Maleny IGA Foodie Nights

In April we introduced “Foodie Nights” over in our Gifts and Gourmet store. Held on a Wednesday night, featuring a cooking demonstration and a taste-testing and has no entry fee. The photo above is from our second Foodie night featuring Matilda from Gourmet Afrika and Beigli Cake. Our first foodie night Todd from Fine Life Food Company showed us how to cook with Truffle Oil and answered questions on why Italian Olive oil and pasta tastes different to Australian varieties. Todd is coming back on 30th July so if you missed him last time you can catch him this time around.

On our first foodie night we also sampled the delicious Suncoast Limes cordials and gourmet Lime Salt. Two brands will be featured at each foodie night; one local and one international or two local.

We decided to hold Foodie nights so you have the opportunity to mingle and meet local food producers and taste international gourmet food.

FOODIE NIGHTS FOR 2014 Wednesday nights 6pm to 8pm on the 28 May, 18 June, 30 July, 20 August, 10 September, 1 & 29 October, 12 & 19 November, 3 & 10 December. Note: These dates may vary dependant on supplier availability.

Pre-Renovation Flashback

I bet many of you can’t remember what the old Maleny IGA checkouts looked like now. Isn’t it funny how time moves on and we forget. These photos may help jog your memory. The express lane was on the MCU Bank side of the store and only had two registers, not three as we presently have. In general we had less checkouts before the renovation with each a single stand-alone registers not double sided like many are now. Other recent changes have been widening the entry into the produce section. Changing the trolley storage bay; remember they used to be where the express lane checkouts are now.

Christmas 2012 saw us reclaim the back left part of the store, where the milk is kept. This area used to be a staff room. New wooden floor was laid and major electricity rewiring was required.  Early 2013 the new fridges went in and this greatly expanded the dairy goods selection we can provide for you.

A large part of the changes have been ‘behind the scenes’. Digging out underneath the store. Strengthening the foundations, pouring concrete, and all this was before we began the major construction work.

Let’s not forget the disruption when the entire walkway to the car park was replaced. While we love the covered walkway now, it was a nuisance for some negotiating trolley’s during the makeover. Then the entire carpark itself, major changes to the layout as required by Council and paid for by us.

Finally the concrete reinforcing of the area trucks will drive over at the rear of the store as they use the new loading bay area. Moving the loading bay from Maple St has long been a dream of ours and soon it will happen!

Matilda from Gourmet Afrika

Matilda Scarfe local producer of Gourmet Afrika range of products recently took a group over to South Africa on a ‘Gourmet Safari’, to meet the locals, taste some of the dishes and see the animals.She says the diversity of culture in the country has introduced new South African versions of mainly European dishes into homes and restaurants in South Africa. This ‘blending of flavours’ is an emerging trend in South Africa and has developed as a result of the merging of local flavours with migrant’s favourite traditional meals. One of these is the Bobotie Lasagne which takes a traditional South African meat dish (Bobotie) and blends it with the Greek lasagne, creating a spicy union of the two traditional meals.

Did you know that Matilda Scarfe’s kitchen is a regular stop on the Maleny, Montville Local Food Bus Tour? Matilda recently gave a cooking demonstration and taste test including the newly released and very popular Gourmet Afrika Dukka at the Maleny IGA Gifts & Gourmet store “Foodie Night.”

What a great opportunity it was to try some of the diverse flavours of South Africa – the ‘rainbow nation’. The name refers to the country being a melting pot of cultures from across the globe, with Malaysian, Afrikaans, English, French and German people just some of the different nationalities living in the country Matilda cooked her Special Malay Curry for us, and said she wants people to know that unlike in India, South African curries are rarely hot. They are however, very flavoursome, due to the combination of the many different herbs and spices in the recipe.

