Mrs Beeton's Christmas plum pudding. Photo © James Horan for Sydney Living Museums
’tis the season! Instructed by Mrs Beeton I’ve had plum puddings on the boil for various Christmas gatherings and for visitors to sample at our annual Christmas Fare, being held next week at the World Heritage listed Hyde Park Barracks Museum. Continue reading
Pickles in the pantry cupboard at Vaucluse House. Photo © James Horan for Sydney living Museums
Latoya Schadel shares one of the pleasures of working in the Vaucluse House team:
I just love our days at Vaucluse House when we begin the working day with a walk through the bountiful kitchen garden. Sometimes, when produce is at its peak, our gardeners bring us a basket full of goodies to sample. Continue reading
View from the verandah at Vaucluse House. Photo © Stuart Miller for Sydney Living Museums
Spring is now well and truly underway and as the days grow longer and the buzz of native bees fills the air at Vaucluse House. Leila Wallace puts a special – edible – twist on our special springtime celebrations Continue reading
Latoya Schadel, Sydney Living Museums Visitor & Interpretation officer. Image courtesy Latoya Schadel
We have guest bloggers on The Cook & the Curator this week and next from the kitchens at Vaucluse House –
Latoya Schadel has been an enthusiastic lover of history since the tender age of seven when she visited Elizabeth Farm for the first time, dressed as a convict-lass. Since then she has (grown up and) completed a First Class Honours in History at the University of Sydney, specialising in the Australian ‘history wars’ and their impact on children’s literature. For the last two years she has been a proud member of the House Museums Portfolio at Sydney Living Museums as a Visitor Interpretation Officer, and hopes to instill her love of the past in a new generation of seven year olds – and beyond!
Leila Wallace, Sydney Living Museums’ Visitor and Interpretation officer, Photo © Sydney Living Museums
We have guest bloggers on The Cook & the Curator this week and next from the kitchens at Vaucluse House –
If you are looking for Leila, you will find her either in the staff kitchen creating authentic pickles and preserves for the Colonial Kitchen display at Vaucluse House; in the cellars hosting holiday ‘crafternoons’; writing stories for the newsletter and website; or Instagraming anything with a bit of old world charm. Originally from a science background with specialisations in environmental conservation and natural heritage, Leila has found her calling as a Visitor Interpretation Officer at Sydney Living Museums. With her love of farm yard animals, beautiful vistas and a passion for nature, there’s nowhere else she’d rather be.
Fresh produce at the Elizabeth Farm Spring Harvest Festival. Photo © James Horan for Sydney Living Museums
Elizabeth Farm’s Spring Harvest Festival was a great success, and we’ve been looking forward to sharing these photos of the day! Continue reading
Place setting created at Elizabeth Farm. Photo © Scott Hill for Sydney Living Museums
Recently we celebrated the Elizabeth Farm Spring Harvest festival. It was a great day of artisan food, talks and demonstrations, and lazing about in deckchairs. Continue reading
Jacqui Newling, author of Eat your history: stories and recipes from Australian kitchens Photo © James Horan for Sydney Living Museums
Handwritten recipes passed through the generations, tales of goats running wild in colonial gardens and early settlers’ experimentation with native foods…
Eat your history dishes up stories and recipes for Australian kitchens and dining tables from 1788 to the 1950s.Jacqui Newling, resident gastronomer at Sydney Living Museums, invites you to share forgotten tastes and lost techniques, and to rediscover some delicious culinary treasures. Continue reading
Hannah's Long Lunch at Hill end Ranch Photo © Di Greenhaw
A recent fundraising event at the historic gold mining town of Hill End in regional New South Wales celebrated colonial hotelier and cookbook author, Hannah Maclurcan. We have a particular attachment to ‘Mrs Maclurcan’ as one of her books remains in the Rouse family’s cookbook collection at Rouse Hill Estate.
Jacqui Newling, ‘the Cook’, and Scott Hill, ‘the Curator’, in the kitchen at Elizabeth Farm. Photo © James Horan for Sydney Living Museums
Our gardens with fruit and vegetables are extensive; and produce abundantly. It is now spring, and the eye is delighted with a most beautiful variegated landscape; almonds, apricots, pear and apple trees are in full bloom; the native shrubs are also in flower, and the whole country gives a grateful perfume … Continue reading