Children in front of whitewashed house with bark roof, Hill End by the American & Australasian Photographic Company, 1870-1875. State Library of NSW ON 4 Box 10 No 70167
This month we’re celebrating the versatile goat with a special Colonial Gastronomy program at Vaucluse House, complete with butchering and cheesemaking workshops with guest presenters Grant Hilliard from Feather and Bone and artisan goats-cheese maker Karen Borg from Willowbrae chevre cheese. Continue reading
A dairymaid at work.
We’ve all heard the expression ‘there’s no use crying over spilt milk’ but there were more than tears on June 5, 1788 when a somewhat catastrophic event occurred. Continue reading
Ticket for a theatrical performance held in the arcade at Rouse Hill House. Sydney Living Museums R86/67-128
For visitors at Rouse Hill House today the rear arcade is a quiet space, yet it was once the lively hub of both the house’s and local district’s social life, and the scene for plays, concerts, tableaux vivants, weddings and lunches. Continue reading
Making damper. Photo Jacqui Newling © Sydney Living Museums
Eat your history hits the road! We’ve been working with regional Councils to bring extra flavour to country festivals, cultural organisations and community events. I had the great pleasure to be in Nundle, in New South Wales’ New England region, on the Easter weekend, bringing heirloom recipes and forgotten favourites back on the menu during their Go for gold Chinese Easter festival! And this week I’m heading to Orange for their Villages of the heart project. Continue reading
Tea cosy embroidered with the Rising Sun badge. Sydney Living Museums R87/103
This handsome handmade tea cosy was made from a black silk skirt panel that belonged to Bessie Rouse (b.1843, d.1924). The cosy, and remarkably, the remnants of the skirt, complete with tea-cosy-shaped hole in it, remain in the Rouse Hill House and Farm collection. The tea cosy is an example of commemorative craft from the first World War period. It honours the 54th battalion which was active in Egypt and France between 1916 and 1918 and depicts the official design of the Rising Sun emblem that was used between 1904 – 1949.
The other commemorative craft that survives today is of course, the Anzac biscuit. Continue reading
Portrait of Quong Tart (detail), c1880s. State Library of NSW ML1346
This Saturday we’re welcoming in a brand new exhibition at the Museum of Sydney, Celestial City: Sydney’s Chinese story with a host of supporting programs enveloped in the theme. Continue reading
Time is running out for you to see the Eat Your History: A Shared Table at Museum of Sydney – closing March 9th! Continue reading
Front cover (deatail), State Banquet in commemoration of the first hundred years of Australian settlement, 1888. State Library of New South Wales: Ephemera/Menus/1800- / Box 1
On this day in 1888, Sydney was caught up in celebration of the first hundred years of British settlement in Australia. Continue reading
[The house at Vineyard, Parramatta] (detail), Conrad Martens, 1856. Caroline Simpson Collection, Sydney Living Museums
This week in 1836 Maria and Hannibal Macarthur entertained a notable guest at their home, Vineyard – Charles Darwin! Continue reading
Metters 'Early Kooka'. Photo Jacqui Newling © Sydney Living Museums
‘The Cook’, gastronomer Jacqui Newling, is very excited to have acquired a blue Early Kooka – all because of one man’s love of cheese on toast. Continue reading