The first sight of Narooma is when you approach the bridge over Wogonga Inlet. This photo is at a lower angle from the best view from further up the road. It  alone is worth the trip.

You won’t need an excuse to spend a few days in this beautiful seaside environment.

But, the Narooma Oyster festival is certainly an excuse to visit friends in the area. The best event of the festival, apart from eating the oysters, is the cooking demonstration program.

Local chefs as well as Julie Goodwin, demonstrated seafood dishes using mainly local produce.

Michael Stokes, a popular chef in Narooma, makes tasty food preparation look simple.

I am sure many in the audience would be keen to attempt his dish of pappardelle and seafood.

Huw Jones from Zanzibar Cafe` in Merimbula (another wonderful secret further south), created an amazing dish: Marinated yellow fin tuna, black lip abalone, squid ink consomme` and beach herbs. His restaurant is definitely on my ‘must do’ list.

Those who were fortunate to taste this dish would surely agree that it tasted amazing.

Alex Dawkins  announced that he would soon be opening a new restaurant in Ulladulla at the Habourside restaurant site. Great news for the improving food scene in that area.

He used native flat angasi oysters in his dish of oysters with nori, foam and ocean trout roe.

After the buzz of the Festival, there are plenty of ways to relax. An enjoyable walk along the boardwalk will take you to the boat ramps where fishermen clean their catch after returning from ocean fishing. Giant sting rays wait in the shallows for scraps.

For the energetic there are boat trips to Montague Island or if you want to relax there are many beaches to choose from. Hiring a tinnie is a relaxing way to explore the inlet.  Through the clear water see many of the baby fish, such as yellow fin tuna, that develop here as well as magnificent birdlife.

Narooma, well worth the effort to visit. Many more secrets to discover along the way.

Blandifordia grandiflora is an Australian native plant which flowers appropriately around Christmas time. The plant looks grass-like with the magnificent flowers at the end of a tall straight stem, around 70cms. I was lucky enough to receive some potted plants at the end of last year.

Even the buds are beautiful.

This plant obliged and opened its flowers for Christmas. The flowers feel like velvety latex. The colours are so brilliant. Isn’t nature clever?

Another plant turned out to be a different colour.

As a child I remember seeing them growing in the bush. Their striking colours made them easily visible to those who fancied them in vases or to sell by the roadside. Unfortunately now it is very rare to see them ‘in the wild’ so we have been thrilled to be able to grow these in our garden.

We have one more plant with buds  forming. It will be interesting to see which colour it is.

Leaving the comfort of the shopping centre wasn’t the greatest idea (no air conditioning at home). There isn’t much that you can do on such a hot day other than to stay hydrated and comfortable and find the coolest spot in the house.

When I arrived home I found some magpies quite distressed with the heat. One was a young one and the parent ushered it away when I approached. I turned on the hose, positioning it so that it sent up a soft spray. It wasn’t long before the two had returned to enjoy the cool water.

Not long after, two lorikeets had joined in, forgetting their squabbling in the heat.

This one was panting and with its wings lowered, looked very distressed. The group was eventually joined by two noisy miners with not a peep out of them.

There were also two lorikeets under the pergola, both panting and looking uncomfortable. No amount of coaxing would get them to go under the hose. They eventually moved on as the southerly change arrived.

Ah! Relief!

a collection of goodies. Every year around Christmas time I like to buy some foodie treats, usually from an international purveyor. This year I went to Dick Smith’s General Store. No, he doesn’t sell computer bits and pieces, his store is stocked with  products sourced from around Australia. This photo is just a sample of a variety of food treats that I brought home.

The Pink Lake salt is from Victoria, the dried muscatels from South Australia and the peppercorns from Queensland. I can think of many uses for the delicious toffee apple syrup produced in Port Macquarie, NSW. The shop is well worth a visit or you can order online.

In my kitchen is . . .

some Australian buffalo mozzarella.

I was surprised to find it at a local market. It is produced in Northern New South Wales. One less import to buy. It goes perfectly with summer tomatoes.

In my kitchen has been a lot of cheese after attending a cheesemaking course.

These camembert were a joint effort with a friend. They have grown their white mould and are waiting to be wrapped in foil and then to rest in the fridge. For amateur cheesemakers, I think they taste pretty good.

I love making mascarpone and quark and prefer them to the shop bought products.

These mascarpone and mango tarts were so quick and simple. I used supermarket baskets and finished with some passionfruit syrup.

How easy is it to make your own yoghurt? I always thought it couldn’t be true but it is AND it tastes great AND is so cheap!

