Spring 2012

A meeting at my place. Also some lovely photos from Kate here. Thanks to little Gene for being here, and Sadie and Scout for so much entertainment, beautiful girls.

Seasonal Vegetables

We just made a loan to Bilqees group via Kiva, to buy seasonal vegetables. I loved the colour in the saris and onions in this photo, so thought I would share.

Bilqees, Sharifan, Nasreen Bibi, Zainab Bibi, Rehana Kosar and a mountain of red onions. Relish?

I just planted raspberries in my garden, and some cucumbers, too, though my red onions have gone to seed due to weather fluctuations. Aaah, Melbourne in spring time.
Looking forward to the meeting on Sunday!

Spring

We will be meeting on the 30th of September. Sneaking in a spring meeting to maybe even meet and greet some new members. I'm making horseradish. Neigh. Photo found by Adam. Thanks Adam.

Also just wanted to share our 51st Kiva loan, you can see the details here. And an open invitation to all to join us on Kiva.

Autumn at Don's

We had our Autumn meeting at Don's warehouse in Northcote. It was such a good day.
Nice to be in such a big open space, the rope swing was very popular. As was the record player.




There was quince chutney, rhubarb chutney, homegrown cherry tomato chutney, peach brandy butter and National Trust pickled onions. Nomnomnom.




I made a brioche plait, all soft and sweet. I also made watermelon rind pickle, the recipe is from the Time Life Good Cook Preserving book. It's a weird consistency, but tastes good! I also bought a couple of jars of bread and butter pickles, as I wasn't sure how well received the watermelon rind would be, and I have been making lots of pickles and jam. I also took a few jars of fig and vanilla jam, the neighbour's tree has been very abundant, and still has fat figs ripening. They aren't so good to eat fresh, but make very nice jam.

Donkey!

We just bought a Donkey via Oxfam. For women in Mozambique, owning a donkey can greatly improve their quality of life. The Cupo and Tlavane communities, in remote, dry and poor areas, are still affected by the destruction of the civil war that ended in 1992. Women have the difficult task of collecting water and transporting goods from farm to market. So by using donkeys to carry these loads, women can save time and energy, improve their productivity, and improve their income. This also gives women more chance to be involved in community decision-making processes, and contributes to improving women’s equality.

A good enough excuse methinks to share this google image search love. Merry Christmas!

Spreading the love

I have just updated our Kiva loans with all the funds raised by ticket sales online. I love looking at the map view of where the loans have been dispersed across the map, 35 loans now.

Also, we get a small mention in the age via Pen alongside Feral Fruit Trees.

Winners!

We have a winner! No, three! Gaye, Ulanda and Tim. Congratlations!

Totes!

We have amazing new Penelope Durston black denim Chutney Club totes to carry all the hamper goodies. With a logo designed by Thought and Deed you'll be toting your picnic to the park in style. It's sure to be both the envy and the confusion of your friends. Chutney Club? What?

There is a spare one too, which I think may become the ticket seller prize if chutney club members need a reason to sell more tickets. I am thinking of holding the draw on wednesday night next week, so only a few more days to buy tickets.

Tickets available online!

As promised, tickets are now available online HERE. Massive thanks to Thought and Deed for designing the poster and a new logo to print on the bags. Also thanks to Trotski and Ash who have donated a beautiful calender to the winning hamper. I have had a sneak peek at the recipes, and with those amazing photos, I suspect they will be making you hungry and inspired all year.

Remember, all proceeds go to charity and all goods are donated by the chutney club and friends. I wrote a little about our experience with Kiva here.

Chutney Club Christmas Hamper 2011

Looking good! Tickets are available from a Chutney Club member you may know, or online here soon. Featuring all homemade preserves with a variety of other hamper goodness yet to be thrown in. Tickets are $2 each or three for $5. Three hamper prizes, so the odds are pretty good.



All proceeds go towards projects supported by Kiva and Oxfam. The raffle will be drawn at a gathering on December 20th. We will endeavor to deliver prizes within Melbourne before Christmas to help with festivities.

It features homemade preserves from the Chutney Club:
Szechuan Tomato Sauce, BBQ Sauce, Baltic Sea Relish, Piccalilli, Chili and Ginger Green Sauce, Kumquat Marmalade, Rhubarb Cordial, Fruit Mince Pies, Green Tomato Relish, Preserved Lemons, Plum Jam with Raspberry and Vanilla & More!

