Featured Stories
Social Scene – March
February is meant to go quicker than the other months, because there are less days in it. But for me, it has proven to be a very slow month., Me and some of the team at Bent on Food decided to give the grog a holiday to join FebFast. Money raised from FebFast is used for community services throughout Australia who provide support, mentoring, counselling and training. Donations to FebFast minimise... [Read more]
Social Scene with Donna Carrier
Every year when I sit down to write the Social Scene for the February edition, I seem to get writers’ block. It’s not that there isn’t anything to write about, because January is an active month; it’s just that I have hardly left Wingham. January is a fabulous month for business, when all the lovely tourists are in town, and we must make hay while the sun shines. Now here is a little bit of... [Read more]
Time Flies
I always wonder how people find time to be bored. It flies so fast, this thing called time … we make our New Year’s resolutions, then before we know it December comes around – and we are on the rollercoaster to Christmas. It is so funny that many of us make a career out of Christmas day. We begin planning Christmas day in October; whose turn is it to have lunch at their place? Who will bring... [Read more]
Social Circle
I feel like I have been surrounded by celebrities this month – first Robbie Buck, otherwise known as the Buckster, broadcast live across NSW and the ACT from Bent on Food, and then a week later Kate McAloon hit town. I have also been hooked on Australia’s Got Talent, where I have felt like a part of the show because I have fallen in love with each and every one of the finalists. I can’t believe... [Read more]
Social Scene April 2011
Easter is over and mother’s day is just around the corner, and i feel quite positive as i think about future projects … Daylight savings is over, and there is a slight chill in the air. I really enjoy autumn weather; it’s a little bit brisk, and it’s still light enough in the morning to get out and about. Easter is over and Mother’s Day is just around the corner, and I feel quite positive... [Read more]
Palate Pleasures – March 2011
INFLATING IT Even before Cyclone Yasi hit the coast of Far North Queensland, banana prices had been hiked up to $7.00 a kilo amongst large supermarket chains. Call it a pre-emptive strike, call it savvy economics based on the predictions of the Bureau of Meteorology, call it really bloody unsubtle, call it daylight robbery. It is what it is. And whether you like it or not, demand and supply is king. Supermarkets... [Read more]
Palate Pleasures – February 2011
WHAT WE VALUE One man’s trash is another’s treasure. Or something like that. We humans are a diverse bunch – the way we perceive the world us varies wildly. And not just between different socio-economic, cultural or geographic levels, but between people on the same street, who grew up in the same town, went to the same school and earn more or less the same salary. We were all born with unique... [Read more]
Palate Pleasures – January 2011
WHEN YOU NEED A HOLIDAY AFTER YOUR HOLIDAY Sometimes in life, as we all know, the times we look forward to the most are the times that wind up being fraught with mishap and downright disappointment. Now, not wanting to be too much of a cynic (although a healthy dose in moderation, of course, is somewhat necessary to manage expectations in this crazy world of ours) … but I do feel inclined to... [Read more]
Palate Pleasures – December 2010
THE TERRIBLE TOURIST You find them the world over … drawn to the busiest street, squares and monuments and surrounded by others of their kind. They’re snap-happy, swaddled in fleece and Gore-Tex and usually standing aimlessly in the middle of pedestrian thoroughfares. Ginormous maps protrude from their hands, bum-bags pad their midsections, guidebooks add bulk, and backpacks bring up the rear.... [Read more]
Palate Pleasures – October 2010
POLITICAL SOUP What I mean is that the many weeks of campaigning and spectacular indecision to follow, coupled with the starring role in the proceedings of one of our very own; we at The Mullet had an extremely dismal few weeks of trading. It was ABC 24 and spag bol for our fair Hastings customer base, rather than a nice night out with friends and family. That’s why this month’s column is called... [Read more]
Palate Pleasures – September 2010
MILLION DOLLAR MUSHROOMS In Australia’s restaurant world today, you may come across a strange scene. A seemingly innocuous plate of pasta might be served to you, devoid of garnish – plain, simple and somewhat austere looking. The next thing you know, the restaurant manager (or someone relatively high up in the employee hierarchy) might arrive at your table in a rather ceremonious fashion, flanked... [Read more]
Palate Pleasures – August 2010
BEWARE THE X Some of us have the gift of the gab, and the rest of us do not (except maybe after a few alcoholic beverages). Everyone knows someone who can talk the leg off a chair. Maybe it’s in the form of an ability to match a story or anecdote to any situation in life; maybe it’s just an uncanny ability to sustain a conversation. There are those who possess this ‘gift’ and sometimes, perhaps,... [Read more]
Palate Pleasures – July 2010
STUFF THAT’S IN YOUR FRIDGE AND PANTRY… The other day I was inspired to clean out the pantry at home. This task does not normally appear in the top 10 of pleasant chores for most of us, does it? Once the obvious and useful items come out, the hidden depths of what is lurking behind reveals itself. There are always the items past their best before, if not use-by date. Then there are the other horrors,... [Read more]
Palate Pleasures – June 2010
SWEETS FOR THE SWEET OBSESSED Are you one of those folks who go out for dinner and ask to see the dessert menu before you order your main course? Does your dentist appear to procure an abnormally high percentage of his/her salary as a result of your patronage? Have you seriously contemplated joining chocoholics anonymous? If you answered ‘yes‘ to any of these questions, then in my professional... [Read more]
Palate Pleasures – May 2010
A DOG’S DINNER Our dog Frank enjoys his food. Put it this way, when I watch him devour his dinner, he does so with an enthusiasm associated with the seriously food deprived. Of which, of course, he is not. All foods, (apart from certain fruits and vegetables which are simply no-go zones), are inhaled with gusto. One thing we’ve noticed is that he never saves the best for last, rather the meat scraps... [Read more]
