food glorious food!

this week's adventure was in the grocery store.  we had done a few shopping trips at the different shops but they were smaller, just get what we need for a couple days kind of trips.  this one i wanted to plan some meals and start getting some staples for school lunches.  the first funny thing was getting the cart-or trundler they called it- and figuring out how to get in!  for some reason you go through these little gates like you are entering a turnstile at disney.   when we go grocery shopping we have the kids "run missions" to find items and they can even figure it out in a foreign store!  i did have a list but was on the lookout for some dinner-inspiring ingredients.  that is how i cook- what looks or sounds yummy and how can we put that together with what we already have at home.  mia and i were in the produce and keep discovering new names for favorite veggies-bell peppers are called capsicums, and we found some lebanese cucumbers from NZ.  that is another thing- trying to buy products locally from this country.  they actually export about 95% of tOptionsheir agriculture out and paul has remarked it is cheaper to buy NZ products at home than here!   next was the seafood department which was huge and the first thing to catch my eye was a huge display of bright green mussels in an aquarium kind of tank-mia and i scooped out a bag of these beauties(and they were dinner that night with crushed tomatoes, wine and garlic over pasta)-yum.  there are loads of local white fish varieties and we are trying dory this week (nemo?)-another we see at the fish and chips shops is gurnard which sounds like someones funny uncle...have i mentioned our oven?  we thought it did not work after pressing all combinations of buttons and dials and still no heat, until i found the manual they thoughtfully left: the clock has to be set on a time for the oven to work!  hhmmm...wonder why?

 kogen has some foods that he eats every day that we have yet to find here: peanut butter crackers and a juice box for snack at school, plus he is a vegetarian so i modify our dinner to suit him-beans with the pasta instead of mussels for example.   they do have peanut butter here but some brands (from china) are really gnarly, but the one he likes is from sanitarium, the company that makes marmite.  this is one of paul's big jobs here- the marmite factory has been closed since last february due to earthquake damage.  it is the only factory they have to make this yeasty salty paste and (gasp!) there is a world-wide marmite shortage due to the closure.  paul told us their plan is to collect all the marmite from shelves around the world to bring it back to NZ so they don't lose their local market.  god forbid these people switch over the australian made vegemite!!  we have both at our house for comparison sake and really like the marmite better! (as much as you can really like it!) mia's take on marmite is " the taste kicks like a mule!"  i did google recipes with marmite and found a rich caramel chocolate pudding made with the paste-might have to try it!  one of the foods i have been missing is bagels, and we finally found them.  also in the bread aisle a staple we have been loving is crumpets.  sorta like an english muffin, sorta sweeter they are yummy toasted and spread with nutella!

the fun new food choices are not just limited to the store: one of our first walks exploring our neighborhood alex and i walked under a tree that had some pits on the sidewalk and we looked up.   there were fruits that looked like the dark summer cherries from home (we call them camp cherries because we eat them at camp rattlesnake and spit the pits in to the lake).  so we picked one and took tentative bites-they are like littel magical plums, and now we see the trees everywhere.  our neighbor brought over a bowl of apricots from a tree in her yard and we had some sliced over pavlova -a NZ confection like a huge airy meringue/angel food cake, and now i have a recipe to make it myself.  one of the problems with food here also is translation: a woman was telling me about a dessert she was making with pias...i had no idea until she repeated it several times and then said you know like apples and pias---oh PEARS!  yes i have heard of them-oops.  we have some fun food choices just down the block form us: sushi, fish and chips/burgers, kebabs and felafels, two bakeries (one gluten free) which have sweets plus meat pies and sandwiches, chinese grocery, a dairy (for staples) and...dominoes pizza.  we have yet to try this here but tuesday is their special day and we might be hankering for some good old american style pizza!  at the festival we went to this week we had all  sorts of good food tent choices: noodles and satay,  roasted candied pecans, and crepes.  no fried dough to be found!

so yes we are eating well here, although i am a bit tired of the ubiquitous fish and chips, and glad to have this opportunity to share different food choices with our already experimental kids.