Look what I found

Can you tell what it is? They're really hard to find here in New Zealand and it has been ages since we've eaten any. About two years I suppose. Any ideas?

It's a waffle iron. Waffles are not popular here. In fact, when I excitedly took over a taste of our first waffle to our kiwi neighbours, they had never before tasted waffle. So, where did I find such a desirable beauty? Well, it all started with a trip to the beach.

Saturday morning woke up warm and beautiful, so after a quick trip to the market, we headed back over the hills into Sumner. We met up with some friends there with our swim gear, sun screen and lots of ideas. While Stephen and Gavin grabbed some surf boards and headed out to the waves, Nina and I stripped down to our swim suits and splashed and played in the waves. Body surfing, running in place, trying really, really hard not to swallow any salt water (to no avail). And Matt and Emily watched from the rocky beach, taking pictures and enjoying the heat. After a meander down to the ice cream shop to dry off (and get ice cream obviously) we jumped back into the car and drove home.

On the way home we passed by a little shop that had long intrigued us. We had walked past in once or twice before when it was open and peeked into the darkened door way, glimpsing piles of teetering pots, ragged books and long forgotten toys and tools. Today it was once again open and we had the time. So we screeched to a park and jumped out of the car.

Stepping into this place was like walking into a story book. We emerged from the warm heat of the sunny, summer day to a dimly lit, musty aired, cool room so jam packed full of stuff there was hardly room to stand. We squeezed our way in between glass cases filled with mismatched tea settings and tiny glass figurines, a stuffed lamb with a bow-tie placed on top of a pile of cloth-covered books and a decomposing fish mounted on the wall, piles of records and a strange looking metal contraption on a pillar. Wait - could that be. . .? A waffle iron! A beautiful, round silver waffle iron. A short search brought up a cord, a quick test with an outlet and then the bartering began. After a good barter, a quick trip home and a bike trip back, I eventually wound up with a waffle iron. And this morning we enjoyed a delicious breakfast of tasty waffles with maple syrup, yogurt and fruit salad.

[mmmmmm - waffles]

Breakfast Tostada

With the arrival of Spring we have developed a renewed interest in all sorts of new foods. Fresh new local veges are making their ways into the market bag and strange and interesting new products are finding their way to our grocery store shelves. So we've been able to play with all sorts of great things.

Last week after a delicious meal of enchiladas the night before, I was left with some uneaten corn tortillas and some salsa and beans. This could only mean one thing, Mexican-inspired breakfast . . . . or beans and salsa in a tortilla. But where was the excitement in that, so I fried an egg, cut up some avocado and sprinkled on some cilantro. Delicious. Especially with a little extra kick from some special sauce I picked up in Antarctica. I give you - the breakfast tostada (like a burrito, only the tortilla lies flat a the bottom instead of being rolled up).

Erin's Breakfast Tostada

1 tortilla per person (corn are extra yummy if available)

1 egg per person

some delicious Mexican beans (I had canned black beans in a spicy sauce, but homemade would be better)

homemade salsa (recipe at bottom)

cheddar cheese (or queso fresco if you have it) - grated

1/4 avocado per person - sliced

1 tbsp. cilantro - chopped

Hot sauce - as much as you want

Heat up your tortilla as directed. If it is a corn tortilla this usually means frying it in a little bit of oil in a hot pan for about 30 seconds on each side until the middle puffs up a bit. Take it out of the pan and place in some paper towel to absorb the excess oil. Turn down the heat on the pan to medium and crack your egg into it. Splash some hot sauce into it if you so desire and cook it up your favorite way - sunny side up, easy over, crunchy.

Once all your ingredients are prepped you can begin constructing your tostadas. This can really be in any order you like, in fact you could just serve the individual ingredients as is and each person could construct their own tostada at the table. My preference is for the cheese to be in between the egg and the tortilla to get all gooey and melty from the heat. Then I pour on a good 1/4 cup of beans, a good spoonful of salsa and top it off with some cilantro. Sprinkle on some hot sauce and serve with the avocado on the side. But like I said, you could pile it any way you like.

Simple Homemade Salsa

2-3 tomatoes, the fresher the better

1/2 an onion (white, yellow, red, whatever)

chillies (to your taste)

1 lemon or lime

1 tbsp. cilantro, chopped

Slice your tomatoes across the core and take out the juicy seedy bits. Chop up your tomatoes and throw them in a bowl. Chop up your onion a little smaller than your tomato pieces. Then slice your chillies down the middle to expose the seeds. You can either leave the seeds and pith in or take them out, since this is where most of the heat is found in chillies its up to how spicy you want your salsa to be. I usually take out the seeds and throw in two chillies, this makes a pretty mild-medium salsa depending on the chillies I'm using. Chop these up pretty fine and toss them into the bowl. Squeeze in the juice of the lemon or lime, toss in the cilantro and mix it all up. The longer you let this sit, the more the flavours will have a chance to meld. I try to make this at least a few hours ahead of the meal, sometimes even a day.