Monthly Archives: December 2010

on air 27 December 2010 – wrapping up a delicious decade

The final belly of the year, and a favourite final guest, the very charming Belinda Jeffery.  Belinda has made time for belly over the years even though she is a multi media foodie dynamo, several years presenter on Better Homes and Gardens, award winning cookbook writer, regular columnist for ABC Delicious magazine, regular on another radio station – she’s even famous in the Netherlands!  We almost thought Belinda would be flooded in today, as one of the wettest Christmases we can remember keeps the Northern NSW frog population very happy.  But she made it and we had a lovely chat about the most delicious people and food developments of the year just ending.  And the decade, as we just managed to work out.  Belinda loves some of the changes she has seen since moving here, the booming farmers markets, the emphasis on local,organic and sustainable food, the school veggie patches and cooking programs.  We both remembered the dreaded Swiss roll as the only thing we had learned in our own school home ec classes.

Belinda’s latest book is The Country Cookbook: Seasonal Jottings and Recipes (Lantern, 2010), and she is aware that she has been very indiscreet, talking so glowingly about the Northern NSW area.  The secret is well and truly out now.  It is a beautiful book, full of photos of local wildlife and plants, stories and Belinda’s trademark carefully explained recipes.   Madam Zaza, occasional Belly assistant, who was dragged in to help out on this public holiday Monday, said it is the first time she actually feels like trying out something in a cookbook.  Congratulations to Bayfm subscriber and regular listener Bridget, who was a very very happy winner of a copy.

For the rest of us, Belinda also brought in a recipe that she particularly recommends for this time of year, when many of our homes are full of visitors.  Easy to make and easy to multiply.

COCONUT CHICKEN WITH SPICY CUCUMBER RIBBONS

This scrumptious chicken dish is perfect for times when you’ve been out and
about much of the day and the thought of getting home and cooking something
from scratch is less than inspiring. The marinade only takes a few minutes
to make and basically you just plonk the chicken into it the night before
you need it, make sure it’s well coated (and covered, or your fridge will
smell rather exotic!) and leave it be until you’re ready to cook it.

I nearly always serve this with a bowl of jasmine rice and something
cucumber-y, as their cool freshness is a lovely balance for the spicy
chicken. The cucumber ribbons look really pretty but if time isn’t on my
side I’m just as likely to seed and slice the cucumbers then mix them with a
little plain yogurt, fresh mint and salt, and serve this instead.

2x 270ml cans coconut cream
3 heaped tablespoons of your favourite curry paste
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger
Inner hearts of 3 stalks of lemongrass, finely chopped
1/3 cup finely chopped coriander
8 chicken chops (or 8 skin-on chicken thighs)

Salad:
800g Lebanese cucumbers, washed and dried
2 tablespoons light olive oil
2 tablespoons very finely shredded ginger
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon rice (or white wine) vinegar
1 teaspoon caster sugar
2 small red chillies, finely chopped
3 teaspoons sesame oil
Up to 1 tablespoon lime juice
Sea salt, to taste
Garnish: a few lacy coriander leaves (and, if you are lucky enough to have
them, coriander flowers too)

# I use Patak’s terrific Tikka Masala curry paste for this

In a large bowl thoroughly mix together the coconut cream, curry paste,
ginger, lemongrass and coriander.

Line a container that will fit the chicken chops with a large sturdy plastic
bag. Sit the chicken pieces in the bag and scoop the marinade over the top.
Tie a knot in the top of the bag, then squish it about in your hands so that
the chicken is thoroughly coated in the marinade. (Make sure you use a good
strong bag for this or, as I’ve found to my cost, as you squish the chicken
about, if the bag is too thin it can tear making rather a horrible mess!)
Put the bag back into the container and cover it tightly with a lid. Now
just pop the lot into the fridge for at least 3-4 hours, or better still,
overnight. If you remember, from time to time give the chicken pieces
another squish so every part of them is well coated.

When you’re ready to cook the chicken, preheat your oven to 190C. Line a
shallow oven tray with baking paper and sit the chicken pieces on it,
skin-side up. Squeeze any leftover marinade in the bag over the chicken.
Slip the tray into the oven and cook the chicken for about 40 minutes, until
it is deep golden-brown on top.

