'cause there's no-one here to say we can't have cake for breakfast'

  Cooking, learning, laughing, feasting.  I should have put more thought into that title....it's the name given to our monthly gathering to cook food from a chosen country, together.  This month was Lebanese, and what a feast it was! We cooked together, discussing ingredients and spice mixes. Questioning the difficulty of preparing various dishes and the search for the 'not so familiar' ingredients required. We cooked, learned, laughed, and feasted! The dishes were all amazing. We had a fantastic meal. We had no intention of choosing a favourite however...it happened. The stand out dish in terms of taste, and complexity to make - which was executed perfectly...was Reece's baklava.  If you are not familiar with baklava it is a sweet nutty dessert slice. Layers of filo pastry seperated by seams of mixed nuts and the whole thing drenched in syrup. It's delectable!   Next month we are off to Greece. Sorry Australia, no hard feelings but the crew decided you wer...

So here we are in the danger zone... Weekly posts have fallen away.  There's not much to write about when the house is quiet. We did something really different over Winter Deco A number of weeks ago three guys rung the door bell.   Can we talk to you about a private event on your roof terrace? We can talk The proposal was to have a House Party on the roof terrace. DJ's spinning decks and pumping out really loud (aweful) music to a bunch of like minded folk. This would usually be a hard No from me. But they were nice guys, pitched well, we're not busy. Why not...   We talked about how it would work, Risks. Issues. Cost. Back-up weather plan... The result was epic! We jumped in boots and all and planned for Winter Deco Saturday. 3pm - 9pm. We'll do food. The weather was rubbish so we ended up setting up in the front room. Which, for the first shot at this, was probably a better option. In summer, we'll aim for the roof terrace.   This is one of the very ...

How old is this building? It is our most frequently asked question. Quickly followed by: What was this building originally? Quick history lesson. Gleeson's Empire , corner Shakespeare and Brewster st..circa 1893 Note the back part of the building in brick, which still stands today - the front was lost in a fire.  By 1901 The New Empire Hotel was built and is the home of Toad Hall today. (We're the tall building just beyond that crazy power pole). In the 1931 earthquake , the building was damaged.  This was classed a 'fix' not a 'rebuild'. We have no idea if the following story is true or not...but who am I to let the truth get in the way of a good story! The earthquake struck at 10.47am on 3rd February 1931 (that bit's true). We don't know how many people were in the building at that time, however, legend has it that The New Empire Hotel was the first pub to be serving beer after the quake. We like to think the Barman picked himself up, dusted himself of...

For the first time in history,  Napier hosted a One New Zealand Warriors rugby league game against Brisbane Broncos . I hope this doesn't happen again. https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/league/warriors/132168068/mclean-park-pitch-invaders-may-stop-warriors-coming-back-to-napier Not a fan of Warriors fans. Being in the accommodation industry, I am usually in full support of events being hosted in Hawkes Bay, particularly in Napier, that attract visitors to our city. We sold every bed.  We've hosted for big events in the past. We actively try to have everyone in the house for the same reason as this generally means they have a common rhythm and are tolerant and respectful of each other.  We had over 40 people in the house with tickets to that game...some of them would not even have made it in the gate. If, and it is an if. the Warriors play in Napier again, I will be reluctant to host their fans. The damage inflicted on our property, the disrespect for other guests and staff ju...

Catering is coming to Toadies In another life I worked in the Business Improvement team for New Zealand Post Group. I was an administrator and training coordinator in those days, supporting Project Managers in data gathering and process mapping. Our job was to find inefficiencies and make improvement recommendations. Later I worked in the Change Management team. This involved supporting Change Project Managers as they implemented change into a process. These two area's of work have helped me in my own business. I do constantly look for ways to improve our processes. The key factor is, one problem should not be 'fixed' which creates a greater problem down the line. Which is why the whole end to end process must be mapped. One of the processes we have been looking to improve for our guests is catering. Cooking can be a challenge for our larger groups. They are busy - often not getting back to the house until evening. Helpful parent support is not what it used to be. Time and ...

