Breakfast and Annual General Meeting Tuesday 20 Sept, 9am. Details coming soon.
Helen Attwater will be hosting an interesting lunch at Eagleview Farm Foxground. Sunday October 16th. Invitation on its way soon!
Slow Food Saddleback Membership – You will be able to renew your membership through Slow Food Saddleback from now on – Details coming.
A lovely day for twenty Slow Food Saddleback members and friends to wander around Kiama’s Community Garden on the 30th July.
Joe, Maria and Julie proudly lead us through the garden and answered all our questions. They are a very busy group and would welcome any support members and friends can offer.
Gabriella’s Pumpkin, Julie’s Artichoke and Maria’s Broccoli/blue cheese soups, all prepared from garden produce were enjoyed with flatbread cooked in the pizza oven by Rayner. We donated $220 toward the commercial kitchen project for the garden.
Rayner has sent me a link to his favourite recipe of the moment. it is very good reading. http://www.georgeandgianna.com/#!Umbria-II/coco/56d9411c0cf20d226f1e41f5
Yes, the orchard is ONE year old, bring your family and friends along to share in the celebration.
Bring and Share some citrus treats and recipes on the day.
Earlier this month 36 members and friends were treated to a fabulous lunch created by Kirsten McHugh of the Gerringong Schoolhouse using Dr Pia Winberg’s Phyco Food Co. Seaweed products produced in the Shoalhaven. Pia uses a bi-product from the Manildra plant to grow the seaweed and explained how pre-biotic fibre and Omega 3 is very beneficial to our gut health and how gut health is instrumental in our general health. Pia gave a very informative talk on her recent Bio Belly research and these results are in the process of being written up for publication in scientific journals. She also talked about the research she has undertaken with the Nowra Prison inmates and the Omega 3 deficiencies she found in this study. She has now branched out into a commercial venture marketing Phyco Food Co.* products online www.phycofood.co. The seaweed pasta was nominated at the National Food Awards in Melbourne recently.
Kirsten’s imaginative house made menu included Phukka* dusted grissini and crackers with Phycotein*spiced Schoolhouse Haloumi for starters, then the most delicious entree of eggplant and wakami wontons in a spiced wakami broth. The main course consisted of a tasty nori and nettle gnocchi and served with a nori-enriched beef ragu (beef from Helen and Bernard’s Eagleview Farm at Foxground) and a crisp salad of cabbage, fennel, lemon and Australian Ulva. Dessert was Schoolhouse Yoghurt Pannacotta with Davidson plum syrup and delicate seaweed dusted meringue. It was a very busy day for Kirsten, however she managed to introduce us to each dish. Kirsten’s cheeses and yoghurt products are available through Greenbox each week at www.greenbox.org.au
It was wonderful to share this event with the orignial founders of Slow Food Saddleback, Kirsten McHugh and Jack Timbs. Oh! and I almost forgot, (kidding) Jack gave a well researched and very entertaining introduction to Pia on the day.
Thank you Pia, Kirsten and Jack, we hope we can share another event in the near future.
Keep Saturday 30th July FREEEEEE.
Slow Food Saddleback will join forces for a day in Kiama’s Community Garden. We will enjoy hearty soups made fresh from the garden and hopefully some freshly baked bread from the pizza oven.
This event supports the Community Garden’s fundraising for a toilet at the garden. We will be asking for donations on the day.
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Kiama Farmers Market invited Slow Food to participate in the Seniors Week festivities on 6th April. We decided to focus on “end of summer corn” We prepared lots of corn on the cob and corn fritters from Bill Granger’s recipe served with an avocado and finger lime salsa and a tamarillo chutney.
Look for the recipe in the recipe section.
(Corn is a particularly good example of the importance of the Slow Food Movement. After reading the Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, his description of GM corn and its impact on farming communities in the USA inspired me to join Slow Food Saddleback. He describes the importance of diversity, thinking and questioning farming methods used in food production today) Its worth the read to help you grasp the SLOW in the Slow Food Movement.
Celebrity Chef James Reeson of WIN TV Alive and Cooking entertained the crowds by cooking a selection of market produce during the afternoon.
Twenty members and friends enjoyed a fun evening at the Berry home of Judith and David Ball on March 19th. We shared the evening with their grand daughter and her friends to celebrate a belated 13th Birthday. It was a fun evening and the pizza concoctions were amazing.
Judith and David guided us through their secrets of pizza making from the dough, topping and cooking process. David walked us through his productive vegetable garden and we sampled his home brewed beer that he has perfected over many years.
This was a very special evening and we hope we are invited back. We could maybe have a pizza competition. Judith and David could be the judges.
Thank you Judith and David from all who attended.
Slow Food Members and Friends enjoyed a tasty seafood paella day on February 28th, to see in the end of summer.
Daniel and Margarita from Oscars Deli at Warrawong guided the group to make the paella from beginning to end. It was a lot of fun especially when Murray’s sangria and the tapas were passed around the busy workers. The tapas included some chorizo and spanish style jamon produced in Sydney. Helen made a tasty marinated fish tapas dish as well. Beverly did a great job setting the Spanish theme in the Gerringong Town Hall. Dessert was delightful spanish cream pots with slices of locally grown tamarillo.
