Proposed Short Stay Levy
I have been predicting this for years: at some point the government will pay a consultant—most likely from the mainland, and most likely male—six figures to produce a report concluding that it is “not a good idea to send all the profit overseas.” If the current proposal proceeds, it will mark the first genuine commitment by government to large corporations controlling the industry.
If I ever doubted that Kellogg’s influenced the healthy food guidelines, or that healthcare policy is led by pharmaceutical companies, watching this play out over the past 20 years has removed any doubt. It is a clear example of how easily mega-corporations can control and influence government decision-making.
Proposed Short Stay Levy- Eloise Emmett
Owner and Operator, Little Norfolk Bay Bistro and Chalets, Taranna
I have owned and operated Little Norfolk Bay Bistro and Chalets in Taranna for over 20 years. I built four tourist chalets specifically for the purpose of visitor accommodation. Looking back, if I had known that almost every second shack on the Tasman Peninsula would eventually be used as tourist accommodation, I would not have built them.
Over the past two decades, I have watched the local accommodation industry change dramatically, and in many ways decline. Professionally run accommodation businesses that once operated in the area—such as Norfolk Bay Convict Station, Cascades Colonial Accommodation, Eaglehawk Hideaway, and many others—have all closed within the last 15 years and been converted into permanent housing. This raises serious questions about what current policy settings are actually achieving for regional areas and the tourism industry as a whole.
When Wotif first entered the market, I believed it was a positive development—a way to sell leftover rooms. I was also one of the first operators to sell through Airbnb because of its lower fees and less rigid rules at the time. However, over the years, I have seen the industry increasingly taken over by overseas booking platforms.
Tourism employees often suggest that these platforms are “bringing people to Tasmania.” I disagree. If that were truly the case, why are we spending such large sums on tourism advertising? Tourism Australia alone has spent around $130 million on campaigns, only for much of the resulting profit to flow straight back overseas through platform commissions. This is not good business sense.
These platforms now dominate online searches to such an extent that even when there is a local wedding in the area, nearly all accommodation bookings are made through them. Even guests who see and respond to advertising that I pay for often still book via these platforms. It has worsened every year. We are now at the point where people will stand outside my business, read my signage, and then book online through a platform instead—because for 20 years they have been told, without any counterbalance, that it is “safer” to book that way. Rather than walking in, meeting the host, and paying directly.
The irony is striking. If a guest has a problem with me, they can contact me directly or even speak to the local police if necessary. If they have a problem with Air b nb, they may spend hours on the phone to an overseas call centre.
The proposal to impose a 5 per cent levy on short-stay accommodation in Tasmania is a short-sighted and superficial response. It does not address the structural problems in the short-stay market. Instead, it adds costs for consumers and creates additional administrative burdens for operators, while leaving the real sources of power and profit untouched.
The policy fails to meaningfully engage with who actually controls pricing, availability, and market behaviour: large multinational booking platforms. Currently, 15 per cent or more of every night’s stay is diverted offshore through commissions. This is an insane amount of money. These platforms perform no on-the-ground work in Tasmania, yet extract enormous value from the local tourism economy. Operators cannot realistically compete with them and are effectively forced to use them.
A more challenging—but far more effective—approach would be for the government to establish a centralised short-stay booking platform, potentially on a regional basis, and directly collect commissions. For this to work, these global platforms would need to be banned, as a government-run platform could never compete with them otherwise.
While this would be a significant undertaking, Tasmania is uniquely positioned to lead the way as Australia’s smallest state. Other countries and cities that were early adopters of these platforms have already implemented bans, proving it can be done.
This approach would:
- Retain revenue currently flowing offshore
- Improve transparency and tax collection
- Create fairer conditions for local operators
- Provide government with meaningful oversight of pricing, data, and market concentration
It would also result in a single, accurate source of up-to-date local information for visitors, rather than the confusing and unreliable search results that currently exist online. For operators, it would simplify operations by consolidating bookings and communications into one system rather than multiple platforms.
One key reason many operators rely exclusively on third-party platforms is the belief that platform-provided insurance covers them. In reality, most platforms require operators to hold their own insurance—a condition often buried in fine print. This has led to some businesses operating without adequate insurance while avoiding stamp duty and other costs that properly insured businesses must pay.
Additionally, many short-stay properties are not held to the same standards for fire safety checks and council regulations as traditional accommodation providers. Addressing these issues would also support the future role of TasInsure when it commences operations.
At present, a small number of multinational corporations dominate the short-stay sector, controlling visibility, access to customers, and commission structures. If left unchecked, there is nothing preventing these platforms from increasing commissions to 30 or even 40 per cent or more as their dominance grows.
Already, many operators pass booking fees and levies directly onto guests, while platforms can charge whatever they choose. This reduces value for money and negatively affects the visitor experience. A levy applied at the consumer level does nothing to curb monopolistic behaviour or protect hosts, renters, or local communities.
The proposal also places responsibility on individual operators to calculate, collect, and remit the levy for direct bookings. This creates additional administrative costs for small businesses and directly contradicts the stated aim of encouraging direct bookings—which keep more money in the local economy and reduce reliance on offshore platforms.
From my perspective, this policy seems as though government is being influenced by large booking platforms with an easy and lazy ‘solution’, rather than working with local businesses to address what the industry actually needs. While establishing a government-run booking platform is a significant and long-term goal, there are practical steps that could be taken immediately. For example, clear public education and advertising about how the short-stay accommodation industry actually operates would help rebalance the market and support informed decision-making by both operators and consumers.
At present, I see new operators entering the market every week, often pricing their accommodation unrealistically low. Many are effectively subsidising their business as a hobby, influenced by the idealised version of hosting that platforms like Air b nb have promoted for over 20 years. Hospitality and tourism are largely unregulated compared to other industries, with few industry standards or qualification requirements. This lack of regulation creates confusion, unfair competition, and unrealistic expectations.
Based on my experience, many people would choose to return properties to the long-term rental market after experiencing the realities of running short-stay accommodation, if clearer information, standards, and expectations were in place. Addressing these underlying issues would deliver far more meaningful outcomes than imposing a levy that fails to tackle the root causes of the problem.
We’ve just finished a huge weekend hosting and cooking a Weekend Cooking Retreat. The guests arrive at 2pm on Friday and we started cooking with drinks at 5 PM and then spent the weekend cooking Friday dinner, Saturday Breakfast lunch and dinner and Sunday breakfast. We made everything from scratch, we shucked oysters, cleaned occy, filleted fish, smoked fish and our own stocks. We made pasta, pastry, croissants and sourdough and more. A fun and delicious weekend cooking around 30 recipes, favourite dishes from the bistro and cookbooks. And cooked new recipes from books in production.
We cooked and enjoyed
Starting with some snacks we had ready:
Smoked quail
Fish pate
blue and brie cheese
quince paste (recipe from Tasmania Pantry)
FRIDAY DINNER
Sour dough
oysters
bay trumpeter crudo
grilled quail, white bean hummus and bush chimichurri
Seafood Paella (recipe celebrate cookbook)
Thai dressed crispy Boarfish
venison spiced baked quince and mulberry lavender relish (recipe Lavender Cookbook)
apple and blackberry pie (Tasmania Pantry cookbook)
ricotta, lavender and chocolate pie (Lavender Cookbook)
SATURDAY BREAKFAST
Sourdough fruit loaf with ricotta, apple and cinnamon
Eggs baked in romesco sauce with chorizo and halumi cheese with sourdough
SATURDAY LUNCH
herb and garlic pull apart (Tasmania Pantry 2)
octopus, proscuttio, bean soup
smoked fish pate
baked Leather jacket
Vietnamese Quail salad
SATURDAY DINNER
Cob Loaf (celebrate cookbook)
pickled occy salad (seafood Everyday)
duck confit (Tasmania Pantry 2)
Hong Kong Parrot fish (Tasmania Pantry 2)
Beef cheeks with fresh pasta
apple, herb stuffed mutton birds
rhubarb and lavender cream brulee (lavender cookbook)
Sunday Breakfast
croissants and scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and Brie
And Arwen whipped up a lavender and lime Basque cheesecake to finish with.
Seafood Cooking workshop February 27th .
We had a fun day at our Seafood cooking workshop yesterday cooking up an epic feast of seafood. The fish and oysters were alive the day before happy in the ocean. Lucky guests!
We are taking workshops by demand this year, private groups bookings, or if you have a few interested in a date we will look at listing one on a day that suits you. Make a weekend out of it and team it up with a winter special in our lovely spa chalets on site or for groups and families at our Beach House in Eaglehawk Neck And we have our May cooking Retreat for those that want some more cooking than just a day workshop!
The guests Started with crayfish dip (seafood everyday) and macadamia, white choc and lavender cookies to go with coffee and tea on arrival
then we cooked:
a pull apart- with my own little ‘provincial herb’ mix, native oregano, native thyme, lavender, saltbush & rosemary and garlic and cheese.
Oysters natural with a Thai dipping sauce and salt and native pepper and saltbush.
Fish chowder
honey mustard broccoli smoked salmon salad
baked octopus
macadamia crusted trumpeter
trumpeter carpaccio
hong kong parrot fish
apple and blackberry pie
January 6th 2025
On Thursday the 2nd January we hosted our first cooking workshop of the year, not mucking around this year we were straight into it. Booking it in the crazy Christmas/new year week was a challenge for us, with fully booked accommodation and a busy lunch and dinner service to follow the workshop but it was for a regular bistro guest who had family she wanted to bring along while they were in Tassie.
We cooked
A garlic and rosemary, fetta pizza bread,
sashimi
Hot and sour fish soup
Baked octopus
Hong Kong parrot fish
Tomato stuffed with lentils with blue cheese sauce
Grilled quail
pork belly
Pantry hummus, lamb cutlets, lemon and oregano
Wallaby with kunzea and pepper berry
lemon tart
the guests left this lovely review on our facebook page:
“Our group did the cooking workshop today, and came away exhilarated! Ellie prepared 10 courses (and I mean courses, not your tiny little ‘degustation menu’ thing- a quail’s egg and two lettuce leaves on a plate). No. With calm efficiency she showed us all the preparation, explained the technique, and then it was cooked. The dishes included: baked octopus in extra virgin olive oil, wallaby cooked to rare perfection, pork belly with apples and fennel – melt in the mouth, chicken pate, garlic pizza, whole steamed parrot fish with Asian herbs, soy and sesame oil, fresh fish sashimi, quail on a superb apple salad, tomatoes filled with lentils and feta baked on a bed of mushroom polenta… we lost count towards the end. The dessert was an exquisite lemon tart. The workshop is not just for beginners – we seasoned cooks learnt so much from the class. Ellie also provided Bream Creek wines with the meal. Such generosity of spirit! All in all, a wonderful class taught by an expert.”
As with all our workshops, yes, it ends up being a pretty fancy long lunch feast of about 10 recipes for our guests to enjoy over a long lunch. but we hope the guests also leave with a bunch of helpful tips and ideas to make that everyday cooking more enjoyable and easier, as we know that cooking our food from real food is important for good health so we really need to be cooking a lot each day. We are mostly listing workshops for private groups by request now, or like on this day, they had 3 people to book in so we can list the workshop and sell a few more spots to fill the group up. We have a Seafood Workshop in February with spots available and I am about to list a Bread Baking workshop and check out and our much-loved Weekend Cooking Retreat is in May!
Pics supplied by guests:
JUNE 2024
Nice review spotted on tripadvisor today,
“The restaurant is superb! A real chef is at work here, someone with flair and talent. The menu changes constantly – ideal for locals. Offerings include local fish, slow cooked beef, wonderful burgers. The ambience is warm and welcoming, with a wood fire blazing in the background, and lovely views of the water. The prices are very reasonable. We highly recommend this restaurant!”
We also have 4 gorgeous chalets onsite, we are often told that our chalets our guests favourite stay in Tassie. The chalets are self-contained with kitchen, laundry facilities and spa baths. And AMAZING value winter packages, one night and a 3 course dinner for 2 is just $299 this winter! There are ONLY 10 more weekends left for winter so if you are thinking of doing this then book in as soon as you can.
NEW WORKSHOPS LISTED FOR TERM 3
Ellie teaches her cooking and photography workshops from the bistro kitchen on set days, they are casual and fun. Everyone sit around the big bench and jumps into help if and when they want too. Then they enjoy a big feast of the mornings cooking, around 10 recipes from her books. It is a pretty fancy lunch feast but hopefully guests leave with lots of ideas and hints to make every day cooking that bit easier. The bistro is still open on these days, maybe just a little later when required. We also take bookings for private groups for workshops. Book in through our website there are dates listed for term 3. A new Cooking with Tasman Honey workshop is listed and guests will meet Sandra from Tasman Honey at the workshop and learn about the bees and honey.
HEAT AND EAT MEALS
We have a range of heat and eat meals. Theses meals are frozen and can be purchased during our opening hours. The meals weigh about a kilo, feed at least 2 people generously and are $30, we can pull them out to start to defrost with notice. Designed For our guests in the accommodation when we are not open but are also popular with locals and shackies who want a night off cooking. And Hobartians are taking the drive to stock up on them!
Ellie’s 6 award winning cookbooks can be purchased from the bistro and we also have gift vouchers that can be used for the bistro, accommodation or workshops.
TERALINA BEACH HOUSE
Perfect for groups and families take advantage of our Winter special book three nights Direct at reduced winter rates and we will include a $200 voucher for the Bistro, this could be used for Heat and Eat meals for your arrival.
16th April 2024
we have now have some cooking workshops for term 2 and a Weekend Cooking Retreat listed available to book into. We have Gift Vouchers that would make excellent Mother’s Day gifts, the vouchers can be used for accommodation or accommodation & food packages, workshops, towards the cooking retreat, cookbooks, in the bistro or for Heat and Eat Meals
WINTER ACCOMMODATION SPECIALS
We have a few winter specials listed. One night in a spa chalet plus a 3course meal for 2 in the bistro $299 per couple (3 course meal can be enjoyed in room when bistro not open).
Book 2 Nights direct through our website we will include a meal to heat, local wine and breakfast provisions
There really is so much to do and see on the peninsula and plenty pf other great places to eat if you are staying a while.
