A relaxing dip with SandDollar Swim at the Polynesian Spa

We recently spent a family weekend in Rotorua - the adventure capital of the north. Having now had the opportunity to explore the area in more detail we reckon it's as epic as Queenstown is - just without all the snow capped mountains around.

There's so much to see and do here that it's definitely hard to only spend the weekend here. I took advantage of the great weather to get out for sunrise and sunset every day but wow it was cold. Each morning the temperatures were hovering around zero and it was either frosty, foggy or both.

After one particularly epic morning out snapping shots I came home frozen to the bone but knew I had a relaxing and warming session at the Polynesian Spa to warm up with the family.

Earlier in the week, we'd received a new pair of swim shorts for the boys from Sanddollar Swim and they were eager to get them on and get going in the pool - no matter that it was only about 5 degrees outside, the 3 family pools were heated to 33, 37 and 40 degrees so there was no risk of getting chilled. I'm sure you can guess which pool I spent the most time in!

The boys on the other hand spent most of their time in and out of the cooler pool just because it had a mini slide...boys will be boys!

What I love about putting my boys in Sanddollar swimwear is that every item in their range has sun protection to UPF50 which complies with our stringent NZ and Australian standards - not that we needed it in mid winter in a thermal pool but we definitely will appreciate it when our harsh NZ summers roll around.

I also liked that the shorts have a liner inside - I can't tell you how many board and swim shorts are out there that just don't come with them? I've found out that hard way the importance of a good lined pair of swim shorts -  my older boy has a tendency to get chafe from running around on the beach all day in wet swim shorts and a liner definitely prevents this from happening.

As cool as the boys shorts look and the rest of the boys Sanddollar Swim range online, for a little moment I half wished I had girls in the house too because their girls range of swimsuits are so fashionable - and for that matter I found myself wishing they came in adult sizes too.

I was in no hurry to get out of this rather relaxing and warm sojourn and I think the boys would happily have stayed all day but we were turning wrinklier than prunes and other adventures were calling us as they do!

A Home made of Happiness {review of Chelsea Winter's new recipe book}

When I heard that Chelsea Winter had a new recipe book coming out called Homemade Happiness, my heart did a little happy dance. We are already big fans of her previous book Everyday Delicious and so I had high hopes for the new book too. I think the thing I love most about her books is that the recipes are all easy to make and we often find we have all (or most) of the ingredients we need already in the house. In my opinion, there's nothing more frustrating for a parent-chef than a fiddly recipe which a) takes ages to prepare and b) has ingredients in it that I've never heard of.

Despite my excitement it was a longer wait than I'd have liked before it actually arrived... which was entirely my fault for forgetting to change my address on the courier package. But as soon as it did arrive, I found myself entirely distracted from all the things I should have been doing at that moment, and I couldn't but help sit down and thumb through each page - making a mental note of each one that appealed, which let's face it was pretty much every single recipe in there!

After a flying visit to New Plymouth to visit my gran last Saturday for her 90th! birthday, we arrived back to empty cupboards and a dire need to visit the supermarket before any cooking of any kind could be contemplated. Normally we do our shop online on a week night but it was quite nice to sit down with an old school pencil and paper and add in a few extra ingredients for the recipes we'd earmarked to make.

While I was out doing the shopping, Mark couldn't bear to wait and got cracking starting the Sausage and Leek Frittata we had decided on for lunch, and I was then given strict instructions not to take too long with the shopping as the leek and eggs in my shopping trolley were all important ingredients to be able to complete our lunch menu.

After such a full-on day before, it was rather lovely to have a sit-down lunch and Mark and I both commented how we would pay good money in a cafe for such a nice-looking (and tasting!) frittata.

With no rest for the wicked, we made the most of a rare rainy day and also cooked the Kiwi Shepherd's Pie recipe for dinner. It's a 'Kiwi' version due to the fact it has lamb inside and kumara on top rather than potato. It may have been more appropriate to use a purple kumara as it's more like a potato but we are especially fond of orange kumara so went with that instead. Mark had cooked a combination of lamb shanks and lamb chops in the slow cooker all day so the meat was super moist and just fell apart before it even got baked in the pie. It was such a warming, hearty dish and the cheesy topping really added to the flavour.

