Soup Kitchen

I have a nice, cruisy life going for me in Margaret River. I get up around 7 am, go to the gym, get to work by 9:30 am, have a mellow day at work...usually, leave no later than 5 pm and have the whole evening to do what I want...like I said cruisy. And my favorite part about a cruisy life is I have time to volunteer...finally! With working, saving and traveling it's been difficult but I now have time to volunteer at Soup Kitchen :)

Every person, place and thing has a nickname in Australia and Soup Kitchen is no different. It is endearingly called Soupie!

Soupie just celebrated its 17th birthday -- 17 years of meals twice a week, 52 weeks a year. Relationships have been formed through Soupie and countless people fed with the help of volunteers and generous donations. 

Meet the crew

Doing work and making tasty food

Meet Dave Seegar, the creator of Soupie. He claims he is just a cook and by no means a chef.  He's a school bus driver during the day and enjoys playing his guitar at gigs on the weekends. He's one of the coolest people I've met in Margaret River...a very rad dude :)

Dave is still running the kitchen at the Margaret River Community Centre after setting it up with the aim of helping the homeless and hungry. We now feed 70 to more than 150 people at each sitting. A large variety of people with different backgrounds attend every Monday and Wednesday, from children in after school programs to entire families; from winemakers to backpackers, and everyone is welcome. Soupie is even mentioned in Lonely Planet's Guide of Margaret River. Job well done Dave!

Each night a fresh salad with a housemade dressing and spicy chili salsa is served as well as nine different 'stews' in rotation ranging from satay to Thai curry to dahl. In order to appeal to the masses, nothing is too spicy and every dish is vegan.

A $5 donation is requested but not mandatory in order to help buy the food each night. If the kitchen makes a profit it is used to donate to charities like Free the Bears Foundation, or for locals in need. 

The food is extremely tasty and healthy. I eat at Soupie every night I volunteer. Dave has done such a great job building an amazing service for the community and I thoroughly enjoy being a part of it. I look forward to it every Monday and Wednesday. I've met some really amazing people and of course some 'interesting characters' with wonderful stories about life, love, adventure and everything in between. I highly recommend checking it out if you make your way to Margaret River aka Margs ;)

Truffle Kerfuffle

Everyone has heard of the infamous Black Truffle but have you ever smelled or tasted one? How many different ways can truffles be used? Luckily, I got to find out this weekend at the Annual Truffle Kerfuffle in Manjimup. It's the Southern Forrest Food Festival and there was heaps to eat, drink and see!

The Black Truffle :)

Beautiful venue...

on a beautiful day!

Plenty of local wine and beer tasting. The standout of the day...Lillian. Made by John Brocksopp, one of the founding viticulturist of Leeuwin Estate, now makes Rhone varietals in Pemberton.

Free tasting of local organic cheese

The food was mouthwatering good! They had everything from free tastings of organic chocolate to flavored fudge to smoked meats to a 'cafeteria' like you've never seen before! The gourmet cafeteria had multiple stands where you could buy different truffle dishes. I wish I could have tried them all but I just didn't have enough room after the free tastings so I asked other people while they were eating to rate their dish and I picked the top 3. I may have embarrassed my friend but I'm serious about food...I probably should have worn stretch pants :)

Grilled marron with truffle aioli. I've never tried marron before so I went for it but this dish lacked flavor of any kind let alone that of truffle but the texture of the marron was good. I'll definitely try marron again just with a different preparation. 

Homemade truffle sausage

Soooo good...lots of flavor so the truffle was a bit difficult to distinguish. Definitely tasted earthy but I wonder if using mushroom would of had the same effect? Plus, there was a tomato jam on it that I could have eaten by the spoonful!

Truffle paella...the best dish and there was a long line to prove it.

And my favorite part of the day was a Masterclass with an Australian top chef! He demonstrated how to make a truffle infused dessert. Apparently, using truffle in a dessert is uncommon and difficult to do successfully.

Chef Shawn Sheather during the demonstration. He advised truffles can have a strong garlic smell and taste so be careful when picking your truffles for a dessert. Truffles are unique and all smell and taste different from one another.

Shawn's plating of the Truffle Infused Fig & Baby Pear on Toasted Brioche with Honey Mascarpone. Check out the Australian Good Food & Travel Guide for the recipe. The website also offers a 5 Course Truffle Dinner Menu with recipes.

Our baby bite size version to taste. Yes please and thank you! Tasted so good. I really enjoyed the honey mascarpone. I would have liked more on my bite size...I know, spoken like a true fat kid ;)

It was a perfect day!!!

