Going Green in Australia

A lovely warm cup of organic green tea, with Australian native ingredient lemon myrtle, keeps me warm tonight. I sit outside in the garden with a refreshing bit of wind cooling down the air that has been hot and steamy today. It actually still is about 18 degrees, but after the 30 degrees earlier today it feels cool... refreshing... very pleasant!

I has been a long time since I actually sat down behind my laptop to write down some thoughts about life in Australia or new discoveries about food and eco-gastronomy in the big land Down Under. This is not to say that food and sustainability is no longer part of my life. Quite the opposite really! Every day the Drover and I try to make the best choices in our food consumption and especially the Drover dedicates quite a few hours of the week to our beautiful organic veggie garden. Spring is in full swing and potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, green beans, and much much more is growing like crazy.

I can't wait for the day that I can eat the first fresh tomato out of our own garden, combined with some Australian made buffalo mozzarella and basil leaves from our veggie patch, for a delicious insalata caprese. I get very excited every day I see the potato plants grow and think back of the first time I grew potatoes in my Mum's garden and the satisfaction I felt when I harvested the first lot of piepers... There certainly is nothing more satisfying than growing your own food and while cooking just walking into the garden for some fresh salad leaves, herbs, lovely veg and maybe even an apricot or two!

Words of Inspiration

These Words of Inspiration are written by Clare Lancaster, who started the blog Women in Business and wrote this Manifesto for Women in Business. Love her blog and her words!

Thinking

Do you ever have the type of moments that I have? Moments that you think. Think. You think about everything and you cannot stop thinking. Often there is no real logic in those thoughts or you are not even really thinking about one thing in particular. Your brain just keeps on going. Thinking about work, about love, about life, about memories from the past, about dreams for the future, about what to wear today and where to go tomorrow. Thoughts very often seem to be coming based on feelings. Feelings that I cannot always find the right words for, but they are just there.

Australian Autumn Days

Some thoughts about the Australian autumn and a recipe for Dutch appelmoes

My Mums Pancakes with Stroop

The smell of apple, cinnamon and cloves is filling the kitchen with warm Dutch autumn memories. Although what I am cooking is a very simple appelmoes, made from some old, wrinkly apples that I bought in the Central Market for only a dollar, the smell makes me think of pannekoeken met appel en kaneel, Dutch pancakes with apple and cinnamon. Preferably made by my Mum, on a dark and cosy autumn night. Although the pancakes made by my brother or my friend Irish are not too bad either. One thing that is missing in this moment of my Dutch thoughts and memories is the cold air, the rain and the grey clouds...

I am sitting in the kitchen in Adelaide in the season that is officially called autumn. But for this Dutch Cheesegirl it is still hard to believe that it is autumn at the moment. When I think of autumn I think of wet days with continuing rain and riding my bike through strong winds that try to push me into the canals while the tree leafs are flying through the air.

Hundreds of wines under one roof

In the weekend of 24-26 February the Cellar Door Wine Festival took place in Adelaide and as announced here the Drover and I went to have a look around, together with his parents. I was really curious to get an idea about all those South Australian wines and to see what good products there would be for taste and sale on the Regional Farmers Market. We had a lovely day out and certainly enjoyed a wine tasting or two... Or maybe... alright, a few more than that!

The location of the Cellar Door Wine Festival is absolutely beautiful. The event took place in the Adelaide Convention Centre that is situated along the River Torrens that crosses the city. When you enter the building you have a great view of the river, the park around it and the city centre. Che bello! At the entrance we received a Riedel wine glass to use for all the tastings, and to take back home afterwards - yeay, a little gift! The venue was divided into areas representing the various South Australian wine regions, being the Adelaide Hills, Barossa Valley, Eden Valley, LimeStone Coast, Clare Valley, Coonawarra, Padthaway, Kangaroo Island, Langhorne Creek, McLaren Vale, the Riverland and Southern Fleurieu. Jep, that is a fair bit of wine regions to explore in one day, especially because they together made up for more than 150 wineries! Of course this was way to much so the Drover made a selection in advance (since he is much more into wine than I am) to make sure we would taste some things a bit different and special.

A Month Ago: celebrating Australia Day with a Fair Feed Breakfast

Thinking back of a lovely day in the park with a true South Aussie barbie brekkie...

