A little bit about high tea with my mum at Stamford Plaza

Ever since Calci took me to high tea at Cornwall Park Restaurant for my 19th birthday (thank you Calci!! That was so special) I had been wanting to take my mum to experience this European culture...

Stamford Plaza (which is a reaaaal nice hotel; Dom told me this evening that LADY GAGA stayed in their top suite) serves high tea from 12pm on Sunday accompanied by a live pianist, so that was super elegant :D

Mama said: I used to wish my children would play the piano like that.

lol Grade 4. soz bout it.

I was going to order rosehip with hibiscus flowers, then the waiter said we could order coffee in the high tea package, so I got a trim latte (noticed the link to my blog address? ;) )

mummy with the tier

The white curl on the top tier is white chocolate! So cool! Reminded me of that time I dropped a chocolate curl in Josh's drink at chocolate boutique cause "Tiff told me to!"

top tier: custard fruit tart, berry sponge friand and macarons

middle tier: chocolate scones, raisin scones and curry puffs

finger sandwiches; cucumber and salmon, relish, ham and cheese

jam and cream in cute little mugs for the scones :D

me :) aw i like this photo

the finger sandwiches were good and I always appreciate interesting ways of cutting the bread haha. I especially liked the cheese in the ham and cheese filling.

curry puffs were a bit spicy for me (radiation side effect #1) but the first 3 seconds of chewing it was quite tasty :p

I usually avoid eating scones because they're really dry (radiation side effect #2) but I had these and they were yum with jam and cream.

The only good piece from the dessert tier was the fruit tart, but even then the ones we made for Calci's brother's engagement party were way better. The berry friand was average, not very gourmet tasting. The macarons were even worse. Seriously, if you're going to serve macarons, serve real ones, not ones with jam in the middle.
It's alright, mama and I are making Adriano Zumbo's on Mothers' Day.

These are the goodies my mum brought back from Sydney! She got them from Coles. The Lindt hot chocolate tastes like the gold easter bunnies... melted. Absolutely delicious.

The restaurant in Stamford Plaza is called Knights, situated in the lobby. I liked the seating plan; open and relaxed with a business feel created by the low knee-high tables and arm chairs.
I felt like Blair was going to walk in at any moment to join Serena for a martini. And Chuck behind them, trading his father's assets with Jack over a brandy.

Do you know what I always do when I go somewhere nice?

Check out the bathrooms.

Check out myself in this fantastic mirror.

You know it's good when they have hand lotion in the bathrooms!!

Bottom line: Great location, but the food didn't live up to it. Average.


Lauren and I have had this plan since last year to have high tea at the Langham... And then we found out it was $45 per person. Aiyaaaa. Maybe once, for a very very special occassion...

And to conclude,

one day...
http://stamfordresidences.co.nz/apartments-for-sale/one-bedroom.html

it would be nice.


Signed,
Elisa

One Day

Back when we knew where we were going but did not know how to get there… Back when love was on the tip of our tongues, unknown to the ears and the driver of every action… Back when our worries were not enough time, yet too long to wait...

Your mum’s hair was short; she was growing it long because that how I liked it. And we decided to take a drive to a suburb we’d never been to before. So we parked the car and went for a walk. I’d learnt to always hold her hand, or at least hold her in some way, she likes that.

Anyway, the streets were lined with deep cobblestone driveways flanked by gates and the houses were more than adequate if we could see them from the road. There was a little park with a swing set and a playground, your mum led me down the path and onto the other side. The street was still quiet, with more trees but less iron gates. Up a hill a bit, we gained a glimpse of a corner of a backyard. A blue and white striped hammock tied between two leafy trees. The slanted roof of the house with a skylight and beneath it, a window seat. We stood, looked long enough at this picture of tranquility, until the ranch slider opened and a woman walked out and set up an easel under the tree.

“One day.” Your mum said, mostly to herself but loud enough for me to hear. My only response was so squeeze her hand, so I did not lose her.

Ten years later, we are far far away from the place we went to as teenagers. The closest house that resembles anything we saw that time was in the next city. But she loves it here, she loves having her family secure and comfortable. She loves opening her home to people as they come to our house to eat and sing and read together. I did not disappoint her or ignore her dreams. I do sometimes wish we had grass just as green as what we saw instead of a concrete wall behind our house. But your mum says she’s content. Content with who she’s with.

Inspired by true events

A little bit about food adventures

Oh my goodness I have not blogged in a while, I have been busy with Engineering Revue rehearsals. But due to this incident  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10875187 we will not be performing this weekend.
So sorry to those who have bought their tickets, but you will get a refund. Let's hope we can find another venue!



So there's been a bit of a food adventure since last time I blogged...