WORKSHOPS Term 2 2024
Saturday 11th May Bread Baking
Friday 17th May Phone photography and Food Styling
Friday 1st June Seafood Cooking
** please enquire about other dates for private groups for Workshops they make excellent networking events and celebrations or if you have a suggestion of a date you think we should list something on.
www.littlenorfolkbaybistroandchalets.com
WEEKEND COOKING RETREAT May 24-26 2024
Friday check in 2 Pm
2 nights’ accommodation
Welcome drinks and dinner Friday
Breakfast Lunch and dinner Saturday
Breakfast Sunday
includes all drinks with meals
around 10 hours of cooking workshops and tuition over the weekend
$1050 per person with 1 person in a spa Chalet
$800 per person with 2 people in a spa Chalet (in one king bed)
$650 per person with 3 people in a spa Chalet (2 in a king and one in a trundle)
To book email Eloise with you room configuration littlenoroflkbay@gmail.com and pay a 30 percent non-refundable deposit to secure your chalet. Once booked the deposit cannot be refunded but you can pass it on to someone else. we reserve the right to cancel if not enough chalets booked for the weekend.
TERALINA BEACH HOUSE
Winter Special
Sleeps 10 in 4 bedrooms
$599 night minimum 2 nights stay
Book three or more nights and we will include a $300 voucher for Little Norfolk Bay Bistro to organise Heat and Eat Meals for your arrival or to use in Bistro.
pictured a beautiful sunrise from the deck of Teralina Beach House
http://www.teralinabeachhouse.com
MONDAY ART CLASSES WITH NICOLA
A light grazing lunch is included
WEEKEND COOKING RETREAT
May 24-26 2024
Includes:
Friday check in 2 Pm
2 nights accommodation
Welcome drinks and dinner Friday
Breakfast lunch and dinner Saturday
Breakfast Sunday
includes all drinks with meals
and around 10 hours of cooking workshops and tuition over the weekend!
$1050 per person with 1 person in a spa Chalet
$800 per person with 2 people in a spa Chalet (in one king bed)
$650 per person with 3 people in a spa Chalet (2 in a king and one in a trundle)
read more http://www.littlenorfolkbaybistroandchalets.com
Winter special one night in a spa chalet and 3 course dinner for 2 people $320 weekend and $299 weekdays (if the rate is different when you book please let us know and we will apply the discount before charging your card
Teralina beach House
Words from recent guests:
“Had a fantastic stay at Brendan’s house. It was immaculately tidy and very well appointed with every convenience you could wish for. The kids loved playing in the cubby house and sandpit outside whilst the parents loved drinking local reds in the balcony overlooking the stunning view! We would definitely come back. Thank you Brendan.”
Winer rate $599 a night minimum 2 night stay
Stay 3 nights booked DIRECT through our website and we will include a $300 voucher for Little Norfolk Bay Bistro, to use in the bistro or to have some Heat and Eat meals for your arrival.
http://www.teralinabeachhouse.com
COOKBOOK SPECIAL
SCHOOL HOLIDAY SPECIAL. Packed Cookbook + The Real Food for Kids Cookbook and we will throw in an Old school Kitchen Apron (while stocks last) $50 use the code localspickup to organise a pick up from us in Glenorchy or $10 to post anywhere is AUS.
I was hesitant to call this a ‘back to school special’ or ‘school holiday special’, I am trying to undo the image that people have of my booked Packed that it is a ‘school lunch box’ book, BUT it will be a bloody brilliant addition to the kitchen as School goes back, why I wrote the book to help people cook more!! it does have some handy recipes for lunch boxes but the book contains lots of recipes for on the go meals for anyone that wants to cook more and eat less ultra processed crap. The book is suitable for EVERYONE!! It has actually been nearly retired people who have loved the book the most. I think I may have even inspired my retired father in law to ditch the weet bix he has eaten for years in favour of the overnight oats i took along to a Christmas breakfast.
I have spent the last 25 years cooking and promoting healthy regional food, trying my best to destroy the myth created by the packet food industry that cooking is hard, expensive and time consuming. This promotion is important now more than ever, while we are all now taking more personal responsibility for our role in the pandemic by improving our gut health and Immune fitness by eating well. Packed is a full colour recipe and food photography book full of new nutrient dense recipes for on the go lifestyles. We use the recipes from my books all the time, why i created the books to help other people cook more.
Eating is one of life’s simple pleasures, so I believe even if I am eating from a container in the carpark while waiting at her kids sport, I wants it to be delicious and enjoyable, and to feel good and well-nourished after eating it. Not revolting, ripped off and hungry again in 10 minutes like I do when eating fast food! It amazes me when people think fast food is cheap and healthy expensive. It costs me around $90 just to get some sandwiches/pies and drinks while on a recent trip for lunch! WOW the prices these days who could afford that often?! for $90 spent on a family meal i would prefer steaks topped with prawns and a fancy salad, with change for $90!
Packed cook book was created so I could share what I have learnt over many years of being a chef, and most recently being a busy mum of three very active children. I have never allowed this to be an excuse to not find time to cook nutritious meals. Beside the fact that it would cost a fortune to feed my family on takeaways – the cost on their health is just something I am not willing to compromise on.
Always keep in mind that we are brainwashed by the commercial food industry with their powerful marketing into believing that cooking is time consuming and hard – and I am here to tell you it is not! When those people in the big offices that are creating their products are deciding their next marketing strategy, your health is not considered at all in their plans.
PACKED book contains over 80 nutrient dense recipes, not just to fill kids lunchboxes, although it will be a handy lunch box resource but for café level delicious meals ideas for on-the-go lifestyles. The book also contains how to prepare the food in a busy life and WHY we should prioritise eating well, exploring the costs to your wallet, health and the planet. Such as:
Cost for your wallet
Cooking your food is always the most economical choice. I prefer to spend my money on the fun activities my kids do that keep them active, which then circles back to them having exercise that they enjoy. Some people believe that takeaway food is cheap but for a meal to feed my family at a takeaway shop, it costs $60-$120, I can buy a lot of veggies and meat with that! Not to mention that it has little nutritional value so it is just a waste. An example in the book is a delicious honey mustard prawn salad that takes about 5 minutes to prepare and works out the same cost as a ham and cheese sandwich purchased from a take -away shop, what would you prefer??
Cost for your health
There are endless amounts of research you can find on the effects of not eating well. We know it contributes to obesity, heart disease, depression, anxiety, cancer and more. You can find the information easily yourself. It is pretty confronting to sadly see that pharmaceutical companies currently define lifestyle illnesses as “growth industries” worth investing in. Even the cancer council website has information about ultra-processed food being linked to cancer.
Cost for the planet
20% of food that is purchased will never be eaten? It is just thrown away. All that time, energy and resources that went into making that food – all gone. 60% of the Australian diet is discretionary foods, foods that provide little or no nutrition or are even health negative. Isn’t that just a ridiculous waste too? The waste of producing food we do not need or that is health negative. I sometimes can’t believe there is not more outrage over this. Just think of your own fridge and pantry – how much goes to waste? With better organisation with your meals, not only will your health benefit, but so will the planet.
I have plenty of professional experience behind me and I am very well qualified to be pursuing a career in Cookbook publishing. My recipes work, I was the head chef at The Astor grill and T42 in Hobart and had stints in 5 star hotels and resorts including Bedarra and Hayman islands before moving to the Tasman Peninsula nearly 20 years ago to run my own restaurant, The Mussel Boys, which was once described as one of the best country eateries in the state by leading food critics. I always cooked with regional produce in my restaurant, including oysters and mussels from nearby farms, venison, quail and wallaby farmed or hunted locally and fresh fish from local fisherman along with veggies fruits and more. It wasn’t until I had my own children and was attending children’s playgroups and was working in the local primary school launch into learning pre-kinder cooking class that she saw first-hand the prevalence and normality of packet plastic food fed to children. Plastic packaged foods is not only creating disease in the children but bad for the environment too. And I witnessed the lack of basic cooking skills. parents were surprisingly shocked at how easy basic recipes were to make. I firmly believes that it is a lie sold to us through the packet food industry that cooking is hard and overly time consuming, and children will not eat well. The inspiration for my first book The Real Food for Kids Cookbook was all the recipes I cooked with the 0-4 year old children in the program at the launch into learning. I then when on to produce Seafood Everyday after hearing many people did not eat the recommended for good health, few serves of seafood each week as they believed Seafood was expensive and difficult to cook. I then produced The Tasmania Pantry cookbook and The Tasmania Pantry 2 cookbook. I have assisted many others to self-publish books. My own books have been awarded 7 national and international cookbook awards.
8th January
CampO de Flori Farm Visit
The kids and I took a trip to Campo De Flori last week to catch up with Lisa to organise our Cooking with lavender workshop and collect some fresh cut lavender for our cooking. If you have been to one of my workshops you will know about Lisa, she has made a lot of the gorgeous ceramics that we use to serve food and drinks in the cooking school. I prepared a picnic for the visit knowing that the gorgeous lavender would be looking stunning in bloom.
Picnic:
Focaccia with herbs de provence (this herb mix features lavender)
Hot smoked salmon and lavender pate
Apricot and blue cheese salad with honey Lavender dressing
chicken cooked with herbs de provence
prawns and lavender mayo
apple, cinnamon, honey lavender tea cake
I have been including the lavender in my cooking for quite a few years since meeting Lisa. When creating the Tasmania pantry 2 cookbook a few years ago, developing some new recipes, I discovered that the lavender and citrus is a delicious partner to Seafood, it also goes well with meat with herbs like sage and rosemary and poultry.
Lavender has been used medicinally for a very long time. Lavender is thought to relieve headaches and migraine, assist sleep, lower Anxiety, alleviate depression, it is anti parasitic, used to treat skin blemishes, relieve pain, reduce blood pressure, lessen menopausal hot flashes, anti fungal , and potentially promote hair growth. Also, if you follow the ’30 plants for good gut health guide’ its another plant to tick off the list. I can’t think of a good reason not to include some lavender in our diets!
If you are interested in learning more about cooking with lavender then come along to our Cooking with lavender Workshop on the 14th of February, will make a fantastic valentines gift for your partner, friend or even yourself. Click through to my store to book a spot in a workshop
Old School Kitchen Term 1 2024 Workshop dates
Thursday 8th February Seafood Cooking
Wednesday 14th February -SPECIAL EVENT- Lavender cooking workshop with special guest Lisa Britzman from Campo De Flori
Thursday 22rd February Tasmanian Cooking Experience
Thursday 7th March Phone Photography and Food Styling -12 noon – 4PM
Thursday 21st March Bread Baking
Please enquire about other dates for private groups or if you have a few people and a date you think I should list something on.
27th December 2023
There has been some wild caught Australian Salmon advertised at the local fish shops recently very well priced. It needs to be cooked within a few days of being caught. And it actually freezes quite well to, well handled and frozen fish, fish that has been frozen when very fresh is fine for a fish burger, fish lasagne or fish pie! you don’t need premium fish for dishes like that. I have a entire chapter in my book Seafood Everyday for economical fish meals.
This whole baked fish with potatoes tossed with feta and spinach and skordallia is one of my favourite whole baked fish recipes, you don’t need a delicate premium fish when you are covering it in garlic and other strong flavours. Our workshop guests this year LOVED this recipe I know most will cook it again now and it does look impressive on the table.
I do find it frustrating that I am hearing whinging and bitching about the cost of living and people not being able to afford healthy food but good fresh fish like this doesn’t sell?! Brendan will often sell these fish for bait, the fish shop won’t take it as they can’t sell it quickly enough. Supermarkets with there fish products that are 40 percent fish (potentially farmed in a sewer overseas) and 60 percent fillers, additives and god knows what are booming and recording record profits. And the products are expensive the nuggets and fish finger products etc are working out at up to 40 a kilo for the protein yet people think they are “cheap” as they throw them in the trolley. So much research available for us all to read about the consequences of ultra processed food on our health, it is even on the cancer council website. Ultra processed food is not cheap. It is not hard or time-consuming to cook. If you want to cook more then come along to a workshop we cook around 10 recipes from my books, it does end up as quite the fancy lunch spread to sit down and taste but guests do leave the workshops with loads of ideas and inspiration to help with everyday healthy cooking and meal planning.
TERM ONE DATES
Thursday 8th February Seafood Cooking
Wednesday 14th February -SPECIAL EVENT- Lavender cooking workshop with special guest Lisa Britzman from Campo De Flori
Thursday 22rd February Tasmanian Cooking Experience
Thursday 7th March Phone Photography and Food Styling
Thursday 21st March Bread Baking
** please enquire about other dates for private groups for Workshops they make excellent networking events and celebrations, or if you have a suggestion of a date you think we should list something on.
Book your spot or buy cookbooks www.eloiseemmett.com
Share my posts if you are seeing them please on Facebook as I really do not want to waste more money advertising on that dodgy platform that I feel forced to use, if you are still following my old page eloiseemmett.com that has had no posts since august 2022 can you unfollow and report it please.
22nd december
NEW WORKSHOP COOKING WITH LAVENDER
Wednesday 14th February
Lisa Britzman from Campo De Flori in the Huon Valley will be joining us for a day of cooking and enjoying the gorgeous lavender she produces on her property. We will cook a variety of sweet and savoury dishes and learn about this wonderful flower that is one of the most popular medicinal plants in the world. After a morning of cooking we will enjoy a lunch of all our cooking.
$185 per person includes an award winning cookbook to take home and lunch of all our delicious cooking!
Click through to my store to book your spot
21st Dec
Yet another reason to book direct with your host. Why the state and federal government allows these mega businesses to control the tourism industry blows my mind.
If, for example , tourism Tas managed the industry and created a platform to take the booking like air bnb does they would have enough dollars to fund the stadium and build a new hospital in just a few years. Think of about 15 percent or more of nearly all bookings for accommodations going over seas in commissions to booking .com in the Netherlands and air bnb in LA and more. Air bnb are the clever marketers, now even new businesses coming on as short stay call themselves an ‘Air bnb’ . Hard to watch. I’m all for fair trading and different accommodation options but they don’t need to be sold through these booking platforms. Then we have the people who think it’s safer to book through air bnb as this is what they have been told? Even though they are sitting outside the chalet 🤦🏼♀️They learn when they have a problem and need to deal with a overseas call centre.
If you can’t get your head around what I’m trying to say, then imagine corporations overseas created a platform and all the bookings you need to make for a dr, dentist, builder, sparky, architect had to go through airdr, airdentist, airbuilder, airsparky, airarchitect etc etc and we just sent 15 percent of every transaction overseas to this company to do fuck all. It just sounds fucking stupid doesn’t it?! So hopefully it wouldn’t happen . But that’s what is happening in tourism . It is completely Nuts! And to make it worse our tourism department seems to support and promote them. air bnb has marketed itself as this lovely friendly platform to create connections, or some load of toss, while they are just ripping people off!
20th December 2023
A few pics from the last couple of cooking Workshops for 2023. At the workshops we cooked up around 10 recipes from my cookbooks to create a pretty fancy meal but guests always leave with a heap of inspiration for the everyday healthy cooking and planning.
