leek and chickpea soup

I've been charging along with my New Years resolution to eat more veg meals (I'm being so good and only have fish - no red meat or chicken). Here is a great one I pulled out of a library book. It's oh so tasty! This mighty Italian dish is a meal in one that will warm your cockles and give you some good ol nourishment of body and soul. Be patient with your sweating, its worth it. It doesn't look like much but serve this baby with some sourdough and you'll be blushing in shame at how judgemental you were.
This amount makes two servings.

You'll need:

1 cup of dried or canned chickpeas
1 tblspn olive oil
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
1-2 leeks, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tblspn of rosemary, finely chopped
1 litre of stock or water. I used vege stock but you could use chicken if you're that way inclined.
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch of spinach leaves (remove the stems), chop up coarsely

If you're using dried chickpeas, soak these overnight.

Heat the oil in a medium size saucepan. Saute the onion, celery, leeks, garlic and rosemary VERY slowly, until soft but not coloured. We're talking half an hour of sweating, keep your temp low and the veges moving. Don't add salt yet.

Add the chickpeas and the stock/water and bring to a simmer. If you're using dried chick peas cook these for around 60mins, canned only needs 10mins.

Place a cup and half of the soup in a processor and make it smooth. Add it back to the soup, add your salt and pepper now and then just before it goes in a bowl pop the spinach in until its wilted.

Hot Dang, that's some good soup - is what you'll be saying. C gave this one a 10/10.



We had a lovely weekend up in Riwaka. That area is gorgeous, did some sea swimming at Kaiteriteri (no crowds!), wine tasting in Mahana, lunching in Mapua and kayaking in Riwaka.

wellington

Our beautiful accomodation

Gypsy deathcore. Doesn't get more energetic than that!

Legendary kids playing ghostbusters

A cable car tunnel

shopping

parliament house. incredible architecture

view from the botanic gardens

street art

As I mentioned in my last post we went to Wellington over the weekend. It was the first time for C in Wellywood and I hadn't been there in years. Welly is known as the 'cool' city in NZ and certainly lives up to its name with a great selection of cafe's and restaurants (Duke Carvells, Memphis Belle, Fidels), good op shopping (Emporium ex Christchurch is now on Cuba St) and lots of street art. Our visit deliberately coincided with the International Arts Festival. We saw some "interesting" street performers and the high-energy gypsy punk sounds of Barons of Tang. Our accomodation was the stunning Museum Hotel that has the most incredible reception filled with art from around the world.

C was delighted to get a tour through parliament house and we spent the evening pounding the pavement and bar hopping (love cocktails at The Library) on Courtenay Place. We had a great one night break away and luckily managed to get some decent weather while we were there. Oh and for all you crafters, if you're ever there - check out Minerva, the best textile bookshop!

Lastly here is a bit of a shaky video I took of projections on Te Papa on saturday night.

the river

spot the nose

C and I had a picnic lunch at Selwyn River today. We managed to escape the easterly wind and find a secluded spot. Lucy retrieved sticks and chased butterflies while we waded in the impossibly clear water. The wildflowers down there were so pretty! I love exploring days, do you?

mini break

Now that I'm back to the office grind I thought putting up some pics of our weekend would be a nice way to rid myself of the back-to-work blues. Here is a wee montage of our mini break at the top of the South Island.

the view from our bedroom at the beach house

lake rotoroa, a stop worth making

the sandflies were out of control

what a view

the house we stayed at in Riwaka was i.n.c.r.e.d.i.b.l.e

little kaiteriteri

C's beach feet

my beach feet

a day at nana's

I'm still working diligently towards achieving my resolutions and managed to work on another today.

It was lovely as always listening to Nana's stories, eating her wonderful food (Spanish Cream!!) and marvelling at her garden. C and I even managed to leave with some goodies in tow. Here are some pics to summarise.

 

Gorgeous Akaroa Harbour

Picked up Nana's fruit order in Little River

sweet peas

yum yum yum

  

 

treat to take home

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

birthday jewels

October really is the start of the silly season in our house, there have been birthdays, travel, exams, rugby games and extreme weather to keep us busy. I will update you on all of the above over the next few days (hurrah for the long weekend!).

The pic above is of my wee homemade gift for the early-Libran Amy-Jane. To match her style I created a little brooch from satin and a other bits and pieces I had in the cupboard. It really reminds of the 40s style cocktail evening dresses.

Source: ebay.com via Wayward on Pinterest

My mind is all-things-vintage after the Love Vintage fair in Sydney last week. I was just so lucky to go and it coincided with my birthday trip with my beautiful mum to visit some relatives over there. We spent 5(!) hours at the show where I just drooled my way down the aisles resisting the temptation to purchase everything in my path (I did pick up some wee treats though).

The real highlight of the fair was attending one of Kelly Doust's workshops and meeting her in person - I did a terrible impression of a star-struck fan at the time and will not put up the pic of us because I look like a stunned possum! It was a total delight meeting her though and I picked up a signed copy of her latest (and like always) fantastic book 'Minxy Vintage'.

The ladies from the Lindy Charm School for Girls

Spending some time in Sydney with mum was great, we wandered the streets of Newtown and Glebe and even did a mission out to Bondi. It was a strange experience to be in a CBD after not being in one for so long now.

Oh and finally - until my next post - if you have the chance, go see Submarine, the new Richard Ayoade (of IT Crowd and Mighty Boosh fame) film. Great acting and styling in a coming of age story.

north

While I'm not feeling my best one thing that helps me escape the mucus is remembering the weekend we had up north.

C and I made the ferry trip on an overcast friday morning to the highly recommended Waiheke Island. A $1.50 bus fare got us from the ferry terminal to the small township of Oneroa. To stretch our legs after the ferry ride we wandered around the town to decide where we were going to have lunch and to take a look at some of the local artisan stores. We came across a clever little store that I could have spent hours in (reduce, reuse, recycle - can't find a website sorry). Not only does Waiheke have an art gallery, it has a full arts centre, with artists in residence and exhibitions from local and international artists. On an after lunch walk we began to understand why this space is so inspirational, the golden beaches, tropical flora and relaxed lifestyle all contribute to an escape from the everyday and allow the locals to find their creativity (or so I assume).

Wishing we could stay longer on our seat on the beach we were dragged away with only having seen a small portion of what Waiheke has to offer but enough left to justify a trip back soon!

While we were in Auckland I had to take the opportunity to do some shopping as there is little to offer in Christchurch of late. Two purchases that are now brightening my wardrobe are

Sheer fabric that will need to be taken in at the waist, but there's no way I could have said no to that colour!

This skirt got my attention straight away, the fabric is a thin corduroy with vibrant reds, so comfy too!

Thanks K Rd, hope to see you again soon.