What a Week!

It's Anti Poverty Week and Carers Week.
Two really relevant issues for YamDaisy Cafes!

This is just a quick post to outline these issues:

ANTI POVERTY WEEK
World poverty is a huge issue and the work of wonderful organisations like the World Food Program
(on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/WorldFoodProgramme ) happens a long way from thriving cities like mine. But there are lots of people struggling in my city, and like everywhere in the world, the gap between the rich and the poor is widening.

My experience with chronic illness has taught me that EVERYONE with a chronic illness gets poorer. If it is a parent the whole family becomes poorer and the cycle of poverty can set in. But any person or family is vulnerable to the cycle: illness and disability, not being able to manage employment, losing housing, and all the time everyone's health becomes compromised.

The role of YamDaisy Cafes are important here because the provision of delicious, healthy, affordable food lessens the burden of shopping, preparing, and cooking meals, and ensures that the meals available are not only delicious but nutritious in the way that helps prevent chronic illness and helps manage chronic illness, and therefore helps break the poverty cycle.

The importance of keeping YamDaisy meals affordable, without compromising the taste and nutrition is central to the model!

More about Anti Poverty Week here 

CARERS WEEK
Mums have already put up their hands for YamDaisy Cafe food:
"Will there be takeaway?"
"Please have drive through!"
"O I would love to be able to pick up food for the family on the way home!"
But think of those families where chronic illness and disability, or just old age, mean that extra caring is needed. Schoolchildren who are caring for their ill mother through their teenage years, breadwinners who have to give up breadwinning for the sake of loved ones who need fulltime care.

If anyone ever needed a YamDaisy Cafe up the road, these families do!
I remember a woman who had a family crisis, and for several months her mum (have a guess, yes! she is Greek!) cooked a full meal for them that Maree could pick up on her way home to work.
YamDaisy Cafes are for all the families who don't have a wonderful Greek Grandmother Cook to help them through the crisis. And YamDaisy Cafe's can keep helping even when the crisis goes on for year after year.

More about Carers week here


I am talking to the local Council about a Pilot YamDaisy Cafe. Fingers crossed! It's needed!

About my YamDaisy Project

When I spoke to the people at the Local Food Conversation last Sunday I focused on the local, seasonal food used in the menu at the YamDaisy Cafes (ofcourse) and this was a nice change from focussing on business, health and the delicious menu (not that I mind talking about them!).

I had a list to remind me what I wanted to say, so this post is about the list! and, hopefully, pretty much what I said in my few minutes to share.

1. Isolation, poverty, difficulties with food:
It is an awful thing that as well as coping with whatever awful chronic illness you might have, you almost always have the added burdens of greater poverty, isolation, and difficulty preparing food for yourself and your family. The YamDaisy Cafe idea helps ease these burdens for people with chronic illness, disability, or anyone struggling.
(Yes, I know there are other burdens... housing being a most serious one!)

2. An idea as big as Macca's:
When I had my idea of small local cafe's selling delicious, healthy food at prices pensioners could afford, I thought I only had to let people know, and they would say "Ofcourse!" and get my YamDaisy Cafe idea going.
But no! So I have spent 4 years working on my project with my webpage, my blog (this one!), my YamDaisy facebook page, my Comfort Food poll, and with research.
It is a big idea, I think it could be as big as Macca's! And now it is time to get a pilot cafe up and running.

3. Small menu:
The aspect of my YamDaisy Cafe that makes it different to other Cafe's - and more like mum cooking, is the  soup, 2 main meals and a fruit based dessert on the menu each day. And it is like the BEST 'mumcooking': cooked from scratch with fresh, seasonal produce.

4. Local, Seasonal Food is integral to the idea:
I have entertained the idea of doing a deal with a huge supermarket chain to get this project going, but I rejected it because the Best Practice for a mum cooking for her family has to be the use of fresh, local ingredients. Wanting good health outcomes and deliciousness - as well as convenience- making use of small local producers has to be part of the model for YamDaisy Cafes.

5. YamDaisy Cafes can be good for local producers
As a business that is committed to local ingredients the YD Cafes can be a wonderful support and generator of local produce. This could include backyard producers as well as people running larger or more specialised businesses.

I gave out my little homemade cards so people could look up my webpage and like my facebook page
NOTE: Please everyone! 'Like' my YamDaisy facebook page! It is my best indication of how much support my idea has, and at the moment it only has 27 followers (Precious people every one!)

And I had my presentation folder available for people to look at. (I am working on how to share it here).

I am so pleased to say that there was lovely feedback from people there!
The very first question was "Will there be take away?" (Yes!) Thinking of those busy nights for busy families.
And when I said that my next step was to talk to local Councillors to say if they would get behind the idea for a pilot cafe I would find the money.... And then all I would have to do is find the million dollars! Someone said "How can we help you find a million dollars!"

In the nice chatty bit of the meeting when people were milling around and eating, I had to sit down, but it was lovely that I wasn't left alone and people who came and chatted and looked through my book showed such serious support for my project and gave such good feedback.
It was great to get hear that the model would suit small local producers.I left the meeting so bouyed by the great feeling of good stuff happening and that there was a swell of support for my idea.

(So it has been a bit frustrating that it has taken a week to write this blog, sigh! But slow and steady will win the race!)

The picture above shows the display on the food swap bench last Sunday, and below is my (1st draft) business card! It's onward and upward now!

Producers

Our Melbourne paper. The Age, has a Tuesday Epicure section which was dedicated this week to small, specialist producers.
There are a lot of them!
Animal welfare, respect for the best quality, innovative marketing (eg buying a whole lamb at a time) and lots of specialising. Organic, Permaculture... There is even a new shop opening to cater to the needs of bee keepers!
It is nice to think this part of the food industry is growing up in time to be useful for the Yam Daisy Cafes! And, ofcourse, the YD Cafes will be very useful to them.
While the YamDaisy isn't a high budget enterprise, the idea is that it works like a family home. The economy of bulk cooking, avoiding waste, using what is in season, and in plentiful supply, means that there is room to buy beautiful produce.
And imagine what a difference it will make to such local producers when there are lots of YamDaisy Cafes, feeding lots of local families. Lovely!

