Mark Brewer’s Tips: Where to Look for Fresh water Tuna and Salmon?

Rainbow Trout Fishing by Mark Brewer

Trout and Salmon fishes are luring prospects for any fishing lover. I am lucky to have been born in a nation where fishes are found in abundance. I like to fish and eat fish all at the same time. On my days I (Mark Brewer) can be a fierce fisherman, looking to take home a bucket full of fishes. But there are times when I have to return home empty handed. But that does not impede my enthusiasm in any way. I am also lucky to have friends such as Mr. Phoenix and Mr. Oak who like fishing too. In my lifetime I have visited most prominent fishing spots in New Zealand and now I understand their strengths and weaknesses well enough to guide other fishing lovers. Most fishing lovers in New Zealand love to hunt the Trout and Salmon fishes.  

Mark Brewer and His Friend Mr Oak fishing Salmon

There is an abundance of Trout fishes found in New Zealand. There are both rainbow and brown trouts found. The North islands of New Zealand have large sized rainbow trout. In the North Islands places such as Rotorua and Lake Taupo are predominant areas to look for large rainbow trout. Tongariro River is a major river of Lake Taupo which is populated by large Trout fishes during the winter months. The Central Plateau of Taupo is also a hot destination for the anglers. Other popular areas include Lake Waikarimoana and Aniwhenua. If you are looking for Brown trout then the South islands are best locations. Brown trout fishes are found in abundance in areas such as Fiordland, West Coast, Otago and Southland. The fishes are available all year round.    

If you want a bounty of Salmon fishes then you ought to visit the South Islands. There are plenty of Quinnat Salmon available in Canterbury. Other rivers such as Rangitata, Rakaia and Waimakari also have promising prospects for salmon fishing. These spots have salmon fishes all year round. 

So, what are you thinking of take your equipments and get ready to go on a fishing expedition.

Mark Brewer’s Halloween Special Movie Review: Sinister

Over the last week I (Mark Brewer) have watched a lot of horror movies and have been bringing some of them to you. It seems the Mark Brewer Mansion has become a hub of horror movie screenings. I am generally accompanied by my friends Mr. Oak and Mr. Phoenix for these movie watching sessions. Mr. Oak is not a big fan of horror movies, but has to comply. Yesterday I watched another of Scott Derrickson’s grueling horror movies, Sinister. Again a suspense and horror packed movie that has Ethan Hawke in the main role of Ellison. 

The movie starts with a shock when we are shown a scene depicting three individuals in a row being hung from a tree. The next scene takes us to Ellison and his family moving to a new house. We learn that Ellison is a crime writer and his last successful release was about a decade back. For now, Ellison is frustrated at his repeated failures and wants to come up with something that will appeal to his readers. He has come to the city to write about the murder of a family who were hung from their tree in the backyard. Soon we understand that Ellison has in fact moved into the same house where the incident occurred. 

While clearing the house, Ellison finds a box of Super 8 Home Movies. Ellison sets up his office and goes about taking notes of the case. Soon he turns his attention to the Super 8 Home Movies and they are named separately too. He watches the first movie and realizes that it was taped while the poor family was being hung from their tree and their little daughter went missing. Ellison becomes addicted to his whiskey bottle and spends days watching other tapes and taking notes. But, his son starts acting weirdly and his night terror condition starts to deteriorate. Ellison gets many supernatural links to the murders. 

The movie has its share of chilling moments. Derrickson has timed his shocks perfectly and they do frighten us. Ethan Hawke has given a new life into the multi-shaded character of Ellison. I (Mark Brewer) feel Sinister is another movie that you need to watch in the Halloween’s week. 

Mark Brewer’s Special Halloween Recipe: Dracula Blood Punch

In the wake of the upcoming Halloween’s Day I (Mark Brewer) am trying to come up with some innovative recipes that will match with my Halloween party. In the endeavor I am helped by Mr. Oak and Mr. Phoenix. But the recipe I am going to share with you was revealed to me by my long time Forex trader friend Mr. Jones. Now, Mr. Jones is not much of a cooking lover, but he likes mocktails. The recipe that I am going to share today happens to be a mocktail that you may serve to the guests coming to your Halloween party. I tried the mocktail with a few additions (for taste enhancement) and both my friends Mr. Phoenix and Mr. Oak loved it. So here I am sharing the recipe with you. 

Dracula Blood Punch is a mocktail that contains cherry juice, cinnamon, chili, cloves and ginger. As ever, the Dracula Blood Punch can be prepared within no time at all. It requires a preparation time of 10 minutes and a cooking time of 5 minutes. You will have to chill the drink for 4 hours prior to serving. The ingredients that I (Mark Brewer) would mention in this post are for 12 servings. 

