Life + Style - 22 November 2019 by Sun Media

˜˜ November, ˜°˛˝

Chelsea Winter live! See page 2

THE WEEKEND

Chelsea’s cheesecake

Atrium turns two

Barbara Wilson

Next Step

Swim school

life+style The Weekend Sun ˜˛ ˜°˛˙ 2019 ˜˜August, 22 November, ˜°˛˝

Chelsea Winter live! Down-to-earth and scrumptious I was quite excited to hear the news, now months ago, that best-selling New Zealand cook book author Chelsea Winter had relocated from Auckland to Tauranga. Firstly because the herbs in my raised garden were doing themselves proud growing very ardently and getting ready for me to add them to tasty dishes. And secondly because I was running out of ideas for dishes to add them to. I have discovered though that the more one ignores thyme, sage and basil, the more rampantly they grow, so I started watering them a bit to discourage them, while trying to google new recipes. Written by self-acclaimed food gurus, many online recipes seem to have impossible ingredients requiring riding a llama to the outback of a desert on the east coast of a far continent to acquire a mini-scoop of an exotic powder. I desperately needed one of Chelsea’s cook books. A few months later, still making the same basil and thyme-laden vege stir fry, I thought ‘where are you Chelsea!’ I knew she and partner Douglas Renall were in Tauranga, but they seemed to have gone off the grid. Doesn’t she know she has a massive fan base here? Turns out, she wasn’t ignoring us at all, she was just busy having their ﬁrst-born, a beautiful baby boy called Sky. Okay

so I could wait. I went looking for a cook book. Oddly, during all this time, it didn’t occur to me even once that I could pluck one off her website. Someone phoned me. “Chelsea’s going to be live at Baycourt – would you like to interview her?” Do children like icecream? Of course I would! Developing an uncontrollable cough I waited a few days. Couldn’t wait any longer, so rang her up while choking down the phone. I knew we only had minutes between Sky’s sleeping and waking, but first of all I had to express my appreciation that she was going to be making a public outing. “It’s the first time I’ve done anything since I’ve had my baby, but also the first time I’ll be doing a local event, and going as a local, which feels really lovely to me,” says Chelsea. “I used to live in Auckland and did a few events there but you never get that same sense of community that you get down here in the Bay.” I was pleased to hear she was finding her place amongst us. I wondered if she’d left behind any kumara-sucking recipes in Auckland. “I’ve been here almost two years now and I just love it. The beaches are incredible, it’s just a slower pace of life and seems to be sunnier. It’s a lot less stress than I felt in Auckland.” Sorry Auckland, but she’s definitely ours. I asked about that moment when she realised she wanted to cook. Surprisingly this was after winning MasterChef. “I didn’t really know that I wanted to bake until I published my first cookbook and started getting

˜˜ November, ˜°˛˝

“I try and make cooking accessible to everyday New Zealanders. Really good tasty food that anyone can cook at home with everyday ingredients. That’s always been my philosophy and it always will be my philosophy”

feedback from people about my recipes. I realized this was something I was really good at and that people connected with me through. “When I put my ﬁrst book out, I didn’t know if anyone was going to like it or if it would be a success. Being on MasterChef is one thing but writing 80 recipes for a book is quite another.” The hard work paid off, and she’s now written ﬁve cook books. “I try and make cooking accessible to everyday New Zealanders. Really good tasty food that anyone can cook at home with everyday ingredients. That’s always been my philosophy and it always will be my philosophy.” This down-to-earth approach is what makes Chelsea so popular. Easy things anyone can make without a lot of obscure ingredients. “There’s a term ‘foodie’ that people swing around and I used to feel like it was some sort of really cool club that I wasn’t a part of. Now I realize that that’s not what I’m about. I’m not a foodie, I’m just someone who likes to eat good food, and I’m pretty

sure that’s the same for everyone on the planet.” Chelsea creates her new recipes from scratch. “All original recipes. Of course there may be something people have heard of, like macaroni cheese but it’s my recipe for macaroni cheese. I’m pretty picky and want it to be the best macaroni cheese it can be. “Some of them are classics that I’ve put my ‘Chelsea twist’ on and some of them are just completely random that I like to cook.” The live demo on stage at Baycourt will also feature BespOak Kitchens and Furniture, who are the presenting sponsors, and a bit of banter from Mike Puru. “It’s not a cooking demo per se but I’m going to give a few tricks and tips,” says Chelsea. “I’ll talk about some clever ways that we can prepare food easier.” An intimate evening on December 8 getting to know the real Chelsea Winter live on stage sounds perfect. And her cook books will be there. That’s my Christmas shopping sorted! Rosalie Liddle Crawford

