Just beet it

I have previously expressed my love and admiration for Bill's Beetroot Relish. One of my favourite Tassie products.

But after picking up a bunch of beetroots from the Hobart farmers' market I decided to give it a whirl myself. Tasty as. You just try it too. Go on...

3 medium-large beets, trimmed

1 large onion, grated or finely chopped

1 large Granny Smith apple - peeled, cored and grated

1 cup of balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup of OJ and a piece of orange peel

1 to 1 1/2 cups of raw sugar

Few cloves

cinnamon stick

couple of rosemary sprigs

Rub the beets in salt, pepper and olive oil. Wrap in foil and roast for up to an hour and a half in 180 degree oven until cooked through. Cool, peel, and grate.

Chuck everything in a saucepan, bring to boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Cool, remove peel and rosemary & cloves and store in a container.

To be enjoyed on sandwiches, with steak or mixed through salads... any which way you can.

Now beet it.

Tunnel of Love

It's not often you get a chance to dine underground.

After attending an all-day wine and food event at Seppelt in Victoria's Great Western I can tick that off my list.

The winery sits above a three-kilometre labyrinth of tunnels, and the finale of the event was a three-course dinner matched with a selection of wines and served up in one of the tunnels. If that doesn't sound like enough atmosphere, the tunnel ceilings are covered in a black fungus (transported from France back in the day) that resembles a gothic fairy floss.

The food was nothing to write home about - with the entree of Asian-flavoured sticky pork belly the highlight. It was all overshadowed by wines that included some un-released and museum.

The pick of those were: 1988 Drumborg Riesling, 1998 St Peters Shiraz and the 2004 Show Sparkling Shiraz.

Before dinner, we worked up an appetite by:

- Disgorging bottles of wine - using gas stored in a bottle to pop out the yeast lees that has been concentrated in the neck by riddling. I know, I know: mumbo jumbo talk. But it all made sense under the tutelage of winemakers Jo Marsh and Kelly Healey.

- Trying to mix a range of different wines to match the one we were given to taste. (Aftermath of that experimentation pictured above.)

- Tasting wines at their 'base' and 'tirage' stages to compare to the finished product. The 96 Salinger tirage was so good I drank the whole taster.

And back to the start of the day, we slurped on some 2006 Salinger Sparkling and Original Sparkling and ate a tapas luncheon. Which was all over delicious. (See below.)

Makes me want to go to more wine events - especially if they're in weird places.

Full of beans

A new city means finding new caffeine dens.

After a couple of weeks of trial and error, my top three for Hobart are:

3. Villino. For the serious coffee aficionado. (Clearly not me - I drink mochas).

2. Oomp Coffee. I went in there on stress free day and they were wearing flannelet pyjamas. Noice. Drinks are yummy too.

1. Dr Coffee. It's closest to my work (metres count when it's winter), the coffee is always excellent, they are always baking something scrumptious when I walk in there, and the baristas are good looking.

It was the best of times, it was the wurst of times

I spent last Sunday making sausages. That's something you don't get to say every day.

The class was held at Red Feather Inn in Hadspen, Tasmania. It has accommodation and a cooking school - amazing place.

John T Bailey was the man giving the orders in the kitchen. (His "day job" is chef at The Banc Restaurant in Swansea). Certainly the sort of man you jump to, when he tells you to. So, I

was a little apprehensive about being near a mincer when he was about.

Turns out, he's a lovely bloke. And it is possible to make your own sausages, as long as you have a team of people (or at least 2) and a good (read: expensive) mincer.

Our menu for the day was ambitious: lamb koftas, country pork cumberland, smoked kransky, game sausage and chipolatas.

Step 1: was getting the ingredients together. In a real sausage (read: one that doesn't come cheap from the supermarket or butcher) there is meat, spices and herbs. That's it.

Step 2: mince the meat. Depending on how fine you want it will depend on how much you mince it. The expensive machines mince faster, thereby cutting your prep time and ensuring the uncooked meat does not heat up.

Step 3: Filling the casings. We used intestines (different sizes for different bangers) and one person fed in the mince while another was in charge of filling the casing in an even way that still had a little give (so it doesn't burst when you tie it). It's quite delicate work.

Step 4: Tie them off. You use the same technique as a busker does when making a balloon poodle for a kid, by twisting the sausages into each other. Then, hang for a bit before cooking.

We all sat down together to eat the product of our hard labour, and boy were those snags filling. A world away from a typical barbie.

Fancy fare

I spent a delightful Saturday afternoon at Fitzpatricks Inn in Westbury, Tasmania.

The two-hour experience was set apart from my other high tea experiences by the live music. A lovely local lass played the harp and the pan-flute. Told stories of how she came to own her first harp prompting lessons (an ex that owed her money and paid her back in instrument, as he made them) and also of her travels (the pan-flute is the national instrument of Romania).