While the chicken is cooking, make the cucumber ribbons. To do this, run a
vegetable peeler, repeatedly down the length of a cucumber to form long
narrow ribbons; stopping when you get to the seeds. Rotate the cucumber and
do the same again. Repeat this with the remaining cucumbers. Put the ribbons
into a large bowl, cover them with cling film and chill them. (I discard the
seedy cores and the first ribbons on each side as they are all skin and a
bit chewy.)

When the chicken is nearly done, put all the remaining ingredients, except
the lime juice and salt, into a small saucepan and mix them together. Sit
the pan over medium heat and bring the mixture to the boil. As soon as it
boils, remove it from the heat and stir in a little of the lime juice. Taste
it and add salt and more lime juice, if necessary. Pour this over the
cucumbers and thoroughly mix it in.

When the chicken is ready, sit one or two pieces on each plate and scoop a
little cucumber salad alongside. Finish off with a sprinkling of coriander
leaves. This is delicious with a bowl of jasmine rice. Serves 4 hearty
eaters or 6 lighter ones.

We also had the first ever Belly Awards – yes not the Oscars, the Bellys!

Queasy for the naughty ones, happy for the nice ones – feel free to contribute yours, just email belly@belly.net.au

BELLY AWARDS

Queasy    Bellys

– worst food porn – Eat, pray, love the movie, with Julia Roberts- extreme Hollywood version of food porn – overdone visuals, soft music, slowed motion, only eaten by beautiful people. And size 8 women struggling into skinny jeans are not very believable saying admittedly admirable things about not letting a few extra kilos get in the way of a wonderful eating experience – super clean super pretty food porn – not sexy.  A sister T award, yes I know lots of people loved the food in this, I just like my food porn a bit less Disney.

– mobile phone behaviour – cafe and restaurant patrons on the phone while ordering a meal or paying – a sister B award on behalf of exasperated restaurant staff and patrons – some local cafes have signage that you will not be served while on the phone – good on them.

– most dubious restaurant practice – ringing up 10% extra on my credit card bill when I left the tip line blank on the card receipt, and left a cash tip – in Byron Bay!  I carefully fill in every line in most places, will do so here too in future.

Happy Bellys

The Belinda Jeffery Blessed are the Cheesemakers Happy Belly award goes to all 3 wonderful local cheesemakers, all sprung up in the last 5-6 years, all inventive and delicious, each very different : Bangalow Cheese, Nimbin Valley goat cheeses, and Moo Ball’s Tweed Valley Whey.  From market and local shops.

From Sister T :

– best new leaf – broad bean tops – seasonally at the markets or grow your own
– most cooked from new cookbook – Vefa’s Kitchen, a big beautiful blue and white bible of Greek cooking, lots of unusual recipes that work
– strange but good flavour combination – eggplant and chocolate
– best thinking food lover’s publication – Griffith Review – quarterly essays and stories published by Griffith University –  # 27 is called “Food Chain” – lots of info on sustainability and ethical eating, agriculture and the food industry, and fiction

From sister B :
– best new addiction and dentist’s friend – chocolate covered peanut brittle

From listeners
– Nicky : best episode of a tv food show – Heston Blumenthal’s recreation of Willie Wonka’s chocolate factory, with lickable wallpaper;
and best food movie – the German movie Soul Kitchen
– Isabelle : best new member of the pumpkin family : little green squashes sold as Mexican squash (a pointier version of the little yellow ones, with much better flavour) – from markets

If any winners want to get in touch with the bellysisters, they can have a signed copy of Sister T’s belly as a prize, otherwise just the glory.  Please comment if you agree/disagree with the awards, or have suggestions.

Speaking of markets – remember farmers markets are on rain or shine, in case of really major flooding local radio will broadcast cancellation advice.  This week Bangalow Farmers Market is on Friday not Saturday.  Byron, New Brighton, Mullumbimby as normal, others check with contact numbers on belly market page.

And we finished the show and the year with some useful advice on food and music combining, and the legal definitions of murder, manslaughter and bad cooking (really) by bad cook evangelist Dr Siggi Fried.  Follow at your own peril.