Eat photography credits: Photography © Tam West, ˜°˛˝

life+style The Weekend Sun ˆ

˜˜August, 22 November, ˜°˛˝ life+style The Weekend Sun ˜˛ ˜°˛˙ 2019

Chelsea’s white chocolate & berry cheesecake Prep time: 35 minutes, plus 3 hours chilling time Serves: 8–10 Base 350g biscuits (I used double chocolate cookies) 75g butter, softened (almost melted) Filling 250g cream cheese, at room temperature (not the spreadable kind) This old-timer is one of my most popular recipes at Christmas time. Year after year my Facebook page is shiny and resplendent with the hundreds of photos people post of this cheesecake. It does look a million bucks and isn’t the slightest bit difficult — you can make it a day in advance and keep it in the fridge without the topping (only add the berries just before serving). Line the base of a round 23–25cm springform cake tin with a circle of baking paper to fit. Place the biscuits in a food processor and process to a fine crumb, or finely smash in a bag with a rolling pin. Add the butter and mix until well combined. Tip the crumbs into the tin and press into the base. Refrigerate. Beat the cream cheese, mascarpone and vanilla paste with an electric beater or cake mixer (or lots of elbow grease) for a few minutes until fluffy. Set aside. Place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl sitting over a saucepan of simmering water (make sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water), and heat until just melted, stirring only every now and then (don’t get any water in it). If it seizes, add more cream and keep stirring in a circular motion — it should come back together. Remove the chocolate from the heat and add a spoonful at a time to the cream cheese mixture, beating after each addition. Whip the cream until it’s

200g mascarpone (or use extra cream cheese) 2 tsp vanilla paste or essence 350g good-quality white eating chocolate, chopped ¾ cup cream 2–3 punnets ripe berries ½ cup berry jam melted with 2 tbsp water icing sugar to dust nice and thick, but not quite to the usual ‘soft peaks’ stage (you want it just underwhipped otherwise the cheesecake can turn grainy). Gently fold ¼ cup of the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture to aerate it, then fold through the remaining cream. Spoon the cream cheese mixture over the biscuit base and smooth with a spatula. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours to set. Just before you’re ready to serve, carefully remove the cheesecake from the tin, and peel off the baking paper if you can. Slide the cheesecake onto a serving platter and smooth out the sides with a warm knife. Arrange the fresh berries on top. Drizzle with a little of the melted jam, dust with icing sugar, slice with a hot knife and serve. The cheesecake will go soft on a hot day, so put any leftovers back in the fridge right away. You can freeze the whole cheesecake in the tin for up to 4 weeks by wrapping it tightly in a double layer of cling wrap then a layer of foil. Chelsea’s tips You can fold extra chopped berries through the cream cheese mixture after adding the whipped cream (or try freeze-dried berry powder). If berries aren’t in season, simmer 2 cups frozen berries with ½ cup sugar until it’s thick and jammy, chill and use as the topping. Make this recipe gluten free by choosing gluten-free biscuits for the base.

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˜˜ November, 22 2019 ˜°˛˝ ˜˛ August, ˜°˛˙

life+style The Weekend Sun ˙

Art and more in Whakamarama On November 24, Whakamarama’s Atrium Art & Artisan Fair celebrates its second birthday. I attended the very ﬁrst monthly fair in 2017 and love how much it’s ﬂourished since then. The fair was originally started at Black Sheep Restaurant to provide a place for talented locals to sell their wares. The wonderful Peta Clavis and her Black Sheep partners have supported the fair over the last two years by providing the venue free of charge. As an artist I know how much this helps enable an affordable and therefore accessible opportunity for artists and craftspeople running stalls. On rainy days, the fair moves indoors, which means it has been able to continue right through winter, despite possibly being a little disruptive for the restaurant. There’s great camaraderie and support though, with live music and a relaxed atmosphere enhanced by the fabulous food on offer. Walking into the fair, you realise quickly that these stallholders have become great friends. Sometimes they’re boogying away dancing to the music and you forget the week’s events as you just settle into their bucket of happiness. As the fair grew over the 24 months, more volunteers offered to help run it, and the organising team came up with the idea of opening a gift shop and gallery at the same venue. Once again Black Sheep very generously allowed the use of their conference room for

