had the pumpkin gnocchi with sage butter, black vinegar, hazelnuts and a cheesy tuille on top, which was also excellent. Supra just won the New Resaurant of the Year on the Cuisine magazine awards.

In the basket

The Wonky Box delivered up potatoes, a bunch of purple carrots, broccoli (again), onions, a butternut squash (again) three (yes three) swede or turnips, a small bag of Brussels sprouts and a small lettuce. I’ve cancelled next week’s box to get a bit of a break. I bought pears, oranges, a yellow capsicum, the first asparagus of the season, a bunch of red kale (roasted as part of Sunday’s dinner), a little kohlrabi, a jar of anchovies, a tin of smoked mussels because they just look so pretty….and two little beetroot for my annual experiment to see if I can like that particular vegetable (result! roasted small cubes with black garlic which I quite liked).

Staying in, going out

Like many others, I watched The Thursday Murder Club, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It is always hard to condense a book into a film, but thought this was a good adaptation, and I heard Richard Osman also ‘approved’. I found and enjoyed a 2015 drama Code of a Killer about the story of DNA fingerprinting and rewatched all of the British comedy Here We Go which makes me laugh out loud.

From the top right below: a success finding this video and making this salad of radiccio with a horseradish based dressing; lunch on Saturday at August Eatery, ‘Istanbul eggs’ (poached eggs with Greek yoghurt, aleppo butter, dill and sour dough toast – not as big as it looks in the picture – just the angle!); Saturday afternoon’s dance programme Voyages, seven pieces choreographed by dancers of the Royal New Zealand Ballet. The dancers had two weeks to make and rehearse the pieces, performed in one of the studios. A lovely hour of new dance.

The Food Show

On Sunday morning, a friend and I braved the rain and went to this year’s Food Show, where you can walk around tasting food and drink and, of course, buy lots of things. I bought cheese, sausages, olives, and the always excellent taramasatala (this one with truffles) and elaiasalata (this one with chilli) from Elysian Foods. I picked up four salts, three from Opito Bay Salt Co (Sazón, kampot pepper and toasted fennel and thyme) and a favourite, black garlic from Neudorf). I also got some olive oil, black garlic honey and two bags of cracker mix (one plain and one with rosemary and garlic).

Simple things

  • Enjoying a mostly sunny week.
  • Spending Sunday afternoon reading while it rained outside.
  • Getting a big pile of ironing done – hoorah!
  • Managing to switch off from a stressful couple of work days.
  • Seeing signs of spring wherever I go.
  • Saying hello to our new neighbourhood ducks – on our street and contemplating joining the local bridge club 🙂

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. Added to 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.

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Published by Thistles and Kiwis

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

51 Comments

  1. Happy spring! I’m looking forward to warmer days and lots of spring blooms. We watched The Thursday Murder Club on Saturday night, which is our regular movie night, and we both enjoyed it. I was impressed by how closely they folllowed the book and I thought the casting was excellent. I hope they make more.

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  2. I too caught up with the ironing on Sunday afternoon and am enjoying the first signs of spring: new leaves, the clivias coming into bloom, jasmine blooming, and birds either building nests or already feeding their chicks!

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  4. First day of Autumn here, so gearing up for cosy evenings, candles and the gentle fade of the summer garden. I have TTMC on the watch list. I haven’t read the book so shall enjoy it for what it is, I’ve read some great reviews so should be enjoyable.

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  6. Hope things have settled down at work.

    That food fair sounds like a lot of fun.

    As for The Thursday Murder Club…I did enjoy it, especially Helen Mirren as Elizabeth, but I was very disappointed with how Bogdan was portrayed. In the books, he was one of my favorite characters. In the movie, he was blah, almost boring, even. I think the book would have been better served as a series rather than as a movie.

    Thanks for the mention!

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    1. A friend and I were talking about Bogdan and wondering why he wasn’t more central…but I also heard that Steven Spielberg has spotted the actor for his next movie.

      The food fair was fun but work….ah well!

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  8. I hope things settle down for you soon at work, but your dinner out looks like the perfect stress reliever. We’re on vacation this week so we haven’t yet seen the Thursday Murder Club, but we’re anxiously awaiting seeing it when we’re home. Thanks as always for recommending my blog!

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  10. Could you make vegetable crisps with your excess root veg and squashes? Cook in the bottom of the oven while cooking/roasting. Or in an air fryer if you have one but you’d have to cover them or they’d fly around and burn on the element.

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  13. All the food looks incredible! I wasn’t sure about the film version of The Thursday Murder Club (I can’t quite wrap my head around Pierce Brosnan as Ron), so it’s good to know it’s worth watching 🙂

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  15. What an amazing week! There’s nothing nicer than taking yourself to a cosy restaurant or cafe with a book. Do you get the Danish crime drama, Sommerdahl Murders? Just finished five seasons – loved it. Enjoy all that beautiful produce.

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  16. I want to watch Thursday Murder Club, but I don’t want it to spoil the book for me as we know that books are often better. I love that you treated yourself to dinner, and I always enjoy looking into your Wonky Box. Thanks for sharing.

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  17. Pingback: wiggly – Touring My Backyard

  19. Beautiful tulips to start us off! and I love your table cloth – the luxurious texture of the white, and that embroidery!

    Fabulous view to enjoy your dinner treat. So nice that you could destress with a good meal.

    I have 3 little beetroot sitting in my fridge – I am going to roast them with garlic too. Thank you for the inspiration.

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      1. I love table cloths with a history! So nice that it belonged to your mom – you get to think of her whenever you use it!

        I roasted them and dressed them with lemon juice and balsamic syrup. Again, appreciate the inspiration!

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  20. Happy spring to all of you. We are still battling 100 degrees, which is in the 40s for you. It is not officially fall here until the middle of the month. By then, we will have beautiful weather again. Summers are brutal.

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  21. Looks like a good haul from the food show. The pretty yellow tulips are sure signs of spring. I read the Thursday Murder Club books and I’m now on the 4th book “We Solve Murders”. Thank you for the mention and for your weekend coffee share.

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  22. That all looks so delicious! How I wish it were spring and we were starting all over again. I do love fall, however, and that’s where we’re headed. I love how you list all the positives.. I need to start that back up.

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  23. Sounds like you live in a great spot. I am not a fan of anchovies, but the other items in your boxes look great. Oh, a food show would be amazing. My name to my grandkids is Nonni KiKi, and Kiki/Keek was a nickname growing up.

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