Building community is a beautiful thing! The folks at Ballarat Community Garden are doing it with tomatoes and learning to make Passata

Picture above from here
together with how to make passata if you can't get to the class
listed below at Ballarat Community Garden.

The post below is from Better Together -  Passata Day

Saturday 28nd February 2015, 9 a.m. sharp-till ?

Once more into the Red! Ballarat Community Garden will be hosting a passata (tomato bottling) day on the 20th of February. Come learn how to preserve tomatoes and enjoy a day of work, fun and community. We'll have a meal and share a good time! Participants will take home approximately 6 litres of tomato puree.

The cost will be $20 dollars which will include a 10kg box of tomatoes, tea & coffee. Please bring a plate to share for lunch. Payment must be received by Deb Ramsey (0401 824 110) by the 16th of February. Numbers will be limited, but children, friends and family are all welcome to come and help. You will be responsible for bringing glass jars or beer bottles. You will need to have your own safe, undamaged lids for jars, but we will provide bottle caps for beer bottles.

Things to bring:

• Plate to share for lunch.
• Large pots will be vital so please be sure to bring those. Vital! (Stainless steel please, as aluminium may leach.)
• Anyone who has a camp stove or gas burner and bottle please bring those along.
• cutting boards and knives are vital
• aprons and pot holders
• funnels
• large stirring spoons
• ladles
• pouring jugs
• Stick blenders would also be very welcome.

The Church Retro Cafe and its quirky Christmas decor

Your feet a bit weary after too much Christmas shopping in Ballarat? 

Pop in and relax in the magical and quirky interior of 

The Church Retro Cafe in Albert Street,Ballarat 

down behind the old School of Mines/University of Ballarat 

Say G'day to my friends Noreen and Fidelma,

a couple of lovely Irish folk.
Click on photo to see the photos in picasaweb.google.com
and there is the option of a slide show 

Christmas at The Church Retro Cafe, Albert Street Ballarat - 2013

Some of the food plants in my garden - late September

My peas look gorgeous in this container -
the white flowers which will soon produce peas
are most satisfying

I have quite a few broad bean plants in the ground

This mint - the plain old mint - is in a pot.
But I also have some in the ground in a place
where I hope it takes over and chases the weeds away.
Ditto for some After Dinner Mint.

Make a difference this year: buy your Christmas Cakes, Shortbreads and Gift Hampers from Bumblebee and support some good causes

Food history: Australian Family Recipes 1868 to1950

I love a bit of food history.  Food history is not only quaint and historic recipes.  Possum Pie, Beetroot Beer and Lamingtons: Australian Family Recipes from 1868 to 1950 by Victoria Heywood is a social history of lives gone by.  As of the first of this month, a wonderful contribution to Australian food history has hit the bookstands.  

Click to enlarge

Victoria came across many weird, supposedly edible, things in 17 years travelling the world as a journalist, but none so strange as some of the dishes she encountered back home in Australia when researching Possum Pie, Beetroot Beer and Lamingtons. In a writing career spanning 20-odd years, Victoria has written extensively about food, sex, health and travel for magazines and newspapers both here and abroad, and is the author of numerous other books.  One that would be of interest to Oz Tucker lovers is:

More about this book here

Bring the family down for a FREE sausage sizzle and 

some other tasty treats from original Australian cookbooks 

and hear Victoria Heywood chat about her new book:

• Where - Westgarth Books, 77 High Street, Northcote
• When - 12-1 pm, Saturday, October 15, 2011
• Phone - 9482 7117

Tobie Puttock and Cook Like an Italian come to Readings @ Hawthorn

Picture from here

Dear Trad Padders,

Please get out your diaries.  We're off to Readings, 701 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn again on Monday 27 September for a 6.30pm assignation with the delightful Tobie Puttock.

To welcome the beginning of Foodie Month at Readings Hawthorn, they have Tobie Puttock talking about his third cookbook, Cook Like an Italian.  

I love Italian cuisine.  While I am vegetarian, unless the dish specifically features meat - like Osso Bucco - Italian food is easily converted to meat-free.  A lot of the cuisine is derived originally from self-sufficient and sustainable home-garden produce and is easy to replicate at home and so it is good to see Tobie bringing his personal passion for cooking Italian food, and more importantly, for cooking simple Italian food – perfectly – to our very own kitchens.

