Come and join us for breakfast

Author Liz Harfull and three of the cooks featured in The Blue Ribbon Cookbook will be special guests at this year's Royal Show Breakfast on Thursday September 11. Hosted by Rural Media South Australia, the breakfast is an annual highlight during Adelaide 'show week'. Joining Liz in a fun-filled celebration of show cooks and their surprising stories will be Mary Starkey from Mount Pleasant; Angaston winemaker Carol Riebke, and RAHS treasurer and rosarian, Walter Duncan, who comes from one of the State’s most prominent show families. Liz is well known to Rural Media members for her work as Australia’s representative to the International Federation for Agricultural Journalists. To book for the breakfast visit http://www.ruralmediasa.com/

Gawler Show takes first place...

Gawler cook Kath Palamountain was honoured at the 152nd annual Gawler Show yesterday (Saturday August 30) when author Liz Harfull presented her with one of the first copies of The Blue Ribbon Cookbook. Kath has been involved in the cookery section of the show for 45 years and is about to retire. Her rock bun recipe is featured in the book - and it won Kath another first prize this year.

Have cake will travel

For the past few years Mundulla cook Kath Herrmann has been putting a sultana cake on the bus to travel more than 3000 kilometres to Darwin as an entry for the northern city's annual show. At her first attempt she won third and last year she came second. This year her persistence has finally paid off and she won first. Kath's award-winning recipe and her tips for success can be found in The Blue Ribbon Cookbook.

It should be a hoot

Plans are well in hand for the official launch of the book by popular ABC radio presenter Peter Goers on September 4. To use one of Peter's favourite sayings, "it should be a hoot!"
Many of the cooks featured in the book are planning to bring their signature recipe for what promises to be one of the best afternoon tea spreads people have seen in years. The cooks are all looking forward to meeting each other, and the team of test cooks who put all the recipes through their paces are very excited about meeting the people behind the recipes and comparing notes.

Crossing the Rubicon

Yesterday I had the chance to meet other authors at the Salisbury Writers' Festival, a wonderful event for literary enthusiasts held annually in the northern part of Adelaide. It was my first outing as a speaker at a writer's festival, instead of being part of the audience - a strange sensation indeed.
I shared the morning session with rural 'icon' Angela Goode, well known for her popular Great Working Dog Stories, and best selling fantasy and crime writer, Fiona McIntosh. Angela recently stopped writing her weekly column in The Advertiser - a great shame given that it was the only regular column in Australia focussing on rural issues.
The event was also the first public outing for The Blue Ribbon Cookbook. Although we had no actual copies of the book (they are on their way back from the printer), we offered a preview via a special PowerPoint presentation.
Feedback from participants was extremely encouraging, and the excitement is building as the team responsible for creating the book awaits the arrival of the first copies within the next week or so.