Palate Pleasures – April 2010
IS THE CUSTOMER ALWAYS RIGHT? Often repeated, sometimes through gritted teeth, is the service industry mantra “the customer is always right”. The underlying theory of this is that in order to master the art of customer service, we must be unfailingly accommodating to the general public, to the point of total subservience. That is, we must suppress our own opinions and instincts, even when, in our... [Read more]
Palate Pleasures – March 2010
THE PORTIONING OF THE PORTIONS (AKA DOING THE MATH) The success of any business depends on a basic mathematical calculation – how much does a good or service cost to produce – and based on this, how much does it need (and can) be sold for in order to provide the seller with a viable profit margin. This alone can give you a pretty good indication for the fundamental reason that over 70% of start-up... [Read more]
Palate Pleasures – February 2010
WHAT PLEASURES YOUR PALATE? After all the Christmas, New Year and holiday madness, I thought it might be nice to get back to basics for this month’s column. After all, it is called ‘Palate Pleasures’… Occasionally I suppose I have digressed from the title; in fact, I may have gone so far as to have converted ‘pleasures’ to ‘displeasures’. For this, I apologise to those purely pleasure... [Read more]
Social Scene January 2011
Restaurants and cafés, function centres and back yards were bustling last month, with people celebrating the festive season. It is such a manic time of year and somewhat stressful, not to mention exhausting, but all is forgotten with a glass of wine in one hand, a canapé in the other and good people around you who understand your stress levels, because they are feeling the same way. Christmas is... [Read more]
Social Scene September 2010
Can you believe it is September already? I love spring, when we can appreciate living in the country by the sight of new life. I love seeing the little foals springing up all over the hills, and the spring flowers like daffodils, tulips and daisies. Being a food lover, I am also keen to see asparagus on the menu, yum! Going out is a lot more fun too; the warmer weather gets people out of the house,... [Read more]
Social Scene June 2010
It really has been a fabulous month for those who like getting out and about, and OK for soccer lovers too. The Manning Valley Winter Festival kept us away from our televisions and helped us experience some great cultural events. I was starting to wonder if I was ever going to get to see any programs on my great big brand new television. The FIFA World Cup brought many people together in front of their... [Read more]
Social Scene June 2010
May has been a huge month, and I am officially exhausted. I have grown in all the wrong places, drank far too much Chardonnay, exercised very little and worked too hard this month. And the word on the street is that it will continue to be busy here in our neck of the woods. Coming up is the Manning Winter Festival along with a trip to Coffs Harbour for the Restaurant and Catering Awards in June. A... [Read more]
Social Scene April 2010
I have spent some of March away from home, so unfortunately I have missed a few social events in the region, but I am catching up fast with lots happening over Easter and during school holidays. My time away was wonderful and I saw some beautiful scenery, but it also made me aware of the beauty that surrounds us on the Mid North Coast. We are truly blessed with our beaches and our hinterland. Not only... [Read more]
Social Scene February 2010
February – Time to settle in February always seems to me like the month when everything gets back to normal … the visitors go home, the kids are back at school and life settles down a bit. It is also Valentine’s Day month – a very special time for those in love and for those who want to tell someone special how they feel without even having to say a word. I pretend that it’s all... [Read more]
Social Scene January 2010
Welcome to 2010 friends Welcome to 2010, and welcome to all the visitors who have made this beautiful part of the world their home for the holidays. Our home is untouched and unspoilt; that’s what we locals think. So treat it well and come again any time; you are welcome here. Make sure you get out and explore while you are here, because you will enjoy our natural wonders along with our quirky shopping... [Read more]
Palate Pleasures – January 2010
Going anywhere nice for holidays? The great Australian summer holidays … no holiday period on earth comes close does it? The sheer poetry of a couple of weeks (or more if you’re lucky), located smack bang in the middle of high summer time – conveniently amidst the height of the silly season, is hard to beat. Slow summer days and even slower and longer summer nights … Beers and barbies,... [Read more]
Social Scene December09
Welcome again friends Do you believe it? It’s December already, and guess what, I am not anywhere near as organised as I promised myself. I am forever told that organisation makes your life flow more smoothly, but my question is when do you find time to get organised and what do you give up while you are spending your life filling your sock drawer? So once again I have decided that you need to be... [Read more]
Business Update – December09
Another year is fast closing, and as we head towards the festive season, our confidence is higher than this period last year when financial institutions were falling over like nine pins. The financial markets appear to have settled the dust, although they continue to be subject to altering prices. However, there is now a consistency which will see a steady stream of investors returning to the stock... [Read more]
Palate Pleasures – December09
Doing Your Homework… Being informed makes life easier. If you are aware of the facts, you are far more likely to reach the right conclusion. There are many decisions we make in life, where it would be considered imprudent not to have researched all the available options – buying a house or a car for instance on a grand scale – all the way down to a mobile phone plan, dinner at a restaurant,... [Read more]
Palate Pleasures – November09
We humans are a divided bunch of creatures. It would not be a broad generalisation, or a remote stretch of the truth to split us into two distinct camps. The first distinct human condition is the dislike of change. This applies to anyone who has ever coined the phrase, “When you’re onto a good thing, stick to it”. Always drive the same way home? Buy the same brand of laundry detergent? Travel... [Read more]
