Slow Work?
That sounds like me a bit, but the Slow movement doesn't just claim Slow Food as the only way to change your life or the world for the better. In a recent email newsletter I subscribe to, Free Pint, Alison Scammell gave an over view of the movement that includes Cities, Architecture, Parenting (slow kids?) and a lot more about getting some balance into your world. Read it here.

If you're in Canberra in October, the 2nd Canberra Slow Festival is happening. There's a website listed in the press release but it loaded so slowly that you might like to read this PDF instead. www.canberra-slow-festival.com.au  Jodi Hughes is the Festival Director

Fred Harden. 19 Sept 05

They're Back. SBS Food Lovers Guide - New Season.

Just a reminder to watch SBS on Wednesdays at 7.30pm for the next couple of months. We're waiting on the segment Joanna Savill did at Fernleigh Farm's open day with chef  George Biron who cooked the special 'rare breeds' lunch. The picture below is Fernleigh's Nicholas Chambers with Joanna, flanking George. (There's some more of the Regional Food photo coverage on the Fernleigh Farm website.)

In this new series Joanna and Maeve O'Meara have been chasing around Australia covering the kind of stories we like. These are places we want to visit (Broome!) and people we'd love to meet, so until we can, it's great that Joanna and Maeve are in there batting for us. It's always an entertaining half hour, the only problem is it's  too short.

(If you're still hungry there's more food on Oliver's Twist if you switch to TEN at 8.00pm.)
Mark Kelly  19 Sept 05

Never blog in anger.
Or at least go back and edit when you're calmer.

The visibility of Regional Food magazine means that people send you samples. I was brought up to say 'thank you' when people offer gifts even if it's just to promote a product. I'm also experienced enough to know that we have say what we think about the products we receive. 'Have an opinion' is a bit of a mantra around here. Sometimes that means looking harder for the stories behind these samples, sometimes more interesting than the product itself. This is one of those cases I'm sure.

Along with the press release, a few days ago we received an attractive gift basket of Beechworth Honey. Thank you. Attractive sprigs of gum leaves and two soft flip-top bottles of their honey and a couple of flat fridge magnets. I sat the honey on the shelf until the next time I was having some toast to try it.

This morning I took off the security shrinkwrap and flipped the lid. There was something stopping the flow and I gave it a poke with my knife and figured it was a plastic cover. I looked for instructions. I poked some more but it didn't come out so I took the top off and realised it was a small plastic plug, (Jan said a condom). It came out with a sharper knife, but by then it was starting to get messy. I washed my hands and wiped the bottle. Then I tried to use it. A satisfying dollop came out, I wiped it off and repeated it. It was hard to squeeze the bottle after a few squirts and turning it upright made it dribble down the bottle. Snapping the lid shut was also messy.

Then I noticed that while I was trying to read the label I'd dripped a bit onto my jumper. Grrrrr. It's labelled upside down so you can see it when you're pouring. Clever. You can't really store it upside down however, because it oozes. Not so clever. Grumpy now, I figured that I'd better read the press release because maybe that had a cheery story in it. There was. Steven and Jodie Goldsworthy are part of the fourth generation of apiarists producing Beechworth Honey. They redeveloped the brand in 1992 and have won awards for their business and marketing skills. They no longer package the honey in Beechworth but in Corowa and they buy honey from lots of apiarists, in lots of areas, so despite it's label it isn't a regional Beechworth product.

To save you dribbling honey down your front here is the message on the attractive (but not proof read) label. I figure it will be easier to turn your computer upside down - go on, do it. It won't drip.



Here's a bit of it right way up.
"..honey gathered from the group of hardy natives known as Ironbarks. These amazing rough, almost black barked eucalypts are natural survivors of drought and are found in open forests on Australia's dry sweeping planes (sic) and undulating slopes and hillsides."

Gee that's almost poetry, just needs some flooding rains.

But what does it taste like? The Ironbark Honey has a stronger flavour than their mixed one as you'd expect. I liked it. They have national distribution through all the major supermarkets so you can try it for yourselves. I recommend you give the silly soft bottle and it's pygmy condom a miss and go for the jars. That's a much better way to contain a sticky substance like honey. Spoons are a clever device for that, and you can easily scoop out what's left in the jar with a buttery knife.
 
Site: www.beechworthhoney.com.au

Fred Harden. 4 Sept 05
 

(There's some catchup here, this was a few weeks back)

The entertainment (and education) for the night was provided by Kamberra’s Viticulturalist, Luke Wormald (left), and wine-maker Alex McKay. (Alex is a local born and bred and just happens to be the brother of James McKay, the brains behind the Collector Pumpkin Festival that you’ve read about in these pages.  Canberra’s a small town!)

From Luke, we learned about the variations in the local terroir and were introduced to key grape producers from Tumbarumba. Alex made a hesitant start, but warmed to the subject (perhaps because he was standing right in front of the fireplace). His enthusiasm for his profession became more than evident as he introduced the wines for the evening.
 

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