Chennoah Walford (Tauranga Girls' College) and Claire Gourley (Bethlehem College) were named as the runners-up to the TrustPower Youth Community Spirit Award.

The Gourley Girls did really well at the Tauranga Trustpower Community Awards: Both my aunty and I won awards!!

Aunty Anne  won Health and Well Being Runner Up for her stunning work on the Let’s get Growing project! It is a community project where people have ‘plots’ and garden together – a really cool idea and the gardeners all learn form each other.

I won the Youth Community Spirit Award – Runner Up for my work mentoring junior girls at school, coaching sport and inspiring kids to cook.

Anne Gourley is awarded Health and Well Being, Runner up, for the Let's Get Growing Community Garden Project.

I am a total sushi fan!! My favourite meal on the run is a plate of sushi.  Actually I love everything about sushi – the taste,  how it is good for me, and how its nice to eat with friends.

Usually I just buy it but today is school holidays and I have plenty of time. It’s also my Dad’s birthday,  so I have decided to make a whole lot. We are having a veritable feast with fresh salmon, teriyaki chicken, sesame beef, with lashings of vegetables – carrots, avocado, cucumber and peppers. All wrapped up in the yummy seaweed with squirt of  soy sauce and a dab of wasabi.  If all goes to plan I might put this in my next cookbook!

If you haven’t tried sushi very often – get into it – it’s one of those foods you can eat quite a bit of ‘cos it is so good for you! No guilt attached!!! hahaha – my sort of food.

ahah – this is in the latest edition of NZ Womans Weekly …

Last year I was judge and I am doing it again this year… I just thought you’d like to hear some of the things I think you need to consider…

Coming up… I’m going to blog about things to help you get ready

• hints for seniors – using different meat cookery skills for different cuts
• hints for juniors – using mince
• seasonings – every year the judges comment on a lack of seasoning…
• tips to avoid stress city – hints for cooking under pressure
• presentation and garnishing
• flavour combinations
• working methods for safety – check out my you Tube on Things you need to know so your food wont kill you
• balancing your burger to make it a nutritional goldmine

Our book Who’s Cooking Tonight? won the Non-fiction Children’s Choice Award  in the 2011 NZ Post Children’s Book Awards.

This was amidst tough competition from some of our literary ‘giants’ – so for cook book to have managed this amidst some very creative novels we are totally over-the-moon. Food and nutrition can obviously appeal to kids if well presented. I was even gob-smacked to make it to the finals in the first place!

To win the Children’s Choice is amazing because lots of kids like what we have done  enough to vote for it– but that is what it is all about  -  I know if you  don’t like it you won’t take any notice of it. So THANKS…

A BIG thanks to all of you who voted for my book Who’s Cooking Tonight? in the Readers Choice section of the NZ Post Children’s Book Awards. Voting closed yesterday and I am thrilled to say that I had 41% of the vote – my closest rival was on 20% – so looking good – BUT they still have to count all the votes from booksellers and libraries so fingers crossed I can hold that lead!!!

The results are announced at the Awards ceremony on the 18 May – so will find out how I got on in the non-fiction section then too…

THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR VOTE!!

Last week I was in Wellington for filming on Good Morning to show some easy recipes kids can make form Who’s Cooking Tonight? … apart from when I said I  like to chop it in, chuck it up ( when I meant chop it up chuck it in???!!!) the interview went well – have a look at how I  make my honey roasted beef and vegie salad – it is so so yummy!

Voting for the Children’s Choice Award in the NZ Children’s Post Book awards is going well – you can either vote on line (follow that little kiwi you can see next to my picture on this screen) or you can vote at your local library or bookstore…  I got a bit excited when I saw my book on the stand at the bookshop at Wellington Airport yesterday!! A big thanks if you have already voted or ‘please get on to it’ if you haven’t !!?!

Below is a cool review from one of my readers from Suunybrae Normal Primary School – thanks a heap Keanu!!

I had a really good chat with the breakfast team when I was interviewed this week on Breakfast TV. I took in some of my bacon and egg pie and some berry cupcakes (both recipes in the book) which were pretty popular with the crew! My book has been named as a finalist in the NZ Post Children’s Book Awards and the fact that I am so young and that is the first time a cookbook has got this far was what they focussed on.  Please remember to vote for the book because I am really keen to get votes in the readers choice award – at the moment I am battling it out with a book on sheep and another on dogs!! Can’t have a that – Please vote!!  Click on image and you will see me grovel to get votes and explain to Coran what the book is about!!