For the past few years while teaching people to cook in his kitchen at Fifteen Melbourne, Tobie has been yearning for something more… something to inspire him. So he went to Italy! 

Cook Like an Italian is the result. 

An amazing culinary journey through wonderful Italy.

$20 per ticket includes tastes from his cookbook, and wine by Scorpo. 

Tickets from Readings Hawthorn.

In search of the rushing, gushing Yarra River - Part 2

The Yarra River at Warrandyte at 3.30pm (approx) on Monday 6 September 2010

These pictures were taken from the walk below the Riverside Cark Park.  As you can see, the water was only about 50cm below the walkway.  Would not have taken much more to break the bank on this side.  The other side does not have a low embankment.

Please note the height of the bridge.  Even strong bridges can be damaged by drivers as one can see in the picture.  But there was a bridge before this bridge...

This memorial post commemorates 

the artist Walter Withers who was

a member of the famous Heidelberg School. 

Here is the Withers picture of the Old Bridge, Warrandyte.

Please note the wattle tumbling down the hilly embankment.

If you look closely in my pictures above, 

you will see wattle on that embankment - 

not as profuse as portrayed in the painting by Withers, 

but there still.

The Heidelberg School had something of a colony at Warrandyte at one time - although it was not the best known colony of this unique group of Australian artists.  The legacy, though, lingers on.  Warrandyte is still a place that attracts creative people.

The day was getting darker.

Lunch should have happened hours ago.

A lovely old building summoned and I pulled into the carpark.

Smoke rising into the eucalypts from a stone chimney is a welcoming sight.

First stop, a long overdue browse at The Linen and Larder...

and in through the beckoning doors...

Linen and Larder is bursting with good stuff - 

homewares, gifts, clothing, and stuff for eating and eating upon.

A return journey with credit card is required.

Perhaps some thoughts for Christmas.

You will find L & L here:

THE YARRA STORE
Linen & Larder
321 Warrandyte-Ringwood Road
Warrandyte, Vic 3113

Tummy was still calling ... but a little louder ...

and so to next door ...

... and the Stonehouse Cafe Restaurant.

It has hints of yesteryear - but the decor needs a few additions.

I would suggest a deal with Linen and Larder for the interior.

There are two large banks of windows

opening out on to a verandah under the gum trees

with greedy, nosy sulphur-crested cockatoos a-visiting.

These windows - set into their stone walls -

could do with a couple of school benches under them.

A perfect place for newspaper and coffee.

But back to my tummy ...

I asked for a bowl of hot tomato and herb soup ...

and the bread was s-o-o scrumptious ...

... with some hot chocolate ...

Tummy was well looked after - then home.

Arabella Forge and Frugavore: eating well and understanding where your food comes from

Trad Padders, I want to draw attention to a new book which will hit the bookshops next month.  You might like to put in your request to your local Public Library to purchase the book hot from the press.  Publication details are:

Pub date: September 2010

RRP: $29.95

ISBN: 9781863954891

Imprint: Black Inc.

Format: PB

Size: 180 x 180mm

Extent: 240pp

In this book Arabella Forge covers all the territory of good, sensible, affordable and ethical food and eating.  She is well qualified.  Arabella  is a Melbourne-based nutritionist. She teaches regular cooking classes at CERES Environmental Park and Organic Wholefoods, focusing on traditional techniques. She has featured as a speaker at Slow Food forums and speaks frequently on radio about issues relating to food and health.

Mark your diaries, Trad Padders, because Arabella will be in conversation with Catherine Deveny at Readings Hawthorne bookshop on Thursday 16 September at 6.30pm.  The event is free but Readings do like you to book so please RSVP by email: events@readings.com.au or phone: (03) 9819 1917.

There is a Frugavore website here and a Facebook page here.

GIRLS' DAY OUT AT MORNINGTON : BAY HOTEL : POMME: MORNINGTON ANTIQUES CENTRE

Herself and I had a girls day out to-day. We drove to Mornington. First of all, we stopped for lunch at the Bay Hotel.  You can see the bistro section - which was beautifully warm and toasty - on the right of the collage above.

We checked out the menu:

We had certainly picked our day because we were able to avail ourselves of the Monday/Tuesday Special which meant that if we picked a "starred" item we got it for $15 with a complimentary glass of wine.  I know I don't dine out often these days, Trad Padders, but I hadn't come across a cleverly marked menu such as this.  Along with the stars, the menu sported tiny 'v's for vegetarian and 'gf's for gluten free.  I am vegetarian and I appreciated this thoughtful touch and I am sure the gluten free brigade would too.

