Category: New Zealand Recipes
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Honeycrunch
It’s not a party if there’s no honeycrunch! When I was growing up in the seventies in New Zealand, Rice Krispies seemed to be one foodstuff that every family had in their kitchen. Whenever a kid had a birthday party, along with little red “cheerio” sausages on sticks and Bluebird chips, there would…
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Chocolate Crackles
Chocolate Crackles: essential New Zealand party food When I was growing up in New Zealand in the Seventies, every single birthday party I went to would have a plate of chocolate crackles sitting proudly on the party food table, just waiting to be gobbled by sugar-frenzied, over-excited herds of children. The Seventies seem to…
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Hokey Pokey: New Zealand’s Best Kept Secret
Candy surprise from Down-Under I had forgotten all about hokey pokey until recently when we went down to visit my family in New Zealand. Suddenly I saw it everywhere: in ice-cream, in biscuits, in chocolate and even by itself. It’s New Zealand’s best kept secret (or maybe second best, after the fact that…
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Chocolate Afghan Cookies
A Special Cookie From New Zealand This cookie is for some reason called an Afghan cookie, although it is not from Afghanistan, and is not made by an Afghan dog. Afghan cookies are a specialty from New Zealand and are one of those sweet treats that you find in just about every cafe…
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Yoyo Biscuits, Escalator Rides, And The “Two Things” Rule
The excitement of going to town when I was a kid When I was a kid growing up on a farm in New Zealand, we used to get to visit “The Town” a handful of times a year. It was always a very exciting trip. We would get dressed in our best clothes,…
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Mothballs: A Sweet Treat From New Zealand
Don’t be deceived by the unappetizing name Since the holidays season is here, over the next few weeks on Italian Kiwi, I’m going to be sharing recipes for sweet treats and cookies that you can make for this time of the year. Christmas is a great excuse to load yourself up with sugar.…
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Mrs Rawnsley’s Sponge Cake
Discovering history through an old recipe book Who is Mrs Rawnsley? Where did she get this recipe for sponge cake from? Did she make it up herself? Did she get it from a friend or a neighbour? These are questions that I’d love to have the answer to, but unless one of Mrs…
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Rosemary Leg of Lamb with Baked Tomatoes
Making the perfect roast leg of lamb Easter has been and gone, but roast leg of lamb is not just destined for that long weekend! This roasted lamb leg was what I actually cooked for my Italian side of the family on Easter Sunday. Now, it’s not because we actually celebrate any kind…
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Hot Cross Buns For Easter
Hot cross buns, chocolate eating, and musings about the Easter Bunny Easter is nearly here. I can hear the hoppity-hop of little bunny paws as they stuff their baskets with Easter eggs…..well, there must be more than one Easter Bunny, right? Otherwise how would he get the Easter eggs to all the kids…
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Emma’s Date Scones
A short introduction I’m back! I’m sorry I’ve been away for so long, but the Summer got a little bit crazy! I had lots of fun in Italy in the Dolomiti mountains, which I’ll be writing about in the coming weeks, but for now, I wanted to start off the “beginning of the year”…
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Elsie’s Fingers (Sugar-Rolled Biscuits)
Bringing back a traditional NZ cookie These biscuits from New Zealand, called Elsie’s Fingers, are a very old (as far as history goes for New Zealand!) cookie that was an integral part of the childhood of anyone born before the 80’s. I remember often snacking on Elsie’s Fingers for afternoon tea when I…
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Ginger Slice from New Zealand
A classic square from the annuals of my childhood cookbook I’m back from New Zealand and, after a week of sleepless nights, finally over the jet-lag! While I was there, my mother made ginger slice, which whisked me back to my childhood faster than that Back to the Future dude went all over…
