I am sure there are a few who enjoy watching the expert television cooks - Annabel Langbein, Nigella, Jo Seagar, Jaime Oliver etc. Even if  "mmmmm, it's perfect" is a bit tiresome when you know it probably won't be when you cook it.

Jo Seagar, who latest book is "It's Easier Than You Think", has a great sense of humour. Not everything goes perfectly....have a look

We now have T shirts on Kiwigiftsonline

Even Grannies and Aunts can give T shirts. Especially when Kiwigiftsonline will swap them for a different size if they are the wrong size.

T shirts - often those sold in New Zealand as 'New Zealand T Shirts' are made in China, Indonesian, Thailand, Madagascar and goodness knows where. Ours are made in New Zealand.

I sourcing our T shirts, I learnt a lot. Surely even a T shirts factory must, in some small way, help the New Zealand economy and employment better than using an overseas factory. But there is quite a lot more to it all. The few companies in New Zealand making T shirts are Survivors, and they are survivors because they make really good quality products and use the best material.

100% cotton from sustainable sources (like the one above), kids' T shirts in merino - soft thin and magnificent to wear. Or the best kept secret for winter warmth - thermadry. We are anticipating that Auntie may be buying for herself, not just her relations. More T shirts will be coming online in the next few months.

Keep looking
Dione
Kiwigiftsonline.co.nz

Is the Royal Wedding killing bees in New Zealand?

NZ Herald reported yesterday that Kate Middleton may be using the latest in beauty therapy, a Bee Venom Mask. Touted as an alternative to botox, the cream has supposedly been used by Camilla, and celebrities such as Dannii Minogue and Michelle Pfeiffer. The beauty therapist whose cream they use sources the bee venom from organic hives in New Zealand. To collect the venom, a pane of glass is placed alongside the hive and an electrical curent encourages the bees to sting the glass. The venom is then diluted to just 1 per cent of the cream, but the recipient still feels a tingling, stinging sensation which stimulates the production of collagen and elastin.

But wait! Don't bees die after they sting? This is well known.

It's OK. Relax. Nowadays the bees who contribute their venom by stinging the pane of glass do not die. In fact it is important that they don't as it can affect the quality of the venom. They only die if they lose their 'stinger' which is what happens when they sting, say, a person. But this doesn't happen when they sting the glass.

So the royal guests, if not Kate herself, can rest assured the cream is OK to use. We don't list it on Kiwigiftsonline, but maybe we should. A 50ml jar evidently costs over $100.

Enjoy the Royal Wedding.

Dione

Safe online shopping

There was an article in the NZ Herlad this morning about how popular internet shopping is becoming. Customers tend to shop around before they visit the shops, and often return empty handed because they know they can get what they want online.

One of the biggest discentives, particularly with the older generation, is giving your credit card number over the interest. How many hackers will be able to access your card?

Safety precautions to prevent this are now pretty solid. For instance, at Kiwigiftsonline, we cannot ever get access to a customer's credit card number. This part is all done by another specialist company linked to the Bank. So in fact this is safer than handing over your credit card in a shop. One word of warning however - make sure that when you type in your credit card online, the website address has changed from 'http' to 'https'. The 's' shows the site is safe, and the address normally changes when you go the checkout.

Happy online shopping

Dione

Kiwigiftsonline.co.nz

Up and away

Balloons over Waikato is a festival which takes place each year. This year it was at the beginning of April. Each morning the 31 balloons entered are inflated at Innes Common, Hamilton soon after dawn. Fantastic sight.

The first hot air balloon which carried passengers was launched in Septemebr 1783. The passengers were a duck, a sheep and a rooster. Within two month the first manned untethered balloon ride was made. The heat was generated by a fire of straw, kindling and rotton meat: although the balloon finally caught on fire the pilot had achieved his aim. Balloons were used in warfare from 1874 to 1945 as trasnfport, surveying and communication. Their biggest advantage was that they made no noise.

The altitude record for a hot air balloon is 65,000 feet set by Per Lindstrand in 1988. He was also the first to fly the Pacific when he flew with Richard Branson from Japan to Canada in 1991, at times reaching speeds of 245mph.

"There's something in a flying horse,
There's something in a huge balloon" - Williams Wordsworth in 'Peter Bell'

We will work on the flying horse another time.

Meanwhile Easter if not far away. Sending Easter Eggs by mail in dodgy as they can so easily break. But these Queen Anne Easter Eggs are less fragile. They are filled with dense delicious marshmallow and a big enough for the hungriest appetite.

Enjoy Easter.

Dione
Kiwigiftsonline

Christchurch Oh No

Oh, no, not again, Christchurch and so much worse this time.

The number of people killed is horrendous, especially for a country will a small population like New Zealand. Most New Zealanders have friends or family in or around Christchurch. We all feel for the loss of life, the loss and extensive samage of property and heritage, and the loss of trust in a place which always has a feeling of such security and permanence.

The emergency services were fantastic. Maybe they did have a dress rehearsal last September with the first 'quake, but they put it to good use. Fire Service, Police, Armed Forces, Civil Defence, the many Government Departments, Red Cross, Salvation Army and many commercial companies were just so quick to react, and reacted so efficiently.

Our sympathy goes to those who have lost so much, and our thanks to those from New Zealand and overseas who worked so hard to help during this first traumatic week.

New Year Quiz 2011

We hope you enjoyed Christmas whether there was snow or sun. To get 2011 under way we thought we would set a bit of a quiz. Good for a party and some good discussion. No apologies for a few of the questions being kiwi-orientated, anything to help kiwis get ahead.......



Kiwigiftsonline New Year quiz 2011.



Best wishes for a peaceful and prosperous year ahead.