a day at The Agrarian Kitchen making ice cream!

 

For Christmas I was the lucky recipient of a "I scream for ice cream" cooking class gift voucher at The Agrarian Kitchen.  And just this last Sunday I arrived at the Lachlan based cooking school with some fibre in the belly (fairly certain the rest of the day would be a bit of a health write-off) ready for a day of fun. Oh, and some cooking!  

 



Firstly, I must say I love The Agrarian Kitchen, this is my fourth class in their cooking school and I always feel immediately at home.  Not only do I find familiar pieces such as this antique French wire egg basket in use around the kitchen, Rodney and Séverine are very welcoming.  Guests are greeted with a cup of something hot and a little cake, this day being no exception. 

Then it was straight down to business.  The ice cream class was led by Alistair Wise, ex Gordan Ramsay chef and now the mastermind of Sweet Envy in North Hobart, along with partner Teena.  The blackboard was full of all the wonderful ice creams that we were going to make throughout the day.  It was only 9.30 in the morning and we were straight into the kitchen with an undeniable sense of purpose.  Alistair's enthusiasm and commitment to the sweeter side of life is contagious, I must say. 

 

The philosophy behind the Agrarian Kitchen is that most ingredients used for the classes comes from its own land.  And as such Rodney went straight out to the garden and within minutes we had fresh fruit to use for the ice cream, parfait, sorbet and granite that we were to make.  We also used eggs from the chickens and goats milk for some of the ice cream. 

 

  

At one point during the day a little bit of science came into play to make the cherry sorbet, liquid nitrogen and a whisk was used to speed up the freezing time.  I am not sure if this was showing off by Mr Wise or whether it was a procedure of necessity.  I did perhaps notice all the ice cream churners were full of other types of ice cream?  Do not try this at home, I think I should say at this point (legal obligations, yawn) as Alistair and Rodney donned protective masks and gloves for safety.  It certainly made for a spectacular scene with the vapours spreading out over the work bench!

 



 

We made sesame praline and a yummy honeycomb, too.  The honey was from The Agrarian Kitchen's very own bees.

 

 

Whilst we were busy making ice cream in the kitchen, Rodney was cooking the lunch for the class.  Once again it was a matter of gathering and preparing vegetables from the garden for our feast, along with grilled eye fillet beef and Alistair's own bread straight out of the wood fired oven.  I would have been happy with just the bread, it was so delicious! 

 



 

The dining room was set with French napkins and antique cutlery and the chunky sycamore farmhouse table (ex the Drill Hall Emporium, I must proclaim) was perfect for a large gathering. 



 

After lunch Alistair had a treat for the class.  We were officially introduced to Big Bessie, a 1963 Commer original Mr Whippy.  Like, seriously!  Of which Alistair's pride is quite evident.  You may have seen Big Bessie at the Taste of Tasmania serving soft serve ice cream and sundaes to the masses?  Well, we had her all to ourselves this day and she didn't let us down. 

 

We then took a tour of the farm and gardens to help work off Big Bessie's "Joy's Prickly Box" featuring toffee baked corn flakes and caramel sauce.  I was lucky enough to know The Agrarian Kitchen three years ago upon opening and it truly amazes me how much can be achieved in such a short amount of time.  Not that I wasn't amazed back then, but the gardens and orchard are flourishing at every turn and the farm is home to 2 litters of piglets (with the grownups), several goats, guinea fowls, chickens...oh, and the bees. 

 

 

Finally, it was back to the kitchen for the final stages of ice cream and condiment preparations.  Alistair brought along his fairy floss machine which was so much fun to watch in action, before we were handed large scoops to help prepare the 2.4 metre ice cream sundae which graced the length of the table.  Amongst the chaos I could hear Alistair shouting orders as if a commander going to battle, as timing was oh so critical, apparently.  It was then a simple matter of digging in, and at 2.4 metres this was one ice cream sundae I didn't mind sharing.

 

Until next time, 

wonderful recycled English potting shed

During my recent antiques buying trip in the UK, I found this wonderfully recycled potting shed at the back of an antiques store in Sussex.  I couldn't help but take (many!) pictures as I instantly fell in love.  I think it shows that with a wee bit of imagination and clever recycling you can make something great out of almost worthless objects...

The walls are made from old fruit crates and the old door is missing glass.  But hey, it is a potting shed, not a house!  So who cares?

I love the old cart as well, potted with seedlings.  We bought a really sweet cart on the trip, I will try and remember to post a picture next time.  Actually, it almost didn't fit into the load as it was most awkward.  Luckily it was one of the last items to go in, I would have been sad to leave it behind.

Vintage garden tools are hung from the crate walls. 

I love stacks of vintage terracotta pots, as you may know if you have seen our garden room at the store.  Again, this shelf is made from recycled crates, perfect for air and water flow. 

I have always wanted a potting shed.  I once posted about the sophisticated potting shed in the film "It's Complicated" (click here for previous post) but I prefer this recycled version.  And you know what?  I have always wanted a little potting shed and now I am starting to think it may not be such a dream after all...

mona market on the roof of the museum on Saturdays, Tasmania

If you are wanting something great to do this Saturday afternoon, you could perhaps visit the new market named MoMa at the famous MONA museum in Berriedale. I had a rare Saturday off last weekend so I took the opportunity to see what all the hype was about. I was not disappointed.