There a few workshops listed now and ready to book into for 2024 and I have some more new workshop ideas I will be adding.
DATES
Term 1 2024
Thursday 8th February Seafood Cooking
Thursday 22rd February Tasmanian Cooking Experience
Thursday 7th March Phone Photography and Food Styling
Thursday 21st March Bread Baking
** please enquire about other dates for private groups for Workshops they make excellent networking events and celebrations, or if you have a suggestion of a date you think we should list something on.
click through to my store to book your spot
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Celebrate cookbook Vanilla Cake
Celebrate cookbook gets a good works out at this time of year in our family with Oscar, Maggie and my birthdays in November. Maggie choose a garden party with our roses and peonies in bloom and Oscar decided an adventure on the new mountain bike tracks at the top of Tolosa street, then a ride home via the Tolosa street park would be a fun party with his mates. Plus they both had family dinners at home on their birthdays, with my 6 brothers and sisters and a brother and sister in law plus 2 close relations considered sisters, plus the grans and all the kids our family dinner it can be over 40 people, the cooking school area and kitchen looks like a restaurant. Maggie choose Fish and chips and Oscar- Pizza, Lasagne, arancini and carbonara pasta for the family dinners -recipes from my books.
For Maggie’s garden party she organised boards for her food including caramel slice, tzatziki, smoked salmon dip from Celebrate. Lemon slice and brownie. Nuggets from the real food for kid’s cookbook. The nuggets were a hit with her friends they all loved them but it was simply the crumbed chicken cooked in excellent quality extra virgin olive oil, gives then so much flavour. And I made the vanilla cake and butter cream from Celebrate, she had picked out an idea from Pinterest but she said mine was better. I was very happy with it too but our garden could take a lot of the credit for it.
Maggies pink rose cake
1.5 times vanilla cake recipe from Celebrate Cookbook so three tins that were then cut in half
5 times butter cream recipe
fresh flowers
Oscar had picked all his favourite party foods and fresh crumbed fish and chips. We also made caramel slice & tzatziki from celebrate. I don’t deprive the kids of the party food but I find it’s always good to have some nutrition served veg and dip, fruit and the fresh fish (fresh trevally they were lucky) cooked in extra virgin olive oil, I figure if they have a belly full of the good food first they can’t really fit in much else anyway.
Oscars Mountain Bike cake
no pinterest inspo for this one I had to make it up!
Using the cake and butter cream recipe from Celebrate cookbook
1 batch cake 2 tins
3 batches icing
green and black food dye
1 crunchie bar
1 twirl
Chocolate bullets
Plastic bike
Some hints for cake decorating with the Vanilla cake and Butter cream from Celebrate.
*if you make your own icing sugar from white or raw sugar in the thermomix just do a few cups at a time as it will heat up. And chuck the whole bowl of icing on in the fridge/freezer as you are working if it is warm or even a warm day, as hot or warm sugar will soften the butter to much if warm or hot and ruin the butter cream.
*As much as I consider myself a healthy eater do not scrimp of butter cream to try to reduce the sugar as I have tried in the past. It’s a party and a birthday cake, no one is eating thinking its healthy, and it just looks bad if the icing is too thin, it also drags the cake and crumbs through and hard to deal with. Smothering the icing on thick is the way to go. This does not mean as you are pulling out slabs of leftover cake from the freezer for a small slice for the lunch boxes you can’t trim off the excess, much to the kids dissapointment who would quite like the extra 2 tablespoon sugar hit at lunch, teachers probably wouldn’t. I was slightly worried my poor chickens would end up with type 2 diabetes after this month I had thrown so much icing in the chook bucket.
*I use a couple of skewers poked through the middle of the cake to make sure the layers don’t slip- just dont forget they are there when you cut and serve it.
*Mix all your coloured icing to start with as it’s a real pain to try and match the colour.
* for Maggie’s pink I started with a dark pink and a near white half and half in 2 bowls. I took half of each and mixed to make the middle colour. Then about 1/3 the middle colour plus ½ the remaining white to make a lighter pink. Then 1/3 middle colour plus about ½ the darker pink to make the other colour. Glad I did that oil paining course a few years ago the colour mixing came in handy. So, then I had five bowls that I pipped on darker to light before smoothing with a palette knife.
*for Oscars Mountain bike cake, I simply made the ramp from the cake I trimmed from the top to square it off. Covered in a brown/black icing I decorated the ramp OFF the cake and moved it over onto a smooth green top. Crunchie and twirl broken up for the gravel and choc bullets for the logs.
The vanilla cake recipe from celebrate cookbook is simple & delicious I have made it about 200 million times for so many occasions over the last 30 years. No need to buy a packet mix, like pancakes and scone why would anyone buy these in a box? So easy with simple ingredients!! Other reasons not to buy the box is for the waste of packaging, and what else is in the box to preserve it for years. I don’t mind the taste of some of those pre-made icings but I would have needed 10 or more expensive tubs for Maggies cake. Find Scone and pancake recipes in the Real food for kid’s cookbook.
I have also just made my Christmas cake and Christmas pudding from celebrate, lots of recipes for the festive season in the book. And loads of recipes and ideas for all sorts of parties and celebrations and how much and when to prepare.
If you have not got a copy of Celebrate yet you can order it from this website. keep my book in mind for your Christmas shopping and workshop gift vouchers or even my photography prints. Share this so your friends can find it too please.
Kids after school classes in 2024 and cooking classes and new workshop dates listed for 2024
Sadly, this year I had to cancel the kids cooking classes that I started due to lack of enrolments. Since cancelling, without exaggeration, I have had 40 people ask me about them, it seems lots of people had it on the ‘like to do one day’ list. I know how difficult it can be to fit all the kids activities in. The classes are a great idea, it is something that was brewing in my brain for years. No one can deny that the health of the general population has worsened with the rise of the ultra-processed foods in the diet. This information is easy to find, even the cancer council website has information about shit food and cancer. I hear everyday, things like radio hosts talking about how they can’t poach eggs and simple things like that and from what I have seen myself in the local schools and around the place there is a need for more basic cooking skills. Imagine the improvement in the health system if people simply cooked more good food at home, seems too easy!
At $59 per person and the kids taking home the family meal, a nice cafe style meal, the classes were excellent value and the kids and families that did attend did enjoy them. In an ideal world the classes to be funded or supported to open them up to more people. And they should be, the government really needs to invest in preventative health.
This is a letter I wrote to The Tasmanian Minister for health and Minister for mental health Guy Barnett and Jeremy Rockliff. I am currently still waiting for a reply!
I firmly believe that it is a lie sold to us through the packet food industry that it is hard, time consuming and expensive to cook good food with real ingredients. I do understand that there are many other factors involved, I grew up in a single parent family housing commission area myself. When I see people only eating 2 minute noodles as they can’t afford ‘healthy food’ I only see a lack of education as I know a seasonal soup and an egg could be whipped up for the same expense as the noodles. It is truly shocking how much ultra-processed food is now consumed and we all know the outcome of this on the health system.
I am a trade qualified and experienced chef. I have worked with children in a primary school and started a school lunch program in that school. I have written 6 books that I have self-published myself, funded mostly by myself, with some support from businesses to try to help people eat better. These books have won national and international awards.
This year I purchased a house in Glenorchy with the intention of setting up an afterschool cooking program for children. I don’t think I need to tell you the importance of eating good food is for physical and mental health, as you would be well aware. Or how challenging the timing of the purchase of this house was in the current economy.
The, proven many times over, best way to get kids to eat good food is for them to be involved in the cooking. I have experienced this with my own eyes while working at Dunalley Primary School Launch Into learning, parents would be blown away what the kids would try when they had cooked the food themselves, the inspiration for my first book. Parents would also be blown away with how simple some things were to cook. The after-school program I a launched was in 2 age groups it cost $65 and the kids took home in the evening meal in a casserole dish, also emphasise the importance of low waste and excessive packaging. I taught a whole program over the term, knife skills, pasta making, salad and salad dressing basics like poaching an egg.
Sadly After 2 terms of battling to get kids enrolled I gave up on the idea. As the cost per child wasn’t a lot, I tried to keep it affordable I needed the numbers to make it viable. which is simply a loss to the children. The kids that were enrolled loved the classes.
I know if I was offering ‘making cupcake class’ or other sweets they would be more popular, and a business that may be viable for a commercial operation but as it was, cooking healthy family meals, and educating the parents as well as the kids, it really was a community service.
As much as I would love to, as I am very passionate and concerned about children’s health. I cannot continue to work in unpaid rolls in the preventative health anymore, as sad as it is to watch the state of children’s health. I have my own 3 kids, mortgage, private school fees, private health insurance, activities for my kids etc to pay for and my earning capacity as a consultant to the hospitality industry, photographer, recipe writer and chef is where I need to be focusing my interests.
In an ideal world, the classes would be FREE for the child and family. On my morning walk today I thought through some calculations on getting the classes funded for preventative health.
**For the purpose of my calculation the I am going to call a healthy meal 120 gram animal based protein and 4(1/2 cup) serves of veg plus whatever else is need to make that into a delicious meal!
For classes on one afternoon, but ideally, they would be on more.
20 kids in 2 age groups that would meal 100 healthy meals going home for an evening meal.
$59 per person kids take home what they cook a family meal for 5, $1180 (11.80 per meal PLUS the life-long learning received from the cooking class)
So, for under $50 000 a year investment 100 healthy meals could be consumed each week for 40-week school term so 4000 meals for the year, plus the lifelong learning the kids and parents receive.
How far does 50K go in the public health system? One lap band surgery and treatment? A few years of diabetes management treatment for a few??
It wouldn’t be a big investment for the return. My question is How do I get help and funding to support me to help people learn to cook? So much more needs to be done in the preventative health space and especially preventative mental health area where currently nothing is done.
I have approached Eat Well Tasmanian and they were not interested in helping me. I find this frustrating as a lot of money goes to them for what? A few posts on Social media?? Are they actually achieving anything? Are a few people seeing a post on social media a result?? Shouldn’t we be moving away from social media anyway as it’s so bad for mental health?? Who have they actually helped eat better??
And the School food matters blew me off telling me they can’t help private business? People in well paid government jobs are clueless to private business. Frustrating to watch the healthy lunch program over 20 years and only a few schools are provided lunch and kids are still hungry! I don’t think putting a slow cooker of soup and a few bags of fruit in EVERY school in Tasmania would be that hard??
Thanks Eloise Emmett
I showed it to my husband and he jokingly said I was starting to sound like one of those crazy people! I probably am, it does my fucking head in our current food/health system, we are seeing mental health awareness events that serve alcohol, alcohol is one of the leading causes of poor mental health it creates anxiety. We see breast cancer fundraisers that include all you can drink alcohol even though alcohol is one of the leading causes of breast cancer. Mental Health needs to be funded in the preventative health space, eating well, exercise, spending time in nature, drinking water and good sleeping habits. The, what can be thought of as the boring Basics, but are actually not boring at all when you are living it. If by now people can’t see the effect shit food has on mental health they have their head buried deep in the sand. There is so much information out there now about the effects of shit food on mental health and more information about the harms that some mental health medications can cause in the long term. This is no longer a “conspiracy theory” it’s in the mainstream news now, I am not saying it is every case but I do hear a lot of people who have struggled for years to find the “right” medication and can see its probably done more harm than good. I couldn’t imagine being a parent and looking back in 20 years and thinking ‘wow my kid may not of needed the ‘less strong version of crystal meth’ daily if we had simply cooked a Sunday roast and meal planned a little!’ . Again I am not saying this is every case but it is very well known that there is a over diagnosis and over prescription problem again not conspiracy theory, we are reading this daily in mainstream news.
I have also taken myself off social media. Hopefully for good but at least for a few months. My accounts were hacked and I have had no luck getting them back. Even though one is in my name?? Facebook and Instagram is not a safe place for business, I hate to think what it has cost me. And there is no way to get help, technology has moved to fast, if someone stole a $30000 car off you the police would help! So I cannot be starting again and spending more money and risk it again. When I was first hacked I had a nice break but then reset it up to advertise the new business but it hasn’t really worked. Plus, I caved and paid for advertising, even though I swore I would never give them another cent!! And then got all the annoying hackery messages once I was paying for ads again. But I am thinking the people who spend hours scrolling are not really in the kitchen anyway and its not the same platform I started advertising on 10 years ago. I find the reels etc so over the top these days, how much time are people spending on there to create content? It is actually sexist too, men don’t need to make stupid jokey meme type reels for attention yet the women, extremely qualified women, are making idiots of themselves dancing to words that pop up. And social media is just shit, a waste of time, bad for mental health and seeing people post pics of their sick kids on business page posts for attention? Really is this how we advertise our businesses these days? It’s all so fake and annoying. I have attended social media workshops and they basically tell you to be fake. Not too many selling posts just one on 4 so it’s basically like going to the pub and greasing up to someone before going in for the sell, so gross. Ask me anything questions and all the bullshit it’s just to promote and sell. I just can’t do it. Social media is not for me.
And what I am preaching isn’t exactly exciting is it? It is not riveting news.
Eat good food, exercise and keep the kids busy, sleep, drink water, low stress and be happy. I simply don’t think it’s that hard to pack a lunch box or prepare family meals. It’s just not. Not thrilling content, I know.
So, if you have read this what do you think?
Do you think we should be focusing on preventative health?
Do you think cooking class are a good idea?
Do you think we should be taking more responsibility for our own health?
If you are interested in booking in if I offer the classes again please email me an expression of interest eloiseemmett@gmail.com with you child’s age and what day would suit you. Also if you are interested in Adult basic cooking classes. If you feel it’s something you would love to do but honestly can’t afford it please let me know that too. And if you are keen to get your kids into the classes or yourself then please Spread the word let your friends know by sharing this post where you can and subscribing to this website so you will be notified when I post something.
And I have some workshops listed for the start of next year please get in contact for private group bookings. Workshop Vouchers are a great gift idea and so are my cookbooks!
Friday 13th October
We are at Salamanca tomorrow site 34 on the hill near St David’s park with cookbooks and workshop vouchers. We can gift wrap any gifts purchased from us and include a cute card. Is it too early for Christmas shopping yet? The year has gone too quick!
If you have been thinking of joining me in my kitchen studio in Glenorchy, Old School Kitchen, for a workshop we only have 3 workshops left with spots available this year! Including our evening Seafood Cooking Class for those who work 9-5.
Friday 20th October Twilight Seafood Cooking starts at 5.30 PM
Thursday 9th November Seafood Cooking
Thursday 23rd November Tasmanian Cooking Experience
You can read more about the workshops on my website, we spend a few hours cooking and then our guest sit down and enjoy out beautiful cooking over a long lunch feast of around 10 recipes from my cookbooks. $195 for the Seafood Cooking and Tasmanian Cooking Experience workshops and guests get to take home a cookbook.
and we have the 3 NEW Masterclasses with spots available.
