A few of our favourite things...

Becs: I recently had the pleasure of helping out with the Taste Farmers Market New Zealand Awards. Judges (pictured from L to R) Al Brown, Brett McGregor, Zo Zhou, Jonny Schwass, Suzanne Dale and Chris Fortune deliberated over more than 100 beautiful products from small NZ producers who sell at farmers markets around the country. It was a dream of a day; unpacking the courier parcels containing all the award entries was my idea of Christmas, as was tasting everything from buffalo yoghurt to homemade walnut baklava (in between jotting down the judges thoughts of course!) For a sneak peek at some of the highlights do have a look at Zo's blog, where she gives an excellent run-down.

Miriam: On Sunday Lewi and I went out to Huia in the Waitakeres. It was a beautiful sunny morning and after a couple of hours of walks, we stopped in for lunch at the Huia Beach Store & Cafe. We enjoyed an old school thick shake and a cheese & pineapple toasted sandwich. Although the thick shake was $7, and the toasted sandwich was so crunchy with butter it undid all the good of our walk, it was such a blast from the past and the perfect setting to enjoy these treats.

A few of our favourite things...

Daisy enjoyed opening a parcel Aunty Libby sent via Royal Mail from London last week, which included this super cute Emma Bridgewater 'Polka Dot' melamine tea set. Admittedly the tissue paper intrigued her more than the actual tea set, but I am sure it will cater for many a tea party in years to come.

Becs: Perhaps needless to say my favourite thing this week would be our solid oak dining table, under which a large proportion of early Saturday morning was spent huddling, after the terrifying 7.1 earthquake that struck Christchurch. Non-quake-related, I am going through a nostalgic phase of using our old school toasted sandwich maker in lieu of the sandwich press that is more fashionable these days for making posher grilled sandwiches. Although a tendency to overfill can make clean-up a bit messy to say the least, I think the hassle is worth it.

Miriam: When I moved up from Wellington earlier this year, I packed a box full of IRD info, bank statements, insurance policies and general stuff I couldn't face dealing with and labelled it 'admin'. The admin box stayed sealed and tucked out of sight until a few days ago, when I had to face the dreaded task of completing my overdue tax return. What a lovely surprise when in amongst the dreary statements I discovered my old moleskin notebooks from my OE a few years back. I have delighted in reminiscing of my wee adventures around Europe. I was also pleased that one of the notebooks has hardly been written in, so I shall pop it in my handbag ready to record little tid-bits.

Libby: I have had many many favourite things in Paris this week - fresh baguettes from the boulangerie on the corner, breakfast pastries from Ble Sucre, macarons from Pierre Hermes and salted butter caramel ice cream from Berthillon... but this little tarte citron from Angelina stands out. Angelina is a delightful little tea house on Rue de Rivoli. It would have been lovely to have been seated and enjoyed the moment a little more but were weren't quite ready for afternoon tea so decided to choose a wee treat to take home and enjoy later on.