Annemarie Quill
When I had my first baby, I had only been in New Zealand two months.
She was just a week old when I found myself slumped on the kitchen floor, back against the washing machine, sobbing down the crackling cable to the Northern Hemisphere.
It was not a case of the baby blues. But the washing line blues.
"They don't have clothes dryers here. They hang their washing on clothes lines."
Hearing of this atrocity, my friend recommended a commercial dryer from the US.
It sailed its merry way to Harvey Norman. Eleven years on and two more children, it is still spinning hot air. I have never had to resort to a clothes line. Alleluia.
Some call this lazy. I call it practical. When it comes to domesticity, I am all for convenience. It saves money in the long run. Unlike our 50s counterparts, today's mother is still busy, but doesn't have to spend time locked in the monotony of daily chores.
While shows like Masterchef and My Kitchen Rules have made cooking a national obsession, in reality, who gets home from work to create a three-course menu of carpaccio, crayfish ravioli and creme brulee?
Anything that makes mundane meal preparation easier gets a tick from me.
Bags of pre-cubed cheese, washed potatoes, cake mixes and ready-made garden salads all scream "buy me".
Taking one more step for womankind is the pre-boiled egg.
Described as an evolution by Levin-based Delicato, it was reported this week by the New Zealand Herald that half-dozen packs of preboiled eggs are available in Auckland and Wellington supermarkets. No doubt soon they will bubble over to Tauranga.
The packs cost $7.49 - a $3.50 mark-up on fresh eggs. An extra 60 cents per egg to save the hassle of boiling an egg - who will pay?
It is not a bad mark-up when you think that an egg takes 10 minutes to hard boil. If a person is even just on minimum wage of $14.25, that 10 minutes of life is worth $2.38. If that person eats a boiled egg every day, buys it pre-boiled and works that extra 10 minutes, they would make an extra $16.67 a week, which is around $867 a year.
In the Herald's report, Home Economics and Technology Teachers' Association of NZ president Prue Rehu described pre-boiled eggs as: "Sad. Is this where we are heading now, where everything is done for us?" I hope so.
Or at least to have the option for those occasions when you are really time poor.
People like Prue might worry we are missing out on the delights and skills of cooking. But standing next to a pot watching an egg boil hardly makes you Simon Gault.
In reality you are missing out on nothing by buying eggs preboiled. What's more, a boiled egg is a healthy high protein option to stick in lunch boxes.
When some kids go to school on a pack of Cheezels, for the same price or less a pre-boiled egg is a better option.
While the Kiwi love affair with takeaway dining continues, many convenient options such as takeaways can be high in fat or sugar.
Paymark figures show the Bay experienced an 8.7 per cent increase in transactions in October compared with the same month in 2013 with strong growth in spending in takeaway outlets.
But takeaway eating doesn't have to be frozen coke and fries. The good news in the Bay for those who favour easy dining for all the family is the surge in outdoor dining experiences.
Last week, the inaugural Dinner on the Domain kicked off in Papamoa Domain. Hundreds turned out for this new dining experience with 30 different food options with everything from gourmet burgers, raw desserts, Asian dumplings, smoothies, Hungarian fried bread, Mexican, vegetarian, Dutch fries, pork buns, barbecue, tacos and paella to crepes, fudge and ice cream.
There is more than enough for a different taste each week - it is on every Thursday night until March.
And, soon on Fridays, the Gourmet Night Markets return in the Mount - another varied dining experience. It was such a popular community event that this month it was named a finalist in the 2014 NZI National Sustainable Business Network Awards in the Community Impact award. The winners will be announced at a swanky do on Auckland's waterfront next week. High-five the Bay for leading the way in convenient eating.
Dinner in the Domain - brainchild of Little Big Markets Rachelle and Chris Duffy, and Kim Renshaw's Gourmet Night Markets are not only fabulous additions to the Bay dining experience but another step in putting the Bay on the map.
Both venues sum up for me how eating should be. Just pleasure.
No preparation. No washing up. Affordable - in fact you wouldn't be able to make the food for much less. And all against the backdrop of our stunning Papamoa and Mount beaches.
How convenient.
I'm loving it.
- Anne-Marie Quill is a journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times
'We will take the [lessons] from this and fast-track more of the same.'