Hello all!! Here we are again back for another episode of My Open Kitchen this time recording from Sophie’s Farm, Mandagery Creek. Imagine us wrapped in thick winter coats and scarves, warmed by the afternoon sun, a hot cup of tea and freshly baked muffin. We’re loving our new studio!
This is the final episode in Series 2 of My Open Kitchen which has been so generously sponsored by Country Style Magazine. We say it often, but without this sponsorship this podcast wouldn’t happen, so thank you a million times over to @countrystylemag. Whatsmore, they have decided to help us keep the conversation going by supporting another Series, Series 3 of My Open Kitchen – so peeps, we will be back. Thank you Country Style.
Image by Teagan Jane Photography
When we recorded this episode Sophie had just returned from Broken Hill, where she interviewed Jane Smith aka @theshadybaker. Jane has been blogging since 2011 and I think, is one of the best Australian food bloggers out there. She is always completely authentic, she posts about great smoko recipes because every morning at 9.30 she turns out a batch of sausage rolls or pizza scrolls or whatever for a crew of hungry farm workers who’ve been mustering by air since dawn and for her children who are home with her doing school of the air. Jane is a wonderful baker, recipe writer and photographer and one of the really interesting things about her is that she uses social media mostly because she just wants to share her stories, recipes and life and build a community.
Jane is a great representation of what we are trying to achieve at My Open Kitchen; a farmer, who loves food, sharing her stories on social media to the bigger wider world. Go Jane!
Image courtesy of Jane Smith
Skye’s Top 5
#1 Grenfell – My new home and the hottest place in Australia! I can’t believe I didn’t mention it in our last episode. I am yet to fully immerse myself in the community and I can’t wait to do so but in the meantime I’ve come across some very beautiful local Instagram feeds. See Instagram is a great way to connect. Have a look at @weddinfarms @quandicandles and @mywhitewalls
#2 My latest binge listen is the Soulful PR podcast by Janet Murray – I came across this podcast through this episode of Sara Tasker’s Hashtag Authentic podcast (of course!) If you are trying to build business on social media, Janet’s advice is real, relatable and super super practical.
#3 A few weeks ago, I asked for some suggestions on Instagram for people doing good things in the world of Wool. Wow! There is a plethora of goodness out there in this field. Through this converasation I discovered the Woolful podcast by Ashley Yousling– is a series of conversations with farmers, knitters, woollen mills and fashion peeps all over the world. I really love her introduction music too.
#4 I have a major crush on everything Naomi Bulger does and her Meals in the Mail project is just so cool. She asked people to pick a fave recipe, write it up by hand, perhaps include a few pretty drawings and and explanation of what the recipe means to them. Send it to her via snail mail and she then collates them all into a special cookbook to be redistributed back to everyone who’s taken part. I LOVE EVERYTHING about this. She greatly inspires me, as a fellow lover of handwriting, letters and pretty drawings. has an e-course on how to write a beautiful letter!
#5 Sonya is an old work colleague from the ABC and I find her blog, Sonnie and Share, such a relaxing read. You know when someone’s personality oozes through their words?! Her posts are light and bright, uncomplicated and she loves weekend cooking – which inspires me into the kitchen.
Sophie’s Top 5
1. Pinterest has developed a ‘shazam’ for food. Shazam being the app that lets you point your phone at the radio and it will identify the song and artist. So here, through Pinterest’s new ‘lens’ feature, you open the app and select the camera icon and point your phone at a bowl of apples or block of chocolate or whatever and it will bring up a bunch of recipes featuring that ingredient. So cool.
2. Amy Flying a Kite on Instagram – A Canadian musician, gardener, I adore her words and photos.
3. Wowee – an Australian podcast hosted by two super, fun-sounding Melbournians all about bringing together creative communities and promote the sharing of ideas, skills and experiences in a supportive space.
4. Social Media Marketing Talk Show Michael Stelzner – a brand new weekly update on all the latest algorithm changes, developments, things you need to know if working in or around social media.
5. Chris Ferguson @lifeinthemulga, a photographer and grazier from the Mulga in North West NSW. What I love so much about Chris is how committed she is to breaking down the barrier of misunderstandings and misinformation that us ‘insider country’ people often have about outback life and farming. Chris posts very honest stories about the challenges she and her peers face with wild dogs attacking their goats, kangaroos decimating their precious feed and water stocks and takes a huge amount of time to respond to comments and explain why they do what they do and the ins and outs of rangeland farming and all its challenges. She also shares the crazy beauty of her part of the world, the freedom, community and amazing people living and working there.
In other news you might have noticed #myopenkitchenstories as you scroll through Instagram. From next week, August 21st, we will have a whole new calendar of weekly prompts tying in with the next round of the e-course which starts that same day. Everyone is welcome to join in so please do! You can find the prompts on the blog every Monday.
AND we are still so very excited about our first #myopenkitchengathering to be held in Orange next May. A big part of this excitement is our keynote speaker ……. Sara Tasker of @me_and_orla who’s jumping on a plane and coming to Australia especially for this event. Wow!
If you are thinking you might like to come along, and even bring a few friends, here is a link to all the details for you to send on.
As always thank you so much for tuning in! We still really really love seeing your reviews on iTunes. So if you have a spare minute we would love a rating and a review to help keep our little podcast from and center in iTunes.
Until next time – Sophie and Skye xx
