All the best fine foods | Food and drinks company
All the best fine foods
Phone: Maureen 0408 208 578
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24.01.2022 Jacaranda best ever! Enough said except that we were smart not going last year, as we (Maureen) were missed. Now, as I mentioned back in June, we submitted an entry in the NSW Resilience Awards for the Get In The Know, Casino, that Maureen organized last October. What we weren’t allowed to say was that Maureen, on behalf of Casino Red Cross won the Resilient Australia Award for NSW in the Community category. So there we were on October 19th, in the NSW Parliament House mi...xing with the ‘heavies’, Maureen and her support team receiving the award. I haven’t stopped bragging about it ever since. Officially, they said: 2017 Resilient Australia Awards - NSW Winning Entries Community Category Winner - Get in the Know Casino Australian Red Cross, Casino In partnership with NSW State Emergency Service, NSW Rural Fire Service, Fire and Rescue NSW, NSW Police and Richmond Valley Council Working in close collaboration with emergency services and Richmond Valley Council, Red Cross delivered a Forum to raise community awareness about the local disaster risks, the work of emergency services and how to prepare for emergencies. Survivors and emergency workers shared experiences of disasters which promoted valuable lessons to empower residents to take responsibility for decisions and actions. Get in the Know Casino provided an educational focus for emergency services and Richmond Valley Council to provide important messages to a community. The program engaged children via six school assemblies and Drama in Rural Towns (DIRT), whose students performed a self-written disaster-themed play, which helped them learn about the work of emergency services and the importance of being prepared for disasters.
24.01.2022 I can’t believe that it’s 3 months since my last visit to facebook. Once we got back from New York (December 1st), we were flat out leading up to Christmas. There must have been a lot of Chrissy gifts and hampers around containing All the best products. It was nice to realize that we hadn’t been forgotten. In Casino, coffee.comm [Commonwealth Hotel] sales are still going strong, and of course a trip across the Richmond River to Mada News with Rachel and all her goodies is alw...ays worth the effort. And, we are still on the market, with three interested bodies in the mix at the moment, Are they serious? We’ll have to wait and see. I listed ATB on the Trading Post this week. Who knows? I look forward to telling someone, You’re dreaming! So what next? Sales are fairly slow at the moment, but that’s the way it is for everyone according to the outlets. It should pick up once school starts and the weather starts to cool down. I hope so, anyway. Nothing to do with anything, but the Trump inauguration is on in a few hours. It should be interesting to see how that all turns out. My story from New York: the second night we were there [a week before the election] I had an interesting discussion with a Trump supporter in the door way of a supermarket [Trader Joe’s]. His parting words to me were After the election, we’ll see you in jail. I must have offended him! Until next time, Joe
23.01.2022 It’s the last day of April and I’m playing ‘catchup’ Since my last post in February, we’ve been moving along quietly, serving our outlets, mostly around the Northern Rivers. With school holidays finishing and as we move closer to Winter, we would expect the usual increase in business that occurs at this time of the year. In addition, we are moving closer to the market season that we participate in. I refer of Course to Casino’s Beef Week which starts on may 19th, and the B...eef Week Saturday celebration on the 26th, where we will be setting up our stall in the usual spot in Barker Street. Then on Sunday July 1st, we will be in our usual spot at the Ballina Fine Wine and food Show at the Ballina Racecourse a must attend show. But more about this later. As I said before, we are moving towards the Winter cooking season, when All the best products really come into their own. So, don’t forget in Casino Coffee.Comm [Commercial Hotel], Karam’s Healthy Choices, Mada News South Casino and the Visitor Information Centre. And, hopefully, very soon, the Kyogle Visitor Information Centre as well as Ritchies IGA. It’s all looking good!