Friday 27th October Stock Making Master Class and we will make scallops in noodle broth
Friday 10th November Salad Dressing Master Class and we will make quail with a honey and mustard dressed apple salad
Friday 24th November pasta making and we will make lasagne
I decided to try this out so we can spend a bit of time on a few important kitchen basics. The first one is on
Friday 27th October for ‘Stock/bone broth Making Master Class’ and we will make scallops in noodle broth to taste. We will fillet a fish and debone a chook and I will show my guests how much more economical it is to make our own stock, every process to the real food will cost you. Then we will make stock which is the base to so many good dishes, soups, risotto, gravy and sauces and so much more. I hope these classes are popular as there are a lot of simple things I can teach people that will help them cook good, delicious healthy food more often at home. At $59 for a 1.5 hour class they are a bargain too!!
The second Masterclass is Salad Dressing and we will make the honey and mustard Rannoch Farm quail salad to sample. We will also make a yogurt based salad dressing, aioli and mayonnaise. I am not sure how we got conned by the packet food industry into thinking mixing Extra virgin Olive oil and vinegar together was hard? and time consuming, or was it when they removed the Fat (excellent for us) extra virgin olive oil and replaced it with sugar and other shit?
Anyway, the reasons I mostly always make my own are:
*extra virgin olive oil is a fresh product and its best used up as quickly as we can after opening so we can make small batches.
*Home made is better for us without rancid veg oils (what is it 29 different chemical processes to become oil- yet extra virgin olive oil is just juice from the olive).
* it Tastes so much better.
*I don’t want to consume something that is sitting on a shelf, maybe in plastic in the sun for a few years.
*it is actually fun to come up with different combinations and flavours and try out fancy vinegars.
*I can support producers I like
*I am yet to find a mayo to buy made with extra virgin olive oil and there are not many salad dressings.
*it is more economical and less waste
Book into all three of my first masterclasses and I will include a copy of Packed cookbook as you’ll want this after the classes it has all the recipes. At $59 a class the masterclasses are a bargain!
Read more and book http://www.eloiseemmett.com
Seafood Cooking Workshop 5th October
We filleted fish, shucked oysters, split scallops and abalone, made bread, pasta and pastry and cooked beautiful fresh Tasmanian seafood into 10 recipes from my books yesterday. Maggie suggested that we serve the scallops last so that they would all be full and there would be more leftovers. My favourite dish of the day was my new salmon dish for my new cookbook, It is a simple one tray bake with delicious punchy flavours from chilli, rosemary and capers . How gorgeous is my bunch of roses picked from my garden! 3 different types and they smell incredible. Next workshop with space available is our Twilight Seafood cooking workshop, I thought this time my suit a few book early so you do not miss out.
I am excited for our Master classes these will be shorter over an hour and a half, also in the evening. Any level of cook will learn a lot here. If you book into all three I will include a copy of Packed cookbook where you will find a lot of the basic recipes.
Tasmanian Cooking Experience Workshop 28th September 2023
We had a fun day yesterday at our Tasmanian Cooking Experience workshop cooking 10 recipes from my books here is some lovely feedback from one of the guests.
“This was an amazing experience! Ellie prepared mouth watering dishes and shared her own cooking tips! Learnt a lot and am inspired to cook more! Especially with Tassie seafood!”
The only thing I had preprepared was the slow cooked lamb for the cannelloni. We made the bread, pasta, pastry , shucked the oysters, filleted the fish, cleaned the occy and more over a few hours in the morning and then the guests enjoyed a lunch of all our cooking. Here is the Menu and all the recipes are from my cookbooks:
Next week we have our first of 2 School Holiday workshop I am trialling for junior chefs we are making pizza, we will make the bases and then a few different toppings including Steph’s Dessert pizza. They will be able to enjoy the pizza for lunch before they go home. The following week we will make Pasta, a few different types and then lasagne for lunch. We also have a Seafood Workshop for the Tasmanian Seafood Industry Council Maritime and Seafood Teachers, Teachers please message Lek at TSIC to register for this lek@tsic.org.au
Then we have a Bread Baking workshop on the 12th. I listed this in the holidays as I thought it would be a fun one for a parent and child to attend together.
Our Master Classes are only a few weeks away I am excited for these. Anyone with any level of cooking experience will learn something here. I know yesterdays guests were impressed with the simple stock making form the fish bone into the delicious fish and wakame broth. It takes no time to make stock and is really from waste products, that you are paying for anyway. If you buy fish in fillets and don’t take the frame you are still paying for it in the price of the fillet. Buying the fish whole and filleting it would always be the most economical way to purchase. Stock making was one of the first posts on my website all those years ago and I am still banging on about it. A good stock/bone broth is the base to so much of our cooking and good for us too.
I was just in the supermarket today and the better quality stocks are so pricey when you can make them pretty much for free. There were a few packet stocks I would never consume, most the ingredients were horrifying! They have no flavour just a salty weird chemical rank taste.
Every “process” done to the food we pay for. Plus the extra packaging that is then needed so extar waste. Plus of course all the extra stuff that then goes into it to preserve it, like extra salt, sugar and fat and additives that we know we need to avoid where we can. I recently purchased an air fryer ( i know I have been bagging them out for 10 years😂) it was 29 dollars from cash converters but that is a whole other story for another day. Anyway I though I might buy the kids some nuggets for fun for the holidays, I looked at the back of the packet and they contained 41 percent chicken, seriously the percentage of chicken in a nugget seems to drop every year. Aside from the fact that WHAT THE F%^& is in the other 59 percent of the nugget that we are consuming? At $13.50 a kilo and that was the cheaper pack thats $30ish a kilo for the chicken. When you can buy probably the same quality chicken for $5 a kilo whole, you’ll end up with at least 50 percent meat so its $10 a kilo for chicken meat no skin PLUS you get the bones and skin for stock. And then add the extra processing the butcher needs to do of the whole chicken the thighs and breasts are around 16 a kilo. Dipping the chicken in flour, than egg, then breadcrumbs is not hard to make nuggets and they taste better too! I repeat it is not f*&^ing hard, yes the packet food industry has convinced us it is and we have no time to cook but it is not hard or time consuming. I just couldn’t hand over my hard earned money for the packet nuggets. We will be boning out chickens at the stock making master class, it is easy once you’ve done it a few times. I know bone broth has magically health claims these days and I am not sure I agree with all of them but boiling the bones you absolutely must be getting some goodness from them?
Seafood Cooking Workshop 20th September 2023
Yesterday at our Seafood Cooking Workshop we shucked oysters, filleted fish, cleaned octopus, made pasta, pastry bread and more and turned it into gorgeous dishes from my cookbooks.
Garlic and herb Pizza Bread (recipe from Tasmania Pantry 2)
Salt and Sichuan peppered oysters (recipe from Seafood Everyday)
Hot and Sour wakame and oyster soup (recipe Tasmania Pantry 2)
Scallops and fettuccini lemon and garlic (recipe Tasmania Pantry)
Octopus baked in extra virgin olive oil (recipe Tasmania Pantry)
Macadamia crusted Bay Trumpeter, beetroot and lime chutney (recipe seafood Everyday)
Panko Crumbed Abalone (recipe Seafood Everyday)
Whole Baked Bay Trumpeter and skordallia (recipe Seafood Everyday)
Salmon baked with olives, chilli, capers and lemon (recipe new Seafood Cookbook)
We generally cook around 10 recipes rom my books at the workshops so my guests leave with a variety of new skills and ideas for cooking more in the home kitchen. Next Thursday the 28th September we have a Tasmanian Cooking experience workshop with spots still available please book your spot through my store on this website. I am excited for our NEW masterclasses too, these classes will be shorter in time but still lots to learn in the masterclasses covering some basics that will make home cooking more affordable, delicious and healthier. Like the workshops they will be fun and casual.
Hello,
How nice is spring?
I have a random abundance of self-seeded coriander and plenty of bok choy and other greens in my garden, so I have been enjoying the fish laksa from Seafood Everyday, for a quick and delicious weeknight meal. I substituted lemongrass with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice as I have heaps from my tree in Taranna and my mums tree. People seemed quite excited about the laksa when I posted it on facebook so here is the recipe, it is from the “Economical Fish Meal”chapter of Seafood Everyday. Once the paste is made, and the paste will make 5 or 6 family meals it is a 10 minute meal, or 9 minutes and 22 seconds. Yes I actually timed it last week as I always say about 10 minutes and I overheard some workshop guests recently say how they hate it when a recipe claims to be quick but actually takes hours. I have made this laksa in the past with all types of fish and seafood, prawns, mussels, chicken or even a veg version. Enjoy, and let me know how you go when you make it. It is very handy to have the paste in the freezer & stock in the freezer for quick meals.
also in my garden is a gorgeous peony bush, really no good reason to share that but show you how pretty it is!
I think the laksa will be on the menu at upcoming workshops. I have more workshops listed on my website including a twilight seafood Cooking Friday 20th October. After a private group booked an afternoon session I thought this might work out well for some other people?? Sounds like a fun way to end the working week.
The workshops are about teaching people to cook more in the home kitchen. I like to add in some basics so guests go home with ideas for everyday cooking but it does end up as quite the spectacular lunch feast, lots of photos of recent workshops on the latest news page of my website. I know a few people tend to save foods like scallops and quail for the occasional restaurant meal. They may feel they are too hard to cook but when you think you could be dining on a meal of quail, scallops or even crayfish at home for the same price you might spend on “cheap” (cheap in nutrition not cost -although we have been brainwashed to think they are cheap) takeaways, it makes sense to learn to cook. As I always say, I like to know where my money is going, I would much prefer to be supporting a local food system, the local fisher or farmer than making some rich corporate American even richer.
Upcoming workshops with spots available:
Thursday 28th Tasmanian Cooking Experience
Thursday 12th October Bread Baking
Friday 20th October Twilight Seafood Cooking starts at 5.30 PM
Thursday 9th November Seafood Cooking
Thursday 23rd November Tasmanian Cooking Experience
Guests stay on to enjoy a long lunch of around 10 recipes from my cookbooks we cook and guests take home a cookbook as a gift.
to book go to my website www.eloiseemmett.com
I will be trialling some new classes in Term 4 and the October school holidays. Master Class style basic cooking classes. These classes are shorter than the workshops. One and a half hour and include a taste of the dish we cook $59 per person 6-7.30 PM
25th October Stock Making and we will make scallops in noodle broth
10th November Salad Dressing and we will make quail with a honey and mustard dressed apple salad
24th November Pasta Making and we will make lasagne
School Holiday workshops for junior chefs
Wednesday 4th October and we will make Pizza and dessert pizza 11am-12.30pm
Wednesday 11th October pasta and we will make lasagne 11am-12.30pm
$59 per person
Not as happy news, another depressing study about Australian eating habits popped up in my news feed today. This is not new and I honestly don’t know why anyone would choose to eat so much shit food when we now know the mental and physical illness including bloody cancer caused by shit food. It is not too hard, time consuming or expensive to cook good food at home once you are organised.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-12/csiro-healthy-diet-score-report/102841124
Thanks hope to see you in my kitchen soon, make sure you let your friends know about the workshops and classes I’m sure they will love them,
Eloise
www.littlenorfolkbayeventsandchalets.com
www.teralinabeachhouse.com
Seafood Cooking Workshop 31st August 2023
It would be hard to find a seafood feast anywhere in the world like the ones we whip up at our Seafood Cooking Workshops!! We fillet fish, clean occy, shuck oysters, split scallops, made bread, pastry and more and cooked:
Lavender Gravlax with sour dough croutons to start- Recipes Tas pantry 1 &2
Garlic and herb pizza bread -recipe Tasmania Pantry 2
oysters natural and dill hollandaise and gravlax
Occy baked and grilled with spinach pie- Tas pantry and Seafood Everyday
dill curry Mussels- Recipe Seafood Everyday
miso butter abalone
hong Kong Parrot fish – recipe tas pantry 2
scallops, hummus and winter veg
macadamia crusted trevalley Recipe Seafood Everyday
lemon Tart -Tasmania Pantry
Next workshop with spots available is 28th September Tasmanian Cooking, no idea what we will be cooking yet we will pick the best and freshest available and take in our guests requests. I am planning term 4 workshops so get in contact ASAP with requests for dates i should list something and private groups!
Recent Workshops
A few pics and the menu from our Tasmanian Cooking Experience workshop last Thursday. At this workshop we cook around 10 recipes from my books from the best of what is in season on the day, and what ever my guest request.
The guests arrived to freshly baked scones made from the recipe from the Real Food for Kids cookbook, raspberry and apricot jams I had made in summer and cream and coffee and tea. Then we made bread, pasta, filleted fish, cleaned octopus, shucked oysters and then the guests enjoyed a lunch of all our delicious cooking.
Herb, garlic cheese Pull a part bread, recipe from The Tasmania pantry 2
Peppered Chicken Liver Pate recipe from Packed Cookbook
Oysters natural and Salt and Sichuan Peppered, recipe from Seafood Everyday
Baked Occy recipe from Tasmania Pantry Cookbook
Scallops Hummus winter veg new recipe will be in the new Seafood Cookbook
Baked Bay Trumpeter, lemon and oregano dressing and skordallia Recipe from Seafood Everyday
Hong Kong steamed Parrot Fish recipe Tasmania Pantry 2
Grilled quail honey and mustard dressing and apple salad recipe Celebrate
Slow cooked lamb and pumpkin canalloni recipe Packed cookbook
Quince and campo de Flori Lavender olive oil cake
Bread Baking Workshop a few weeks back
This is one of my favourite workshops. I enjoy all the workshops it gives me a break from recipe writing and photography and a chance to actually meet some people who use my cookbooks. I love making bread. We made:
foccaccia
grissini
jalepeno and cheese loaf
baguettes
pizza
rolls
scrolls
pizza
fruit loaf
pull apart
Sourdough at all the different stages. Sourdough takes a few days so fed the starter , started a preferment, made a dough from a preferment I had prepared and baked a loaf I had ready from the day before.
