Christmas In June @ Auckland

With the cold weather and most of the family around (alas minus Heather and Bryan), it felt like christmas to me. Then, there was this enticing honey glazed slab of ham I could not resist when we visited the local supermarket, The Foodtown.

A very yummy hummus dip for appetizer.

One of my favorite fruits, cherries and grapes for dessert.

Ham accompanied by some pan-fried gourmet potatoes and fresh salad. Soooo good. Merry christmas :p

Pho @ Auckland

Dry pho

Starr and Zoe (starr's cousin from Hanoi) decided to cook pho for this family who is crazy about Vietnamese food (or any food for that matter). They chose not to do the soupy pho as that would be too tedious (utensils and ingredients wise). The dry pho is much easier to do and very refreshing to eat, said Starr. As we have not tasted dry pho before (to me, pho means one thing and one thing only ie gloriously fragranced beef soup), we eagerly and very patiently waited for this dish as each item was prepared and laid on the table.

The two girls were super efficient and I only get to help with crushing the peanuts.

Thinly sliced meat marinaded lightly with chopped garlic, freshly ground black pepper and fish sauce. Stir-fried quickly over high heat to medium rare...yummz.

According to Starr, her grandma's recipe stipulates not less than 300g of beef per person for this dish! There certainly wasn't any objection to that, especially with such wonderful beef here in NZ.

When all the ingredients are ready, each get to concoct his/her own dish to suit one's palate much like the home-made fresh nyonya popiah.

It was a wonderful meal and like Starr promised, it was very refreshing but I am still partial about the steaming hot soupy pho...

Movenpick Ice Cream @ Auckland

After the car-breaking-in episode, we all agreed we needed something sweet to help brighten up the rest of the day and this ice cream paradise was the perfect place.

We went crazy with so many flavors to choose from. Finally we decided on these awesome combination. These were easily one of the creamiest and smoothest ice cream I ever tasted. And the flavors were incredible. See the waffle cones? They were handmade fresh daily. Very tasty and crispy on it's own. I was told that all the ingredients used were natural, no coloring or preservatives.

Most gorgeous pecan pie with a rum n raisin ice cream to die for. My choice and I am still drooling over it. Hot pie with ice cream - my favorite things in life.

Tony's Lord Nelson's @ Auckland

A lovely light, fruity and sweet sparkling wine from Italy set the mood for a wonderful evening.

A must for K and the first for Keshia and Leanne. Keshia didn't take to them but Leanne, like father like daughter, couldn't get enough.

Rib-eye fillet steak.

Fillet mignon with mushroom sauce.

Deep-fried camembert cheese. Very well done with crispy outside and soft oozy inside.

Tony's Lord Nelson's steak house at Victoria Street.

No frills, just simply one of the best meat ever, perfectly done in all our orders. Tender, juicy and full-bodied flavor. K reckoned it is better than Angus Steak House... maybe but I do need to re-sample Angus Steakhouse as it was more than two decades since the last time I ate there and memories are short these days.