Knowing that the said prized figs are beginning to get to the end of their season, Saturday found me at my fresh food mecca Paddys at Flemington, scanning the aisles looking for trays of the plump, purple fruit. Success came when I stopped a woman with a tray in her trolley, who kindly pointed me in the direction of the fig man. $15 later I was in business and now faced with a new quest, what does one do with 2kg of fresh figs?

Saturday night we gave it a good go but by Sunday morning still 1.4kg had to be eaten. Luckily if there is one thing I love more than fresh figs, thats fig jam - especially with blue cheese. Thus I set to making my special - Fig Jam.

Fig Jam
1.4kg chopped figs
700g caster sugar
180 ml white vinegar
Juice of 3 lemons

Combine all ingredients in a heavy bottomed pan.

Simmer on a low heat for 90 minutes or until thick and syrupy. I like a bit of a caramelised  edge to my fig jam, so i like to take as dark as possible. Also being that I like this jam for cheeses, I don't want the preseve to be sickly sweet so I generally tweak with a little extra vinegar or lemon juice towards the end.

Sterilise jars and lids by heating in a low 110C oven for 30 mins - lids are just placed on jars in this pic, not sealed.

Pour hot jam into hot jars, being sure to leave about 1 cm gap at the top. If you can do this cleanly without spilling I'll give you a medal!

Lastly, live life with the smug satisfaction of knowing that at home you have a stockpile of the yummiest fig jam that will see you through until next they are in season - ok lets be realistc, probably see you through to August atleast.

How often is it you read of corrupt doings in our local governments (11 council sacked in NSW between 1997-2008,) and think - what a farce! Acclaimed political performance group Version 1.0 take this notion to the max by highlighting the comical truths behind one of the country’s most startling cases of local government corruption.
The Table of Knowledge delves in the startling greed and sex scandal which exploded out of Wollongong Council (thumbs up to Wollongong Council who worked alongside Version 1.0 to create the play). It has it all, sex, greed, corruption, humour, deceit and treachery. The hilarity of it all is that the play is not a case of being 'based' on a true story - majority of the script is the actual ICAC transcripts. You seriously could not make this stuff up.

Version 1.0 is seamless in their ability to deliver what could be at times quite boring content (we are talking DA applications here people). Impeccable acting, gutsy direction and some really clever use of mixed media to add to the stage direction make for a really enjoyable experience. The opening sequence where the actors have to get past a passing bureaucrat is hilarious!
For a side splitting laugh which is so good it’s kind of sad when you think of the truth behind it, I recommend getting down to Carriageworks and seeing The Table of Knowledge.

The Table of Knowledge
13 - 24 March 2012
Carriageworks, Eveleigh
http://www.carriageworks.com.au/?page=Event&event=The-Table-of-Knowledge

Have you ever been to a big event like a festival or concert and thought I wonder how they did that? Well here is a sure fire way for you to find out what goes on behind the scenes of some of the countries top events, gain new experience plus get yourself a ticket in the process.

I've been a avid volunteer for various festivals for over ten years. Over the years I have volunteered for Sydney Mardi Gras, the London Film Festival, countless community projects and just recently the Peats Ridge Festival

Named one of the worlds most sustainable music and arts festivals, it is not surprising when I say I find every part of the organisation organic. This year we opted to to volunteeer on site for the decor team, helping to assist with the installation of the props, sets and decorations that give the festival its signature colour and vibrancy. Led by the ever amazing Camilla, who eye for detail is astounding, we spent two days at the beautiful Glenworth Valley site, helping the 2011 event to take shape

All in all it was a very positive experience. We met lots of new people, got to do things we wouldn't normally do and earnt our selves tickets to one of countries premier music festivals. Good deal really.

Peats Ridge Festival 29/12/11 - 1/1/12
http://www.peatsridgefestival.com.au/applications/volunteers 

At this time of the year, most of our spare time is spent inside a air conditioned shopping centre, bustling to get the christmas shopping done.