And I did not have time for a very 2010 Happy New Year message(oh, ok, I forgot to take this in to the studio).  If you are so with it that you not only send all your greetings by sms, but you don’t even bother writing your own, this is the place for you – http://sms4smile.com/category/new-year-sms/

A couple of examples :

My wishes for you in year 2011
Great start for Jan,
Love for Feb,
Peace for march,
No worries for April
Fun for May,
Joy for June to Nov,
Happiness for Dec,
Have a lucky and wonderful 2011.

Oh my Dear, Forget ur Fear,
Let all ur Dreams be Clear,
Never put Tear, Please Hear,
I want to tell one thing in ur Ear
Wishing u a very “Happy NEW YEAR“!

And my personal fave :
There have been many time in 2010
when I may disturbed you
troubled u
irritated u
bugged u
.
today I just wanna tell you
.
I plan to continue it in 2011.

You have been warned.  Happy New Year,

Sister T

MUSIC

Two tracks brought in by Belinda Jeffery :

Renee Fleming, Hallelujah, from the release Dark Hope

Melody Gardot, , Baby I’m a Fool, from My one and only Thrill

Babylon Circus,  Ici [‘here’], from La Belle Etoile

Cygnet Repu – We Sing Kumbaya – From the release entitled Home -A collection of songs from QLD Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Artists.  A solo indigenous artist from Torres Strait – Mabuiag Island

Faux Pas – Chasing Waterfalls -From the release entitled Noiseworks
A solo electronic act from Melbourne, VIC

Christmas belly 2010

Merry Christmas and Happy everything, from the Summer Solstice to whatever wonderful feast you are celebrating or using as a thin excuse for getting together with friends and family.  On this belly Christmas special we had Carols (yes! not nearly enough!), lots of listeners voices sharing their holiday cooking and eating plans, and the wonderful Alison Drover with lots of ideas to inspire you in your holiday cooking and shopping for food and presents.  Also seasonal updates from the farmers markets and the Liberation Larder.

Alison Drover came on belly a couple of months ago when she organised the first Northern Rivers Regional Food Celebration, part of the 2010 Lismore Show.  She has organised many other major food related events.  The most entertaining thing for Sister B and myself during the show was watching Alison’s pen flying as I played the short interviews with various people around the community centre and the markets.  Each comment sparked up at least 3 new ideas.  These are a few of them, and we are still waiting for Alison to forward a few others.  For more, go also to her site, The Alison Principle.
Waste – quality over quantity at Christmas
Leftovers – there should not be any – plan and don’t be greedy buy less.

Salads
Greens, roasted zucchini,
Nectarine, mint salads – great with seafood
Brown rice, currants, macadamia nut, cinnamon perfect for turkey for the
traditional dinners

Dessert
Last minute ideas which are not the pudding – Passionfruit roulade or
blueberry and strawberry summer pudding with double cream

Alcohol:
Make a punch, you can control the amount of alcohol and include a variety of  ingredients, even beer

Sustainable Christmas

Alison believes in going beyond sustainable to inspirational.
“For example I make my nephews pillowcases , decorate them differently every year saves on

packaging and they love seeing what I have done better than the present!”

Giving at Christmas – think about how you can make a
difference at Christmas in some way and how rewarding this is.
I.e. – if you are making a Christmas Cake make another and take it in to a
refuge of shelter.  Thinking about the people who made the things you are buying this Christmas  and in landfill where they will go

Alison got in touch with the Fishermen’s Coop to check on most people’s favourite holiday food, prawns.  Local is always better, not imported, as the industry is more controlled.  You may see some black on local prawns at the moment because of the excessive rain, this does not affect quality or taste.  More info on sustainable seafood in last week’s belly post.

And she brought us some lovely recipes!

CHRISTMAS COUNTRY TURKEY TERRINE

Important: Before you shop for your meat, give your butcher a call and ask
them to reserve it for you so it is ready and minced which will save you
time You can do this when you order your Christmas turkey.

12–14 slices rindless smoked bacon – buy from a Farmers’ Market or find a
local butcher which will do a free range pork bacon

1 bunch baby English spinach, stalks removed

300 g skinless turkey breast coarsely minced

200 g chicken livers, coarsely minced

300 g hard pork back fat, minced

1–2 cloves garlic

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon black pepper

50 ml brandy

½ cup parsley, washed and roughly chopped

6 sage leaves

6 sprigs thyme

1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 160ºC.