I ordered Mediterranean Pappardelle which, ordinarily according to the menu, has chicken.  I asked for the dish without the chicken and they were happy to oblige.  So my pappardelle came with roasted vegetables, pan seared with olive oil, tossed through the pappardelle and sprinkled with feta and toasted pine nuts.  Herself - who is a carnivore - ordered the Hopkins River Beef Burger.  I didn't have the wine.  Herself had mine and I had a coke.  She seemed well pleased with her vino.  I noted that The Bay promotes local Mornington Peninsula wines with other Australian wines bringing up the rear.  So, as you can see, we had good provender.

Our real purpose for the day was to visit the Mornington Antiques Centre.  But before we set off for there, Herself wanted to make a visit to the local Bed Bath and Table.  We couldn't find close parking in the main street and had to turn out of the main street only to find ample parking and more shops, including major chains like Target, behind the main street shops.  We got out of the car and Pomme caught my eye.  I figured in could do BBT back home any time.  And off I went to Pomme...

The chairs at the front of Pomme are bright and cheery

and the store will cover these chairs to the fabric of your choice.

 Display of art and design, jewellery and homewares

is beautifully done at Pomme.  Go see for yourselves.

 These delicate hanging pendants are filled with tiny treasures.

Behind them, are enchanting artworks of Belted Galloway cattle.

I purchased something for my sister's forthcoming birthday -

but I won't let out the secret here.

Then we were off to browse the Morninton Antiques Centre...

And we did walk away with some goodies.

Herself bought a beautiful print of pink roses.

I brought home a chest of drawers which I hope to transform

and two wooden cutlery holders for pens & scissors & etceteras.

Perhaps that will be the subject of the next post.

Grow your own heirlooms, organically and simply - with Belinda's help

That friend of mine Belinda from Belinda's Place is something.  This organised, organising, methodical woman  is in the category of Urban Homesteader.  She does it all from the Mud Palace at Ferny Creek in the beautiful Dandenong Ranges on the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia.  You can follow her doings and don't-ings in the aforesaid blog.  So for all you need to know, the contact details are above.  For the rest follow her on her blog.

Ethical eating: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Miss Eagle has just posted on Barbara Kingsolver's book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle over at Oz Tucker. Pop over and have a read.

Water for beer but it's a drought in the garden

I reckon Miss Eagle can say without fear of contradiction that Denise Gadd is hopping mad. Denise blogs at The Age where she is also the gardening editor. Now the blog is in a bit of a hiatus for the silly season. Denise burst into the Opinion Pages of The Age with this piece to-day. Almost a year ago to the day, Denise was having her say with this piece.

You will have noted, dear Reader, that Miss Eagle is promoting the petition, to which Denise refers, on her blogs. Go for it Denise, I say. Anyway can we send Tim Holding a ticket to a Permaculture design course for a New Year pressie? He clearly is not a gardener and has no sympathy for those who garden. I get mad when I think of all the water that it takes to make beer - and I don't drink a drop. I presume that Tim drinks his fair share - so how about giving me some leeway with my veges, Tim!

Enslaved by chocolate: addiction or exploitation?

OK, dear Reader, time to experiment with the old adage that the pen is mightier than the sword. Dust off those ethical thoughts. Chocolate and the child slaves who produce it is the issue. For more extensive information, please go here and here.

You might, dear Reader, like to start with the following:

Cadbury

Cadbury Consumer Services, PO Box 200, Ringwood VIC 3134

Feedback link is here.

Are you interested, dear Reader, in doing a factory tour with Miss Eagle during which we can ask the question on the premises about where Cadbury's cocoa comes from and what they are doing about the exploitation of children? Currently, it would appear that their website is concerned only with obesity in children. But there are children involved in the chocolate process who will never grow fat - even though they might never go out to play!

Nestle

Consumer Services Department, GPO Box 4320, Sydney NSW 2001

You can email Nestle from here.

As you would be aware, dear Reader, Nestle has been the focus in the past for the promotion of breast milk substitutes in Africa. You will find them expounding their corporate philosophy of Good Food, Good Life here. A portion of Nestle's website is devoted to a discussion about coffee. You might like, in your correspondence, to ask them about their attitude to Fair Trade coffee. There is no mention of that on their site.