  Confession time.. I thought writing the blog post after my birthday would be easy. A whole bunch of fabulous photos of my beautiful friends. A few words about how much fun it was and Bobs' ya Uncle! Well..I failed!.  The business brain in me had a justified plan. Shut down the building, have only our friends staying to play, loud and long, without the risk of disturbing paying guests.  In my head, I would gain pics of my beautiful friends - they are all beautiful - showcasing the spaces while they had a great time. These could be used to promote Toad Hall for private functions. A whole stay and play campaign.  Complete fail! I have a civilized group photo of the earlier arriving guests...never got a pic of everyone. Had planned to have pre dinner drinks on the roof terrace but never made it past the courtyard. Took a few pics in the front room...terrible ones that can't be used for advertising. - No-one wants to see me pretending to drain a tequila bottle while my ...

 Did you miss me?  Last Tuesday was Anzac Day. We do dawn service.  In fact 28 folk from Toadies went up to Marine Parade for dawn service. Kings College were here. The wine makers - all being internationals - came up to see what happens. We had a busy breakfast service when we all got back. We hosted King's College U17 boys football team for two nights. They were a flurry of activity in a very quiet fortnight.  The pool table got used a lot.  Jacob called it - 'They won't eat much, they're footballers.'  How is that a thing?  But he was right. 100 Anzac cookies was enough. I have had discussions with two suppliers about rate increases.  Seriously, where is the customer service when they gave me a bit of paper to  sign stating they wouldn't put the rates up and then I have to prove that!! Twice! 100 years ago when I was super green in business - I'm more olive coloured now - we requested some work to be done. (I'm going to stay vague about th...

 This week has been a mix of ground hog day,  thought provoking conversations  and a really odd comment... Ok, let's start with the odd comment...those following on facebook will already know about the couple that inspected the Toadie Room and deemed it to be  "This is not flash enough to bring the Very wealthy people we are meeting." For context, this was not a 'one off' statement. He seemed a little fixated on telling me the people they were meeting were VERY wealthy. So after the fourth time telling me this, I physically bit my lip. Over wine we have gone through all the imaginary scenario's as to WHY would someone book a shared house and consider the bedroom to be where they entertained VERY Wealthy people. After the 3rd glass you can imagine where our imagination went. This has got to be a Tinder hook up! We actually have no idea what this couple were planning or why they were meeting VERY wealthy people. Or why it had to happen where they were staying in...

Use the bread maker and have a couple of wines while you wait for the dough...in my experience this is the key to great Easter buns! Add to the bread maker pan, in this order: 350ml water 1 egg - break it up a bit 2Tblp oil (not olive. I use canolla) 1 tsp salt 2 Tblsp sugar 4 cups flour 3 Tblsp milk powder 1 tsp bread improver 2¼ yeast 1 Tblsp cinnamon 1 Tblsp mixed spice Set bread maker to dough. After a bit, or when it beeps, add 1 cup sultanas ¼ cup mixed peel When dough is done, remove it from the bread maker pan and put in a glass bowl. Have another glass of wine. This resting period is important but if you leave it in the bread maker it can get messy! Mix to a paste: 2 Tblsp water ¼ cup flour Divide your dough into about 18 buns and arrange on a baking tray. Let them rest for 15 mins. With the paste in an icing bag, paint the crosses onto each bun. Take creative license with this, happy faces and spirals are fun! Bake in oven at 190° for 15-20 mins. Let them rest before serving ...

Easter Break Regardless of what it means to you in terms of Pagan Festival, Christian remembrance, or just the kids being home from school, in this business it means domestic guests have four days to travel We had a great Easter with most of our guests here for the Mission Estates , Rod Stewart concert. It is an opportunity for us to attract domestic customers away from the motel industry. Many of our guests had not stayed in a shared house model of accommodation before. I think we did pretty well! I baked hundreds of hot cross buns. They are easy to make and soooo much better than store bought. If you have a bread maker, most of the work is done while you sip wine. (oh, that was me). This may have been why some of the crosses on my hot cross buns got all creative into swirls and happy faces. I planned to make Sunday morning breakfast the main event for Easter. I have a very clever and crafty mother - and I know she reads this - so Hi Mum and a very big thank you! Mum sent me some of ...

