Mayor4Unley

Hyde Park resident Janet Jenkins is helping to wage the war on plastic bags. She buys fabric from op-shops and makes re-usable bags that can be used when shopping; especially to carry fruit and vegetables. After using cloth bags for 16 years, she now intends to make more and give them away. What a great initiative and generosity on her part. Janet is asking for volunteers to form a working group to make the bags to get more out into the community. She says that there are tasks for non-sewers. Why not volunteer to help Janet. Her details are: Janet Jenkins email janet.jenkins.au@gmail.com

CYCLISTS WANTED to volunteer for an experiment. The University of SA will conduct a study to evaluate the effects of dried fruit & nuts on exercise performance & recovery. All food will be provided; just dried fruit & nuts. You will get $200 upon completion of the study. For some reason the study is only for males. Why ? ( Let me know if you find out .) Sounds like a worthwhile study, so give it consideration. For more information: see the photo and email  sansom.researchvolunteers@ unisa.edu.au  or phone 83021365. #Unley #Cycle #Cyclist Vote 1 Bob Schnell #Mayor4Unley to enhance cycle & walking paths across Unley. Written & authorised by Bob Schnell, 10 Halmon Ave, Everard Park 5035

The quince paste has been made (using home grown fruit of course). It’s a glorious ruby red in colour. A dash of pomegranate juice was added to enhance the colour. The taste is just fantastic. Yes it takes a lot of preparation and cooking, but the end result is worth it. The best batch in #Unley.

It's that time of year, a golden time of the year when the quinces are ripening. My tree at home (in #Unley) is heavily laden. Not a lot of fruit, but they are huge - just so big. Next weekend most of them will be transformed into quince paste - a must have with cheese over the next 12 months. A few will be slowly poached for hours and then become a glorious dessert. The quince really is an understated fruit. It's a signal that, despite the recent warm weather, autumn is upon us. A tip for other quince growers, don't pick them too early. They must be yellow, not green. How to tell if they are ripe? Use a thumb and rub the furry skin and if the fur rubs off then they are ripe.

I can't live without my chillies 🌶 and they are in full production in my garden in #Unley. My fav is a yellow #chilli that's just so hot. I got the seeds from a Vietnamese woman who got them from her father who probably brought them to Australia. Very hot, but with a refined burn!

Not bad for a Welsh farmer who has created the world's hottest chilli. He wasn't even trying; rather he was trying to enhance the shape of the chilli bush and foliage to make it more attract. Now he is the record holder for creating the hottest chilli in the world. The chilli has been named Dragon's Breath. Eating it would most likely kill you by literally burning your airway; just like breathing fire. The Scoville scale is used to measure the intensity of chilli heat in units. The Dragon's Breath measures 2.48 million Scoville heat units (SHU). That means that one drop of oil from this chilli can be detected in 2.48 million drops of water. In comparison, pepper spray used by the US Army is 2 million SHU. Read the story

"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now." ...  Chinese Proverb Help to green your local area by planning to plant another tree. The best time to plant is late winter, early spring. So, over winter give thought to what type of tree and size given limited suitable locations in the typical home garden.

Just back from Coonawarra, in SE South Australia. Good country; fabulous red wines. A nice break from life in the city. Coonawarra is a small town and only has one shop. A must do when in Coonawarra is to visit the now defunct train station; a reflection of a bygone era.

Autumn - it's a glorious time of the year. The pomegranates and quinces are ripe and begging to be picked and devoured. On Saturday I picked a bucket of pomegranates and squeezed the juice. On Sunday I picked a bucket of quinces and set about making jam. I settled on a basic recipe for Persian quince jam. Here it is ... Makes about 1 large jar, vegan, gluten-free. Adapted from Turmeric & Saffron 4 quinces (about 900 g), washed, cored & cubed or sliced and peeled 250 g sugar 500 ml water 1/2 tsp ground cardamom 2 cardamom pods, bashed to open them 1 lemon; juiced 2 tablespoons of rose water Here's what I did ... Prepare a bucket of quinces. Add cored and peeled pieces to a large bowl of cold water to prevent discolouration. Drain and place in a large heavy base pot. Add 250ml of water. Add 250ml of pomegranate juice. Unfortunately I didn't have any rose water. Next year! Several large teaspoons of ground cardamom. 10 smashed cardamom seed pods. ...

Never buy supermarket honey. Buy it straight from the farm or from a roadside stall or from a farmers market. If you want crap honey, then go to the supermarket where you'll likely be deceived by labels claiming Australian Certified Organic. It's nonsense and deceiving as has been revealed by testing of Capilano's subsidiary Allowrie brand. It's a horror story about imported honey, probably from China where bees don't forage on flowers; rather, they are fed corn syrup and sugar. If you care, and most people do, don't risk it by buying supermarket honey. Buy Aussie honey, preferably from a local supplier. My favourite is Leatherwood honey from Tasmania. Click here for more information

What a glorious time of the year - despite the heat, the humidity and the rain. The hot summer has ripened the figs and the rainbow lorikeets are having a glorious time in the fig tree. I don't net the tree, preferring to share with the birds. The rain has ruined the recent ripe figs; so maybe I will be lucky with the next batch in a couple of weeks. But those figs that fall to the ground and get sun dried on the hot brick path are glorious. They dry quickly and are quite chewy. There's nothing quite like: Lying on the lawn, on your back with your legs in the air whilst chewing on a fig; Lying on the brick paving and sucking on a fig; Lying in bed and savouring a sun dried fig; Leaving a chewed fig on the kitchen floor knowing that someone will step on it (or inspect it closely before picking it up) It's a dog's delight collecting sun dried figs and chewing on them. My dog delights in this delicacy.

