Rural charms and the odd jelly cake thrill Peter

Friend of The Blue Ribbon Cookbook, ABC radio presenter Peter Goers and his famous love of rural Australia are the subjects of a feature story in this week's Stock Journal. Peter, who launched the book in September last year, talks about why he is a 'barracker for the bush', and his love of country halls, and, perhaps not incidentally, the wonderful tradition of the bring-a-plate country supper, 'with old pine trestle tables laden with curried-egg sandwiches, sausage rolls, jelly cakes and cream puffs.' Click here to read the whole story.

Slow Food event at Stirling

Members of the Adelaide Hills convivium of Slow Food will use recipes from The Blue Ribbon Cookbook to cater for a special open garden at 'Boxwell' in Stirling on April 19. The event is part of the annual Autumn Garden Festival. Liz will be on hand from 10am to sell and sign books, and funds raised from the catering will go towards the Victorian bushfires appeal.

A great night at Marion

Marion Library organised a wonderful Meet the Author event for Liz on Tuesday night, with 170 people turning out to hear more about The Blue Ribbon Cookbook. Many thanks to Jenny Newman and the rest of the wonderful staff at the library.

Blue Ribbon named in top three

The Blue Ribbon Cookbook has been named in the short-list for the Best in the World competition run as part of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. The book is one of three selected from 54 finalists for the Best Easy Recipe Book section. The winner will be announced at a special dinner at the Comedie Francais theatre in Paris on July 1.

Celebrating 'real' food - move over Nigela

An extremely impressive array of old-fashioned baking, tea pots, eye-catching aprons and blue gingham tableclothes captured the spirit of The Blue Ribbon Cookbook at a series of events in South Australia last month. The sessions were part of The Big Book Club, which selected the book as its February title. At Saddleworth, north of Adelaide, the local mayor praised it as a welcome relief from over-hyped celebrity cookbooks because it celebrates 'real food cooked by real people'. Host communities certainly proved the point through the morning and afternoon teas and suppers they provided, with much of the cooking being done by library volunteers and students from local schools. Liz travelled to Stirling, McLarenVale, Victor Harbor, Gawler, Balaklava, Minlaton (pictured), Saddleworth and Walkerville for the program, often joined by local cooks featured in the book. It was the first Big Book Club event held at Minlaton, and the first time a Big Book Club event has been held in the impressive library at Victor Harbor.


Above: Liz (right) with Clarrie Wandel and his daughter Christine Burford at the Balaklava event. Clarrie's wife, the late Doris Wandel, is featured in the book with her Mango Diabetic Fruit Cake recipe.


Above: Patrons queue up for their books at the McLaren Vale event.

Above: The event at the award-winning Stirling Library.

Taking it slow

Summer means tomatoes and for Italians ripe red tomatoes mean sugo – it’s sauce-making time. Last Sunday I joined other members of the Adelaide and Barossa convivium of Slow Food in a special event at the home of Malvina and Sebastiano Crugnale for their annual sauce making. After processing bucket loads of ripe Roma tomatoes, we enjoyed a simple but extremely tasty lunch of pasta, prepared by their son, Camillo, who is chef at respected Adelaide restaurant, Assaggio. Not about show cooking, but what a treat! And we all brought home two bottles of sauce each as a reward for rolling up our sleeves and helping out.

The Big Book Club coup for Blue Ribbon

In a rare honour for a book that is neither fiction or biography, The Advertiser Big Book Club has chosen The Blue Ribbon Cookbook as its February selection. Author Liz Harfull will speak at eight special events in South Australian libraries, starting with her home library in Stirling. Meet the author sessions are also planned for McLaren Vale, Victor Harbor, Gawler, Balaklava, Minlaton, Saddleworth and Walkerville. For more information visit http://www.thebigbookclub.com.au/