Win! Win!

I am up to the last page of my presentation folio about my YamDaisy Cafe idea, and it is called Win Win!
But really it is  Win Win Win Win Win!

The customers win because they are getting delicious home style food at prices they can afford.

The Chef/Managers win because they are getting fair, satisfying employment.

Communities win because YamDaisy Cafe's can break down isolation and foster community connections.

The Health System wins because access to nutritious food is key to the prevention and management of  so many chronic illnesses. And also because the YD Cafes can be a useful research point.

All levels of government win because better health and community connections save money.

The environment wins because using local produce cuts down food miles, making things from scratch cuts down on packaging, good systems restrict waste, innovative sustainable designs save energy.

Local producers win because they will have a steady, responsive, local market for their produce.

I wonder how many more I will think up before I am finished!

YamDaisy and Fair Trade

It is Fair Trade fortnight in Australia.

Fair Trade is about making sure that our business exchange with third world countries is not based on taking cruel advantage of the difference in power and wealth of the countries. You can read more about it HERE.

This is something YamDaisy can really help with! While the main focus for YanDaisy Cafes is on local produce, there will be items we need to source from Fair Trade companies and we can proudly do so. As YamDaisy Cafes become a bigger organisation, these decisions will have greater power and do more good in the countries where they are based.

YamDaisy College Memories

Here is my blue plate again! Full of the last of the Punjabi Rajma with roasted potato and pumpkin and some freshly picked parsley to garnish. Perfect! (It is sort of related to this post!)

When I first went to college, studying to be a teacher, I was such a wholefoods vegetarian type that I completely avoided the cafeteria. EXCEPT for one pleasure: The apricot pie. These were small pies, no doubt bought bulk, frozen and heated until the insides were molten and then left int the pie warmer until the end of the day.

My main memory is of buying a hot apricot pie and sneaking it into a lecture one cold hungry day. I remember the delicious taste of the apricots against the pastry and the challenge to avoid burning my tongue and also avoid getting drips of apricot filling over my notes. An altogether satisfying memory of food at Toorak Teachers College in the late 1970's ~ and probably just as well that it is my only one!

I dropped out of that course, but in the '80's I tried again and finally completed my Teaching at Bendigo. O Enlightened times! The cafeteria was there selling tired chips and sad other junky things as usual, and lots of soft drinks (but no apricot pies if I remember rightly!). But in the other corner of the Student Lounge was the health food cafe! I can't remember what it was called: Green something probably!

Truthfully.... it was not much better. I didn't bother with the salads there, they were so much tireder than the ones we made at home. An occasional piece of carrot cake (very ordinary, a bit oily) with a coffee is my memory from there, and, well, it isn't nearly as good as my apricot pie experience!

My WORST memory of college food came in the late 1970's when I went on a trip to Northern Europe with the Architecture students at RMIT. We stayed at a university in London and the vegetarian meal I was given consisted of a thawed pizza (a horrible one) topped with instant mashed potato.

These college food memories are in response to (another) Jamie Oliver Forum post about the dreadful food options in a British college right now today. That's a quarter of a century after my last experience college food. O dear, O dear, O dear, O dear!

So here is another plug for my YamDaisy Cafe concept. Instead of the college tendering out to whatever company sells food cheapest, they can put in a YamDaisy Cafe and get fresh, seasonal, delicious food that gives the students health and does their brains some good too!

And those red kidney beans with roasted vegetables just might be on the menu!

YamDaisy, M, and Drop the Sick Bit!

Part 2 of the Maree Posts: see Part 1 here
 
The first response from Maree (via phone text) after a quick glance at my website was:
"* the thing-ummy stacker boxes (name will come to me as soon as I sign off) - love that they are sustainable and not disposable;

* I'd play down the "sick/ill" thing. It should appeal to all and you should push this or risk putting people off (food for invalids- eww- "that's not me");
You could push the "light and easy" thing- meals for the week for the time poor..."

I loved, loved, LOVED this feedback!
(Especially because our conversation had begun at the 'hospital food' level!)
But Maree had her businesswoman hat on now and a businesswoman's feedback is very welcome.

It is true that people would be put off with the idea of coming in and eating invalid's food!
If YamDaisy Cafes have the impression of being food for poor people and food for struggling people and food for people with no money.... well, that would be a worry.
I know that the chronically ill, or the people with brain injuries, and every one else would be thinking 'Eeeuw, that's not me!'

Just after I put the concept together (a few years ago now!) I started seeing the Lite and Easy ads, and at the same time perfectly healthy friends with families and busy lives were saying,
"I would love to be able to go to a YamDaisy Cafe on those days that I just can't get a meal organised!"
And that was when I realised YamDaisy Cafe's have the potential to be an important part of food culture for everyone.

BUT, I am in there fighting for the sick people, the disabled, the mentally ill, the homeless, the struggling people. Can I sell this as a wonderful vibrant food idea that emotes 'mum food' (the best selling point ever!)?

The truth is that YamDaisy food is for everyone, and making it for everyone is a social justice issue.

There are lots of ways to make the cafes exciting and cool.
The first is that the cafes look good. The use of artists and designers should keep the look fresh and edgy and expressing the local character by using local artists.
The second is that they work: the food is delicious and easy to buy, the IT applications all work and are as innovative as needed!
Each chef is skilled and engaging.
The advertising, specials and rewards are appropriate, community based and have integrity.

That way the YamDaisy Cafes would be inviting and useful for EVERY one.

So in my next website upgrade I do need to consider this and get it right!

All suggestions welcome!

Yiota's Summer Menu

What a treat it is to present this menu. It comes from Yiota in Greece and is full of the flavours of summer.
There are four menu choices each day in a YamDaisy Cafe. They must reflect the seasons, the everyday needs of the clients for delicious nourishing food, and of the chef(s) who need to be able to cook them up in a small (but well equipped) kitchen. Read more about the idea of the YamDaisy Cafe and it's menus here.

