Join Jill and Nick as they take you behind the scenes to see where your food actually comes from!

We thought all our Christmases had come at once when Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban and their two children turned up on a FoodPath Tour on 29 December at the dairy at Burrawang. What a surprise! This was our Summer Farm Tour and they had read about it in the SMH Spectrum Planner - which was also exciting. It is so good when you get unsolicited publicity!

They came along as normal members of our community to show the children the cows. They listened to the talk, toured the dairy and watched the afternoon milking with the rest of us - and said they enjoyed it. We hope they will be back for more!
We couldn't resist asking for a group photo and they were happy to oblige. We asked if we could use the photo in our FoodPath promotion and they agreed, so it was a good day for us and we are very appreciative.
So - although we cannot guarantee a brush with fame you never know who will pop up in the Highlands! We do have a range of interesting and famous people here.

These tours are continuing "on demand" for the next two weeks, then we are out of town for a period. One tour is tentatively scheduled for Sun 13 Jan.
If you are interested in berry picking and/or visiting the dairy please contact us.
Meet at the Sutton Forest Country Store at 10.15 where you can grab a coffee before we head off for the berry farm.
Pick fruit for the morning, then follow us to the Burrawang Village Hotel for lunch. In the afternoon come to the dairy to join in a tour, hear about the business, watch the milking and feed the poddy calves.

One farm or two, your choice.
Price: Two farms $65, one farm $35 (adults). Two farms $30, one farm $15 (children). Lunch not included. Minimum numbers apply.
foodpath.com.au, info@foodpath.com.au, 0419 617 021

Back to earth now that Christmas is over and we have had Boxing Day to recover. Plans are in place for some fun next Sat 29 Dec when we are going berry picking in the morning and visiting a working dairy in the afternoon.

Come and join us and you will have some fun - guaranteed!

Our tours are well known now and we have repeat customers which is wonderful. Two families who came last Jan have just booked again. Another couple who have already booked for three activities in the next few weeks have just emailed and want to book for three more!!!
It is very gratifying when we hit the spot and provide you with interesting and fun activities - because that is what we are all about.
So - if you want to come along on Sat 29 Dec please contact us ASAP. If not possible we are repeating this tour on Thurs 3 Jan and again on Sat 5 Jan.
You can come to one or both farms, you decide. Meet at 10am for fruit picking and 2.30pm for the dairy - or come to both and we will head to the Burrawang Village Hotel for lunch in between.
Contact us for info or to book - m: 0419 617 021, info@foodpath.com.au - or send us a message from the website.
Price: Adults $35 one farm, $65 for two farms. Children (3 - 12 yrs) $20 one farm, $35 for two farms.

Time to roll your sleeves up and come berry picking in the Highlands.
Join us for a coffee first at the Exeter General Store then come picking nearby. It is fun to join a group. Then follow us in your car as we head for Burrawang for lunch at the Village Hotel, winner of the Best Country Pub. Great view from the beer garden and plenty of room for kids to run around.

In the afternoon we will visit a modern computerised dairy where the children can feed the poddy calves and you can learn how it all works from the dairy farmer. See for yourself as we watch the afternoon milking.
Date: Sat 29 Dec and Sat 5 Jan (or if you have a group of 8 just call us anytime)
Price: $65 adults $35 kids (3 - 12). Half a kg of berries included for adults.
NB Morning tea and lunch not included - choose your own lunch and be in control of your spend - and join us at the FoodPath table.

We have been busy planning for the next couple of months and will have our December Update out very soon.
Posted three workshops and two tours on the website last night and received 3 bookings this morning!!
We were amazed and very happy about this.
It is always a bit of a gamble over the holiday season but last year we were very busy after Christmas when people were looking for things to do - so we have decided to run some shorter Farm Tours that will hopefully have broad appeal. We have kept the price down by leaving out morning tea and lunch. By choosing your own lunch you can decide what you spend. We love to organise a nice lunch but that does affect the price of the tour. We are calling these our "Summer Special" and will revert to our normal Day Tours after the school holidays.
Good news - we are going to run our regular monthly Day Tours again in 2013. Had too much feedback that people wanted to come but didn't have a group. Some farms do have a minimum of eight people so let's hope we get the numbers - but we will try!

Well, we have busy weeks and we have quiet weeks but the last seven days have seen us run five tours and activities. That must be the busiest we have been for quite a while.
First we had two Mushroom Tunnel Tours on Tues 20 Nov. These are always popular and are very interesting. We are only able to run these tours for SH Tourism three times a year and we have our dates for next year now.
They are:

• Tues Mar 5 Mar
• Tues 23 July
• Tues 29 Oct

Hearing about growing truffles - everyone was fascinated

Waiting patiently while Craig talked to us in the dairy

A delicious lunch at the Studio Restaurant

Our gift vouchers are proving popular this year as Christmas presents.
No doubt about it more and more people are giving an experience as a present and what a good idea!
I know that I love it when my daughter does that - so far we have had a Whale Watching Trip, a food tour in Sydney and lunch at The Pavilion Restaurant. Loved them all.

Over the weekend we have had a request for a gift voucher to a Pickling Class and another for two gift vouchers to our Market Tour and Lunch at Celebration Sunday at Biota today. Curiously both included Christmas presents for men who are interested in food...

We have other Gift Vouchers for a range of activities - something to suit every budget.

