Food Preservation Workshop ~ Simple Living Toowoomba

Our Simple Living Toowoomba group has a great workshop coming up on the 14th September. Racheal from Birdsong Market Garden will be speaking about food preservation and if any previous workshops on the same topic are any indication, this will be a very popular one.

 It is 7 years this September since we held our first workshop which was on Pickle Making and there were only three of us there :-) If you want the recipe used to make the Cauliflower Pickles you can find it below.  At the time we didn't realise how much the group would grow and we now have a few hundred on our email list. Of course not that many people turn up at a time as it depends on which topic people are interested in and often the sewing enthusiasts may not be interested in other topics like keeping backyard chooks for example. We try to present new topics but there are a few that are very popular like food preservation, soap and bread making and rag rugs.

We have had a number of workshops on different aspects of food preservation including fermenting vegetables.....

...and here are Mandy from The Old Dairy and our Simple Living Toowoomba Co-Ordinator Margy from Simple Slow Still getting their hands dirty during one of the classes.

Red Onion Pickle Recipe

I think Margy's hubby made these bottles of Pickled Onions. Just click on the link above for the recipe if you would like it.

I missed the Lemon Butter workshop but you can read about it here and copy down the recipe if you have a glut of lemons at the moment and want to use them up.

Our presenter, Racheal, has taught lots of classes before and also has workshops at Birdsong Market Garden so if you are interested in what is coming up at her place just email her and ask to be put on the mailing list so that you will get notifications about upcoming events. Here are Racheal's details about the September workshop. 

Food Preservation 

Date:    14 September

Time:    10-12noon

What:  This workshop is being run by Rachael from Birdsong Market Garden and Robyn. There's been a resurgence in preserving at home, and we're going to look at some of the ways you can save your seasonal surplus. I'll have some home preserves and common equipment on hand for you to see. Due to time constraints, we won't be able to demonstrate all of these, but can definitely talk through them and try and answer any questions.

-Pressure Canning (which allows for long term shelf storage of low acid foods, including meat and broth)

-Water Bath Canning (for fruit and higher acid vegetables like tomatoes)

-Salting

-Drying/Dehydrating

-Fermenting

-Pickling

We can also cover where to source bulk produce if you don't grow it yourself.

As usual please feel free to bring along any handmade goods or excess homegrown produce you would like to share with those attending the workshops.

Where: Range Christian Fellowship, 15 Blake St, Toowoomba.

Cost:    $5

RSVP:   11 September to simplelivingtoowoomba@gmail.com or phone Michele on 0423858059

Cauliflower Pickles

900gms      Cauliflower cut into neat pieces

450gms      Onions cut into small pieces

1                 Cucumber cut into small pieces

8 Cups        Cold water

½ Cup         Salt

4 Cups        Vinegar

1 cup          Sugar

½ cup         Flour

1¼ tbsp      Mustard powder

1 dstps       Turmeric

1 teasp       Curry powder

1 teasp       All spice

½ teasp      Pepper

Make a brine of 8 cups of cold water and ½ cup of salt, soak vegetables over night.  Next morning scald well (in the brine) roughly 10-15 minutes but do not boil.  Strain thoroughly.

Make a paste with part of 4 cups of vinegar, 1 cup sugar, ½ cup flour, 1 ¼ tblesp mustard powder, 1 dessertsp tumeric, 1 teasp curry powder, 1 teasp all spice (if Masterfoods spice use half teasp as Masterfoods is very strong flavour) and ½ teasp pepper.  Add remaining vinegar to vegetables and bring to boil and thicken with flour mixture and simmer for 5 minutes.  Bottle hot.

Those in our area might also be interested in another upcoming event on 26th October called ReStyle a recycled clothing fundraising event at which you can sell your own clothes at a cost of $30 per stall or donate clothing that is taking up space in your home. Details about the project are here 1816 Share Teach and Reach. For more details, to arrange a pick up or to book a stall at ReStyle please contact Catherine on 0429479681. 

Now that spring is here tomorrow our city is gearing up for a very busy few weeks and there are so many events on that it is hard to choose what to go to. I hope you are having a wonderful weekend and Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there who do such a great job!