It's that time of year.

Trotski and Ash have made another calender featuring hungry-making pictures and seasonal recipes. I wonder if they are preserving anything this year? The perfect gift for someone. Last year's sold out fast and left many of us wanting, so quick sticks!

Piccalilli

I got this Piccalilli recipe from the Time Life Preserving Book from THE GOOD COOK series. These books are excellent, and full of well illustrated techniques. Treasure!

This is half the original recipe, and makes 5 quite large jars. Plenty for us.

Any combination of vegetables may be used for this recipe, depending what is available. Choose from florets of cauliflower, slices of courgettes, pickling onions or shallots, cubed cucumber or squash, sliced french beans, sliced carrots or celery and peppers cut into strips. The vegetables should be of around an even size for equal cooking and chopped depending on whether you want a fine sandwich pickle or a more chunky style pickle. I tried to keep it quite fine, though it's tempting to go chunky, you do get a little tired of chopping.

1.5kg of prepared vegetables.
I used cauliflower, carrots, beans, onions, chili pepper and cucumber.
250 grams coarse salt.

Layer the prepared vegetables with the salt in a large bowl and cover with a plate to ensure that the vegetables really steep in the salt. Leave for 24 hours. Rinse the vegetables and drain them thoroughly.

Sauce.

1/2 tablespoon of ground turmeric
4 teaspoons of dry mustard
4 teaspoons of dry ginger
90 grams sugar
625 ml distilled vinegar
12.5 grams cornflour

Put the turmeric, ginger, mustard, sugar and 600ml of vinegar into a large pan. Mix well. Add the drained vegetables and bring to the boil, simmering gently for 15 to 20 minutes, testing the firmness of the vegetables occasionally. The degree of crispness or tenderness of the vegetables is a matter for individual taste, but do not overcook them.

When ready remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon and pack them into hot jars. Dissolve the cornflour in the remaining vinegar and stir into the sauce in the pan. Bring to the boil and cook for three minutes, stirring continuously. Pour the sauce over the vegetables and cover at once.

The piccalilli will be ready for use in six weeks. And is very good on a chunky slice of fresh bread with cheddar and fresh tomato.

Bird's house

These photos from the weekend meeting at Bird's house. A really good bunch, including Don's green tomato, Drew's pickled cucumbers, Fleischmann's eggplant relish, Rachael's szechuan peppers in tomato, Dell's piccalilli, Simon's Baltic Sea relish, Bird's beetroot and horseradish, Kate's tomato relish, the Ward's tomato chutney and Estelle's hot Rococo chili sauce. Everything was very tasty, and we made plans for the annual Christmas Hamper raffle. I'll keep you posted!

Meeting early november

Not entirely sure what to make of the season. Piccalilli? Marmalade? Do you have a recipe to contribute? Please do!

The farm gate

What a good bunch. Including Jalamato! Apricot and Amaretto, Whiskey Marmalade, Kumquat, Thyme and Peppercorn Jelly, Lilly Pilly Jam, Quince and Apple Chutney, Marinated Feta, Green Tomato Chutney and Ponzu Sauce.

Farm Chairs

Autumn and Farm

Equals good! The next meeting will be towards the end of April at the farm I think.
Prepare! Preserve!

New Look

New Year, new look. I have been meaning to pretty this blog up a bit. Look apples! I have also been meaning to post about our beehives since the new year. Chutney Club are the proud owners of 3 Beehives and 3 farmers packs, which include a goat, a duck and some seeds. Thanks again to all who contributed to the raffle!

Ho Ho. Ha Ha.

This is pretty hilarious, but Santa came to the Christmas Party. As pictured in the club portrait. With notable absences, Brooke, Don and Rachael.




The kids were pretty excited. Santa seemed a little dazed and unsure of how to wield these special Santa suit powers. Clancy was pretty happy to wave from a distance. And he got close enough to offer Santa a present. Very sweet to watch.




It was breakfast, so we had scones and muffins and fruit salad and french toast and bacon and I made a wooden heart Christmas cake, which is almost invisible on the Fleischmann's table.