Of Chokos and Quinces

Hi All. Ok so it must be weird fruit week here.

I had not tried eating a choko since my mother served the tasteless, slimey things up when I was very young (quite some time ago).
They are often found in New Zealand in cardboard boxes with - "FREE - Help Yourself" written on them. After which they sit around and grow sprouts then get thrown out. 

He just looked in need of a face

It turns out that not many people like them.
When Derek brought one home (he likes them), I decided it was time to see if I could make them edible. You do need to peel them and cut them up small.
I tentatively added a quarter to a stir-fry....yep that's ok, can't taste it..then to a soup...again good....fritters, as a replacement for courgettes....again fine.
So last weekend when I saw another carton of free chokos...I picked one out and took it home!

Quinces

Quinces

This week we were given a bag of quinces. I've never cooked these before, but have tasted them in quince paste and a friend does a magnificent quince and chilli jelly.
I discovered a sticker on the fruit to say they had come from Pompallier House in Russell, so they are from a very old orchard, an heirloom variety.
I wasn't sure that they were going to taste any good, so stewed a few, then happy with the result I have stewed the lot. 
We've been eating them for breakfast, and they'll be good mixed with other fruit in crumbles etc.
Quinces are rather like pears in texture, and have a delicate but distinctive flavour of their own.

Pompallier House

photo courtesy of TripAdvisor

Bishop Pompallier bought land in Russell, Northland New Zealand in 1839. The building was constructed in 1841-2 for use as a printery, also housing a tannery for book binding. (They used urine to tan the leather back then).
In 1842 it produced it's first Maori translations of religious texts.
Pompallier House is open for visitors these days. It is about as old as buildings get here in New Zealand.



.<a href="https://www.tripadvisor.co.nz/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g255679-d2707238-i228589608-Pompallier_Mission_and_Printery-Russell_Bay_of_Islands_Northland_Region_.html#228589608"><img alt="" src="https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/0d/a0/00/28/garten-und-pompallier.jpg"/></a><br/>This photo of Pompallier Mission and Printery is courtesy of TripAdvisor

The Mermaid & What I've Been Up To.

Where does the time go? 
We have been busy - cleaning out our garage so that Katie could have a 17th birthday party in there (eek - but the party wasn't too bad). 

This meant sorting a lot of stuff, so we have been to our local car boot sale early on a Sunday morning selling things off, then donating the rest. The market is pure entertainment - some real characters there. 

I've also been busy selling off the bone china and old cutlery that I started collecting a few years ago. I'm getting a good return on my investment, money going towards a big trip later this year. 
Next to go will be my crystal brooch collection - we can't keep everything right?

The Mermaid
I've decided to share the next pictures with you so that you can see it's never too late to have a bit of fun. On our birthday (Derek and I share) there was something called the Whangarei Fritter Festival - lots of bands, food is mostly fritters (for which there is a competition), and beer and wine. It's lots of fun, but not cheap at $45 each, and then you buy your food and drinks.

The Fritter Festival 2018

I saw that one of the bands was running a competition with free tickets as a prize, for anyone who would dress as a mermaid and post the pic to their page. 
Well I could tell that I had a good chance with few entered, and none following instructions... so at 59, I won my first mermaid competition with this pic.

An unflattering but winning pic haha! Tail is a piece of fabric with a spray painted flipper that we found on the beach. Oh that's a wig by the way.