Yass Farmers Markets

It was a slow say at the markets, held on the first and third Saturday of the month from 11am to 2pm, no doubt a combination of the overcast and showery conditions, being a holiday long weekend - Its the Labour Day Public Holiday on Monday - and that most people would either be at Floriade in Canberra, away to the coast for the weekend, or, gone to Boorowa for the "Running of the Sheep" tomorrow

Anyway, back to the markets. There were poultry sellers, pet rabbit sellers, plants and shrubs, Meat, and Lamb vendors, a guy selling seafood from a refrigerated truck, flower sellers, jams, olives, cakes fruit and vegetables, wine, bakery goods - and so much more. of course there was the obligatory country/folk singer flogging his CD's, the fast food sellers and the Jumping castle for the kids.

Labour Day commemorates the achievements of the Australian labour movement. The celebration of Labour Day has its origins in the eight hour day movement, which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest. On 21 April 1856 Stonemasons and building workers on building sites around Melbourne, Australia, stopped work and marched from the University of Melbourne to Parliament House to achieve an eight hour day. Their direct action protest was a success, and they are noted as the first organized workers in the world to achieve an eight hour day with no loss of pay, which subsequently inspired the celebration of Labour Day and May Day. The Labour Day public holiday varies considerably between the various states and territories. It is the first Monday in October in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and South Australia. In both Victoria and Tasmania, it is the second Monday in March. In Western Australia, Labour Day is the first Monday in March. In both Queensland and the Northern Territory, it is the first Monday in May.

Here's a running view of the Yass Farmers markets.





Boorowa's Irish Woolfest

Next Sunday I will be off to the Boorowa Irish Woolfest and the now popular "Running of the Sheep".

Up to 15,000 people are expected to line Boorowa's main street to watch the town's annual Running of the Sheep and celebrate the district's Irish heritage. It will be the 13th time the event, part of Boorowa's Irish Woolfest, has been held.

The day will also feature a street parade with about 40 floats. There will be live music, shearing activities, dancers, an animal farm, a growers' market and craft and wool stalls. Boorowa's Irish history stemmed from when two convicts sent to Australia from Clonoulty, Ireland, were ''given a ticket of leave to get some land in the area''. They asked all their friends and relatives to come and live here and before long we got this huge Irish contingent.

The Woolfest events kick-off with a billycart derby at 8am, which, initself is a real hoot, as there is only one suitable hill in the area and its on the Main Road to Cowra, so some improvisation needs to occur.

Here's a link to the program - Boorowa's Irish Woolfest

A Puzzle

Click on the image to mix and solve.

Australia's secret weapon

Its VEGEMITE

If you are not Australian, or, ever been to Australia, you may well be asking "What is it?"

Vegemite is a dark brown Australian food paste made from yeast extract. It is a spread for sandwiches, toast, crumpets and cracker biscuits, and filling for pastries. It is similar to British, New Zealand, and South African Marmite, Australian (US owned) Promite, and to Swiss Cenovis.


Vegemite is made from used brewers' yeast extract, a by-product of beer manufacturing, and various vegetable and spice additives. It is salty, slightly bitter, and umami or malty — similar to beef bouillon. The texture is smooth and sticky. It is not as intensely flavoured as British Marmite and it is less sweet than the New Zealand version of Marmite.

Vegemite is one of the world's richest known sources of B vitamins, specifically thiamine, riboflavin, niacin and folic acid, but unlike Marmite and some other yeast extracts, it contains no vitamin B12. The main ingredient of Vegemite is yeast extract, which contains a high concentration of glutamic acid.

Vegemite container timeline:

As of 2010, Australian Vegemite is now Kosher. However, bottles must be be inspected before purchase for the "K" symbol above the barcode since Kosher Vegemite prior to 2010 was only produced in batches.
 
Vegemite was mentioned in the lyrics of the worldwide 1982 hit song "Down Under" by Men at Work:

"I said, "Do you speak-a my language?"
He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich."

In John Williamson's song "True Blue", the chorus originally mentioned Vegemite, as shown below. However, the song has since been reworded, in response to publicity pointing out that Vegemite was not Australian owned.

"Is it standin' by your mate,
When he/she's in a fight?
Or just Vegemite/Oh she'll be right
True Blue."