Maleny Coffee

A new Has Garanti 15kg Coffee Roaster was installed in Maleny last year as we in Maleny and the Hinterland continue our love affair with coffee. Maleny has long been renowned for our high-quality coffee cafe scene with many tourists and locals choosing to visit and relocate based on the location, congenial atmosphere of a small country town with a love for coffee and community. The smell of coffee roasting now drifts over our green hills thanks to Steve & Adrian from Maleny Coffee. Steve and Adrian have been regular visitors to Maleny during their 17 year partnership. They love the diversity of Maleny with its robust conversations, great foodie locations and the ethos of developing a new product for Maleny. In 2012 Adrian and Steve chose to relocate to Maleny from the inner city Brisbane suburb of Windsor to pursue their dreams of creating an artisan roasted, signature blend.

It has taken Steve and Adrian a year to perfect the blend they call 1891. Why 1891? Well it’s the year Maleny was proclaimed a town. The world demand for quality coffee continues to grow with 1.4 billion cups of coffee drunk every day worldwide but Steve and Adrian have no plans for world coffee domination. They want their business to be successful but not to the point where it devours the laid-back lifestyle of an artisan coffee manufacturer.

Creating relationships and being strategic by choosing to stay small and boutique but high quality is part of their business plan. Lifestyle needs to come first, with Maleny Coffee sustaining their new lifestyle and contributing to the draw and ‘branding’ of Maleny.

Packaging and branding Maleny Coffee was a big consideration. Maleny Coffee’s main logo is a tree, symbolic of Maleny and our deep appreciation for trees and nature. Steve and Adrian’s  graphic artist created ‘seasonal’ versions of the tree. The version shown on the packaging is the ‘summer’ tree and on their business cards is the ‘autumn’ tree, very appropriate as Maleny Coffee makes it’s debut now in Autumn 2014.

You can now find Maleny Coffee for sale at both Maleny IGA and across the road in our Gifts & Gourmet store. Available in 250g, 500g and 1kg packs. Perfect to brew a great coffee at home and they also look great in a gift hamper! Remember our Maleny IGA Deli staff are always happy to grind your coffee, purchased through us for free. Let us know what grind you would like and we can easily do this for you.

Come along to our next Foodie night at Gifts & Gourmet on Wednesday 28th May 6pm to meet Steve and Adrian and sample their delicious coffee. Steve and Adrian cup each roast of coffee they create. This is a quality control method ensuring each bag you buy of Maleny Coffee is high quality and the flavour, aroma etc you expect. The way you prepare your coffee makes all the difference. During the Foodie Night you’ll learn all there is to know about the different methods coffee can be prepared for drinking.

From percolating to brewing to espresso and everything in between including what sort of grind you want from your beans to make the perfect coffee.Come along and join us for this free Food Night. Bookings preferred. Please book your spot at Gifts & Gourmet.

Stephen starts and Ty returns

Maleny IGA promoted Stephen Anderson to Store Manager in March this year, anticipating the wealth of retail knowledge that he brings to the role. Having worked in retail for 20 years, Stephen is excited about the opportunity to be a part of the fresh, local food revolution that has been happening over the two years at the store. He is a family man, who married his high school sweet-heart, Susie, in Maryborough, where her family were cane farmers. They now live locally and have two boys, Beau and Ronan, and a new baby on the way in August. Stephen was drawn to the Maleny IGA for its “reputation as being a good employer”, its community focus, and its range of products “that are a bit out of the ordinary”.

You’ll notice some changes around the store as Stephen utilises his extensive retail knowledge to streamline accessibility of products in the store. If you see him around, stop and say ‘Hi’.

You may remember we did a farewell article to Ty in our December Newsletter. Guess what? He missed us and Maleny so much he’s returned. You’ll find this friendly young man back working in the Maleny IGA Deli.

Whats going on underneath Maleny IGA? Renovation Video 2!

Salads @ Palmwoods

Blake Nicolle has been farming his whole life. He and his family moved to Laidley from Zimbabwe in 2008, and opened a hydro farm growing Asian greens, and fresh herbs in 2011. They moved to Palmwoods in 2012, taking over the ‘Salad Bros’ lettuce farm and renaming it ‘Salads @ Palmwoods’, and adding his Asian greens and herbs. Blake is passionate about the importance of buying local, to ensure that farmers get paid adequately for their produce, and believes that cutting out the ‘middle man’ is imperative to keeping smaller farmers in business.