While we listened, we ate: finger sandwiches, drop scones with cream and jam and mini-everything...

That's hot!

With the weather cold enough in Tasmania to freeze one's face after five minutes exposure, staying warm is a priority.

The hot drinks at Coco Bean in Launceston are helping.

And look how pretty they are!

An ode to Omi

I come from a cake loving family.

Whenever there is a birthday, there is a decision on cake to be had. A most important decision.

For some important celebrations, we don’t have to make a decision – we have three or four cakes instead.

If I could, I would order a cherry cheese and poppy seed cake from Bauers stall at Salamanca market for my next birthday. (Sorry, I ate first and took a photograph second.)

Goodness it’s delicious. There’s the creaminess of the cheese, tartness from the sour cherries and a slight bitterness from the poppy seeds.

A cake my Omi would have been proud of.

Go Hobart!

What a wowser of a weekend in Tasmania’s capital. Each dining experience was top notch - we just couldn’t put a mouthful wrong.

Things got off to a lip-smacking start with an antipasto platter and a couple of sides at Moorilla Estate, downed with some vino before tackling the unwieldy beast that is MONA. It’s not everybody’s idea of a meal, but for those who enjoyed grazing it was top nosh.

The servings were more substantial for dinner, eaten at T42 on the docks. Oysters were a nice starter, and my main meal was superb: crispy skinned salmon steak served with perfect pillows of gnocchi in a creamy sauce. Everything down to the baked and flaked almond on top was perfect.

A poached egg breaky at Zum Salamanca was just what the doctor ordered after a night out on the town. It wasn’t a cheap but it was lovely and life-saving… ohhh fresh OJ!

Our second evening meal went up a slight notch in the fancy stakes at Maldini. It’s Italian, but not the sort you will find at your neighbourhood trattoria. I ordered a lemon zest and chilli seafood risotto. It was one of the nicest rice dishes I’ve had in some time – the flavours were perfectly balanced and the seafood was succulent. See below.

Things could only end one way: happily ever after. We said our foodie farewells with a light meal at Jackman and McRoss bakery – leaving with a loaf of sunflower seed rye tucked under the arm and a head full of Mmmmmemories.

(A salami, red onion & tomato danish ... & porridge w/ fig)

Baby food

I've realised that baby showers can be really delicious and not at all spewy.

It all depends on the spread, of course.

An excellent example of ''what to do'' was a double bub shower that I recently attended for two up-the-duff co-workers. It included the following finger-licking items:

- sponge cake with wee baby booties

on top. (awwww)

- cup cakes (nice n' girly)

- cheesy dip served in a hollowed out loaf (mmm, cheese)

- the most amazing chocolate brownies (yes i made those)

- home-made sausage rolls

- fruit meringues

- lumberjack cake

I really can't go on, because now I remember everything I ate and am feeling a little queasy. Here's a first-hand look for you:

Now off you go, and keep breeding.

Mixing it up

In school I wasn't keen on muesli bars. Actually, that's a lie - I detested with an intense passion. I'd either chuck them in the bin or, in the case of the bars with choc buds, pick off the choc buds and chuck them in the bin.

Since then I've grown to love muesli for breaky. Mo

stly straight from the packet, but sometimes I make myself Bircher muesli. The problem is I can never find the perfect muesli. And boy have I looked high and low. No matter how good the muesli is, there's always something - a piece of dried fruit, a nut or a seed - that I'd rather not eat.

No more.

I've now discovered Mix My Muesli (www.mixmymuesli.com.au) and there's no going back. The Melbourne-based company has made it so easy to make your own muesli. There's just three steps and you choose exactly what you want, and don't want, in it. They deliver it free and .... wait for it: You get to name it!!

Yessssssssssssssssssss.

This was mine: Bircher base, almonds, dried apricots, dried goji berries, macadamia nuts and sunflower kernels.

ps. It's called Dinah-mite!

Are they going ''surfing'' again?

I went surfing for the first time two years ago. And when I say surfing, I mean, flailing around on a board in the water.

I absolutely loved. And try to go as often as possible, which at times isn't all that often when it's an hour and a half drive from Melbourne to the coast.

But boy is it worth the trip. Not just for the sound of waves lapping on the sand and the sight of the sun sparkling off the ocean either. But also for lunch.

My surf-buddy and I make a habit of stopping at the Star Bakery in Barwon Heads, because it has the best goddam foccacia I've ever had: fetta, amazing pesto, sundried tomato and spinach sandwiched between a tasty, seedy bread. Mmmmm. It looks like this:

It's so good that sometimes we aren't even disappointed when the surf is crap. While the waves aren't there, there's always food.