Weeknights for us are a bit of a mission, we have activities on with the kids most nights around dinnertime so spending a lot of time in the kitchen preparing tasty family dinners is a big ask. But one of the things I do love about Chelsea Winter's recipes is that none of them involve hours slaving in the kitchen. So for our Monday night meal we'd decided on Sneaky Rissoles with Potato and Leek Smash. Mark prepared the rissole mixture in the morning and stored it in the fridge all day, as well as cutting up the leek and potato for me so that all I had to do was cook the rissoles and leek/potatoes and we were good to go. We also added some sauteed asparagus and green beans (can't get enough greens into the kids!) but the sneaky rissoles also had grated courgette and beetroot in too so they got way more vege that night than they even realised - ha ha!

Tuesday night was no less busy with swimming lessons and Pilates smack bang after each other, so with Moroccan Chicken and Apricot Salad on the menu Mark was able to prepare the chicken marinade in the morning, cook up the apricot mixture and also made the dressing too. It meant that all I had to do in the afternoon was cook the couscous for the boys / cauliflower rice for me and then BBQ the chicken on the Weber in the short window between arriving home from swimming and dashing out to Pilates when I left Mark in charge to plate it all up. So in the end, I had to wait an extra hour to eat which was nothing short of torture when I saw it all going on the plate. Fast forward an hour, and I raced in the door - I could hardly wait to sit down. If you ask hubby (he will attest that this is no lie), he'll tell you I raved and raved and raved some more about this as I was eating it. I do eat a lot of salads so I like to think I can tell a bad salad from a good salad and a good salad from a phenomenal one. And THIS salad is most definitely in the latter category. In fact I made a very big call and said this could quite possibly be my new favourite Chelsea Winter recipe. I cannot wait to make this one again.....and soon.

Last but not least, I wanted to make the boys a healthy treat for the week. Mark is still sugar-free (6 weeks and counting!) and we are trying to limit how much sugar the boys are having too so the Crispy Apricot and Chocolate Muesli Bars appealed as they only had honey to sweeten and we switched out the dark chocolate for 3 tablespoons of cocoa and voila! a tasty treat that will last all week (it made about 20 slices). I especially loved Chelsea's stroke of genius to include rice bubbles in the muesli bars for some extra crunch. So not only do I have happy boys enjoying a great refined sugar-free energy boost - which was very important with athletics day falling this week at school, but there will still be enough left for me to take along to the Year 1 and 2 school sleepover on Thursday night as well - yes I am that silly mum who volunteered to sleep with 30 other children on a week night - what was I thinking?!

I think I'll need a quiet weekend after that - and if I have anything to do with it that will also include more time in my happy place - at home in the kitchen with some more new Homemade Happiness recipes.

Homemade Happiness is published by Penguin Random House and is available from all major booksellers in NZ.

RRP: $50.00

I was provided a copy of Homemade Happiness in exchange for my review. I am not being compensated in any other way. 

Night at the Museum Hotel: the most unique and decadent experience in Wellington

When I started working alongside a friendly Englishman at the Museum Hotel back in February 1998, I could never have imagined that the sliding doors of fate would open and entwine our stories together and that some 17 years later we would be staying our final night in the city we loved at the very same place that brought us together in the beginning.

What a fitting end to a most incredible journey. One that led us right to the other side of the world and then brought us back again to live in the wonderful city we called home for the past 13 years.

Having been a part of the early days of the hotel as we were working in front office reception, we had caught glimpses of the vision Chris Parkin (the owner) had for the hotel, and over the past 17 years, the hotel has been transformed into a world-class unique dining and accommodation experience. It's hard to believe the hotel started life on the other side of the road where Te Papa now is before the grand plan to move the whole hotel on wheels across the road gave it a new life in a new location.

Only a few weeks before  our night here, we had treated ourselves to the most divine dinner at Hippopotamus which was in itself worth raving about and I did just that right here! This time though, a night in the Museum Hotel apartments awaited us - a luxurious treat after a day spent cleaning the house from top to bottom.

The first thing that greeted us as we walked in the room was this funky coffee machine - hello green goddess! And whilst we didn't end up making a coffee in the end, just having it on tap was a big tick!

And that bath. Oh my word.

