This week we went caroling, made visits and invited people to Christmas Eve Sacrament Meeting on Sunday, and are enjoying the first week of summer in New Zealand.
Our friend Chris K. told me she liked shortbread, so I tried Mary Berry's famous recipe, which tastes good but looks a little shabby. The Martha Stewart Lamington thumbprint cookies, named for the coconut-coated, chocolate or raspberry-dipped squares of soft cake, came out a lot better. In fact, Sis. K. said I was showing off. These cookies are filled with Anathoth apricot jam.
For Relief Society, we were treated to Christmas music sung by the Primary children
These singers in the Tarawera Ward always have such beautiful island harmonies. Here they are singing "Is There Room?"
Following church, our Family Home Evening group gathered to sing at two elderly care facilities. We were joined by the Myler family and the eight elders and sisters, fortunately, since our original few weren't loud enough to hear.
The residents were very appreciative, and sang along with us. It was fun to spend time with them
Lenora Winiata, the stake president's wife, often serves Raro drink when the missionaries gather at the Winiatas for dinner on Monday nights. Each packet makes one liter. It is reminiscent of barely sweetened, mildly flavored Koolaid. Lenora says this is one of three things Aussies stock up on when they are in N-Zed, as it is called. Another is Whittaker chocolate, and I can't remember what the third thing was. I'll have to ask her.
On the corner of Lake Rd and Tarewa is the Lake Road Dairy. These are more like U.S. gas station convenience stores, with everything you could need packed into few shelves, and overpriced. But sometimes you need milk, even if it is overpriced.
I thought I would try making sweet potatoes for Christmas using the Maori Kumara. I've actually used them in many dishes already. We invited all the missionaries over for a Christmas Eve open house, but as usual I'm running behind on the cooking.
At the Pak'N'Save you can buy seedlings crammed into a sleeve of newspaper. I've already planted a sleeve of impatiens seedlings, which are finally beginning to bloom, even though the plants are still tiny. I going to try planting these capsicums, which is what they call peppers, and which I seem to buy a lot of.
Elder Rooks took pity on this cucumber plant hiding in the Mitre 10 MEGA garden department, which is unusual, since he usually tries to deflect me from any garden department anywhere. It already looks better after being planted in a bucket
Our potted plants actually look better than the plants in the ground. I think they get more sun and protection from the wind
All of our weeding and pruning uncovered this pretty fuchsia microphylla against the lattice fence
My brother-in-law Peter Kurt, the chef, read one of my posts sighing about the lack of large bags of chocolate chips, so he and my sister Jenn took pity on me and sent a giant box of Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips and Callebaut white chocolate, whew! That makes me super happy. I looked up the cost of sending a 17-pound box back to the States through the New Zealand Post, but it would be almost twice as much in postage.
Stacks and stacks of Pavlovas everywhere
In case you didn't believe me
I tried another recipe and method for Purini Mamaoa, the Maori steamed pudding. It came out better than my first attempt, but still rather shabby.
Especially when Robbie and Wiki gave us one of their steamed puddings, which they sell to hangi dinner operators. They make them in infant formula tins. The texture and moistness is amazing. I don't know how they get them so dark. No one seems willing to share their recipe with me, either.
We went to Chris K's to take her the shortbread, and the Tarawera sisters were already there, tending to her beautiful garden. The gorgeous dark-blue hydrangea are in full summer bloom. Nothing I do could produce blooms like this in my high-pH desert garden in Fruitland, Idaho.
This looks like St. John's Wort, although I've never seen it in a large shrub form like this.
Also roses
And powder blue hydrangeas beginning to bloom. Ah well. I will enjoy them while I can. I see hydrangeas like this all around the neighborhood.
For our picture, Chris made the sisters kneel down so she could be taller
Walking to the Saturday Market, which attracted a large number of attendees this Christmas Adam, which is what my children call the day before Christmas Eve. We saw all of the Elders there, helping Grandma Lolo take down the canopy over her tables of carved greenstone. We bought some Gizzy Valencia oranges and two bars of olive oil and volcanic clay soap from the Sulphur City Soapery table. There were a lot of families at the playground, as well, although it was beginning to drizzle.
The reflectors Elder Rooks attached to the telephone pole are still there, and you can spot them from quite a distance, night or day, just as we hoped.
The giant bottlebrush tree on our lane. Our bottlebrush shrubs in California were never this big. Red and green! One of our neighbors on Tarewa Rd. is using their bottlebrush as a Christmas tree.
Merry Christmas to everyone! Meri Kerihitimete!
