Monday, 25 March 2019

Mangrove Honey, Little Balls of Energy

Hi All - look what we've got in our backyard!


They are only here while the mangroves are flowering, but maybe it will be an annual event.
Who knew you could get mangrove honey! We're looking forward to trying some, plus we needed a new honey-in-glass supplier - and he found us!

Energy Balls



I made up this recipe when we wanted a little something with our morning coffee to give us some zip to get through the rest of the chores. It's especially good when I don't feel like using the oven - because that usually means that I cook several things to be efficient with heating the oven.
The recipe is fairly flexible - just use what you've got and get it to the right degree of moisture that the balls will hold together.

Into the food processor place:
1 cup of dates
1/2 cup of nuts
1/4 cup of seeds (flax, sesame, pumpkin, sunflower - any of these)
6-8 pieces of crystalized ginger
1/3 cup of dark chocolate buttons, melted

Whiz them up. It should be able to be rolled into small balls - about 1 teaspoonful is a good size, then roll in coconut and store until they're gone in a container in the fridge.
They'd be good for children's lunchboxes too. Heck, the kids could make them.

Well we're off camping this week - that will be the first time in over 10 years for both of us. With our band winding down there should be more opportunities if we enjoy it (and I'm picking we will - fishing, reading, playing guitar, hopefully meeting some new people). I post a pic next time - we're going somewhere local and lovely.

Saturday, 16 March 2019

A Day of Sadness

March 15th 2019 will always be remembered here as a day of sorrow in the wake of the mosque shootings in Christchurch. Fifty lives taken as they went about their peaceful practice of prayer.

Hopefully it will unite all New Zealanders even more as they stand in solidarity with the Muslims who call New Zealand home. 
Our Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has vowed to change our gun laws to no longer allow semi automatic weapons and to tighten gun ownership regulations.

We are a peaceful country so this is unexpected and shocks us all to the core.

Kia Kaha - stay strong 

Arohanui - great love  💓

Anne