It's often nice when you go away to eat in. It saves money and if you are in a small place where choice is limited, you are more likely to get food you like if you make it yourself. The trick is to plan. We recently spent 4 nights away & we cooked in for 3 nights & had a great meal out on the last night.
T
he first night we had lamb steaks with couscous & courgettes. We took the wherewithal for the first night, including buying the lamb steaks at our butcher on the way out. We stayed at Sage Cottage on the Brodie wine estate in Martinborough. It was kitted out with a barbecue and good sized pans & serving dishes. The lamb was rubbed with cumin, salt & pepper & the courgettes were tossed in olive oil, provided in the cottage from the estate, salt & pepper - then both were cooked on the barbecue. All I had to do in the kitchen was p
repare the couscous which involved lightly frying a couple of spring onions then adding the couscous with an equal quantity of boiling water & setting aside about 10 minutes. When done, I turned through a little olive oil, some toasted pinenuts (toasted the night before & packed in an airtight jar) & some roughly chopped parsley. We enjoyed Schoc chocolates from Greytown with our coffee. My favourite is the new lavender salt caramel individual chocolate.
he first night we had lamb steaks with couscous & courgettes. We took the wherewithal for the first night, including buying the lamb steaks at our butcher on the way out. We stayed at Sage Cottage on the Brodie wine estate in Martinborough. It was kitted out with a barbecue and good sized pans & serving dishes. The lamb was rubbed with cumin, salt & pepper & the courgettes were tossed in olive oil, provided in the cottage from the estate, salt & pepper - then both were cooked on the barbecue. All I had to do in the kitchen was p
repare the couscous which involved lightly frying a couple of spring onions then adding the couscous with an equal quantity of boiling water & setting aside about 10 minutes. When done, I turned through a little olive oil, some toasted pinenuts (toasted the night before & packed in an airtight jar) & some roughly chopped parsley. We enjoyed Schoc chocolates from Greytown with our coffee. My favourite is the new lavender salt caramel individual chocolate.The 
next day we drove through Feilding where we stopped at the Farmer's Market. It's worth checking out market days before you leave home because that can be a good source of interesting local produce. We bought lamb & mint sausages from the Wai-Ora Lamb people, new season's potatoes, and some tomatoes for the salad. We brought lettuce from our garden & a few salad items in the chilly bin. We bought some organic kamut bread & Cranbrook pates for starters & finished up with delicious peaches. It was quick & easy to barbeque the sausages & boil the potatoes then toss with oil & parsley.
next day we drove through Feilding where we stopped at the Farmer's Market. It's worth checking out market days before you leave home because that can be a good source of interesting local produce. We bought lamb & mint sausages from the Wai-Ora Lamb people, new season's potatoes, and some tomatoes for the salad. We brought lettuce from our garden & a few salad items in the chilly bin. We bought some organic kamut bread & Cranbrook pates for starters & finished up with delicious peaches. It was quick & easy to barbeque the sausages & boil the potatoes then toss with oil & parsley.I had brought a packet of fettucine & picked up some prosciutto in Greytown, so on the third night we bought a packet of frozen peas at the supermarket & had pasta with prosciutto & peas, and a salad. This motel wasn't so well stocked with kitchen implements so I had to cook the pasta in 3 saucepans but it was quick & easy & delicious.
On the last night we treated ourselves to a meal at Element Cafe in Whanganui, which I thoroughly recommend. In addition to outstanding food, the highlight was the guitar player 
- a very talented young man who, we discovered, is off to Auckland in a couple of weeks to study bio-medicine!
- a very talented young man who, we discovered, is off to Auckland in a couple of weeks to study bio-medicine!Finally, I am seeking your help. Can anyone identify this mystery vegetable that has popped up in the garden? I assume it was something that has seeded in the compost, so a vegetable we ate last summer. I am hoping it will become apparent as it increases in size but for now I am mystified. Resembles a courgette but is quite squat. Scallopini perhaps? Any thoughts?
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