And then enjoyed a delicious lunch with our Breads
Bacon and cheese cob, recipe from Celebrate Cookbook
Garlic and Rosemary Pizza, recipe from Tas pantry 2
Herb and Garlic Pull apart recipe, from Tas Pantry 2
Fish Chowder recipe, from Seafood Everyday
Chicken Liver Pate recipe from Packed Cookbook
Quail and Honey mustard recipe from The Tasmania Pantry
Pickled Octopus recipe from Seafood Everyday
Spiced Cauliflower recipe from Tasmania Pantry 2
Lemon tart recipe from Tasmania Pantry
We have a few dates each term listed for workshops, term 4 will be listed soon so please get in contact for any date or workshop requests. We also take private group bookings for groups of 6 -12 perfect for celebrations and we already have a few booked in for Christmas parties. Workshop vouchers are available for gifts they are great Fathers Day gifts and so are my cookbooks.
Here is the recipe I created recently for the Tassie Scallop Fiesta in Bridport, where I cooked a demonstration, a fun 7-hour road trip for Steph and I. A beautiful and filling winter dish let me know how you go when you make it! Enjoy and let me know how you go when you cook it, works out to be about $7 per person
Pan fried scallops, white bean puree, dukkah and roast winter veggies.
Serves 4
My number one tip for cooking scallops or any seafood is selecting a good oil to cook it in, preferably an extra virgin olive oil, and some butter. It is pretty easy to make a simple Dukkah to have on hand in the pantry, a mild mix of spices, nuts and seeds that will liven up loads of home cooking including the roast veggies in this dish or simply buy a good quality version. Scallops are easy to cook and delicious in this hearty winter family meal.
500 grams scallops Extra virgin olive oil butter
Large sweet potato 2 large beetroot 1⁄4 pumpkin
2 cups white beans -cooked 2 tablespoons lemon juice 3 cloves garlic
Sea salt and pepper
2 tablespoon dukkah
Turn the oven on to 180 C and lightly coat the sweet potato, pumpkin and beetroot in oil, place on a baking tray and bake in the oven for about 45 minutes until cooked through.
To make the puree, blitz the peeled garlic cloves, beans, lemon juice, a splash of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper together in the food processor until smooth.
To cook the scallops, heat a heavy based frying pan to a medium high heat and add a splash of extra virgin olive oil. Without crowding the pan and stewing the scallops, pan fry the scallops until they are golden brown on each side. This will only take a minute or 2 so make sure that everything else is ready before you start cooking them. There will always be a difference of opinion on what a cooked scallop is. I prefer mine opaque and on the raw side while my fisherman husband prefers them cooked all the way through. Season with sea salt and serve with the sliced sweet potato, pumpkin, beetroot and puree, a sprinkle of the dukkah and a splash of good quality extra virgin olive oil.
I will also pop this scallop dish on the menu at upcoming workshops, when I can get the fresh scallops of course. Still spots available in next Thursday the 17th Tasmanian Cooking Experience workshop. We will be making fresh bread into herb and cheese pull apart loaf, shucking oysters, cleaning and baking octopus, panfrying scallops, cooking quail and making a honey and mustard dressing, cooking a whole fish Brendan with catch fresh for us and making a lemon tart, and more. We generally cook around 10 recipes from my books and after our morning of cooking we sit down to a long lunch feast of our delicious cooking. Includes a copy of an award-winning book to take home. I’ve been busy in the garden hopefully a few of the lunch feasts will be on nice weather days and outside.
A few pics from our delicious bread baking workshop last Thursday the workshop are casual and fun!
Other workshop dates listed with spots left to book:
Thursday August 17th Tasmanian Cooking Experience
Thursday August 31st Seafood Cooking (only a few available in this one!!) Saturday September 2nd Tasmanian Cooking Experience (for everyone that asked for a weekend date!)
Thursday 28th Tasmanian Cooking Experience
Please enquire about other dates for private groups or even if you just have a few interested in a date and workshop and I can see what If I can fit it on the calendar. Private groups are already booking in for Christmas functions, we are only 10 minutes from the Hobart CBD.
Cookbooks
Price adjusted, as we are selling more direct now at Salamanca Market, through the cooking school and online store. We are at Salamanca Market once a month
or so, keep your eye on our social media for dates. Please let your visiting friends know, the books make excellent gifts and souvenirs or order them online.
Teralina Beach House
Take advantage of winter rates and lowered minimum stay. The house is proving to be very popular with families and fishing trip weekends so far. http://www.teralinabeachhouse.com
Little Norfolk Bay Events and Chalets
Take advantage of lowered winter rates and our popular 2night stay special- we include a fish pie to heat, breakfast provisions and wine. Booking the chalets with The Event House is great for groups with loads of room in the event house to socialise, perfect for small celebrations.
http://www.littlenorfolkbayeventsandchalets.com
Thanks Eloise
Old School Kitchen Kids Classe Monday 20th June Crispy Baked Chicken Legs and Cauliflower and Broccoli Mac and cheese.
I know at least one kid who was excited by last nights cooking class dinner, Oscar said this is his ultimate meal. We made the Crispy Baked Chicken Legs from Tasmania Pantry cookbook, its such a random recipe for that book but i popped it in so more people could use it and we served them with the broccoli and cauliflower Mac and Cheese from Packed cookbook. This Mac and cheese is a great quick fast food on a busy night for the kids, in fact we had made it only the weekend before when I got home after a miserable wet day at the market and it was easier (and warmer by the fire) to throw together from what we had in the fridge and pantry then organising takeaway!
2 more weeks of Kids Cooking Classes left for this term. The first Class back is 31st July and we are cooking for 9 weeks Term 3.
Plans for the classes for term 3:
(menu may change to availability and requests)
Savoury Beef Rolls and Pumpkin Soup
Amatriciana Pasta and salad
Honey lime chicken with a bean and corn salad
Sichaun Pork Noodle salad
Spaghetti Meatballs
Rissotto
Crispy Chicken burgers and potato wedges
Chorizo beef ragout with cauliflower polenta
Thai Beef Salad
$65 a week for an hour and 25 minute lesson with the kids taking home a family dinner for 4.
Term 3 Workshops are also now available to book through my online store (or send me a message to book and pay cash or card on the day) and I even listed one on a Saturday after many requests for weekends. And get in touch about private groups for other days. While you are at my online store please remember my books for your gifts!
Old School Kitchen Kids Class, Salmon Poached in a mushroom cream sauce with handmade pasta, roast pumpkin and spinach salad.
A busy night at our kids classes last night. We made some pasta and one of my favourite ever salmon recipes, the salmon is poached in the cream sauce with the handmade pasta tossed through. I had a version of this on quite a few restaurants I have worked in. You can now find the recipe in my book Seafood Everyday We made a roast pumpkin, spinach and fetta salad with a lemon and parsley dressing to go with it.
We;
chopped the pumpkin to roast
made pasta and hand rolled the pasta
made the salad dressing
chopped all the ingredients for the pasta sauce
made the sauce and poached the salmon
The hour and 25 minutes goes quickly! I got some pics in the young group but I didn’t get a chance the camera out for the older group.
We were back at Salamanca Market for our fourth week on the weekend with our new Marquee that we are thinking is looking pretty fancy! Thanks to those who have visited us for a chat or picked up a book we are thankful for the support. We are back in the same spot for the next three weeks, site 145 in the middle of the market next to The Art of Words studio near Irish Murphies. Tell your friends to look out for us and remember the books make excellent gifts.
Old School Kitchen Kids Class Chicken Parmigiana
A busy night for the guys in the kitchen at our Old School Kitchen Kids cooking classes yesterday, they had a lot to do. It can be hard to find the right amount of works to do, without doing it all for them but also making sure that dinner is ready when parents come to pick up!
They needed to:
Prepare the sweet potato and potato chips
Make the tomato sauce
Trim, cut and the flour egg and breadcrumb the chicken breast
Pan fry the schnitzels
Prepare to bake and get them in the oven
Make the mayo for the slaw
Cut the slaw
The nuggets recipe is in The real Food for Kids Cookbook, Mayo from Packed, tomato sauce should be in one of my book somewhere probably packed for the cannelloni or home made pizza?
Dinner was really delicious I think I heard my kids say at least 3 times each while cooking ‘I can’t wait for dinner’. Roast sweet potato, sweet potato chips anything sweet potato is my current crush, I have got some in the oven right now, lucky they are also only $2 a kilo now.
Charlotte had her child care baby again for class, Archie was a little unsettled but lucky Charlotte had her village around her to help hold the baby and she managed to cook her dinner pretty much all on her own with a little help from the other girls.
If you are following our adventures with our Salamanca Market stall it was looking better again last week, that was week 3. I have taken the plunge (and a bit of commitment) and ordered a new commercial marquee that will hopefully arrive by the weekend, this will make the stall look a lot neater. I am thinking of a new theme for my books and classes “love the food that loves you back” what do you think? Gentle and it really is an important message, cooking our own food is always going to be the healthiest way to eat. I think that if you have been following me for a while you know I hate the evil food corporations that convince us we need to buy their poison packets But I am also VERY mindful that people are just doing the best they can. So I try to avoid preaching about how bad the processed food is and try not to “guilt” people into buying my books and we are absolutely not food perfectionists ourselves. It was hilarious at the market I was chatting to someone about the importance of cooking with real food etc and turned around and Steph was sitting down scoffing a dagwood dog, but seriously who can resist the occasion battered and fried sausage. But I do love it when I hear things like “I now get the kids to make the nuggets it is so easy” or when I have helped someone click and realises they actually don’t need to buy a whole heap of expensive ‘lunch box snacks’ they thought they needed or helping someone eat less take away by finding a few great freezer bulk dishes of mine to have in the freezer for busy nights.
We are back at the market we are at site 145, so down near Irish Murpheys but in the middle of the market next to The art of Words Studio, we are there for the next 4 weeks. Please come and say hi, buy some books for gifts and tell your friends if you do like or use the books to keep an eye out for us. The Market is looking pretty full each week for Winter it is worth a trip, lots of lovely Tassie makers and other Authors. Maybe even grab yourself one of the dagwood dogs! Or a delicious miso and garlicScallop stick
My lovely market neighbour John who has Self Published and printed in Australia a memoir of his life as a pilot. Brendan rolled his eye when I came home with yet another book, this one is on top of my to read pile.
Old school kitchen Kids cooking class Monday 22nd May, Lasagna, garlic bread and pea, cabbage and fetta salad.
Last night at our Old school Kitchen Kids cooking class we made Lasagna, garlic bread and pea, cabbage and fetta salad. The kids split the work up and all helped make it together this week. Making pasta is always fun with kids and who doesn’t love a good lasagne on a cold winters night? This salad is delicious and perfect when lettuce just doesn’t cut it in winter. We also had the added pressure of a child Studies baby that was on an overnighter with on of our students but little Jimmy was a perfect baby and slept until about 6.30, he did end up with a bit of food on him but that is real life!
Lasagne recipe from The Real food for Kids cookbook
salad is from Seafood Everyday, it is with grilled occy in the book
bread recipes in all my books.
We had our second stall at Salamanca on Saturday, I think the stalls look is improving? We made some signs with quotes from what people have said about my books, trying to get the message across that are great books-with recipes that work-the recipes are easy-it is more economical to cook-it is healthier to cook, in the ENTIRE 2 seconds I have while people are walking past the stall. You know a super easy task really, seeing that the evil processed food corporations have spent 50 years convincing people cooking is hard, time consuming and expensive, so that we buy there packets of crap. I go on about cost and health of cooking in Packed cookbook, this week I spent $117 at Aone Fruit market that included 4 dozen free range eggs. Pumpkin is $1.20 a kilo, a beautiful bunch of beetroot for $3 a entire bench full of lovely veggie and fruit and eggs. I’ll make some delicious meals out of that lot for the entire week with some fish, meat and chicken. Soup and an egg is an easy meal for busy kids through the week and we are using the thermos everyday for school lunches. It is an absolute lie that eating well is more expensive, we spent more on burgers for four of us for ONE meal on Saturday night. They were nice burgers but even the dodgy ones are still expensive in my opinion.
The new stall signs looked cute printed and framed and will look good if I go ahead and purchase the commercial tent for the stall, if we continue on in a more permanent and regular arrangement at this Saturday market. I offer a 2 book special for people at the market and I have now loaded that online so that tourists can order when they get home. If you order and want to pick up from Glenorchy just use the code localspickup so you don’t get charged the $10 post.
This week at our Old School kitchen Kids cooking class we made a delicious one tray salmon pilaf, the recipe is in ‘Celebrate’ cookbook, we tweaked it with extra veggies for a weeknight family meal. It really was delicious. I always recommend Salmon to anyone that may be a bit nervous cooking seafood. Salmon is a good choice it can be served medium all the way through to well done without hurting it too much. So, you can’t really muck it up. I did notice when I was in the Salmon Shop that they had a special on for frozen pieces for $15.50 a kilo (I think). The frozen pieces would be fine in this baked Pilaf. An economical seafood family meal if you are watching your budget. It made it into the kids thermoses today too. It is thermos season, my kids have had people comment on their fancy lunches but heating leftovers and shoving it into a thermos is about as easy as it gets for a packed lunch!
Some weeks at the kids classes we get in and cook a big dish with jobs allocated and others the kids cook their own family meal, depending on what we are cooking and the time that we have. Last night they all cooked their own and did an brilliant job practising their knife skills, frying and baking.
The week before (I have not had a chance to post about as last week was very busy setting up for our first Salamanca Market stall) we made a Slow Cooked lamb Cannelloni recipe from Packed cookbook. For this class I had the lamb cooked and we focused on making or own pasta as a group. Home made pasta is the best and this recipe is a good example of a delicious meal that can be created from an economical food in this case a few BBQ chops.
For those interested our first Salamanca Market stall went well. While we didn’t break any book selling records we did sell a few and I got to chat to lots of people and hear some interesting feedback and chat about classes and workshops. Including a lovely lady who stopped to tell me how much she loves Packed. But sadly, I didn’t sell one copy of Packed Cookbook at the market, I have joked with some friends that it is my least selling cookbook ever, yet from the people that have the book, it would be the most raved about for practically and simple delicious recipes and the hints and tips how to organise it all. And we would think a lot would need now it now with the rising cost of living. So, how do I get that message across to someone in 2 seconds as they stroll past my stall?? Also hard when the message that cooking is hard time consuming and expensive has been told to us for 50 years by the packet food industry.
I do need to work on my display like my market mentor Kylies beautiful Art Of Words Studio stall if the market becomes a permanent event for us, mine looks a bit shoddy really when I was looking through the pics but we’ve got to start some where right?!
This is what we are cooking for meals and thermos lunches this week. With my kids busy everyday and all home at different times every evening some weeks I just cook a few dishes to heat when they need them. Bonus of a curry or soup is it improving in flavour the longer it sits anyway.