$10 miso katsu with chicken for lunch at The Don 47 High St, opposite the Metropolis hotel. That was a great lunch with a group of civil engineering girls!

Double date with the other EJ couple at Theobroma Chocolate Lounge in Sylvia Park.
Mmmm.... waffles and hot drinks with real melted chocolate.

And then that interesting time jt told me to dress up for dinner without telling me where we were going! That was most exciting. I felt so incredibly special. (and also because he wore a shirt. with french cuffs. and trousers with a belt. a belt. ) 

So special.

Iskender; roasted lamb on Turkish bread 

He took me to the Midnight Express, a Mediteranean Turkish restaurant on 59 Victoria St West (opposite the bungy). It was so fantastic; I loved the quiet relaxed, semi formal ambience and I especially love the surprise.

Guys; surprise your girls. Even if she whines because she doesn't know what to wear, tell her to get over it and surprise her. Girls actually love surprises.

There was a hiccup in the service and our mains were late, so they gave us complimentary Turkish bread!

Shish chicken! What a maaaasive plate. Good thing it was so delicious! Like, amazingly delicious. Grilled chicken on a skewer on a bed of rice pilaf, served with tzatziki and hummus.

Midnight Express, totally recommended. Especially on Friday nights where they have a belly dancer. Legit.

My Lifegroup went to have brunch at The Pah Homestead in Hillsborough last month. Gorgeous historic house that has been renovated into an art gallery and a function venue

The balcony reminds me of Pride and Prejudice :p
Imagine living in this house!

Yum.

Poached eggs on multigrain toast.
I was just impressed by the circular butter. It fascinated me the entire time.

Foldover ham, mustard, tomato and baby spinach.

Foldover roast vegetable, feta and artichoke. Doesn't it look like a heart? So romantic..
Although the bread could've been crispier, as the bottom was a little soggy.

Eggs benedict. Tasted good, but the eggs preferred to be more runny.

The cafe rated fairly average, it's the same catering company as the Auckland Art Gallery cafe. We all wished there was more on the breakfast menu, as it lacked sweet things like pancakes/ waffles.

Then we went to look at the art gallery, turns out they had a theme at the time... male nudes.

oooooh and to conclude,

it's fun doing food adventures with jt. We made peri-peri chicken using the seasoning sachet we got from signing up for AUSA and we fried courgettes and made this work of art with a cherry (tomato) on top!

Next blog post: Studentlife girls' chocolate fondue event!

Signed,

Elisa

A little bit about chocolate chip apricot cookies

A very special person is moving to Auckland, and if you have been around me in the past month you'd know how excitedly giggly I get when I mention this coming Friday (ie TOMORROW) :p

I made cookies! I thought the flatmates would appreciate some baking from the new guy's girlfriend.

Chocolate chip apricot cookies

250gr butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla essence

3/4 cup caster sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

2 1/4 cups plain flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup chocolate chips

handful dried apricots, chopped (I cut them with kitchen scissors)

2 rows cooking chocolate

1. Place butter, vanilla, sugars and egg in a bowl and beat until light and fluffy.

2. Sift in half of the flour and mix well.

3. Sift in the remaining flour and baking soda and continue to mix.

4. Add in chocolate chips and apricots and stir to combine.

5. Cover and refrigerate for up to an hour.

6. Roll mixture into balls and place on lined trays about 2 inches apart.

7. Bake at 180C for 15 minutes

8. Leave on trays for 10 minutes before transferring onto wire racks to cool.

9. Pour boiled water in a bowl and place cooking chocolate in a separate bowl over the boiled water, stir chocolate until it melts completely.

10. Place into piping bag and drizzle over cookies.

11. Lick chocolate bowl clean.

Makes 40 delicious cookies.

Hints:

I refrigerated the dough in a metal bowl and I found that this affected the firmess of the dough that touched the sides of the bowl. I think it's better if you use plastic or glass/pyrex bowl.

When melting the chocolate, do not spill water into the chocolate bowl, this will ruin the chocolate. If you'd like it less viscous, put a little butter or milk, not water.

They're fine without the chocolate drizzle over top, but I lined them up on baking paper and decided to make them a little bit fancy.

It takes a few tries before getting the chocolate to drizzle smoothly. You can see in the above photo that the first row I did was a little messy. Just pack the chocolate into the bottom of the piping bag and squeeze firmly and continuously.

Using the last of the chocolate on the cookies that stuck together...

The cookies were so yummy. Chewy, soft and just sweet enough to eat more than three...

I left the messy ones above for my brother to eat, he ate all seven of them in one go. Including the one with the heart :((

Sorry, jt...

And to conclude,

the cheapest coffee I've found at uni is at Cafe Crema, near Starbucks on Symonds. $3 for a coffee. Legit. And they have a coffee card; buy 7 get one free!

Signed,

Elisa