 Arriving in a new lakefront city at the golden hour makes the photographer in me very happy.🤳🏻      
We woke up in the beautiful New Zealand town of Taupo the next morning and hit the ground running. On our itinerary for the day was a stop at the geothermal heated pools. Something that I had never experienced before and it only moments for me to become a true fan. I'm not sure if it was the warm, mineral rich waters, the gorgeous weather, the beautiful landscape - or a combination of all three - but the experience was incredibly relaxing. A perfect way to spend an afternoon.   Visiting the thermal pool spa gave me the little nudge that I needed to take better care of myself and that includes filling my body with the right foods.🫛🥦🥬🥕🥒🥑 My goal is always to eat more vegetables and whole grains but when life gets busy or stressful, even the best of intentions get pushed aside. Why can't I crave broccoli the same way I crave chocolate?🤣 If only I could predict when life is about to get chaotic - I could have healthy, nutritious meals prepped for myself.😅 Unfortunately, that's not the case so it's quinoa to the rescue. It's something that's always in my pantry because it cooks in under 10 minutes and it's tasty - even my young kids would ate it. I've prepared it all sorts of different ways but this simple quinoa salad with fresh parsley and lemon juice has to be one of my favorites. It's light and fresh and delicious.  Quinoa Salad with Herbs and Parmesan 1 1/4 cups quinoa 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup olive oil 1/4 cup lemon juice + 1 teaspoon lemon zest 1 garlic clove, minced 1 teaspoon pepper 3/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped 6 scallions, sliced thin 1/2 cup shaved parmesan  Bring 2 quarts water to a boil. Add quinoa and 1 T. salt and return to boil. Cook 15-18 minutes. Drain quinoa and spread on baking sheet to cool 20 minutes.  Whisk together oil, lemon zest, juice, garlic, pepper and salt.  Stir in quinoa, parsley, scallions and parmesan. Let sit 10 minutes.  Serve chilled or at room temperature. Ciao!
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 When you travel New Zealand with a kiwi - she will undoubtedly take you to the very best places.🚢🏝️ Places like Waiheke island.       Glorious is the best word that I know to describe this secluded island. It had a bustling little city center but also massive amounts of pristine coastline, olive groves, vineyards and untouched countryside. It truly is a spectacular place.    I'm like a pavlovian dog when it comes to water. Not drinking water - that would be weird - but the minute that I get near any body of water - I start to crave fresh seafood.🐟🍤 It doesn't matter if it's a tiny lake or a massive ocean - if I can see and smell the water - I'm going to be looking for seafood for my next meal. And that was no different on my trip to New Zealand. I ate my weight in seafood while I was there but I came home with an undeniable urge to consume even more.🐠 This is a bit of a problem because I don't live near the ocean or even a lake.😩 I usually have to rely on frozen seafood from the grocery store and the generosity and fishing skills of my soon-to-be son in law for fresh fish. If you're a seafood lover - like myself - I highly recommend that you try my Frutti di Mare. It's a whole lot of seafood and spicy flavor packed into one delicious, pasta filled bowl. I made mine fairly mild but if you like more heat in your food - feel free to kick up the flavor with even more chilies.🌶️  Frutti Di Mare Chili Oil 1/2 cup olive oil 1 Tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes Spicy Tomato sauce 1 pound campari tomatoes, halved 1 Anaheim chili pepper, seeded 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt Seafood Pasta 2 lobster tails 1 pound pasta 8 ounces shrimp 2 shallots, finely chopped 1 garlic clove, minced 1/2 cup white wine 8 ounces clams 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese 2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped 1 Tablespoon butter zest of 2 lemons salt and pepper
 Stir in parsley, lemon zest, butter, salt and pepper. Top with lobster and shrimp and drizzle with remaining chili oil. Ciao!
There were a lot of things that surprised me about New Zealand. I feel like it exceeded my expectations in almost every way. It was more beautiful, tropical, diverse and vibrant that I even imagined. One of the things that surprised me the most was the number of vineyards that we saw on the north island. We didn't have to drive very far out of the city before we were surrounded my olive groves and rows and rows of grape vines.🍇🫒
According to google there are over 98,000 acres of planted vineyards in New Zealand. It's no wonder that I craved wine the entire time I was there.😅🍷 We dropped by several beautiful wineries and even took a guided wine tour - you know, to fully embrace the culture of the country.🤣 It took less than 2 weeks to turn this cabernet lovin girl into a white wine drinker.😅   
 We visited only a tiny portion of the more than 300 amazing vineyards on the north island but I definitely came home with a new appreciation for a bright and zesty Sauvignon Blanc.😅 I can honestly say that I didn't taste a bad glass while I was there. My experience of sampling New Zealand wine was amazing but tasting New Zealand olive oil was equally delicious. I consider myself an olive oil snob and I go to sample all sorts of different olive oil flavors at the Martinborough fair. They were all so good that it was hard to narrow down my favorites that I wanted to bring back home.  I make a lot of sweet biscotti and I recently have started to make some savory varieties. This Olive and Parmesan Biscotti is the perfect crunchy snack to enjoy alongside a nice glass of wine. Unlike my usual chocolate biscotti this is more of a cracker than a cookie. Think salty, cheesy, crispy cracker to enjoy with a nice glass of wine. I have my biscotti pictured here with a glass of Cabernet (because that's what I had open at the time) but these would also be really delicious with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc.😉
Olive and Parmesan Biscotti 1 3/4 cups flour 1 1/4 cups shredded parmigiano Reggiano cheese 1 teaspoon baking powder 2/3 cup pitted Kalamata olives, roughly chopped 3 eggs 1/2 cup whole milk, room temperature 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon oregano 3 sprigs fresh thyme
 Lower oven temperature to 325. Bake 10 minutes on each side.  Ciao!