Pilaf salmon
Lamb Kashmir Curry (recipe Tasmania pantry 2)
Mango Chicken Curry (Packed cookbook)
Pumpkin and Cauliflower dahl (Tasmania Pantry)
Chicken Brown Rice Soup (Packed)
Banana Bread (The Real food for Kids cookbook) for a sweet treat for the kids lunch boxes
Snacks: Veg and fresh fruit, popcorn. I find we don’t need snacks when eating decent meals, but I might make a hummus for the veggies and for an occy dish I want to try this week for Seafood Everyday 2
Breakfasts: overnight oats, eggs and bacon, omelette with salmon (Seafood Everyday), toast
It is too late to buy books or workshop vouchers to be posted in time for Mother’s day but you are welcome to pick up orders from me in Glenorchy by arrangement and I can email vouchers.
We made a delicious Butter chicken at our Old School Kitchen Kids cooking class on Monday the recipe is in The Tasmania Pantry cookbook. This week we are making slow cooked Lamb Cannelloni, recipe from Packed cookbook, pasta making is always fun with kids! Still spots available for the term especially in the younger age group.
On Thursday we have our first workshop for the term where we will be cooking around 10 recipes from my books and sitting down for a long lunch feast of our cooking. Book a spot in this workshop or any of my workshops through my website, a great gift idea for mum!
Old School Kitchen Kids Cooking Classes Term 2
We are starting back our Kids Cooking classes next week on Monday the 1st of May. We have 9 Mondays to cook this term we are not cooking on the Public Holiday in June. Younger kids 12 years and under are 3.45 to 5.10 and older kids over 12 years and 5.20 to 6.45. Preferably we want full term booking so I can teach a range of different techniques and recipes over the term but I get that is not always possible. And we will make arrangements where we can for earlier or later pickups and drop offs when we need too.
My ideas for what we are cooking is looking like this so far but it might change slightly:
Butter Chicken
Slow cooked lamb & pumpkin cannelloni
Salmon & chorizo Pilaf
Beef Lasagne
Chicken Parmigana and veg
Salmon poached in cream sauce with handmade fettuchini
Sushi and chicken & corn soup
Crispy baked Chicken legs and broccoli and cauliflower mac & cheese
Chilli con carne nacho bowls
$65 a week with the child taking home a family dinner for 4 people. What could you buy in take away for dinner with $65 these days?! not much.
To book in click through to my store and pay for the term or send me a message and pay cash or direct debit each week.
Mothers Day Gift Ideas
A quick little message to share some ideas for Mothers Day gifts- cookbooks, workshops or even a family weekend away
Mother Day Book SALE use the code MOTHERSDAY for 15 percent off ALL my cookbooks. Buy mum a cookbook or why not buy one for yourself and cook mum an amazing meal.
Workshops
A new calendar of workshops for term 2 is now available to book. Read about term one on my website. Workshops are always a great experience gift idea. I can print or email out gift vouchers.
Teralina Beach House– new Tasman Peninsula family accommodation
Did you see our Beach House is now short stay accommodation? It sleeps 10 in four bedrooms, the views are incredible. This place will be toasty and warm by the wood heater for a winter weekend. We can print or email our gift vouchers. www.teralinabeachhouse.com
The website, photography, channel manager setup and social media set up by me and you can read more about this work that I do on my website.
Kids Cooking Classes We cooked a lot of delicious meals in term one, read the details on my website. Book for term 2 now. $65 a week for a one hour and 25 minute cooking class and the child takes home a family dinner for four people. I will post a menu plan for term 2 soon. Click through to my website to book or message me and pay
Old School Kitchen, Seafood Cooking Workshop 6th April 2023
Our last Workshop for the Term, Seafood Cooking, we cooked a bunch of recipes from my books. It is actually is not an excessive amount of food, it is a taste of everything and nothing goes to waste or at least the chooks are well fed. But I do like to pack a good variety of different techniques and products into the day. The lunch ends up pretty fancy we go though a lot of ideas for inspiration for our everyday home cooking. How to keep it simple, so we actually do it as cooking our own food is so important for our health.
We shucked oysters, made pasta, made bread and pastry, filleted fish, cleaned octopus and cooked up a feast:
Herb and garlic pull apart (Recipe from Tasmania Pantry 2)
Fish Chowder (Seafood Everyday)
Crayfish Pate Cocktail (Seafood Everyday)
Baked Octopus (Tasmania pantry)
Salmon Fettuchini (Seafood Everyday)
Squid with lemon myrtle and bush pepper (Seafood Everyday 2 -in production!)
Parrot Fish Hong Kong Steamed (Tasmania Pantry 2)
Bay Trumpeter With Skordallia (Seafood Everyday)
Oysters red wine vinegar and capers (Seafood Everyday)
Honey mustard Broccoli salad and prawns (Packed)
Lavender Lemon Tart (Celebrate)
Term 2 dates are available to book. To book click through and pay or send me a message and pay cash or card on the day or closer. Enquire about dates for private groups for 6 or more people.
Old School Kitchen Monday 3rd April Salmon Green Curry
Our last kids cooking class for the term. We made a beautiful Green Curry with salmon. The recipe is in Packed cookbook, it is worth making a big batch of the paste and freezing it and then if you have a good stock made it is a super quick meal to put together. We even found fresh tumeric for the curry paste this week, a bonus for those of us who like to make sure we are eating a wide variety of plants for our gut health. Thanks to Salmon Tasmania and Tassal for providing the salmon for the class so the kids to learn and cook some seafood. It was our last cooking class for the term, it has been a fun term and I am grateful for the kids and their parents who have come along this term for our VERY first term of classes. When asked how they were going by some food loving friends I described the older group classes as that they are like a stich and bitch session (knitting or sewing in a social setting) . The kids get in and cook and have a good goss while chopping and cooking with me interrupting every now and then for instructions or a hint or tip. What could we call it sook and cook? Sounds a bit negative… Chop and chat? stir and stir??
I will have a rough plan of what we are cooking for Term 2 soon. It will be on a Monday afternoon again, other days will be added if or when there is interest. Slight changes with the times 3.45 -5.10 for the under 12s and 5.20 to 6.45 for the 12 and overs. we prefer term bookings so we can teach a full program over the term of a wide variety of recipes and different cooking techniques but we understand that can not always work. $65 a week for an Hour and 25 minute cooking class with a qualified chef and a delicious meal for 4 people to take home each week. What could you buy with $65 in take aways for 4 people these days?? And hopefully the children will end up with a bunch of meals they can cook independently. Book and Pay for the term through my online store or send me a message to book and pay cash or card weekly.
Recent work I have completed for fussy clients (us!) setting up a new short stay accommodation property Teralina Beach House. Including:
Photography
Styling (although not a lot, I keep it simple and completely uncluttered as that is what you need to relax on holidays)
Website(just a simple one a place for our guests to book direct. If I am going to the effort of promoting my own property on social media then I need to be taking direct bookings, I do not want that commission going to a booking channel)
Booking Channels (like air bnb, Booking .com, stay z etc, there are 400 now!!!)
Social media
organising the stock and operations
Although I am not interested in managing other peoples properties for them ongoing, I do get employed to help people with the photography and set up accommodation. I have done quite a bit of this in the past including at my other business Little Norfolk Bay Events and Chalets. I have helped quite a few home and shack owners to start their short stay so they can manage it themselves. Be warned though during the initial consultations with me, I will be honest and I will share my honest near 30 years of hospitality experience, so I may not tell you what you want to hear. I have suggested in the past to putting the house/unit back on the rental market as it is may probably be a lot easier and better for their bank account. I do not sell the Air bnb dream of easy money, as it is not! I do think though with some good photos, promotion that the average short stay accommodation could do a lot better than they do and the investment in my services is always returned quickly.
Old school Kitchen kids cooking class 27th March pasties and Minestrone
Last night at our Kids Cooking class we made a Minestrone soup made from the chicken carcasses from the chickens we deboned the week before for the mango chicken ( I had frozen them from fresh). Minestrone and these pasties are a delicious winter meal and they both freeze well to whip out for a quick dinner. The pasties have a heap of delicious roast veg and fennel in them and are very tasty.
Recipe for the pasties is from The Real Food for Kids cookbook
recipe for the soup Tasmania Pantry 2 cookbook
Last night at our Old School Kitchen Kids cooking class we made Mango Chicken, rice and green fritters made with coriander, spring onion, silverbeet and zucchini. It was a fun evening unfortunately no photos of the cooking action this week we were too busy. Some weeks the kids cook there own meal, others weeks we split up the tasks and cook the meal together and then divide it up at the end. Last night we split up the jobs. Chopping the onions and garlic for the base for the curry , measuring the spices and dry roasting them. We boned whole chickens and chatted about making stocks. Washed the rice to cook . Made and fried the fritters. The dinner was absolutely delicious my entire family loves, this recipe is in Packed cookbook. My steph was a bit choosy with her food when she was young and one time when took her to a Indian restaurant I encouraged her to try aMango Chicken rather than just eating the pile of Nann Bread she would often do and she loved it so I had to Make a good recipe for it I could make at home!! While I do try to use Tasssie food no one can resist the occasional tropical mango , we used frozen last night.
Monday 13th Old School Kitchen Kids Cooking Class. Cabbage rolls, Garlic and cheese Scrolls and pea and fetta salad
This week we cooked the Cabbage rolls from Tasmania Pantry 2 cookbook, garlic and herb scrolls and a pea and fetta salad. Love the cabbage roll recipe, they freeze well and are nice cold too. The salad is from Seafood Everyday served with octopus in the book. Scroll recipe from The Real food for Kids Cookbook.
Tasmanian Cooking Experience Workshop Old School Kitchen 9th March
We made:
Garlic and Herb Pull apart Bread (Recipe from Tasmania Pantry 2 Cookbook)
Peppered Chicken Liver Pate (Recipe from Packed Cookbook)
Oysters natural and with Red Wine Vinegar and Capers (Recipe from Seafood Everyday)
Baked Octopus (recipe from the Tasmania Pantry)
Tassal Salmon Poached in thyme and mushroom cream sauce with handmade fettuchini (recipe from Seafood Everyday)
Quail with Pear, walnuts and honey mustard( recipe from Tasmania Pantry)
Lamb Cutlets, my naturally fermented olive and hummus (hummus recipe Celebrate)
Pepperberry Venison and cherry chutney (chutney recipe Tas Pantry )
Lentil stuffed Tomato, cauliflower polenta and blue cheese sauce( Tasmania Pantry 2)
Lavender, quince and Extra Virgin Olive oil cake (Tasmania Pantry 2)
And we had crayfish pate (recipe Seafood Everyday ) for arrival morning tea.
Lucky the pull apart was good today, and it was one of my best ever! Next Thursday I have a Bread Baking Workshop on. We make pizza, scrolls, loaves, rolls, pull apart and more. Lunch is not just bread I’ll have some other food to have with the bread we make. I do not eat a huge amount of bread these days so when I do I want it to be good like the delicious pull-apart today!
The last Workshop for the term is April 6th for Seafood Cooking (sorry typo on poster!) I will have term 2 calendar out soon!!
Honey Soy Tassal Salmon. Old School Kitchen Kids Cooking Class
Seriously delicious meal cooked at Old School Kitchen Kids cooking classes this week we used the recipe from Seafood Everyday to marinade the fish and then make the salad and dressing. Maggie has requested it for her birthday dinner it was so good! Honestly I would pay $35 or more for a serve in nice cafe!! And a big thanks to Tassal for supporting the classes providing the salmon for the kids and their families. A chance meeting with a friend who works at the Tasmanian Salmon Association in the isle of Officeworks right back when I was just at the putting the offer in on the house stage, yonks ago, chatting about my kids cooking class and adult basic cooking class ideas has led to Tassal donating the fish and supporting these classes. While I always have and will always buy salmon and other seafood for my workshops it’s not really in the budget for this $65 dollar a person class that includes a take home meal for 4 , unfortunately. I love teaching to cook but I have a business to operate my own family to feed. I do know very well from years of experience teaching workshops the best way to get someone to cook something again is to show them. I would be very surprised if the dishes we cook in the classes are not cooked at home again. I know a lot of people still don’t cook seafood as they think it’s too hard. My husband Brendan being a fisherman also provides some scale fish so we can have seafood on the menu at least a few times each term.
The kids this week had a good chance to work on the knife skills. Make a salad dressing. Marinade and bake the salmon.
This coming Monday we are going to make cabbage rolls and then Mango chicken the following week. Ideally, I would prefer term bookings so we can learn new things and move onto new things but because we are just starting out I will take casual bookings for those who want to try it out or have found out late about the classes. BOYS why are there no BOYS enrolled. OMG I hear horror stories about boys leaving home and wasting all their ENTIRE weeks apprentice pay on takeaway food, ordering a toasted sandwich by uber and stuff like that! The health of the family is not the sole responsibility of mum in the family, it is not the 1950s let’s teach the boys to eat well and organise the family meals too!
This coming Thursday we have a Tasmanian Cooking Experience workshop. Then a Bread baking the following Thursday. Then only 2 more workshops this term I will have Term 2 dates listed soon.
Kids cooking class week 2 Fish lasagne, dill and fennel slaw &garlic bread
This week we made Fish Lasagne recipe from seafood Everyday. A lot of us want to eat more seafood as it is so good for us. It is recommended for good health we eat seafood a minimum of twice a week. I know loads of us do not meet that requirement, why I created the book in 2016 . This lasagne is the kid friendliest seafood recipe ever! If there was ever a recipe that you wanted to try to get the kids to eat some seafood then this is it.
Last night we made a lemon, dill, yogurt, fennel, celery slaw to go with the lasagne and garlic bread from some baguettes I baked earlier in the day. There isn’t a recipe yet for the slaw I made it up yesterday. The first week we made an oil & vinegar dressed salad so I am trying to change it up and teach new things each week thats why we went with the yogurt dressing.
Pasta making is always a lot of fun with children. Hands in and messy wants not to enjoy?
The children’s focus was making their own pasta so I made the sauce for them so we could get it done in time. While the lasagne was in the oven they made their salad and garlic bread.
The skills they learnt/practised
Knife skills
Pasta making, dough and rolling
Salad dressing with a yogurt base
Garlic butter and garlic bread
Baking
Steph joins in and assists with the younger class and Maggie with the older class, in-between their homework. They are learning new things too and I am actually discovering things that I assumed I had already taught them. They cook our dinner while they are working, last night it was delicious, we all agreed. I know the other parents are appreciating a dinner cooked for them too!
Next Monday we are making a salmon and honey soy noodle salad, I am excited for this already. The classes are Monday 11 year olds and younger 3.45PM to 5.15PM 12 years and older 5.15Pm to 6.45PM. It’s not too late to join in for the term. $65 a week.
