New Zealand, being in the Southern Hemisphere, has a few things backward, especially their seasons. When July and August hit, instead of being outside on patios enjoying hot sunshiney days, camping with friends and family and having yum bbq's, the Kiwis are inside huddled around the fire trying to keep warm (or, in my case, snuggled up with a hot water bottle). And then, when the rest of the world is cozy inside with hot cocoa, warm pajamas and slippers, sweetly anticipating the Christmas festivities to come in December, the Kiwis are in shorts, t-shirts, jandals (their word for flipflops) and drinking beer on patios. Although I cannot see how it could fit at all, they sing Christmas Carols about sledding in snow and wearing winter jackets outside. How wonderfully bizarre!
One local woman, originally from Germany, found this Kiwi tradition to be too far from her home traditions, and decided to make a change. She introduced the Mid-Winter Christmas Market to the city of Tauranga held at the Historic Village. This gives citizens a chance to appreciate and enjoy the cold weather, bundled up in scarves and toques (the Canadian word for hat or beanie), sipping on mulled wine or cider, purchasing unique crafts as gifts for loved ones and singing along to Christmas Carols. This year boosted wonderful foam snow flakes being blown throughout the village, heaps of activities for the kids to do and oodles and oodles of yum food to purchase!
This year I was lucky enough to attend the Mid-Winter Christmas Market as a Mobile Posh Nosh staff member, happily handing out Spiral Fries to the eager attendees. Mobile Posh Nosh is acquainted with Food By Design, a fantastic catering company owned by my good friend, Terri.
We had a fantastic time spiraling our potatoes onto the sticks, frying them up and dipping them in one of the delicious, locally-made sauces. Spiral Fries were a great hit, with many customers searching around the entire village just to try one. You can guarantee that come this summer, you'll be seeing much more of Mobile Posh Nosh's unique yum treats!!