Yiota's Menu

Soup: Potato Soup with Fresh Thyme
Main 1: Chicken and Diced Vegetables Gratin
Main 2: Vegetarian Pastitsio
Fruit Dessert: Cherry Pie

In Yiota's email she wrote:

'So here's what I thought of: because summer vegetables are at their best here, I've used them in both main dishes; zucchini, red peppers, green peppers, carrots, mushrooms, green beans - you choose...  Cherries are also in season and I love, love, love them!'

Potato Soup with Fresh Thyme

O yum, this is one I love, and if the weather is very hot it can be served ice cold.
Here is how I make it:
Mince 3 finely chopped leeks and one finely chopped onion and saute in 2 tablespoons of butter.
Add 3 peeled and diced potatoes and 4 cups of stock.
(I used a vegetable stock flavoured with thyme)

When the potatoes are cooked, puree briefly and season with salt and pepper.
Add 1 cup of milk, cream, or a mixture of both and reheat without boiling.
I garnished mine with some thyme. It is winter here as I write, but in Summer I would sprinkle a few tender thyme leaves and maybe some chopped chives too.
The toast is made with buckwheat and oats and was a lovely accompaniment.

Chicken and Diced Vegetable Gratin

I avoided flooding Yiota with millions of emails asking about this dish, and so instead I had a real adventure with it. The only gratin I know is made with sliced potatoes, and certainly no chicken. Not only that, I have such trouble cooking it as whenever I try the potatoes never get soft!
I googled away and realised what a big number of bakes come under the name 'gratin', and remembered a friends suggestion to cover the dish with foil for part of the baking time to help the vegetables cook.
I struggled most to imagine how to include chicken (some of you know I am an old vegetarian, only recently learning to cook chicken), so I was glad to find this recipe:

Chicken and Potato Au Gratin

I played around with it a lot!
I started with 2 chicken thigh fillets that I browned in a mixture of butter and olive oil and then cut them into bite sized pieces. For vegetables I had carrots, butternut pumpkin (squash), heart of celery and a potato. I diced them up and added them to the chicken in the dish.

I followed the recipe for the dairy mixture (except I had no pimento) and no crumb topping. I was feeling VERY pleased with myself!

So in to the oven it went with the foil covering for the first 20 minutes. And when I got it out:

sadly.... it had curdled.

I blame the lemon juice! But maybe covering it brought the temperature up too high. I would use ordinary cream instead of sour cream next time too. It broke my heart that it curdled but I did taste it and was delighted that the chicken came through beautifully: tender little morsels among the veggies.

It is definitely one to try again and get right! Then I would serve it with green leaves and tomato salad.

The second part of this menu will be up very soon, before the cherries have finished!
Jump to it here

Diabetes and the YamDaisy Cafe

It is Australia's Diabetes Awareness Week this week.

My YamDaisy claim is that the biggest thing that a community could do to help in prevention and management of diabetes (type 2) would be to set up YamDaisy Cafes!

How nice for a doctor who is faced with someone who is ill, exhausted and whose life has just been changed completely by the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, to be able to include in all the information that there is a YamDaisy Cafe in their neighbourhood.

At the YamDaisy Cafe they could be assured of getting delicious meals, cooked from scratch, that are exactly what health educators are recommending for people with diabetes. They would be affordable. The cafe would be within walking distance, and the walk there and back would contribute to the recommended exercise.

The chef at the YamDaisy Cafe would understand the necessary diet, and the community aspect of the cafe means that the chef would get to know favourite foods and special needs.

The back up from the YamDaisy Organisation would include IT and magazine style news, articles, specials, tips and recipes.

If necessary every meal could be supplied from the YamDaisy Cafe. Breakfast might be tricky, but there are several possibilities that I will post about in the future!
The easy thing would be stopping by the YamDaisy Cafe for a freshly cooked lunch and delicious, healthy takeaway for supper from the days menu also.

And why would the doctor wait until things got so far! What a relief to be able to recommend the YamDaisy Cafe to patients who showed the danger signs for developing diabetes? Think how many people could be saved from the trials and complications of diabetes by the presence of a beautiful, little YamDaisy Cafe in their neighbourhood?

The sooner they start going up the better!

For further information about the YamDaisy Cafe idea, check out the website (and it would be lovely if you could show your support by joining the facebook page too?)

For further information about diabetes and check out Diabetes Australia.

I found the excellent cartoon by googling, but I don't know who did it. Let me know and I will put the info up (or pull the cartoon down if that is what is necessary!)

All Best Wishes

Best Workplace

A piece of research into good workplaces highlighted that things like gyms and massages being available made the biggest difference to workplace enjoyment.
This is an important issue for YamDaisy Cafes. No, I don't mean putting a gym into every YamDaisy Cafe! But I am thinking about the things that really make a difference in the workplace.
The whole idea of the YamDaisy Cafes running as a franchise is to give a whole system of back up to the individual Chef/Managers.

Just a couple of things: Gyms and massages! The YamDaisy franchise could do a deal with a local gym so that chefs have access to gym and massages. I think this would be a good thing when the job is very physical and no doubt stressful.

Another thing I keep thinking about is the isolation of working in a small cafe. There is a lot that could be done with internet groups, but more is needed. The franchise could organise training opportunities. As well as learning or sharing skills, the YamDaisy chefs would have a chance to get to know each other and share experiences.

This would open up another strand of employment: 'Emergency' Chefs who are able to go in and take over the Cafe while the chef is away. This is important to give the flexibility of training and so that a chef can take time off for family or in case of illness, and even a vacation. Someone can have fun working out how this would work: maybe it can be built into the insurance. Anyway, it would take away that load that so many chefs have that they have to keep going no matter what is happening to their family or their health.

The YamDaisy idea has a social justice aim. The idea is to improve lives, and we don't want chefs burning out under the strain of a poorly organised, stressful position. A lot will be asked of YamDaisy Chefs, and so it is important that all that can be done to best support them is done, and is done well.

YamDaisy Cafe and the Question of Cake!