 Just like Elaine from Seinfeld, I'm a sucker for a big salad.🥗😅 I know it sounds weird but I'll choose a fresh, green salad over a big fat steak every day of the week.🤷🏻♀️ Surely I can't be the only one who get excited about a big bowl of fresh greens loaded with seasonal vegetables, salty nuts and a sprinkling of cheese.😂 I don't even like to mask the flavors in my salad bowl with big, bold, intense dressings like ranch, thousand island or blue cheese. A drizzle of balsamic vinegar or olive oil is all I need. I make a lot of salad so I've developed an appreciation for all the effort that goes into preparing fresh salads. For starters, sourcing fresh lettuce and vegetables can be a real challenge depending on the time of year and region of the world that you live in. 🥕🥬🥦🫛🥒🌽🫑 And I'm certainly guilty of bringing home fresh produce from the grocery store with the best of intentions of adding it into a nice big salad only to find them a week later, unusable in the bottom of the vegetable bin of my refrigerator.😏 And don't even get me started on the military like precision it takes to perfectly time the ripening of an avocado. 😂🥑    Check out the amazing salads that I had while I was in New Zealand! Shoutout to Cathy who made the top 2 and to Karen who made the amazing salad in the last picture. You'll have to take it from me that they were even tastier than they were beautiful.😋 These fresh New Zealand salads gave me some much new inspiration to branch out and get a little more creative with the salads that I make at home. Sometimes I feel like I get stuck in a salad rut and I end up serving the same old go-to salad at every meal. This Little Gem Salad hit all the key elements of a good salad. It was super simple to make, super delicious and looked impressive enough on a plate to serve to guests.😁  Little Gem Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette 1 cup walnut halves 1 Tablespoon olive oil 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 small shallot, minced 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice 1 Tablespoon Lemon vinegar 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil Freshly ground pepper 1 yellow squash, thinly sliced 3 thin red onion slices, separated into rings 4 heads Little Gem lettuce 1/4 cup shaved Parmesan cheese
 Divide lettuce into 4 servings. Top with squash and onion. Sprinkle with cheese and walnuts. Drizzle with dressing.  Ciao!
 If you could plan the perfect day for yourself - what would you do? I would spend the day exploring someplace that I'd never been, stroll through a home and garden tour with friends and then have tea in the middle of the afternoon while sitting outside of the cutest little church in town.😉 I had no idea when I went to New Zealand that this is what my day in Greytown would look like but there I was - living my dream. 😅🏡🌺 ⛪️🫖      On this beautiful day, I had to keep reminding myself that it was the first week of February. I was so inspired by the beautiful gardens that I had to resist the temptation to come home and immediately start planting my spring flowers.😬🌷 It will be a few more weeks until it's warm enough here to start planting flowers. 
   We stopped and visited the sweetest little church on our garden tour and inside, they were serving Devonshire Tea. I had never heard of the term Devonshire tea before this and I had no idea what I'd been missing.😅 Devonshire tea - a traditional British snack comprising freshly baked scones, clotted cream, strawberry jam, and hot tea - google. We were served a scone and jam, a savory (mini bacon quiche), mini sandwiches and tea. We took our delicate china cups and plates outside to beautifully decorated tables that were set up in the church courtyard to enjoy our lunch. I wish that I would have taken a picture but apparently I was too wrapped up in the experience to think about pictures - and hungry.😂 I'm not sure what I enjoyed more the company, the homes, the gardens, the flowers or the tea. It was all amazing. I still have to wait for the weather to warm up a bit here before I can sit outside in my garden and enjoy Devonshire Tea so in the meantime, I'll be over here perfecting my scone recipe so I'm ready.😂 🫖  English Scones 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour ¼ teaspoon salt 3 ½ teaspoons baking powder 3 Tablespoons sugar 6 Tablespoons butter, cold and cut into cubes ¾ cup milk, warm but not hot 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla 1 large egg, beaten for egg wash
 Bake 10-15 minutes.  Adding halved maraschino cherries to the dough before rolling it out was the best decision. These were ahhhh--mazing!  Ciao!
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