A warming sense of pride graces the face of Kelly Anne, Founder of Ballarat’s Greening Spaces. Inside her green haven, you’ll find trends reflecting the flair of the 1970’s, a resurgence of the indoor plant and the beginnings of a humble story. “I would love to get my business out of my home and into its own brick and mortar space to showcase our work”
Read More“Nature is the manifestation of divinity, for heaven’s sake,” smiles Roger McLean. He sits calm and collected. His white hair quiffed. His water-coloured gaze pulling the room apart - recalibrating something spiritual. Roger McLean is not interested in alcohol for alcohol’s sake. In the Middle Ages, medicinal practices were referred to as natural magic - Herbal Lore distillery evokes that diminished practice.
Read MoreYou could say Johnny Baker is a stage name. It’s the alter ego of John Stekerhofs, professional chef, self-taught patissière and all-round
bon vivant. It’s also the name of the singular, bustling coffee stop and pastry heaven he’s run in the heart of Castlemaine since 2015.
Hidden at the rear of the Newnorthern Art Hotel, near the Castlemaine Botanic Gardens – look for the de rigueur small sign pointing the way, or just follow your nose - is where you’ll find the always-pumping Johnny Baker. It’s colonised the old drive-through bottle shop, where coffee and cakes have replaced champagne and chardonnay. And if the words “drive through” don’t strike you as the food world’s
Read MoreThe urban winery movement arrived with a bang in Central Victoria with the June opening of Musk Lane – but first you have to find it.
Tucked down a no-name laneway in central Kyneton (the owners are in the process of having it officially anointed Turners Lane, after the Turner Bros Hardware yard that used to inhabit the site) this working winery, cellar door, wine bar, beer garden and neighbourhood hangout shows that you don’t have to leave the comforts of town for a taste of terroir.
Read MoreLegacy is a labour of love. For Cathy and Michael Wagner, Musk Farm is more than a country escape—their spontaneous purchase was a life a affirming bloom. As you drive into the motor court of their home, you’re greeted by a stone boy playing the trumpet. Water pours from the instrument’s mouth into the pond below, and the sound feels like the crescendo to the garden’s movement.
Read MoreIn a cloud of saw dust, Donald Straka works with the ghosts of the forest. “This craftsmanship is becoming old-fashioned,” laments Donald Straka, founder of Daylesford’s Pride Furniture. “Everything in the retail market now is basically boxes with a few legs bolted on.”
Amidst the furniture that crowds our daily lives, the delicate touch of artisans is fading. For millennia, artisans have looked up at trees and sculpted a comfortable way of life. In carved woodwork, craftsman try to honour the ornaments of nature. In Ancient Egypt, the nobility would furnished their palaces with opulent wooden chairs, delicately carved dining tables and bed frames with legs sculpted into lions and bulls. And it’s staggering to think that since the age of Pharaohs, modern furniture is still framed along the same design principles.
Read MoreYou don’t get to be award-winning cheesemakers without loving cheese. An overflowing trophy cabinet and legions of cheeseophile fans across Australia are evidence that Carla Meurs and Ann-Marie Monda, owners and cheesemakers at Holy Goat Cheese in Sutton Grange, truly love their work. But it’s quickly apparent that cheese is not the only thing they love about life on their 82-hectare farm.
“One of the best things about making goats cheese is that you get to have a goatherd,” says Carla. “Goats are the most gorgeous animals – easy, friendly and they come to a call. They know us - the older goats will come over and acknowledge us whenever we’re in the paddock.”
Read MoreMETHOD
Preheat oven to 170 degrees.
Peel and slice shallots 4 mm thick. Place in small bowl with the sultanas.
Put all pickle ingredients in a pot and bring to boil. Simmer 1 minute and then pour over sultana mix. Set aside to soak. Overnight is preferable but a few hours of pickling can sauce. Once the sultanas are visibly plump you're good to go.
Roast almonds in the oven until crisp and light brown on the inside. 6/10 minutes. Once cool chop up in the food processor until they are in the middle of chunky and fine. You could also just put in a clean t towel and smash with a pot. Saves washing up more dishes.
Read MoreA day of demonstrations and foodie discussion with some of Australia’s top chefs including:
Andrew McConnell– Cutler & Co. Cumulus Inc, Supernormal, Rinky & Pinky, Melbourne
Matt Moran – ARIA, Barangaroo House, Chiswick, North Bondi Fish, Paddo Inn Grill, NSW
Hosted by Lake House Culinary Director Alla Wolf-Tasker in The Cooking School at Lake House. Day includes two demonstrations, recipes, tastings, baguette lunch, wine and refreshments.
11am - 3.30pm, 15 September
Lake House, King Street, Daylesford Tickets available at lakehouse.com.au
Life is fleeting... Even more reason to become lost. Lost in our region, lost in our work, lost in our family and friends, lost in ourselves. We
have seen snow. We have seen rain. We have felt the chilling cold. The dormancy of winter has made us appreciate the importance of respecting our seasonal foods and preserving what we can.
Spring is waking up and boldly reminding us how important all the seasons are.
Read MoreCatch Australia’s hardest hitting Hammond Organ Trio 'Cookin’ On 3 Burners' at Palais-Hepburn Friday, August 30th.
Hammond organist Jake (originally from Glenlyon), drummer Ivan, guitarist Dan and special guest Stella Angelico (from Ballarat) return home for an unforgettable performance that's sure to get you up and dancing. Joining the dots between Deep Funk, Raw Soul, Organ Jazz & Boogaloo; Cookin’ On 3 Burners is like poking your head through a time portal that stretches between the year you were born and the middle of next week.
August is here! Can you believe it? Just like that, the day's are getting longer and before we know it the festive season will be upon us. We've had such a wonderful response to the new team's first edition of Lost and this month we're going full steam ahead as we increase Lost to 64 pages - all chockablock full of reasons to get out and about and experience all our beautiful region has to offer.
Read MoreA spinning Curtin Mayfield record booms in the foyer, as Michael Lelliot dawdles between portraits of Hells Angel bikers, religious icons and bottles of rum. Mike, as his mates know him, has a way of making chaos feel natural.
“Should we take the Rolls Royce out drifting?” smiles Mike. A contagious larrikin, Mike has the figure of an NBA star, wears stick-n-poke tattoos and maintains a bushranger’s swagger.
Read MoreTim Foster has learned the ways of Central Victoria in his five years running leading Kyneton restaurant Source Dining. Some days he turns up to work to find fresh produce left at the kitchen door – figs, sometimes, or maybe quince or lemons. “We won’t know who has left it. until a local is in having a meal and they’ll say, ‘Did you get that box I left for you?” he says. “It’s really lovely.”
There’s a delightful synchronicity that Foster finds himself embedded in a community upholding the old-fashioned food values. The promise of such a life is what originally lured him and wife Michelle to the area in 2013. “We grew up in South Australia – Coonawarra born and bred - but loved how the food scene in Victoria was so active and vibrant.”
Read MoreHot chocolate is like a hug from the inside, reads a sign at Atelier Chocolat, at once summing up one of the joys of a Central Victorian winter (just add crackling fire, and maybe cake) as well as the attractions of chocolate in warm liquid form.
And you rest assured that this is no ordinary hot chocolate. Laetitia Hoffmann, who opened her charmingly bijou Trentham handmade chocolate shop at the end of March, is a devotee of the bean-to-bar school, in which the cocoa beans can be traced back to an ethical source.
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