23.01.2022 So much for life settling down. If only! So we had our last session at the Recovery Centre on May 8. Then we had to really start thinking about our trip to Bateman’s Bay for Maureen to present her Get in The Know Casino ideas to the Southern area of Red Cross (Saturday), and then up to Sydney for big brother Mick’s celebration of 70 years of joining the De La Salle Brothers (Sunday). Both days were great. We earned our free Monday in Sydney, before heading home on the Tuesd...ay. Interestingly, as we were having lunch at the Old Tramsheds at Harold Park, along came Noelle, our Red Cross friend from Kyogle many shrieks & hugs ensued. You can run, but you can’t hide!! Then there was the Casino Beef Week Market downtown very successful. And a few deliveries, as we played catchup. An email from a fellow setting up a deli at Palm Beach, Gold Coast in about 6 weeks came in. Very keen to stock our products Go you Good Thing! Maureen to Sydney for Red Cross Trainers & Workshop Facilitators workshop, then a simulated plane crash at Lismore Airport for us (Red Cross) to exercise our skills very successful. Then, Maureen on behalf of Red Cross is asked to apply for the 2017 Resilient Australia Awards, as a result of ‘Get in The Know’ a very time consuming compilation of words, photos and power point presentation. I couldn’t believe what an incredible effort this became, with involving all the Emergency Services, plus, plus, and Maureen doing a brilliant but tiring job. Sally worked on phots and Ben put it all together as a video. They were awesome with their skills. All to be completed and submitted by Friday (30th). Alleluia!! And then on Sunday, the Ballina Food & Wine Festival. We’ve been exhibiting at this one since it started in 2010 [Ballina bounty] and it’s well worth a visit from anyone who likes their food and wine. Oh, and there’s a Red Cross debrief from the Lismore floods on Saturday. Such is life! See more
18.01.2022 We’ve made it into November. Updates: Emmanuel’s Wine Shop in Kingscliff have had their second big order delivered great stuff. Then came Amos, The Store, Palm Beach opening next week, the biggest order we’ve ever had!! We are wishing him and his partner Glen, All the best. Other outlets revving up for the Christmas rush. And then back in August there was Sam’s 40th Birthday Party. What a weekend! The troops started to roll in on Thursday, and gradually more and more... until Saturday. The most helpful group of young people you could hope to have come and stay. Campervans, tents, helpful neighbours ( thanks Owen). All beds and lounges occupied. A full pig cooked over the open spit by one (or more) of Sam’s mates. I think they all eventually went to bed on Sunday morning (I did anyway!) At the moment, we are preparing for the Grafton Jacaranda TAFE market this Saturday. It’s always a good earner for us Maureen has a good following in Grafton, and now with the Causley Fresh outlet there it’s even better. And I haven’t even mentioned Red Cross! Next post.
18.01.2022 As I’ve said before, My, how time flies As mentioned last report: the Grafton Races: I was saved by going off to one of Aunty Col’s friend’s neighbours, to pick cumquats. How exciting, but now turned into ‘spiced cumquats & prunes’ really good stuff. But more excitingly, I made our first delivery to Emmanuel’s Wine Shop in Kingscliff, on Tuesday. A great spot and great to be back in Kingscliff again.... Interestingly, this is the second bottleshop to be stocking our goodies, the other being the The Bangalow Cellar. So it’s not always the delis you have to look to for the best goodies. We also had our first visit to the Ekka last Friday. Most interesting, and even more so late in the day when we found our way to The Old Museum and the flower and garden display, and then the Woolworths Fresh Food Pavilion. If you go to the Ekka, this is one section worth a visit. And extraordinarily, the train fare from Robina to the Ekka was $6 each, and the return fare $3 each. How about that? And next Monday, we are off to Melbourne for a few days to spend some time with Sam, and maybe sample his best selling Sparrow’s Philly Cheesesteaks. We’ll be doing a lot of walking to counter this indulgence.
18.01.2022 Do you recognise this place? If you don't, it means it's time you visited Eltham Pantry. Yes, we're back there. After some new owners who wanted to 'do their own thing', took over in 2013, we lost one of our favourite outlets. We were very disappointed, to say the least. But now, due to an extraordinary coincidence WE'RE BACK!! I was helping to organise the next lunch time outing of Casino OASIS club [Old Apexians Still In Service] and discovered the new owners, Ashlee and Matt - a delightful young couple! The rest is history. Maureen & I will be there on May 1st with the other 'old fellas',for our lunch, but are disappointed we can't get there for their Harvest Festival [pecans] the day before. This would be a good outing for anyone on the loose on April 30th.
16.01.2022 Wow! It’s been 2018 for nearly two months and this is my first post. Just to allay any fears we are still going strong, but still haven’t sold All the best. Delivering to the same old faces, like ‘Tastes of New Italy’ and ‘Summerland House’ on Thursday, Maureen and I had a great day driving. Our car has a very efficient air conditioner that might partly explain our fun day not to mention stop to shop in Casino & Lismore. We had an interesting drive yesterday morning th...at I would recommend, if you are in need of some mangoes. We drove up the Hogarth Range to the Last Chance mango orchard on Bulmers Road and got some really great mangoes from Pam & Mike Coleman and saw some lovely scenery. These are some terrific late season mangoes and will be ‘on’ for another couple of weeks and a very pleasant 44 km each way. And look out here comes a fresh batch of ‘sweet mango chutney.’
