We had such a fabulous night last Monday night at The 2010 Delicious Magazine Produce Awards at Circa @ The Prince.
There were 18 finalists in our category, From The Earth. 18 amazing growers and managers who we felt honoured to be included among.
For most of the night we hung out at the cheese table eating what is undoubtably the best cheese in Australia, La Luna. The Holy Goat girls, Carla and Anne-Marie, won the cheese category again this year.We watched the foodie world as they mingled and shmoozed all around us. There were farmers and growers and chefs and food celebrities and all sorts of food lovers.
I read somewhere online that morning, (but I can't seem to find it now), an article telling people not to bother going out for dinner in Sydney that night as all the best chefs were heading down south for the awards. And they weren't wrong it was a whose who of the food world and it was wonderful to be a part of it.
Our gorgeous friend Matt Wilkinson was the amazing chef charged with showcasing all the wonderful finalists' produce and he certainly did us proud.
Rather than include our heirloom vegies in another dish, he made them the hero.
Our rainbow carrots, beetroots and baby turnips were only slightly cooked and looked gorgeous standing up proud in all their glory.
We didn't win our category outright this year, we won a gold medal, but by the way Matt Preston was gushing about our farm and our heirloom vegies we felt like winners anyway.
Yay!
Miranda Sharp and The Collingwood Childrens' Farm Farmers Market won the award for the Most Outstanding Farmers' Market.Yay!
I discovered that farmer's wives don't wear frocks (except me).From left Vicki Sher (Sher Wagyu), Lizette Snaith (Warialda Belted Galloway Beef), me, Miranda Sharp (Melbourne Farmers' Markets).
Probably the best part of the night though was sharing dinner after the ceremony with these gorgeous women and their partners and Matt and a few other producers. Usually we see these growers at farmers' markets where we are busy working, so it was wonderful to relax and have a drink and enjoy the night with them.
And soon enough it was time to take the party shoes off, get the farm gear back on and come back down to earth. 'Hi' to everyone who told me they read this blog. Thanks for the offers to take photos for me and for the encouragement. I hope you are settling back into your real life ok.
Have a great Wednesday.