If you are in Sydney and have time free before December 11th, get yourself to Cocaktoo Island and check out Outpost - Art from the Streets 

Presented by the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust and aMBUSH gallery, Outpost is the perfect meeting of grungy dis-used industrialism and contemporary street art of the highest calibre. 

What I love about this project is it creates a defining line between what most people know as graffiti or tagiing - the ugly calling card of some, and street art.

And art is exactly what it is. These are our modern day contemporary artists. Not hindered by galleries, education or status, these artists have used the streets as their canvas, creating images which are breathtaking and cutting edge.

Street artists are our present day avant-garde. Pushing boundaries, pushing social commentary and re-defining the 'norm'. 

So tell me reader, are you a fan of street art?

Outpost - Art from the Streets
4 Nov - 10 Dec 2011
http://outpost.cockatooisland.gov.au/

This is my attempt at healthy eating. I'll let you hold judgement until I am out of ear shot. The ice cream is frozen banana's blitzed in the blender then sandwiched between thin all butter shortbread and drizzled with chocolate ganache made with yogurt rather than cream. I wonder if Weight Watchers would approve?

First stop of the day was to meet at Greenwich Wharf in time to make the 12.31pm ferry. Well yes we got to Greenwich and yes we met at the wharf, unfortunately Lamb and I made it for 12.40pm and thus a hour wait for the next ferry.

Fortunately our reason for being late was making a picnic lunch for our adventure. Now being that three of our party are UK born I'm sure I should have packed jam sandwiches with lashings of ginger beer, but instead we made do with a flask of hot pumpkin and red pepper soup, falafels and home made guacamole. All followed with divine choclate covered cheeries, found by Susie at the Greenwich IGA - yum. 

Cockatoo Island itslef is a extraordinary site. One of the Sydney Harbours largest islands it was once a  imperial prison, industrial school, reformatory and gaol. It is also the site of one of Australia's biggest shipyards during the twentieth century, built by convicts the island's maritime industrial activity ceased in 1992. As you can imagine a intriguing back drop to a arts festival.

Underbelly Arts is the brain child of not for profit organisation Rinse Out Inc. The aim, to take 150 artists and keep them for 10 day in residency with the result - a one day festival of exhibitions, performance, music and experimentation.

With the sheer size of the island, exploring the festival was endless fun. Some artists were very transparent in expressing what influence the residency the had had on their work, others chose to use the space as back drop to existing view points

For me, the most impressive piece was Case Study by Perran Costi, Jesse Cox, Emily McDaniel, Adam Parsons, Damian Martin and Justin Harvey

Reading the festival blurb, this piece is described as ...at the beginning of the lab six artists migrated to Cockatoo island only bringing with them what could be carried in suitcases. They have created work documenting & responding to their process of creating a new society as they attempted to inhabit the island for 16 days. This project explores ideas about how a society is created.

To me, this piece truly reflected the journeys all six artists went through in their process of exploration. Every element was a true representation of the island and it surrounds in all its glory. To achieve what they did was nothing short of over achievement and it makes one quite envious of the opportunity to stay at such a remarkable place and play.

Part gallery and part emporium, The Bird House is a collaboration of artisans Arts Mad (Madalyn Ward), Ladyland Studios (Rachel Steel) and Nat & Mim (Nat and Imogen Umeyer.

Made possible by Renew Newcastle, The Bird House is a beautiful showcase of four  artists, each totally individual, yet each totally complimenting the other perfectly.

Renew Newcastle is a extraordinary project. Conceived to address a city centre full of boarded up shop fronts, limited foot traffic and low commercial prospects, the not for profit has married empty buildings with creatives to give the properties purpose whilst awaiting development

Pieces include hand made jewellery, bespoke soft furnishings, gift cards, designer clothing and original artworks, none of which would be out of place at Glebe Markets or Finders Keepers. 

