kiwidutch

about me

Posted to support Alan, BBC Journalist missing in Gaza and people who seek to report truth thoughout troubled areas of the world.
UPDATED: Alan FREE as of 04.07.2007! an absolutely excellent result !!!!!

Forum Co-Host
Spain and Portugal Forum





17th March 2008: today I have made myself a motto:
" cooking is a SERIOUS addiction that quite literally needs feeding"

I have lived in both hemispheres: New Zealand/Netherlands, hence the nickname. I currently live in the Netherlands, am married, and have two children.

I would have liked to have sent individual "Thanks you's" to all those who have made my recipes, but in the last year or so my health problems have meant that I haven't been able to keep up at all, and I'm now terribly behind, so rather then fret constantly about it, I will write to you here. I would like you to know that your review is sincerely appreciated, especially if you left constructive and helpful comments, and that I would like to take the opportunity to say "Many Thanks for choosing my recipe" here. Even if your tastes differ from ours and you gave me a lesser rating, if you were honest, fair and kind, then your reviews are just as appreciated and valued. Thank you again!

I would also like to mention that if I have taken a photograph of your recipe and there is another photo that you prefer better, then I am NOT offended if you ask Customer Support to change it to the one YOU prefer... it's your recipe after all and you can choose better than I can, which photo sells it most

IF you have received what you think is an unfair review for one of your recipes then feel free to contact me PRIVATELY via zaarmail ... no premium membership? ...then ISO me in the Portugal/Spain forum .. link is above. (Just ask me in your message to contact you privately, please *don't* mention *specific* reviews because that's against Zaar's terms of service and can get YOU into trouble) If your recipe suits my menu and I can get ingredients here in NL, then maybe I can make it and review it for you... but I will be honest, and I will say if I like it or not. I promise to be kind but fair and I will give explicit reasons for my rating.

I have inherited some wonderful adopted recipes recently and wish to thank the pervious owner(s) for sharing such wonderful gems becuase I have been trying out many of them myself and am loving them to bits!

At first, when I joined Zaar, I only loaded recipes I made regularly, but now that we have a bigger family and limited cupboard space, I have decided that the scrapbooks of recipes, the slips of paper with recipe from friends, the mess of magazine cuttings, and some favourite recipes from Cookbooks (especially the small community cookbooks, sadly now out of print after selling out!) need to be better organised, so I am slowly uploading them onto Zaar so that I can't loose them, I can find what I want quickly, we can all share some of the gems and I will actually make them since sifting though the untidy piles of recipes has frustrated me on more than one occasion. Some of the handwriting in my mother's cookbook is my Grandmother's so I know that some of the recipes are her's or even her mothers.
I will try and make and photograph ALL these recipes, but there are a lot of them, so if you get to these before me, your reviews and tips would be very much appreciated.

Some people have strong views that recipes should be made by the person posting before they are submitted to Zaar... I was one of them, until I inherited a vast amount of family recipes.. now I will slowly post them and I liken Zaar to a telephone book... ....usually there are a few things you need often, some things you think you never will need, but they are all there.. just in case.... and that can be mighty handy sometimes
I now view Zaar as a database to be used to help each other locate long lost family recipes, find something as close as possible in taste to the dish in your favourite restaurant, or that you had while on holiday abroad, or that you kind-of had scribbled down or memorised and can't find anywhere or to help someone with a request. Of course exact duplicates are a different kettle of fish...

I'm also changing how I arrange my Zaar cookbooks... I would like to be organised for Zaar games and easy recipe searches so will be sorting recipes into country or regional groups and also into main ingredient cookbooks (vegetables, meat, poultry, fish etc) so that they are easy to find whichever way you fancy looking.
This is a work in progress as I slowly sort out the recipes I have inherited from all and sundry so please check my cookbooks regularly as they will be evolving and growing over time

I like to browse this site, using ingredient search to pull up recipes that I maybe wouldn't have thought of before... if the ingredients are ok for me and more or less similar then I try when ever possible to go for an unreviewed (or IMHO under-reviewed) recipe above one that has zillions already.

