4th of July

This year was the third 4th of July I have spent in New Zealand. I decided that since I miss the festivities in America, I would create my own celebration.
Given that we are in the middle of winter, and there were no fireworks, it did not feel quite the same, but we had fun nonetheless. If nothing else, it was a fun excuse to make up an cook a delicious menu, have friends over, and enjoy a night listening to American music and eating way more than we should.

Thanks to the wonders of the worldwideweb, we were able to listen to some baseball games while finishing dinner preparations and decorating the house in red, white, and blue. There were 3 Americans present, so once the kiwis arrived (and one British friend), we enjoyed discussing differences in traditions and fun facts, as well as quizzing each other with the assistance of a handy-dandy book I picked up at an airport with things that every American should know. I was relieved to discover that I do in fact know a good bit of what is included in that book.

I went back and forth for quite some time on what to actually cook, but in the end decided on what seemed to be a few classics, but still reasonably easy to find everything I'd need given the season (winter) and unavailability of occasional ingredients.

Baked beans, pulled pork and chicken wings :)

Deviled eggs, potato salad, cole slaw, New York style pizza (first for me, esp at a 4th of July party).
Plus Pound cake, apple pie, brownies and chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

Because you just need balloons and streamers for the 4th of July :)

Fun Moments

I'm enjoying a laid-back Sunday afternoon after a morning of yard-work and thought I would share with you some things that have made me smile lately.

A while back I was out on the coastal walkway enjoying the sunshine when a group of bikers went past. This is a pretty common occurrence on the walkway, especially on warm days, but this particular group was one that I had not seen before. The group was made up of ladies from a wide age range, and all were dressed in dresses and sun hats decorated with flowers.

A cat named Mittens has adopted my building at work. While his family is away during the day he comes over and sits by the door meowing until someone lets him in. He picks a chair for the day and makes himself right at home. I was the chosen one a couple of weeks ago :)

I was at a store the other day and found American marshmallows. Marshmallows here tend to be small and either vanilla or strawberry flavored, which can be delicious but not what I hope for when making s'mores. So I was delighted when I found these, although they were bigger than what I normally buy!

I had to run an errand at lunchtime last week and when I got back to work, got to enjoy a beautiful double rainbow.

Winter is here which means cold damp windy days, but when the sun comes out and we get to see the snow-covered mountain, suddenly winter is not so bad.