Here I have my homemade yoghurt smothered in tree ripened apricot sauce in a pretty new bowl. The apricots were from my friend’s tree. The flavour of the fruit is unbelievable. Just look at the colour of the sauce. I won’t be able to eat a shop bought apricot again, they are tasteless.

Move over duck a l’orange for now there is duck a l’abricot.

I used the same apricots as the base, to make the sauce for these duck breasts.

If you would like to see what other bloggers are doing in their kitchen, check out

Fig Jam and Lime Cordial where Celia has them listed.

I was watching one of those morning shows (for some reason), when I saw this dish being prepared. It was a quick segment, making the recipe even more appealing. I jotted down the ingredients as best I could.

Prawns in Pernod Sauce

400 gms fresh green prawns

1/2 onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

butter

1tsp curry powder

juice of 4 oranges (I like to use blood oranges when in season)

150mls cream

50mls Pernod

chopped parsley

2 tomatoes, finely diced

1 lemon

Prepare prawns to cook, barbequed or sauteed. Marinate with garlic, chilli, lemon zest and olive oil.

Fry onion and garlic in butter.

Add curry powder and cook for 1 minute.

Pour in Pernod and flambe for 30 seconds.

Add strained orange juice to put out the flames.

Simmer for 2 minutes then add cream.

Add fresh tomato and parsley and gently heat through.

Serve with barbequed prawns or stir in sauteed prawns.

The spider changed its position hoping its new position would be less noticeable.

This caterpillar caught my eye with its striking colours. I haven’t been able to identify it yet, I hope it  grows into a beautiful butterfly.

Spring is such a great time in the garden!

some tamarillo paste, made by my friend with an excess of tamarillos, very nice.

I made tamarillo sorbet.

The flavour is quite strong. It is better served with some vanilla ice cream to soften the tartness of the tamarillos.

On a recent trip to Broome WA, I found some interesting items at the Courthouse markets.

I brought back some coffee.

I was attracted by the boab label as I love boab trees. The coffee itself is beautiful, the blend is Mintaka. I love smelling the beans whenever I open the pantry.

I found some other goodies, made by the folks  from Wallis Mangoes, at the same markets.

The rosella vinegar has an interesting flavour.

I love the pickled papaya. It works well with an Asian salad adding a bit of crunch to the leaves and herbs.

The Mango Sauce is made from locally grown mangoes, yum!

In my kitchen are . . .

some superfoods.

Gubinge, also known as Kakadu plum is harvested in the Broome region and made into a powder high in Vitamin C. The aboriginal producers have an interesting website.

Maqui is a superfood from Patagonia. Also in a powder form, it has a fabulous colour. I love having it with yoghurt or giving  porridge a wow factor.  It will be fun experimenting with the colour. It is available from Loving Earth who have an amazing range of products.

In my kitchen is . . .

a homemade Chicken Kiev perfectly cooked by the BW.

In my kitchen is . . .

this wonderful bunch of native flowers.

No, not from my garden but from a lovely grevillia garden that gets plenty of sun!

Read lots more “In My Kitchen” posts from other bloggers at Celia’s.

Who can resist a lovely fresh scone still warm from the oven? All good intentions  seem to disappear. And why not? We deserve treats now and again.

Scones are great to share with friends or family. They make guests feel welcomed. Sharing and eating them with a cuppa is a great time for conversation.

Scones have been a tradition at our family gatherings with fond memories of those shared years ago.

The recipe I use is a very old one adapted from “The Commonsense Cookery Book” printed well before the ‘food revolution’.

Scones

2 cups self-raising flour

1/4 tsp salt

50 gms butter

1 cup milk

( Use fresh flour for the best results.)

Pre-heat oven to 200c fan forced, a little higher for other ovens.

Grease and lightly flour a shallow, round cake tin. (The scones will rise better when close together.)

Sift flour and salt together.

Rub butter into flour with fingertips.

Pour in most of the milk (3/4)  and mix lightly. Add a little more milk if mixture is too dry. Keep some of the milk to glaze scones. Avoid making the batter too wet.

Place on a floured  board and dust lightly with flour if too wet.

Knead lightly and quickly.

Roll very gently only a couple of times to achieve a uniform thickness, 2-3cms.

Use a round cutter to cut scones.

Lightly brush with remaining milk.

Place in pan close together but not squashed.

Cook without delay about 10 mins.

Turn out onto a wire rack, cover with a tea towel after cooling for a few minutes.

Enjoy!

Check out more scones at Celia’s blog.

At the bottom of the steps is a HUGE mound,

On top of the mound is, The Beast!!

The Australian Brush Turkey is a megapod or mound building bird, not related at all to the common turkey. Their tail opens sideways.

