Pie time, 2016

The results for the 2016 Great Australian Pie competition are in. Once again i have summarised the gluten free winners.  

Gluten Free Category Winner

Steak - Beefys Pies - Kunda Park, QLD

Name	Location	State	Pie	Prize
Heavens Bakehouse	East Keilor	VIC	GF STEAK CHEESE	Gold
Heavens Bakehouse	East Keilor	VIC	GF STEAK PEPPER	Gold
Heavens Bakehouse	East Keilor	VIC	GF STEAK PEPPER	Bronze
Mt Barker Country Bakery	Mount Barker	WA	CURRY BEEF	Gold
Nee's High Apple Pies	Kinglake West	VIC	GF APPLE PIE	Gold
Nee's High Apple Pies	Kinglake West	VIC	GF APPLE RASBERRY	Gold
One Girl Pie	Richmond	VIC	CHILLI BEEF BACON	Gold
One Girl Pie	Richmond	VIC	PULLED PORK AND FENNEL	Gold
One Girl Pie	Richmond	VIC	BEEF AND BEER	Gold
One Girl Pie	Richmond	VIC	CHICKEN LEEK	Gold
Chris' Bakery	Grenfell	NSW	GF CHICKEN PUMPKIN	Gold
King Valley Fine Foods	Wangaratta	VIC	GF CHICKEN ARTICHOKE AND GREEN PEPPERCORN	Gold
King Valley Fine Foods	Wangaratta	VIC	GF LAMB SHANK	Gold
King Valley Fine Foods	Wangaratta	VIC	GF VEGETABLE	Gold
King Valley Fine Foods	Wangaratta	VIC	GF PEPPER BEEF CURRY	Gold
Mansfield Bakery P/L	Mansfield	VIC	GF CHEESE BACON	Gold
Meldrums Pies in Paradise	Cairns	QLD	GF PLAIN	Gold
Beefys	Kunda Park	QLD	GF STEAK BACON CHEESE	Gold
Beefys	Kunda Park	QLD	GF STEAK	Gold
Tassie Pies & Pavs	Moonah	TAS	BEEF RED WINE	Gold
Tassie Pies & Pavs	Moonah	TAS	BEEF RED WINE	Bronze

Taph and I have a few pilgrimages to make.  

Pie Time.

Since being diagnosed with Coeliacs one of the things I have missed is a good pie.

However this may change soon as I have found the web site for the Great Aussie pie comp, and one of their categories is for Gluten Free Pies

I have known about King Valley Fine Foods for a while, and while Wangaratta is a bit of a distance from Canberra, I have always detoured into the town with an esky on my trip to Melbourne. Now I have a few other places to make a detour to.

The main winner for 2015 is Beefys Pies, from Kunda Park, Queensland for their Steak pies, However, the rest of the winners for 2015 are:

Bakery name	Town	State	Pie name	Award.
Classique Gourmet	Caringbah	NSW	GF beef and veg	Gold
Penrith Pies & Pastries	Jamisontown	NSW	GF chicken	Gold
Mountain High Pies	Wentworth Falls	NSW	GF lamb rosemary	Gold
Beefy's Pies	Kunda Park	Qld	GF steak	Gold
Heavens Bakehouse	East Keilor	VIC	GF steak onion	Gold
Heavens Bakehouse	East Keilor	VIC	GF Beef Chunky	Gold
Heavens Bakehouse	East Keilor	VIC	GF Pepper steak	Gold
Heavens Bakehouse	East Keilor	VIC	GF beef Mince	Gold
Red Poppy Bakery	Hughesdale	VIC	GF beef pie	Gold
One Girl Pie	Richmond	VIC	GF beef and beer	Gold
One Girl Pie	Richmond	VIC	GF chicken leek	Silver
One Girl Pie	Richmond	VIC	GF pulled pork fennel	Gold
San Remo Bakehouse	San Remo	VIC	GF Beef	Gold
3 boys baking	Sorrento	Vic	GF Chilli con carne	Gold
3 boys baking	Sorrento	Vic	GF Cauilflower cheese	Gold
3 boys baking	Sorrento	Vic	GF chicken leek	Gold
3 boys baking	Sorrento	Vic	Beef burgundy	Gold
3 boys baking	Sorrento	Vic	GF Beef	Silver
King Valley Fine Foods	Wangaratta	VIC	Vegetable Baharat	Gold
King Valley Fine Foods	Wangaratta	VIC	Spicy lamb curry	Gold
King Valley Fine Foods	Wangaratta	VIC	Portugese chicken	Gold

If you are interested, here are the winners from 2014.

