Saturday Morning With Jack Tame

Golden syrup & sourdough tart  There’s no other way to describe it, this tart is dead dreamy!  Makes one 20cm tart / serves 4-6  1 sheet sweet short pastry  Filling 2 medium eggs 50mls cream 1 teaspoon sea salt  350g golden syrup  70g butter, melted ½ cup sourdough crumbs 1 tablespoon lemon juice + 1 tsp zest  Ice cream or crème fraiche (or both!), to serve Heat oven to 180 C. Roll the pastry into a 5 mm thick disc to fit your tin. I used a 20 cm tin but you’d get away with a slightly larger, less deep one. Press the pastry firmly into the base of the tin and prick all over with a fork. Rest and chill in the freezer for 15 minutes  Next, blind bake the tart shell. Line the pastry case with baking paper and fill with dried beans or rice – fill it right to the top. Bake for 20 minutes, carefully remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 10-12 minutes, until golden. Cool. Make the filling by lightly whisking the eggs, cream and salt in a bowl.  Add golden syrup to the melted butter and mix to combine

Kevin Milne's been looking at a new quiz that suggests career changes to those who've lost their job thanks to COVID.Keen to hear what the suggestions were?Listen to the audio aboveSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This morning we’re making history together. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time a nationwide show has been broadcast in New Zealand, from within managed isolation. Hopefully the technology holds. Hopefully my tests come back negative. But if you hear a bang on the door in the background...it might be my breakfast.  You don’t find out where you’ll be quarantining until the plane hits the tarmac in New Zealand. A policeman is the first person down the air bridge. He takes the microphone at the front of the cabin.  “Hi everyone, welcome back to New Zealand. On behalf of the New Zealand Government I’m in charge of organising your transportation to a Managed Isolation Facility. Today, we’re taking you to Hamilton.”  Bugger. Nothing against the Tron… but after schlepping across the states, and 13 hours over the Pacific, no one’s terribly keen for a bus trip.  Before we passed through customs, we were screened by a nurse. You know the little arrival cards where they ask if you’ve got fruit or veggies

Donald Trump may have lost the US presidency, but Jack Tame watched on in Washington, as 70 million people still voted for another four years of Trump presidency.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If I could charge a dollar for every question I answer on talkback radio concerning spittlebugs and passionvine hoppers, I’d be retired and lying on a beach in the Bahamas – or perhaps more likely in Namibia or Amazonia, the high desert of Arizona. Characteristic patches of bubbles up (spittle) and down the stems of lavender, Coprosma and a heap of other host plants. Many of these are caused by the so-called meadow spittle bug (an exotic species from Europe. We have about 15 species in NZ - many native – few introduced ones. Most gardeners in southern regions will know these frothy bubble-houses and most gardeners think they are “disgusting”. I reckon they’re a marvel of engineering! The larval critters suck sap/fluids from the plant, excrete this through their bottom and add some glue-y excretion from a gland on the abdomen. Then they use their abdominal contractions as a “bellows” and pump air into the watery mixture, causing fine and coarse bubbles to form. Try that in the bath, next time!  When you wipe a

Back in 3500 BCE, the Ancient Egyptians used baking soda as a cleaning agent and to dry out bodies for the process of mummification. Also known as sodium bicarbonate, it's actually a salt. Go ahead and try it; you’ll find that it tastes like a milder version of the salt in your shaker. It is slightly alkaline (the opposite of acidic), which is key to understanding why it’s such a good cleaner.  Keep your fridge smelling nice: Baking soda absorbs odors, so just leave a box of it in your fridge. That’s because most odors are acidic and, because baking soda is alkaline, it reacts with the acids in the air to neutralize them.  Unclog your drains: Baking soda reacts with vinegar, and this acid-base reaction is the reason baking soda and vinegar are cleaning partners in crime. The baking soda and vinegar volcano might be a science-fair classic, but that same explosive chemical reaction can do wonders in your kitchen or bathroom. Pouring baking soda and vinegar down a drain can unclog it; slathering a baking soda pa

Pink Icing BunsAfter the week we’ve had (all that US politics!!) I feel like we need something absolutely frivolous and fun and these cream and jam-filled finger buns do the trick!Makes 14-16Buns100mls milk50g butter1 heaped tablespoon caster sugar1 medium egg, lightly beaten2 tsps instant yeast250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting250g high grade flour175mls tepid water½ tbsp sunflower oil Icing1 ½ cup icing sugar1 tsp raspberry juice2 tbsps waterCoconut for sprinklingFilling300mls cream, whipped¼ cup raspberry jam Warm half the milk and butter together until butter is melted. Whisk in egg and sugar and remaining milk. Sprinkle over yeast and allow to sit for 5 minutes.Sift the flours into a bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in the milk/yeast mixture and 100mls of the water. Stir with a wooden spoon until you have a scraggy dough, adding more water as you go, to get a soft, sticky dough. You may or may not need all of  the water.Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 mins. Cover loosel

