Nutella pretzel brownies

I think a lot of people can agree on one thing; Nutella is life. That's a bit of an exaggeration, but spreading some Nutella on toast, or just eating a spoonful of it? Who could resist! We have to thank the Italians for this wonderful creation :) 

Queenstown eateries part II

Lunch at Amisfield winery and bistro

 Did my Queesntown eateries part 1 look good? Well take a look at this post!

We had one of the best lunches at Amisfield winery and bistro. The setting is beautiful, and the food is pretty darn great too!

Top left: Coudy bay clams with linguini. Top right: Potato gnocchi with basil pesto. Bottom left: Lamb sausages, saffron couscous and tzatziki. Bottom right: Butterfish

I had the potato gnocchi with basil pesto, which I really liked. I normally don't like gnocchi as a main dish, since I find it usually too rich, especially when there is a huge quantity. But this was just nice, and I loved the basil pesto, along with the other vegetables as well. My eldest sister had the linguini, my other sister had the lamb sausage, and that was alright, not my favourite. My parents both had the butterfish and thought that it was well cooked and delicious. The food had perfect portions, not too much to make us feel bloated afterwards.

Four fruit smoothie.

 One of my all time favourite breakfast beverages, is a fruit smoothie. Back in middle school, I would get a Boost smoothie after school on Fridays each week.  I've always particularly liked their smoothies, because of their thick consistency. However, I realised after a while how much money I was spending each month on a smoothie, something I could easily replicate at home.

Making your own smoothies at home are so customisable. Add whatever fruits you love: mangoes, strawberries, blueberries, kiwi. My favourite all time combination are mangoes, strawberries, blueberries and banana. I'm taking advantage of the mangoes and strawberries, since they're in season right now. 

If you want a thick consistency, add less liquid. Also add a lot of ice to make it very icy! Nothing beats a cold smoothie on a hot summer day. 

You can either use milk, or some sort of fruit juice. As I said, you can customise it yourself. However, I'm posting my own favourite smoothie recipe. Enjoy. 

Four fruit smoothie

Ingredients:

. 1 banana 

. Handful of strawberries (about 10), sliced

. 1 mango, diced

. 1/2 cup blueberries

. 1/3 or 1/2 cup milk, depending on your desired consistency

. 1 and a half cups of ice

Method:

1. Combine all ingredients together in a blender and process until smooth.

2. Serve immediately 

Things to do in Queenstown

In Queenstown, there are endless possibilities for 'what you should do'. Especially during the summer, the entertainment sector, companies are competing against each other.

I forgot to mention earlier about how beautiful it is in Queenstown. The water is crystal blue, and you know the lake has good water, when it is clear and you can see the bottom with the rocks. The pine trees on the mountain are my favourite. It reminds me of Lake Tahoe. And it looks like what I've seen in those typical American movies, where families go for a holiday or for camp near the lake (Parent trap and Cheaper by the dozen). Picturesque!

Horse riding

Horse riding is my personal highlight of the trip! We went twice, and we really did love it. I really loved the first time, but I even loved it even better the second time in Te Anau, which I will be posting about later. My mum decided to stay at the hotel.

We went to Moonlight stables, near Arrowtown. We were taught how to control the horses, so how to go forward (kick them in the belly), turn right and stop. I rode on a horse called Sayla (not sure of the spelling) and he was pretty comfortable to ride on. Not too tall, and behaved. Except when it wouldn't stop eating grass.

 
We even got to canter (seriously scary) and trot. It was really scary at first, and you're holding on for your dear life. But it's fun! We got to do it a few times.

 Yii-May described her horse as 'temperamental', as it specifically didn't like one of the white horses. I find horses amusing, how some of them have attitude and how there's one particular bossy horse that has to be leader.

We saw a lot of deer, so pretty! Except, at that time, they had their antlers off. 

Botswana butchery and Patagonia

 Botswana butchery is one of my favourite restaurants in Queenstown. Patagonia has some really good ice cream.

Botswana butchery

My whole family loved the steak at Botswana butchery.

This classy, hip restaurant, whatever you describe it, delivers elegance and excellence. The food we devoured was so delicious.

We came here to celebrate my mum's birthday, and my eldest sister had already booked the restaurant one month in advance. We even had our own little private room upstairs!

The backlight when a bit berserk.

Mum, I love you heaps, even though you stalk my blog, quite literally 24/7.

You can see the debris being washed up. Queenstown and many other places in South Island, have been experiencing huge amounts of rainfalls and floods.

It also has a stunning location, near the pier in Queenstown. The restaurant itself looks like a cute house. My dad actually mistook the whole restaurant as a house. "Huh? Isn't this a house?"

Both my parents had French onion soup as starters. They both liked it. They thought it was very rich and had the good consistency for an onion soup. 

Simple peanut butter cups

I remember the first time I had a bite of Reese's peanut butter cups. I was 12, and my eldest sister, had just come back from her trip to New York. She bought 2 packets of the mini cups. Guess who finished a whole packet in one day?

They sell Reese's at some candy shops like Sweet As in Australia, but they aren't the best buy. 2 bucks for 1 packet, containing two peanut butter cups.

So today's recipe, I say, could be just as good as the original. Actually, I might even like this one better.

Apple cinnamon oatmeal cookies

This combines all of my favourite things into one cookie; hearty oats, cinnamon, apples, walnuts and raisins. All hail, the oatmeal cookie!

  Crisp around the edges, and chewy in the middle. The apple comes out soft and tender, the crunch of the walnuts, along with brown sugar and cinnamon; these are especially best eaten when warm.

Here and there

This is a bit of a messy post, but I just wanted to do some quick reviews of food around the city and also Pappa Rich in Chadstone.

Guzman and Gomez

I tried some soft shell tacos with spicy chicken guerrero at Guzman and Gomez on Swanston street. About 2 minutes away from Melbourne Central if you walk there. The tacos were quite nice.

Mini honey buns

I could not believe the texture I achieved from these buns. Crisp on the outside, and light and fluffy in the inside.

You can use either a mini muffin pan or a regular-sized muffin pan. I used both! I was able to make 24 mini honey buns and 8 regular honey buns.

Hearty banana pancakes

Let's kick off the new year, starting with banana pancakes for breakfast.