Trisha Ashelford, the coordinator of the Kiama Farmers Market gave an informative chat about the workings of the Farmers Market, the growth in the two years its been operating and it’s success in pulling the local community together each Wednesday afternoon was applauded. She works really hard in her role and it is good that Slow Food Saddleback can help with special events like the up coming Seniors Week Market on the 6th April where we will showcase locally grown produce.
A day full of fun and learning for everyone.
Looking forward to our next event EARTH HOUR at the home of Judy and David Ball for homemade pizza on 19th March 2016
The National Conference in Mildura will be a fantastic event if you can organise a few days in this very interesting food area of Victoria, amongst the grape vines.
Save the Date – November 17 – 20, 2016 more details soon
Check out this article in SMH 7 November 2015 Noel Butler is from Slow Food Shoalhaven
Celia and Ronnie had lots of inquisitive people visit the special Sunday Market Stall. Once again the Warrigal Greens Pesto was featured as a local foraged treat for visitors to sample. The Kiama Market supported SMH Good Food Month as a special regional event.
Celia and Vicki had a stand at the Kiama Farmers Market on Wednesday. It was very successful and lots of people questioned what Slow Food Saddleback is about? We enticed locals with a small sample of a Warrigal Greens (NZ Spinach or Cook’s Cabbage)
Bush Tucker Pesto. Here is Vicki’s recipe!
Take 1 prepared cupful of Warrigal Greens (prewashed, dipped in boiling water for 1 minute and quickly cooled in a bowl of iced water then drained/squeezed well) It’s very important to cook it first!
1 generous cup of any garden herbs (washed and drained) I used garlic chives, coriander, parsley and rocket. Basil would be nice too.
Place greens in a food processor with 1 or 2 cloves of garlic (I like to precook in boiling water for a few minutes to take away the bitterness) and process with
1/4 to 1/2 cup olive oil, 1 cup of walnuts (any nuts ok), a pinch of salt and or sugar to your taste and juice of lemon. Capers are a very nice addition too. Parmesan is another alternative.
I serve it on pasta, toast, potatoes or a cracker. Delicious!
Gerringong Public School will share in $35,000 for sustainability projects thanks to the Jemena Junior Landcare Sustainability Grants. The idea behind funding was to support schools and youth groups projects in making a positive difference to the environment and educating young people about energy safety and efficiency. The school had to put forward a creative proposal of how they would use the money under the theme of living, growing and exploring sustainability. The Garden Grubs are purchasing a native bee hive for their garden.
Penny Rushby-Smith designed this garden. She and her father Leon Sadubin have an exhibition ‘From the Tidal Zone’ featuring Penny’s artwork alongside furniture made by her father. Check out the exhibition 31st October to 8th November, 10am-4pm at unit 7/11 Bergin Street, Gerringong .
Celeriac is related to the celery and parsley family though it is much bigger. It looks like a root but it is a corm or enlarged stem with brown warty skin, white flesh and a pungent flavour. It has long been used in French and Middle Eastern cuisines but is not widely widely used here.
Cut celeriac goes brown quickly so add pieces to acidulated water as they are prepared. Thickly peel off all the warty skin and cut into suitable sized pieces and place in the water.
Thick slices can be baked, roasted or made into chips.
A delicious salad can be prepared by cutting into thin julienne slices, then tossing with a dressing and some creme fraiche and parsely. Similarly it can be shredded into mayonnaise and parsley added to give a delicious dip.
Celeriac makes a delicious puree to serve with pork or chicken. Cut into slices and cook in butter until soft. Add cream and simmer gently till cooked, Puree the mix. You may like to add some truffle oil or shave truffle to serve.
Carolyn Evans
“What’s a Panama Berry?”Where do we plant it?’ ‘How big does it get?’What does it taste like?’ Such were the questions we heard as we visited Gerringong Public School on 24th July, National Tree Day.
The Food Orchard was the brain-child of parent Penny Rushby-Smith and Slow Food Saddleback, with the aim to encourage students to find out where their food comes from, how it grows and to experience growing and nurturing their food, ideals in keeping with Slow Food’s ideals of educating people in using good, clean, sustainably and ethically produced food. The site chosen was on a north facing slope at the back of the school. Penny and a team of enthusiastic parents, had previously held a working bee, following her carefully managed plans, to weed and dig holes and prepare for the planting with manure and mulch as well as constructing a partial fence to protect from wayward playground balls.
Each class is to care for a particular plant so on National Tree Day, throughout the day, classes came to the orchard to plant their tree which was then labelled with tree name and class name. In the afternoon, representatives from each class and members from Slow Food Saddleback, who had purchased the plants, joined the headmistress as she declared the orchard open, followed by afternoon tea.
Slow Food Saddleback members hope that this will be a sustainable project and appreciate the opportunity to work with children in our community.
Carolyn