Line a terrine mould, 25cm in length and 10cm high and wide, with baking
paper cut to size, and then layer with the strips of bacon lengthways to
create rows. Let the ends of the bacon hang over the edge of the terrine as
these will form the base.

Using a medium-sized bowl, mix all the ingredients together. If you have
time, leave the mixture for a few hours to marinate.

Spoon the mixture into the terrine, press down firmly and fold the
overhanging bits of bacon over the top like you are wrapping a Christmas
present. Cover the terrine with foil and place the dish in a bain marie
(water bath).

Place in the oven and cook for 1 hour. Reduce the temperature to 140ºC. and
cook until the internal temperature is 70ºC. If you do not have a
thermometer put a skewer in and the juices should run clear which will
indicate that the meat is cooked through.

Remove from the oven and the ban marie. Place something heavy on top (I use
a house brick wrapped in foil) until it cools. This ensures all the contents
come together.

PEACH, DATE AND GINGER CHUTNEY

Makes about 3½ cups of chutney depending on the size of peaches.

This is a versatile chutney for turkey, venison and chicken, and it is
especially good with the Country Turkey Terrine. It also makes a lovely gift
bottled for when you pop into Christmas parties, summer barbeques or
picnics. If you are fortunate enough to be near a farmers’ market which has
dried, chemical-free apricots and peaches you can add some of these
approximately ½ cup.

1 onion, finely chopped

6 large peaches, peeled, pitted and chopped

2 cups pitted dates, roughly chopped (not too small)

1 tablespoon freshly peeled and diced ginger

½ cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon mustard seeds

¼ cup cider vinegar

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon white pepper

1 teaspoon freshly grated ground nutmeg

In a frypan, fry onion in olive oil on a low heat until then are translucent
cooked through.

Add the cooked onion and all other ingredients to a slow cooker like a
stockpot which does not have a sticky bottom.  Leave uncovered  bringing it
to  the boil, then reduce heat. The mixture will form a sticky mass and the
dates will soften. Stir to combine the ingredients but pay attention not to
overcook or squash the ingredients as part of the appeal of the chutney is
its chunky ingredients. Remove the lid and let it cool.

NECTARINE SALSA

Serves 6.

Perfect for leftover turkey, summer fish, barbecue prawns or chicken skewers

6 ripe nectarines – you can pop these on the BBQ beforehand for a few
minutes if you want to increase the flavor of the salsa.

1 red onion, diced

½ red chilli, seeded and finely chopped – optional

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

handful mint – about ½ cup

Slice nectarines in half and remove stone. Slice and cut into evenly shaped
pieces so that they are about double the size of a dice.

Remove stalks from the mint and tear mint into strips

Mix together all ingredients in a bowl, however, pay attention not to mash
them so you retain the appearance of the nectarines slices, the texture of
mint and the onion.

Alison is sending us a couple more party recipes soon.  You can contact her at :

E:     <mailto:contact@alisondrover.com> info@thealisonprinciple.com

W:   www.thealisonprinciple.com

MARKET UPDATE

A few fruit and veg in season from Don, Byron Bay/Bangalow Farmers Market manager.

Corn – very sweet this time of year
Blue berries- wonderful taste and high in anti oxidants, Bananas
Capsicums – yellow variety especially flavoursome
Egg plant,           Beans – very crisp
Macadamia nuts and chocolate coated make a great gift
Beetroot – superb roasted and heaps of vitamin C

MUSIC

Santa claus is coming to town , by Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, from Cool Yule

White Christmas, sung by Elvis (in a white jumpsuit we hope), in memory of Alison’s dad

The Little Drummer Boy, by Bing Crosby – for the lovely Byron Muffin Men, who gave us lots of  delicious stuff  to give a couple of subscribers who didn’t have to cook anything for Christmas

“A sweeping look at how food, sex and desire are intertwined” Rasela’s rambles from the book “The Sex Life of Food”

Talofa. Your tastebuds are being tantalised today by Sister Rasela on which will be my last Belly show of the year. Of course we won’t be leaving your belies empty – Sister Tess is back next week and i’ll be serving up large portions of the Belly show in the new year but as always December is a time of reflection. I personally believe that every day you wake up is a new year but for now, let’s go with what the calendar says and think about what your journey with food has been like this year.