a shop, with the atrium and restaurant walls becoming the gallery, all free of charge. The team then spent months collecting and painting furniture, painting walls, contacting local creatives, gathering stock, marketing and getting the shop ready for the opening, which happened in February 2019. “Local creatives now have a relaxed and friendly place to sell their products and hold monthly exhibitions,” says co-organiser Birgitt Shannon. “We give artists the opportunity to have solo exhibitions, but also hold several themed group exhibitions during the year that everyone can be a part of.” People don’t need to be artists to join these exhibitions, which include entries made of wood, ceramics, metal, textiles and even folded paper. The gallery has started new initiatives like a recent quiz night, and a sheep themed exhibition, recognising the connection with Black Sheep. During November there is a group exhibition in the gallery called ‘Celebrating Music’. The fair’s second birthday is being celebrated on November 24 from 11am – 3pm with live music, great food and stalls. Located at 21 Plummers Point Rd, Whakamarama, the Atrium Gallery is open from Wednesday to Sunday each week from 11am. For information about anything happening at the Atrium Gallery contact artriumgallerynz@gmail.com. Rosalie Liddle Crawford

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˜˜August, November, ˜°˛˝ life+style The Weekend Sun ˜˛22 ˜°˛˙ 2019

Barbara Wilson From Tragedy to Success Stepping into Barbara Wilson’s garage, one expects to see a car. Instead a large loom nearly ﬁlls the single garage space.

Photos: Bruce Barnard

“I used to have four of these,” says Barbara. “Circumstances got me into it when I lost the use of my hands. That’s all in the book.” A weaver and spinner, she’s recently written ‘From Tragedy to Success’ with the help of Forget-Me-Not Life Stories, a book that tells a personal story of great tragedy and loss, and how she managed to overcome it and rebuild her life. Although her philosophy is to ‘love what you do. Having a passion is like having a dream, it feels like you never work a day in your life’, - at one point she felt like she couldn’t go on. She and her young husband Harold were returning home one night in 1960 in their Ford Zephyr car, when a car hurtled towards them from the opposite side of the road. Hitting them head on, Harold died instantly, and Barbara ended up in hospital with two broken arms, completely losing the use of both hands. She was 29 years old with three young children aged nine, seven and ﬁve. Her life had been shattered and she felt it was over. “I went through the windscreen. I was in hospital for a month and thought I was going to die as I’d lost so much blood. But I didn’t want to live.” It was having to care for her children that

inspired her to go on. In those days children were not allowed to come visit patients in hospital, so family arranged a meeting at the Hamilton Lake. “Once I saw those kids, I reckoned I had to get on with it. I said ‘come on Barbara, who is going to look after the children?’ “ She made the courageous decision to rise above the tragedy and physical injuries, returning to their home at Round Bush Farm, which is also the site of the Hinuera Stone Quarry in the Piarere Valley. Local farm stock buyer and family friend Peter Wilson visited regularly helping with the children who he’d known since they were babies. Eventually in 1962, Peter and Barbara married. While on honeymoon, they stayed with a friend in Christchurch who was a spinner. She thought that spinning wool could be good for Barbara’s hands and so the very next day the couple bought a traditional spinning wheel and took it back home with them. This was the beginning of a life that included starting a spinning group in Matamata, joining the Waikato Spinning Weaving and Woolcraft Society, and being part of what became an emerging industry of wool ﬁbre, spinning, knitting and hand weaving. Barbara started designing fashion wear and winning fashion awards. She also ran the Barbara Wilson School of Grooming for about ten years, teaching girls, modelling, photographic modelling, hair and

