Have esky will travel

One should always set off with an esky. You never know when you're might come across beautiful fresh produce. Of course, I don't follow my own good advice, that would be way too organised, but luckily, this weekend's travel companion my mother who could out-Martha Martha stewart does.

Turned out it came in handy for our trip to Stanthorpe. There, were, as I promised myself, the apples- the very last of the season. We were given a bag each, including the kids, and told to go for it. All that was left were some pretty spotty grannies, but get past the unappealing outer and they were still crisp and delicious inside. We spent half an hour in the orchard, alternatively eating and dropping the very large ladies into our bags. The kids were so excite- Miss nine who I suspect thought apples grew on trays covered in plastic at the supermarket took one to school today, saying that her teacher 'probably wouldn't believe she picked it from a tree'. They are currently stewing in a pot, sending out lovely apple-cinnamon smells all over the house.

As well as the apples we tasted some cheese, from a new talented and self taught cheesemaker, Karen Deeth. She and her husband have their own small jersey herd and she uses their milk to make around six different cheeses including a blue, two soft cheese, a matured cheddar, marinated fetta and a smoked cheese. The district has embraced her cheese- she can't keep up with demand.

At the new deli Olga and Agnes (ex Samuels) we picked up some locally made salami as well as some fab curry pastes and spices. I think it will do really well. The owner Kath is a huge foodie and seems to know her stuff.

At Jam Works, once a tiny old country school house there are around 40 different jams, all lovingly handmade. THe kids decimated the tastings and when allowed to choose one to take home bought lemon butter with ginger (master 9) and strawberry and raspberry (miss 9). I took at capscium and chilli relish which is lovely- the owner/jam maker Sue has a very good palate for spices I reckon- she balances them so perfectly.

At Bella Rosa, a tea shop in Thulimbah, we stopped for lunch. They have just started making some rather nice chocolates, using the local liquers from Castle Glen down the road. Not being a fan of liquer chocolate, I was pleasantly surprised. I promised myself I would eke them out, but needless to say, they were cracked open in the car on the way home. They were nicely restrained (unlike me) and the limoncello was a particular favourite.

At Vincenzo's aka the big apple, we got little packets of Summit seeds- pumpkin, seasame and other seeds, lightly dusted in chilli as well as 2 litre bottles of local unfiltered, unheated olive oil.

Then of course, there was the wine. I am currently sipping a particularly fine Reserve Cab Sav from Argentinian winemaker Paola Cabezas Rhymer at Summit Estate. I picked up a few other select bottles from half a dozen other wineries too. I defy anyone these days to pick a wine as being 'Queensland' (once pretty much equal to 'v v bad'.) I think we're always going to be pretty small- given the limited wine grape growing climate we have but who says we can't in time, make not just good wines, as we are now but really great ones?

I love Stanthorpe (despite the fact it was something like minus 1 on Sat night) and I'm happy to see that finally, food in the area is catching up. We had a great dinner at a fairly new place, Shiraz at Ballandean too. There's nothing that beats a day wine tasting that rounding it off with a good food. Unless it's a unpacking a full esky of delicious things straight from the people who make it when you get home.