You can't keep a good cook down...

It takes more than a broken arm to stop a country show enthusiast from doing their bit, as Jean Evans proved yesterday at the annual Uraidla Show, held in the picturesque Picadilly Valley of the Adelaide Hills. Jean broke her arm in two places a few weeks ago, but decided to go ahead and give a demonstration of her prizewinning apple squares recipe, with some help from daughter Janice. Meanwhile husband Bob claimed a special trophy for the local exhibitor with the highest number of points, thanks to a fine collection of pot plants, cut flowers and vegetables. Another daughter, Rosie Schulz, is show secretary. She was delighted with the large crowd who enjoyed perfect weather conditions, in stark contrast to the past couple of years when temperatures have topped 40 degrees.

Blue ribbons in the Barossa

The beautiful Barossa Valley north of Adelaide produces more than very fine wines - its cooks are renown too for their efforts. About 100 people, including some very experienced show cooks, turned out for a Meet the Author session with Liz Harfull, hosted by the Nuriootpa Library and its wonderful staff (pictured). Liz told a few of the stories behind The Blue Ribbon Cookbook, and enjoyed a lively question time before the gathering adjourned for supper, provided by Friends of the Library. Tanunda cook Margaret Hurst reminded people to think about entering the coming autumn shows, with the Angaston event on February 28 and the Tanunda Show on March 14.

Discovering Jubilee Cake on Brophy's road

Melbourne-based Irish-Australian singer and songwriter Vince Brophy sent me this photo of his first attempt at one my favourite recipes - the Jubilee Cake. One of the keen amateur test cooks for The Blue Ribbon Cookbook, Vince usually focusses his energies on making wonderful sauces, relishes and preserves from an impressive backyard veggie patch. But he took time out from adding the finishing touches to his new CD, Brophy's Road, to try his hand at baking with great results.

The Jubilee Cake is a humble fruit cake recipe which originated in South Australia, although there is some debate about which juiblee it was created for. I love it because it requires minimal ingredients, is quick to make and bakes in just 20 to 30 minutes. You apply the runny icing when its warm to speed up the process even more. No doubt it was a farmhouse favourite when neighbours unexpectedly dropped in for a cup of tea and a chat.

Feast in a flash

Country shows are not the only places to test your cooking skills. Adelaide's extremely popular Feast Festival also runs a cookery competition with many of the categories traditionally found at shows. Among the winners in 2008 was professional photographer Rosey Boehm (pictured with her dog Sybil), who won a first prize for her quince jelly and a second prize for her crab apple jelly. If you want to give Rosey a run for her money in 2009 there is a great quince jelly recipe in The Blue Ribbon Cookbook, courtesy of prize-winning Cummns cook, Jan Nitschke, with some great tips from Jan and the judges to help you on your way.

And the winners are...

The Royal Automobile Association of South Australia (RAA) has announced winners of a competition run last year for copies of The Blue Ribbon Cookbook. More than 5300 people entered the competition, the highest for any book competition ever run by the organisation. Congratulations to the lucky recipients - Mrs H Batson, Goroke (Victoria); Mrs S Timm, Goolwa;
Mr S Bressanelli, Broken Hill; Miss J Cockrum, Reynella; and Mrs M Ellis, Pt Augusta West.

Blue Ribbon Cookbook wins a prize of its own

In very exciting news for author Liz Harfull and the team at Wakefield Press, it has been announced this week that The Blue Ribbon Cookbook will represent Australia in the 2008 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. The book has been selected from a record number of entries to be named Australian winner for the Best Easy Recipes Book category. It will now compete against finalists from other countries for the Best in the World award, due to be announced at a gala dinner in May 2009.
‘It is extremely exciting to have the book recognised at such a high level, and a great tribute to the team at Wakefield Press who worked on it, as well as the talents and generosity of the show cooks who so willingly shared with me their stories and knowledge,’ Liz said.‘The organisers of the awards tell me there were more entries than ever from Australia this year, and of a high quality. Apparently there were many competitors in the easy recipes book category, including two previous Gourmand Award winners in other categories.’
The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards aim to honour people who ‘cook with words’, and to find the best out of some 26,000 food and wine books produced around the world every year. The awards were founded in 1995 by Edouard Cointreau, a member of the family behind Cointreau liqueur, which has owned vineyards in France since the 13th century.Thousands of books are entered every year, with entries assessed by an international jury. In 2008 there was an estimated 15% to 20% increase in entries, from 102 countries.
Find out more about the awards...

Motoring along

More than 5300 people entered a recent competition to win one of five copies of The Blue Ribbon Cookbook. The competition was run by the Royal Automobile Association of South Australia, through its samotor publication. Public relations coordinator Kimberley Willmer says the number of entries received was the highest for any book competition ever run by the organisation. Winners will be announced at the end of December.