First Kids Cooking Class
On Monday we had our first ever Old School Kitchen kids cooking class. The classes are in 2 age groups 11 and under 3.45Pm-5.15PM and 12 and over 5.15PM to 6.45PM.
We made lamb Koftas with tatzazki, garlic roast spuds, greek salad with a homemade salad dressing and pea hummus. Mags and Steph joined in to help and cook our dinner and it was delicious.
I have the groups spilt into age groups, the younger kids may need a little more more help. next up this coming Monday we are making our own pasta and making a fennel and tarragon fish lasagne. Over the years I have discovered that a lot of families want to eat more seafood as it is so good for us but they don’t know how or if they like it. I find everyone loves this lasagne.
I am hoping the children to book in for the term so that I can teach them a program of skills and not have to repeat the same instructions each week, when we could be moving on to learning new skills. But, we are flexible and I understand that people may not have found out about the classes until after they have started so we will take new enrolments through the term until they are fully booked out. And we will take casual bookings when there is space, or if someone wants to come along to try a class out. The classes are $65 a week and includes a dinner to take home for 4 people. I will look at other school term evenings if there is interest in the future, so if this night doesn’t suit send me an email and let me know when it would so I can take that into consideration for future planning.
Tasmanian Cooking Experience Workshop Feb 2023
At this workshop we cook around 10 recipes from my books! I take into account any suggestions that the guests may have, they may really want to learn how to make pasta or learn how cook quail and then I add in what fish Brendan has and then what ever else is in season.
we cooked:
Salmon dip (Celebrate Cookbook)
Garlic, rosemary and fetta pizza (Recipe from Tasmania pantry 2)
Hot and Sour blue warhou soup (recipe from Tasmania pantry 2)
Occy and pumpkin Salad (packed cookbook)
Quail and Berries (Celebrate cookbook)
lamb Canelloni (Packed Cookbook)
mutton bird and Cherry chutney (chutney recipe Tasmania Pantry)
Lentil and olive stuffed tomato, cauliflower polenta and blue cheese sauce
Baked corn
lavender and quince EVOO cake
Chocolate fondue and berries
Next workshop is a Seafood Cooking Workshop on Thursday its 10AM-2.30PM includes lunch and a copy of my book.
Phone Photography and Food Styling workshop Feb 2023
Our first workshop in the new venue “Old School Kitchen” went very well last Thursday. I haven’t had a chance to post any photos because starting on the next day, we had 4 days at the amazing Australian Wooden Boat Festival, cooking 5 Seafood cooking demonstrations, in the Tasmanian Seafood Industry Council Marquee. I also catered for a breakfast on board a beautiful ship the Soren Larson on the Sunday. Then back to the peninsula today to work at little Norfolk bay and get to get Teralina Beach House ready for guests by March. I’ll post more about the cooking demonstrations and where you can find all the recipes I cooked very soon, unfortunately I am very light on photos my professional camera didn’t come out of the bag the first two days so it stayed at home the other two days!
Quince and lavender cake beautifully Styled by Lisa from Campo di flori.
Beautifully styled products by Cindy from Huon Micro bakery and Lisa from Campo De Flori
For morning tea on arrival at the workshop last Thursday, I had some fresh scones baked with Jams with coffee and Tea, The recipe for scones I use is from The Real Food for Kids Cookbook, they never fail and are delicious. My Jam recipe is in Tasmania
Pantry cookbook. We spent about an hour going over some hints and tips for styling and phone photography, then it was onto practising. A great opportunity for our micro baker and bee keeper in attendance to get some shots for their own special media and fun for the other attendees just to learn a few new tips as we all have a phone.
Lunch was a garlic and rosemary pizza bread. (Recipe from Tas Pantry 2)
Risotto stuffed squid (recipe from Seafood Everyday)
Honey soy fish (recipe from Seafood Everyday)
Pickled Occy (recipe from Seafood everyday)
Quail and Honey mustard (recipe from Celebrate)
Crayfish and Lavender Aioli (recipe from Tas pantry 2)
Quince and lavender cake (recipe tas pantry 2)
I did spend the weekend at the wooden boat festival promoting my workshops and kids cooking classes and I was asked a lot about if they are on weekends. At this stage I will not be listing the workshops on the weekends only Thursdays and Mondays for the Kids Cooking Classes, this works out the best for me and my family, but private groups are welcome to enquire about weekends and we can see what we can do. They are excellent professional development or team building opportunities for many workplaces so you may not even need to take the day off work to attend!! There is still space in my Tasmanian Cooking Experience Workshop this Thursday. As much as I love cooking Seafood I also love cooking other Tassie produce like quail, goat, wallaby, venison, rabbit so after a few years of cooking the Seafood Cooking Workshop I introduced this one too. I created The Tasmanian cooking experience so I can teach more than just Seafood Cooking at the workshop, this one still has a lot of seafood my husband Brendan is a fisherman after all.
And still space in the kid’s classes that are starting on Monday? How awesome will it be to bring this delicious salmon Salad for 4 people home next Monday night?!!
Thanks for everyone that has been sharing my posts its quite frustrating being hacked and starting all over again as I know some of our past workshop guests would love to know about these workshops so please share my posts if you are seeing them.
Kids Cooking Classes
I have been asked at least 1000 times over the last 6 years to do some kids cooking classes and now they are here. In my new workshop and photography space in Glenorchy less than 15 minutes from the Hobart CBD.
These classes will be suitable for every level of cooking even if your child has no kitchen experience they will be fine. I ran a 0-4 year old cooking program in a primary when Maggie was young for years and even the little kids in this group can find something safe to do like rolling pasta or rolling meatballs.
They will learn a bunch of important skills over the term including:
*knife skills
*food storage
*different cooking techniques like panfrying and baking
*salad dressings
*curry pastes
and loads more!
While I am not a nutritionist I avoid talking about health benefits as this is not my area of training I focus on delicious food but we can all agree learning to cook our own food using whole foods is the healthiest way to eat. We use Veggies, meat/fish healthy fats like extra virgin olive oil and whatever else we need to make that taste good.
My genius Idea for these kid’s classes is the children will take home a meal for the family each week, saves the parents cooking that night! Yes, the kids would probably prefer a class with cakes and biscuits but they are normally happy enough to do that at home and I wanted to offer something that is great value.
Here is our menu for term one, this may change depending on what is available. We can easily do Gluten Free adaptions (most of it is anyway). The kids enrolled may choose to make something else.
Baked Salmon with a noodle salad
Chicken/Beef or fish lasagne and green salad
Koftas with Greek salad and tzatziki
Butter chicken with rice steamed greens
Cabbage Rolls
Potato salad with smoked or baked salmon
Green Chicken or Fish curry
I’m not a parenting expert, I admit I don’t know much but I do know that but if you’ve got a child who may be a bit choosy NOT exposing them to different foods wouldn’t be helping. Your worst-case scenario is they probably will try what they cook and maybe even surprise you and enjoy it, but at least you’ve got your own delicious dinner cooked and some left overs for packed lunches. You may not believe the amount of kids who I hear that will try something new when they make it themselves.
$65 a week, includes a meal to take home (for 4 people)
and a copy of Packed cookbook and an Apron when they start there first term.
Monday
8-11 year olds 3.45 PM to 5.15PM
12 and over 5.15Pm to 6.45Pm
To book click through o my store or send me an email and pay weekly.
20th december 2022
Merry Christmas and thanks for your support with my books, workshops and accommodation at Little Norfolk Bay.
Unfortunately, it is now too late for any orders to be posted in time for Christmas but you are welcome to order books and vouchers for workshops and collect them from me in Glenorchy by arrangement. And I can email vouchers for workshops.
After a few years of COVID chaos I now have a full calendar of workshops listed now ready to book for term one 2023. I am excited that they will finally be closer to Hobart after looking for a suitable venue for a few years! In one of the original old farmhouses in Glenorchy, my venue for Cooking Workshops and for photoshoots for my photography. A convenient, less than 15 minute drive from the Hobart CBD.This will mean I can do lots of different classes and workshops. I have been teaching workshops for 7 years now, to hundreds, maybe even thousands of people.
I offer fun and affordable cooking and photography and styling workshops in my kitchen studio at Tolosa Street Glenorchy. I make sure they are casual and fun. Everyone with any level of cooking experience is welcome. We sit around a big kitchen bench and every one jumps in to help to shuck an oyster or clean some octopus if and when they want or they can just watch and learn. The workshops always end with a long lunch feast of all our delicious cooking around 10 recipes from my cookbooks. Guests book in with groups of friends or alone to meet new people. I also adapt my workshops to teach in other venues and schools, from fancy restaurants to grade 9 food tech classes, please get in contact to discuss with me. I am a trade qualified chef with over 20 years’ experience in commercial kitchens and I enjoy being able to share my professional skills and passion for wholesome, local, seasonal food in these workshops.
TERM ONE 2023
9th February Food Styling and Phone Photography
16th February Tasmanian Cooking Experience
23rd February Seafood Cooking
2nd March Party Planning
9th March Tasmanian Cooking Experience
16th March Bread Baking
30th March Tasmanian Cooking Experience
6th March Seafood Cooking
** please enquire about other dates for private groups or if the workshop of your choice is fully booked!
New KIDS COOKING class, the kids will be taking home a family dinner for 4 people
Monday term booking 8-11 year olds and 12 years and over. Parents are very excited about this one!!
This class is $65 a week and they sign up for the term, seven weeks term one. They will learn a variety of cooking techniques, food handling and storage and knife skills over the term as well as taking home dinner for the family one night every week. And they’ll finish the term with the knowledge to cook a bunch of meals independently. Book through my online store or send me an email to arrange to pay weekly.
Thanks and Merry Christmas
Eloise
3rd November 2022
With the chaos caused by COVID with cancellations I have not advertised a calendar of Workshops, Cooking Retreats and Indulgence Weekends in 2022 but I have been slotting them into the calendar when there is interest and it has managed to fill the calendar well. I am hoping to advertise a new workshop calendar for 2023 soon with some NEW cooking classes as well as our popular “long lunch style feasts” I have been facilitating for the last 4 years, in a new venue a lot closer to Hobart. Our Epic Weekend Cooking Retreats will still be hosted at Little Norfolk Bay Events and Chalets. With my new book Celebrate to hit the shelves very soon I am looking forward to adding in more of my fun ‘Party Planning’ workshop that has been very popular in the past!
Pics from a recent Tasmanian Cooking Workshop booked for a private group. We shucked oysters, cleaned octopus, made gluten free pastry and cooked up a delicious lunch. One of the last workshops for this year will be the Thank You lunch for the people who complete the full 30 day cooking challenge. Cook one recipe from my books everyday and post it to social media.
Let me know if you are going in our October Cooking Challenge I am hoping it will enthuse me enough to get my social media back in action. My social media was hacked and disabled and I have enjoyed the extended break but as I self publish my books I really need to get it working again.
Cook a recipe of mine from my books take a photo of the dish, with the cover of the book in one of the pics you post, and post it on Facebook to my page Eloise Emmett Chef and add website address http://www.eloiseemmett.com if you post on instagram as well eloiseemmettchef Make sure your privacy settings are set that I can see it and can share it.
October is a feral busy month for me, including launching and distributing a new book and moving out of our flat but I won’t let busy be an excuse to eat and feed our family and shit food. The photography and posting on social media of the food we cook does take some work that is why I put on the thank you lunch as I appreciate the effort!
Weekend Cooking Retreat
21st August 22
Our Weekend Cooking Retreats at Little Norfolk Bay Events and Chalets are the best use of the property, especially in the cold winter months in Tasmania. While hail was blasting at the front door over weekend we had 8 guests, myself and my amazing helper Maggie, inside our Event House all very toasty warm between the wood heater and the stove, cooking up a storm of beautiful seasonal food.
Although there is a huge variety of food cooked over the weekend, it is not excessive, there is not any waste, apart from a few scraps for the chickens. We cook good wholesome food making all our own stocks, pastas, breads. Starting with mostly meats, fish and veggies and turning them in to delicious meals suitable for special occasions. I also try to incorporate food for the normal weekday meals. So my guests don’t just leave the weekend with only knowledge of fancy ingredients they may never use again and recipes they’ll never actually cook! I actually want to help and inspire people to cook more. Lets be honest, cooking the family meals can become a chore, as it is so important for health, it needs to be a priority so whatever can make it more enjoyable helps I believe!
In my book Packed I make the claim that ‘cutting out wheat and dairy is not hard when you are cooking with real foods like meat, eggs and veggies’. My claim was put to the test with a dairy free and gluten free guest scheduled to attend.
I do believe that the commercial ‘packet food’ industry has run off with these allergies and cashed big time, and the list of the ingredients on some of these products the commercial food industry makes is freaky!! Using a packet of GF whatever, is not always healthier. Yes, they can be a nice and probably handy substitute for those who NEED it but not always healthier for everyone. Some recipes need gluten or dairy to be successful, I would say white fluffy bread is one example, if you are not going to achieve what you want it is probably easier to eat something else. There is so much other beautiful food to choose from!
So I simply choose the dishes that didn’t contain gluten or dairy or the could be substituted for a similar or even better flavour combination, and it really is not hard when you are starting with real food. I was not going to attempt gluten free pasta as structurally that would need something added as the gluten is an important part, however we easily submitted some corn and rice flour into gnocchi. And I am absolutely make a coconut cream clafoutis with almond again as they added beautiful flavours! Here are our menus and photos from the weekend:
Arrival Drinks of Bream Creek Sparkling, Ashbolt Elderberry and lime spritzer & Crayfish Pate (recipe Seafood Everyday) with
cheeses and Quince paste (recipe The Tasmania Pantry)
Dinner Friday
Oysters parsley and lemon (recipe seafood Everyday)
Garlic and herb Pizza Bread (with a GF version made with quinoa, rice and corn)
Scallops in Noodle Broth (new recipe for TSIC)
Rannoch Quail, Quinoa and citrus salad (Tasmania Pantry 2)
Wallaby, pumpkin and Goats Cheese and cherry chutney(recipe Tasmania Pantry 2)
Caramel Macadamia Pie (New recipe for soon to be released Celebrate) Gf pastry sub with quinoa, rice and corn.