14.01.2022 Here I am, back again to annoy you. Since my last post, we’ve been busy, not necessarily with ATB. Maureen’s Red Cross Team Leader passion has kept her busy with RC, particularly after the great success of her Get in the know, Casino last October. The RC Area Forum at Grafton two Saturdays back was called off due to the weather, but is on again on may 13th. Unfortunately, Joe’s big brother, Mick is celebrating his 70th Anniversary of being a De la Salle Brother, in Sydney... the next day. It’ll be tricky but we will get to both. A 70th birthday celebration at Forster for Maureen’s sister in law, was a great weekend, and then Maureen hosted a 70th birthday ladies’ morning tea for one of her very good friends. Fifteen ladies celebrated a ‘High Morning Tea’ with 3 husbands doing the waiting on the tables was an impressive Saturday morning’s outing. A few ‘brownie’ points there for the lads no doubt! Maureen & Joe also helped select the Casino ‘Lions Youth of the Year’ a few Saturdays back. A most difficult decision to be made amongst some of Casino’s very excellent young people, but very encouraging to get to meet some of our future citizens. A lot of other stuff going on, but not much ‘All the Best’. Time we got back into it. Our outlet Mada News in South Casino has changed hands. Good luck to Rachel in whatever she gets into and welcome to Chook Rooney and his lady. We look forward to continued support from our discerning customers. In addition, our outlets at ‘Coffee.comm’ and ‘Dina’s Gifts & Photography’ are each worthy of a visit, and at a recent Richmond Valley Council business meeting, we were assured that Our Visitor Information Centre would be re-opening very soon. So it’s all good! AND. A correction! I can’t believe that I said our outlet at Coffee.comm was at the Commonwealth Hotel. It is of course at the rear of the Commercial Hotel in Barker Street. And of course this is the venue for our fortnightly old (former) Apexians [OASIS] coffee morning every second Tuesday {Next tomorrow (28th)}. It’s a great opportunity for a catchup for those who can get there. So, what’s coming up? May 27th, Beef Week Saturday Market, July 2nd Ballina Fine Food & Wine Festival, November 5th, Grafton Jacaranda TAFE Market Any or all of these is worth a visit. See you there, if not before.
12.01.2022 It's on again! Your big chance to get over your election blues next Sunday! We'll be there with the full range of our products, and a few hampers made up and ready to go. Or maybe we can make you a hamper from your own choice of 'All the best' products. This is a great day out!!
11.01.2022 Here's a bit more from THE PANTRY at Eltham Valley
11.01.2022 Just reporting: The Ballina Fine Wine & Food festival last Sunday was great!! Thanks to the Rotary Club of Ballina on Richmond. Everyone should reserve the date for 2018 and get there! Today we’re off to Grafton for our neice Sally’s 50th birthday celebrations tomorrow night. We are getting our Clacka to the Jacka! don’t ask local slogan. It should be a great family gathering. Sam is leaving his Sparrow’s Philly Cheesesteaks behind for the weekend so that will make it... even better. We just hope our little Elsie in Lismore is well enough to make the trip [‘flu]. I’m told we are going to the Grafton Races on Sunday. Could be a bit boring, but I’m also told that you don’t have to watch the horses run around. Hopefully, I can find someone to have a drink with and a yap. The icing on the cake with me is that we have our first order for ‘Causley Fresh in Grafton’. Thanks Jess! So, all fruit & veg & gourmet deli roads lead to Grafton Food Emporium. I can’t wait and I assure all readers that this place is well worth a visit. See more
10.01.2022 Maureen served this up to the Casino Red Cross Personal Support team Christmas morning tea. It's dates stuffed with the All The Best 'pickled orange' and creamed cheese topped with dried cumquats. Come and try the versatile products at the Casino Christmas Party in Walker Stree tomorrow, starting at 5 pm.
08.01.2022 I am a bit slow sometimes!! One thing I forgot to mention in Wednesday’s post was the report in last Saturday’s Northern Star that Green Garage at Byron bay has closed. Apparently, they had gone broke, but there are a number of businesses wanting to take over the premises. That probably explains why they haven’t paid their January account that I’ve been chasing them about. Hopefully, a similar, but better managed organization will take over. The upshot now is, we need an ou...tlet in Byron Bay. Any suggestions? I guess this puts them into the same class as the Justin North [two hatted chef] who had to close his restaurant ‘Becasse’ and the other three shops he had opened up in the Pitt Street Westfields, each referred to as Quarter 21, due to being in a few million dollars debt as well as our few hundred dollars owing. That was 2012, and it’s just happened again. The good news for today is, an order came in this morning from a hamper maker we know from Federal that she has received an order for 150 hampers. Yes 150!! and of course wants the usual All the best input. Lucky Maureen. She doesn’t know about it yet as she is attending a Psychological First Aid course on behalf of Red Cross [yesterday & today]. We’ii probably both need the PSA after this. Such is life!