Large pink beanbags are scattered for sitting around and relaxing on the green near Mona's restaurant, Source. And the steps down to the market which is located on the rooftop of the museum revealed an area with a great market atmosphere. People were everywhere!

This stall was enormously popular, people were lining up to sample the cider and grill.

The stallholders were offering their customers free apples, from what I could see. They were displayed in this 19th century copper preserving pan.

Possibly the largest paella in the world? It was 20 minutes from being ready when I saw it and it smelled delicious.

The Agrarian Kitchen had a stall selling their wonderful preserves and produce.

It was all so beautifully displayed.

I love the antique French chopping board, and look at the colour of that tomato ketchup!

Agrarian Kitchen heirloom beetroots are displayed in a traditional English Sussex trug. I used a bunch of these beetroots in a roasted vegetable salad and they were so sweet.

Nearby was this stand named Harvest Feast. They had a great selection of local produce such as pumpkins, berries and also Jay's famous Pigeon Hole Bread, which I couldn't resist.

Lastly I bought some mature seedlings from the stand named Hobart Kitchen Gardens including Chinese cabbage, broccoli and mustard greens. I couldn't wait to get home and plant my little plants. And at 50 cents each I thought I got a real bargain!

MoMa market is definitely a special place to visit for us locals stocking up on great local produce, but I can imagine visitors will have a great time too sampling all the wonderful Tasmania food and offerings.

For more, visit MONA website www.mona.net.au. MoMa will run every Saturday from 12.30 until 5pm until 14th April.

french antiques at cote provence in melbourne and a find for me!

I have just returned from a little break in Melbourne and am excited to share some of my images. The first few days were filled with deliveries for the store but once I got my work out of the way I decided to find inspiration at one of my favourite stores in Melbourne, Cote Provence (www.coteprovence.com.au). Whilst the shop front of Cote Provence is beautiful, I am actually more in love with the back of the shop, above, with its French doors opening to a brick courtyard. Here is where you will find tin tubs, watering cans, garden pots and the like.

Inside the store one can find French copper on shelving, and French grape picking baskets.

The owners cleverly mix old and new, usually utilitarian objects like these scrubbing brushes, above.

More copper to warm the heart.

They had some of these gorgeous little silver hotel ware dishes for serving. They seemed quite art deco in style, so they probably date from the 1920s. The silver platter is fantastic, too.

For the linen lover, the upstairs of the shop is filled with embroidered bed linens, both old and new, such as these pillow shams, above. How dreamy!

Vintage French shelving (I covet these shelves, terribly, you must know) displaying more French linen.

Look at this gorgeous embroidered pillow in the French basket. I almost want to change my name to suit the monogram!

This French iron day bed was downstairs, it is set up to suit a little girl's room. I love the red and beige linens together, and the checked bolster cushions work well against the iron.

Pigeon shelves filled with bits and pieces, including classic French enamel street numbers.

More rustic linens downstairs, with texture you can see!

French jars with original old tags inside.

A French oyster basket covering chemist's bottles makes a nice display.

A rack with many vintage French tea towels, these make the perfect gift especially at Christmas time, I think. They also make unique small table cloths or place mats.

I adore these blue drawers...a perfect way to store (or lose?) all your bits and pieces.

Now for my find. Later in the day I happened upon this English iron and glass garden terrarium on wheels! I once saw such a contraption on one of my overseas buying trips, but I felt it was a bit fragile to get home in the shipment. I sadly walked away at the time. So I couldn't believe my eyes when I came across this one, it honestly felt like it was meant to be! You must excuse the terrible image, I was so excited that I had to take a photo as it was loaded into the van. Here is a better photo...

On home soil in Tasmania. I can't wait to use it! Both of the angled roof parts open up and can be propped open for ventilation or for watering, or they can be flipped right over. It also has 2 fold down handles at the other end so that you can pick it up and wheel it around. I feel like a child at Christmas! Can you all see why I am so excited?

trend alert! antique tin and copper tubs as planters

I have only just arrived home from my overseas buying trip and as I was going through my pictures I noticed I was drawn to plants and trees in antique tin or copper tubs. The above olive tree has been planted into a large copper tub which has a fantastic verdigris patination. What a statement piece!

Outside a trendy antiques store in the Cotswold's are these tin tubs with numbers painted on them. They hold a bay tree and lavender but would also work well with herbs.

I saw several of these unusual slatted tubs at the trade fairs but was unsure what they could be used for. I am now kicking myself as I later saw them planted with buxus, above, to great effect. I have since learned that these are original olive buckets and that they also work well upside down as light shades! I will secure some of these on my next buying trip, don't worry.

The two larger tubs above are actually dolly tubs, used for washing clothes. They look great with buxus but I have seen them planted with olive trees and this looks amazing. We have one of these dolly tubs in store at the moment and have one on the way in our next shipment. They will hopefully make a nice pair?