Meyer Lemon & Strawberry Ice Cream

As an avid chocoholic I have no idea what came over me when I decided to do a lemon dessert for Valentine's day. Then I saw all the glorious Meyer lemons at Whole Foods and knew they would be perfect. In fact, they are originally a Chinese fruit which made it perfect for Chinese New Year. Not that I had any idea they were Chinese when I got them.

If you've never had a Meyer lemon you are in for a treat. It's sweeter than a regular lemon and thought to be a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange. There is something else in the scent that reminds me of...I can't quite identify it...fresh cut herbs?

On to the ice cream, I searched the internet (how did we survive without google) and just adjusted a few recipes for lemon ice cream. Most of the recipe base came from The Ultimate Ice Cream cookbook by Bruce Weinstein.

Ingredients: 2 large eggs, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup fresh meyer lemon juice, 2 tbs butter, 2 cups of half & half, 1 pint strawberries and 1 tbs sugar.

Note: If you are using regular lemons add an additional 1/4 cup of sugar making it a total of 1 cup of sugar for the custard/curd base.

Combine the eggs, sugar, lemon juice and butter in the top of a double boiler. Place over simmering water and beat with hand mixer (unless you are in for a whisking work out) for about 15 minutes or until the mixture thickens. You are basically going for lemon curd here.

Let the curd cool a bit and then add in your 2 cups of half & half. Lick the spoon. Or at least thats what I did. Cover this with plastic wrap (I put it all the way on top of the custard to keep a skin from forming) and refrigerate overnight or until thoroughly cold.



Thinly slice 1 pint of strawberries (tops removed) and toss with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Let the strawberries macerate for at least 2 hours.

When your custard, your strawberries and your ice cream machine are ready, pour the strawberries and their liquid into the custard base and mix well. Freeze according to your machine instructions.

It will come out frozen but soft. If you like your ice cream firmer than put it in the freezer for a few hours. One of the things I love about this ice cream is that even after being frozen for days its still soft enough to scoop.

Serve as is or garnish with a lemon slice and/or a bit of zest.

This ice cream was a huge hit. B finished half a batch and I took the other half to my parents who also loved it. It's refreshing, creamy and sweet and I can't wait to make more versions of this lemon ice cream.

What is your favorite type of ice cream?

Happy V-day/New Years/Presidents Day!

I hope you all had a fantastic Valentine's day and a happy Chinese new year! Oh and Happy Presidents Day! I'm still recovering from a food coma and a night with very little sleep (darn neighbors and their partying) so todays' post will be a quick one!

As two former restaurant workers B and I spent our first 4 Valentine's days working. Now we really appreciate not being anywhere near a restaurant on Valentine's day.



Although, I've decided that it may be cheaper to go to a fine dining restaurant on V-day than it is to let B loose in Whole Foods. I'm still too full to get into what he brought home.



I made Meyer Lemon & Strawberry ice cream yesterday and the lemons were so huge and juicy that I still have a ton left.

Any meyer lemon recipe suggestions? Or favorite lemon recipes would work and I could just cut back on the sugar. Thanks so much!

How was your weekend?

Fergburger, Queenstown

Let's talk burgers. I think Americans in general have a great love for burgers but I have to say that Fergburger in Queenstown may be one of my favorite burger joints. Don't get me wrong, I will always love In N Out.

But Fergburger is like no other burger place I've been to. Their menu is inspiring and fun...and funny.

I first noticed this place because every single time we walked by the store or even the street you could see a line of people. Thats quite impressive considering they are open 21 hours a day and in an area surrounded by restaurants.




Fergburger uses all local ingredients. The meat comes from Al the butcher and the buns are made specifically for them from a local bakery. The buns are huge.

What I love about this place are the options. The Big Al includes 2 beef patties, bacon, 2 eggs and all the fixin's, including beet which seems common in NZ.

The Little Lamby is a lamb patty with mint jelly, the Sweet Bambi wild venison with a thai plum chutney.



If you like chicken you can choose from a varitey of Cockadoodle burgers. Like fish? Well then you can order The Codfather!

