Edgar's Mission needs help and voluteers. Please help.

Mahatma Gandhi got it right when he stated "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." And if you’ve ever visited Edgar’s Mission Farm Sanctuary, you’ll know exactly what I’m referring to. As many of you will know, Edgar’s Mission is run solely by Pam Ahern.  Surviving on the smell of an oily rag, Pam and all the animals at the Sanctuary, rely heavily on the support and much appreciated assistance from their volunteer network in order to continue to spread the message of compassion and kindness.  We’re calling on you to lend us a much needed hand. In a little under 6 weeks, on Sunday October 3, 2010, Edgar’s Mission Farm Sanctuary will celebrate World Animal Day.  Recognised all over the world, World Animal Day is the day when the world celebrates humankind’s relationship with the animal kingdom.  And at Edgar’s Mission, we love to do it in style! World Animal Day is our biggest open day of the year.  But to get the Sanctuary looking spick and spam in readiness for the big day, we need your help!  Aside from our regular monthly volunteer days - the second Sunday and third Saturday of every month – we’re putting on a few extra volunteer days if you can possibly spare the time to assist us. And really, what better way is there to get up close and personal with such wonderful creatures like Hamish – the handshaking porcine, Ryan - the cheeky comical goat, Timmy - the friendliest sheep in the world and of course, Tippi – the most gentle cow you will ever meet! As someone, who two years ago was touched by the compassion and spirit that transcends that of Edgar’s Mission, I can assure you that Volunteer days give you such wondrous opportunities to really get to know these animals. But they also give so much more. They give you an opportunity to learn new skills, meet like minded people and give back to the community. As such, we are looking for volunteers to assist on:   Saturday 28th August (extra)  Sunday 12th September  Saturday 18th September  Saturday 26th September (extra)  Friday 1st October (extra)  Saturday 2nd October (extra) And of course, if you can spare any time on any second Sunday or third Saturday of any month of the year, we certainly won’t turn you away! (Check out ourwebsite  www.edgarsmission.org.au for more details). If you can assist on any of the above listed dates, or on any other volunteer day throughout the year, please contact me via e-mail - tash@edgarsmission.org.au or phone 0419 729 902. And of course, if you are free on Sunday October 3rd, we’d love to see you at the Sanctuary.  Come support our day! And, thanks for all you do for the animals. Cheers,   Tash   Natasha Reus Volunteer Coordinator   If we could live happy and health lives without harming others ...why wouldn't we? www.edgarsmission.org.au

KOFI BEANS AND HARIRA SOUP AT CROYDON

Yesterday, was Dentist Day and I was in Croydon. It is becoming something of habit to pop into Kofi Beans after my appointment to recover from all that drilling and poking before setting off full of (well not really - much diminished) anaesthetic to drive home.

Kofi's signage is not well seen from a distance.  If you come down Mount Dandenong Road and turn left into Main Street and look for the better signed Red Cargo, you will find  Kofi's next door on the northern side.

You will see Kofi's footpath dining area.

The weather has not been conducive to outdoor dining lately

and, while yesterday was sunny, it was still quite cold.

However, I haven't been in Kofi's during the lunching hours

when the indoors has not been packed. 

On the right as you walk in, there are comfy couches for curling up with friends and coffee.  Well, it wouldn't be Moroccan would it if there were not space and comfort for curling, reclining, slouching?  And then there are the homewares - stacks and stacks of Moroccan homewares.  Everything you can think of - almost - is there for the browsing and buying.

While coffee is the specialty of the house, I have to admit that I haven't got that far.  I get stuck on the hot chocolate.  Yesterday, I ordered orange and cinnamon.  It was a delight to warm the cockles of my heart and pour comfort into a body which had suffered the vicissitudes of the dentist, lovely though Andrew is.  The chocolate was so thick I am sure if I had put the teaspoon into it, it would have remained vertical.

 

Above is the menu board for the day, 

but the menu at Kofi's is quite extensive 

and has thoughtful menu markings 

for dairy, vegetarian, and gluten free.  

I ordered Harira Soup.  Find out more about this traditional Moroccan dish here.  There is a link to a recipe which includes meat - but Kofi's soup did not include meat and I think a really good rich vegetable stock would suffice well to provide a strong base for the chick peas, lentils, tomatoes, celery, and coriander.  The Harira was served with Phillippa's Bread which will always be my favourite.

The cake cabinet is a veritable assortment of culinary jewels.  But I have never ordered from there.  You see, atop the cake cabinet are trays of cholates - all sorts: champagne, caramel, lavender, tia maria and on and on.  I select three to take on my way.  And I leave well satisfied.

BTW, on Friday nights Kofi's opens their courtyard - covered and heated - for dinner.

First Nations food from Australia's past

At the moment there are various events commemorating the ill-fated expedition of Burke and Wills. I have posted about these here. Because Burke and Wills perished through arrogance and ignorance, I wanted to draw attention to this post.