Bakery name	Town	State	Pie name	Award.
The Blue Bird Cafe	Lockhart	NSW	Kashmir Vegetarian	Gold
Show n Shine Deli Cafe	Bray Park	NSW	chicken and mushroom	Silver
Show n Shine Deli Cafe	Bray Park	NSW	asparagus cheese and corn	Bronze
Gaffney's Bakery	Heathcote VIC	VIC	Gluten free beef	Gold
Nee's High Apple Pies	Kinglake West VIC	VIC	Gluten free apple	Gold
Ardor Food Co	Thomastown	VIC	Vegetable curry	Bronze
Ardor Food Co	Thomastown	VIC	beef and red wine	Silver
Ardor Food Co	Thomastown	VIC	Vegetable curry	Gold
Gluten Free 4 U	Moorabbin	VIC	beef	Silver
Heavens Bakehouse	East Keilor	VIC	Gluten free beef	Silver
One Girl Pie	Richmond	VIC	Beef and beer	Silver
One Girl Pie	Richmond	VIC	Pulled pork and fennel	Silver
Beefy's Pies	Kunda Park	QLD	Gluten free steak	Gold

I can see a few pilgrimages coming up.

Taken from http://www.greataussiepiecomp.com.au/result.htm

If you want to try us Tony, Bring it on.

Following a union meeting, an announcement was made for people who wanted to attend Bill Shortens' budget reply speech. I went as I figured this was a bucket list sort of thing so i stuck my hand up and said yes please.

It was simple enough. Rock up to Parliament House. Get my name ticked off on the list, and be escorted over to the Opposition Party room These two people were also there, but no names will be mentioned here.

As with any party event, the local members all came and gave a little speech, along with the Deputy leader, Tanya Plibersek.

Kate Lundy addressing the group

Gai Brodtmann. Andrew Leigh also addressed the crowd, but i forgot to take a photo of him

Deputy leader of the ALP, Tanya Plibersek also addresses the gathering

Cameras and mobile phones had to be cloaked before they let us into the visitors’ seats in the chamber, so i have no photos of Bill speech. 

This was the queue to cloak phones, bag and anything else. 

My opinion of the speech. If he is the leader who roared that night, why did it take him so long to come out swinging.

Footy food - Chiefs

The Brumbies were due to up against the Waikato Chiefs and this left us with a decision to make.

Our garden had produced an abundance of zucchinis’. This left us with one option for this series.

Zucchini slice. We used the recipe from Taste.com, but altered it a little.

We used a Gluten Free flour and we used Salmon rather than Tuna.

Wrapped in al-foil and packed into the Trusty Tupperware, it was still warm at the ground when we ate it at half time.

And as for the game, The Brumbies won 41 to 23.

Footy food – Titans

We are an ecumenical footy family, we support and will attend all codes. This used to include the GWS AFL team, until they stuffed up our season tickets, and then would not call or email us back.

And so, on Sunday afternoon we headed off to GIO Stadium for the first Raiders home game of 2014.

Once again, we had minimal time to prepare food, so we took chicken sandwiches.

Well, these were done the way we like chicken sandwiches.

Chicken breast was sliced thinly, and then pan fried. A tomato was thinly sliced and put into a Trusty Tupperware container. The bread was pre buttered and smeared with some chili plum sauce.

Once again, these were assembled at the ground and eaten with the tomato fresh, and not having had a chance to soak into the bread.

On a scale of one to 10, these were a 6.

And the Game. The Raiders lost 24 – 12. 

iCider. The taste test

I have blogged before about my making cider, and after leaving it to sit for a few months, I decided to give it a taste test.

What can I say, it tasted like a cider should taste, and was very nice.

I deem it to be a success.

If anyone wants to try some, I will happily show you how to make it yourself.

Footy food - Stormers

The next game was the Brumbies v Stormers. This presented us with a problem. Both Taph and I was going to be busy for most of the day and would not be able to cook anything.

We  knew this day was coming, so we went with an old staple of sports stadiums around the work.

Hot dogs in buns.

We got some gluten free hot dog rolls, and used a gluten free pork/lamb sausage frankfurt.

These were cooked at home, and then put into a food thermos for the trip. the buns were per buttered and sauced. some extra sauerkraut was taken in some trusty Tupperware.

These were well received by the people around us, who, on looking at how simple this all was said they were going to try and do this for a future march.

On a scale of one to 10, these were a 6.

And the Game. The Brumbies won 25 – 15. 

Footy food - Tahs.

The next game we faced was the Brumbies v Waratahs.

Our garden had given us an abundance of spinach, and we had some goat fetta and gluten free pastry in the freezer, so the answer was simple, Spinach and fetta rolls.

We sort of followed a receipe from Taste.com, except we used a shortcrust pastry, as you cannot get Gluten free filo pastry.

Mixed, rolled and baked in the over, and packed into the trusty Tupperware for the journey.

The pastry was not the best, but then again, I have yet to find a commercial gluten free pastry that is good. but it was filling, and once again the crowd around us was in awe.

On a scale of one to 10, these were a 7.

And the Game, the Brumbies won 28 – 23.

Hot Chili Woman

I not talking about a song by Noiseworks. 

I am talking about the chilies in my garden

six chili plants were planted. all six survived and are now bearing fruit.

I planted 2 Thai birds eye chili’s. These are a small fiery chili that is good for drying.

Two Jalapeños. These are a large fleshy chili that are good for cooking and pickling.

One Caysan.  also good for drying.  

And last, but not least, one Trinidad Scorpion. These are a chili that is not for a beginner. They are extremely over the top in heat.