I don’t know about you but it has been another fascinating trip for me. I feel privileged and extremely lucky to be a part of both the belly show and the beautiful Bayfm – YOUR community radio station – where i have had opportunities in abundance to both meet and talk to so many incredible foodies from the Shire, both resident and passers through. I’ve also been drawn into the Raw Food world this year which has helped to give me the energy to continue with the 50,000 things i do (well, ok, maybe more like 20,000), I’ve also found myself working amongst and becoming a part of our blossoming farmers markets but most of all i have loved being able to share knowledge and information as well as stories and tales surrounding food as nutritional medicine. I always leave it up to you to decide what you feel is best for you.. FEEL being the operative word of course. You are your own experiment… don’t believe other people!! Listen to them and then see what works best for you through a process of trial and elimination. It’s a long and hopefully healthy life so there’s plenty of time to think about it… just don’t leave it too long because the benefits of being healthy are so incredible, you are going to wish you did it sooner, no matter when you start.

I’d like to give thanks to BayFM and all the guests for providing the place, the space and the time to share all of this with you – the listener – because without you there would be nothing to do and no reason to do it.

So, let’s get on with this show where i’m exercising my right to be Samoan and am taking it easy… I invite you to put the kettle on if you’re at home, make a cuppa, slow down if you’re driving to take a breather and settle in for the rest of the show… all you have to do is listen… how easy is that?

I send out this first track and ask you to stop for a moment to give thanks to your body for carrying you through this wonderful life. Whether you’re big or small, fat or skinny, whoever you are, whatever you’re doing and wherever you’re doing it – LOVE YOURSELF AND LOVE OTHERS, JUST THE WAY YOU ARE… Track 1 Billy Joel – Just the way you are.

The following is taken from the book “The Sex Life of Food” By Bunny Crumpacker.

“They dined on mince and slices of quince, Which they ate with a runcible spoon; And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand, They danced by the light of the moon” , by Edward Lear. -The Owl and the Pussycat

The first meal is a simple one. Eve’s was just a bite of apple; a baby’s is just a bit of milk.

Some babies try to eat even before their first meal. There are infants born with tiny calluses on their thumbs from sucking in utero, already working at filling the void. Once delivered, eating is the first continuing encounter the hungry babe has with the rest of humanity. Food is our first comfort, our first reward. Hunger is our first frustration.

Simple as it is, that small sip of milk, the first meal is the beginning of a complexity of food and emotion that is mirrored over and over again in a pattern that never stops. When we begin to eat as babies, we fall in love. We discover pleasure, we make friends, we learn to smile. We sup with darker things too – loneliness and fear, anger, even pain – and relief, afte having waited so long, empty, for the next meal.

No wonder, then, that grown up, when we open our mouths to eat, our souls fly out. We are too thin or too fat. We go on food binges, secret eaters alone with the refrigerator in the middle of the night. We eat too little and are afraid too little is too much. We eat too fast and develop heartburn. We work our mouths constantly: we chew gum, we make a fashion of cigars, we drop in for a cup of coffee, we suck on candy, we smoke cigarettes, we talk too much, we drink too much.

In one way or another, we’ve been worrying about food since the apes moved down from the trees when the fruit ran out. We’ve been so busy chewing that we haven’t sat down and thought about the missing link between our dinner and our selves, between the way we eat and what we eat and who we are – why we eat in the ways that we do….

This book is a great read and i suggest you do if you are interested in these few opening paragraphs. It goes on to cover some very interesting and intimate aspects of food and relates to just about everyone in one way, shape or form.

Without going on to copy the whole book, i will leave it here and hope that you enjoy this feasting season. I will NOT tell you to go easy on your bellies, listen to when yours say’s it’s full, to not overindulge and to remember that we live in times of excessive consumption so don’t buy into the need for more than you truly do need… i’m sure you already know these things. I WILL however wish you a relaxing and sunny break, full of love and happiness and all that comes with it.

See you again in the calendar New Year!

xx Rasela


on air 6.12.10 : December’s fish and fruit and fiery Sagittarians

Today the belly astrogourmet Lilith beamed down to the belly kitchen to talk Sagittarius for her regular “Cooking with the Stars” segment, we went around Australia to see what’s in season in December, lots of fruit and veg as usual but a fish focus this month as it is so popular leading up to the holidays, lots of local events in our Belly Bulletin , and some of your holiday cooking and eating and drinking plans.