This wonderful cake, made with whole pieces of dried and apricots, pears and other fruits, is so healthy it is hard to believe it tastes good. My sister discovered it many years ago when my mum was following the Pritikin diet which didn't allow any added sugar or fat. The sweetness and richness come from the fruit ~ bananas are used in the cakey bit that holds the fruit together.
As we were sharing this cake, my sister commented that it would be a good one for the YamDaisy cafe, and that inspired this post, because I am still working out what place cakes and biscuits should play in the YamDaisy Cafes.

Delicious, Everyday, Affordable food. 

That is the mantra (and extends to 'seasonal. local, made from scratch' ). It is the 'everyday' bit that brings up questions about cake. There is 'everyday' food, and there is 'sometimes' food. Which category does cake go in?

Do you have that 'little bit of something' with your cuppa everyday?

This is Chocolate Beetroot Cake, it is luscious and moist with a deep, wonderful flavour. Then there is Carrot Cake, Banana and Walnut Cakes... Should the YamDaisy Cafe make a specialty of fruit anf vegetable cakes?
Here is a whole book of them! (Thanks for the link Jutta)

Support Local Cafes

I call the YamDaisy Cafe a cafe, but it is different to most cafes with their display of mouth watering pastries and the industrial coffee machine sitting on the counter.
The YamDaisy Cafe isn't meant to be in competition with the local cafes, we want their support.
If someone wants a coffee and cake, that is the place to go.

So should the YamDaisy Cafe have coffee and cake at all?

Celebrations
This pretty one contains beetroot and almonds!
 It is a birthday cake.

Surely the YamDaisy Cafe can make a Birthday Cake for a valued customer! I already wrote a post about this here: http://background-joy.blogspot.com/2010/03/birthdays-and-yamdaisy-cafe.html

Off Display

One thing I have considered is that any cakes and biscuits in the YamDaisy Cafe should not be displayed. It can be like a mum's kitchen where they are kept in a tin and brought out when needed.

What do you think?

(Wondering what these YamDaisy Cafes are all about? Here is the website!)

More Flat Talk for the YamDaisy Cafe

I thank you SO much for your comments on my last post. I love the kind support, but even more I love the comments and criticism that help me see clearly the place of my project in the real world.

Sometimes I don't respond to comments, but I  keep them in my head, or written in my notebook. I have some lovely little lists that will turn into posts soon.

My YamDaisy Project is an unusual one because my health is so bad. I have trouble even managing to post a blog more than once a week! (Ofcourse, if I managed to win $90 million in Tattslotto I could have paid people to do all the work. I could set up a few cafes then! I am sure I could  manage that very well. But sigh, I didn't win it.).
So my strategy, until the next $90 million Tattslotto Draw comes around, is to develop my idea, and find out how to communicate it SO well that it will be self evident that it has to go ahead!

So, back to the flats.
Retrofitting IS possible, but I am very, very glad not to be chasing planning permits myself!
Ofcourse, Councils will come to see that it is in their interests to have YamDaisy Cafes in areas of need, and before you know it they will be bending over backwards to help get them going!

When Jutta talked about not wishing to have one in any block of flats she was living in, I did understand. In our flats there is someone who works night shifts, and I think they would hate extra noise and bustle around here. We have also had tenants with new babies here, and I remember that feeling of being ready to KILL someone who made such a noise my 'I've just got her to sleep' baby might wake up. I am also thinking of people with chronic pain, migraines, anxiety disorders, or simply a strong need for solitude.

However I do think there are places where the current residents in a block of flats may be very glad to let a YamDaisy Cafe in. The issue should be with just the block that has the cafe put in. All the ones nearby get the convenience without the irritation (hopefully). If the block had mostly people who would get home from work just in time to buy something delicious for dinner before the cafe shut up for the evening and peace and quiet reigned, it might be very welcome!

And during the day, people from all around (with the emphasis on walking distance) could visit and, if the flats are like the ones around here, it would be a very quiet, easy atmosphere.

The YamDaisy Cafes need to have a 'mum's kitchen' feel. Welcoming, full of deliciousness, conversation and company. But no mucking around!

A YamDaisy Cafe must have the invitation of all the residents, and owners, before setting up in a building. Once it is there, at least new tenants will know what they are letting themselves in for!

I have been talking about the places with a high number of flats and apartment buildings that are two or three stories high, and mostly fit on an old house block. That is what it is like where I live. But there are the big apartment buildings too, 8, 10 and more stories high. Just like a hotel has a shop and a restaurant in the lobby, it makes sense that these could too.

In most places I imagine a YamDaisy Cafe fitting in to places like an old corner shop, or some such building: nicely among the houses, and absolutely suitable for a food business. In some places it might be best placed in a small shopping strip easily accessed by the community. I have talked with a church minister who was excited about refurbishing an old church hall as a YamDaisy Cafe.

Wherever there is a need for one of these cafes, the trick would be to look around and see where it might work best. The wishes of nearby people and disability access are right up there in importance with food safety and kitchen size!

A YamDaisy Cafe needs to come to each area on the groundswell of demand from the local people. And once it is there, the onus is on the cafe to make sure it continues to be a welcome part of the community!

A YamDaisy Cafe in a block of flats!

Here is a flat in a block of 8 flats. Two bedrooms each. Next door is another block.  9, one bedroom flats.  Next to it is another block, and then another...  (They call them apartments or units of course. It is me who is old fashioned and daggy and likes calling them flats!)

On the other side is a bare paddock. They pulled down the house that was there and they are planning to put up 4 townhouses. On the other side of that? You guessed it, another block of 4 town houses.

You get the picture? Lots of people, few children, the tenants are young and busy in the main, but there are old people here too, people with disabilities and chronic illness.  There are small kitchens here, and not many cooks....

What a great place for a YamDaisy cafe!

It IS possible to get planning permission to turn a flat into a cafe. I have checked. It probably isn't easy! But I think it might be worth it.

Take the flat in the photo for example. These flats are quite basic, but they are well soundproofed. The flats above and beside can be protected from the noise of the cafe.
The living room and main bedroom could be opened up to form a reasonable eating area, the small, cool, second bedroom could be the store room. The kitchen is small, but what cafe kitchen isn't! So long as it is well set up, small can be good!

How convenient for everyone in the neighbourhood to be able to drop in for a meal and eat it in their community, or take it home for convenience.

