Wednesday 5 June 2013

Simple Living Toowoomba

Last year I had the pleasure of hearing Rhonda Hetzel speak at our local library. Rhonda, who writes the popular Down to Earth  blog and has a published book of the same name, spoke about simple living and getting back to basics.

 


 
After she spoke we were asked if there was any interest in forming a group to get together regularly and from that the Simple Living Toowoomba group was formed by Margy who is very enthusiastic and full of good ideas. An initial meeting was held to gauge the level of interest and to throw around ideas and, before we knew it,  Margy had morning teas, swaps and workshops up and running in no time.
 
We have had workshops on how to make rag/toothbrush rugs, soap, homemade laundry liquid, pickles, fig jam as well as  compost and no-dig gardens. There is a craft night and a morning tea and swap each month. Recently cooking classes have been started as well. At our last workshop we learned how to make a sour dough starter as well as cottage cheese and mozzarella cheese.
 
 
 
 
Sour dough starters
 
 
We saw milk, citric acid and rennet turn from this ...
 

 
to this....


to this and ready to eat!
 
 
A loaf of sour dough bread had been baked beforehand so we were able to try the fresh mozzarella cheese on the bread and it was great. I plan to get my sour dough starter going in the next few days and will be buying some cheese making supplies from Green Living Australia so that I can experiment with making different types of cheese. More information about this workshop and the sour dough bread recipe can be found on Simple Living Toowoomba .
 
 
This Saturday, 8th June, we will be having our monthly morning tea and swap and there will be a Finnish Sima (lemon drink) and pulla (cinnamon rolls) demonstration so it should be an interesting morning. It is a good opportunity to share ideas with like-minded people and everyone is welcome to join the group if you live in Toowoomba and surrounding areas.

..........................

9 comments:

  1. It's great that some folk are cooking from scratch! Just imagine supermarket shelves if we all did. Mmmm Finnish Sima sounds lovely for winter.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, the small cooking classes (I think there is a limit of four) are great for anyone who has never really learned to cook from scratch. I can't wait to taste the Sima and Pulla.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hallo Chel, have shared today's blog post over at Facebook hoping to reach out to others in your area, I wish I was!
    Love from Sue
    xx

    ReplyDelete
  4. My plan is to move from Tas to Toowoomba, but the house prices have recently dropped alot. It is still my plan but gosh I wish I was there already and attending the meetings.
    Jenize

    ReplyDelete
  5. I would love to see something like this happen in my area......

    ReplyDelete
  6. How great to see your blog up and running. It is very exciting. I hope to make some cheese next weekend. I am looking forward to it. See you on Saturday.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for spreading the word about the group, Sue.

    Jenize you will be very welcome in the group when you finally arrive here. The weather won't be too different anyway...at least not in winter.

    miss~nance, perhaps you could start a group in your area. Perhaps one of the church halls with cooking facilities might be available.

    Margy, I am looking forward to seeing what Sima and Pulla look like at the morning tea on Saturday.

    ReplyDelete
  8. My set up is to maneuver from Tas to Toowoomba, however the house costs have recently born alot. it's still my set up however gosh I want i used to be there already and attending the conferences.
    herbs toowoomba

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dev, you would be most welcome. The workshops are great and very informative.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for leaving your comments as I love to hear from my readers. As soon as I check them they will be published. If for some reason you have trouble leaving a comment feel free to email me directly by filling out the 'Contact Me' form on the sidebar at the right.

Printfriendly

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...