Response to recent classes
Posted on 10 August 2010 | No responses
Hi Tonya - Loved the cooking class on Saturday. You have a fabulous set up & the Hinterland view to the sea just sensational !
… Best wishes for your France trip. Kind regards Margot.
Cooking at On the Ridge – happy participants
Posted on 23 June 2010 | No responses
Dear Tonya,
Just wanted to reiterate how much I enjoyed the course yesterday…beautifully put together and executed on your part and we novices I think did well also!
I hope your forthcoming sojourn in France is as a resounding success as yesterday!
Kind Regards
Molly Kelly
A weekend of French Odyssey
Posted on 15 June 2010 | No responses
This last weekend at On the Ridge we enjoyed persenting two wonderful French Odyssey cooking classes with some lovely people. There was much fun and laughter and many good photos taken…..here are a few comments on the days’ cooking….
‘Hello Tonya, thank you for a wonderful day. Ron & I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and were most enlightened. The food was delicious and can’t wait to re-create. Annie was a great helper – thank you to her too. Love Ron & Katie’
Mississippi mud cakes – cup cake size
Posted on 31 May 2010 | No responses
Dear Tonya
Just thought I would let you know that the recipe for your Mudcake works a treat as Cupcakes – cooking time approx 25 minutes…..yum!!
Hope all is going well up on the ridge!
Regards
Lisa
Another succesful cook
Posted on 4 May 2010 | No responses
It is always so lovely to receive feedback after a class and we do receive many emails thanking us for a good day….this one we received recently after the Italianicious – Cooking with Passion class was especially nice….
‘Good Morning Tonya….Just wanted to tell you that we had friends over for drinks yesterday afternoon & I cooked the Italian cheese puffs and the ricotta & fetta fritters. Both turned out magnificently.
I’m not much of a cook and my friends know this, so they were aghast that I managed to make choux pastry, something that they can’t make themselves. Mine turned out better than the ones we made at the class, as they actually puffed up a lot more. Remember our mixture was fairly wet, well I don’t know what I did (yes I do, I stuck exactly to the recipe), and these turned out great.
I’ve raved about the class to my friends I might come back one day with my husband so he can enjoy it too.
Thanks to Annie & yourself for a really enjoyable day. Michelle.’
Posted may 5th, 2010 by Tonya Jennings
Food photography – in France
Posted on 17 March 2010 | 1 response
When in France in 2008, one of the many fabulous things I did with my friend, Cathy, was to attend the food photography course of Roger Stowell. Roger, a former London photographer, set up his businesss with his wife Jenny, in the southern Vendée countryside, between coastal La Rochelle and Poitiers, in western France. We were Roger’s first foodie photograpers, and arrived with our very basic digital cameras…undeterred, Roger taught us how to gachieve the very best from these cameras. Unfortunately, our time was limited, so we could only take a one and a half day program…however, we still learnt an amazing amount of valuable infornation…plus we chopped, cooked and photographed everything we could - working on such things as the lighting and set-ups….my favourite photograph is the one in the last newsletter of the pears in a bowl – it is also on the website with the pear articles and recipes.
Recently Roger and his Camera Holidays www.camerahols.com was written up in Signature magazine; we discovered him from a Weekend Australian article. Roger’s courses are the best way to learn about digital photography in that most beautiful part of the world – France.
Posted by Tonya Jennings
French Odyssey – Journey through France cooking class and honey….
Posted on 17 March 2010 | No responses
After classes at On the Ridge, I receive some lovely emails from the participants. I thought it might be nice to pass on some of their comments. Here are a couple from last Saturday:
‘Thanks Tonya. Really enjoyed the day. Am now being booked up by family to show off what I learnt….’ from Ian
When Paul c ame to the class last Saturday, hebrought me some of his home made honey; it has the most beautiful golden colour, divine aroma and flavour. He said it could have come from the trees on my property, as Paul lives and keeps his bees in the valley, just below On the Ridge! he has made some intersting comments here:
‘G’day Tonya, Really enjoyed the day, good people, good food, good wine and wonderfully “atmospheric” weather. Some of the pics have that misty alpine flavor about them…good stuff.
Glad you like our honey…it well and truly makes you a locavore. The honey is a summer harvest and we are finding that each season produces different flavours and colours. Summer is light with hints citrus, spring is darker with caramel overtones and winter is surprisingly floral. Now a “hive up a tree” is a bit of a tricky one…most beekeepers would suggest you leave it there or if it is a bother call the Flick Man. Capturing wild hives is now a real concern as there is a risk of introducing disease to ones other hives…American Foul Brood notably…and the cure is complete destruction of the bees and all the equipment, hive ,frames, wax – the lot. Most consider it is not worth the risk. Thanks for your kind offer, but no thanks. So I suggest you enjoy the buzz and the pollination.
