"When I grow up I want to be Maggie Beer"

I am getting one step closer to that goal :)

Last weekend I again volunteered at the Portarlington mussel festival. This year, not only did I work in the community kitchen (and we steamed 650 kg of super fresh mussels), but I also provided cooking demonstrations using the Blanco demonstration kitchen. Thanks to Jill Hill from Blanco who as my MC, kept me on track.

Here is the article in the Geelong advertiser if you are interested   https://sites.google.com/site/rieskitchenette/home/news-clippings

Top food allergy blog survey

I'm not one to do online surveys. In fact I hate getting bombarded with requests to rate any number of products, but this one is different. Firstly, because it is related to a sensible topics - Mums giving advice from the lessons they have learned in dealing with their kids allergies, and secondly because my friend and fellow blogger, Kylie, has been nominated on the survey.

So if you are so inclined, here is the link:

http://www.circleofmoms.com/top25/top-food-allergy-blogs-2011?trk=t25_top-food-allergy-blogs-2011#_

I must confess I voted twice - once for Kylie ( http://kylie.wordpress.com/) and once for pig in the kitchen, who you will know I follow and quite frankly adore!

Even if you don't want to vote, this is an interesting site to find 25 blogs related to dietary allergies and is very informative, funny and helpful

CWA and CSIRO a perfect match for science week!

You have probably never thought that the Country Women's Association of Victoria and the CSIRO are a perfect match but they are. This year to celebrate year of the forest, our 2 great organisations have come together to put on a travelling exhibition. It opens next week in Federation Square to celebrate Science Week and is free. Come along and marvel at the creativity of these wonderful women, and the wonders of nature. For more information visit

http://craftvic.org.au/craft-cubed/satellite-events/exhibitions/raveling-the-world

Foodie Tuesday

Last week I was a guest on Lindy Burns Drive Program in the "
Foodie Tuesday" section. Thanks to all those who rang, emailed and texted comments and recipe suggestions. My topic was "gluten free cooking".

One of the callers recommended Passover recipes as they do not contain wheat flour. My Jewish friends Anna and Monica tell me that that is not quite correct and you need to be careful as Masa flour is wheat based. Still it opens up all sorts of possibilities.

You will find the audio file here if you missed it:

http://sites.google.com/site/rieskitchenette/broadcasts

Hot Cross Buns

With Easter almost here, I was determined to conquer Hot Cross Buns Gluten Free.

My mum always would rise early on Good Friday Morning, and make buns. Neighbours would come in and share a wonderful feast of piping hot buns from the oven, coffee and great conversation.

This was a tradition that I continued for many years until my diagnosis of Coeliac's disease. I love my friends and family, but I am not getting up at 5am to make the buns when I can't eat them! I have tried a number of different recipes , but with mixed results.

Thank you so much to the fine folk at SpringHill farm, for this recipe from their recent newsletter.

http://www.facebook.com/notes/springhill-farm/gluten-free-hot-cross-bun-recipe/201365966563084

As you can see, they worked, and even Myles thought they were pretty good.

Like all things GF, they are definitely best on the day of cooking, and even when stored in airtight container, they don't keep well and are bound for the toaster only.

Rick Stein

Last night I was privileged to be a guest at the Rick Stein's Food Odyssey tour. He was relaxed, informative and informal. The show was a great mix of cooking technique demonstrations, clips from some of his television shows and general banter.

Rick was ably assisted, prompted and teased by his long time friend and colleague Paul Sellars. Without Paul, none of the dishes would have been complete, as Rick was continually sidetracked with storytelling. Some lucky members of the audience were able to eat the dishes made. I did not volunteer as unfortunately most dishes were not gluten free, but certainly could be modified.

Thankyou to Nathan at Blanco, for the opportunity to attend. I had a great night and recommend the show to anyone who enjoys a yarn over food, and we can all pick up a few tricks :)

a day of activity

It's been a busy day. I have made 26 jars of jam, (blackberry and mixed berry), designed some labels for strawberry jam, labelled and waxed 30 jars of chutney and 30 jars of sauce. I feel pretty tired, but certainly satisfied with my days efforts.

It's been a busy day thanks to my visit to Silvan last week. I had a wonderful day catching up with Pam from Silvan Berry Estate, and her fellow berry farmers Peter and Mark Chapman. I learn heaps every time I meet up with these guys. They are so knowledgeable about their product, and very happy to share their knowledge. I would recommend talking to the grower at farmers gate shops whenever you can. They are passionate about the food they grow, and it shows through in the quality. I look forward to popping up again in a fortnight when the Wilamett raspberries should be ready again. As I have said before in this blog, Wilamett's make the best jam.

My trip to Cospak was less fun, with the cost of jars increasing by 15% since I last purchased them. That with the increased costs of fruit and rental means that as of May 1st my prices will be going up $1 per jar and bottle. Sorry folks, but I run Rie's Kitchen at cost - no profits here - just the joy of making a quality product.