Food blogs are quite sophisticated things these days but we need to keep reminding ourselves of how humanity has nurtured itself in the past.  I think the big lesson to learn is to encourage an inward humility which is willing to learn from the past and to learn from other cultures.  This humility was lacking, by and large, from the Burke and Wills experience and they died in their ignorance and arrogance.

Further reading:

Ancient philosophy of food

What price for Aboriginal food sources?

Laneway leads to Aboriginal careers in food

Charcoal Lane by Jeroxie

Benjamin Christie's Aboriginal food tags

Outback Pride
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GIRLS' DAY OUT AT MORNINGTON : BAY HOTEL

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.

If you want to get the rest of the story about what we did in Mornington, please go here.

Bias in the kitchen as discovered by The Wheeler Centre

This book accompanied The Australian Women's Weekly

March 8 1967.

Have just discovered that I blogged about this book

here over four years ago. And there is a recipe there too.

Bias in the kitchen as discovered by The Wheeler Centre here in Melbourne.   The Wheelers  have a lot to say about the Top 50 Best Cook Books as listed by The Observer.

As Tucker Lovers know, Miss Eagle does not stand on ceremony and Posh Nosh is not really her thing unless it can be brought to manageable household proportions and method.

I learned to cook in Domestic Science classes as the Bowen State School.  Added a bit more to the repertoire when I had to cook meals for everyone when I was on night duty at the Bowen Hospital.  But the real crunch, for most of us, comes when we marry and have a family and we have to learn, produce, and budget meals day by day, week by week, month by month, year in and year out.  We balance likes and dislikes, time and reality.  So my two nominees are never going to make it on to The Observer list but I need to express my undying and unflagging gratitude to them.

1. Coming in at Number 1 is Miss Amy Schauer and her Schauer AustralianCookery Book.  No surprises there, eh, Tucker Lovers.  
2. I am also indebted to The Australian Women's Weekly Test Kitchen Team/s.  In his review of Kitchen, Benjamin Christie says: Many of you would have grown up with those thin 60 page Woman’s Weekly cookbooks in your kitchen. Well, I am so antique that I precede those.  I come from a period when the books (and their were craft books as well which taught me to knit for babies, toddlers and children - yes my skills grew with the kids thanks to The Weekly) were rectangular affairs of about 14 pages stapled into the inside of The Weekly - which really was a weekly back then, not a monthly as now.  I kept heaps of these for many years but eventually, after shifting around half Australia, I parted with them.  I still have a couple which are not just yellow but brown with age and the pages are decidedly tattered.  And I just remembered, after the rectangular affairs came a sort of B5 size one which was sophisticated by comparison.

VICHYSSOISE - WONDERFUL WARM OR COOL

It is cold, rainy, bleak here in Melbourne - as it has been so often in weeks past.  I have blessed myself with some vichyssoise and included recipe and picture.  Please note: the last word in the recipe says "Chill".  I haven't. Vichyssoise is beautiful warm too.  I didn't use chicken stock because I am vegetarian - and I didn't have any vegetable stock, so I did without.

Shabby Vintage Junk Extravaganza ! 13 and 14 August 2010 - AND MRS BEETON'S COOKBOOK

Tucker lovers

Let me tell you about the Shabby Vintage Junk Extravaganza.  

Well, to-day was move-in day.

Don't ask me if Tamara (who is organising all this) and her dearly beloved Matt slept last night.  I know that Herself (my daughter) was over there until well after midnight helping put up wonderful white tissue paper balls on the rafters of the Ashburton Scout Hut in High Street Road, Ashburton.  The Scout Hut is still a Scout Hut but now it is a Scout Hut with pizzaz and quite a large helping of swish.

To-day, I saw wonderful stuff being unpacked and displayed.

There are ten stalls but a cornucopia of variety.

Shabby is there in spades

with all that would gladden Rachel Ashwell's heart.

Vintage and retro is there in all shapes and colours.

Wonderful linens and handcrafted stuff -

that would delight not only the modern woman

but her mum and grandma - are all over.

And junk is there as its glorious self

and re-jigged in marvellously creative ways.

Talk about re-jig, re-use, recycle.

And for those of you who love your food,

I have singled out for special attention

Mrs Beeton's Cookbook

which comes complete with

handwritten recipes and etcetereas.

Just look...

So please come to-morrow and Saturday.

8am until 5pm Friday

8am until about 3pm or so on Saturday.

There are not many opportunities like this to purchase

from a multiplicy of specialist stall holders.

Please ecourage the efforts of 

Tamara, Alicia, Sam,

Shelley, Andrea, Robyn,

Callee, Jane & Kaz

See you when you are shabby shopping 

at the Shabby Vintage Junk Extravaganza

Farmers Markets : Grow Local

Just a reminder to Tucker lovers, 

to check out their local farmers' markets.

In Victoria, you are never far from a farmers' market and there is a website to check your market of choice.    It may be a market close to home or you may decide on a pleasant drive to a pleasant location.  Have fun - and buy your food, as far as possible, close to home to support the Grow Local idea and make sure your victuals have as much of the good stuff in them as possible when you get to eat them.  

And if you want to swap stuff or meat like-minded people, please pop over to the net site, Grow Local.