Hello Koalas 

a project where public art meets tourism, about to launch in the Port Macquarie NSW area 

Coming to Greater Port Macquarie in mid September 2014 - 50 plus large-scale koala sculptures, manufactured in fibreglass & hand painted & decorated by celebrity artists, professional artists & community groups, to create an official Hello Koalas Sculpture Trail. A forward thinking project linking the creativity of artists, business sponsorship and the power of tourism.

I am thrilled to be able to say I was commissioned to paint not one, but two koalas. Way back in 2013, the call for artists to submit designs went out and I submitted the maximum three designs allowed per artist.

One of these was chosen to be sponsored by World Par-Tea, an Australian owned retailer & wholesaler specialising in chemical free loose leaf teas of the highest grade and quality.






Komorebi is a Japanese word which translates as, ‘sunlight filtering through the leaves on trees’. In reference to the koala's forest habitat up high in trees. To see a koala for yourself requires you to also enjoy komorebi - looking up into the sunlight filtered by the leaves on trees.

Komorebi will be placed at the World Par-Tea tea rooms. Pay her a visit, see the intricate painting detail in real life and treat yourself to one of their 'high teas' (or perhaps a morning or afternoon cuppa!) - Shop 22, 35 Merrigal Rd Port Macquarie, NSW, Austraila. Say hi and thanks to Kerrie and Rod while you're there.





The second koala ended up being a commission. Ricardoes Tomatoes and Strawberries had signed up early on as a sponsor, but there was no koala design submitted that was a good match for their business. So the Hello Koalas team went looking for an artist and thankfully they found my food themed paintings. So I was asked to create a luscious, fresh food design based around the produce of the business.

Hello Berry Beautiful.
See her in real life outside Cafe Red at the strawberry and tomato farm - 221 Blackmans Point Rd, Blackmans Point NSW. Indulge in some pick-your-own fresh strawberries (they are GOOD!) or some award winning tomatoes and give a friendly hello to Carol and Anthony too.


The Hello Koalas Sculpture trail had it's official launch on Monday. The koalas will be placed in their locations in approximately two weeks.

See the launch news story on NBN TV news and in the Port Macquarie News newspaper.

The Hello Koalas site is at www.hellokoalas.com

Dong gu simply means winter mushroom, which is a member of the shiitake mushroom family. Shiitake is the Japanese name. The Chinese call shiitake, xiang gu. Regular shiitake look like this:

Photo by fschroiff

Dong gu mushrooms are known in English as winter mushrooms, as this is when they are grown, and also as Chinese black mushroom and black forest mushroom. They have a cracking pattern on their cap, like this: 

Photo by avlxyz

For the purposes of this recipe it does not really matter which variety of shiitake mushroom you use. Just so you know, the origins of this dish are from pairing winter bamboo shoots and winter mushroom.


Thanks to Wikipedia for a bit of clarification, Red Cook for some useful background and fschroiff and avlxyz for the photos.

Now on to the tasty part...

1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1/2 tablespoon plum sauce
1/3 cup stock
1/8 cup soy sauce
2 pinches ground white pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons sherry
1/2 tablespoon cornflour
1-2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 spring onions cut on the diagonal to let out maximum onion flavour
3 shiitake or Chinese black mushrooms - fresh is best but rehydrated is ok too. De-stem and slice
70g other mushrooms, sliced
2 pinches salt
about 100g bamboo shoots, sliced
70g snowpeas or 140g leafy greens, shredded
about 300g silken tofu, the firmer the better, cut into 1cm cubes


In a bowl, mix the hoisin, plum, stock, soy sauce, white pepper, sugar, sherry and cornflour. Adjust seasoning to taste.
Heat the oil in a pan. Add spring onion and soften.
Add mushrooms and salt.
Cook for a few minutes until softened. Add more oil if needed.
Add the other vegetables, mix, and lower the heat.
Stir the sauce mix and pour into the pan. 
Stir until the vegetables are cooked and the sauce has thickened. It may need to be brought to a simmer.
Carefully fold in the tofu. 
Simmer until the tofu is warmed through. Add a lid here, it helps speed this step up.
Add more stock if the sauce thickens too much.

Serves 2 on rice.

Thanks to my lovely Simon for inventing this recipe. It's another warm salad that's more like a hefty meal than rabbit food and it makes excellent use of the produce around during the cold months. Stew begone! We have soft and crunchy and fresh and roasted all in one filling healthy bowl. Did I mention the advantage of roasts is putting them on to cook and walking away? And that while your dinner cooks it also heats your house all at once? Mmm... warm, full and no carb overloading in sight.