So next time you're in Newcastle venture into the CBD and check out Hunter Street, things are changing and if the Bird House is any indication, most definately for the better.

Last weekend, at 5.45am, we were warming up the car on a frosty Autumn morning, getting ready to head out to Flemington to explore Paddy's Fresh Food Markets.

Now first thing I have to recommend is turn up ready for action. We arrived at about 6.30am, half hour after opening and the place was pumping. People, vans, trolley's and fork lifts travelling every which way. We grabbed a devinely strong coffee from the market cafe to sip whilst strolling the stalls, but to be honest there was no strolling be done, we were straight in for the bargains.

First stop was the flower markets. Such a beautiful selection, all very hard to resist

And so fresh. The bunch of ten long stem roses I bought are now, one week later, just starting to open and in no way discoloured

Now it is worth mentioning that our early morning expedition is part of my quest to eat healthy without the hefty price tag. I'd found recently that in order to keep within budget, the weekly supermarket shop was beginning to feature less and less fresh produce and what was bought was usually tasteless or soon to expire.

Well now that problem has been solved - the market is the answer, of course!

Bargain of the day was the seafood - salmon fillet for $3 and a whole bream for $3.50.  In our bounty we also bought a ciabatta, chick peas, dahl lentils, mint, english spinach, pears, mandarins, egg plant, zuchinni, sweet potato, grapes and shallots. All for $45. It was a great way to spend a Saturday morning and definately a great solution to our budget woes

Paddys Markets
Homebush West Sydney
www.paddysmarkets.com.au

Being the traditional Capricorn that I am, I love all the pomp and ceremony the Brits hold dear. With my English family alone we have made many traditions. Christmas is always a highlight with the ceremonial munching of reindeer carrots on Christmas Eve. Guy Fawkes night with my two favourites - bon fires and fireworks (still totally miss the absence of bonfire night in the Australian calendar though with our penchant for bush fires I totally understand). And for those years we lived in Brighton, the tradition of always going for a walk on the beach, even in freezing cold gale winds.
Now we have returned to Australia we have fun creating new traditions with our aussie family like sit down Christmas dinners and Good Friday bush walks.

Now you have to be living under a rock to have completely missed the recent nuptials of
Prince William to the now Princess Kate. In our house, it was in February that the red, white and blue started to course through Lamb's patriotic veins and preparations were made. The call was made back to Mother, in the Mother land and a demand was made for bunting!
Mother Lamb obliged and a royal party was organised.

With Ross and Susie, our favourite British buds we did our best to create a traditional English street party, all from the comfort of our living room. I loved this concept having wanted to do this since I read Adrian Mole's account of Charles and Di's wedding in those brilliant Sue Townsend books as a pre-teen. 

Lots of fun was had by all. Serendipitously both Lamb and Susie made masks for us to enjoy. (Obviously another pommie tradition!).

Now for really uncanny look a likes, one of my favourite things to come of all the media surrounding the Royal Wedding is the T-mobile spoof. The Camilla is spot on on

March to April is madness in our family. Why? It's the time where pretty much 95% of both sides of our family celebrate birthdays - including the Lamb!

Now having so many people celebrate birthdays at the same time and I do mean alot - both our mothers, Lambs' brother plus my Sister, Father,Step Mum, Auntie and two Uncles. Can at  times mean that some one can get lost in the chaos and not fell adequately spoilt. Thus when it comes to the Lambs big day, I generally go all out.

The Victoria Room provided the perfect setting. When looking at their website for dinner details I stumbled on a astrology dinner menu. Sounds ominous but proved brilliant. For a set price we received a three course dinner plus a personalised astrology reading by the spot on Damien Rocks. As the brochure says, the perfect combination of food and ones fascination for oneself!

After a perfect night of brilliant service, gorgeous food and many laughs, we left stuffed to bursting, armed with our personal astrological charts and dreams about the next time we will visit VR