Category — Experiences and occasions

Today was the first day of the 2011 Noosa Food & Wine Festival. Recognised as the premier food and wine event of Australia, the festival boasts an all-star line up – think Matt Preston, Stephanie Alexander, Tetsuya Wakuda….just for starters. I was lucky enough to have tickets for today’s “Our Barossa Valley with Maggie and Saskia Beer” lunch.

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Christmas is a wonderful time of the year for many reasons – parties, summer, gorgeous food, holidays and a great excuse to catch up with friends. If you’re playing host and want to avoid unnecessary stress that is often associated with entertaining, a little forward planning and organisation will leave you free and relaxed to enjoy the fun of the festive season. 

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Last Friday I attended Poh Ling Yeow’s book launch at Berardo’s restaurant in Noosa Heads. Poh, for those of you that don’t know, was the runner-up in the first series of Masterchef and has her own TV show called Poh’s Kitchen on ABC TV.

Poh bursting with natural enthusiasm

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Today is entertaining made easy’s second blogiversary. It’s been a big year of recipe development, cooking, photographing, writing and of course eating!

I would like to thank my loyal readers:  thank you for continuing to visit this blog and leave your comments which are always welcome (both positive and constructive). Your loyalty inspires me to continue the sometimes lonely pursuit of blogging. I hope my recipes and articles have inspired you to cook and entertain over these past 2 years, and I look forward to your continued visits and contributions.

Gail
xxx

Queensland’s Sunshine Coast is a food lover’s haven – the region is blessed with top quality produce and gourmet products grown and made with love by dedicated local farmers and artisans. The fine climate and fertile soil provides ideal growing conditions for a wide variety of produce and foods.      

The rolling hills of Maleny

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Last weekend I attended the annual Noosa Food & Wine Festival, a first for me. This three day festival, which is in its seventh year, is considered Australia’s leading regional food and wine festival.  And as Noosa Heads is my new place of residence, I feel very fortunate that this amazing event takes place just around the corner from where I live. The beautiful Noosa River backdrop coupled with perfect weather brought the crowds, which came from all over Australia, out in full force. [Read more →]

Christmas in Australia means sunshine, beaches, tropical fruit and outdoor dining. This time of the year I love to entertain and show my appreciation and gratitude to friends and people that have been an important part of my life in the past 12 months. Because this includes around 40 people, the best way to do this is to throw a party!

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It’s winter in Australia, and time to nestle in and enjoy the culinary delights that the cold weather brings. Whilst we don’t have snow in Sydney, it can still get mighty cold at this time of the year. What better way to warm up than with heart-warming fondue shared with a group of good friends?

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My husband and I recently spent 10 gorgeous days in the Maldives. We spent our honeymoon there 10 years ago and returned to celebrate our 10-year wedding anniversary.  It was just as beautiful as I remembered.

The view from our room

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This summer in Sydney has been a scorcher, with temperatures well above average.  This is not the weather to be standing over a hot stove, getting hot and bothered in the kitchen. However, this presents a dilemma, as I love cooking and entertaining. There’s always the barbeque, but even that can be too hot to handle in this heat. So I came up with a challenge for myself:  create a 6 course meal that requires absolutely no heat on my part: no cooking in the preparation and all food to be served cold. Oh, and a meal that will please and satisfy a group of discerning foodie friends!
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