and Yesterday, I experienced Slow Food

recently, I joined the Slow Food Convivium in the Blue Mountains. the muffin workshop was part of that as was the day known as 'Pedal to Providores' that I attended yesterday.

just before I left, Joe snapped a photo of me... of course, I hate it. the double chin et al. . (oh my, why on earth did I put this photo on this post? why? why? why? - but this is me. slow. simple. simply me)
The idea was to gather produce from your own garden and I did: potimarron, cucumbers, mini capsicums, basil, eggs and tomatoes from the aforementioned self seeded tomatoes [cannot believe how many I have gathered from these plants. enough to just about open a market stall!]

then 10 of us met [from all different walks of life - even Walt, an american Navy Officer who is on holiday here at the moment] at the CO-OP in Katoomba with our chef, Andrew and hostess Anne.. and worked out a menu.. the other idea was to Pedal to all the local providores to buy goods and cook.. but some of us chose to walk. and what a walk it was.. 7 klms or there abouts..

the next stop was the Community Gardens - where we gathered herbs and foraged for weeds.. dock being the most sought after.

then onto Carrington Cellars to buy buffalo mozzarella & cream {this is Anne, our hostess - a woman, passionate about Slow Living.}

then a few stops at Hominy Bakery for artisan bread, Vinnies for some vintage aprons and then onto CloudLands - Anne's Home where we created lunch - with Andrew.

my first job was to strip the leaves from the Vietnamese Mint - which was gathered at the community gardens.

and that mint was used in the making of Rice Paper rolls along with vermicelli, carrot, smoked tofu & the mint. served with dipping sauce.

Andrew, roasted my pumpkin in garlic, coriander and cumin and served it with my basil.

He made soup from Jerusalem artichokes that were gathered from Anne's garden - served with cream and a tiny drop of truffle oil.. and bread.

eggs for a frittata, tomatoes served with basil & the buffalo cheese, a salad with cream, garlic and cucumber

a delicious lunch with people sharing a common interest.. ending with a delicious dessert of apple & walnut crumble - [apples gathered at the community gardens].

ending with me coming home, even more enthused about getting vegetables growing, tips on how to look after my chickens..and other important things.. that will help heal the planet. it all begins with me & the ripple effect that is created... know what i mean?