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AUT UniPrep 2024 was an experience!

My Teaching Assistant (TA) role at AUT UniPrep24 officially ended last week, but the memories, experiences, and friendships will live on!UniPrep24 made many people better, especially my whānau group Māhutonga (which means Southern Cross in Māori) who demonstrated resilience, determination, commitment and aroha for one another. Many came to the summer program uncertain of their purpose and where they were heading but the 4-week course provided opportunities for self-discovery and opened new wo...

2023 in review!

2023 was not only a busy year but a year of donating to others, personal accomplishments, family milestones, hard work and finishing tasks that will make certain that we (me and mine) will enter 2024 and hit the ground running!From donating to Wesley Relief after the Anniversary Weekend floods in January to donating First Kai meal kits to students via the AUTSA, buying and donating a coffee machine to a family member's cafe in Tonga, and helping victims of a fire that destroyed several houses pa...

Mum's Tou'kutu (Coconut Bread)

Woke up this morning dreading the breakfast that keeps disappointing me - porridge! Either I am bad at cooking it or the porridge is not made of the stuff that mum cooked so easily and I enjoyed with blue top milk and white sugar! Mine is always lumpy and tastes bland even with a little soy milk and sugar sweetener (yes this is my mum's combo now). But have no fear mum's tou'kutu or coconut bread is here! Made with bananas, self-raising flour, coconut cream, coconut flakes, butter, sugar, milk a...

Donated First Kai kits to AUTSA Tautoko

In 2020, I envisioned Lelei 'o Tonga would start selling First Kai kits on the market and offer something new and unique in the booming meal-kit delivery service during the COVID-19 lockdown led by popular brands My Food Bag and HelloFresh. Fast forward three years, multiple lockdowns and vaccinations the honeymoon period for meal-kits is over - everyone is free to eat out where and when they please and not confined to their homes. And if they can't leave their homes, they have the popular food ...

I miss one of my all-time favorites...

The older I get the more I reflect on the past and the more I realise that the good times I enjoyed growing up had something to do with food. My nana Ána was always keen to make something for all of the grandkids and her famous puteni (pudding) was a winner every time! It was a take on steamed pudding but the mixture was wrapped in a piece of cloth (which my mum recently found after all these years!), tied and boiled in a pot. I had the pleasure of assisting her with mixing and measuring the nu...

When dinner is something sweet!

Winter is really making me think so hard about what I really WANT to eat and there are not many gems as delicious as pani keke! These sweet morsels are perfect with a hot milo but if you're not sweet enough, add some strawberry jam and you're in heaven! Made simply with flour, bananas and sugar the batter is formed into palm-sized balls and deep-fried until golden brown. You could get a dozen for $7 but they used to give us extras because we were regulars.I miss the Samoan mother-son duo who use...

Humble breakfast

Nothing like topai for breakfast!Poached balls of flour and dry coconut drenched in a sweet lemony sauce is great for winter mornings! Soul food like this is always best eaten fresh and hot off the stove and especially enjoyed with others. It's a nice change from the usual three weetbix and soy milk or toast covered in butter and marmite. Furthermore, if you're like me I like a warm lemon drink in the morning and topai gives you a second dose of lemon when mum uses leaves from the lemon tree - h...

Winter is here!

Ötai is a favourite summer drink for Tongans. Fresh watermelon, grated and mixed with fresh coconut milk has been a Tongan staple for a very long time. And recently I entered the otai drink in a competition for aspiring entrepreneurs and fortunately was one of the winners! The judges loved its story and unique pacific quality which could find a small niche in the massive drinks market in New Zealand. I'm glad that the judges liked my idea, it's always humbling to get great feedback and advice o...

It's not how you start but how you finish

It's tough studying full-time and trying to launch a start-up but I'm committed! Energy levels are down but stress level is low. Happy after saying goodbye to a paper after finishing the last assessment this evening. So this weekend I'll spend some time on the start-up especially trying to connect with a few Pacific Island groups who might be interested in supporting my First Kai meal kit. Also would like to think about how I can provide a meal kit that young children and teenagers, the elderly ...

Keep on movin', don't stop!

The beauty of Pacific cuisine is that virtually all dishes are summer dishes because there's no such thing as a cold winter in the tropics. However, some dishes could be considered winter dishes such as Pacific-style curry or sapa sui - an Asian-influenced noodle dish. Soups are also very common not only for quick tasty meals but also hot meals to warm the soul such as loloi' ika (boiled fish and coconut cream) and pi supo (corned beef soup). Not only are these dishes great for winter, but ...

Life is short, play...with a plan!

Had a sudden burst of energy​ tonight after a fruitless day and finally signed up to create a Rocket Spark business website and blog...for a second time! I have more time and commitment this time around, especially for creating a blog -  despite having no idea how to write a blog post! Was also able to find a potential venue for the planned First Kai meal-kit tasting to be held in late June! So, it's slow progress but progress, nevertheless.Yeah, I know you're wondering what is he doing c...