It was a big storm a couple of days ago; with wild wind. The next day I surveyed the damage in the backyard. Several of my prized pine cones from the Queensland Kauri Pine tree were lying on the ground. Whilst holding one of the cones and contemplating what size it might have become, I felt a tugging at my trousers and looked down and was surprised to find a Pikachu Pokemon; they are still in the area. They're tough critters and being somewhat annoyed, I  considered dropping the heavy pine cone on Pikachu.

Last Christmas I blog boasted about my stuffing for the chicken. It was the best ever, until this year. Here's a link to my blog in 2015. Last year the stuffing earnt a Gold Medal; awarded by the family. This year I was awarded a Trophy (and 3 Golds). What made it just that bit more special? For the first time I added these extra ingredients: Fresh, new season home grown garlic Home grown native bush tomatoes Home dried apricots Home dried cherries (yum) It was made with love and I enjoyed 2 glasses of sparkling red during the preparation 🍷🍷 I'm so excited about the Trophy. Enjoy the closing days of 2016. Cheers 😊

Remember the story about the 11 streets up on the Sunshine Coast (Qld) that had wonderfully beautiful and bountiful street gardens; where fresh fruit and vegetables were shared by the community. Now the local Council has stepped in and got bureaucratic. Council insists that residents get permits and $20m public liability insurance. This doesn't happen in Unley where there is a growing number of fruit trees on the street and garden verges are encouraged. Read the story ...

Went to Bonjour Adelaide @ Unley today. Bought  a tray of lemon tarts (aka. Tarts de Citron). 9 for $20. A good buy. Tangy on the tongue. Excellent. Dessert tonight. Dawdled along to ETSY on Oxford Street. So many people and I needed to take a break. So I laid the tarts on the ping pong table @ the Civic Centre. Here's a photo ...

Here's a fantastic story of residents banding together and planting fruit trees on the verge. The creation of an edible streetscape. The fruit is shared, even with those just passing by. Read the story Should we promote this idea in Unley? I like the idea of bringing together pockets of the community; to share in a common cause.

Last week I spent two nights in Quorn, the claimed entrance to the glorious Flinders Ranges. Driving through the towns of Laura, Stone Hut, Melrose and Wilmington each town laid claim to being the start of the Flinders. Years ago these towns were booming; today they are sad remnants and struggle to survive. What impressed me was the width of the main roads; about 4 times the width of Goodwood Road; plenty of room to slip into the left lane and cruise along at 10kph and take in the sights and look-out for shops and places that warranted a quick visit. Actually the town of Hawker is the real entrance to the Flimders; it's where you go either left or right around the ranges. I was in Quorn to bury the ashes of my Mother who died in 2015. Her ashes were interred at the grave of her father in the Quorn cemetery. The local council (Flinders Ranges Council) was great to deal with. They placed a plaque and dug a hole in readiness for my visit. I placed the ashes and then back-filled ...

I just had to share these videos. Enjoy ... Molten copper and coconut part 1 Video part 1 Molten copper and coconut part 2 Video part 2 ... my fav My tip is to wear gloves and eye protection.

This summer (just past) was a glorious season for capers. Huge crops is SA and Unley. You can pickle all parts of the caper bush; the leaves, the stalks, the caper buds and the caper berries. The best part is the caper bud. Home pickled buds are superb compared with the commercial muck. more about capers Here's a recipe. Pick a heap of caper buds; nice and firm. Sort through them and remove the stems. Rinse in a colander and then place on a tea towel and pat dry. Place the capers in a jar and layer with fine sea salt. Tip: place some salt in the base of the jar before you add capers. Use small to medium sized jars rather than a large one. Cover the jar(s) with its lid and shake to ensure even distribution of the salt. Remove the lid and cover the jar with a single layer of a paper napkin or tight netting (an old stocking or a piece of muslin) and keep in place with a rubber band. Leave it in a place where it will get some airflow, but not in direct sunlight – a bree...

After a recent holiday in Tasmania, when I returned home, I ordered a case of Raspberry jam from Hillwood Berry Farm (in Tasmania). Absolutely superb, chock a block full of seeds. Glorious. Best ever. It was too much for me to consume over the year so I sold some to friends (at cost price) to lighten the hit on my wallet. In return, a friend gave me a large jar of her home-made fig and chopped almond jam. I love fig jam and it was best ever. The almonds add that special touch. The fruit was still in large chunks and not runny. It was so good that I'm tempted to place some in smaller jars and submit as an entry to the Royal Adelaide Show in the food judging section. I won't, but it would have surely been a winner.