There is even room in the courtyardish area for herbs to grow, or even an outside table or two.

Here are the benefits:
Convenient, delicious, affordable food
Good health outcomes
Fostering a sense of community

Before long, every big block of flats built would have a central place put aside for the YamDaisy Cafe to be!

YamDaisy and Mumfood!

When I thought about the food at the YamDaisy Cafe I was inspired by Georgio Locatelli telling how a Locanda (small Italian inn) would simply serve the food the the family was eating that day. I knew that that was what people needed. Mumfood. Comfort meals. Delicious, everyday meals. Local seasonal ingredients. Slow food.... That is what I have based my YamDaisy idea around.

I developed the idea of a small homelike menu of few choices each day. A soup, 2 mains and a fruit based dessert. A small number of dishes to make it easier for the chef, and to reflect the 'mumfood' nature of the menu.

Then I had to consider how a chef would manage this day in, day out. The chef needs the balance between the interest of new foods, and the ease of bringing out a tried and tested menu. I thought about how I would like to set up the menu if I was cooking for 150 locals every day. The formula I came up with was to have a different menu every day of the week, but to repeat that menu for the four weeks of the month.
I will put an example of this below so you can see what I mean.


Chef
The chef can come up with a menu based on the local seasonal produce. Planning one week pretty well plans the month and hopefully each week will get easier to prepare and serve (plus each week responding to customer feedback ~ and variations in produce), and just when it might get boring there is a new month to plan for.

Customers
It is really easy to plan how to eat at the cafe.
If your favourite meal is up on Tuesday you can plan to eat at the cafe each Tuesday (or call in for takeaway). If you like trying a different dish each time, and you always eat at the Cafe on Tuesday, you have the variety of a soup one week, and each of the mains, and then whatever was your favourite on the last week!
If you eat there almost every day, you will get plenty of variety.
Or if you have particular food requirement, you can search out the gluten free option, the vegetarian one, or the meat and three veg one, and work your visit accordingly.

Problem

The biggest problem that has been pointed out to me is the issue of waste. Someone who had been involved with restaurants talked about having the same meal day after day on the menu means that left over ingredients etc aren't wasted. I do think this is an issue, it is important to avoid waste on every level! but I feel strongly that with the small menu there needs to be the variety over the week.
I am in favour of running out of food every day! I do know this is considered restaurant blasphemy, but it really can avoid the waste issue. It would work fine if the cafe had an excellent relationship with the customers so that there was a good sense of who will be in and what will they need. The community aspect of the Yamdaisy Cafe helps here. The personal relationships and the help of electronic communication make it easier.
The chef could twitter "Sorry we are out of Irish stew'
or "We have takeaway containers of fish cakes and fennel on special for $5 each. Hurry, only 20."
Also, careful menu planning means that the carrots in the salad on Monday could feature in the soup on Tuesday (for example), and in that way ingredients can be used most efficiently.

So that issue hasn't changed my mind! But please, argue with me! Can you see a better way to do it? Convince me.
I get a bit nervous structuring it all based on my own limited thinking! Let me know what you think. Cooks view and customers view welcome!

SAMPLE WEEKLY MENU to be repeated through a Melbourne (Autumn) April

Monday (Joy's Autumn Menu)
Soup: Zucchini Soup with a Dinner Roll
Main 1: Fried Rice with Coriander and Pepper Paste
Main 2: Mexican Polenta Stuffed Peppers With Refritos Beans and Salsa
Fruit Based Dessert: Apple Puree with Custard and an Oat Crisp

Tuesday
Soup: Wild Mushroom Soup with Thyme Scones
Main 1: Dal Makhani with Lemon Rice and Carrots Roasted with Cumin Seeds
Main 2: Red Bean and Chicken Bake with Green Salad
Fruit Based Dessert: Greek Yoghurt and Berries with Rosewater syrup.

Wednesday (Jinie's Menu)
Soup: Potato and Leek Soup with crusty bread
Main 1:Pasta Bake made with Grated Vegetables and Bolognaise sauce.
Main 2:Veggie Slice (a frittata with lots of vegetables) served with a Side Salad and a little bowl of Sweet Relish
Fruit Based dessert: Fruit Salad with Honey Icecream.

Thursday (Rose's menu)
Soup: Pumpkin Soup with a bread roll
Main 1: Macaroni Cheese and a Green Salad
Main 2: Chicken Caesar Salad Meal-in-a-bowl
Fruit Dessert: Apple Crumble and Custard

Friday
Soup: Autumn Minestrone
Main 1: Cornish Pasty with Autumn Salad
Main 2: Black Bean and Chilli Rice Vermicelli garnished with Spring Onions, Lettuce and Coriander
Fruit Based Dessert: Poached Pears with Baked Ricotta

Anniversary!

It is a year since I posted the first time, and I am celebrating what a lot I have learnt and what a treat it has been. I hadn't a clue when I began, and it has been such a lovely surprise to find the blogosphere community and the generosity and support of people all over the world.
I chose a few things to put in the photo with my one year anniversary candle. The tortoise is my symbol of 'slow and steady wins the race' and that my project is Slow Community Development.
That is a crocodile tooth at the bottom! It comes from the McArthur River near Borroloola where I taught many years ago. That is a symbol of power (and how amazing life can be!).

The bird is hard to see, so here is another picture: 

I was born in the year of the chook, and I like the mother hen thing balancing with the crocodile tooth!
And finally all the spirals: My daughter painted the one on a rock for me at a camp by a river. A friend brought the pendant as a gift for me from her visit to Bali last month, and the metal spiral has just come to light after lurking in a forgotten corner for several years. They show how you can go round in circles but still make progress! I can't have too many of them!

In my slow tortoisey way I am doing a big crocodile tooth update of my website to incorporate the things I have learnt about communicating the idea of my YamDaisy Cafes. And in my mother chook way I want to get it all nested and comfortable! And then I will be ready to spiral out again!

I am expecting this will instigate some interesting blogs to put up as I go!

It has been such a lovely adventure of a year thanks to you all, I am so happily looking forward to the next one!

