Stomp it out!
If you like to get down and dirty with wine, head to the Sunshine Coast's Flame Hill Vineyard at Montville on Saturday 15 February to celebrate their most successful vintage in years. It's been three long, hard crop years according to Flame Hill's Tony Thompson and his team, but there's much optimism for this year's vintage.
There will be jazz, estate grown wine, grass-fed Angus beef burgers, prawns on the lawn and a stomp ceremony dancing to drums lead by the Stomp Tribal Grape Nymphs. Really all begs viewing, doesn't it? Head there for the day's fun or organise a restaurant reservation at Flame Hill. This would be a great post Valentines celebration - just sayin'
Congratulation Lyndey!
Congratulations to Lyndey Millan on her inclusion in the Australia Day Honours List.
Lyndey received an award of the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) within the Australian Honours System, for service to hospitality, particularly the food and wine industry, and to the community.
Romantic staycation
It's always surprising how different it feels when you stay in a hotel in the city in which you live - a staycation.Brisbane's CBD takes on a whole new perspective as a Hilton Brisbane resident. However with their Bubbly Nights in Brisbane package, which includes a complimentary bottle of Veuve Clicquot Vintage, a Vintaged Bar+Grill dinning voucher, jewellery discount and late check out, you may end up spending more time loved up in your luxious room than wandering the streets. Did you see that bathtub?
It's available until June 2014 for $255 per room, per night, twin share.
The perfect picnic
Amanda and Annabel, the two creative ladies behind The Picnic Society, have let their foodie creative juices run wild with the perfect picnic for two for Valentine's Day.
Think Locheilan Triple Cream brie, jewelled couscous salad with Morocccan lamb, rosewater panna cottas, bittersweet chocolate truffles, and much more. Ask for a full menu and get in quick if you want one of their limited supply of picnics baskets which will be available from 14 to 16 February, pick up only from Hamilton.
Take a Sandorkaut masterclass
Here's a question for your next trivia night - What do pickles, yoghurt, cheese, miso, salami and beer have in common? Yes, they are all fermented products and items of high interest for international fermentation fetishist, Sandor Katz.
And, it turns out fermented foods and drinks not only taste good, they actually are good for you as well. Sandor will share his obsession with the ancient alchemy of fermenting foods at a series of workshops and masterclasses with five event in Brisbane from 7 to 9 February at Kangaroo Point.
This week I'm loving
Don't eat all the tomatoes said no mother to her children ever!
That is until they tried these little punnets of sweetness, Bellino Australian Snacking Tomatoes. Seriously, I ate nearly worked my way through a whole punnet as an afternoon snack. They are hydroponically grown in Guyra, New South Wales, vine-ripened and hand-picked. Seems almost a shame to eat them! Find them at Aldi.
Australia Day, the holiday, may be finished for this year but don't miss the chance to have a good laugh at everything that's right and wrong about our large brown country.
'Australia Day', the play, by Jonathan Biggins is a fast-paced, satirical comedy that leaves no stone or social issue unturned. It's well worth watching, appeals to a wide audience spectrum, and the laughs are guaranteed. Just go!
It's on the The Playhouse, QPAC. We caught a quick meal before at Champ, located just next door opposite the Wheel of Brisbane.
Kerry Heaney