Most wild hives will eventually fall to the nasties we have somehow let into this country…and still AQIS talks of “manageable risk” when it comes to quarantine without realizing that once the genie is out of the bottle it never goes back in. Vive la révolution! Thank god “they” finally say sense when it came to allowing imports of beef from “mad cow” countries…although it took direct 11th hour ministerial intervention to stop it…I’ll get of my soap box now? Thanks & Cheers – Paul’.
Christmas Hams…
Posted on 15 December 2009 | No responses
Christmas Hams – have a look at this flyer for details on the delicious and succulent Schinkentec smoked and cured legs of Australian pork….for the most divine ham. I have attached the stocklist also so you can easily procure your Christmas Ham. These hams are injected with Schinkentec brine, made from dissolved honey, water and curing salts; after a 24 hour period of curing time they are then placed in the smokehouse. Details are also there on how to store your ham for the best eating after it has been opened….
Click on the below link to view flyer:
http://www.ontheridge.com.au/images/stories/pdf/ham%20flyer%20091115.pdf
Click on the below link to view stockists:
http://www.ontheridge.com.au/images/stories/pdf/stockists%20of%20schinkentec%20ham%20091118.doc
Slow Food and Carlo Petrini
Posted on 4 November 2009 | No responses
Tonight on the ABC 7.30 report there was a feature on the Slow Food Movement and Carlo Petrini, the founder of the movement. Carlo spoke about food giving pleasure and happiness as well as the sustainability aspects that are important to us…the report also included coverage of the school kitchen gardens working in the same way as the Chevallum garden I have just written a post about….
The 7.30 Report covered Australia’s developing awareness of Slow Food and people’s growing interest in the source of the food they eat. Presenter Kerry O’Brien said more Australians were shopping at local food markets and even growing their own fruit and vegetables.
‘Real devotees have joined the Slow Food Movement,’ he said, introducing the segment, ‘which was created in protest against fast food. The organisation has supporters in more than 150 countries.’
In a story centred on the visit by Slow Food international president and founder Carlo Petrini to Australia three weeks ago, reporter Tracey Bowden talked with Sydney chef Alex Herbert, Brindabella Ranges’ rare animal breeds farmer Michael Croft, Mangrove Mountain vegetable grower Michael Champion, Sydney school garden co-ordinator Sarah MacMaster and Petrini.
Bowden also questioned Petrini about perceptions of food elitism: ‘What do you say to those who believe this is just an elitism movement?’
‘I do understand the reaction,’ Petrini said’, ‘because I believe in what I call an ‘austere hedonism’. It’s not that we are sad environmentalists. We want happiness, we seek pleasure, but at the same time we also seek sustainability.’
For the full report see >>> http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2009/s2733547.htm
Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden at Chevallum State School
Posted on 4 November 2009 | No responses
I recently attended a wonderful morning at Chevallum State School to celebrate the launch of their Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Project. They have been working on their kitchen garden for 12 years now and so the next step was the building and fitting out of a kitchen to enable the children to develop their cooking skills and to learn to cook their garden produce.
The school vision was ‘to entwine the children with the gardens, to deepen their understanding of the nature of life and to encourage them to discover the delights of food through the wonder of gardening’.
As the result of the hard work by Robyn Cook and a team of enthusiastic parents, teachers and community volunteers, Chevallum State School has been awarded a grant from the Stephanie Alexander Foundation to build this purpose built kitchen. It is very exciting for the children to learn how to grow their own vegetables and herbs and then to appreciate the cooking of these and the creating of nutritious dishes.
In her address to the meeting, Robyn Cook, said that the ‘new facility is an asset, one that can be hired out, used for functions, cooking classes and workshops. Regular gardening and soil nutrition courses will be offered to teach others how to grow nutrient-dense foods and how to cook up wonderfully nutritious foods for families without losing sight that food should also nourish the soul, excite the palate and spark scintillating dinner conversations. We have a vision of the future and when you join us again for the opening of our facilities in early 2010 you will see what that vision is’. So I look forward to the opening…..
For a complete version of Robyn’s speech – check www.ontheridge.com.au/content/view/104
If you are interested in volunteering – email me and I will put you in touch with Robyn.