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˜˜ November, 22 ˜°˛˝ ˜˛ August,2019 ˜°˛˙

life+style The Weekend Sun 7

“I’m still teaching weaving and spinning. I haven’t got the same energy I once had, but I’m trying to help people”

skin care and overall presentation. Her spinning and weaving have taken her all around NZ, including 20 years with the Dunkley’s Great New Zealand Craft Show, and sheep shows in Australia, fashion shows in London and West Germany, and tours to the US and Canada. On one tour to Chicago in 1988 she learned about painting leather, a technique she continued to use successfully for jackets and belts. “I’ve done a lot.” The NZ Wool Board asked her to present a fashion show in New Zealand House in London’s Trafalgar Square. “It was tremendously exciting for me as it was the perfect way to introduce New Zealand’s beautiful wool to the London set.” She’s won many awards from 1980 – 1993, including Waikato Designer of the Year for Handcraft Fashion; and been a ﬁnalist in the Benson & Hedges Fashion Awards. “I wrote the book because I wanted to try to encourage people out there who have had lots of things happen to them. “I’m still teaching weaving and spinning. I haven’t got the same energy I once had, but I’m trying to help people.” Barbara has created thousands of metres of fabric through her weaving. She’s made curtains, covered lounge suites, and designed and made fashion garments that have attracted international attention. “And of course it was good therapy for my hands. You can actually do it if you’ve got the determination

to do it. She is able to remember every bit of her life. “I only went to school to eat my lunch and play sport. Life goes so quickly. “Tragedy hit us. I wouldn’t want anyone to go through that. I think I’ve done pretty well at this age.” Barbara turns 90 next year. “I can’t believe it. It’s only a number though. I said to my older granddaughter Lauren who is with Tourism NZ – she is the one who instigated the book – I said to her ‘This is the last chapter in my life’, and she said ‘no Barbie, you’ll ﬁnd something else to do’. “I want this book to try and help other people. Because we can’t live in the past. Because you can do it.” Copies of the book are available for $40 plus postage from Barbara Wilson on email barabarawilsonnz@ gmail.com or phone 07 575 2193. Rosalie Liddle Crawford

Weekend Sun_TAURANGA BRAND 18

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life+style The Weekend Sun ˜˛ ˜°˛˙2019 ˜˜ August, 22 November, ˜°˛˝

Photos: Bruce Barnard

Taking the next step Life beyond injury A friend of mine was hit by a train years ago, losing the ability to stand, talk and move anything much apart from his face and one arm.

Sean Armstrong, Aaron Balsom and Brennan Mullan

We communicate, with some difficulty, through smiles and finger gestures and he’s able to indicate his support of the All Blacks, and tell me if he’s had one, two or three cups of coffee that day. He sometimes sits next to my piano when I’m playing at the beach, or watches passers-by from under his garden umbrella. I wonder whether it’s possible for him to get back any more mobility and wish we could communicate better. Spinal cord injuries can have such lifealtering consequences and I’d love to unlock the door so he can more ably express his thoughts. While reflecting on this and wondering how far spinal cord injury research had come, I heard about NextStep, so went along to find out more. Casey Waterhouse greeted me warmly at the front desk. It was only later that I realise she is unable to walk. “I had a motorcross accident,” says Casey. “Broke my back at T4 and was paralysed. Three months in hospital.” She can’t walk, but she can drive. And it’s clear she has recovered quite a lot of mobility. “I’m pretty determined. When I got out of hospital, the rehab I chose to do here has made it better, because no one here is telling me I can’t walk. I’m working with people that believe in me.” The facility has been based at Mount Maunganui for about 12 years, was previously called

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SwitchedOn, and was purpose-built for this sort of rehabilitation and recovery. Aaron Balsom and Brennan Mullan recently took over, rebranding it NextStep New Zealand, reflecting the new relationship with the global franchise NextStep. Both have completed sport science degrees, but the specialist field they work in is exercise physiology. “That’s sort of between what a personal trainer and a physiotherapist do,” says Aaron. “We work with people with complex medical conditions that other gyms wouldn’t feel comfortable working with.” “We’re also a bit quieter and accommodating for people who want to feel safer and have supervision from someone who knows what they’re doing,” says Brennan. “We’re not exclusively for people with disabilities or health conditions,” says Aaron, “but I’d say probably 90 per cent are people who may not feel comfortable in a regular gym, or that might have challenges accessing appropriate equipment elsewhere.” Exercise physiology means they closely monitor people with cancer, diabetes and heart conditions tracking heart rate, blood pressure, blood sugar levels and oxygen saturation while exercising. Brennan has previously worked with the cardiac clinic in Tauranga. The gym is unique to New Zealand. “There are two main spinal cord injury centres in NZ. When you have an accident you go to those centres for treatment. We’re the first activity based therapy facility.