Margaret River

I drove 3,000 kilometers from Barossa Valley to another popular wine region in Australia called Margaret River. It took me 5 days with all stops included. I drove across the Nullarbor, which is the longest straight road in Australia. That part was boring but luckily I had a friend to split the drive...thanks Blandine! She is a wonderful artist from Lyon, France I met on my travels and it was her first time driving on the opposite side of the road so that kept things interesting :) You should check out her website: www.blandine-mingret.com

Bunda Cliffs with Blandine

And it begins...

The Nullarbor...told you it was boring...

Frenchman Peak at Cape Le Grand National Park

View from Frenchman Peak

You know you're in Australia when there are kangaroos everywhere, even on the beach! Lucky Bay in Esperance

So now I'm living in Margaret River which is absolutely beautiful...the Indian Ocean is a site to see! Great surf but let's be honest, I wouldn't know...at least not yet :)

Mellow day

Raging surf

And I am the Restaurant Supervisor at Xanadu Winery! It's a lovely restaurant with a fabulously intricate and tasty menu which changes seasonally. We are currently on our Fall Menu but will be changing to Winter next month and I can't wait! All the restaurant employees come in on a Monday, the day we are closed, and taste the new menu and wines to get the perfect pairing. Check out our current Fall Menu below...yummy!!!

Smoked pork & apple cappelletti with sugar snaps, mint, fetta and crakle

Wild mushrooms with quinoa, butternut pumpkin, salted ricotta, sage and onion

Garlic & tarragon spatchcock with croquette, chickpea chips and celeriac remoulade

Confit duck leg with smoked duck breast, fig salad, orange braised witlof and quince vinaigrette

Grilled goldband snapper fillet with roasted pumpkin, spinach, laska sauce and coconut salad

Dessert plate, a taste selection [from left to right]:

Mandarin & almond cake with almond praline and olive oil ice cream

Poached pear with smoked vanilla cream, oat cookie and caramel ice cream

Milk chocolate tart with pistachio pesto and vanilla ricotta

And meet the boys who cooked it all...Tom and Dan aka Danjamin, just a funny nickname :)

Aussie Barbie

It's Good Friday and every shop is closed so the Aussies barbecue. All meat...hot dogs, veal and lamb sausage, pork sausage and black pudding. No shrimp here! It was very authentic and interesting ;) I supplied some cheese from work, The Barossa Cheese Company, for the appetizer aka entree as they call it here: Le Petite Princess (Goat Camembert), Barossa Washington Wash and Barossa Halloumi.

My friend brought the fixings for the hot dogs and served them the signature 'Zeunert' way with cream cheese, onion, bacon and homemade tomato sauce. Sounds weird but tasted so good!

Then I baked chocolate chip cookies using my roommate's recipe, he's a baker!
What a Good Friday...pun intended ;)

Queso Por Favor!

Next week I start an internship at Barossa Valley Cheese Company. Victoria McClurg, the owner, recommended I read Home Cheese Making by Ricki Carroll before I start. It's a great basic knowledge book with great homemade cheese recipes, descriptions of the types of cheese, cooking with cheese recipes and even a small section on wine pairings. Fabulous book! I recommend it to anyone who has the slightest interest in cheese.

Just a block away from my home

Her award winning cheese...I can't wait to taste it!

Good read, great reference book

Jogging With A Soft J

"I believe it's jogging or yogging. It might be a soft j. I'm not sure but apparently you just run for an extended period of time. It's supposed to be wild." - Ron Burgundy

The sunset on my run after work

If you would have told me a year ago that I would be yogging through the vineyards in Barossa Valley I would have called you CRAZY! I can't believe it's true sometimes :)

Two Things...

Two things I look forward to at the end of each night shift:

The sunrise...

And the 'brekkie' special!

In Barossa Valley the wine industry is a big deal especially during vintage time. After a long 12-hour shift most anyone could go for a cold beer and some food. Some local businesses even cater to the vintage casuals. One local pub called the Vine Inn has capitalized on this need and opens it's doors at 7 am to the many thirsty and hungry casuals who just 'knocked off' the night shift. And trust me, it gets packed! They offer an amazing 'brekkie' special for $10, which includes a pint of beer and a bacon and egg 'burger'. Apparently they call it a burger not a sandwich because it's served on a burger roll not sliced bread. Call it what you will but after working 12 grueling hours in the cold weather a beer and a 'burger' is just what's needed to help you pass out in order to do it all over again the next night :)