About Shoalhaven Foodies

We're a group with a lot in common. There's our love of food of course. Sourcing, cooking, serving, eating and discussing it. Cooking is such a fun and creative thing to do and we all share the passion.

Each of us has chosen to walk an artistic path. Between us, we draw, paint, sculpt, work with clay, paper, create artists' and lifestyle books, write novels, short stories and poetry, take photographs and cook.

We also share a love of caring for the environment and sustainable living. Some of us grow our own vegetables, all grow our own herbs and use locally grown ingredients wherever possible.

This is our doctrine. Source food locally as far as possible and be as creative as we want.

One of the most important aspects of the group is the enthusiasm, friendship and support we share. We hope you enjoy visiting us.

"Frances' lunch was akin to being in a surreal artistic setting, with light streaming into her unique farmhouse filled with her inspiring artworks. With such a wonderful setting, it was a delight to have beautiful food too, with many of the herbs and vegetables picked from her garden. My favourite dish was the lavender crème brulee – so creamy and delicious!

"Next it was Colleen's turn, and this was another artistic experience. Colleen's walls were filled with the art she collects and one of her beautiful cats sat sedately in the background. Colleen also sourced a lot of her food from her garden and I was truly inspired by her loving care and the amazing amount of work she put into all her dishes The tastes of Morocco were truly gorgeous.

"Recently we dined at Kim's house, which is also filled with artworks she has created. Kim set up an Asian experience, with red as the overriding colour. Putting her creativity to work, Kim delighted us with fascinating and beautiful touches at the table and on the food. The food was delicious and, although it was hard (and even silly) to choose, the Rose Ice Granita was my favourite." - Chere

About Kim Dove

I am interested in many things, my passions are yoga, the environment, the arts, cooking. I have been teaching yoga and meditation for over twenty years, I am an artist and I am involved in local bushcare and sustainable energy forums in my town.
I live with my husband Colin, my children and grandchildren live on the same property, and nearby. I grew up in the inner city, a place called Glebe,where many generations of my family lived. So now I am in a beautiful rural town, and wouldn't live anywhere else. I have met so many wonderful people and made so many friends.

Frances

About Colleen

I just love cooking - over the years I've gone from cooking simple fare in a share house, to experimenting and exploring how to serve really healthy, fresh food from scratch to my family. Now I love nothing better than a noisy group of food lovers around my table enjoying a meal that's been cooked with love in my kitchen.

As well as cooking great food I have always had a vegie garden, sometimes with varied results. To me, that's what it's all about - produce harvested from my back yard and cooked at its freshest – the flavours and colours are just fantastic. For me, cooking complements my other creative loves – writing poetry, photography, making hand-made paper and creating beautiful books.

Chere

No doubt about it, one of my favourite things is cooking and eating great food. I love the smell of food cooking, the challenge to present it artistically - and the tastes - extraordinary! Not ordinary, boring food mind you, but food with flair and imagination, preferably eaten in a gorgeous setting.

Cooking is way up on my creativity list. I rate it along with all the other things I do...writing stories and poetry, painting, drawing, sculpting, producing little books (a recent addiction) photographing everything, travelling to great places – they all fit together perfectly. No wonder I can't decide which one I love best!

I can't tell you how much fun it is to be part of the Shoalhaven Foodies. We've had three get-togethers so far and each has been outstanding. We're so lucky to have such wonderful produce to use and such great cooks to produce the culinary delights they've dished up.