3 min read

You say tomato, we say passata!

"It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato" - Lewis Grizzard 

On behalf of the team at Home Make It, I would like to wish you a very Happy New Year! We hope that you enjoyed a wonderful holiday season with your family and friends, and that 2015 brings you good health and new opportunities.

~ Melbourne Tomato Festival ~

2015 is set to be another exciting year for Home Make It! With the "tomato season" fast approaching we are thrilled to be sponsoring the inaugural Melbourne Tomato Festival, which will take place on the 1st March, 2015 from 10am until 6pm. The Melbourne Tomato Festival is a celebration of the humble tomato and the preservation of artisan Italian culture, including the age old tradition of making passata. The festival will be celebrated at the historic and iconic Farm Vigano, also rich in Italian culture and set against the backdrop of six acres of community farmland.

"The Melbourne Tomato Festival 2015 will be a gathering of local farmers selling produce, speakers, agriculturalists, master classes, Italian food, artisan producers, special guests, history, workshops, entertainment and passata making". Book your tickets to this great event Online now. Tickets are selling fast, so don't miss out!

Come along and meet some of the Home Make It team at the Passata Making workshops we will be running throughout day. We will also be officially launching our new Homemade Tomato Sauce making kits which will available for purchase. 

Guy Grossi and Home Make It's Frank Bovezza promoting the Melbourne Tomato Festival

 

~ The Italian Home Cook Olympics ~

 

Join our very own "Italian Master" Frank Bovezza at the 2015 Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, The Italian Home Cook Olympics on the 1st March at the Sicilian Mister Bianco Restaurant in Kew. Melbourne's Italian Masters, including Giorgio Linguanti from That's Amore Cheese ,Michael and Christian Dal Zotto from Dal Zotto Wines will be joining Frank from Home Make It. They  are coming together for a unique hands on master class and workshop to teach the art of homemade sausages, winemaking and cheese making. The workshop will conclude with a stunning shared table lunch and specially selected wines by Dal Zotto. 

 

~ The Art of Salumi Making ~

The 1st March 2015, is shaping up to be a very busy day! Steve Lamberto and his team from Home Make It will  be assisting Romulus and Remus and Salumi Australia at the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, The Art of Salumi Making event. The workshop will be held at Romulus and Remus in Richmond and will focus on the traditional art of salumi making, followed by an Italian feast and a special selection of wines by Distillery Works

  

~ Introducing our new team members ~

We are also excited to be kicking off 2015 with the expansion of our team. Super excited to introduce our new specialist home brewer, Cade Butler. Cade is a passionate home brewer with over 10 years experience and specialises in all grain brewing. He has been brewing up a storm at our Reservoir and Clayton stores, expanding our product range and sharing his knowledge and experience. We will keep you up to date with all the news from Cade, including beer recipes, and we can't wait to launch a very special project that Cade is currently working on. We guarantee that our passionate home brew customers are going to be thrilled! Cade will be working at either our Reservoir or Clayton stores from Monday to Wednesday. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter to keep up to date with his daily news and location. 

We are also very pleased to introduce you to our newest recruits Carmel at our Reservoir Store and Lou to our Clayton store. Carmel is a passionate foodie, and eager to share with you her knowledge and experience in making homemade food. Lou is also a passionate foodie and specialises in homemade wine. He is a member of the Eltham and District Wine Guild and will expertly guide you through all the stages of the wine making process. Lou will be joining us on the 9th February, 2015.  

Cade Butler

Have a go at this great summer beer recipe!

Bottle Blonde 

Ingredients:

- 1 kg Home Make It Light Malt
- 1 Tin Morgans Blonde
- 500g Ale Malt
- 1 pkt Morgans Finishing Hops – Saaz
- 1 pkt Morgans Premium Ale Yeast

    Method:

    Steep the 500g of Ale malt in 3 litres water at 68°C for 1 hour.

    Strain the steeped water into the fermenter. Fill with boiled water to make up approx. 2 litres and mix in tin and the light malt powder until totally dissolved.

    Pour the finishing hops in a cup of boiling water for 10 minutes and put the bag and water into the fermenter. Then top up with cold water to 19 litres.

    Take measurement of the original gravity, it should be around 1050. Then add your yeast to the fermenter at approx. 24°C.

    When brew has finished fermenting, open fermenter, remove a flask full and test with a hydrometer (should be around 1010 – 1015). Now taste, as one would any favourite recipe prepared in a kitchen. At this stage mild adjustments can be made, depending on your taste buds.

    Bottle and enjoy!

      

    ~ Tomato season is getting saucy ~

    The Gangi family of Melbourne have brought the "sauciness" to family passata days! Our recent post of this pic on our Facebook page went viral and got some hearts aflutter, with over 15,000 views! Only a few weeks now until Melbourne garages will be turned into tomato sauce factories and an abundance of fresh passata to last the whole year round will be made. Have you got your equipment and supplies ready? For all your equipment and supplies come and see us at the Reservoir or Clayton stores, or shop Online

     

    ~ Summer Food and Beverage Courses ~

    Advanced Homemade Winemaking Course - run over six nights from March - November covering all the stages of the winemaking process. 

    Passata Making Workshop - We'll have you ready for this year's passata making season. A fun, hands on workshop with shared pasta supper. 

    Pizza Making Workshop - Learn the art of pizza making by international Savoury Chef and Brunetti's Executive Savoury Chef, Michele Circhirillo. Workshop will conclude with a feast of delicious pizza. 

    We will be releasing details and dates of more food and beverage workshops shortly, including the popular sausage and salami making workshops. 

     ~ Product of the Week ~

    We are delighted to be offering the Italian made, Hotmix Pro Professional, the kitchen appliance that does it all! Chop, cut, mix, knead, cook and more…at home or in the professional kitchen the HotmixPRO has so many unique features, it out performs any other thermal mixer out there. You can watch it in action in this Youtube video. The temperature reaches 190 degrees. Suitable for the home cooking and those who are time poor, but want to create healthy meals with ease. Also suitable for food businesses, professional chef’s, production kitchens, molecular gastronomy.

    ~ Weekly Specials ~

    Take advantage of our weekly specials by clicking on the banner below. 

    Looking forward to sharing more exciting news from the team with you. We'll hopefully catch up with you somewhere on the 1st March, 2015 whether it's The Tomato Festival or the Melbourne Good Food & Wine Show, The Italian Homecook Olympics or The Art of Salami Making. Have a great week :)