YamDaisy Autumn Menu Part Two

For a YamDaisy Cafe Menu the food must be Delicious, Everyday Food and Economical too. Not only that, there are only four dishes on the menu to cater to the (presumably) wide ranging tastes of the customers. The chef needs to cook them all in a small, but well equipt kitchen. O yes, they need to be made from scratch from local, seasonal ingredients.

It is just turning Autumn in Melbourne, the end of Summer vegetables are glorious, and my sister brought me eggplants, zucchini, cucumber and a huge bag of wonderful new season apples when she came to visit a couple of weeks ago. So I came up with the following menu to give an idea of what a Yamdaisy Cafe could do:

JOY'S AUTUMN MENU

Soup: Zucchini Soup with a Dinner Roll
Main 1: Fried Rice with Coriander and Pepper Paste
Main 2: Mexican Polenta Stuffed Peppers With Refritos Beans and Salsa
Fruit Based Dessert: Apple Puree with Custard and an Oat Crisp

I began writing about this menu last post, so to get the chat and recipes about the soup and the first main have a look here:

Main 2: Mexican Polenta Stuffed Peppers With Refritos Beans and Salsa
In the picture above you can see my attempt at the peppers. 
I am not sure the photo shows how gorgeous they were, and of course it can't let you know how delicious they smelled. I just loved them! But I varied quite a bit from the recipe, so I will write it out and then tell you what I did.

This recipe came from "Moosewood Simple Suppers" and it was my first try at making it.

MEXICAN POLENTA STUFFED PEPPERS
5 large peppers - Cut in half lengthwise, keep stems on. Remove seeds, brush inside and out with olive oil (allow 1 1/2 tbsps). Salt lightly, place cut side up on an oiled baking sheets and roast at 450F for 15 minutes until tender but still holding their shape.
Polenta: Cook 4 cups of water, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 cup of cornmeal until thickened.
Stir in 1 1/2 cups of corn kernels, 1 tbsp oil or butter,  1 cup of grated cheese and 1/2 a cup of chopped spanish olives.
Fill the capsicums with the polenta, sprinkle more cheese on top and bake 5 - 10 minutes until the cheese has melted.
Serve with Mexican beans and salsa.

I really wanted to make this recipe, but I had the long red peppers which aren't so thick fleshed. Three instead of five! But I did have some sweet corn and some olives (Greek not Spanish). I thought of how I could slit the peppers open so they would be like a shoe shape to fill with the polenta, but how to get the seeds out? 
I slit them, gave a tiny rub of oil where the pepper sat on the tray, and roasted them for 15 minutes. When they cooled I could open up to get at the seeds and membranes. They hardly had any! All very easy, and I had used a smear of oil, not 1 1/2 tbsps.
Next the polenta. I used my easy microwave method (thanks Barbara Kafka) where I put 1 cup of water, 3 tbsp cornmeal and 1/2 tsp salt in a 1 litre pyrex jug. Stir and microwave on high for 2 minutes. Stir again and cover with a piece of paper towel. Cook 1 1/2 minutes more on high. Mix in a generous teaspoon of butter and a grind of pepper, and let it sit for three minutes.
For this recipe I added about 1/3 of a cup of fresh sweet corn kernels with the butter and pepper. I don't like my polenta too cheesy, so I didn't add that, and I thought the olives would look nicer on top so I kept them back too.
I spooned the polenta into the peppers and topped with lots of grated cheese (that is where I like my cheese!) and the olives and then popped them back into the hot oven until the cheese was bubbling and golden. (It wasn't happening quickly enough in the oven so I finished them off under the grill).
They are SO delicious! I think I prefer them the way I did them, so that is now my recipe!


Next I looked for the Mexican Beans to go with them. I have a yummy recipe but it didn't quite suit (it had cornmeal in it for a start!) and I was feeling sorry for the carnivores so I looked on the internet for one with beef added. However, I found this one and liked it so much! It would match beautifully with the pepper dish! http://www.cooking-mexican-recipes.com/pinto_bean_recipes.html
And to finish it off a salsa with cucumber, tomato, herbs and avacado if possible would be just gorgeous!

And the final dish, for those who just can't survive without a dessert:

Fruit Based Dessert: Apple Puree with Custard and an Oat Crisp
Those of you who have been following my blog for a while must think I am fixated on apples and oats! Every time I think of a delicious fruit based dessert it seems to contain them! But this time I had that big bag of the most gorgeous fresh apples! 

First I pureed the apple following a method my sister showed me that my mum perfected long after we had all left home! Cut the apples quickly into chunks. Cook gently in saucepan with a thick bottom, with a bit of sugar (2 tbsp for 8 apples I think I used) and a sprinkle of water. When soft, blend with a wand style thing in the saucepan, or if you are like me and haven't got one, cool until you can put them in the blender. The red skins give the puree a lovely pink colouring, all those added vitamins, and yet don't effect the texture. (Note: the skins do blend better if they are less than 2cm square pieces).

I made REAL custard, mindful of the YamDaisy 'make from scratch and not from packets' philosophy. I usually make a very nice packet custard, and this recipe was quite stressful since it was first time.... but O Yum! Eggs and milk really do make such a beautiful custard! I don't think I can go back to packet mix now!

And for a bit of crispness I made a round of Oat Pastry ( 2 cups rolled oats, 1/2 cup raw sugar, 100g melted butter ~ combine firmly and press mixture into a 20 cm pie dish. Fill and bake in a moderate oven til firm). 
I just pressed it into the pie plate and baked til crisp and golden and when I had cooled it on a rack I tried to cut it into elegant wedges. I aimed for 16 and got a dozen, they did tend to shatter! I think a YamDaisy Chef would work something else out! They were nice though! The photo makes it look dark, it was really a lovely golden brown. Crisp and sweet and balanced the dish.

The nicest thing about this menu was all the yumminess I got to eat! My next job is to work on the YamDaisy website. I think I need to do a lot of updating to the menu page! You can check the site out here http://home.vicnet.net.au/~yamdaisy/
and see if I have done so! And give me some feedback on what more could be done there! And on this menu too please!
Otherwise thanks so much for reading! Best Wishes to you all!