For example our

• Food Lovers Walking Tour in Bowral - $55 per person
• Privately Hosted Tour - $75 for 3hrs (includes coffee) or $135 for a day (includes lunch)
• Market Tour where you meet the local producers and taste their products - $30 pp
• Fruit Bottling - 3 hr class plus lunch - $95
• Market to table tour - Market Tour, Cooking Class & Lunch - $185

On Tues 20 Nov FoodPath is taking the last two tours for 2012 to the famous Mushroom Tunnel in Mittagong.
Three spaces are available @ $35.
Ring Southern Highlands Tourism on 4871 2888 to book.

FoodPath has been running these tours for SH Tourism for the past two years and they are a unique opportunity to see through the tunnel and to hear about this fascinating business.

Hidden in this old disused railway tunnel built in 1866 are a range of exotic mushrooms grown by Dr Noel Arrold, Microbiologist. Noel describes the environment inside the tunnel with a constant 16o temperature and 80% humidity as resembling a forest floor in the cool climate forest of Korea, Japan and China - so it is a natural environment for these mushrooms to grow.
If you can't make it this time, the dates for next year (2013) are:

• Tues Mar 5
• Tues 23 July
• Tues 29 Oct

Bookings are open - ring SH Tourism on 4871 2888

We have an interesting new workshop coming up next week at Hot Canary Gourmet Meats in Bowral. This will be held on Wed 21 Nov at their shop, which is at the corner of Bowral Street and Station Street.
Cameron is going to show us how to select, prepare and cook a range of Christmas meats and Patricia will talk about glazes and show us how to carve.
Brush up your skills and wow your guests with your Christmas cooking this year!
Using all free range products the class will cover turkey, ham, goose, pork and duck.
The Hot Canary is a new award winning butcher with a range of products all free range - so you can be confident that the animals have had a good quality of life. This is a big issue these days and FoodPath is happy to support Hot Canary because of the quality of their products and their innovative ideas.

They have recently started smoking meats in house and making a range of sausages.
Visit the Hot Canary if you haven't before - you will be glad you did.

Date: Wed 21 Nov 2012
Time: 7 - 8.30pm
Cost: $65 (includes samples and product to take home)
To Book: Contact us on 0419 617 021 or email info@foodpath.com.au

We love free range!

Celebration Sunday on again this weekend and a couple of spaces left on our FoodPath table. Next month is full and then Biota is having a break over summer - no Celebration Sunday in Dec or Jan 2013. So... if you want to come give us a call or contact us from the website. You are very welcome.

Venue: Biota Dining, Kangaloon Rd, Bowral
Date: Sun 28 Oct 2012
Time: 10.30 Market Tour in the garden and 12.30 lunch in the restaurant on our FoodPath table.
Price: $55 pp for a 3 course lunch of tasting platters, glass SH wine, tea/coffee.
To book: Contact us from the website www.foodpath.com.au, email info@foodpath.com.au or ring 0419 617 021

I have been really bogged down with paperwork for the past three weeks - don't you hate that?! I do. I would much rather be out and about in the Highlands meeting new producers and developing new products for you dear customers :)
Had a call today from another free range egg farmer at Marulan who has free range chooks too AND free range pigs. Very exciting. It is nice when people get referred to us and we can look at incorporating them into our tours and activities - and also put them on to outlets for their products. It is all about helping each other I say, then everyone benefits.

Yesterday we had a special treat. My daughter had given us a gift voucher for a meal at Chiswick Restaurant in Woollahra. She does this often - give an experience as a present - something we like to encourage people to do with our FoodPath Gift Vouchers :)

We decided to have lunch yesterday because it was a beautiful day and we were in Sydney for a couple of days. The setting was stunning because of the garden setting and lots of windows - a real pavilion feel.

Lunch included many ingredients straight from the restaurant garden which was appealed to us of course - can't get much more local or fresh than that! We had their greens in our salads and mint tea to finish which I loved. I will be doing that at home.

The highlight of the day was when Matt Moran dropped in for a quick visit and we got to speak to him. Nick bought his latest book and he posed for a photo with me which was a nice bonus!


We took some photos of the food to show you -

James and Kerry alpaca eager to say hello

Everyone helped to collect the eggs

Holding a chook is a skill in itself!

Some of the little ones were tentative at first

Checking the yabby traps - and there were some big ones!

Kids tasted real honey straight from the hive

Harvey told us all about his bees

FoodPath are heading for Biota again this weekend to celebrate our local produce at Celebration Sunday.

We have had two late cancellations if you want to join out communal table for lunch?
$55 per person for 3 courses of shared platters, a glass of local wine, tea/coffee. Great value at this 2 hatted restaurant (yes, they have been awarded another hat during the past month)!

Biota has also won a Sustainability Award which I know they are very happy about.
We take our group on a tour of the Produce Market in the restaurant garden at 10.30. Lunch is at 12.30.
Let us know if you want to join us - you pay the same as if you book directly, but you get to meet our other guests. It is all good fun!
Call me on 0419 617 021 to book.

We are very excited - we had so many enquiries for the Family Farm Tour that we decided to run two - one in the morning and another in the afternoon! Fortunately this worked out - with the locals coming in the morning and the Sydney siders coming after lunch.
Harvey and Lindy are busy getting ready. Yesterday Harvey was up at 3am feeding the newly hatched gosling and I have just been told he is picking up a baby goat from another farm to show the kids. So they are going over and above and we will have so much to do and see it is going to be fun.
If you are coming, let us know how you like it? It always helps us with our planning to have feedback from our customers.
See you tomorrow kids - and parents - and grandparents!
We have almost as many adults as children - what a great thing for grandparents to do with their grandchildren.