Elderflower. Photo Scott Hill © HHT
Right on cue, as we were setting the dates for the ‘Punches, cordials and refreshers‘ workshops that are held this month, magnificent heads of elderflower appeared in the herb garden at Vaucluse House. Continue reading
Sydney Cove, Port Jackson. The position of the encampment & buildings are as they stood at March 1788 (detail), William Bradley. Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW: Safe 1/14
Early Sydney operated surprisingly freely. It was effectively a jail without walls where, rather than being imprisoned, the convicts were the general population, living as a community in tents at first, then in huts and cottages that they built themselves. Continue reading
The residence of John McArthur Esq [Elizabeth Farm] (detail), Jospeh Lycett, 1825. Elizabeth Farm Collection, Historic Houses Trust
Art, archaeology and a cook’s curiosity all add up to the conclusion that the Macarthurs were smoking more than just tobacco at Elizabeth Farm. Continue reading
Nasturtium flowers at Vaucluse House. Photo Scott Hill © HHT
(It’s a dreadful pun… sorry about that!) If you’re a dab hand at mint sauce, how about trying another colonial favourite with your roast mutton / hogget / lamb – caper sauce? Continue reading
Publishing recipes in poetry seems to have been a nineteenth-century whimsy. Making reference to Eve’s proverbial ‘forbidden’ fruit, the apple, ‘Mother Eve’s Pudding’ was very popular in the early 19th century Continue reading
How to sterilise glass jars and bottles: a step-by-step process.
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