For the very few of my blog readers that are vegetarian (how can you ever stomach my posts? thank you for staying)...The Holier Than Thou. Tempura tofu with spicy satay coconut and corainder sauce.

Don't let the prices throw you off. $12 NZD is about $8 USD and I think these burgers are well worth $8.



This place is a well oiled machine. There was a line out the door and the restaurant was packed. Still all the employees genuinely looked like they were having fun. It works like an assebly line but a few of them seemed to be rotating stations.

Around Fergburger are pictures of the staff and when they worked there. Everyone was young and energetic. You could just tell it was the cool place to work.



They seemed to be very staff focused, which I love. It's evident on the Fergburger website. You must head over there and read the history of Fergburger. Its hilarious and its only a few short paragraphs.

I read some articles on them and found that they had originally been in a tiny hole in the wall place in 2001 with 2 Warehouse stoves (Warehouse is similar to Walmart). They saw a need for some good late night eats and started Fergburger.

"As there was virtually no food back in those days drunk people had begun eating their own clothes and also scraps of firewood left on the road."- from the Fergburger website.



Just look at the size of those patties! Some have bacon, jelly, blue cheese, swiss cheese, brie or edam on them.

Oh and the place was so clean. We sat right on the counter looking into the kitchen. When there was a spill someone came by to clean it up. Things were being wiped down constantly. Not that I'm all that squeamish (as you can see from this Chinese Restaurant) typically but I was really impressed.



This shot is a slightly blurry because I took it as I was spilling one of my patties onto my lap.

I had the Bun Laden with falafel, lemon yoghurt, chipotle chili sauce, cucumber, avocado and the normal lettuce, tomato and green onion. It was amazing. I mean the burger is literally larger than my hand with all my fingers spread. The real treat in this was the chipotle chili sauce and I'll totally be adding that to burgers in the future.

I could barely finish this. I mean, I did, but it was hard.



B had the Fergburger because he really is a burger purist. I know... didn't you totally expect him to get the Sweet Bambi or something? Its just your basic burger. I will say that the meat was very flavorful.

He doesn't even get cheese. I try to ignore this fact. I know we all make poor decisions sometimes and I try to be a forgiving person.

I really want to start experimenting with burger combinations now.

How do you like your burger? Are your favorites homemade or do you have a place you love to get them at?

Kayaking to the Carvings, Taupo

I've always wondered what it would be like to take a leisurely kayaking trip around a lake. So I booked this excursion for our stay in Taupo. I'll still wonder what its like. This short little kayaking experience turned into 3 hours of paddling and a bunch of rough water.

We met up with the guide and another kayaker in the afternoon. The lake looked calm and beautiful (although much larger than I expected).

I was a bit surprised when the guide told us he wasn't sure if we should go out because it looked pretty rough when he had driven by earlier.

He decided that since it was only the 4 of us we would go ahead and try to get to the carvings.

He gave us some lessons in paddling, steering and how to pull ourselves out should we flip.

I started to get nervous. I couldn't stop staring through the water as we got started. I'm actually a very good swimmer (thanks to mom who put me in numerous swimming lessons after a scary experience) but I have a hyper-active imagination and didn't exactly want to be in the water.

Who knows what scary sea creatures are out there! There could be New Zealand fresh water lake sharks!



So we got into our kayaks and we paddled. And we paddled. And we paddled.

My arms started to get tired. And we paddled some more.

And then the guide yelled over to us "We're almost half way there!"

Oh crap. I started giggling. He meant that we were almost half way to the carvings...which is half way thru the kayaking. So really we were only a quarter of the way thru. At this point I'm really wishing I had included some more upper body workouts before NZ.

Then he said "After this bend the hard part starts. Its going to be rough. Keeps your hips loose! People who are stiff get flipped!"



I can't even tell you exactly what it was like. We were so focused on paddling that I didn't have time to be nervous. After we rounded the bend it felt like we were in the middle of the ocean The waves were big enough that we weren't able to see the other kayak when we were in between waves. The waves are coming at us, challenging us to cut into and over them.

