Luxurious lakeside lunching: The Lake House

A stop at this lakeside restaurant, bar and venue is a gateway to experience the best of local produce, wines and hospitality. As the name suggests, The Lake House is appropriately situated right on top of Lake Hood – making it the perfect lakeside lunching spot this summer.     Multiple private dining rooms can […]

Festive feasting

Christmas; it’s almost inextricably connected to food. And, while there will no doubt be the traditional ham, fruitcake and mini mince pies on the table this year, the festive season is also an opportunity to mix things up. We’ve pulled together our favourite ways to do just that.     When it comes to Christmas […]

Perfect panforte recipe

I always don a clean pair of dishwashing gloves to mix this dense festive Italian fruit cake, as it’s very heavy to mix with a spoon and you need to work fast so the toffee mixture doesn’t set before it’s mixed through the fruit and nuts. The recipe scales up easily and you can play […]

Christmas Table

Tableware has been stealing our homeware hearts in 2020, so what better meal to embrace the trend than a Christmas Day feast. Often one of the few meals of the year enjoyed with so many loved ones, Christmas mealtimes embody the beauty of food to bring people together. Enhance that mood with an exquisite tablescape. […]

7 ways to incorporate healthy eating habits into your day to day life

Regularly maintaining healthy eating patterns can often be a challenge, particularly in especially busy times in your life when grabbing a quick tasty snack is just too tempting to resist. If you suspect that you may have given in to this temptation a few times too many recently, there are plenty of ways that you […]

All a pickle: Gordon’s Pickles

Someone once said, “Good pickles are crisp, enduring and devilishly hard to make”. That person clearly had not met the team at Gordon’s Pickles. They are passionate experts on pickles of all shapes and flavours from sliced and whole gherkins with dill or chilli and honey, to traditional pickled onions.   One of the company’s […]

On route: Route 72 Cafe & Emporium

It can only be called a complete experience – not simply a cafe and a store, but a destination with so much variety and pizzazz you need hours to take it all in. Set in the quaint and picturesque village of Cust is Route 72 Cafe & Emporium, a country cafe/ bar and retail outlet. […]

Bright & vibrant in Rangiora: The Station

A curated selection of giftware, clothing and jewellery bring a fresh offering to Rangiora at The Station Café and Shop.   The former train station turned café and beautiful gift store is under the new ownership of Steve and Vivienne King who have lived in and loved the North Canterbury area for two years now. […]

Salad Season

‘tis the season of backyard barbecues and beachside picnics. We’ve pulled together summer’s hottest selection of seasonal salads to make eating well, easy!     RAW BROCCOLI & SMOKED SALMON Packed with all the goodies – including fibre, protein, iron and a bunch of B vitamins – raw broccoli makes the perfect salad. Pair it […]

In season

As the days continue to warm and the sunshine hours increase, summer fruit and vegetables flourish to provide us with deliciously ripened produce for our plates – often ready to just be rinsed and eaten right away.   BETTER FOR YOU Not only does our produce taste better when in season, but the fresher the […]