Every year on 26 January Australian friends and family get together to celebrate being Australian, living their good lives in the land Down Under, and 'celebrate what's great about Australia'.*  It is a day to get together in parks and on beaches, to organise pick-nicks and barbies, or to attend one of the many events that are being organised in local communities. The Drover and I attended such a local community event, organised by Slow Food Adelaide & Barossa, where we did not only celebrate what is good about Australia, but also what is good about eating local food.

A morning in Port Adelaide

Port Adelaide - Torrens Island

I don't know what it is about ports, but for some reason I always really like them. Whether it is a small port where you mainly see small fishers boats or one of the biggest ports in the world (Rotterdam) full of container ships, there is a certain thing in the air that attracts me. Is it the feeling of being in a place where long journeys begin? Is it the feeling of being connected to the rest of the world, through boats and ships that bring goods from destinations far away? Or is it the smell of the water, the fresh fish and the sound of the birds that are flying around? Whatever it is, my joy of walking around a port was being confirmed again last Sunday, when the Drover and I spent a morning in Port Adelaide. This port is officially established in 1840, which was only four years after the foundation of the state of South Australia in 1836 - back in the colonial times.

Fish straight from the fishers boat at the Torrens Island Market

We started our journey by visiting the Torrens Island Market, a great little outdoor market with fresh produce from local farmers that attracts a very multicultural crowd of people. Although not all the produce seemed to be of the highest quality, the prices were incredible. I felt as if for a moment I was back in Italy on a local market, with the possibility to get a full bag of veggie goodness for not so much. We were a bit lazy in the morning so we were not the earliest visitors, and the quality of the produce that we saw was very mixed. But I strongly believe that if you make it to this market early (6am) you can get a lot of good stuff for your precious dollars!

Coming Up: Cellar Door Wine Festival

Last year I heard about it, this year I will actually visit it: the Cellar Door Wine Festival that will take place for the second time in the Adelaide Convention Centre in the middle of the CBD. Thanks to the generosity of the Drovers parents we will be so lucky to go and check out over 150 wineries from 12 different South Australian (SA) wine regions. That surely will be a great day out!

The event is mainly focused on all the beautiful wines that are being made in SA, but it will also be possible to taste and buy some regionally produced food at the Regional Farmers Market and of course there will be some dishes from the barbie (barbecue) for a snack in between of the many drops of wine...

The Adelaide Central Market - a South Australian food hub

In the middle of the Central Business District (CBD) of Adelaide there is an amazing place to visit. It is surrounded by China Town and restaurants serving food from all corners of the world. It is THE place to be for the best fruit of the season, the freshest fish and meat, the greatest range of veggies, the most delicious cheeses, freshly baked breads and cakes and every other special ingredient that you could possibly need for your dinner party or daily home-cooked meal. I am talking about the Adelaide Central Market, a 'South Australian icon with 140 years of experience and more than 80 stalls under one roof' (Adelaide Central Market).

The Drover told me about this great market when he was with me in the Netherlands, shortly after we met in the autumn of 2010. He had just been traveling through Europe for quite a few months and was almost ready to go back home to Australia. One of the things that he was looking forward to back home, was the possibility to go and do his shopping at the Central Market again where he would be able to find all the best quality food products in one place. Having heard many good stories about this covered market, I went to check it out soon after I arrived in Adelaide last year...

People, places, products

It is February and the sun is shining on my face. It is warm outside, very warm. In the mornings I wake up of the sound of hundreds of birds and when I look out of the window I can see these exotic looking colourful birds flying around in the garden. In that same garden some beautiful plants are working hard to cope with the heat of the sun and to produce the most delicious produce for our daily meals.

That’s right, that doesn’t sound like the view that I would have from the apartment in our cute little hilltop town in Piemonte, Italy. Because there I would see the neighbours looking out of their window as soon as they noticed that there was life in our apartment (curious Italians!). The songs of exotic Australian birds have replaced the sounds of the church bells in La Morra. With mixed feelings and a bit of pain in our hearts the Drover and I have said goodbye to our lovely Italian friends and to the great Italian wine producers in ‘our’ town. It was time for a new adventure, and that adventure has started a few weeks ago here in Adelaide, South Australia.