Saturday Breakfast
Caper Tart, Tassal smoked salmon and red onion Jam (recipe Seafood Everyday- with a GF pastry sub Quinoa, rice and corn)
Baked Beans and Eggs (Tasmania Pantry 2)
Saturday Lunch
Octopus, pumpkin and Fetta (we used the delicious soyoyoy un-fetta) (recipe Packed)
Prawns and broccoli and honey mustard salad (recipe Packed)
Lamb Kofta (recipe Packed) pantry hummus (recipe Tas Pantry 2) my fermented olives
Spiced Cauliflower (Tasmania Pantry 2)
Baked Tassal Salmon noodle salad (recipe Seafood Everyday)
Quinces baked with Blue cheese and Vino Cotto (recipe Tasmania Pantry 2)
Saturday Dinner
French onion soup (recipe Tasmania pantry 2)
Baked Squid (recipe Tasmania pantry 2)
Smoked Quail and honey mustard (recipe Tasmania Pantry)
Oyster, fennel, Gnocchi Bake (new recipe for the TSIC)
Venison carpaccio (recipe Tasmania Pantry)
Twice cooked Beef (recipe Tasmania Pantry with a red wine sub for the stout)
Plum and lavender Creme Brûlée (new recipe Celebrate)
Breakfast Sunday
Coconut almond Clafoutis
Congee corn and mushroom (Packed Cookbook)
unfortunately no photos of Sunday breakfast as I was having Credit card issues. Honestly, tech anything and I have a bad relationship at the moment! I have been hacked and booted off facebook and Instagram so I have started new pages.
Facebook Eloise Emmett Chef Little Norfolk Bay
instagram EloiseEmmettChef
This year I have not been advertising my weekends as much due to all the chaos covid has created. But in 2023 I am hoping to work towards having quite a full winter calendar. Please get in contact if you have a group interested and a date in mind. Or if there is just yourself or a few of you interested get in contact anyway as it helps with the planning if I know someone is keen for a particular date. There will be a price adjustment for next year to take in consideration of rising costs, of well EVERyTHING, but I doubt it will be drastic and I will do my best to keep it extraordinary value.
Buy copies of the books from my website and in other exciting news I am hosting another cooking challenge the month of October, a great way to get some cooking inspiration!
Purchase books from my website
Here is a look at some new recipes card I have produced for The Tasmanian Seafood Industry Council. I will put printed copies of the recipe cards in with all book orders or you will be able to collect them all. They are on an A4 card so fit nicely on your cookbook stand. They will be available from Seafood retail outlets soon. For this series of recipes I have come up with super simple recipes that are suitable for people who are a bit nervous cooking seafood. Let me know how you go with the recipe when you cook them, and please share your cooking on social media.
CHALETS AVAILBLE FOR HOSTED WEEKENDS AT LITTLE NORFOLK BAY
Weekend Cooking Retreat 19th 20th August
Indulgence Weekend 16th 17th September
Read more: www.littlenorfolkbayeventsandchalets.com
HAVE YOU GOT YOUR COPY OF MY NEW BOOK PACKED YET?
This book was created so I could share what I have learnt over many years of being a chef, and most recently being a busy mum of three very active children. I have a very full life – we live on the Tasman Peninsula and our children attend a school in Hobart. For most of the past 10 years we have commuted daily with the children to take them to school. And also take them to their many activities outside of school such as dancing, karate, football, cricket, swimming, art classes, acting classes and more. My husband was often away for work for long periods so I did this by myself a lot. I also run a busy accommodation and cooking workshop retreat on the Tasman Peninsula, Little Norfolk Bay Events and Chalets and I am a freelance photographer, food-stylist and a consultant for hospitality and publishing.
But I have never allowed this to be an excuse to not find time to cook nutritious meals. Beside the fact that it would cost a fortune to feed my family on takeaways – the cost on their health was just something I am not willing to compromise on.
“Always keep in mind that we are brainwashed by the commercial food industry with their powerful marketing into believing that cooking is time consuming and hard – and I am here to tell you it is not! When those people in the big offices that are creating their products are deciding their next marketing strategy, your health is not considered at all in their plans.”
The book contains over 80 nutrient dense recipes, not just to fill kids lunchboxes, although it will be a handy lunch box resource but for café level delicious meals ideas for on-the-go lifestyles. The book also contains how to prepare the food in a busy life and WHY we should prioritise eating well, exploring the costs to your wallet, health and the planet. Such as:
Cost for your wallet
“Cooking your food is always the most economical choice. I prefer to spend my money on the fun activities my kids do that keep them active, which then circles back to them having exercise that they enjoy. Some people believe that takeaway food is cheap but for a meal to feed my family at a takeaway shop, it costs $60-$120, I can buy a lot of veggies and meat with that! Not to mention that it has little nutritional value so it is just a waste. An example in the book is a delicious honey mustard prawn salad that takes about 5 minutes to prepare and works out the same cost as a ham and cheesesandwich purchased from a take -away shop, what would you prefer??”
Cost for your health
“There are endless amounts of research you can find on the effects of not eating well. We know it contributes to obesity, heart disease, depression, anxiety, cancer and more. You can find the information easily yourself. It is pretty confrontingto sadly see that pharmaceutical companies currently define lifestyle illnesses as “growth industries” worth investing in. “
Cost for the planet
“20% of food that is purchased will never be eaten? It is just thrown away. All that time, energy and resources that went into making that food – all gone. 60% of the Australian diet is discretionary foods, foods that provide little or no nutrition or are even health negative. Isn’t that just a ridiculous waste too? Just think of your own fridge and pantry – how much goes to waste? With better organisation with your meals, not only will your health benefit, but so will the planet. “
Newsletter May 2022
I am excited to share with you all my new cookbook (it should be here any day now)!! Thank you to everyone who has pre-ordered they will be in the post as soon as they arrive.
This book was created so I could share what I have learnt over many years of being a chef, and most recently being a busy mum of three very active children. I have a very full life – we live on the Tasman Peninsula and our children attend a school in Hobart. For most of the past 10 years we have commuted daily with the children to take them to school. And also take them to their many activities outside of school such as dancing, karate, football, cricket, swimming, art classes, acting classes and more. My husband was often away for work for long periods so I did this by myself a lot. I also run a busy accommodation and cooking workshop retreat on the Tasman Peninsula, Little Norfolk Bay Events and Chalets and I am a freelance photographer, food-stylist and a consultant for hospitality and publishing.
But I have never allowed this to be an excuse to not find time to cook nutritious meals. Beside the fact that it would cost a fortune to feed my family on takeaways – the cost on their health was just something I am not willing to compromise on.
“Always keep in mind that we are brainwashed by the commercial food industry with their powerful marketing into believing that cooking is time consuming and hard – and I am here to tell you it is not! When those people in the big offices that are creating their products are deciding their next marketing strategy, your health is not considered at all in their plans.”
The book contains over 80 nutrient dense recipes, not just to fill kids lunchboxes, although it will be a handy lunch box resource but for café level delicious meals ideas for on-the-go lifestyles. The book also contains how to prepare the food in a busy life and WHY we should prioritise eating well, exploring the costs to your wallet, health and the planet. Such as:
Cost for your wallet
“Cooking your food is always the most economical choice. I preferto spend my money on the fun activities my kids do that keep them active, which then circles back to them having exercise that they enjoy. Some people believe that takeaway food is cheap but for a meal to feed my family at a takeaway shop, it costs $60-$120, I can buy a lot of veggies and meat with that! Not to mention that it has little nutritional value so it is just a waste. An example in the book is a delicious honey mustard prawn salad that takes about 5 minutes to prepare and works out the same cost as a ham and cheesesandwich purchased from a take -away shop, what would you prefer??”
Cost for your health
“There are endless amounts of research you can find on the effects of not eating well. We know it contributes to obesity, heart disease, depression, anxiety, cancer and more. You can find the information easily yourself. It is pretty confrontingto sadly see that pharmaceutical companies currently define lifestyle illnesses as “growth industries” worth investing in. “
Cost for the planet
“20% of food that is purchased will never be eaten? It is just thrown away. All that time, energy and resources that went into making that food – all gone. 60% of the Australian diet is discretionary foods, foods that provide little or no nutrition or are even health negative. Isn’t that just a ridiculous waste too? Just think of your own fridge and pantry – how much goes to waste? With better organisation with your meals, not only will your health benefit, but so will the planet. “
New cooking challenge
It was great to see a few hundred of my recipes cooked in the October cooking challenge with excellent feedback on the delicious and easy to prepare recipes. Check out the cooking on my website. I have decided to host the challenge again for the month of June to go with the launch of Packed. So Join in! it is a great way to get some cooking inspiration and find some new recipes that may become regular favourites. Even I get inspiration from the challenge even though they are my recipes, people whip things up I have forgotten about or share a variation to a recipe that I can try. I love that about cooking there will always be something new to learn.
All you need to do is cook one recipe every day from the recipes in my books and website and post it on my facebook page to join in, if you can not do the full month, you can just share whatever you can.
I am preparing some of this mustard now recipe by @tall_fashion_miss_g_and_me recipe from the first Tasmania Pantry cookbook. I have made a fruit loaf this week, sourdough, slow cooked beef, overnight oats, soup and other recipes from my books and website. I would cook at least a dozen recipes each week. Why I create my books to share the easy and delicious recipes with everyone.
If you are needing a little Winter cooking Inso I am hosting a June cooking challenge.
Why?
It is fun! – who doesn’t get excited thinking about delicious food!
To inspire us all to cook a bit more real food and get inspiration from each other seeing what others cook. Even I get Inso form what others cook from my recipes, in previous challenges people will cook recipes I haven’t cooked for yonks and I will need to cook it too.
Find new favourites to add to the regular meals.
To promote my recipes and books so your friends can find them too- very important- as I am a self published author as well as all the recipe creation, testing, writing, editing, food-styling and photography to create the books, I then get to do all the marketing for ever and ever to sell the bloody things.
As a thank you to everyone that completes the 30 days cooking challenge by cooking one of my recipes everyday and sharing the cooking on facebook gets invited to a special workshop and lunch at Little Norfolk Bay Events and Chalets in July or August. It is not hard, most of us need to eat at least 3 meals a day, I have heaps of healthy breakfast ideas, lunches and dinners for weekdays and special occasion meals and condiments and other bits and pieces.
let me know if you are planning to join in so I can keep an eye out for your posts and when we start if I haven’t liked or shared your posts then I haven’t seen them I missed quite a few last time as they were shared in the wrong place.
2022 PRIVATE Group bookings for Little Norfolk Bay Events and Chalets
We are taking bookings for 2022 for private group bookings for Cooking Retreats, Indulgence weekends or DIY catered weekends and workshops. With our 4 chalets and large event house that sleeps 6 in the loft Bunkhouse it is a brilliant spot for all types of gatherings.
Also, as always if you have just a few of you interested in a particular date then get in contact and I might be able to list something on the date that suits you when I am planning out the calendar.
Read more: www.littlenorfolkbayeventsandchalets.com
October cooking challenge
It was great to see a few hundred of my recipes cooked in the October cooking challenge, with excellent feedback on the delicious and easy to prepare recipes. Check out all of the cooking on my website. If you need some books for gifts or for yourself I will post the books out with free postage before Christmas. I can also gift wrap and post directly to the giftee, just message me the instructions when you order.
Please order your Christmas gifts early as there are reprints on the way (all printed in Australia now) and the post is crazy.
NEW BOOKS on the way in 2022
I am working on 2 new cookbooks to be released in 2022!
PACKED a book full of recipes for nutrient dense food on the go, not just lunchboxes for children, this contains café level delicious recipes to eat on the go. Just because it is eaten in the carpark at kids after school activities does not mean it has to be tasteless or unhealthy!
And CELEBRATE – I cannot wait to share all the tips, tricks and recipes for easy catering that I have learnt with nearly 30 years in hospitality.
Both books are available to pre-order, as I self-publish this helps to chip in for production costs and as the incentive to pre-order, you get a better price. There are also incredible value business advertising sponsorship opportunities for both books, the information is on my website www.eloiseemmett.com
2022 PRIVATE Group bookings for Little Norfolk Bay Events and Chalets
We are taking bookings for 2022 for private group bookings for Cooking Retreats, Indulgence weekends or DIY catered weekends and workshops. With our 4 chalets and large event house that sleeps 6 in the loft Bunkhouse it is a brilliant spot for all types of gatherings.
Also, as always if you have just a few of you interested in a particular date then get in contact and I might be able to list a Workshop, Retreat or Indulgence Weekend on the date that suits you when I am planning out the calendar.
Read more: www.littlenorfolkbayeventsandchalets.com
Cooking Retreat February 18th-20th
We have one chalet available in a weekend Cooking Retreat. For a single, a couple or 3 friends, read more on my website, it would make a great Christmas gift!
www.littlenorfolkbayeventsandchalets.com
Thank you,Please pass along to friends who will be interested,Eloise
www.eloiseemmett.comwww.littlenorfolkbayeventsandchalets.com
Hello,Thanks for your book purchases in the past or your patronage at Little Norfolk Bay Events and Chalets. Just a quick note to let you know about a few things going on with Little Norfolk Bay and my cookbooks, please pass this along to any friends who will be interested.
October cooking challenge
If you have been following along on social media we are nearly at the end of the October cooking challenge, participants have been cooking recipes from my books and website. We all need a little kitchen inspiration sometimes, cooking our food is a pretty important element to our health. Even though they are my recipes I still found myself inspired by what others cooked and I cooked quite a few recipes I have not cooked for yonks, after I admired other peoples delicious cooking!
We have about a week left to get an entry or an extra entry or two into the random draw to WIN the Indulgence Weekend at Little Norfolk Bay Events and chalets. Simply cook one of my recipes and share a picture of your cooking on my facebook page, enter as many times as you like.
Will be doing this again in the month of February, timing it in with back to school/work after the holidays. There will be some generous prizes and as we need to do a fair bit of cooking each day to nourish ourselves so why not have a bit of fun?! You can check out all the cooking from the October challenge on my facebook business page eloiseemmett .com.
If you need some of my books for gifts or for yourself I will post the books out with free postage before Christmas. I can also gift wrap and post directly to the giftee, just message me the instructions when you order. Please order your Christmas gifts early as there are reprints on the way and the post is crazy.
2022 PRIVATE Group bookings for Little Norfolk Bay Events and Chalets
We are taking bookings for 2022 for private group bookings for Cooking Retreats, Indulgence weekends or DIY catered weekends and workshops. With our 4 chalets and large Event House that sleeps 6 in the loft Bunkhouse it is a brilliant spot for all types of gatherings.
Also, as always if you have just a few of you interested in a particular date then get in contact and I might be able to list something on the date that suits you when I am planning out the calendar.
Read more: www.littlenorfolkbayeventsandchalets.com
Indulgence Weekend 10th December
We have a chalet available for an Indulgence Weekend on the 10th of December. The weekend includes 2 nights in a spa chalet, breakfast, arrival drinks and canapes and a special 7 course dinner on the Saturday evening. These weekends are always highly recommended by our guests, Last chance for the year!!!
Book
www.littlenorfolkbayevenstandchalets.com
Thanks Eloise
Eloise Emmett 