Three months in NZ

Three months ago today, we boarded that plane for New Zealand.  My first thought harking back to that day is, thank god we never have to do that again.

Hideous long flights with small children aside, what an amazing, heart-filling, whirlwind three months it's been.  I've already subjected you to a fair bit of NZ-related gushing so don't worry, I'll spare you today.  Suffice it to say, it has been the best thing we've done.

Further to my last post, you'll be relieved to know that I did get my Kathmandu jacket.  I chose the Isograd 3 in 1 and I can confirm that it is indeed toasty warm.  It's not a puffer but a raincoat with a zip-out Polartec inner which can be worn separately on its own (hence the "3 in 1").  As I pointed out to B, I practically made money buying a 3 in 1 jacket.  He remains unconvinced but resigned.

Apropos of not much at all, I dragged down my copy of Donna Hay's No Time To Cook from the shelf and was immediately stumped as to why I haven't been cooking from this book all along.  I think my mum gave it to me many moons ago and I flipped through the pretty pictures, and even turned down a few corners, before never looking at it again.  It's such a great book!  Super quick and simple recipes with minimal ingredients.  All illustrated in that inimitable DH style, before she got a bit too pretentious and obsessed with baking paper.

With a packet of chicken thighs mysteriously included with my click-and-collect grocery order, I settled on the Chinese Chicken Hotpot for dinner the other night.

It really was quick and easy to assemble but once I started cooking I remembered why this book hadn't rocketed to the top of my favourites list.  Donna Hay recipes drive me mad - the instructions are usually woefully short on detail (I don't want a Jamie Oliver-style thesis but generally it's useful to know what temperature to cook things at), and I rarely find that following the method to the letter leads to a successful dish.

And so it was again.  I cooked the hotpot for an extra 10 minutes, because I couldn't see how it could possibly be cooked in the time suggested.  So I doubled the cooking time, and the rice was still a bit underdone and the chicken would not have wanted to be any pinker.

It was definitely tasty.

But, was I transported back 15 years to Ying Chow on a Tuesday night, when a group of us used to descend en masse and order a dozen hotpots for the table?  Well, no.  There is potential, and I've jotted some notes for next time beside the recipe.  All in all, an ok dinner.

And there inconclusively concludes this post.

What do you guys think of Donna Hay?  Is it just me who can never get her recipes to turn out?