Mars

Mars Australia, Wodonga (Australian Headquarters), Petcare Place, Wodonga Vic 3690

Snackfood/Mars, PO Box 633, Ballarat VIC 3353 - Ballarat Ring Rd 3350

You can email Mars from here.

On the Mars site, there is this section, The 5 Principles. Mmmm....

• Quality: this segment says : "The consumer is the boss". So, dear Reader, use your consumer power to tell Mars who is the boss and that you do not want your love of chocolate to hold other human beings to ransom.
• Responsibility: Mars said it recruits ethical people. Challenge them to put their ethics on show in relation to child labour and child slavery.
• Mutuality: Mars says its "actions should never be at the expense, economic or otherwise, of others with whom we work". Now Miss Eagle understands that the child slaves are not direct employees of Mars but they are stakeholders in the industry nonetheless. Without companies such as Mars there might not be a cocoa industry to be exploitative. So Mars needs to put its actions in the ethical framework of how do we expect all children to live and enjoy life.
• Efficiency: Here Mars talks about its pursuit of "the least possible cost". To the child slaves there is a very high cost - loss of childhood development, loss of education. The least possible financial cost should not require the exploitation of sentient beings or the despoliation of the planet.
• Freedom: Mars claims for itself "We need freedom to shape our future: we need profit to remain free." Well, guess what! So do African children. Enslavement - even if it is the only hope for survival in an environment of despairing poverty - does not provide freedom and does not bring any profit to the people so that they can remain free of exploitative practices. The Christian adage of doing unto others as you would have done unto you needs to be extended by Mars to the poverty stricken people caught up in the cocoa economy to provide luxury goods for those with great economic freedom.

And then there is the industry body to contact, too:

Confectionery Manufacturers of Australasia

Confectionery Manufacturers of Australasia,PO Box 1307 (Level 2, 689 Burke Rd),Camberwell VIC 3124

Email Confectionery Manufacturers of Australasia (CMA) at cma@candy.net.au

When you have completed this task, dear Reader, you might like to keep Miss Eagle informed.

A picnic-ing we went

Left to Right: Miss Eagle, Lindsay, Gina, Val

On Tuesday, some bloggers had their picnic. Not down in the woods but at Westerfold Park, Templestowe in the north-east of Melbourne. We were five. Gina of Patra's Other Place, Val of Val Has Her Say, and Lindsay of Lindsay's Lobes and his good wife, Anne and moi, Miss Eagle.

It was a bright, sunshine-y day but, oh, the wind, THE WIND!

Did it play havoc!!!

But did we have fun. Great conversation, great laughs, great sharing. Should be more of it! Can you please note the demographic. All of the above are retired! That's our demographic - like it or lump it! We are not Generation X or Y. We are not the yummy mummies. Nor are we students - we are graduates of the school of life! And we are literate, opinionated and we do stuff.

Out came the picnic basket. We each contributed to the lunch with food and so many bottles of the good stuff you would have thought we were digging in for the winter! Needless to say, our optimism was not equalled by our capacity.
My menu contributions were 4P Rolls. These are rolls in which the main ingredients are Puff Pastry, Potato, Peas and Pesto. You will have to pop over to Oz Tucker for the recipe.
For afters, there were fruit and cheese skewers. I am sure, dear Reader, you can figure these for yourself - but, just in case, a fuller description will be over at Oz Tucker.

Dear Reader, you will note another person in this photograph.

That's Anne, Lindsay's spouse, on the left in the sunglasses.

Please note how everyone is huddled and cuddled because of THE WIND!

A crop and a cat at The Trad Pad

The backyard Lemon Tree is cropping. This is the first.

With the addition of a little mint, some sweetener and water, this emerged.

This white painted basket with its cheerful gingham liner sits on the floor beside my desk. It is waiting to find a home or a function that is not yet clear. There are a number of cat baskets at The Trad Pad - large, commodious and warmly lined. Yet, in yesterday's cold, Rose the SpartaCat decided to curl up in this. One could never have imagined that he would fit - but fit he did. Perhaps - in spite of this basket being lined only with a simple cotton fabic - it was warm because he could curl himself up tightly into the nearest resemblance of a ball that a large, fat, contented cat can manage.

And this morning, he went nuts. In the pre-dawn dark, as I am sitting in the next room at my computer he is rampant in this chest of drawers in the midst of refurbishment. In, out, roundabout, scratching, on the move, noisy. Mad cat, Rose! Are you training for cheezburger?