In March 2007, Kraft announced that they were trying to trace the eight original children from the campaign to celebrate the advertisement's fiftieth anniversary and to take part in a new campaign. The 1956 commercial was to be remade with the original children, now grown, to forge a link between "the new generation and the old ad". The media took up the search on Kraft's behalf with all eight children identified in eight days and resulted in many TV specials and interviews in the Australian National media. The 50-year reunion campaign won the Arts, Entertainment & Media Campaign of the Year award at the November 2007 Asia Pacific PR Awards
Well, I've been a bit 'bolshy' today, so I'll leave you with some Australian lore:



 

Tuna fishcakes

Last blog posting for today and brings me up to date.

I had an 400gm tin of Tuna that has been sitting in my 'fridge since last summer. I had put it there to cool, expecting visitors on a hot summer's day who might enjoy a cold salad for lunch. As it happens they drank my 'fridge dry of my James Squire Amber Ale and left the Tuna! LOL!

So I decided to pre-make some Tuna fishcakes for tonight's dinner - Wendy, you CAN make these and use any form of potato or similar root-type vegetable that can be mashed - e.g. Yam

This lot will be dinner tonight with leftovers for lunches.

TUNA FISH CAKES


INGREDIENTS
1 400g tin of flakey tuna fish (in sea water – not oil), drained
400g mashed potato
¼ cup grated cheese – cheddar, tasty, Parmesan to suit taste
1 tbspn chopped fresh Coriander
½ tspn of finely chopped chives
2 eggs, beaten
Breadcrumbs for crumbing
Oil for frying
¼ cup of milk – if required

METHOD
Cook potato and mash, set aside to cool.
Mix together in a large bowl, the tuna, mashed potato, coriander, chives and cheese - use your hands, get those lumpy bits out of the mix.
Taste and adjust the seasoning (before you add the raw egg).
Then add the egg and mix together. If the mixture is too dry to hold together at this point, then add a little milk.
Mould into 6 - 8 rounds and then flatten to make fish cakes - have a bowl of warm water ready to rinse your hands in between.
Dip in breadcrumbs.
Allow to rest a few minutes in the fridge - not essential, but it does make it easier to handle the fish cakes without breaking up.
Fry for about 10 minutes - turning frequently.

Alternatively, place on a baking sheet in a moderate oven (Gas Mark 5, Temp 425F, 210C) for about 30 minutes - turn once.

Edit: The fish cakes were very, very tasty, however, they tended to crumble a bit on cooking. I think I needed to crumble the fish more, make it finer rather than flakey and I need more mash potato (at least twice as much) as a binder. We had two each for dinner and had to fight off Denny-the-dog who was simply berserk at the aroma and sat at my chaur, pleading with his eyes for a morsel. We also saved two cooked fish cakes and had them on toast as a light breakfast - delightful!

Spring in Yass

Some images of a quiet rural town.

Main street:

Banjo Patterson Park - a tribute to one of Australia's foremost poets, writer of copious volumes and author of "Waltzing Matilda" and longtime resident of this area.

Banjo Patterson
Find the birdie!  There's a Crimson Rosella in that foliage below!

The front of my home.
















Daisies in my front garden.

Spring flowering plum tree, fourth season, in my backyard.

Spring is for daffodils, Jonquils, Grape Hyacinth - any bulbs will grow in this region.

Sydney, September

We had three days in Sydney. I had to see a specialist at Royal Prince Alfred hospital and have a 'minor operation' to correct a faulty 'tap'.

Denny-the-Dog was 'baby sat' by a home carer who came in fed him, played with him and took him for walks - but he was still delighted to see us arrive home! LOL!

We had a lovely room on the 8th floor of the Sheraton on the Park, a room with a 'Park View':

Once again we feasted in the Brassiere restaurant at their buffet dinner and I enjoyed copious helpings from the fresh seafood buffet - Queensland Banana Prawns, Sydney Rock Oysters, Balmain Bugs ( a type of local cray), Blue Swimmer Crab and Oysters Kilpatrick. Of course there was also the obligatory trip to the dessert bar with its opulent spread of cakes, tarts, slices and home made ice cream.

We skipped the Sheraton's $48AUS/head full English breakfast and opted for the same from George's Cafe across the road in Castlereagh Street for $12.50AUS/head.

The staff didn't know our names but they certainly remembered our faces from previous visits, making for a cosy breakfast.

At 7.30am in the morning Castlereagh Street was very calm.

That night we dined in the "Palace Chinese Restaurant", a place for 'real' Chinese meals and where the local Asian populace dine.

We also had lunch one day in Sydney's landmark Centrepoint Tower.

Despite the minor inconvenience of my medical situation, it was a perfect spring visit to Sydney and we also managed to rack up almost 2,000 points in our Sheraton Rewards Program.