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˜˛ August, ˜°˛˝ ˜°˛˙ ˜˜ November,

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“We work with people with complex medical conditions that other gyms wouldn’t feel comfortable working with”

“But also, a lot of our clients are seniors who don’t have access to facilities and can’t get on and off the equipment. We get a whole range people who may have had a hip or knee replacement and need some specialised exercise for that, so it’s not just spinal cord injuries.” On the spin bike, Casey is able to put her feet into the cups and push the pedals around. “It’s coming from somewhere, I don’t know where,” says Casey. “I’m getting more sensation.” The adaptive equipment is designed to be fully accessible. The NuStep is a cross-trainer with adaptive braces, and the MOTOmed allows staff to strap client’s feet into the machine, after which it gently cycles the legs, improving circulation. The rower has an attachment, allowing wheelchairbound people to row. There’s also the standard treadmills and bikes found at most gyms, and the bathrooms have accessible showers. Casey is at NextStep most days. “There are people out there who have recovered and proved everyone wrong,” says Casey. “I think you just choose where you want to be and don’t listen to anyone else.” NextStep is located at 14B Hocking St, Rosalie Liddle Crawford Mount Maunganui.

Casey Waterhouse

s i s a m t s i Chr coming! 14 Grey St, Tauranga

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“Once people have had that initial spinal cord rehabilitation they often don’t know what else is out there for them. We’re trying to fill that void so people have long term rehab to work towards.” There’s often the misconception that people can’t do much after a spinal cord injury. “One of our first clients could only move his neck so he thought there was nothing he could do. We managed to get some arm function back and this little change was quite life-changing for him.” Their NextStep facility is the first of the US-based global franchise to be opened in the southern hemisphere. “We’re all linked with the universities that are doing the latest research on spinal cord injury,” says Aaron. “They share their information around the centres and the centres provide research back, so there is a crossover where the clinical stuff is going straight into real life application. This is enabling us to keep up with the latest recovery strategies.” Aaron says that the incidence of new spinal cord injuries per year is around a 100 but the effects of a spinal cord injury can last a long time, which is why centres like their one is so important.

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life+style The Weekend Sun ˜˛22 ˜°˛˙ 2019 ˜˜August, November, ˜°˛˝

Andy McLay

Andy McLay’s making waves New competitive swimming coach Andy McLay has been making waves at the Papamoa Swimming Club.

Photos: John Borren

Arriving with wife Anna in June, Andy has come on board as the new head swimming coach, and is already seeing strong results, with the swim squad growing in a few short months from 20 to 60 kids. “My aim is to have up to 200 swimmers utilising the pool,” says Andy, who is focused on seeing the competitive side of the club grow. “There is a lot of talent around Papamoa and I want to see kids have the opportunity to get into swimming and racing.” Andy was based in Whanganui prior to coming here and has been a competitive swimming coach for about 17-18 years. “I started down in Canterbury where I worked at the QE2 club with young swimmers there.” Sophie Pascoe was one he dealt with a lot in his early days. “I’ve gone through a relative amount of success over the years, trying to continually produce national age group champions. There’s been a few swimmers who have broken national age group records and been in age group national teams. Here in Papamoa, it’s an opportunity for me to go to the grass roots, so to speak, and my aim is to build the club up to be competitive with

Phone Carlene: 07 281 1519 or 0800 00 58 43 www.southerncrosspartners.co.nz

other clubs in the Bay of Plenty and around the country.” Anna’s family live in Tauranga and the couple had been looking at opportunities to get to the Bay of Plenty for a while. “We’ve been talking with the Papamoa club for about a year now with how that would fit and how it would work, and it just turned out that the timing was right.” The summer season for the club, which kicked off in October, has swimmers at the pool most days. “We’re flat out. Operating hours for the club are after school between 3.30 -6.30pm and we also have mornings on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday where kids swim from 6-7.30am.” Chrystal Barnard runs the Learn to Swim programme while Andy looks after all the squads. There’s five distinct sections – Beginner Lengths, Junior Club, Junior Squad, Senior Squad and Adult Fitness Squad. “The luxury in my opinion is that we have total access to the pool,” says Andy. “We are so grateful for the relationship with the Papamoa Primary School. They’ve been awesome letting us use their pool. “To have something that’s right in the middle of Papamoa for locals to be able to use without having to fight the traffic down to the Mount or into town is a really good thing.” New club president Sarah Metcalfe is delighted at the new growth phase of the