The Perfect Food Business

My last post was all about running a successful cafe. The information came from Ken Burgin who has had decades of experience in the Food Industry and runs workshops for people who are thinking of starting a cafe or restaurant. Check out my post here.
The interview ended with Ken Burgin being asked what food business he would choose if he could start up one now.

I will get to his answer in a roundabout way.

I came up with my idea of YamDaisy Cafes from the point of view of someone who needed help with meals (because of chronic illness) and someone who was used to providing meals to large households (previous to chronic illness!). But I didn't have much of an idea of the Food Industry side of it, and I needed to be sure that my YamDaisy structure was sustainable as a food business.

I looked around to find someone who could give me information, and was first helped by a lecturer at William Angliss, a top Melbourne Hospitality College.  He opened my eyes to so much: industrial equipment, working out profit on percentages, and some serious stories about life in this strange world.

When I asked if he thought chefs would be interested in YamDaisy Cafes with my idea of a fair income, and fair conditions, and everyday (delicious) food, he was quite inclined to think chefs could be. But not the young ones, starting out, that I thought might jump at a situation that was well supported and not too expensive to get into. No, he thought it would appeal to those who had had their time of late night craziness in the restaurant world. People who might want to sleep at night, people who wanted a bit of normalcy.
Close early, he said.

Shortly after, what should I see in my local paper, than an article about a chef who had worked in a most prestigious restaurant, but was now in our little suburb, running the local organic cafe.
'He will have lots of experience useful to me!' I thought, and up I went to see if he would talk to me. He did, and I was very grateful because he didn't have much time.
I learnt more about industrial equipment, I got to look at the store room, ask the questions and get similar cautious support and kind encouragement. Same opinion that few young chefs would be interested in my idea.
And why was this skilled chef working in the little cafe in the shopping strip?
He had a young family, and he wanted to be home in the evenings.

I am not such a slow learner. I went home and worked at my YamDaisy structure. How to get meals to people and let chefs work ordinary hours? I pushed back dinner time at my cafes so that it was still open for early diners like people with school kids, and then lots of beautiful take-away for people to buy to eat later.
6 p.m. closing.
(Okay. Maybe someone could be there a bit later to keep selling takeaway and close up)
But I made the core of the service be lunch through to early dinner with room for flexibility if the chef might choose it.

And now, let's get back to Ken Burgin and this question: "If you were to open a food business in Melbourne today, what would you choose?"
This is what he said:
I would want one that opens early, closes by 3, and is Monday to Friday.
Why? So I could have a life!
 
Well Mr Ken Burgin, I am about as close as I can get to your perfect food business!

To find out more about my YamDaisy Cafe idea, check out the website.

Note: The illustration at the top comes from the Community News Sheets I produced last year to let my local community know about my YamDaisy idea.

And finally ~ I will be so interested to hear what you think of this post! Were you surprised?

(I was, but then I was pleased!)

YamDaisy Cafe - Start Up

Melbourne's Food and Wine is about to begin and I was interested to hear adverts for a workshop called "Starting a Cafe or Restaurant?". Ofcourse my ears pricked up!
I looked it up, and while I am sure it is worth every penny, $350 is out of my price range, and a one day workshop is beyond my health. So you can imagine how pleased I was to discover that Ken Burgin, one the people running the workshop, would be interviewed on my favourite food programme on radio  (3RRR 'Eat It!').

It was a great interview, beginning with the dream of starting your own Cafe being like falling in love, and how hard it is to talk someone out of someone, or something, they are in love with.
I do admit - I am a bit in love with my YamDaisy dream!

So I was ready with my pen in hand as they went through their reality check.
50% of cafes are closed within 18 months of opening, and the creative dream of making food  needs to be balanced with the hard reality of working out the bottom line.
They went through a list of skills a cafe owner needs:

• GREAT WITH FOOD (artisan baker, creative chef, barista)
• COMPLIANCE (food safety, legislation)
• NUMERACY (book keeping, working out profitability)
• FOOD HANDLING (storage, ordering etc)
• MARKETING (getting people in)
• MANAGING PEOPLE (staff, customers )

When I was first trying to see if my Cafe idea could work in reality I spoke separately to two people in the food industry. One works at a premier catering college, and the other is chef of a local cafe. Both have extensive experience in restaurants and catering and both were kind enough to give me their time and expertise. And both went through pretty much the same issues as I was listening to in the interview. What a relief!

Because my idea is for there to be a system of YamDaisy Cafes, (there could be as many as there are McDonalds!) I want a Franchise type of organisation to be behind them (a not-for-profit one).
It can help with many of the skills that are needed. It can support the Chefs and let them concentrate on cooking (and food handling!) (and the people managing!)...
No! Truly, they will be so useful! All the information can be on hand, and the expertise; checklists, training, online information and support, mentoring.

But here's the thing - at the end of the interview, Ken Bergin was asked what kind of food business would he choose if he was to start one up.
What do you think he said?

That will be the subject of my next post!

Note; The illustration at the top comes from the booklet I made so I could show people my idea, including my food industry contacts! This picture shows how I began my idea from the knowledge of how hard it can be for some people to cook good food for their family.

Andrea's YamDaisy Menu

 

Menu Introduction: My blog is about my idea for a series of YamDaisy Cafes that provide delicious, everyday food at prices people can afford.  Click Here to read more about my idea.

 To give an idea of the sort of food the YamDaisy Cafes would serve I ask friends to come up with a day's menu. Four options are available each day: a soup with accompaniment, two main meals and a fruit based dessert. The small number of options are to make it easier for the chef, and also to make it more similar to home cooking where there is usually even less options! The food needs to be made from scratch in a small kitchen for a lot of people out of local, seasonal ingredients.

ANDREA'S SUMMER MENU

SOUP: Vichyssoise with Melba Toast

MAIN 1: Stir Fried Zucchini and Onion on Rice with a Satay Sauce

MAIN 2: Caesar Salad in a Bowl

DESSERT: Strawberries with Meringue and Cream

I do love the insight and challenges I get from people's menus. There so many things in Andrea's menu I would like to explore. Andrea and her partner Brian are farmers and Brian has a great vegetable garden and orchard so she had an extremely clear idea of what is in season (in country Victoria in the heat of Summer). And she also knows the sort of food that suits the hot weather. 