Most of us know plenty about Annabel Langbein’s professional life. More than 30 cookbooks down, including the wildly successful Annabel Langbein: The Free Range Cook, her recipes are staples in Kiwi kitchens.But there’s a huge amount more to her story than that - from living as a Maoist hippie to possum trapping for a living. She’s written about her adventures - with some recipes thrown in for good measure - in a new book “Bella, my life in food”. Langbein joined Jack Tame to discuss her former wild side!LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the borders closed, Mike Yardley has been getting out and about and travelling a little closer to home, seeing what New Zealand has to offer.He joined Jack Tame to talk about his latest trip to Great Lake Taupō, exploring the mountain biking tracks, trails around Huka Falls, the Wairakei Thermal Terraces  and discovering the best eats around. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Roadkill: a British four-part television political thriller starring Hugh Laurie as a self-made, forceful and charismatic politician positioned in the cabinet as Minister for Transport whose public and private life seems to be falling apart – or rather is being picked apart by his enemies (TVNZ OnDemand, from 9 November).A Suitable Boy: based on the novel by Vikram Seth, A Suitable Boy is a vast, panoramic tale charting the fortunes of four large families, exploring India and its rich and varied culture at a crucial point in its history (Netflix).The South Westerlies: A lighthearted drama about a town in the south west of Ireland that is earmarked for a Norwegian-owned offshore wind farm, and the woman who is tasked by her company NorskVentus to go undercover and quash local objections (Acorn TV).LISTEN ABOVE TO TARA WARD'S RECOMMENDATIONS.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Medsafe's medicines classification committee last month considered coronial recommendations about the sale of paracetamol made after the inquest into the death of a Dunedin student.Alannah Lee Spankie, 20, died from acute liver failure in June 2017, after the University of Otago science student took a large amount of paracetamol.Coroner David Robinson in September found that Spankie had not intended to take her own life, and recommended tighter sales restrictions be placed on drugs which can currently be bought without controls at supermarkets.The committee received 18 submissions on Robinson's recommendations before today's meeting, being held in Wellington.The National Poisons Centre, based at the University of Otago, said in advice provided to the committee that paracetamol was the most common single substance involved in cases of intentional self-poisoning, and the substance it received the most inquiries about.In the last five months of 2016 there were four cases involving people who took 30g or more of

Looking for a trip around the country while the borders are closed? Kevin Milne has a recommendation for you - the Northern Explorer. After he and his wife went from Auckland to Wellington, Milne told Jack Tame that it is "first class service" and there is plenty to enjoy - from the wonderful scenery through to the commentary and the food on board.However, there is one thing he noted that could make the service far more enjoyable.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Sentinel by Lee ChildJack Reacher gets off a bus in Nashville, Tennessee, in a quest for food, lodging and some good country music. But when he encounters a band of musicians who have been cheated by an unscrupulous bar owner, he steps in to help…A Time for Mercy by John GrishamClanton, Mississippi. 1990. Jake Brigance finds himself embroiled in a deeply divisive trial when the court appoints him attorney for Drew Gamble, a timid sixteen-year-old boy accused of murdering a local deputy. Many in Clanton want a swift trial and the death penalty, but Brigance digs in and discovers that there is more to the story than meets the eye. Jake’s fierce commitment to saving Drew from the gas chamber puts his career, his financial security, and the safety of his family on the line.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bruce Springsteen’s new album Letter to You released at the end of last month, he’s made history as the first artist to have a top 5 album on the Billboard 200 in six consecutive decades.Estelle Clifford’s been taking a listen, and joined Jack Tame to discuss. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I Am Woman Tilda Cobham-Hervey plays Australian musician and activist icon Helen Reddy. In 1966 Reddy landed in New York with her three-year-old daughter, a suitcase and $230. Within weeks she was broke. Within five years she was a superstar, the first ever Australian Grammy Award winner, and an icon of the 1970s feminist movement.ReunionIvy is packing up an expansive old Victorian home after the recent death of her in-laws. Her husband Jack, wheelchair bound from a stroke, haunts the halls moaning and muttering incoherently.Ellie, Ivy’s estranged daughter, shows up at the front door. She has been away for years, teaching at university and now 6-months pregnant. Ellie says she has come back to be alone and finish a research book on the origins of medieval science. The mother and daughter’s initial awkward interactions gradually fall into the familiar dynamics of previous years.But the old house conjures disturbing memories for Ellie who is haunted by the ghost of her dead sister Cara. Ellie grows more erratic

One of the world’s largest batteries to store renewable energy is set to be built in Victoria to help drive down power costs for Victorians.The Victorian government on Thursday announced the 300 megawatt Tesla lithium-ion battery would be installed near the Moorabool Terminal Station, just outside Geelong, and would be ready by the 2021-22 summer.Energy, Environment and Climate Change Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said it would be the largest lithium-ion battery in the southern hemisphere.She said an independent analysis had showed the battery would deliver more than $2 in benefits to Victorian households and businesses for every $1 invested.She said consumers would pay for the use of the battery through their power bills, but the reduction in wholesale energy prices delivered by the battery would mean Victorians paid less for power.The battery will help reduce wholesale prices by storing renewable energy at a time when the weather makes it plentiful and at its cheapest and then discharging it into the grid when p

A posthumous album has been released by Kiwi legend Ian Morris from Th’ Dudes. Estelle Clifford has been taking a listen. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading Impossible: My Story by Stan Walker, and Breathless by Jennifer Niven. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Resident traveller Mike Yardley has been touring Whataroa and Okarito in South Westland.FOR SOME TIPS, LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christmas isn't always a time of joy, especially when you can't be with your loved ones. Relationships expert Steven Dromgool has some tips on managing the festive season while coping with loss. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.