Nor'West News: December 21, 2023
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2 The<br />
NEWS<br />
North Canterbury <strong>News</strong>, <strong>December</strong> <strong>21</strong>, <strong>2023</strong><br />
Method the secret ingredient<br />
BySHELLEY TOPP<br />
The<br />
dedicated,<br />
local team<br />
are here<br />
to help<br />
Managing Editor<br />
Robyn Bristow<br />
027 312 1581<br />
robyn.bristow@ncnews.co.nz<br />
Sales Manager<br />
DaynaBurton<br />
027 312 0089<br />
dayna.burton@ncnews.co.nz<br />
Reporters<br />
ShelleyTopp<br />
027 404 6137<br />
John Cosgrove<br />
0<strong>21</strong> 195 0284<br />
Advertising<br />
Amanda Keys<br />
027 536 6224<br />
amanda.keys@ncnews.co.nz<br />
Our final paperthis<br />
year is the<br />
<strong>21</strong> st <strong>December</strong>.<br />
Booking and material<br />
deadline for this<br />
paper is 2pm Tuesday<br />
12 th <strong>December</strong>.<br />
Thefirstissuefor<br />
2024 is the<br />
11 th January.<br />
TheNorth Canterbury<br />
<strong>News</strong> officewill be<br />
closed from<br />
Friday 15 th <strong>December</strong><br />
until<br />
Monday 8 th January.<br />
Get in touch<br />
Phone:03313 2840 or 03 3148335<br />
14 Ashley Street, Rangiora<br />
www.starnews.co.nz<br />
Editorial: info@ncnews.co.nz<br />
Advertising: sales@ncnews.co.nz<br />
Distribution:deliveries@alliedpress.co.nz<br />
ASwannanoa woman who baked the<br />
Supreme Kiwi Christmas Cake at the New<br />
Zealand Agricultural Show thought her<br />
teenage daughter’s cake was better.<br />
Julie Tapp baked three Christmas<br />
cakes, using arecipe handed down to her<br />
by her grandmother, Iris, before she<br />
chose the one she entered in the<br />
competition.<br />
‘‘I had awee tower of Christmas cakes<br />
sitting in the pantry,’’she said.<br />
Each time Julie baked another cake she<br />
noted small improvementsshe could<br />
make for her next one.<br />
Then her daughter Rosie, aged 13, who<br />
has been baking alongside her mum<br />
‘‘since she was old enough to lick a<br />
spoon’’, baked her own cake for the junior<br />
section of the Christmas cake competition<br />
using the same recipe and all the new<br />
information Julie had collected.<br />
‘‘I thought if any of our cakes won it<br />
would be Rosie’s cake,’’ Julie said.<br />
In the end though it was Julie’s cake<br />
that won over the judges with Rosie’s<br />
cake placed second in the junior section.<br />
But after the show, when the cakes<br />
came back home for the family judges to<br />
have their say Rosie’s cake was awinner<br />
in the taste test.<br />
‘‘I thought her cake was really<br />
delicious, and my motherinlaw said<br />
Rosie’s cake was ‘far better’ than mine,’’<br />
Julie said.<br />
Clearly both cakes cracked the<br />
delicious test because they have already<br />
been eaten and Julie has made another<br />
one especially forChristmas.<br />
This one has cherries on the top, an<br />
absolute ‘‘nono’’ for the show<br />
competition.<br />
Julie believes the secret to making such<br />
delicious, and beautiful looking<br />
Christmas cakes is a‘‘special method’’ of<br />
insulatingthe baking tin so that the cake<br />
cooks evenly, preventing any dry areas<br />
around the outside.<br />
She makes abox using layers of<br />
newspaper covered in tinfoil to sit the<br />
baking tin in and then she lines the baking<br />
tin with baking paper to stop the cake<br />
from sticking to the tin.<br />
This ensures the cake cooks evenly and<br />
doesn’t dry out despite around 31/2 hours<br />
in the oven.<br />
NZ Posties spending long daysonthe road<br />
From Page 1<br />
Jeff is aformer pastry baker, while<br />
Pam has worked for NZ Post in a<br />
variety of roles for over 30 years.<br />
Pam says she andJeff are already<br />
putting in the longhours starting<br />
around midnight each day.<br />
‘‘It takes that long just to sort the<br />
mail coming in on three large truck and<br />
trailer units overnight,’’ Jeff says.<br />
The couple are on the road for 10<br />
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Baking stars ... Swannanoa mother and daughter Julie and Rosie Tapp, aged 13, with a<br />
Christmas cake Julie baked especially for Christmas. Acake she baked won the Supreme<br />
Christmas Cake competition at last month's New Zealand Agricultural Show in Christchurch<br />
and one baked by Rosie was second in the junior section.<br />
PHOTO: SHELLEY TOPP<br />
hours aday, and the increased loads<br />
are now making them plan their<br />
delivery schedules very carefully.<br />
‘‘Aslong as we take our breaks, all<br />
our customers will get their packages<br />
on time, but this year the demand is<br />
much bigger despite the economic<br />
forecast,’’ says Pam.<br />
And the loads don’t get any easier.<br />
Jeff says they will be just as busy<br />
immediately after Christmas<br />
2466181<br />
delivering all the late overseas<br />
Christmas mail that didn’t quite make<br />
the big day.<br />
NZ Post delivery volumes have been<br />
more than 400,000 items daily<br />
nationwide, with recent weekly<br />
volumes topping 1.99 million items.<br />
The highest delivery week in<br />
<strong>December</strong> so far was two weeks ago<br />
when 2.15 million packages were<br />
delivered nationally.<br />
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