Category Archives: Seen and Done

Smoked Eggs for Brekky = Kruger National Park

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I bought some Manuka Smoked Eggs (scroll down in the link for contact details ) at the Stadium Market on Sunday. I was very eager to taste them but managed to save them for breakfast this morning. The eggs look stunning, one side is dark chocolate and the other almost caramel, much too lovely to break! The vendor, Rachel told me that the best way to eat them was scrambled.

The taste was lovely and smoky and lingered long after the last bite, a taste that took me back 45 years to the Kruger National Park in South Africa. Now breakfast is cooked on gas there but in those days big communal fires were made and my father would happily trot off with his blackened pan and eggs,  and bring back delicious scrambled eggs from the  cooking kitchens. Every one would fetch a few burning logs from the big fire to put in the fire place in front of their hut at night and after barbecuing the family dinner we settled down to listen to the night noises of the animals! You have to admit that that is quite a remote flashback – in time and distance – just because of a bit of scramble egg eaten on a very chilly. wet,  Dunedin morning.

Seen and Heard at the Stadium Markets (Every Sunday)

As usual, I was on my spot with my honey, quail and quail eggs. As usual I sold out early, even though I took along a few dozen more than last week. The baby quail got a lot of attention especially from the kids – they become very tame and make great pets when treated gently and with care.  I have had requests for my quail food specially formulated for layers and growers, and Diatomaceous Earth and will take a few bags along next week.

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A stall I have been meaning to write about is Dunback Spuds.  I was impressed to find that the family plants, harvests and sells all their own produce. Katrina is the best promoter of her product and says ”  We grow them at Dunback, next to the Shag River (just been named NZ’s cleanest river), with no sprays and plenty of blimmin weeds.  Boy do we have some fights with the buggers when they get caught up in the digger.  We supply the market in Ranfurly and the wider Maniototo via Foleys Butchery in Ranfurly (Graham has a wee goldmine of things other than lovely fresh meat), and we supply the North Star and Brydone Hotels in Oamaru, as well as attending the Palmerston Farmers Market on Fridays and the Sunday Stadium Market in Dunedin.  Red Rascals have a lovely sweet flavour, and are excellent “new” potatoes early in the season and as winter plods along they make a great potato salad.  Agria make the best darned baked spud I’ve ever tasted, amazing oven chips and brilliant mash. Yum.”  They are at the market regularly and deserve to be supported.

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The food stalls did well today and I think the rest of the stall holders had more customers eyeing their wares than usual.  The market does require more vendors though.

At the Stadium Markets every Sunday

The markets ended early on Sunday due to a sporting event. Sales in Quail eggs were brisk and I sold out again – may have to squeeze those quail hens a bit next week ;-). There was little incentive for the  stall holders who came to the Markets considering the limited trading time, but many of the regulars  did turn up. Visitors could still buy great late season apricots, peaches and plums produced by the vendor, fresh potatoes trucked in by the farmer, cheese, soaps, badges and more at great prices. The food vendors were in place and were trading well.

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Some of the lovely apricots I brought home

 

 

 

One of the regular stalls sell beautiful soaps made in Dunedin. Zingani have a range of skincare products as well.  Being a foodie and always keen to eat,  I at first thought they were selling something that looked really delicious!  Now I have looked at some of their ingredients, Olive oil, Sustainable Organic Columbian Palm oil, Coconut oil, Water,   Cocoa Butter, I am still tempted to have a nibble ;-).  This local manufacturer is worth a visit at  the markets  – have a look at their website http://www.zingani.co.nz – and support them! 

 

Ylang ylang

I did not have time to go around the stalls I wanted to talk about but promise to do better next week

Raw Milk from the Loveliest Dairy Farm

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We got up bright and early to be in time for the morning milking. The beauty of the scenery around Dunedin is astounding, driving high up the hill behind Port Chalmers through dense trees and shrubs (that seemed to be natural bush to us ) overlooking the blue harbour is  thrilling. The intimate scale of the landscape , the green of the hills   accross the blue harbour and the pretty town below us made us feel lucky to live in New Zealand. We turned off on to a narrow gravel road, so narrow and winding through dense growth,   that we are still wondering what would have happened should we have met an oncoming car. We passed a delightful, shingled, ‘gingerbread ‘ house with a spectacular view of the harbour and parked beside the milking parlour, with, of course, a spectacular view of the harbour!

Milking was over and placid Jersey cows stood or lay in the stalls relaxing to soft classical music. The parlour has vines with ripening grapes trailing along the rafters over the heads of the cows.  There is a magnificent wild looking veg garden close by with roses and  what a friend calls  English Garden Flowers on all sides of the parlour.  As an unexpected bonus we were given some artichokes since the owners were not eating them anymore ( getting sick of artichokes  –  unimaginable) !

We fell in love  with the place and the kids fell in love with the cows. The cows were willing to be petted and ate hay from gingerly offered little hands. The magic ended when the smallest child was given a long lick through the face by a doe eyed but raspy tongued cow.  The resulting hysterical wailing and crying shattered the peace and we beat a hasty retreat so as not to disturb the tranquil mood.

Back in Port Chalmers we had the best French Toast ever. A huge cruise ship was docked, dwarfing the town, and the streets were filled with  uniformly dressed passengers enjoying a shore visit in glorious Dunedin summer weather (do the ships distribute shore leave uniforms to passengers, we wondered).

Once we got home, I immediately started making ricotta, mainly because I had no room in the fridge for 20 L of milk.

Sand for Scrubbing Quail Feet

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I prefer to keep my quails on wooden floors, not wire mesh, and I am sure they are happier, healthier and more comfortable that way. I experience far less foot problems with my quails than I have observed on wire mesh at other locations . The problem is that their feet get ‘dirty’ with bits of manure and feed dust sticking to and drying on their toes. Quails love to scratch around and the easy way to solve this problem and keep them happy is to provide sand baths laced with diatomaceous earth in each cage. The  sand must  not cause dust, or be fine enough to clog up the automated water system. After hunting high and low for the correct sand – visiting building suppliers, road builders and driving up and down the coast visiting various beaches, I was fortunate to find a supply close to home – a beach some ten kilometers south of Dunedin. Getting a bucket of the roughest textured sand every few months, I think is OK as I suspect it may not be “legal” to collect and remove sand from NZ  beaches.

Every sand fetching day becomes a picnic day, with the grandchildren, on one of the many fabulous beaches close to our house – provided Otago weather does not get out of hand. Yesterday conditions were perfect for ‘sanding’  as these pictures prove !

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