Oh but there was a moment that I will never forget. As the wave came towards us B was yelling "paddle, paddle, paddle!" and I was. I was paddling my heart out. We paddled up that wave and for a moment there I was sitting right on top jutting out just slightly. I could see the yellow of the other kayak in front of me but I seemed to be suspended in air above the water. The kayak tilted foward like an amusement park ride and we came crashing down into the dark, choppy water.

It came over me in one cold swoosh...and it was so fresh. I had forgotten I was in a fresh water lake. I gasped and let out a large laugh/sigh/squeal.

"Paddle, paddle, paddle!" Repeat. Up, over, swoosh, up, over, swoosh!

Soon enough we were at our destination. These carvings are only able to be viewed by boat or kayak and were amazing. What you can't see in this picture are all the over incredible carvings. All those black rocks to the left are carved into animals and maori symbols. The rocks surrounding those are as well.

We were actually closer than this but couldn't balance paddling to keep us from getting pushed too close and balancing B's camera.

These were about as good of pictures as we got. As our guide says "It may be water proof but it sure isn't going to float!"



Its amazing how calm the water looks. Right around that corner is the toughest part.

But as you can see, I am genuinely loving this. I'm loving the rush of the water. I'm loving the adrenaline of paddling over the waves. I'm loving the feel of the fresh, cold lake splashing over us.

I might also be smiling because this way we'll be traveling with the waves, not against them.



I realize kayaking is hardly considered an adrenaline-inducing activity compared to other things available...but I'm doing things I never thought I'd do. I'm way out of my normal comfort level.

We stopped here for punch and some homemade sweets. It was a welcome break and I realized how tired I was. I also remembered that we were only half way done.

By the way, thats a little loading dock and there were quite a few families out there enjoying the sun with 3 of the most adorable dogs ever. 2 of the dogs were enjoying a swim and the other one, a pit bull puppy was awkwardly running around the kids.



Once we were back into calm water I pulled out the camera to take some pictures.

Translation: My arms were burning and I needed a rest.



B never stopped paddling and I was really glad that he had experience rafting. I could only imagine what that would've been like with me and...someone else like me in a kayak.

Let alone the steering part.

Does that picture make you feel off balance?

But at the end of the day, it was well worth the effort. Yet another thing I tried and liked.

Have you done any water sports? Kayak? Surf? Ski?

Catching Rainbows

As we made our way to the Milford Sound our coach stopped in this little area off one of the many mountain roads. We walked down this damp path past the sounds of trickling water hidden beneath the brush.

As we got closer the rushing water got louder.

But before I could see the waterfalls, I could see this.



There is something so magical about a rainbow born in a waterfall. It just stayed there for me, posing for my pictures.



"The finest workers in stone are not copper or steel tools, but the gentle touches of air and water working at their leisure with a liberal allowance of time." ~David Henry Thoreau



In this very special place the water has carved the stone into the most amazing shapes. I lean over to catch glimpses of them underneath the walkway.

The rock is smooth and shiny near the water and covered in a vivid green moss near the brush.

Every part of this place feels alive. It feels busy and purposeful. But it also feels constant and timeless.



"The true harvest of my life is intangible- a little star dust caught, a portion of the rainbow I have clutched" -David Henry Thoreau

As we explored this little piece of paradise I couldn't help but hum "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"

Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high,
There's a land that I've heard of
Once in a lullaby.



Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue,
And the dreams that you dare to dream

Really do come true.

And there we stood,

somewhere over the rainbow.

And the song...

well, the song was right.

Tatsumi Japanese Kitchen, Christchurch

One of the things that draws me to traveling is the ability to try new things. That means being drawn to restaurants and activities that aren't available at home. But B and I also like to try things that are similar and see if there are any differences.

For instance McDonald's. No, we did not eat there but I always check out the menu to see if there is anything that McD's has in NZ that they don't have in CA. The answer is Tandoori Chicken Wrap among other things.

