Orange FOOD Week Finale!

I mentioned in my last post on Orange FOOD Week that we'd be heading off to the final event, the FOOD Affair, on 17th April. We were a tad undecided at first, wondering whether it was worth travelling 2 hours to Orange just for a market style lunch, but upon seeing that the forecast for the Orange district was going to be sunny and 18C, compared to raining and 14C in the Mountains, I think you can guess what we decided to do!

Arriving just after midday, everything seemed to be in full swing already and the grounds were quite full of people enjoying the sunshine and fine food and wine.

You'll also be pleased to know that we made a conscious effort to take more photos of the yummy food this time!! So just a bit of a warning that this is going to be a very heavy photo post!

For starters, we had a mixed entree of sweet potato balls, vege balls, a spring roll and a curry puff:

Then an absolutely scrumptious Thai Lamb sausage with satay sauce:

An extremely tender and tasty sun-dried tomato pesto chicken kebab stick:

Followed by my favourite dish of the day, lamb casserole on potato mash:

A mini lamb burger with caramelised onion came next:

Then a really tasty pork and fennel roll:

All this was washed down with a fresh raspberry smoothie (since I couldn't have any of the wine *cry*):

We were pretty stuffed by this stage (despite sharing each "course"), and we hadn't even started on dessert!! Unfortunately, we couldn't fit much more in, so it was a toss up between gelato and a lovely looking poached fruit and pannacotta. The pannacotta won out:

After all that, we couldn't really move, so we sat in the shade and just took in the atmosphere. Here are more photos of the event.

A menu at one of the stalls:

Some of the fresh produce that was for sale:

Delicious looking cupcakes:

Wendy Harmer (comedian and media personality) made a surprise appearance to promote her new book and to entertain us with the funniest stories. She had us all cracking up and snorting whatever beverage of choice through our noses. LOL

And to finish off the event, the organisers had some apple and pear cake to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Orange FOOD Week:

All in all it was a fantastic day - great food, great weather, great entertainment and a great atmosphere. Being on my feet for two hours straight tired me out, but the exhaustion plus the really achy tummy (from eating waaaaay too much!) was all worth it. :D

If you're in the area, come join us for FOOD Week next year. We'll definitely be going again!

*hugs*