Thankfully the Maleny IGA is focussed on buying fresh, local produce such as Blake’s tasty lettuces; straight from farmers. Look for ‘Salads @ Palmwoods’ Watercress, Salad Mix, English Spinach, Baby Cos Leaves and Roquette in the Maleny IGA Fresh Produce Section.

Maleny & Montville Gourmet Local Food Tours in 2014

A great day out! NEW for 2014 are monthly Maleny IGA Maleny & Montville Local Food Bus Tours. Leaving at 8.45am for a jam packed foodie day, visiting 6 local producers, enjoying a gourmet lunch and all in the scenic Sunshine Coast Hinterland. Tickets are $59. NOTE: this is a heavily subsided and discounted ticket price designed to kick start local food tours in our region. Dates for 2014:

• April 2014
• May 2014
• June 2014
• July 2014
• August 2014
• September 2014
• October 2014

You can buy your ticket from Maleny Visitor Info Centre or via our Maleny IGA Eventbrite Booking Page.

Maleny IGA Renovation Video 1

Maleny IGA Community Benefits Club over $940,000 and counting

Since its inception in 2006, our Maleny IGA Community Benefits Club (CBC) has poured over $940,000 into charities, schools, sporting clubs, essential services and special interest groups across this Sunshine Coast Hinterland community. Over 7600 customers of the thriving, locally owned store are a part of the CBC program and one cent from every dollar they spend at the checkouts goes directly into the community group of their choice. Owners, Rob and Samantha Outridge say it’s an easy way to put money where it’s needed without groups having to come asking for a handout.

“The feedback we’ve received over the years has been extremely positive” Mr Outridge said. “Several smaller clubs have admitted that were it not for their CBC funding they may have had to close their doors.” CBC is a simple loyalty program. Customers sign up at the checkout and receive a CBC number linked to the group of their choice. They then quote the number when shopping and one cent from every dollar is deposited into that group’s account.

Samantha Outridge said groups can use their funds any way they choose. “As well as larger cost items such as building work, purchase of equipment, maintenance and repairs, many groups feed their CBC funds back into our store, buying food for events, vouchers for raffles or simply paying their store account.” “It’s about making the community we live in a vibrant and thriving one” Mrs Outridge said, “And helping individuals feel good about the part they are playing in that process.”

Maleny Rural Fire Brigade CBC Cheque Presentation.

CBC Maleny IGA

CBC - Montville State School

The Montville State School was thankful to receive the $6740.62 from the Maleny Supa IGA CBC Funds, which assisted them purchase new furniture for the students, replacing some that has fallen into disrepair. The lovely handcrafted wooden tables and benches are made from recycled Camphor Laurel, at the workshop of one of the student’s parents, Brad Davidge, who is an experienced local wood craftsman. The design of the furniture was assisted by another parent, Architect David Gole. The Montville P&C are glad to be able to use the aromatic wood of the Camphor Laurel tree that grows abundantly in the area, and is considered to be a weed. Brad said that the tables and chairs took around 2 full days to make, with 3 people working on them, and is very happy with the results. The children are excited about the new furniture that has been designed specially to suit their small stature. The Montville State School P&C President, Corin Kelly, said that they “wanted to support local business and expertise”, and it has proven to be a great business opportunity for Brad, as he has received orders for more furniture from parents, for their homes. The Montville P&C was so impressed with the furniture that they have commissioned him to make more for another area of the school, to be used in conjunction with their Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Project. The Kitchen Garden Project is an initiative of Adelaide based chef Stephanie Alexander, who has put on her ‘Jamie Oliver Hat’ and is encouraging schools to grow vege gardens and teach children how to cook with the food that they grow. The Kitchen Garden Project at Montville State School will kick off next year, and be a part of the science program curriculum. The program will involve the children assisting in the cultivation of the vegetables, and they will learn how to cook them into delicious meals in the school kitchen,and enjoy a shared meal together. Corin applauded the IGA’s contribution to local communities and wants to reinforce the practice to ‘shop locally’. “We are encouraging our school families to support the IGA because this can be turned into really valuable contributions, to a small school that has limited fund raising opportunities.”