What Do You Need? 

To prepare this mocktail you will need juice of 21 cherries, peel of 3 oranges (that can be easily done using a vegetable peeler), one large sized red chili (it may be pierced many times but use it whole), 3 cinnamon sticks, 10 cloves, 6 pieces of sliced ginger and some Dracula’s fangs (which are available in most sweet shops around this time of the year). 

How to Prepare Mark Brewer’s Special Dracula Blood Punch? 

Put the cherry juice, cloves, cinnamon sticks, orange peel, chili and ginger into a saucepan. Heat the contents for about 5 minutes and then leave it to cool for 4 hours to 2 days (depending upon the time at hand). Remember, more you cool better flavors you will get from the drink. If you intend to serve the drink to children, take out the chili after a couple of hours.

Get the juice out when you are ready to serve. Pour the juice in glasses and provide a straw in each of these. Dangle the Dracula’s fangs from each glass.    

Mark Brewer’s Halloween Special Movie Review: The Exorcism of Emily Rose

Today, I would like to talk about another horror movie that you may watch in the days leading up to the Halloween’s Day. This is a movie that is not only good because of its horror quotient but it includes a significant courtroom drama. The movie is based on a real life incident of a German student who claimed to have been possessed by the demonic entities and later died. But there was a lot more to it than possession to her sad tale and this is what Scott Derrickson wants to portray though the movie.

The movie starts after Emily Rose; the possessed student has already passed. Father Richard (Tom Wilkinson) is accused of murder and misuse of his post to carry out an exorcism that eventually killed the innocent girl. To defend his case the Christian hierarchy appoints an alcoholic, successful and don’t care it attitude lawyer in the form of Erin Bruner (Laura Linney). She consults with Father Richard and learns many new things about how he got involved in the process. The flashbacks show the terror Emily Rose had to go through after she was possessed. Later on in the movie it is revealed that Emily was in fact not possessed by one but many demons. The flashbacks show how a quiet and beautiful Emily becomes ugly and filled with wounds. The possession always started at 3 AM the time of Jesus’ death and it grew stronger each day.

After consulting the doctors and getting no relief, the Rose family entrusts the cure of Emily upon the shoulders of Father Richard and the State accuses the father of negligent homicide.

It is an enthralling courtroom drama and there are sudden flashes of horror. I (Mark Brewer) have seen this movie more than three times already and I love it each time. Though Mr. Oak feels that horror movies should be strictly about ghosts, but I am welcome to new approaches. Even Mr. Jones, a Forex trader friend likes the movie too.

The movie is also made memorable by the strong acts of Laura Linney and Tom Wilkinson. Mr. Phoenix watched the movie yesterday night and he liked it. Hope you like it too.

Mark Brewer’s Halloween Special Recipe: Spider Nest Cakes

Everything scary seems to find our favor, come the Halloween’s Day. With this occasion knocking round the corner, I am trying some Halloween special dishes at my kitchen at the Mark Brewer Mansion. Often my dear friends Mr. Oak and Mr. Phoenix are the first to taste these dishes and I really value their comments. Yesterday I prepared a new dish which I named Spider Nest Cake. Mr. Jones, my Forex trader friend, also happened to be passing by and he liked the cake immensely. So, as ever I am here to share the recipe for this Spider Nest Cake in Mark Brewer style.



The preparation process for the spider nest cake will take about 40 minutes and the cooking time is 20 minutes. The ingredients I would be mentioning are for 15 servings.

What Do You Need?

To prepare the cake you would require 175g of softened butter, 175g of golden caster sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 2 large eggs, 100ml of Milk, 200g of flour, hundreds and thousands of 100g candy floss, small quantity of icing sugar and 12 plastic spiders.

How to Prepare Mark Brewer Special Spider Nest Cakes?

Preheat the oven to 1800C and create a line of muffin tins with their muffin cases. Mix and beat the butter and sugar until it becomes fluffy and pale. Prepare a mixture of flour, eggs, milk and vanilla. Stir the hundreds & thousands with little effort. Divide this mixture in the cases. The more you work upon the batter more sprinkles will show their color. So it is best to perform the task quickly. Bake for about 20 minutes or until you can insert a toothpick right through the centre, when satisfied with the baking, leave the preparation to cool off.

Peel off the cases and turn the cake upside down. Cover the cake until it should be served. Just before you serve the cake add little water into the sugar icing and add some icing on top of the cake. Add a small pile of candy floss on top of the cake. Add the toy spiders on top of the cake and your spider nest cake is ready to serve.