Cherries in a Chinese Bowl, by Gatya Kelly, part of the Eat/Paint/Love opening Friday 10.12.10 at Still At the Centre in Byron Bay. © Gatya Kelly

IN SEASON IN DECEMBER:

FISH AND SEAFOOD

All you need to know is on 2 really good websites – the Sydney Fish Market and the  Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS).

The Sydney Fish Market has a season guide, what’s in peak season or good availability so cheaper,better fish that hasn’t travelled the world to get to you.
Peak in December -Sydney rock oysters, school prawns (lovely Yamba prawns locally), loligo squid peak but southern calamari good availability, blue swimmer crabs – lots in local fish shops
Fish peak availability – atlantic salmon, tiger flathead, gold band snapper and big eye tuna, but unfortunately all problematic according to the AMCS – on their avoid list

The good news is that  on the AMCS better choice list,  there are lots of choices of fish and seafood in season:
wild australian salmon, blue mussels and blue swimmer crabs, all farmed oysters, school and bay or greentail prawns in NSW, the squids, farmed scallops, whitings and trevally

Lots of recipes on the fish markets site too.  And you can even find out how to tell the gender of a squid.  If you want to.

VEGETABLES

Asparagus, Hass avocadoes, beans, beetroot especially small young ‘uns, broccoli, capsicum (skip the green ones, they are just unripe red and yellow caps), celery, cucumbers fat and thin, eggplant, onions, peas, radishes, corn, tomatoes hit full flavour, and zucchini and their flowers if the rain doesn’t rot them all.  Try pumpkin flowers if you have a vine.

FRUIT

As we said in the bulletin, rain is really playing havoc this year, and not just locally for once.  But look for stone fruit now : glorious cherries and apricots,  berries (locally strawberries on their way out), blueberries in full swing, raspberries, rock, water and honeydew melons, bananas, mangoes, valencia oranges, passionfruit, pineapple, and starting a bit late, so maybe at the end of the month, lychees.

BELLY BULLETIN

Honu tells us the  Liberation Larder Christmas is on, free and veg and delicious at the Byron Community Centre, 12.30 on December 25th.  All welcome.

This Friday December 10 the Eat, Paint, Love art exhibition kicks off with plenty of real food and drink and music at Still at the Centre Art gallery on the Byron arts and industry estate.  But look closely at what you put in your mouth, as they have gathered more than 60 artists and 90 artworks all on, or around, food.  Table Manners  a ceramic installation by various artists will also be on for 2 days only, the 10th and 11th. Veet, will launch “Veet’s Cuisine” her first cookbook with 100 Vegetarian Recipes and beautiful drawings.  The exhibition runs until the end of January.  For more info listen to Arts canvass on bayfm around 9.30 this Thursday.

Look out for a new local magazine, focused on Northern rivers cooks and food producers, a quarterly called Sample.  It is edited by the Echo’s food writer Victoria Cosford, and produced by Remy Tancred of Lennox Heads, who was behind that handy guide to local restaurants, and record of many great girl nights out, Ate Phat Ducks.  You can find some tastes online, including a scallop risotto and an interview with the very successful macadamia producers from Brookfarm, at www.samplennsw.com

And wonderful Mullumbimby cook and food writer Belinda Jeffery has a new book out, called “the country cookbook”.  In Belinda’s own words, “This book… chronicles a year of my life in one of the most beautiful corners of Australia, the Far North Coast of NSW. It really is a celebration of the ‘Rainbow Country’ as it’s called, and of the simple pleasures and food that mean so much to me.”

If you are into learning to grow and cook with plants suited to our sub-tropical environment, check out the Starseed Nursery website or see them at a Farmers market.  They sound like they are doing really interesting projects, and we plan to get them on belly soon.  Lotus, mushrooms and papaya are all upcoming workshops, as well as the fabulously named coconut day.  This weekend, 11 and 12 December, they are cooking in and with bamboo, exploring bamboo and fire, and making bamboo bio-char which is a soil conditioner. It’s a 2 day workshop with food and music.  www.starseed.co

In national news, cereal company Kelloggs has been crowned Australia’s most misleading junk food advertiser for the fourth year running in this year’s Fame and Shame Awards.  They are organised by advocacy group The Parents Jury, which fights against junk food advertising to children.  Kellogs won both the pester award for their LCM snack bars, and the Smoke and Mirrors Award for claiming Nutri-Grain is good for aspiring athletes.