Photo courtesy of Galileo55

Bangers are sometimes known as sausages, for anyone suffering confusion....
I know what you're thinking, bangers and mash is not very vegetarian, and vege sausages are cheating. Yes, I agree with you. Partly. 

Sometimes you find yourself in a situation where sausages and sides are on the menu, and then suddenly a vegetarian shows up. In which case beef gravy may not be appropriate! Or maybe you're like me who actually genuinely enjoys vegetarian sausages (I love the tofu/tvp variety but will turn my nose up at the vegetables-mashed-together variety). 

At these times, you may need to know how to make a vegetarian gravy. It's really easy, btw. Or maybe you want some easy side dishes that are more exciting than just boiled something to go along with the bangers and the mash (mashed potato). This recipe installment is more about these sides than the main event. These turn bangers and mash into a memorable meatless meal.

Onion Gravy

Too easy, full of flavour and insanely useful.

1 large onion, chopped how you like (it is served intact as part of the gravy)
2 1/2 cups stock
knob of butter
2 2/2 tablespoons cornflour
1/4 cup wine (optional, and include this volume as part of the 2 1/2 cups of stock)

Melt the butter and gently fry the onion until it is soft and golden.
Add the stock (and wine) and simmer gently until the gravy changes from pale to a deep brown. I tend to leave this on low while everything else I'm cooking for the meal is in progress and then move onto the next step just before serving.
Blend the cornflour with a little cold water and add to the gravy.
Keep stirring and simmering until the gravy thickens.
Then serve.

Appled Cabbage

I believe this is of German origin. It's way better than soggy plain boiled cabbage.

1/2 apple, chopped small
1/2 cup water or stock plus 2 tablespoons
around 500g cabbage, shredded fine
knob of butter

Simmer apple in water, lid on, until it becomes very soft.
Mash into apple sauce.
Add cabbage, another 2 tablespoons water or stock and the knob of butter.
Turn the heat right down low and put the lid back on.
Cook for just enough minutes until the cabbage softens. This will depend on the thickness of your shredding.
Mix the apple and cabbage thorougly and serve.

Cauliflower Cheese to Die For

This was a bold experiment that went spectacularly well on some very surprised guests. The cheese soaks all the way through the cauliflower and makes it melt in your mouth. Just divine.

750g cauliflower, cut into florets
250g cream cheese
1/3 cup weak stock
2 pinches hot paprika

Put everything in a lidded oven casserole dish. Using the order given is easyest. Roughly mix the cream cheese over the cauliflower pieces. This will be difficult, so don't get precious about it.
Bake in the oven at 180 C.
*TURN AFTER 30 MINUTES* (Can you tell this step is important?) You will be able to mix the cream cheese and cauliflower properly now. The cauliflower will not look very cooked yet, it really has just come up to cooking temperature. The next half hour is when the magic happens.
Bake for a further 30 minutes, 1 hour in total.
Serve and devour!


All of these serves are for 4.

Rosehips are very high in vitamin C and, unusual for a fruit, are in season in winter. In times past they were highly prized for these two reasons. What are rosehips? Why, they are the little red oval berries on rose bushes in winter. They stay hard for ages, but when they soften the birds will be all over them and this is when they are easiest to pick. Due to the birds their season is rather short. 

There are a few things to know before you charge out picking and eating. Firstly they can be challenging to pick. Roses are covered in thorns and rosehips are filled with spikey filaments which often protrude through the skin of the berry and feel sharp. Also the berries are small and light and it takes patience to collect enough to cook with. If you don't like the taste of rose (think turkish delight), don't bother. Secondly, those spikey filaments irritate the lining of our stomachs so don't ever just eat whole rosehips. These filaments must be removed first. In this recipe, that's what the muslin does.


4 cups rosehips
4 cups water
832g sugar (or for each 600ml juice, add 500g sugar)


Put the rosehips and water in a pan.
Bring to the boil and mash roughly.
Simmer very gently for 20 minutes with the lid on. Be vigilant that the mix does not catch on the pan bottom as this destroys the delicate flavour.
Mash well and strain through doubled muslin. I find laying the muslin over a sieve and wearing rubber gloves to squeeze to be really useful at this stage.
Squeeze all the liquid out of the fruit.
Discard the fruit.
Measure the juice and calculate the correct sugar amount.
Put both sugar and juice in a pan and heat to dissolve the sugar. Do not heat for too long as the sugar will caramelise. Trust me! Though rose flavoured caramel is quite nice, it's not what we're after here.
Decant into sterilized jars. 


This makes just under 4 cups or 1 Litre of syrup.


Enjoy! Now you have a lovely flavouring for cakes, icing, sweet sauces and other sweet treats. This can also be drunk as a cordial. My personal tip is to use this syrup as the sauce for a jamless Upsidedown Pudding.