CBC - Blackall Range Care Group

The Maleny IGA CBC contribution of $1366.89 has been of huge benefit to the Maleny members of the Blackall Range Care respite group with the creation of an extra day at the Maleny Neighbourhood Centre, on Monday mornings. The Blackall Range Care Group provides community care services for people living on the range that require “assistance with health care, personal care and home maintenance”. For sick or elderly residents of the range, the opportunity to engage in social outings is an important part of life, and without it they would spend a lot of time in isolation, confined to their homes due to immobility, lack of transport and lack of social connections. The Blackall Range Care Group goes some way towards providing a better quality of life, through providing activities that bring them together with other like-minded people of their age group.Until recently the Maleny residents of the Blackall Range needed to travel to Flaxton for the daily respite activities which involve games, social outings and other activities, but due to the travel distance they were finding it to be a long day. The 6 month trial of the addition of the new day of respite in Maleny will mean that more people will be able to enjoy the community care services from the Blackall Range Care Group, without needing to travel so far from home.

The financial contribution from the Maleny IGA allowed the Blackall Range Care Group to fund the Monday morning session at the Maleny Neighbourhood Centre, with the purchase of new games, morning tea and other activities for the group. While at the MNC, the group enjoy a morning tea of food purchased from the IGA, and learn how to play Mahjong and other board games. Beryl and Cathy from the Blackall Range Group are excited for the opportunity to extend the service to allow for an extra day for residents from the Maleny area. “It was a long time on the bus for them, as there are lots of stops on the way to the Flaxton Cottage, so having it here in Maleny is great because it’s a very central place, and they’re enjoying it a lot.”

CBC - Maleny Bowls Club

The Community Benefit Fund contribution of $1191.76 has come just in the nick of time for the Maleny Bowls Club, as their cash register broke recently and cost $647 to fix! “The money came at a very opportune time for us as the register just broke,” said the Clubs President Ian Hanson.The bowls club has been trading at a loss this year because of the rain, which means they have lost quite a few days of play for their regular groups. When they can’t play, nobody pays, but they still need to pay for all the amenities and keeping their bar stocked so they can enjoy a beer after the game, so the rest of the CBC money will help with maintenance and keeping the place going. Ian invited the community to come along sometime and try out a game of bare foot bowls, which are held at 2pm on Fridays at the Bowls Club. He said the Maleny Bowls Club is a great place to hold functions for Birthdays, Christmas or any other celebration. He regularly has group bookings for people celebrating an occasion, who come along to enjoy a game or two of bare foot bowls with a barbecue catered by the Bowls Club.

Incase you weren’t sure where it is, the club is situated next to the Maleny Primary School and just behind the Maleny Hotel. A zen-like feeling of calm washes over you as you step onto the green, with a backdrop of the rolling green hills of North Maleny. As well as being open during the week, the club is open Saturdays and Sundays and takes bookings for groups to come along and have a game.  Ian appreciates the CBC members who have nominated the Maleny Bowls Club as their beneficiary and welcomes anyone else who has not yet become a member to join up and nominate them, as every dollar helps.

For bookings phone the Maleny Bowls Club after 2pm on 5494 2335, or Ian Hanson on 54999932

CBC - Maleny Community Kindergarten

For the C and K Kindergarten in Maleny, the local Maleny IGA has been a huge support, allowing them to keep the centre afloat, but also assisting them with their sustainability projects around the centre. Director Ruth Law said that because they are a non-profit organisation they rely heavily on community support and their biggest supporter is Maleny IGA. Ruth said the recent contribution of $275.00 assisted them to buy a wooden dresser for the children in the classroom. “Over the years the IGA has helped us with purchasing all sorts of things for the centre. They have assisted us to buy the rainwater tanks, they helped with the plants, they paid for our 3 chooks, and they’ve paid for equipment. It’s been fantastic!” The movable chicken tractor cost $900 which they were able to buy with money from the Maleny IGA Community Benefit Fund. Having the chickens helps with teaching the children about where baby chickens and their eggs come from.