If your favourite Christmas food is fruit, be ready to pay more and accept slightly damaged fruit.   Australia’s wettest spring on record and a rainy start to summer threatens fruit and grain harvests all across the south-east.  Hail and rain has wiped out 80 per cent of some cherry crops at Young in New South Wales.
Mango growers in Queensland and the Northern Territory are also badly affected.Trevor Dunmall from the Australian Mango Industry Association says the wet conditions are damaging what was already a light crop. He says there will be fewer mangos around this season, and those that make it into the supermarkets will be slightly damaged. “To pick mangos you really need dry conditions, the rain can damage the skin and leads to easier marking and blemishes … so the appearance may not be ideal,” he said.
The National Farmers Federation says fruit and grain harvests across the south-east are under serious and continued threat.

But we like to finish on a positive note, so if you are on social networking site facebook, you may soon be getting slices of virtual pizza.  And if your facebook  friends send you enough virtual pizza you will be able to redeem it for slices of real pizza.  Well sort of…real major chain fast food pizza.  And of course you can find the branches with the GPS on your mobile phone.

And if your food dreams are more of the fancy restaurant variety, you don’t need to go all the way to France to eat in a 3 Michelin star place.  There are now as many 3 star restaurants in Japan as in France, 26.  Japan also has more than twice as many restaurants as France, roughly 500 thousand to 200 thousand.  So just pop off up the road to Japan and make a start.

Lilith’s Cooking with the Stars for

Sagittarius is here

or click above the rainbow

CHRISTMAS SPECIAL ON BELLY DECEMBER 20

You don’t do Christmas?  We are happy to hear about whatever you like to use as a reason to get around a table with loved ones, and most importantly, what you will eat!  As I type this I remember the Christmas phonecalls to grandparents, in the dark days before skipe or cheap calls of any kind.  One of the first questions was always : “What are you eating?”  And the longest, most detailed answers.

So now everyone within radio or computer or phone range can join that conversation.  So go on, tell your bellysisters, what are you eating this year, and who will be around your table?  (don’t do tables?  that’s ok too)

Sister T

MELLOW SUMMER TUNES (rain? what rain?)


Watermelon Man, sung by Les Mc Cann
Summertime, delicious version by Angelique Kidjo
Distant Shore by Chieko Kinbara
Sarah Vaughan with Gotan Project – Whatever Lola Wants

What are you cooking or eating this Christmas?

December has only just begun but it feels like the holiday season has been going on for months.  I refuse to talk about it until at least  December, even though if you are the pudding making type you would have your baby all made and wrapped up well before now.  So I’m told, anyway.  My Christmas cake making frenzy involves stuffing a panettone with tipsy creme patissiere and covering it with lashings of chocolate, so I only need to start a day ahead.  (See “Dressed up Panettone” in the belly sweets).  If you are already planning your Christmas meal, or looking forwards to whatever your family whips up every year, look out for Sister T at the Byron Farmers Market this Thursday December 2.  I will be running around with a mike to find out what our Christmas will taste like.  And if you don’t celebrate Christmas, but have a feast for some other occasion at this time of year, I would very much like to hear from you.  If you don’t catch me at the market, please leave a comment below or send us an email: belly@belly.net.au

I will play/read your comments on December 6 and 20 on belly.  I’ve just asked a few of the bayfm presenters and volunteers and have some great responses already, I think we may have to have a monthly “burning belly question”.  Leave suggestions if you like.

So :

what are you/your loved ones cooking this holiday season?

what do you remember/miss eating in the past?

who are you eating with this year?

And if you’d like some help, the very creative Alison Drover will be on belly on December 20 to talk about doing it sustainably, and I don’t think she means honey roasted chokos instead of the ham or turkey – but if you want beautiful local ethically raised animals on your plate, you’d better order them soon – it’s almost Christmas!

ho ho ho , sister T