When we were having a extraordinary dinner at Le Pot Au Feu we told Chef Bono we had originally been looking for sushi. She immediately told us about Tatsumi.

I really suggest listening to the locals when it comes to food choices. This is especially true when you know you share similar food interests.

After taking our order and removing our very pretty menus, our server set us up for dinner.

Now originally she put everything down so that it was exactly symetrical. However, B seems to like driving me slightly crazy and knew I wouldn't notice until later that he had moved things around. Such a butthead.

I just love the plates and bowls they serve their dishes in.

*Important note* What we eat is not necessarily representative of the offerings of a typical sushi restaurant. Do not let it hinder you from trying Japanese food. They offer plenty of cooked/not scary/not slimy/ recognizable foods.

Can you guess whats in the bowl?

Tako-wasa. This is raw octopus soaked in a wasabi sauce. The unusual part of this dish (and the reason we ordered it) is that the octopus is raw. Typically the octopus you get at sushi restaurants are boiled. The green is some kind of pickled pepper.

B adored this dish. Honestly, B likes slimy foods. Like really slimy. Like snot slimy.

I do not. The sauce on this was incredible. It wasn't overly spicy and had a hint of acid. I had a bit of this but not too much.

Omakase appetizer. Basically Omakase is the chef's selection. We chose the 6 item omakase and received a variety of appetizers to try.

I wish all restaurants would do this so I never had to make a decision on what to get.

On the left have Beef Tataki with ponzu gelee. When you order tataki it will be raw in the middle and seared on the outside. Those little reddish-brown squares are the gelee.

It is exactly what it looks and sounds like. Its a gelatin. This particular gelee is ponzu (a citrus, soy sauce more or less). Are you still with me?

Gelee's are fantastic because its a way to introduce a "sauce" without having something running all over the plate. In this case, with each bit of beef you got a punch of the ponzu as it melted in your mouth. Just remembering the intense flavor that coated my tongue makes my mouth water.

In the middle is Kimpira, sauteed and steamed lotus root. It had a slight crunch to it and I ate the entire bowl before B had a chance to get back to it.

On the right was the salmon with salmon roe. It was only fair that B ate all of this portion.

We'll get back to the dish on the left next as we ordered it separately.

In the middle we have a seared venison with just the smallest amount of blue cheese. This was fantastic, just the prefect balance of flavor. On the far right is their version of the chinese chicken salad. Its nothing unusual but it was really nice.

I regret to inform you that I cannot for the life of me remember what the name of this fish was. Its local and it starts with a K.

Anyone? Well, whatever it is, its pretty. And its so tasty too!

For some reason when I tasted this on the Omakase I didn't like it. But it was so pretty when it came out the second time I decided to give it another try.

Fanned out are very thin slices of the fish, on the outside the spring onion, then various cooked cold diced bell pepper, toasted sesame seeds, some unknown crunchiness and a little salad in the center.

You just roll up a piece of the fish with all the yummy goodness in the center and pop it in your mouth!





This rice bowl is topped with pork belly, spring onions, ginger and mayo. Its actually Kewpie mayo which is a smoother creamier Japanese version. They use rice vinegar instead of distilled vinegar which gives it a different flavor as well.





Here is a shot of just the pork belly so you have a better visual. If you like pork you must try pork belly. You aren't getting stomach so don't let the name scare you.






Classic tempura vegetables (and shrimp) and their dipping sauce was so good! My favorites are always the sweet potato and yams.






This was all B although I really like the concept. On the bottom is basically hash browns and on the top is cheese. Both sides are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Whats not to love? The layer of smelt egg. It was just a little too much for me but B devoured it.

Toasted Black Sesame Creme Brulee.






If you've never had a black sesame dessert and you come across the opportunity please try it. I got addicted to it years ago when a pastry chef friend of ours made black sesame ice cream.

When ground together and added to something sweet you get a fantastically creamy nutty flavor. Its always makes me think of peanut butter. Its unique but not unfamiliar which is exactly what you want when you are venturing outside your comfort zone to experiment.

Tell me, what are your thoughts on sushi? Terrifying? Delicious?