I also will give preference to a newbie chef if all other ingredients are more or less equal, (since everyone loves a review and it's nice to get someone started) and after those criteria, if you are a chef that reviews more recipes than you post (and it's obvious that you've actually made the recipes and given an honest review) then I will be bookmarking your recipes too as a small reward for giving more than getting
I feel that that is fair since there are simply so many recipes to choose from here.

I work full time, (DH is a part-time house Papa)and last year (2002) I started to fulfill a dream, and am taking sewing classes so that I can make XS-XXXXS antique style Christening dresses for premature and terminally ill babies. As a stitcher specializing in minature embroidery I intend to slowly work on these as a lifetime passion, after all, the sad fact is that some parents will only have a photograph to take home. These littlest of souls deserve a special garment that fits, which is as beautiful as they are, and which gives their parents something to remember them by. I myself was born 3 months early, was a 1kg baby and count myself very lucky, so wanted to give something back

If you have ever asked the question why for example, the French can throw together a few simple herbs and veggies and get a far more amazing result than you can manage at home, then the answer is simple: they like to use locally grown produce, in season, that tastes of sunshine and dirt. Their tomatoes for instance, are tight skinned with various patches of red where the sun was brightest (or not), often have deep creases in them that require more cleaning and are less physically attractive than their Dutch glasshouse cousins, whose skins are perfectly round and even, sporting the stretched 'facelift' look and taste about the same as the glasshouse electic lights that they were grown under.

Since watery flavourless vegetables are on our supermarket shelves only because the public demands them out of season and for a cost that favours the supermarket and not the farmer, I strongly urge that we try to reverse this trend as people interested in good food.
Of course,it does cost extra, so only if your budget allows, I urge a return to local farmers markets and small traders who can't keep up with the vast expectations that supermarkets impose. Naturally, many buy in the supermarket becuase the practical need of feeding a family on a tight budget can only be met there, and fresh veggies from whatever source are always better than none, so I will never say that there is no place for the supermarkets, but in an ideal world... OK.. off my soapbox now LOL.

One word of warning for all: my DH is a Pasta and Tiramisu afficionado .. he never actually MAKES tiramisu mind you, and he could cook and eat plain boiled pasta 365 days of the year (sans sauce !)... but when someone else is cooking these he turns into a perfectionist and rates exceptionally critically. The pasta has to be perfection itself: definiately al dente, .. he loves sauce on it (when I make it LOL) and the balance of herbs and oils or whatever... have singing Italian arias for him before he will even consider a 5 star rating. If you are unfortunate enough to have your pasta or tiramisu chosen by me to make, please know that DH insists on rating them, and that he rates severely indeed. A 4 star rating from him is probably worth at least 7 stars by the rest of the world... and if he mutters "it's good enough" then please know that that getting any praise out of him is like getting blood out of a stone, so this counts as very very good indeed. My only secret weapon in his critical reviewing of these two types of dishes is that I am the one who actually submits the review... and will try to be fair, honest and gentle while explaining how well your recipe faired once the Maestro has finished with it. Thank you for your understanding. If you actually achieve 5 stars for your Tiramisu or Pasta dish, then it's equal to at least 20 stars in real Zaar terms, and you have a recipe that any Italian Granmother worth her garlic would crack you over the head to steal.. so shushhhhhh .. enjoy the glory ! Well done !

I'm realising more and more as the years go by that happiness is far far less to do with material stuff, and more to do with making a difference in peoples lives, sharing your little good fortunes when you can and being there when people need you.

Some things continue to amaze, amuse and confuse me: I have never figured out why an English person says that they are feeling "Poorly" when they mean they are ill... does anyone EVER say Ï'm feeling Richly"???
Of course the way that the North Americans say "Tunafish" has always been a mystery to me... is Tuna at any time anything other than fish? .. and the the best expression of all: "I'm fixing dinner"... um was it broken ???? can't I please just eat it before you break it?

Other things just make me laugh because there is no apparent rhyme or reason to them: the things you put on your feet to walk on the beach are called in the UK/Austrialia/New Zealand respectively: flip-flops, thongs, jandels... and the same for the insulated box you take camping or on a picnic = coolbox, eski, chilli bin.