I can confirm that this is most definitely a 2-person bath - and that's something we have not done in years - if ever!

Oh super comfy king bed - where have you been all my life?!

The apartment was so well appointed and roomy with it's own kitchen and living room separate to the bedroom.

And just when we thought our night couldn't get any better - this then arrived to our room compliments of the hotel, so we toasted our thirteen years of love and life in this city in style.

And have you ever seen a pillow menu before? Um....hello most decadent luxury!

After walking through town to enjoy one last meal out at the Matterhorn (another favourite spot of ours in Welly) we slept the deep sleep of the completely exhausted in the world's most comfortable bed.

The next morning we had a very long journey ahead of us - seven hours relocating the rest of our belongings that hadn't made it into the removal truck as well as our precious Murphster. So indulging in the breakfast at Hippopotamus watching the sun rise over the city one last time was really the only way to start the day.

There was time for one last selfie with the Museum hotel VW and then we were reluctantly on the road.

Whether you're celebrating a special moment in your life or you just need a night of pampering, you really can't look past the Museum Hotel for an incredible and unique experience, I'd go so far as to say you couldn't find a lovelier night in Wellington.

A big thank you to the Museum Hotel for the complimentary room night and the bottle of bubbly - we couldn't have asked for a more amazing farewell to our glorious city.

Back to where it all began....

Seventeen years ago, two bright eyed and bushy tailed young kids met and fell in love whilst working at The Museum Hotel - you can read the whole story in the posts called 'The Original MNM's - how it all began'. It was my first job out of university after finishing my Japanese degree, and Mark's 'year-out' getting some practical experience whilst studying for his travel management degree at the University of Brighton.

We worked not even six months together in the end before Mark's time was up and he had to head back to the UK. It was at this point that we both realised that we had fallen for each other big time and that despite the fact a long distance relationship was a big ask, we were prepared to give it a go.

So when we thought about a last hurrah couples night out in Wellington, we could think of no more fitting place to go than Hippopotamus - the acclaimed restaurant that is now part of the Museum Hotel.

We knew the owner Chris Parkin well back in the day when working there, and even back then he had grand visions for what he wanted the hotel to become. Although it took some years to get there, I'd say looking around he has more than achieved that dream now.

The hotel is sumptuous and eclectic, sprinkled with very unique works of art all around the lobby and throughout the hotel. Hippopotamus has been a Cuisine magazine finalist of the year and with their experienced French chef and attentive waiting staff, it is certainly a cut above the rest in terms of even some of the nicer restaurants in Wellington.

We had thought of doing the degustation menu but with Mark not a big fan of seafood and my tummy doing who knows what?! we thought it might be safer to eat off the a-la-carte menu.

From the moment we arrived, we felt as if we were the most important people in the place. With super attentive waiting staff who explained everything to us and also brought out some superb complimentary aperitif choices to clean the palate in between our courses.

So without further ado, let me introduce you to the most delectable food we have ever set our eyes and bellies on.

My starter:

Beetroot cured Atlantic pickled scallop's, wasabi caviar, lemon snow and butter milk gel

Mark's starter:

Duck liver parfait with caramelised onion sablé, baby poached pear, duck ham, mulled wine 

My main (an adventurous choice but it all tasted A.M.A.Z.I.N.G: 

Deboned rack of lamb, confit lamb neck, sautéed sweetbread, tempura brain, Berbere flavoured labneh yoghurt and harissa sauce

Mark's main:

Silver Fern Reserve eye fillet, beef cheek cannelloni, garlic cream, glazed short rib, sautéed bone marrow and cèpes jus with truffled creamed potato

 My dessert (even that striped disc was made of edible chocolate!)

Kalamansi and vanilla mousse, raspberry and dark chocolate crémeux, raspberry sorbet and coulis

Mark's dessert (the most spectacular specimen of a creme brûlée)

Crème brûlée served with rhubarb financier and lime sorbet

It was a super special night out. I almost can't believe we've never been here before but in some ways I'm glad we saved the best till last. It's an occasion that will linger on in our memories long past the moment when we no longer call this fabulous city home.

Anything 'but' a happy valley....

