Dlish.co.nz uncovers the best food and drink products New Zealand has to offer! FruitFlowers is very proud to present Andrea and her first guest blog post - its all about Easter:

Easter to me has always been about Easter eggs and hot cross buns. Growing up, we never really did the church thing much, although my parents sent me off to Sunday School so I could learn some of the meaning behind these holidays. So really for me, Easter is all about the food. And by food, I mean chocolate!

I like it when certain foods only come out at certain times of the year, especially hot cross buns for Easter and ANZAC biscuits for ANZAC Day, it makes these occasions feel special don't you think? I throw my hands up in horror (in my mind anyway), when I see hot cross buns available in the shops at the start of February. I just want hot cross buns for sale around Easter. They need to be kept special... please.

So that means that even though I can make hot cross buns at any time of the year, I would only make them at Easter.  Actually, I made them for the first time this year but I've done several batches now and they are delicious. I figure, why spend $6 for a 6-pack of hot cross buns when you can make a batch of 20 for about $3!

Who remembers this nursery rhyme? You can sing it while you bring your delicious hot cross buns out of the oven!

Click here for ingredients and directions: http://www.dlish.co.nz/blog/Chocolatey_hot_cross_buns.aspx

 Happy Easter from the FruitFlowers and Dlish Team!

Nearly 10 years ago I looked out the aeroplane window to the green jewel below,  Aoteroa, “the land of the big white cloud.”  This jewel in the South Pacific, adorned with nature’s rich harvest - a kaleidoscope of peach yellows, strawberry reds, kiwi greens; vines adorned with grapes like diamond clusters and plums like rubies.  My intrepid journey had brought me half across the world to a land literally over flowing with earth’s richest harvest which I now call home.

Forgive me for being a romantic but it’s easy to conjure up pictures of sun kissed orchards bathing lazily in the golden autumn light whilst enjoying the sweet juicy flavour of golden ripe peaches.  My love for fruit goes beyond romantic musings and so I invite you to join me on another intrepid  journey as we discover was hot and what’s not, what fact & what’s fiction.  Join me as a fledgling blogger for fun and foibles as I go in search of all that is “yummy” in the fruit garden.