The Dutch have their own bits of illogical thinking too: my Aunt is very traditional in her cooking and because meat is expensive she refuses to buy it with any fat on at all (she also told me it was healthier) ... obviously the irony was totally lost on her that she then takes it home and cooks it in 1 1/2 large blocks of butter, that (eventually) makes a wickedly devine gravy. Oh artery agony....

Or our older (English) neighbours who would stand in the driveway , waving and calling "cherrio, cherrio" to visitors when they left... I was always wondering if this meant that they were pleased to see the people leave ???

A fun aim in life: to have 365 absolutely favourite recipies for all parts of the menu so no one can complain "oh that again!"

I adopted LittleKiwiChook,Tornado Ali,MeltingPot, CookinAnnS.
(I was adoped by BunnyMom)
(I was a visitor and I made five strawberry recipes.)

My Themes were: African/Middle Eastern (3 recipes, "Finger Foods" (3 recipes) & "Party Time !!!" (6 recipes)



I adopted BobCrouch,AngelaSept,Beretta92, fs203

I was adopted by Stardustannie.


Zaar Explorers & Dirty Pan Gang.

I was adopted by Toni Gifford.

I adopted: Nana in the woods,Ingy,herby,WhoKnew?,Chef Potts,Axe,Pets'R'us,No MSG!and JMin (Newbie Nursery)







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Do you want to do some good at your computer every day? one click is all it takes... click on the pink logo to take you there...

Favorite Foods:

I like cooking most things... am allergic to mushrooms and mould so these and blue cheeses don't feature in my recipies. (exept if I make a seperate dish for DH or guests.. HE will be your reviewer, beware, he is brutally honest LOL) I admire French cooking, but in general cook very Internationally and we eat almost all veg. and meat with the exception of organ meats. Hubby loves seafood, I don't see what the fuss is about... he's welcome to the slippery beasts of the sea

Am famous for an "After Dinner Mint Slice" but only got the recipe after promising faithfully to keep it secret, so sorry, it won't be posted.

I adore making desserts and anything with chocolate, love casseroles where the meat and herbs are working magic into a really good gravy. I can live without pizza, but not without lasagna.. or fresh basil. I once bought a basil plant to put into the planter on our appartment balcony and nibbled half of it on the way home !

Worst ever cooking experience: here in The Netherlands, trying to cook a Christmas Day leg of lamb roast in the tiny benchtop "thing" that someone had the nerve to call an oven.. had Aussie friends as guests and the darned thing bearly would cook... hours and hours later we gave up on the meat and just had the vegetables for dinner... and since the darned lamb had cost us a fortune and I was determined not to throw it out, I carved it the next day (it was virtually raw) packed it in tinfoil in mintsauce and gravy and put it back for several hours.. and with all the guests gone, be darned it wasn't out of this world georgous!!!

I would like to experiment more with new cuts of meat and vegetables that I haven't had the courage to try, especially vegetarian, since I've married to the only real carnivore in a largely vegetarian family.

I'd like to inspire people around me to cook "real" meals and to enjoy fresh herbs and to treasure organic and fresh ingredients when ever they can find them.

My Favourite restaurant is not even in this country.. it's in Paris.. it's one of the last Mama and Papa sort of traditional french restaurants, definiately no nouvelle cuisine here! they also don't speak english (or even try LOL) and patrons are squashed together where ever the numbers of people fit on mixed tables, so you might, if you are lucky, find yourself sitting next to local parisians who can give you excellent recommendations of the menu. Don't even bother to ask for carbonated drinks here either, the choice is simple and exceptionally French: it's either water or wine in THIS establishment LOL. http://restaurantpolidor.info/
In The Netherlands with young children in tow, we don't tend to eat out... but if you are ever in the dutch town of Delft, I'd highly recommend this chocolaterie: De Lelie, Voorstraat 10 2611 JP Delft... WWW chocotaterie.nl , No, I don't have shares in the place or any connection with them, I just find that their chocolate (made with Belgium's imported finest) is the best on the plant that I've found so far.. (I continue searching..) If you were ever passing though, it would simply be a sin not to stop and sample some of their delights... my favourite? one called "paris" that has chocolate ganache and a toffee filling... not fo the faint of heart, but heavenly or.. OTOH hellish, because it's so hard to prise yourself out of that little shop of dietary tempations.