SOUP Andrea NEVER has soup in Summer! But she knew that Vichyssoise can be eaten cold, and so chose that. What a lovely choice, because it is cool and tasty when you haven't much appetite, but it will keep you going!

MEAL 1: RICE, STIR FRY ZUCCHINI AND SATAY SAUCE  To blog a menu I need a picture, so I make one of the dishes. As well as making the blog more inviting it gives me a good idea about the menu and plenty to talk about! Plus a recipe or so to share. 

Today I made rice with stir fried zucchini and satay sauce. 

So firstly, do you call coconutty peanut sauce 'Satay Sauce'? It is common here, but by looking up recipes I think we should be calling it Peanut Sauce, maybe Creamy Peanut Sauce because of the coconut milk in it.

Since I am not cooking the dish for 60 people in a YamDaisy Cafe, but just for my own lunch - I am very glad Andrea gave me her recipe for making a small amount of creamy peanut sauce in the microwave (or easily done in a small saucepan on the stovetop). I have changed her ingredients according to what I have easily available, and this is how I make Satay Sauce:

Quick, Easy, Creamy Peanut Sauce

Soak a 1 tbsp piece of tamarind in a 1/4 cup of hot water

Into a 2 cup microwavable jug place:

2 tsp of grated palm sugar

1 minced garlic clove

1 tsp soy sauce

1 big tbsp of peanut butter

Squish up the tamarind and strain it into the jug too

a pinch of chilli powder (plain hot chilli, not the American mixture)

Mix it all up and then add 3/4 cup of coconut milk and stir again.
Microwave on medium power for a couple of minutes until it is thickened and hot but not boiling.
Add a squeeze of lemon juice to taste.
That is it! taste it, it is YUM!

Next the vegetables. I added carrot, celery and corn to the zucchini and onion, thinking it would be good to have a variety so customers can nominate if they want one left out! ~ and to add to the colour and texture of the dish. I stir fried them plain, because all the added flavour is in the sauce, and I didn't add my pinch of salt til the very end because I didn't want moisture to come out and make them mushy. This was very quick and easy too!
I served plenty of vegetables with freshly cooked rice and topped it with the hot tasty sauce. I didn't have coriander or Asian basil to garnish, so that is why sweet basil is there, and very delicious it is too. (And I have leftovers for tomorrow).
I took the photo and immediately tried to start this post, except that eating stir fried vegetables with rice and satay sauce does require both hands!

MEAL 2: CAESAR'S SALAD IN A BOWL By 'in a bowl' I mean that it is the meal in itself, not a side dish.
Andrea was really thinking about eating in the hot weather, and wanting something light and refreshing but still substantial enough to be a meal. She told me about Brian's way of eating Caesar Salad which is cos lettuce with a dressing and small pieces of fried bread, egg, and bacon, topped with parsley and spring onions. Wow! I was intrigued by this because I have never made Caesar's Salad to my satisfaction. I want to do it for my next post.
I want to make a great YamDaisy Caesar Salad in a bowl. I have considered Brian's favourite way, and am impressed by the way it is almost Farmers Breakfast as a salad! I have looked up the close to original recipes. I think I want something inbetween. Can you help me? Do you have a favourite way of making Caesar Salad? Do you ever eat it as a meal in a bowl, or always as a side dish? How would you make it for the YamDaisy Cafe?
Note: 6/3/10 : I made it! Click here to check it out

Finally DESSERT ~ STRAWBERRIES WITH MERINGUE AND CREAM. Yummo! It was nearly pavlova, but since that didn't really fit into the YamDaisy philosophy of 'everyday' food, Andrea shrunk the meringue to a small little bite of deliciousness to accompany the fruit, and the cream to a delicate blob, and let the strawberries star. Oh heaven, I wonder if I can make this dish too!

Thankyou Andrea for a gorgeous menu, a delicious lunch, and a Caesar's Salad in the next few days!

YamDaisy and Celebrations!

Chinese New Year Celebrations in Melbourne last week were captured in a wonderful set of photoes by Pol at White Forge Photoes. She has kindly let me use one of hers here! But do go and check the lovely gallery of them!

I want to write about celebrations because there were SO MANY of them last week! I read blog posts about a whole range of Carnivale celebrations (with the greatest concentration on Pancake Tuesday!!!). Valentines Day filled the food blogs ~ and The Chinese New Year was closest to my heart!

This set my mind to thinking the role of the YamDaisy Cafe in the years celebrations. Australia, my home, has such a diverse population that there are not that many celebrations that are universally celebrated, and those are generally over commercialised and can leave a lot of people lonely on the edges.

What we do have is an extraordinary number of celebrations observed by families and communities, and a lot of ignorance about their significance, their richness and their FOOD!

The YamDaisy Cafe (click on it to read more) will be a community cafe focussing on local clients, especially those with illness, disability and trying circumstances and without the family support for food provision and therefore, most likely, for celebrations.

Each individual cafe will differ according to decisions of the chef, and the needs and wishes of the clients. But I think the cafes have a great opportunity  to nurture community cohesion and delight in the history and understanding of food, by celebrating those dates that are important within the community.

Imagine what fun could be had with Pancake Tuesday each year, with an Asian Focus for Chinese (or Vietnamese, or Korean etc) New Year, and maybe a 'YamDaisy loves you' treat for those people without partners who otherwise suffer through Valentines Day alone.

The aim would be to celebrate and appreciate the different beliefs that make up the community.
And who knows, if the YamDaisy Cafes are vibrant focal places in the community, there is no doubt that over the years they will build up some celebrations of their own.

PS. Despite bad health and not getting out I managed red bean ice cream to celebrate the Year of the Golden Tiger, a raspberry and white chocolate cupcake (thanks to my daughter Rose) for Valentines Day and a magnificent breakfast of pancakes with lemon and sugar to celebrate Mardi Gras! Cheers!