The centre has a strong focus on sustainability, and Ruth says that it is all ‘hands on’, with the children learning all aspects of sustainable living, including recycling everything, and apart from the chickens they also have a worm farm for the children’s lunch scraps. They have recently started planting an orchard with apple and other fruit trees, indigenous trees and an undercover area where they will be holding a yarning circle. “We’ve just got another grant through and we’re putting in an orchard and will be extending the undercover area to have musical instruments, and its really just a great place for the kids.”  Ruth said they like to give back something to the community, and they reciprocate with the money that comes to them from the Maleny IGA, by putting it back into the area. “If we use Maleny IGA funds then we use local builders. The money stays in the community and it’s not going elsewhere.”

CBC - Quota International of Maleny

The Maleny IGA Community Benefit Fund contributions assist local community group Quota to help members of the community who are hearing or speech impaired, and to support disadvantaged women and children in the area. The most recent contribution of $95.85 went towards a hamper of local products which they raffled to raise funds for the groups activities. Over the years the CBC contributions have also assisted Quota to pay for catering supplies for both their Show Café and the Debutante Ball which is held for Grade 11 girls from Maleny High School. According to Quota President Rana Bartlett, Quota International was formed in the USA in 1919. The Maleny club was formed in 1987 and they have approximately 20 members to date. The Maleny group is heavily involved with the Hear and Say centre at Nambour, and the STEMM project at Burnside High School, which assists young mothers to finish their schooling while their babies are cared for by volunteers. Through their fundraising enterprises Maleny Quota also supports local community groups including the Blackall Range Care Group, TS Naval Cadets, Maleny Girl Guides, Care Flight and AGL Rescue Helicopters. Internationally they also contribute financially to assist Mercy Ships, and the 15 ‘Hand in Hand’ projects which are run by Quota clubs in third world countries.

The group has a number of different fundraising enterprises that they employ to assist them with raising funds for the many programmes that they are involved in. Some of these include the Annual Quilt Show, the Quota Café at the Maleny Agricultural Show, their Annual Cent Auction and Book Sale, and the street stalls they put on at various community functions. They value the Maleny IGA CBC contributions as a way of keeping catering costs down for functions, so that they have more money for the other projects that they support.

CBC - Maleny Health and Wellness Festival

The Maleny IGA donation of $500 to the Health and Wellness Festival was the perfect financial balm to assist Veronica Davidson to hire a professional sound engineer for the festival. As the festival centred around ‘The Sound of Healing’ theme. Maleny IGA’s donation contributed to one of the most important aspects of the event. Local sound guru Pix came to the party agreeing to discount his normal rate. Veronica said that the headline act for the festival, “Sacred Earth” were very happy when they heard that Pix was doing the sound, because he is one of the best around. The festival was a great success with approximately 400 people attending the Maleny Showgrounds to immerse themselves in the sound of healing. The event, which was held on Saturday the 12th of October brought to fruition Veronica’s vision of showcasing both the magic of Maleny and bringing together practitioners to share their skills by ‘encouraging health, wealth and happiness through peer support’. The festival featured both local performers and visitors from further afield including international sound artists Chris James and Sacred Earth.

As well as musical performances, the festival was a showcase for therapists and healers, artists, street performers, and an array of delicious healthy cuisine to lift the spirit. Veronica said everyone made mention of the uplifted energy of the event, and she felt this was attributed to the ceremony held with local Indigenous Elders of the area on the previous day. She said recently the boundaries for Indigenous peoples in the area has changed, so the ceremony brought together the Elders of the two different mobs for the ceremony to open the festival.