How many of you were kept riveted and on the edge of your seats by the Happy Valley drama that was on TVNZ last year? Did you even watch it? Shame on you if you haven't! We missed it at the time but sat down and watched the whole series (only six hour-long episodes) recently.

We've also watched The Missing and Broadchurch (Season 2) recently but I really felt like Happy Valley was in a league of its own for intensity of drama, gripping story line and outstanding acting.

You might first have to get past the fact the main actor policewoman Catherine Cawood from the depths of the drug-ridden Yorkshire valleys (played by Sarah Lancashire) might well be familiar to you as a bar maid in Coro Street in a previous life that is. Her acting is truly sensational in this show, I promise you!

In my humble opinion it had a lot of parallels with Breaking Bad in its intensity, but unlike Breaking Bad which if you stayed the distance there were 5 seasons of anywhere up to 13 episodes per season to get through, this is just a mere six episodes to taunt you, and terrify you with the story line that unfolds.

The villains seem almost decidedly normal to begin with, especially the hard-done-by middle aged accountant who sets in motion a chain of events that he couldn't have even begun to imagine, but as the story unfolds it becomes clear that the main protagonist is deceptively dangerous and cruel beyond belief, whilst Catherine cast as the policewoman who little-by-little uncovers the plot, is herself from an incredibly dysfunctional family history that is unwittingly linked with her main target which makes for riveting if not somewhat harrowing watching at times.

I was literally on the edge of my seat throughout episodes 3 and 4 and both Mark and I actually found it difficult to get to sleep the night we finished watching episode 4 the adrenalin was coursing through our veins so much! To me that is the sign of a great show - although perhaps we should have finished watching it a couple of hours before trying to sleep!

Did you watch it when it aired on TV? If so, what did you think? If not, have I convinced you to watch it now?!

Finally a funky place for little guys...Welcome to The Boy's Store...

It's a big week all round this week people!

Not only have I just launched my new photography website Meghan Maloney Photography but I've also been helping my oldest, dearest friend in the world (we've been friends since about age 11 so you do the math!) who has just launched an awesome new online store called The Boy's Store this week too.

The Boy's Store has been created as a unique online store to celebrate boys being boys in all their loud and messy glory.  And guess what - I'm lucky enough to be involved as key content writer for the site - making good use of all those years of blogging!

Here's a little taster of our dream for The Boy's Store:

No longer do you have to search all over the Internet to find quality, affordable and cool gear for your exuberant bundles of boy energy. We've been frustrated in the past that a space like this didn't exist anywhere online so we decided we would just go ahead and build it for you. 

We’re also here to put the ‘cool’ back into being a boy. To give your wee buddy the opportunity to grow an imagination beyond his wildest dreams doing the things that boys love to do best, and of course it can’t hurt to look pretty darn cool while doing it too right?! 

We don't want you to think for a moment that we are just an online store though. Of course we plan to be your one-stop-shop for all the little dudes in your life, offering the ultimate in cool and funky alongside functional and quality products and all at reasonable prices. But more than that we want to go on this journey of learning about boys with you, to partner with you and build a community who just want to bring out the best in their boys and to give you all the tools and advice you've been searching for. And even better it’ll be all in one place right here. So we're more than a little bit excited about the opportunity to share this with you too. 

The Boy's Store plans to be to boys what The Sleep Store has been for sleep - i.e.  a one-stop shop with quality, affordable and cool gear for little guys, with plenty of great articles and ideas for parenting your little dudes along the way.

If you know some awesome little buddies whether they're your own or they belong to someone near and dear to you, The Boy's Store is the place to go for inspiration.

So head on over and check out the awesome-ness that is The Boy's Store!

Every day IS delicious {review of Chelsea Winter's new recipe book}

I honestly felt like I had been waiting for months for this book to arrive in the mail, I was looking forward to it that much. And wouldn't you know but it turned up the day before we went on holiday for a week, so it meant we had to wait even LONGER before we could road test any of the recipes.

We arrived back from holiday to an empty fridge and cupboards, but before we even headed out to the supermarket we found ourselves flicking through the pages of Everyday Delicious in search of an easy and tasty dinner that would make a nice change after a week of both eating out and being completely sick of the sight of BBQ sausages and salad (which was our go-to meal in on the nights we didn't eat out - a meal our fussy meat eater wouldn't complain about).