When I retire I might write novels.. um, well seems I started already LOL... here's my not so short view on rating recipes here on Zaar...

***********************************************
My rating system

With over one hundred thousand recipes here on Zaar and growing all the time, I wanted to define my ratings so that I could make the best use of "only" five stars. I's like to assure everyone that I try to keep as faithfully to your list of ingredients and cooking instructions as I possibly can, but that despite the onward march of globalization, not every ingredient is available where I live, so I can only guarantee to do my best.

So, as of 2005 this is the way I rate the recipes I make, I hope no one takes it personally if their recipe doesn't make the full 5 stars...

5 Stars = these recipes have to have the Wow, Wow, Wow factor. I'm saving five stars for the kind of dish you wish that there were 10 stars for... the kind of dish that you'd happily eat every day for 6 days in a row, that wouldn't be out of place coming from the kitcken of an excellent professional chef...or a more humble meal that's so popular that I'd get lynched if I didn't make it once per month (or more often) or which people ask for as a gift for their Birthday.

4 Stars = an excellent dish, but without the mega Wow factor... these are culinary delights that you'd enjoy often, but maybe not every month.
These are recipes that you "like & love" but haven't quite reached the "adore" catagory. These are recipes that are earthly delights, but seperated from the heavenly delighful ones in the five star group. Nothing wrong with any recipe that gets my four star vote, I assure you.

3 Stars = recipes where some of my human guinea pigs were wildly divided in their ratings. Personal preference is a very tricky area, the distinct taste of various herbs, spices, vegetables, meats and their combinations is something that dosn't necessarily please everyone. If I award three stars then probably your favourite flavours just didn't match our favourite tastes or not enough of us liked it over all. Maybe this something that we all enjoyed, but comes into the catagory of " would love this just several times a year" Maybe I just couldn't replicate every single ingredient and this affected the result. If any of this is the case and the votes are split then I will aways give your recipe the benifit of the doubt and go for the higher star rating of the group.. and I'll let you know details in my review.

2 Stars = for whatever reason this recipe just didn't do it for us, flavours clashed, the flavour promised didn't deliver or something just plain went wrong. If you are receiving a two star review from me that please know that if the ingredients aren't too expensive, that I tired your recipe again with a few tweeks in the hope that I could modify it to suit us better (since there obviously was something in your recipe that caught my eye in the first place. Two stars means that the second attempt didn't work out either. I would try and tell you in detail what I had a problem with, and I'd try to do that as tactfully as possible. I'd hope you wouldn't throw your rolling pin at me for it

1 Star = give us food poisioning or put us in hospital with your recipe and it receives one star in a flash. (please know I am very careful when storing/preparing/cooking food) I take the health and wellbeing of my family and friends very seriously indeed.
We will try very very hard to never have a one star review, yes? that would make both you and me very very very happy.
If my DH actually gets on the computer and awards one star, then <aggghhh> you've killed me with your cookin' and I'd appreciate a prayer.

ps) since Reviews, good, bad, indifferent are a HOT issue here, I will edit/paste a reply I made to one thread so that maybe you can think a bit about your response to any review you may get, and to how you make your next review
I believe that:

a) I am flattered that someone chose MY recipe from the thousands here to try...

b) I appreciate an HONEST review... I know that not all recipes suit all tastes, They tried it and they took the time to tell you why they didn't like it... be fair, we can't only like praise and grizzle at less than perfect reviews, please be pleased that at least they didn't give it 1 star and leave no comment at all.

c) cultural tastes differ, a combination that's adored in one country or area might taste unusual/ wierd/ odd/ disgusting to someone not used it it, some recipes and tastes take a little getting used to... if you have been eating that flavour combination since childhood you might not remember that you didn't like it at all when you were 7 but loved it by the time you were 9...

d) memory DOES play tricks... my Grans Sausage casserole I adored when I was young... It wasn't quite so well liked here in a review, now I have made it more often recently I see that yes, it is more bland than I remember... but kids like bland quite often and my Grandad was the King of Bland... so it's a great recipe for the unadventurous and for kids... it won't suit everyone else so much, the review WAS fair and true so what if it dents my pride a little

e) I don't only want to see 5 star reviews.. if that happens then you may as well throw away the rating system as it will be worthless.