08.01.2022 It’s been a month since my last communique and there’s been a whole lot happening in ‘All the best’ world. The Beef Week market was great for us. Crowds were excellent and the parade was great. No wonder Casino is known as the ‘Beef Capital of Australia.’ PRIMEX looked like a great show from my observation. We didn’t set up there (too expensive) but RV Council had our products for sale at their display, so it’s all good!... As far as IGA is concerned, it may not be all over yet. As a result of my continued correspondence with the ‘powers that be’, we have a meeting with the Queensland/Northern Rivers manager in a couple of weeks at Kyogle IGA. Should be interesting here’s hoping. If anyone is looking for a good foodie function to attend, we can recommend the ‘Ballina Fine Wine & Food Fair’ next Sunday at the Ballina Jockey Club. We’ve been setting up there since it started, and it’s a great day out. See you there! Then there’s another trip to Ballina the following Tuesday for the launch of In Good Company. This is a new organization that as a project will celebrate, connect and collaborate to enhance business opportunities and facilitate economic development. This is a collaboration between the NSW Business Chamber and Northern Rivers LGAs. ATB has been involved from the start [We weren’t allowed to tell you]. So we had the visit from the photographer and the story teller, and if you’ve seen their display Primex, Northern Star there’s Maureen, front and centre looking pretty good. Here she is, looking good! So, visit the ‘In Good Company’ website. There are some terrific stories about local businesses. And following on from my last post, Maureen has just done the first pick of our cumquats, and they look great.
06.01.2022 How things change! There I was on March 27th, thinking there’s not a lot going on, and then along came Cyclone Debbie, and then the devastation its aftermath caused in Lismore and surrounds, and of course the Murwillumbah area. We in Casino, were not directly affected, but then, along with huge numbers of others, Red Cross swung into action. As members of Casino Red Cross Personal Support Team [Maureen as Team Leader, Joe doing as he’s told for a change] we have been called o...n quite a bit. Over the past four weeks, after helping Ben & Jodie clean up [they had water to over waist level under their Lismore house], we have had close to half our days in Lismore at the Flood Recovery Centre or door knocking in South Lismore and Coraki. It has been a most rewarding experience, helping, seeing people coming in really ‘down in the dumps’, but leaving, most with a smile on their face and thankful for the assistance they had received. When you consider that voluntary assistance of all kinds has been going on in Lismore and further north since Debbie, we should be greatful that we live in such a community. But, onwards and upwards. Maureen has been madly cooking over the weekend, with the delightful mustards and Rosella [chilli sauce & jams] odours prominent. After a bit of Red Cross Recovery this afternoon and next Thursday, we should be out on the road, delivering once again. So look out!! See more
04.01.2022 It's BEEF WEEK! Casino's big week [10 days?] of the year. And just in time we've found a new outlet in casino at COFFEE.COM at the Commercial Hotel in Walker Street, Casino. You don't have to go there just for our products or the hampers, the coffee's great. And the added bonus is that you might get to meet up with King David, the father of our new Beef Week Queen, Georgie King! Just be there!!
03.01.2022 So, here they are: Queen Georgia, the Queen Mother, King David and that other fellow, visiting from Sydney.
02.01.2022 Just in case you've been wondering why we've been so quiet, the attached poster should give you some idea. This has been Maureen's major interest since last July. So, what's it all about? It could come under the heading of a 'Bounce back from Disaster - Community Resilience Forum', that in this case has become known as - :GET IN THE KNOW CASINO". Maureen, working from her role of Casino Red Cross Personal Support Team Leader, has received tremendous cooperation from all the... emergency groups, as well as local Service clubs, shops, businesses and local people. NSW Red Cross has been a great support, and is keen to video the event, as an example to other towns as to what can be done with a little [large amount?] local enthusiasm. It all comes to a head on Thursday of next week at the Casino Community Centre - a great venue - commencing at 5.30 pm, with light refreshments to see you through. So 'All the best fine foods' has been a bit neglected over that time since July. Joe has also been a little bit busy over that period as an Area Supervisor for the Census as well as a few Elections to help run. But now, more concentration on production and deliveries. The Murcott mandarines and mulberries have finished production - we had a good crop, and now is the time to get up to Dyraaba for the peaches. And of course, on the road for deliveries. All has to be done before November 1st, when we head off to New York for a month to visit our Number 3 Son, Dominic and his lovely wife Marisha. I think we'll be flat out for the next 3 weeks!!
01.01.2022 The year is drawing to a close and Santa is almost upon us as if you didn’t know! With last outlet emails out today, a delivery run to Brisbane and parts North next week, should see us ready to relax for 2017. But before that, comes the Richmond Valley Christmas Street Party on Thursday, to be held in Walker Street, Casino from 5 pm to 9 pm, with fireworks at about 8 pm.... So please come along and stop and say Hullo [and you could even buy some hampers or other goodies. We’ve combined with old friends Blue Kitchen to produce some really tasty hampesrs] See you there.