I have to say there's nothing sweeter than opening a cookbook to find you have pretty much everything you need for a recipe already in the house - it frustrates me no end to salivate over a dish only to find you're missing half the ingredients and can't make it without a special trip out to get them!

And so in the space of twenty four hours of being home, we'd already made three recipes from Everyday Delicious - the Easy Indian Chicken Curry for dinner, Gooey Little Chocolate Puddings for dessert and Banana Bran Muffins to stock up on home baking for the boys heading back at school this week. And the verdict?

The Easy Indian Chicken Curry was sensational - Mark loved the fact he didn't have to make a paste first, all the spices just cooked in with the dish. We used chicken drumstick meat rather than thighs but otherwise followed the recipe to the letter. And our very fussy chicken eater in the household did not even MENTION the fact there was any chicken in it, downing mouthful after mouthful without a murmur. This alone is a bit of a freaking miracle, but in fact we ALL declared it a winner winner chicken dinner - so it will definitely be made again very soon!

After a week of eating gourmet cheese, 180 degree hazelnut oat crackers and quince jelly as an after dinner treat on holiday, we were more than ready to tuck into a homemade sweet treat again. Enter the Gooey Little Chocolate Puddings - again we had everything already in the cupboard and fridge to whip these up straight after our curry dinner, savouring them slowly with natural yoghurt once the kids were safely tucked up in bed.

We'd also managed to pack our leftover food from the holiday into our bags for the flight home, but as you can imagine the few bananas we brought back were looking a little worse for wear after being bumped around on the airplane, and none of us are particularly keen on very brown looking bananas so I knew I'd have to find a way to use them up. Enter Chelsea's Banana Bran Muffins. 

These little delights were pretty easy to whip up, and although I had in my head an idea which one of the boys would prefer these (one being much more inclined to eat banana than the other), they completely surprised me and the exact opposite was true, which just goes to show that kids will always retain the power to surprise you and keep you on your toes just when you think you have them properly figured out!

And when you find yourself searching for reasons to make all the recipes as you turn each page, you realise that this book really does have the power to transform the every day into something quite delicious - and I foresee many more delicious days ahead in our future, I'm currently tossing up whether the Cheesy Caramelised Red Onion Scrolls or the Good Energy Slice will win the 'next-to-be made' honour. Heck, I think I'll just make both!

Everyday Delicious is published by Random House NZ and is available from 3 October. 

RRP $49.99.

Thanks to Random House NZ for the review copy.

Disclaimer: I was given a copy of Everyday Delicious in exchange for my review. I am not being compensated in any other way.

Gone Girl {Book Review and upcoming movie}

Golly gosh, if there was ever a book to mess with your mind (in a good way!) it's Gone Girl. I lost count of the number of times I thought I had the measure of the storyline only to find that WHAM! another twist I didn't see coming had me reeling in utter shock.

This is the story of Nick and Amy, a seemingly happy couple living in the Mid West of the USA. However, on the day of their five year wedding anniversary, Amy disappears without a trace. Nick is unable to fathom what could possibly have happened, and willingly assists the police in their investigations. Signs of a struggle at their home make him believe she was taken, however he soon finds himself targeted by the police as their main suspect, and this makes him even more determined to clear his name and find out what has happened to 'Amazing' Amy - his wife is well-known as the only child and muse of a long-running children's book series written by her parents.

The story is incredibly cleverly written in alternating chapters between Nick and Amy, Nick's chapters written in the present day - in the days following her disappearance, whereas Amy's chapters are written as diary entries from five years before when they first became a couple and continue up to the moment of her disappearance. Nick hunts desperately for clues - and finds some very real clues as he completes the annual treasure hunt anniversary tradition that Amy had set up for him this year as on every other year, and he is ultimately completely shocked by what he finds, setting the tone for the second half of the book.

The author does a fabulous job of weaving her words so that you become so accustomed to Nick and Amy, to their personalities and their flaws so that when the biggest twist in the book is revealed it's like someone barrelling into you so hard that it literally knocks the breath right out of you for a few moments. I found this book so hard to put down that I literally read late into the night one Saturday night until I couldn't keep my eyes open one more minute, and then got up very early on Sunday morning as I just had keep reading to find out how it would ultimately all be resolved.