CBC - Maleny Girl Guides

According to the Maleny Girl Guides President, Leanne Large, the group is a very adventurous one, with the girls drawn to the more thrilling activities available to them. The recent contribution of $283.27 from the Maleny IGA Community Needs Fund helped the group buy cooking ingredients and other things they need for their weekly group activities. Leanne said it works really well to do it this way as the money is going back into the IGA. The group meets on Monday’s at the Girl Guides Hut on Cedar Street in Maleny 3:30-5:30pm, and the girls undertake different activities to earn badges and learn new skills. On the Girl Guides most recent adventure they went to the Strawberry Camp at the Mudjimba Apex campsite,with the Sunshine Coast District Guides. The camp activities included high ropes, low ropes, a river cruise, a nature walk through the mangrove forest and a visit to McSweeney’s Strawberry Farm. They also made pink teddy bears. At the camp they had to abseil down Mount Tinbeerwah, which they were able to do easily and completed their Trefoil 1 Adventure badge in Abseiling. Guide Leader Rebecca Dostal said the camp is a great way for the girls to satisfy their desire for adventure safely, and learn all aspects of abseiling, such as how to get themselves down if they are stuck on a rope. “This year they were able to do the high ropes, which are as a high as the telegraph poles, so it’s amazing, and they are the only ones on the Sunshine Coast that have completed that badge.”

The girls have also been working on their BP badge (Be Prepared) which taught them about how to approach a situation in a crisis. “For example, home fire safety” said Leanne. “The girls drew a plan of the house and worked out where they would go in the event of a fire, and then prepared a first aid kit.” Leanne said the activities teach valuable skills, and help them & their families be better prepared in the event of a situation like the one we had earlier in the year, where there was flooding and no power. “We’ve downloaded all the information from the council website and will be preparing kits with emergency phone numbers and other information for the girls to have in their homes.”

The Guides assists the girls with all aspects of life including an awareness of our local area and its history. They recently completed their Faith Awareness Badge where they learned about the legends of the Glasshouse Mountains, and a local Indigenous man from Crystal Waters, Timothy Miller visited the Girl Guides sharing some stories about his life.

The Maleny Girl Guides welcome new girls who want to get involved. For more information about joining contact Rebecca Dostal on 0400 878 115, or Leanne Large on 0447 239 725.

CBC - Maleny State High School

The recent Maleny IGA CBC contribution of $2203.11 to the Maleny High School went into their maintenance fund which covers general day to day needs of the school. Maleny High School Business Services Manager, Carol Hart, said that the money was a welcome addition to the school fund that assists with different aspects of the daily running of the school. According to Carol, the money is spread around the school in the form of the upkeep of the gardens, general office needs such as photocopy paper, and other things that are needed to keep the school community running smoothly. The schools groundsman Greg Vivash was thankful of the contribution that assists him to buy plants and equipment to keep the school grounds looking lovely. For Greg, who recently came to work at the school, his daily challenge is keeping the weeds down, which proves to be quite a job as he says they are more hardy here than in other places.  It’s not just the weeds that are stronger and more resilient in Maleny; the Maleny High School students are some of the most talented and resilient around, and the high school is set to help them even more to make their mark in life.

The high school recently launched its Community Connections project which aims to ‘create opportunities and improve outcomes’ by drawing in more community support for its students, and those of the Maleny Flexi School. Acting Deputy Principal Peter Hoehn is dedicated to creating a Community Connections Hub to align school practices with the workforce and industry. The project will change the face of senior schooling for students at the high school with a focus on student based traineeships, work experience, Tafe courses and increasing vocational pathways. The Sunshine Coast Tafe has recently come on board with the high school to bring a Certificate III in Digital Media which will enhance skills in the digital industry arena, to begin at the high school in 2014. For more information about the Community Connections project or courses contact the Maleny High School on 5499 8111

CBC - Maleny Athletics

When Rob Outridge attended the opening of the new Maleny Athletics shed at the back of the Maleny High School grounds last month, he asked the QA (Queensland Athletics) group if there was any way he could help them, or anything they needed. They said that what they really needed was a mower, and the Maleny IGA forked out the $3000 to buy this much needed piece of machinery for the club. Rather than mowing the grass (which is mostly done by the school, except for holidays), the most important use of the mower is to move heavy equipment from the shed to the field, and back again at the end of the day. For the Maleny Athletics team, their weekly athletics practice requires a range of equipment to be taken out onto the field and set up, including high jump mats, shot put balls, hurdles, javelin and other bits and pieces. This means that the parents and volunteers need to move this equipment and some of it is extremely heavy. With the mower to help them they have everything on trolleys which they attach to the back of it, and it pulls everything out onto the field; saving everyone’s backs, and keeping the equipment at its best. “Before we had the mower we used to have to drag the big mats and other equipment in and out of the shed, which meant a lot of work for the parents, and damages the equipment from dragging it along the ground,” said Maleny Athletics Treasurer, Joanne Titherage.

