This week we celebrated autumn with a fancy lunch dish featuring fennel and beetroot.

We made a very yummy dish of roasted fennel and whiting, which was topped with a raw beetroot relish. We sprinkled some fennel fronds on top, with a wedge of lemon and some roasted potatoes (with rosemary and smoked paprika) on the side … it was a delicious and nutritious lunch. And simple to make. We had lots of time to chat and hear about what everyone had done in the holidays as we waited for it to cook!

If you’d like to join in our seasonal cooking adventures (and then eat the food that is made) please book in on Mondays for Garden to Plate, running from 11.30am-1pm here the in ACC kitchen.

This week we have a bunch of our programs starting up for the term including:

• Garden to Plate - Monday 11.30am

• AAA Bowls - Wednesday 10am

• Crunch (creative lunch) - Thursday 12.30pm

• Thursday Supper Club - Thursday 5pm

• AAA Art - Friday 1pm

We’re looking forward to seeing you! Keen to book in? You can do so here.

We also have our first Sustainability Workshop coming up this weekend - a reminder that our Sewing Machine Maintenance/Repair workshop starts at 10am (for everyone booked in) on Saturday. BYO machine.

Hope you enjoyed your democracy sausage on the weekend!

Cheers

Leanne

Last term Clare had a vision for updating the climbing frames (replacing the picture frames that are past their used by date) in our raised garden beds … and after a few hours of Facebook marketplace trawling and purchasing, and a can or two of spray paint, Corrado, Thomas and Clare did the glory work (after weeding and soil preparation by Meet and Clare earlier in the day) and installed two new ‘lovely ladies’ on Friday.

They also planted nasturtiums and beans and other beautiful flowering climbers - so we’re looking forward to the metal frames evolving into edible floral gowns over the next few months (we hope). Keep a watch as the plants grow!

Lovely to see everyone on Friday!

It was a glorious morning in the garden. We sat outside and enjoyed the autumn sunshine.

Enjoying the sunshine!

Then, we had ‘better than Subway’ (as Sarah said) focaccia for lunch - thinly sliced roast beef and roast capsicum with a yummy horseradish and chive cream cheese, along with swiss cheese and lettuce accompanied by 3 salads. And … for the vegos, a swap out to Yotam Ottolenghi’s portobello ‘steak’ mushrooms (recipe here. Such a winner - I use it all the time).

To top it all off Margaret from the CWA kept us up to speed with the latest cooking controversy (Nagi from Recipe Tin Eats v Brooke from Booki Bakehouse) and ‘their’ caramel slice. Yum! Thanks so much Margaret.

So great to be back with the crew.

Welcome back. We hope you had a relaxing Easter break and Anzac Day long weekend.

We’ve got lots on again this term …

Sustainability Workshops

First off the bat we are hosting three sustainability workshops on Saturdays that have been subsidised by a grant from the Climate Emergency team at Yarra City Council.

• Sewing Machine Repair coming up on Saturday 10 May (sold out)

• Overlocker Repair on Saturday 24 May (2 spots available)

• Clothes Mending on Saturday 14 June (spots available)

If you are interested please book in ASAP here.

Kindness Kitchen

Did you know you can join us for free meals on Monday and Friday at lunchtime?

• Come along from 11.30am on Monday and help cook a seasonal feast in our Garden to Plate weekly lunch. And then sit down together to eat it. We are creating a seasonal eating cookbook along the way this year. We cook a two course meal each week. You can book in here.

• Or join us for Community Lunch on Fridays at 12pm. No need to book, just rock up! And .. you can of course come along earlier, anytime from 10am, if you’d like to help out in the garden or join our crafty chatty group inside.

• Also … we are kicking off our Thursday Supper Club this term. Book in for a single session for $5 or $30 for the term here. This weekly dinner starts at 5pm.

• And … if you are a little bit arty you might like to join us for Crunch - our creative lunch on Thursdays. For $15 we will feed you a delicious meal and then spend an hour being creative - painting, drawing, collaging, felting, printmaking - we’re always exploring fun creative ideas.

Health and Wellbeing

We also have a great line up of health and wellbeing activities at ACC this term, including:

• Men’s Group on Tuesdays from 7-9pm with John, give him a call on 0439 899 352.

• AAA Bowls on Wednesdays at 10 at Alphington Bowls Club - free. Contact our office to find out more 9499 7227 or email info@alphington.org.au

• Line Dancing on Wednesdays from 10am with Shirley at the Alphington Scout Hall - $5 weekly (pay at the door). You can chat to Shirley on 0410 601 796.

• Community Yoga on Wednesdays from 5.30pm with Rosie here at ACC - $5 weekly (book in weekly online here)

• Sound Healing on Wednesdays from 7.15pm with Keiko here at ACC - book in directly with Keiko, contact her at sounddroplet@tutamail.com

Music, Art and more

Also, also ….

• Ukulele on Mondays from 7pm

• Guitar Lessons with Daniel on Tuesdays, call him to book in on 0432 674 498

• Violin Lessons with Yoyo on Wednesday and Saturday, call her to book in on 0415 357 698

• Alphingtones Choir at St Andrews Anglican Church in Fairfield on Thursday evenings from 7.30pm ed by Ursula. Find out more info.alphingtones@gmail.com.

We hope to see you at ACC soon!

Cheers Leanne