What is the best ever piece of table paraphernalia? Photo (c) Scott Hill for Sydney Living Museums
I may be slightly biased in this, but today I’m talking about the guaranteed, best-ever, most superb piece of dining accoutrements ever – grape scissors! Continue reading
Bee skep (detail) in Jeremy L Cross, ‘The true Masonic chart’ AS Barnes and Co, New York, 1855. Courtesy State Library of New South Wales call number T0402300
A hive of industry, and busy as a bee – the work of the humble ‘bumble’ and ‘honey’ bee is extraordinary – their efforts providing honey for sweet treats, such as the honey toffee (recipe below) and bees wax, highly coveted for candles in our colonial past. But more importantly, bees are integral to agriculture, and our own survival, globally.
Vibrant stems of ruby chard at Elizabeth Farm. Photo (c) Scott Hill for Sydney Living Museums
At Elizabeth Farm we’re gearing up for the Spring Harvest festival on the 25th of September, and the chard is putting on a fine show! Continue reading
Alpinia zerumbet. Detail from teh plate in Dr Thornton's 'Temple of Flora'. Image www.archive.org
While we’re on the subject of spices, this week I’m headed down the garden path to look at the decorative qualities of this culinary icon, ginger. Continue reading
Musa Paradisiaca [fruit detail]. P.J. Redoute, 'Les-liliacées', Vol.8,1805-1816.jpg
By the 1830s colonial gardens in New South Wales featured a wealth of exotic plants that in Britain were only found in costly hothouses, including that staple of the fruit bowl, the sweet banana and its cousin the plantain. Continue reading
Bernice guarding her egg stash at Rouse Hill House Photo © Scott Hill Sydney living Museums
The chickens at Rouse Hill are prodigious layers – and take advantage of one especially broody colleague! Continue reading
Pickles in the pantry cupboard at Vaucluse House. Photo © James Horan for Sydney living Museums
Latoya Schadel shares one of the pleasures of working in the Vaucluse House team:
I just love our days at Vaucluse House when we begin the working day with a walk through the bountiful kitchen garden. Sometimes, when produce is at its peak, our gardeners bring us a basket full of goodies to sample. Continue reading
View from the verandah at Vaucluse House. Photo © Stuart Miller for Sydney Living Museums
Spring is now well and truly underway and as the days grow longer and the buzz of native bees fills the air at Vaucluse House. Leila Wallace puts a special – edible – twist on our special springtime celebrations Continue reading
Latoya Schadel, Sydney Living Museums Visitor & Interpretation officer. Image courtesy Latoya Schadel
We have guest bloggers on The Cook & the Curator this week and next from the kitchens at Vaucluse House –
Latoya Schadel has been an enthusiastic lover of history since the tender age of seven when she visited Elizabeth Farm for the first time, dressed as a convict-lass. Since then she has (grown up and) completed a First Class Honours in History at the University of Sydney, specialising in the Australian ‘history wars’ and their impact on children’s literature. For the last two years she has been a proud member of the House Museums Portfolio at Sydney Living Museums as a Visitor Interpretation Officer, and hopes to instill her love of the past in a new generation of seven year olds – and beyond!
Leila Wallace, Sydney Living Museums’ Visitor and Interpretation officer, Photo © Sydney Living Museums
We have guest bloggers on The Cook & the Curator this week and next from the kitchens at Vaucluse House –
If you are looking for Leila, you will find her either in the staff kitchen creating authentic pickles and preserves for the Colonial Kitchen display at Vaucluse House; in the cellars hosting holiday ‘crafternoons’; writing stories for the newsletter and website; or Instagraming anything with a bit of old world charm. Originally from a science background with specialisations in environmental conservation and natural heritage, Leila has found her calling as a Visitor Interpretation Officer at Sydney Living Museums. With her love of farm yard animals, beautiful vistas and a passion for nature, there’s nowhere else she’d rather be.