Summer is a great time to experiment making new salads. You really can’t go wrong – some baby spinach, fresh tomato, avocado, pine nuts and topping of the day! Here is one of the salads I made over the holiday break, mentioned in my Staycation post, which I promised I would post! I hope you enjoy! x

Serves 4 – 6

Preheat oven to 200C

Simply cook a piece of venison roast with some pumpkin and herbs of your choice – for approximately 20 minutes (depending on size of meat and pumpkin pieces).  A great tip when cooking with meat like venison is to rinse off completely before cooking as it helps get rid of the gamey / metallic flavour a lot of people taste. My personal favourite company in New Zealand is Silver Fern Farms – the quality is fantastic!

In a medium sized salad bowl mix together: baby spinach, baby rocket, a handful of pine nuts and sunflower seeds, and fresh basil leaves. Hand mix all the elements together and set aside.

Once the venison and pumpkin are ready and slightly cooled, add to salad bowl and top with crumbled blue cheese. I personally don’t add any dressing as find the venison and blue cheese full of flavour! The salad goes great with homemade crostini or pita chips!

Enjoy! x

To all my readers in the southern hemisphere - Happy Summer everyone! As you may have read from my previous post – the weather here in Auckland has been a bit pants but as of tomorrow we’re supposed to experience sun for a whole week! I’m getting quite excited about the prospect of going to the beach, exploring waterfalls, going on walks – oh the possibilities!

Yesterday we went strawberry picking – my first time berry picking! I had such a blast even though it was a bit drizzly out and we left the fields with 4.2kg worth of delicious, ruby red strawberries! In hindsight that may have been a bit of overkill but we had a blast doing it and now have heaps of berries for our morning smoothies – win win!

So with all this excitement of summer I decided to make this weekly roundup a bright and colourful one! I hope you’re all having a great holiday!

1. Stunning single Marbella Hammock from Citta Design – want.
2. Beautiful packaging done by Curious Design for Phoenix Organic beverages – it just looks so refreshing!
3. I’ll take two margaritas please!
4. Protection from the sun is important down here – this stylish hat is available at Witchery.
5. You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream! This beautifully packaged organic ice cream picked up a silver award at the Best Awards this year.
6. You can’t beat a good beach towel – Country Road has a great range on sale now!

I sure do hope you are all enjoying some delicious sun and enjoying the holidays with those close to you! x

Happy Friday everyone!  What a week, is it just me or did Tuesday feel like Thursday! We’ve been busy this week getting all the stock ready for this Saturday’s Auckland Art and Craft Fair. We’ll be at the Aotea Centre from 11-4 with a table full of your gift wrapping needs and some lovely gifts too! If you’re busy this weekend, we have our last market of the season the following Saturday at the MOAD located in Britomart. Both lineups look amazing full of very talented New Zealand designers!

This week, I’ve decided to put together a wee gift guide for the men in your life.  I hope I’ve found a good mixture for all those men out there in your lives!

Have a great weekend everyone and hope to put some faces to names this Saturday! x

1. How perfect is this beer caddy for Summer?
2. This stunning bag works well for your mans work trips or those romantic weekends away…
3. Using natural ingredients, Ursa Major’s formulations artfully blend nature’s most effective and luxurious ingredients to provide rich textures, robust aromas and unbeatable performance.
4. Have a man who’s environmental conscious? This bike will do the job!
5. And to match the bike rider – a stylish Herschel bag.
6. Every stylish man needs a stylish phone cover!
7. And lastly how delicious does this wool Lumberjack jacket look – yum!

Have you purchased your gifts yet this season? If so we’d love to hear what you’re getting! Ok folks, have a great weekend and chat again next week! x

Spring is in the air, the weather is warmer, the days are longer, and the birds are chirpier!

It also is the perfect time to start planting for the summer to come. As we only have a wee deck with little direct sun (read lots of succulents, ferns, grasses planted) I can only dream of my perfect veggie / fruit garden.  Here are some great ideas of others fantastic gardens.

All images sources can be found here.

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