 The almond extract can be left out. I swapped it out for maple syrup. This icing is really easy to make and work with. My new go-to! I used the marzipan to create the eggs and this slightly disturbing looking rabbit! 1¾ cups ground almonds 1 cup caster sugar ¼ cup honey 2 Tblsp water 1 tsp pure almond extract (optional) Put the ground almonds into a food processor. Put sugar, honey and water in a pot and melt the sugar. Pour the hot sugar mix into the processor while it's spinning. Add the extract or whatever flavour you choose. Mix to a smooth, thick paste. Lay a large piece of plastic wrap on the bench and pour the paste on to it. Wrap to a disk shape and leave it to firm up. Once it's cool and firm you can shape and roll out as you wish.

 Get the cake mixer out - it takes ages to get the consistency right. My first batch was done with a hand held electric beater and my arm got bored before it was done. That resulted in a failed batch! 1 cup caster sugar ½ cup water 1½ tspn gelatine food colouring - go bold! 1 tspn lemon juice or vinegar - you don't taste these so either will do.  Use a little hot water to melt the gelatine to a thin paste. Put sugar and water in a pot and bring to boil - so sugar melts. Add dissolved gelatine and whisk in while bringing back to the boil. Pour mix into cake mixer bowl. Add food colouring if you're using it. Add juice or vinegar. Beat for what will seem like ages. Until it's light and fluffy. I then spooned drops onto a baking tray. When set, I dipped them in chocolate.

Make the marzipan first, so you can add the rolled balls into the middle of the loaf. I;m not a fan of marzipan so I flavoured it with maple syrup instead of almond.  170g butter 170g light muscovado sugar 1 Tblsp grated orange zest ½ teaspoon each of mixed spice and ginger Beat these together until light and fluffy 3 eggs Add eggs, one at a time 170g flour 85g ground almonds 2 tsp baking powder 120g raisins 120g sultanas 120g dried apricots - chopped 50g mixed peel 75g glazed cherries Combine the flour and fruits together and ensure all are well coated Add to the butter mix Add brandy Mix well 2 Tblsp brandy 120g marzipan (see receipe) Double line a loaf tin Pre-heat oven to 150°C Spoon half of the mixture into the loaf tin. Place two rows of five marzipan balls into the tin. Top with the remaining mixture. Bake for 1¼ hours or until skewer comes out clean. Leave in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

In the beginning....  It was a German teacher, Richard Schirrmann, that came up with the idea of hostel accommodation. He used a school that had closed for the holidays and took city kids into nature for some fresh air. Everyone pitched in to help with meals and cleaning. Cora Wilding It was Cora Wilding that bought the concept to New Zealand in 1932. Membership was mostly through established tramping clubs. By 1935 there were 27 established YHA hostels in New Zealand. (Youth Hostel Association) Over the 20 or so years I have been involved in accommodation - OMG has it been that long?- I've seen some changes. Our booking system used to be on paper. Yip, a huge grid of rooms, pencils and erasers were our tools. No on-line booking or recording system. Beds came with a bottom sheet and pillow.  That was it. You could pay extra for linen but hardly anyone did. We didn't carry phones, let alone smart phones back then - OMG I sound old! But this is all only in the past 20 years...

All reviews quoted in this article are real,  from guests that stayed at Toad Hall. They are all published and available to the public, though for the purpose of this article I have omitted names, or changed them.... Cause there are Karen's and Brian's in this world. Names marked with * are made up names. This week I had a discussion about how to calculate a review score. The discussion came about after Gareth, me and Jo shared an Uber to Reece and Dayna's housewarming gathering. Congratulations guys. Great house! Great night! Party bound Uber - Little lolly baskets and every type of charging cord ever invented for passenger use. Friendly guy. Safe driver. So...Gareth is offered via the app, to give a 'score'. In this case it's from 1 - 5 with 5 being super awesome and 1 being rubbish. Gareth didn't consult Jo and I, totally confident hitting the 5. Home bound Uber - Not so friendly. Got us home. G-force experience from the back seat, not so pleasant. What ...