Mark Brewer’s Halloween Special Movie Review: The Conjuring

Halloween’s Day is just round the corner and this is a festival of the scary things. So, it is in line to watch some scary movies on the day or days leading up to it. I (Mark Brewer) along with some friends such as Mr. Phoenix, Mr. Oak and Mr. Jones (a Forex trader by profession) would try to create a list of scariest movies that you can watch. Recently, I watched the movie The Conjuring and truly it scared me a lot. So I thought of writing a review for the movie.



One of the leading problems with the modern horror movies is that they have stopped scaring people; rather they have gone to gross bloodshed and torture. “The Saw” movie for example would leave you disgusted rather than scared. The Conjuring, just like horror movies in the old days, reminds us that on screen acting can actually scare the fans. This film claims that it is based on true story and it stars Patrick Wilson and Vera Farminga as a married couple. This couple are ghostbusters and renowned for their supernatural research. They have gained immense success as ghostbusters. In the year 1971 they are recruited by Roger and Carolyn Perron who had moved into a new home situated in Rhode Island. Soon after moving in the couple found that their five daughters were terrorized by unexplained bruises, strange smells and at times visions of dead people.

James Wan uses the camera expertly to imbibe fear into the scenes. The music and other sound effects also add to the horror elements. Though you may have seen dusty basements and creaking floorboards many times, but the movie makes you fear these. Though I am not easily scared by a horror movie (getting scared quickly is Mr. Oak’s department) but at times I found myself quite scared.

The level of acting in The Conjuring is also commendable. Lil Taylor (as Carolyn Perron) portrays the character of a helpless mother aptly, while Vera Farminga portrays the character of a lady who has special capabilities that make her more vulnerable, brilliantly.

The Conjuring takes us back to the best 70’s era horror movies which made us feel eerie. I (Mark Brewer) would suggest you to not miss this movie on the Halloween’s weekend.  

Mark Brewer’s Special Halloween Recipe: Recipe for Pumpkin Patch Torte

Halloween’s Day is knocking just round the corner. I have started the home decorations and there will be a grand party at the Mark Brewer Mansion on the eve of Halloween. Apart from Mr. Oak and Mr. Phoenix, there will be a host lot of friends who will come to this party. I have decided to cook some delicious food on the day. I, Mark Brewer, love to cook and it acts as a sort of mental relaxation for me. One of the items that may make to my menu for the party would be Pumpkin Patch Torte. This is a special Halloween cake that is delicious and yet not too sweet. It has a maple flavored frosting and can be served in accompaniment with pumpkin cake. So, how to make this Mark Brewer’s special recipe? 

Mark Brewer Recipe of Pumpkin Pathch Torte

To cook the Pumpkin Patch Torte you would have to dedicate a preparation time of 25 minutes and it takes a little more than 20 minutes to cook the dish. All the ingredients that I would be mentioning would be for 12 servings. 

What do you need? 

You would have to arrange for 15 ounces of solid packed Pumpkin, 1 cup brown sugar, half a cup of sugar, 4 eggs, half a cup of canola oil, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, baking soda, ground ginger and cinnamon. You will also need 2 cups of all purpose flour and half teaspoon of salt. 

To prepare the frosting you will need 1 cup of maple syrup, white portions of 2 eggs, ¼ teaspoon of tartar cream, 1 drop of yellow food coloring, 3 drops of green food coloring and candy pumpkins. 

How to Prepare Mark Brewer’s Special Pumpkin Patch Torte?

Grease a baking pan and have a waxed paper with grease ready. Take a bowl and pour the sugar, pumpkin, oil and eggs. Mix the contents until they are well blended. Now mix the baking powder, baking soda, flour, ginger, salt and cinnamon. Once the mixture is ready slowly add the pumpkin mixture. Pour this entire batter into the baking pan. Then bake the set up at a temperature of 3500 for 20 minutes or until you can insert a toothpick near the center. Cool it for about 5 minutes before you send it to the wire rack for complete cooling. Remove the waxed paper very carefully. 

Now prepare the frosting in a large saucepan. Heat the saucepan over low heat and combine the maple syrup, egg whites and tartar cream. Use a portable mixer to beat this preparation for about 1 minute. Continue to beat the frosting until it reaches a temperature of 1600 (which would ideally take 8 minutes). Transfer the frosting to a large bowl and beat it at high speed until the frosting becomes stiff. Separate ¼ cup of frosting in a small bowl and decorate it with yellow and green food coloring. 

Cut the cake as par the width into thirds and place a single layer on the serving plate. Spread the piece with a third of the frosting. Repeat the step for all the servings.