Woolworths, Safeway, Liquor and Fuel - but not food

Miss Eagle has sent the following email to Liz in Victorian Regional Office of Safeway (the name used by Woolworths in Victoria). It is self-explanatory. If you, dear Reader, agree with Miss E, please feel free to write to Woolworths in your state. If you are writing in Victoria, please send to ejamieson@woolworths.com.au.

This afternoon, I was in the Safeway store at Burwood Highway, Ferntree Gully (not the Mountain Gate store). I was stunned to see an advertisement stating, that if customers purchased $60 of goods from Safeway Liquor, they would receive a 20c a litre discount on fuel.

I am amazed at the ethics of such a campaign. I have been told by Kerry in the Area 5 office that this was part of a national campaign organised by the Marketing Division of Woolworths. M

The campaign has certainly not been well thought through. It sends very mixed messages to the community:

1. Alcohol is more valuable than food because it attracts a larger discount on fuel at the bowser.
2. $60 worth of alcohol far outweighs in value at the bowser any amount large or small spent on food.
3. The campaign links alcohol to driving in an encouraging way - in more or less the same way that large car parks at suburban hotels encourage a drink and drive mentality.
4. Woolworths, whose income is derived - in the main - from families, encourages a significant slice of the family budget to be devoted to alcohol.
5. The campaign seeks to encourage a significant amount of spending on alcohol which is the root cause of violence and road deaths in our society and ties the name of Woolworths/Safeway to it.

I would ask you to immediately withdraw this marketing campaign from all Woolworths and Safeway stores and to refrain from any similar type of marketing in the future.

I also wish to complain about the way complaints are handled within Woolworths and Safeway.

I am told that the Woolworths system means that someone in the local regional office will email someone in Sydney but that the system does not allow for me to be cc'd. So I have no way of knowing the accuracy of material forwarded to the responsible person regarding my complaint. I have rung the corporate office in Sydney who referred me back to the local regional office. Sydney refused to give me the name of the person with responsibility for the campaign. I then asked for the title, the phone number and the email of the person responsible for the marketing campaign. This too was refused. There is clearly no way for the customer to be in direct contact with the person with corporate responsibility. I am told that the matter will take two business days and I am familiar with the time limit that Woolworths sets itself to respond.

I fear that the manner in which Woolworths deals with complaints means that the complaint will not be acted upon in a positive manner leading to the withdrawal of the campaign and that Woolworths will go on its merry way regardless.

Yours sincerely,
[Name supplied] [address supplied]
Email: [supplied]
Phone: [supplied]
Blogs: Oz Tucker at http://oztucker.blogspot.com/
The Trad Pad at http://tradpad.blogspot.com/
The Eagle's Nest at http://eaglesplace.blogspot.com

We'll wait to see what - if anything - happens.

Chai and browsing in Sassafras

Miss Eagle did coffee with a friend at Ripe in Sassafras yesterday. Miss E has posted on Ripe before. This time Miss took some photos to show you. Because Ripe has no sign outside to tell you it is Ripe. There are an ice-cream sign and some tables and chairs so you might think it is just a cafe/ice-creamery not a fully-fledged eating establishment reviewed and blogged here and here. Miss E and friend did chai: chai latte for friend, black tea-based for Miss E. And passionfruit cheesecake. Miss E does have to comment on the predictability of dessert and pastry cake offerings at coffee and cake time across Melbourne. Time for a re-think and re-jig if some culinary brains could be set in motion on this dilemma.
Before going home to Upper Gully, Miss E popped into Tea Leaves because she was nearly out of chai at home. This time she is trying a green tea based chai. Tea Leaves is wonderful - wall to wall teapots and everything tea. Stacked and packed on shelves.

In the window and beautiful settings.
And then into another favourite place, Antiques in Sassafras. A delight to eye and spirit.

And these give a whole new meaning to "getting the blues", don't they?
And then the signs.
But, if Christmas really was in July and Santa could be expected on 25/7, here is what I would be seeking. Paris stamps! Everything from the Eiffel Tower to a post mark!
And there's news!

Antiques in Sassafras will soon be opening a home and giftwares establishment across the road behind Quirky's, the funky clothing place across from the plant nursery. Miss E expects it will be as beautiful and spirit-lifting as AiS.