Joanne’s husband Craig, who is also involved with the club, said they couldn’t have kept the club going without the support of Rob and the Maleny Apex group, who together have assisted them greatly with financial contributions and manual labour in erecting their new shed. “Rob has been particularly supportive of us through the Community Benefit Fund, and we just want to say a big ‘Thanks Rob’ for the brilliant support from the IGA. If it wasn’t for the likes of Rob and the IGA, clubs like this wouldn’t be able to exist.”

According to Aiden, Joanne’s son, another great thing about athletics is that the children don’t compete with each other; they are competing with their own personal best. So it’s a great way for children to build confidence in themselves. The centre currently has 48 athletes ranging from age 5 to 17, who meet at the Maleny High School on Saturday mornings. It costs around $150 for the whole year (which covers insurance and uniform) and is a great way for kids to stay fit and have fun while learning new skills. For more information about joining Maleny Athletics,or to volunteer to help out on Saturdays, check out the website www.malenylittleathletics.com.au or contact Maria Dodd (Centre Manager) 5494 2686, Sally-Ann Stewart (Secretary) 5494 2322, or Joanne on 5494 4278

Maleny IGA Real Food Festival Taster

Local chef and owner of Wild Rocket, Peter Brettell was serving up delicious, freshly cooked donuts, with a local strawberry compote and Colin James ice-cream at the Maleny IGA last Friday morning 30th August; a tasty brunch treat for shoppers and passers by. For those that just happened to find themselves in ‘the right place at the right time’, it was a delightful surprise.

Real Food Festival Director, Julie Shelton said the morning was a ‘taster’, an opportunity to wet peoples appetites for the upcoming Real Food Festival, being held at the Maleny Showgrounds this coming weekend the 7th and 8th of September. “Pete is one of our chefs, so we’re promoting the wonderful food that Wild Rocket has, and getting people all excited about next weekend; feeding them some yummy local strawberries and the donuts, and some local ice-cream.”

As one of the sponsors of the event, the Maleny IGA was happy to host The Pastie Pom, Pete, as he wowed shoppers with his yummy treat and cheeky grin. Rob had simply one word to describe the dessert – “Sensational. You can’t go wrong with freshly made donuts!” he said. Another shopper enjoyed it so much she asked for the recipe!

For Julie and fellow Real Food Festival team member, Alex Bouchet, it was a nice opportunity to step out of the Headquarters on Coral St, Maleny and meet people face to face. Julie said “The promotion at the IGA is always a real highlight for the Real Food Festival because Maleny is where the festival is hosted, and it’s the hub of food production on the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, and the Maleny IGA is such a strong supporter of local producers it’s nice to have really big special promotion here.”

Peter will be at the festival with some of the Wild Rocket team, and is bringing back the famous Hazelnut Crusted Prawns from last year, and for dessert he will be teaming up the strawberry compote and Colin James ice-cream with a white pannacotta in a delicious marriage of flavours. He will also be appearing as one of the chefs at the festival, demonstrating how to make delicious, light gnocci from scratch, at 2:30pm on Sunday at the Kunara Real Food Kitchen. So get along and pick up some tips from him.

Food stylist and chef, Chris Klaas stopped by to check out Pete’s dessert, and said he was looking forward to his food photography workshop at the festival, and invited people to bring their own camera and participate.

To view the program for the Real Food Festival go to realfoodfestival.com.au/2013-program/ CREATIVE COMMONS COPYRIGHT FOR THIS ARTICLE Maleny IGA Real Food Festival Taster by Maleny Supa IGA is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at http://www.malenyiga.com.au/wordpress/maleny-iga-real-food-festival-taster/.