I want to write an honest, fair review to avoid that something that doesn't work is clear for others... I don't want to be attacked for any of my reviews. (so far I haven't been) I don't want to 'smooth' over a lesser review either just to be 'nice 100%'of the time. Be true, be fair.

f) PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE I beg everyone, put onto your "' About Me
'page HOW YOU RATE A RECIPE... if you are tougher like I am, then it will explain a LOT to the chefs you make recipes of... people zmail me to tell how much they appreciate a 5 star review from me as I simply don't give them out much.

g) if it's obvious that someone changed major ingredients in my recipe and gave me a damning review because of it then sorry I just pretend that that review doesn't exist. Life's too short... I 'm not spending time getting wound up about it.

If I see something similar on a recipe that I am interested in/ if it looks like the reviwer never actually made the recipe... I also pay no attention to it... I judge for myself.

h) If there is REALLY a gripe about a review then refer it privately to the elves ( I have done this once for a recipe (not my own ) that I thought really got more stick than it deserved in a tone that wasn't nice ) and let the elves deal with it.

i) get on with trying and finding some excellent recipes, chalk up some of the hiccups to experience. Not every meal in your life will be without integestion sometimes.

j) Lets not make the reviewer of recipes feel like any comment made here were personally meant (they aren't) and lets not let this thread hit the Pan.

Peace, Merry Christmas and happy and constructive reviewing (12.12.2005)
----------------------------------------------

Ticked about a review you received?: contents of another thread (posted here with permission of poster)

XXXXXXXXXXXXX wrote:
I just find it a bit irritating that someone would take the time to prepare my dish and then give it stars but not tell me why or why not they like/disliked it or return the courtesy of allowing me to sample their culinary wares. Like I said, maybe the reason they are rating so low is because they can't follow a recipe.

So, in your opinion, would it be wrong to z-mail them and ask them why they gave you such a terrible review and what they did/didn't like about the reicpe? Or how it could be improved...?? I have thought about doing that, but wasn't too sure. Like I said ***MOST*** everyone here is gracious and nice and helpful when it comes to cooking.

I guess not knowing why just makes me a bit irritated.


Just my humble opinion:
the quote in Red: that's your frustration at getting such a review... your comment <<..becuase they can't follow a recipe>> indicates your frustration and is a very personal and uncalled for comment on someone who can be identified here, who might feel (rightly or wrongly) that you are attacking them...that they would have to justify themselves... in that part by making such a personal assumption, I think you are indeed violating the terms of the site and it's out of order.

Quoted in blue:

Excellent move... by all means I'd contact them, be diplomatic, as there's no need for any heated comments, something to the tune of:

"I'm sorry that you didn't seem to find one of my recipes as tasty as we do... Thanks very much for making and reviewing it anyway, and I was wondering if you might please let me know what didn't meet your expectations in this recipe so that I can perhaps use your experience to improve the recipe for others in the future."

- if their reply to this is : out of line with a rules of this site - report it to the elves privately.

- if the reply has suggestions that you can try out: try them out, maybe you will have even improved the recipe

- if you get no reply, .. well it's irritating but it's it's not an hanging offence...then take a deep breath and just chalk it up to experience and Life Carries on.. ...doesn't it??? <G>

I hope that this is a fair and honest answer ...
peace and good cookin' ...

A bit of useless information: countries I have lived in or travelled to:
Australia
Belgium
Cape Verde
England
France
Germany
Greece
Ireland (northern)
Ireland (republic)
Luxemburg
New Zealand
Portugal
Sao Tome & Principe
Scotland
Singapore
Solomon Islands
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Wales
USA- Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma.

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