Catherine Raynes lists her best reads of 2022.

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Estelle Clifford takes Jack Tame through her top listens of 2022.

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As the holiday season dawns, the great New Zealand summer calendar is adorned with some sure-fire hits to add some extra zing to your holiday.

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Catherine Raynes lists her best reads of 2022.

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Litivenko: David Tennant stars in this drama that follows the Scotland Yard Officers who worked to prove who was responsible for the death of Alexander Litvinenko, in one of the most complex and dangerous investigations in the history of the Metropolitan Police (TVNZ+).  

1923: Harrison Ford and Dame Helen Mirren star in this prequel to Yellowstone, where the Dutton ancestors must face a new set of challenges in the early 20th century, including the rise of Western expansion, Prohibition, and the Great Depression (Prime Video from 19 December). 

Top Class: The cream of Aotearoa's music and comedy talent pay tribute to the Topp Twins in a live concert at Auckland's Civic Theatre for their 40th anniversary, with legends like Don McGlashan, Annie Crummer, Dame Hinewehi Mohi and Troy Kingi (Neon). 

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Wine: Akarua Rua 2001 Pinot Noir, Central Otago $27 

Why I chose it: 

- It is my best buy of 2022 

- Really good PN doesn’t often dip below $30 

- Everyone who loves PN as much as I do should try this wine 

- Perfect with ham and turkey 

What does it taste like? 

- Akarua’s entry level Pinot Noir famously offers great value. Bright fresh wine with pronounced fruit flavours. Sweet cherry, ripe plum, a hint of floral and an attractively spicy finish. 

Why it’s a bargain: 

- I’d be happy if I had paid $45 for it. 

Where can you buy it? 

- Whisky and More, Waikato $22.99; Winesale.co.nz, Lower Hutt $22.99; The Good Wine Co, Auckland $24.99 

Food match? 

- Smoked salmon is my favourite 

Will it keep? 

- Drink within two years while it remains fresh and fruity 

Wine Tip 

- Don’t drink red wine too warm. Pop your glass of wine in the fridge for 5-10 minutes (it takes longer to chill the whole bottle) 

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Steven Dromgool has some advice about how to create the 'magic' of Christmas despite hard times.

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A new tool called 'Rewind' has been developed for the latest generation of Macs which effectively stores everything you've ever displayed on your screen. It can also record your Zoom meetings and transcribe them, aiming to give you a search engine for your life.  

None of this information ever leaves your laptop, so there is nothing in the cloud. Their big breakthrough is the crazy compression they've been able to accomplish.  

The founder, Dan Siroker, is a serial entrepreneur who started to lose his hearing and found a super power when he got a hearing aid. It got him thinking, what if we could do the same for our memory? 

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Doug Stamper became everyone’s favourite calculating character in the beloved Netflix series House of Cards, played with chilling intensity by actor Michael Kelly.

It gained Michael an Emmy nomination for outstanding supporting actor. 

House of Cards, of course, wrapped a few years ago amidst allegations against Kevin Spacey.  

It was a tough goodbye for Michael who played Doug for nearly a decade, but he’s now in the thick of the action on the new Jack Ryan series as a CIA agent.

Michael Kelly joined Jack Tame. 

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This is the cake for summer! So easy to put together and worthy of the Christmas table or a family get together or just a BBQ with mates. Make it, you’ll love it! 

Serves: 10-12 

Cake 

• 1 1/3 cups caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 300ml light olive oil
• 2 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 cups plain flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup unsweetened Greek yoghurt (
• 6 Tbsp Barker’s Sundae Strawberry Sauce or make your own strawberry puree)

Icing 

• 200g cream cheese
• ¾ up icing sugar
• 1 cup cream 
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• To serve
• 1 cup fruit compote, I used Barker’s rhubarb & strawberry compote
• 1 punnet each fresh strawberries, blueberries & raspberries

Cake 

1. Preheat oven to 160ºC fan bake / 180ºC conventional. Grease 3 x 20cm round cake tins

and line with baking paper. 

1. Place sugar and eggs in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until thick and creamy (about 5 minutes). Gradually beat in oil and vanilla.
2. Sift flour, baking powder and baking soda and salt over the top and mix until mostly incorporated. Stir in yoghurt and mix until well combined.
3. Divide mixture evenly between prepared tins. Drizzle two tablespoons of Barker’s Sundae Strawberry Sauce over each cake and use a skewer to swirl in.
4. Bake in the centre of the oven for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown and a skewer inserted in the middle of the cakes comes out clean. Leave to cool for at least 10 minutes before carefully turning cakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Icing: 

Using an electric beater, beat cream cheese until smooth. Briefly beat in icing sugar. 

Add 1/2 cup cream and beat until well combined. Add remaining cream and vanilla and 

continue to beat until icing reaches a thick, spreadable consistency (similar to whipped 

cream). 

To Serve: Place one of the cake layers on a serving plate or cake stand. Spread with a thick layer of icing. Drizzle with 1/3 cup compote and top 1/3 of the berries. Add a second cake layer on top and add the same quantities of icing, compote and 

berries. 

Top with the final cake layer, more icing, compote and the remaining berries. Refrigerate 

until ready to serve. 

NOTES: Cake can be assembled a couple of hours in advance and refrigerated until ready to serve. 

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