Maker Series – Cherie Hausler + Michelle Crawford
A heart to heart with Cherie Hausler and Michelle Crawford, two food lovers who will be leading our Tea Blending - Jam Making Workshop and Long Table Lunch in October.
Image: Michelle Crawford
Here at Dunmore, we love bringing people together to enjoy good food that nourishes the body and soul. We love to inspire and celebrate community through meaningful connection. And of course, we love hosting stunning events set amidst the beautiful backdrop of our idyllic countryside haven, Dunmore Farm.
We are so excited to bring you our next wonderful event, a weekend of immersing yourself in creating, making and enjoying delicious food. We also thought it would be lovely for you to get to know Cherie and Michelle, who we are teaming up with to bring you this wonderful workshop and long table lunch.
Today we delve into what inspires these amazing ladies, why they do what they do, and the incredible experiences they share through food.
Meet Cherie Hausler
Cherie Hausler
Based in the Barossa Valley, Cherie Hausler balances her many passions as tea maker, plant eater, cake baker, cookbook author and founder of the nourishing food brand, All The Things.
Tell me about your journey as a lover of good food
I was born in the Barossa and this is where my love for food all began. Growing up, my parents were both involved in the wine industry, my dad grew amazing produce in his garden (seriously, the best tomatoes), we’d always be dropping in to the green grocer, and my first job was at a winery. Essentially, I was always surrounded by good, fresh food. This was our norm.
From an early age I began making homemade goodies and at 10 years old I playfully created my own brand, making gifts for everyone wrapped in hand-stamped calico bags. Some years later, when I moved to Melbourne, I’d always bake homemade cakes for friends who would be surprised and delighted. While it was normal for me to do this, taking the time to make something by hand was a very special gesture for them.
Career-wise, I’ve always been involved with food. My brother and I own a restaurant in Bangkok, I worked with Maggie Beer for 13 years, did a stint in Japan making cakes in a teahouse and I have my own brand of vegan goodies, All The Things.
Today, my husband and I live in the Barossa and are on a mission to grow as much food of our own as possible. Everything I eat is plant-based and I love the concept of veganising anything and everything!
Let’s talk about tea! Why this deep fascination with it?
Tea has been a long-standing obsession of mine.
It goes back to the early days of our Bangkok restaurant, Eat Me. My brother and I wanted to create an incredible international menu that included really good coffee, olives, olive oil, wine and… tea!
Having spent a lot of time in Japan, my brother and I had always enjoyed their beautiful tea ritual. From the unique pottery, to choosing your favourite cup and utensils, smelling the delicious brew and watching the steam escape from the teapot – the whole process is such a wonderful experience.
What we really love about it is the slowing down, taking time, appreciating the entire process of making and drinking loose leaf tea that’s been brewed in a teapot.
When did you start tea blending?
My brother first asked me to come up with something for the restaurant, so I started blending teas with ingredients I found in Asia.
Later, when my husband and I moved back to the Barossa, I started working with Maggie. Here I felt that while everything she was doing was really beautiful, the tea could be better. So, I suggested to her that I blend some teas, brought some in for her to try, and she asked me what my new business plan and name will be for my tea!
Tell me about the bespoke tea-blending workshops you run
I love to show people what’s possible. Rather than teaching, what I really try to do is remove this notion that there’s some magic box that foodies keep all their secrets in.
To create delicious food, you really just need to spend more time with it. Once you see how easy it is to make tea – it’s no longer sitting in this magic box. You know you can make it.
I design my workshops to spark the creative process, to give people the confidence to experiment with food. And if they want to make tea blending a part of their everyday life, my workshop shows them that it can be as simple as grabbing some ginger out of fridge, adding a few mint leaves and brewing them together.
What ingredients will you be using in the tea-blending workshop?
At our Dunmore workshop, we’ll have a caffeinated black tea base and some herbal bases. None of these are blends I normally do (on purpose) as I really want people to create their own blends.
We’ll begin by wandering around Bec’s garden, foraging for delicious botanicals like rosemary flowers, marigold petals and fennel flowers.
We’ll also have a conversation about how to blend tea and people can decide which flavours they’d like to combine. They then get to take home a bag of their very own tea.
And of course we’ll be infusing our tea into jams. How gorgeous! It’s just adds another layer of goodness.
How do you want people to feel- during and after - the workshop and long table lunch
I think there is nothing better than making something ourselves. It inspires mindfulness. When you give your full focus to something, you’re immediately connected to it. And creating something new gives us such a sense of achievement.
I want people to feel at home when they come to our workshop. Greeted with a cup of tea and a handmade cookie, conversation is instantly easy. And I want them to feel connected when they sit down to eat a delicious, nourishing lunch.
