a few of our favourite things

Libby: It might officially be autumn but I've been enjoying the last of summer's sweet corn this week. I love it sliced so the kernels stay together and added to colourful salads like this one. The trick to getting the kernels to stay together (so it doesn't look like to tipped the corn out of a can) is to lie the cob on its side and using a large knife slice closely, but not too closely, to the cob. You want the "root" of the kernel to stay on the cob.

Miriam: On a trip to Sabato recently, I sampled these Pinoli pine nuts. Wow. So big, fresh and tasty, and none of that nasty papery end (I'm sure there's a name for it) that the supermarket pine nuts often have. I felt compelled to buy some. Sadly, at $10 for a 70g packet, these will not become an everyday item, but definitively worth it for a special meal.

Becs: Fresh figs are here! I bought a couple last week for $3 each, they were enormous, perfectly ripe and pinkly sweet inside. They went on top of a pita-based pizza with caramelised onions, blue cheese and a balsamic dressed salad with toasted walnuts.

A few of our favourite things...

Libby: I use cheapie olive or rice bran oil for roasting and frying but like to have some good olive oil in the cupboard for salads and pasta. My favourite is the Barnea extra virgin olive oil from The Village Press as its reasonably priced (for NZ EVO) and always lovely and fresh. I've been buying it in 500ml bottles for awhile but decided to invest in a two litre cask while on a shopping trip at Moore Wilson. It has a handy little tap to make transferring to a more sensible-sized bottle a breeze and the cask-style packaging protects the oil from its biggest enemy: light.

Miriam: I am a big fan of devils on horseback - prunes wrapped in bacon. We enjoyed these ones with bubbles watching the royal wedding on Friday night. We also had what I call angels on horseback - banana wrapped in bacon, which are also a great combination. Devils & angels on horseback are so moreish!

Becs: These beautifully ripe figs were purchased for 50c each from an enterprising wee girl who had set up shop outside her front gate. I really wish I'd had my camera at the time to capture her signage (mmmm figs, yummy! delicious!) in all its handmade glory. I love seeing kids doing things like this, and can remember from when I was a child how exciting it was when a (genuine, non-related) customer came along. We ate one box of them cut up into quarters and baked on a pizza with onion jam, blue cheese and hazelnuts; the others I think I will drizzle with honey and roast for pudding.