The males have extremely strong legs and feet. The dominant male has pendulous yellow wattles that enlarge during the breeding season.

This one seems to have injured his left leg at some stage.

You may be thinking “How lucky to have wildlife in the backyard.” or “Why has she called it The Beast?”This is why!

The dominant male builds a huge, communal mound using a variety of dry and green vegetation and anything else in its way. This is fine in the bush but in a suburban garden it means the total destruction of any ground cover of leaf litter or mulch, any young plants and even the top layer of soil. Forget about planting any new plants and don’t even consider a vegetable garden. One brush turkey can destroy a backyard in a few hours. If you try to repair the damage, he will be back the next day to do it all over again.

The male is very determined in his mission to build the mound.

The above picture shows the male testing the temperature of the mound with his beak.

He has to maintain the nest and regulate the  temperature by adding green or dry materials accordingly. A male can return to the nest year after year once it has been established. The new mound is created on top of the previous mound which has compacted down. You can end up with a mound best described as “the size of a small car”!

Here, you can see that the mound has almost reached the top of the fence. The turkey has run out of stuff from our yard and is now scrapping weeds etc through the fence from the neighbour’s yard.

So, that’s how he gets the name, The Beast!

The male has numerous partners  who lay their eggs in the mound under supervision of the male. He seems to show them the correct place in the mound to lay. The girls then disappear with no further contact with any chicks. The male tends the nest until all eggs are hatched,  possibly 16 – 24 eggs a season.

Nothing will stop a persistent male!  So what should you do?

Don’t have an open compost heap as this is an ideal place to start a mound.

These ideas don’t work:

* hosing or shooing the bird just makes it go away until you are out of sight

* cats, the turkey isn’t bothered by cats but dogs would work

* chicken wire or similar on the ground or on the mound just gets buried

* the male seems to enjoy the tingle of electric fence wire, it gets buried

* tarpaulins get buried

* a mirror on the mound is supposed to make the bird think there is another male there already. I think he likes looking at himself.

* don’t bother telling the council, they just laugh

You could try a replica of a Powerful Owl, the only local predator of turkeys. Since we have put one in the garden the turkey has not reappeared.

The turkey is a protected bird so a more serious deterent is not possible. Once a turkey has established a mound, you just have to get used to it. Protect new plants with large stones placed around them or cut rings of plastic tubing for smaller plants. Clean up any leaf litter and forget about mulch during the breeding season (September to December, maybe earlier).

Then, sit back and enjoy the wonders of nature!

The females are no problem, they just scratch around looking for food and are easy to shoo off.

The chicks have to dig themselves out of the mound, unnoticed and then look after themselves straight away. They are cute, sort of.

I’m sure this newly hatched chick is a male. It refused to move off my washing. Can you see the look in his eye?

Brush Turkeys have become a problem over the last 5 years due to the eradication of foxes in nearby National Parks. Here, they have become pests at picnic areas. They are continuing to spread towards the Harbour Bridge so watch out! They could be in your backyard!

some green sencha tea.

This tea is grown in North East Victoria and produced by Perfect South. It has a lovely aroma and compares very well with my favourite Japanese sencha.

In my kitchen is . . .

a Japanese sweet.

I bought it from a Japanese bakery. It is a Sakura mochi, sticky rice filled with red bean paste and wrapped with a cherry blossom leaf. The leaf had a gorgeous scent. It was the perfect accompaniment to my green tea.

In my kitchen is . . .

this apple cider vinegar.

It has a wonderful aroma and taste. I used it when I made the following dish. I thought the dish deserved something more flavourful than a supermarket variety. I’m sure it will get plenty of use.

In my kitchen is . . .

A Fish Stew from Dieppe (marmite Dieppoise).

It is a Gabriel Gate recipe from his segment, Taste le Tour on theTour de France. I originally started watching the Tour,a few years ago, for the scenery, then Gabriel’s short food presentations had my attention. Now that I have a better understanding of the race itself, the cycling has me hooked as well.

Oh and, the dish was delicious!

In my kitchen is . . .

a fresh supply of Kashmiri chillies.

I use these when making curries and other Asian dishes. I love their rich flavour.

In my kitchen are . . .

two different types of balsamic vinegar.

The Giuseppe Giusti is my favourite. It is so luscious and of a perfect consistency. I usually save it for special dishes to make it last longer but now I have found a local supplier so I can use it more often.

The other vinegar is part of a dozen I bought very cheaply. It is very acidic so I find I am not using it at all. Maybe I should try reducing it or do some pickling with it. Do you have any suggestions?

Don’t forget to check out Celia’s blog to see the growing list of other bloggers who are inviting you into their kitchens.