My Foodie Bucket List 2016

Gosh it's been forever since I've blogged here and a while since I've blogged over at BusinessChic. Actually that's not quite right- I have been micro-blogging all this time over on my personal Instagram (busichic) and even just joined Snapchat (CherylLRodsted and BusinessChic)! That said I'm feeling ready to start posting here again and to get the ball rolling, I'm going to do as I encourage my Blogging for Beginners students and blog about something I'm passionate about.

And that, dear BusiChic - is food, glorious food!

Here in Auckland, I've connected with a bunch of NZ bloggers who today introduced me to Bunny Eats Design's Foodie Bucket List which has inspired a few of us to create our own. So here is mine!

1. Expand our repertoire of quick-to-make and tasty after-work dinners with leftovers for lunch. #wemadeyum || Marion Grasby's Duck Laab Salad |
2. Pre-make quick and tasty meals to have for lunch at work. I have already pinned a bunch of ideas from Good Food's list of 39 Work Lunches.

   

   2015 attempt at "instant noodles" in a jar. I learnt that boiling water and the old pickle jars I'd hoped to reuse were not a good match. Stay tuned for a more detailed post on "lunch in a jar" in future!

3. Have a meat-free meal at least once a week, if not more.
4. During the summer, make quick, tasty and healthy breakfast smoothies Make some of them green - love this handy Green Smoothies guide by GastronoMel.
5. BBQ with confidence - no more under or overcooking!
6. Host a garden party in our backyard.
7. Make our own cheese. Halloumi, brie, blue, ricotta. Thanks for the reminder from your Foodie Bucket List, The Enthusiastic Cook!
8. Grow our own herbs and veggies Ongoing!
9. Grow zucchini. Make stuffed zucchini flowers using homegrown zucs and ricotta I made myself.
10. Pickle the green tomatoes a la Merryfoot.
11. Get our ferment on - pickles and root vegetables!
12. Fix our compost. It's full but I don't think it's working right!
13. Remember that smashed peas on toast are a refreshing alternative to creamy smashed avo. 
14. Go mushrooming!!! Learn the skills to 'shroom hunt on our own. Make mushroom soup.
15. Pick cherries in the Marlborough. Save enough to make cherry jam.
16. Cook French toast with caramelised banana and berry compote a la Milford Sound Lodge.   Instagrammed!
17. Eat more Bluff oysters when they're in season. Heck learn more about the amazing seafood here in NZ! #onlyinNZ

18. 

    In Maori, "Kai" means food and "koura" means crayfish, so when in Kaikoura you have to try the local crayfish! We enjoyed ours at Nin's Bin which overlooks the ocean.

19. Learn to shuck oysters. Bags of oysters are so cheap here, it'd be fiscally-irresponsible to not try and learn! #onlyinNZ // thanks for the inspiration, Carly @ The Enthusiastic Cook.
20. Make our own pork rillettes like the beauty we had at Cloudy Bay winery over Christmas. How I used the pressure cooker to make pork rillettes in under 2 hours
21. Make Aunt Susan's Orange Syrup Cake. First, find the recipe.
22. Make chowder.
23. Make a pie for dinner.
24. Make Myong-dong-style Kul-guk-su. I got hooked on this when we lived in South Korea- twenty years later I still get cravings for it.
25. Eat at least one bowl of pho (special beef, all of the bits - thanks!) and bahn mi (mixed hams, please!) every time I go to Melbourne. I've not been able to find a decent bowl in Auckland just yet so debating whether I want to learn to make this!
26. Master my favourite Melbourne dishes: recipe for Red Spice Road's Pork Belly with Apple Slaw and Chilli Caramel.
27. Find recipe to make Miss Chu's Prawn and Crab Net Spring Rolls. Obsessed.
28. Make Cumulus Inc's boudin noir OR tuna tartare with peas. I haven't decided which one yet. 
29. Make pizza bases from scratch. Traditional and cauliflower bases.
30. Host a steam boat dinner.
31. Make a tasty dish using our masterstock at least once a month.
32. Try out (at least once) each entry on Metro’s Best Cheaps Eats 2015 in the top 100 within 10 km of my home. Thanks for this one from your Foodie Bucket List, Madicattt!
33. Go to Waiheke Island for an eating and winery visiting trip.



Street style photos I took at Melbourne's 2015 Pinot Palooza! 

34. I'm going to mix in some work goals here because there is cross-over #dreamjob! Learn about Australian and New Zealand wines and try at least one wine from of all of the producers at Game of Rhones and  Pinot Palooza NZ. 
35. Try a new restaurant each time I go back to Melbourne instead of just going back to all of the favourites.

So that's my list! I anticipate I'll be updating it when I've ticked off some of these items or been inspired by others! 

Do you have a Food Bucket List?