Our preserves pantry is now overflowing … with the addition of preserved lemons, tomato relish and sweet pickled zucchini (always yum).

Thanks to those that donated fruit, and those that came along to preserves group on Tuesday to help chop, stir, chat (perhaps the most important bit!) and package.

Pop past and buy a jar next time your a nearby. The tomato relish recipe we use was a prize winner🥇in the Alphington Show this year. It’s good. With mustard and curry powder undertones … and thickened with cornflour that doesn’t contain gluten.

And if you are not sure what to do with preserved lemons here’s a SUPER easy and delicious recipe from Claudia Roden … you just chop some stuff up, and chuck it in a pot to do its magic (just make sure you are generous with the salt and pepper - the key to good middle eastern recipes I think).

Moroccan Lemon Chicken

• 1 large chicken ( or you can use 4-6 chicken thighs)

• 2 tablespoons oil

• 1 onion grated, or finely chopped

• 1 teaspoon tumeric

• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

• salt and pepper

• a good bunch of coriander leaves finely chopped (if you don’t like coriander you can just add more parsley instead)

• a good lunch of parsley leaves finely chopped

• 1-2 preserved lemon wedges (lightly wash off some of the salt and the flesh, then finely chop up the preserved rind)

Put the chicken in a large saucepan with all the ingredients except the preserves lemon. Half cover the chicken with water and simmer gently, tuning it over a few times until it is so tender that the flesh can pull off the bone (about 1.5 hours). Throw the lemons into the sauce and cook a few minutes longer (you can add more or less lemon - to taste).

Serve with rice or couscous etc. etc.

Hi … we’ve got a new mosaic project on the cards. And we’ll be focusing on featuring Australian natives and we’re seeking tile donations in mid tone colours that complement the colours in our existing mural.

We need some yellow for wattle, some pinks, burgundies … black, grey, orange and terracotta, blues from aqua to navy, a bit of brown or tan … all variety of greens … maybe some mustardy colours too?

If you have some wall tiles (not the super thick ones like floor tiles) that you have hanging around after your bathroom, kitchen or laundry renovation we’d love to take a few off your hands! Or you might have some great ones leftover from tiling your pool? (lucky you!).

Please! Donate them to us and then …. when we’ve completed the project and you come past ACC you’ll be able to see a little bit of yourself in our newest community artwork!

Here are some images for inspiration. Note that we need all donations by Wednesday 12 August.

Thanks in advance!

Calling all artists!

Join in our Winter Art Salon show … coming up on the weekend of the 14-16 August.

It is FREE to enter up to 4 works.

Enter your works here.

Neighbourhood friends .. save the date and come along to our opening night … or pop in over the weekend!

Hi everyone

Welcome back to Term 3 at ACC. Over the holidays we had the Flukes, our Uke Group run a singalong on the first weekend - which my mum tells me was well attended (she came along, unfortunately I couldn’t make it as my middle child was heading to Europe with her university friends and needed my assistance for last minute organising and a lift to the airport). Thanks to everyone who participated. Great to see new community led initiatives get up and running successfully!

And then the Up Community were here for a week doing their fabulous recycling things - Project Stationary (recycling stationary) and Project Pair-Up (matching up the tops and bottoms of lunchboxes and plastic storage containers). It’s great that our space is in use over the school holidays - and for such excellent activities!

Coming up this term we have some new things on the cards:

• The Momentum to Write (Start your Novel) - Monday evenings for 4 weeks starting in August.

• Heart Centred Breathwork - for the early birds (starts at 7.30am on a Tuesday morning)

And lots of old favourites:

• Cook by the Book (a new version of Garden to Plate where we’ll choose a cookbook to cook from for the term) - 6 weeks on Thursdays from 11.30am

• Crunch (Creative Lunch) we’ll be focusing on printmaking this term using our new printing press - 6 weeks on Thursdays from 12.30pm

• Alphington Arts - from 7.30pm on the 3rd Thursday of the month in August and September this term

• Preserves Group - our next one is coming up on Tuesday 21 July from 1-3pm.

• Op Shop Adventures - save the date Thursday 10 September, we’ll head off for a day of op shopping and lunch from 10am-2pm.

You can book into all our upcoming programs here.

We also have our Winter Arts Salon Show coming up … please note that the original advertised date has changed, and it will now run on the weekend of the 14-16 August. We’ll be opening up our booking system mid week - please encourage any artists you know to enter works. The more the merrier!

Did you know you can hire our space for bithday parties on Sundays? We have quite a few birthday parties booked in this year, but there are still spots available in Term 3 and early Term 4. The price starts at $165 to hire our space for 4 hours which is enough time to set up, host and pack up your party … and all the kitchen equipment is provided. it is a great way for families to both minimise waste and avoid having to spring clean their own house for guests! You can check out the available dates and book here.

We look forward to seeing everyone back for Community Lunch and for our Community Morning on Friday this week. And to catching up with everyone who comes along for various activities throughout the week, including book clubs, playgroups, ukulele, toy library, line dancing etc. etc. etc.

On to bigger ‘world news’ type things … gosh the World Cup soccer has been exciting. So many great matches. I have been glued to the telly in the early hours of the morning most days. Lucky it all happened over the school holidays and is ending soon - so I will be able to concentrate on work again!

Cheers Leanne

Yes, school holidays are upon us and we’re taking a break at ACC. We’ll be back on deck on Monday 13 July - raring to go for Semester 2.

Over the holidays Project Stationary are here again for a few days. And they’re taking donations - you’ll find all the details in the post below.

And … the new brochure is out. Check it out here.

We’re having a few little tweaks to some of the programs - for example Garden to Plate is turning into Cook by the Book - where we will be working our way through a cookbook each term. It’s going to be quite fun I think … and a little bit easier to plan. And Crunch is having an arty theme each term. Join us for Printmaking in Term 3 and Basketry and Weaving in Term 4.

And we have some new things on the cards … like a morning Heart-Centred Breathwork class on Tuesdays at 7.30am … sounds like a fabulous way to start the day right? And our new writing course for budding novelists The Momentum to Write - Start Your Novel on Monday evenings. You can book into all our programs for the coming semester here.

We had a great time enjoying the soccer on Friday at Community Lunch … go Australia!

Cheers Leanne