I never thought I’d reach the dizzy heights of domesticity when I would rustle up a tray of muffins for visitors for morning coffee without a moments thought.  But today was a special day as I had a visitor – a friend of a friend who has recently moved close by.  Keen to make her as welcome as possible I delved into my Nigella muffin repetoire and ginger muffins fitted the bill.

It’s always a nervous moment when a stranger comes a calling but I was pretty confident that I’d be meeting someone very nice.  My friends have a discerning taste in friends you see!  I wasn’t disappointed and really enjoyed meeting Sue.  She,  her husband and two offspring moved to New Zealand arriving in April this year.  They are seasoned expats having lived overseas for many years but I took that the move to New Zealand was a new level of adventure for them. They sound like they’ve settled into their new home quickly and making lots of friends.

I so love hearing about other people’s emigration stories.

I also love to hear about other people’s baking failures.  Sue and I bonded over failing to make Mary Berry’s Lemon Drizzle Cake work here in New Zealand.  I thought it was only me that could fail to make a legendary fool proof cake recipe – I’m blaming the effects of the southern hemisphere now.  No worries though with my muffins which are the most batter like consistency than any other muffin I make.  So much so it takes a ladle to fill the muffin cases.

You’d think that such a runny batter would never create a cake.  But it does, very moist muffins which fill the house with wonderful smells of ginger.  Perfect for masking those wet basset smells!

My guest brought me a wonderful package though – beautifully wrapped.  Mental note to be more imaginative with my baking wrapping in future.

And inside were some wonderful sweet delights. I admit I couldn’t help myself this afternoon as I sat on the veranda soaking up the winter sun for a few minutes after getting back from the basset walk.

One thing is for sure I could get used to this coffee morning routine.  I know the kiwis advocate for morning tea but there is something very homely about the British tradition of coffee mornings when ladies get together to talk.  Maybe that’s a new regime I should institute when I’m back from my big trip.  I like the thought of it being a perfect excuse of seeing friends.  If we added a baking component that would make it all the more exciting.

Having made the most of some down time this morning it was back to the grindstone this afternoon.  It’s going to be a bit full on for the rest of the week so I’ll be grabbing a coffee to run between appointments.  With the high concentration of coffee houses here in Wellington though there is always plenty of opportunity to grab an immediate caffeine hit. I won’t need to worry about the low sugar moments either as I’ll sneak one of Sue’s shortcake fingers into my backpack to keep me going.

Lots to report on around the house and some more disasters on a basset walk.  But all that’s going to have to wait for blogging later this week.