I have fruit growing on all of them, so in a couple of weeks, I will harvest some lovely chilies.

Footy Food. Brumbies v Reds.

We decided to go over the top for the game against the Queensland Reds at GIO stadium.

We did hamburgers. Well, Satay Pork Burgers.

The gluten free buns we picked up from Coles. 

Beetroot, tomato and pineapple were all carried in trusty Tupperware containers, and the hamburgers were assembled during half time.

The reaction from those seated around us was a definite 11/10. 

The Hamburgers had cooled down a little before eating which will cost them a couple of points. They were better than the Cold spring rolls, so a definite 9 out of 10.

As for the game, the brumbies went down 27 - 17

Footy Food. – The Trial

Taph and I both have dietary problems, and this means when the go somewhere, more often than not, there will be nothing there that we can eat.

So, this year we are going to blog the food we take to the Gluten free / dairy free / low fod map food we take to the footy.

First up the Brumbies had a trial match against the ACT XV at Vikings park.

For our part we took cold Vietnamese spring rolls.

These were easy to make and easy to carry.

• Cold left over chicken, spiced and diced.
• Various veggies from the veggie draw of the fridge, blanched and chopped into sticks
• Rice noodles, soaked in water till soft.
• Rice paper sheets.

These could be prepared and put into some trusty Tupperware, and eaten at the ground with some G/F soy sauce as a dipping sauce.

For a First up effort, I would rate these at 7 out of 10. 

As for the game the Brumbies won 40 – 7 

iCider

When we moved into the new house, one of its biggest selling points were the number of established fruit trees.

Now we have a problem, we have two apple trees full of ripe apples, and what do we do with them all.

A few quick internet searches showed us how easy it is to do hard (Alcoholic) apple cider.

Easy, yes, Time consuming, YES.

pick the apples, grate the apples through a food processor and then put the apples in a fruit press, or cook the apples in water.

Sieve the pulp, and put in big fermenters, and wait three weeks.

of course, for these efforts we have 60 litres of hard apple cider brewing in the garage.

As for the left over pulp, well we have 15 litres of stewed apples, and 10 litres of an apple chutney.

and this is from two trees. we still have two trees left that are late ripeners. 

Heaven came to Canberra

I have written much about my previous trips away for whiskey shows.

Well, whiskeylive came to Canberra.

I bought tickets as soon as they were available, and wild horses would not be able to keep me away.

there were an excellent selection of whiskies available, and many were sampled.

There were a number of Australian whiskies available were were sampled and well liked.

The only down side of whiskey live Canberra was it did not have any master classes

I like the masterclasses, they give you a chance to sit down, pace your drinking a bit better, and hopefully learn something. 

Moving my Johnson

Part of the process of moving is to pack up the dinner setting. This meant i will get to see just how big my Johnson is.

Like the Pied Piper of Hamelin i marched through the house playing my flute, and the Johnson followed me.

ok, really, i went from room to room, searching through the wardrobes, cupboards, and sideboards, searching for where i had stashed pieces of the setting.

The final result was staggering.

but wait, there's more,

and then hidden in another room, overlooked in the first sweep, i found another box.

damm, my Johnson collection is big.

The second lot.

Not too much else has been happening.

Work was asking if people wanted to move interstate, so I stuck my hand up for a move to our Melbourne Office.

With the wedding and other things, we didn't want to move immediately, which my work was happy with. And then I started looking at the lay of how things were progressing. People who I know were wanting to move and were given moving dates were still showing up in the Canberra Office.

The Federal Budget came and went, and my Department had even less money to operate with. Projects that were supposed to be moving were delayed. And one day Taph asked me the words I was dreading. "How many people could I name, that had successfully moved". And I could only come up with three names. That's not to say that people who I didn't know had successfully moved. In an office of between 1,000 and 4,000 people* that is possible, but I could only put my finger on three people, and two of them were a very iffy story.

Then one day, a friend had Taph and I door-knocking for the Salvos Red Shield appeal. It's hard to say what came over us. We had finished door knocking for an area, and were walking back to the car, when we passed an agent setting up for an open house. 

Well, one thing lead to another, and a week later this was the result.

After five years of weekend cohabitation, we now are moving in together, and with our own little mortgage.

* Sorry I have to be vague, as I don't really want to post here what agency I work for

First the overseas trip

As I said before, much has happened.

Old Flame Junior (OFJ) got married to Old Flame Junior Hubby (OFJH), and OFJH is from Singapore. He has family over there who could not make it to the wedding in Canberra, 

OFJH-father, OFJH, OFJ, OFJH-mother, OF-Mother and Of-Father

so we all hopped on a plane 

Taph, and traveling mascot @ Sydney airport on Boxing day. Damm we missed the Cricket. 

and went to Singapore for the second wedding.

We had a lovely time, drank a Gin Sling at Raffels,

Visited the usual tourist places,

And enjoyed playing tourist.

Singapore mud crab

The things that struck me about it was just how sterile it was. In all the time we were there we saw less than half a dozen flies, and less than a dozen birds. And they were mostly Crows, Minor Birds and one very confused pigeon.