I also love that we are with people, face-to-face. Food can be deeply personal for people, and so it’s really nice to share this creative experience in real life, without technology. We’re just hanging out, sharing food and information.
The weekend will be a lovely experience. Food is a sacred thing and taking the time to slow down and enjoy it, with nothing else going on, is very liberating.
Meet Michelle Crawford
Michelle Crawford
A devoted cook and eater, Michelle Crawford is a food stylist, photographer and writer based in Tasmania’s Huon Valley.
Tell me about your journey as a lover of good food
I’ve always loved food and cooking ever since I was a child. And although I’ve always had this passion, I didn’t work with food until after I’d had my first child. It was when I was on maternity leave that I had a good re-think about what I wanted to do.
And the answer was quite simple. I wanted to learn about food, grow food and make food. And if I wasn’t growing my own, I wanted to know who did. I wanted to live in a community who cares about food, where it comes from and how amazing it is for us.
So, we made the move to regional Tasmania; to a beautiful area that I love and where I invested my time working in restaurants, making preserves and baking cakes. Since moving here, I’ve been totally inspired by the beautiful produce that surrounds us and I love transforming it into products I can sell.
I’ve also make a lot of connections since moving to Tasmania and feel fortunate to have worked with many incredible foodies including Matthew Evans, Sally Wise and Ben Millbourne.
Let’s talk about jam! Why your deep fascination with it?
When I lived in Sydney, I worked in an office and would sit in meetings dreaming of the life I wanted – to live in a weatherboard house in the countryside making jam. And so, when we moved here, that’s what I started doing. But I have to admit (it makes me laugh now) that in the beginning I was not a great jam-maker!
However, I was determined to learn. So I practiced, read everything I could, went to workshops and eventually figured out how to make beautiful, delicious jams.
Which is lucky because there is so much beautiful produce here in summer time. We have an amazing stone fruit orchard just down the road from us and people in our community are always sending me texts offering fruit. I just can’t say no - I have to conserve all this incredible produce.
This also means that in prime fruit season, any spare space in my house is loaded up with jams! Secretly, that’s why I opened an Airbnb – so I could share it with our guests.
Is there a lot of experimenting you do with your jams?
Because I’m so driven by each fruit’s unique flavour, I don’t do a lot of experimenting. The fruit grown here is so fantastic I don’t need to tinker with it. I cook the jam for as short a time as possible, which enables me to really capture the fruit’s essence.
In saying this, while I don’t mix fruits, I do often infuse my jam using herbs. For instance I might make a strawberry jam with rose petals or lemon balm. I also like to add booze, making a lovely peach jam with amaretto.
And one of the best things to do in winter? Open a jar of jam that gives you a delicious blast of summer.
What do you love about the process of making jam?
I find it’s a really meditative process. I love that you have to really focus on what the jam is doing. There’s something very soothing about standing at the stove and watching this magic between the sugar and fruit happen.
And because you can’t leave the jam as it cooks, you have to focus on the now.
Are there any challenging elements in your jam-making process?
As I mentioned, you have to watch the jam while you’re cooking it. Multi-tasking and jam-making are not friends!
It can also be hard to find the time to make it. But now I have the right equipment and a system, it’s much easier. I have a two-step process where I macerate the raw fruit, sugar and lemon juice and pop it in the fridge, then come back to it a day or two later to cook. This means I can make the jam over a few days.
Tell me about the jam-making workshop and long table lunch at Dunmore Farm
Having done a few jam-making workshops, when this opportunity arose at Dunmore Farm, I instantly knew it’s going to be very special.
I love the idea of infusing jam with tea and using Bec’s beautiful garden as a source of inspiration. I think we’ll create this amazing, easy marmalade, then go on a wander through the garden, see what looks good, and come up with some delicious combinations.
I’m also really excited about the long table lunch. I do a lot of catering for workshops and simply adore cooking for people, using seasonal ingredients to treat them with a special kind of feast. It’s such a joy for me.
How do you want people to feel – during and after – the weekend of events at Dunmore?
I want to inspire people to go and make jam on their own. I want them to feel nourished and that they’ve had a really special day. It’s all about learning, along with feeling inspired and well nourished.
Wow! Aren’t these two ladies amazing. I love everything about their food journey and feel so privileged to have them share their knowledge, recipes and food love with us over the upcoming weekend.
I really hope you can join us at one or both events. It will be a weekend filled with warmth and connection, fun and laughter. One of those weekends that you float away from, feeling utterly content, rejuvenated and inspired.
Bec x
Here are the event details:
Steeped in Tea Workshop
Date: Saturday 14th October
Place: Dunmore Farm
Time: 10am – 1pm
Price: $195 per person
Long Table Spring Lunch
Date: Sunday 15th October
Place: Dunmore Farm
Time: 12pm – 3pm
Price: $250 per person