Homemade Pizzas

We like pizza a lot, in our household. Why buy it when you can make your own, and top with all your favourite extras? :)

PS: For these particular pizzas we made a scone base, mainly because we were hungry and couldn't wait for yeast to rise. Usually, if we are organised and plan ahead, we would use the Edmond's pizza base recipe, which is just as easy but takes a little more time. Well worth the extra preparation, though!

The Backyard Blitz

When we first moved into our house last November, our back porch looked like this:




A beautifully lush, albeit overgrown, view to gaze out upon, however the deck was rather looking rather sad, suffering from years of neglect.

Then arrived a day when Mrs B's Dad and Grandparents came, bringing with them a waterblaster, chainsaw and six helping hands. Mr B tackled the deck while Grandpa and Dad hacked away at our overgrown giant of a plum tree. The ladies flitted about pruning and snipping, tidying and clearing. It was a marvellous day; three generations all working towards the same goal, cooking together, gardening together and fellowshipping.

Then five hours of good ol' fashioned toil later....

...And I had thought the wood was darkened due to age!

So we went from from this...



...to THIS!



Mrs B and Gran cut down all the bamboo that had been growing along the side of the deck and we later pulled down the grotty matchstick blind-type things that were stapled on the side, (they were beyond rescue anyway but we have decided we kind of like the look without them).

We then went out and bought ourselves some Resene 'Natural' waterbased stain... Two weeks and two coats later, we have ourselves a brand spanking new deck! Ain't she gorgeous?


Thanks to Dad, Gran & Grandpa for sharing your expertise and giving this young couple the push we needed :)

Our Far North Road Trip

To commemorate the occasion of two years of marriage we thought that this year we would explore a part of our country we have both never been to. And so the 6 day road trip happened, complete with boutique accommodation at a cute house in Whangaparaoa, toe-digging for cockles in the sand, long drives through the subtropical scenery of Northland, sipping freshly ground coffee on the deck at an impromptu visit to some dear friends, beholding the most stunning sunset at the most northern tip of New Zealand, Cape Reinga, driving around in the dark at 10pm to find a campsite (then setting up camp with a flashlight and a horde of determined mosquitoes , almost getting lost in the giant sand dunes of Te Paki, beautiful white sandy beaches and turquoise waters (sorry this list is getting long but I'm nearing the end, promise!), Indian curries for dinner on New Year's Eve, body surfing at Ocean Beach at Whangarei Heads and a fascinating visit to the National Clock Museum. Okay, enough talk...

Thanks for reading! :)

...And we're back!

Hello blogging world! After a long hiatus of postlessness the urge to return to blogging has been stealthily creeping up on me, not unlike a jaguar silently stalking its prey until WHAMM it pounces on you unawares and it's all you can do not to succumb. Golly how does one even begin to write the elephant that is a year of happenings? We travelled to three countries on three separate occasions, celebrated a Quarter Century and five years together, drove to the northmost point of the country and watched a glorious sunset, bought a wee house in the suburbs and waved goodbye to apartment living (a little reluctantly at first but we are the better for it), and ate a whole lot of pizza. The pizza part happened primarily in the latter months due to our discovery of The Best Pizza In Town but, and this is just between you and me, it is possible we ate a year's worth of pizza over that period, so I think I can justify adding it to the list. Sadly the owner decided to close shop recently (waistlineS, you will thank us llater), so here's to a year of homemade pizzas, attempts to garden, and more frequent posting. Cheers.

Disclaimer: I did not have a crazy moment and cut all my hair off, this day was just ferociously windy so my hair was safely tucked under to avoid spending hours brushing out the knots.  :)