To begin with, I found myself completely unwilling to accept the realities of what did actually happen to Amy, it just wasn't what I expected and I had grown to completely accept the characters for who they were, so the reality really hit me hard. I also found myself swinging wildly in support between Nick and Amy depending on whose chapter I was reading, but it became evident that I had been played for a fool by both sides along the way, and long after the final chapters played out I couldn't stop thinking about them both, as a couple, as individuals, and about the part that the media plays in sensational disappearance cases like this. It is clearly very different to how it might have played out twenty years ago, and it really got me wondering how much sway the media can have in deciding who is right and who is wrong.

It also got me thinking - how well do we really know our loved ones? We can think we do, but can we ever, really, truly know what's going on inside someone else's mind? An interesting, and somewhat disturbing thought if you let your imagination run wild - I think it is honestly far easier to decide not go there and just accept that what's on the surface is all you really need to know. Something to ponder on, and this book has certainly resonated with me, so much so that despite knowing how it did all turn out, I am desperate to see how this gets adapted into a movie.

Gone Girl - the movie premieres in NZ in just a couple of weeks on 2 October starring Ben Affleck and Rosmund Pike.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is published by Hachette NZ and is available from 9 September. 

RRP: $27.99

Thanks to Hachette NZ for the review copy.

Disclaimer: I was given a copy of Gone Girl in exchange for my review.  I am not being compensated in any other way.

The Best of Me {Book Review and upcoming movie}

Can you imagine living half your life wondering what could have been? If circumstances hadn't forced your one true love to end? It's a gut-wrenching thought, and one I am glad I didn't have to face, although I so easily could have. My hubby and I met in our early twenties when the cards were completely stacked against us - he was about to leave NZ to return to the UK to finish his university course, whilst I was here in Wellington in my first job out of university. On the face of it, it shouldn't have worked starting with a long distance relationship for nearly a year, but because we knew that we were soul-mates and this was something special, we just knew we had to move heaven and earth to eventually be together. I still count my lucky stars that from that point forward, the planets aligned, and we could make it happen. This is why this book so resonated with me. But I digress, let me explain.

If you are a fan of movies like The Notebook (who didn't bawl their eyes out reading and watching this - come on be honest!) Dear John and Message in a Bottle, then The Best of Me from the same author Nicholas Sparks is sure to please.

The story centres on the enigmatic Dawson Cole who has escaped a deeply troubled family history in a small North Carolina town. Against his better judgement, he's forced to return to farewell his old mentor, the only person in the town who ever gave him the time of day, and unbeknownst to him, his mentor's last gift is the arrangement of an unexpected reunion between him and his first and only true love Amanda. Although from a wealthy family who gave her the best start in life, the adult years have brought Amanda her own troubles, an alcoholic husband and the death of a child to name a few.

Dawson and Amanda are no longer young, but after twenty odd years apart, this chance meeting proves to them that the love they once had is easily awakened, and fight it though they might, it remains hard to ignore.
It becomes readily apparent that their mutual friend, Dawson's mentor, Tuck has used his passing to bring about this collision of worlds, knowing just how special their relationship had been, and giving them another chance to re-write their past.

But even now, events outside of their control will threaten the reunion. Amanda struggles internally with her responsibilities as a mother and wife versus pursuing her own happiness, and once they get wind of his reappearance, Dawson's down-and-out family are hellbent on taking their revenge on him at all costs.

There are a number of minor character's stories woven through the book which add some real depth to the story, and the final third of the book picks up an incredible and gripping pace with so many twists in it, that I was left breathless turning pages with my heart in mouth wondering just how things could possibly all work out.

I simply won't spoil the ending for you, suffice to say that unless you are a very hard nut, you will find yourself (at the very least) with tears in your eyes, in wonder at how the hearts of Dan and Amanda will be indelibly entwined forever.

The movie is also being released in NZ on 30 October, starring James Marsden and Michelle Monaghan.

The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks is published by Hachette NZ and is available from 9 September.

RRP: $27.99

Thanks to Hachette NZ for the review copy.

Disclaimer:  I was given a copy of The Best of Me in exchange for my review.  I am not being compensated in any other way.