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life+style The Weekend Sun ˛˛

Growing competitive swimmers in Papamoa club, and sees swimming becoming a strong sport in the region. “I’m really passionate about promoting the club to capture those kids who don’t know where they can take their swimming to next,” says Sarah. “They can come to our club nights, local competitions, or just strengthen their swimming and fitness even if they’re not interested in it as a competitive sport. “We’re in a real growth phase. We have so many locals who complete Learn to Swim programmes but many don’t progress to squad training and become competent swimmers. It’s such a great base for so many other sports, as well as giving swimmers the confidence to be able to enjoy our local beach environment.” “We’re in a real growth phase and we have kids who have done Learn to Swim, but they’re not good swimmers until they’ve done at least a year of squad training. And it’s such a great base for so many other sports, as well as giving them confidence to be able to survive on the beach.” Prior to Andy starting as the head swimming coach, the club saw their good swimmers come through training, outgrow the club and move on to other clubs. “Part of my aim is to retain those

swimmers and make sure they’ve got what they need at Papamoa to keep going right through to the higher level,” says Andy. The club also runs a community pool for Papamoa. “Our agreement with the Papamoa Primary School is that we provide affordable leisure swimming to the community on weekends and school holidays,” says Sarah. Undergirding this has been support coming from Business Mentors NZ through the local Chamber of Commerce. “We’ve given the club support through the last couple of years to put good structures in place,” says business coach Wayne Shadbolt. Instilling fresh vision to the passionate committee of parents and volunteers who run the club means Andy can focus on coaching competitive swimmers. “I’m hoping to keep attracting swimmers or people who want to get in amongst swimming to come and see what we do,” says Andy. “We’re trying to cater for everyone, from competitive swimmers to people that just want to keep ﬁt or get into an exercise programme, right down to the novices that don’t swim at all.” Rosalie Liddle Crawford

Christmas chocolate bark Used as an after dinner treat or a great gift, Chocolate bark is super easy to make but entirely original with you making up the mixes to your liking. For something a little different this Christmas that will wow your friends, check out the basic recipe then your bark is as good as your imagination. Ingredients: 350gm dark chocolate callets (54% or 70% Barry Callebaut are the best) ¾ cup raw nuts / seeds (almonds, pecans, hazelnuts, pistachios, Brazilnuts) ¼ cup dried fruit chopped into small pieces (cranberries, sour cherries, tart apricots, ginger stem finely chopped, peaches, mixed peel) ½ tspn sea salt flakes (optional) Method: Toast the nuts/seeds at 180 for 6-10 minutes until just golden. Chop and let cool. Melt the chocolate in microwave in 30 second bursts stirring well in between until almost completely melted. Stir until it is smooth. Cover a large baking sheet with baking paper. Using a soft spatula spread chocolate evenly over centre area of sheet trying for about 1/2cm thickness. Note … it won’t reach the edges. Now sprinkle your “toppings” over – start with nuts then fruit and lastly crush the salt between your fingers as you sprinkle. Gently press the toppings into the chocolate. Leave to set for 2-4 hours and if needed give it some time in the fridge – but not too long. Once set break into chunks and serve or pack up as a pretty gift. It should keep in an airtight container for at least a week. Some other topping suggestions are: Freeze dried fruits: such as raspberry, lychee, mandarin, cherry (crushed up) Crushed up candied sugar cane Crushed up Pretzels Pumpkin, sunflower seeds and puffed quinoa Coconut chips White chocolate: melt Barry Callebaut Callets it in a double boiler. Drizzle a small amount of melted white chocolate over the melted dark chocolate, and swirl it gently with a toothpick. Then add some toppings. Chopped up Marshmallows

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