On the Table :: A Giveaway!

I try hard, I really, really do, but I am not a natural at cooking. Luckily for me I’m shacked-up with a natural. Alex tells me stories of when he was a child, taking over the kitchen and caking the room in flour to experiment with a new recipe. I never did that. I learned to set a table and cook basic meals at home economics class at school, not from my parents, neither of whom were outstanding cooks. We were a “cook because you have to” kind of family.

As a mother of three I have had to learn to cook all over again. My meals are still quite plain compared to Alex’s, but I have over the past few years expanded my repertoire  and started to see the creativity in cooking as well as seeing the savings I can make if I cook from scratch.

What has “hooked” me most into cooking is being able to combine gardening and food. I love to garden, so growing my own food has seen me collecting recipes and cook books and generally  pushing myself out of my comfort zone as I find recipes to match what I’ve grown.

The other “in” to cooking for me is living in a region so abundant in wonderful, locally grown food and farmers markets.  A photographer I worked with at the paper said to me once: “There is no excuse for not eating well on the North Coast.” I wholeheartedly agree. No excuse for not learning how to cook, either!

Today I am going to cut into a pumpkin I grew and attempt the pumpkin lasagne featured on page 28 of the Byron Farmers Market 10 Year Anniversary Recipe Collection. I only recently got my hands on this little book (more like a “mook” than a book, it’s very sweet) and I’ve been poring over the photography and simple recipes from local farmers and chefs.  

As well as the lasagne, I’ve got my eye on the recipe for roast tomato soup which can also be turned into a pasta sauce and that will also be my excuse tomorrow to visit my favourite stall at the market - Coopers Shoot Tomatoes.

While I’d love to invite you all over to taste-test the pumpkin lasagne, alas, that’s not possible.

Instead, the publisher, Remy Tancred from Sample magazine, has generously offered two copies of the Byron Farmers Market 10^th Anniversary Recipe Collection  to give away to two lucky readers of The Byron life. (Thanks Remy!)

How to enter the giveaway:

To enter the draw to win a copy of the Byron Farmers Market recipe book:

1. Follow this blog (the follow button is over there to the right, below the book list)
2.Leave a comment on this blog post telling us what’s “on the table” at your place this week.

You can also enter the draw multiple times by “liking” The Byron Life Facebook page, here and/or sharing this giveaway through FB, Twitter or Instagram. (Leave a comment for each additional entry.)

The giveaway will close Wednesday, January 30 and is open to Australian/NZ residents only.

Comments closed.
Winners announced here!

The recipe book is only available at the Byron Farmers Market, but if you can’t make it there, you can also email Remy directly to purchase a copy: info@samplensw.com

Want to see the Byron Farmers Market in action? I love this video celebrating the 10^th anniversary of the market put together by local producers, YellowBull Media.

Good luck!

x

M­­­­egan