August in Melbourne
August, the last month of Winter and the occasion of my birthday.
The perfect month to join Get Cosy at Home and create a little hygge.
In August we have slightly longer days and the sunshine pokes through for occasional bursts of warmth and inspiration. The daffodils may be flowering in your garden and Spring time is so close, yet also so far away.
It is also a great time to join a local food swap group as those gluts of lemon, lime and artichoke set in.
Here in Melbourne we tend to spend a bit of time dreaming of a holidays somewhere warm, and some lucky people even head off and take that holiday. Cue wistful longing as we view their sun kissed holidays photos.
It is also the month that we celebrate the following food days on the Aussie food calendar.
Potato, honey and lemon juice. Quite a grand list of foods in my humble opinion.
What’s on. August in Melbourne and beyond.
The Melbourne International Film Festival comes to town and so does the Melbourne Writers Festival.
Out of town you can attend the “Words in Winter” Daylesford Writers Festival or the Bendigo Writers Festival.
Other great events include
- Winter Night Market, every Wednesday at the Queen Vic Market.
- The Madam Brussels Lane European Night Market
- “A night in the Alps” cheese fondue night at Milk the Cow in Carlton.
This Friday 4th of August is Cafe Smart as part of the StreetSmart Australia fundrasing initiative. Local cafes across Melbourne will be donating money from every coffee sold to fight homelessness. Use this interactive map to find your local participating cafe. 
Seasonal Fruit and Vegetables
Seasonal fruit and vegetables for the month of August in Melbourne include:
Fruit: cumquats, grapefruit, lemons, lime, mandarins, nashi, olives, oranges.
Vegetables: beetroot, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbages, cauliflower, carrots, celery, celeriac, fennel, jerusalem artichoke, kale, kohlrabi, leek, mushrooms, parsnips, potatoes, rhubarb, pumpkin, silver beet, spinach, spaghetti squash, spring onions, swedes, turnips, witlof.
Herbs: bay leaf, parsley, mint, rosemary, thyme, chives, oregano, marjoram, sage, bronze fennel, garlic and coriander.
Is there anything you are growing in your garden that I could add to the list?
With some of my favourite vegetables in season (cauliflower, beetroot, pumpkin) and some great fruit coming to us from Queensland, I actually find it really easy to think of great recipes to cook in August.
Spaghetti squash with home made passata.
Cauliflower steaks recipe with lemon and capers
Beetroot and goats cheese tart
Mandarin and star anise sorbet
Brussel sprouts with bacon and almond.
Rosa’s Mitchell’s Stuffed Fennel (Join her mailing list. It is awesome).
8 killer Kale recipes with Jamie Oliver
Baked Jerusalem Artichoke with fennel
Cheesy pumpkin pasta with sage.
Macadamia and Mandarin Cake with cinnamon syrup.
Harissa and coconut roasted leeks with coriander rice
Beetroot and buckwheat risotto with Amy
Pumpkin and chickpea curry with Magdalena Roze.
So what will you be cooking, growing and doing this August?
This time last year I was heading off for a most magnificent trip to Port Fairy on the beautiful Great Ocean Road. The weather was definitely not warm, but it was a perfect way to spend a cosy, Winter weekend and I loved every moment of it.
The food was sensational and I discovered two of my now favourite restaurants.
Fen Restaurant serves uniquely Australian food. You can almost taste the ocean and crisp countryside on the plate. They were also awarded two Hats in this years Good Food Guides Awards and I think it well was well deserved.
Coffin Sally Pizza serves some of the best, on point pizza in a very unique venue right in the heart of Port Fairy. I’m not sure if I loved the food or the old stone building more.
Reading
Pan MacMillan Australia were kind enough to send me a copy of two cook books from their range and I am loving discovering heaps of new recipes.
The Energy Guide by Dr Libby is an absolutely amazing treasure trove of information on nutrition, sleep, energy levels, stress, gut health and emotions.
Dr Libby gives practice advice on how to manage your time, hormones and work life. I was very impacted by her advice to quite walking around with a “to do list” in my head as this only increases stress and frustration, with very minimal benefit. So true. and obvious but somehow I still hadn’t quite realised it.
I am very slowly readying my way through this book and picking up useful tips every single time I pick it up. Dr Libby is a very practical and straight forward and with a Bachelor of Health Science and a PhD there is a real sense of trust in what she says.
Check out Pan MacMillan for more info.
Instagram: @macmillanaus
Facebook: @PanMacmillanAustralia
Twitter: @MacmillanAus
Or you can shop here.
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This year to celebrate my birthday I am doing something from home in the shape of a 31 days of gratitude challenge. The more I read the more I am absolutely convinced of the benefits of practising gratitude daily. You can join me over on Create the Happy or just read along. Can I make it the full 31 days? Let’s wait and see.
Dani B is a food and lifestyle blogger from Melbourne. She has three kids, a naughty puppy, too many jobs and hankering to live in an Agatha Christie novel. She writes about good food for the good life in Melbourne and beyond.
