The things we do……

1 year ago 259

Welcome to the archetypal variation of a caller bid wherever I instrumentality you down the scenes of what we get up to outside the kitchen…complete with location movies!

Today: much than conscionable a miss and her dog

8 years ago, a miss sat down astatine her machine with a large wide of aureate fur at her feet and launched her small nutrient blog. Two radical visited her blog that day. Her mum. And herself. 😂

Fast guardant 8 years and things are a small different. There’s a fewer much visitors connected this website each day. I person a nutrient bank, RecipeTin Meals (“RTM”). I adjacent wrote a cookbook.

And what began arsenic a squad of 1 and a half* is present a squad of 10 and a half. These days, we bash much than “just” creating, photographing, filming and penning up recipes connected this website. So I thought it mightiness beryllium bully to stock immoderate down the scenes of what my squad and I get up to extracurricular the kitchen!

* The fractional is Dozer. Though to me, he’s worthy 5!

We got an award

In January 2023, I was honoured to judge an grant connected behalf of my squad from the Northern Beaches Council successful designation of our work to the community. The grant was for RTM which we started successful 2020 during the pandemic erstwhile determination was expanding nutrient insecurity successful our community.

We person a full-time, paid squad of 3 (chef and 2 kitchenhands) moving successful a commercialized room successful Sydney metropolis who navigator 400+ meals each azygous day. These are donated to those successful request done our organisation partner, One Meal, who present the meals to individuals.

To larn much astir RTM, head here!

What’s important to cognize is that I was the 1 made to spell up connected signifier to judge the award, I can’t retrieve what I said, I held the certificate connected the blank broadside for the authoritative photos with the mayor, and I tried to instrumentality my squad into wearing ties but they figured retired I was scamming them (but 1 wore a necktie anyway!).

Australia Day Award 2023 Nagi Maehashi, Jean-Baptiste Alexandre and Stephen Fixter

We cooked with kids astatine the children’s hospital

Note: faces of children shown lone erstwhile support is provided.

Also successful January, we spent a time cooking with kids astatine the Ronald McDonald House at the Children’s Hospital successful Randwick, Sydney. Ronald McDonald House (“RMCH”) is simply a not-for-profit accommodation wherever children and families from extracurricular Sydney enactment portion a kid is getting attraction astatine the hospital. Some enactment for weeks. Some, for years.

So erstwhile RMCH asked if we would see coming successful during the schoolhouse holidays to bash a amusive cooking enactment with the kids, our contiguous reply was YES!

Chef JB and I spent an day with the kids making DIY mini pizzas, and a sundae bar, arsenic good arsenic putting retired a taco barroom for the grown ups.

It was a truly peculiar day. And the remainder of my squad had FOMO. So……

We went backmost with the squad and made meal for everyone!

Just past week (mid February), astir of my squad and I went backmost to RMCH to marque meal for the families. There’s presently astir 60 radical staying astatine RMCH (the kid being treated + parents + siblings) positive the fantastic staff. We made chicken shawarma for the grown ups and burgers for the kids. And did the sundae barroom again – by fashionable demand!

If you would similar to unpaid your clip oregon donate to support, delight sojourn the Ronald McDonald House website for much information. Thank you! – N x

We threw a meal enactment for readers

Earlier this month, I hosted my archetypal scholar meal wherever we sold tickets and did each the cooking ourselves! What an astonishing evening, being capable to walk prime clip with a radical of like-minded-people (ie. nutrient lovers!) who I felt similar I’ve known for years.

This lawsuit was a monolithic undertaking and immense situation for my team. We didn’t conscionable swan into a restaurant! Nope, we held it astatine a nutrient photography workplace with capable abstraction and a suitably gigantic room to alteration america to navigator a 13 people paper for 30 people. Why? Because I kept insisting that I wanted to bash the meal ourselves, conscionable similar having a meal enactment astatine home, and to beryllium capable to service recipes from my cookbook.

It was really, truly hard work. We had to instrumentality each pot, pan, glass, sheet and fork. Do each the cooking, We had tables and chairs brought in. Then we had to battalion everything up and permission connected the aforesaid day.

Both my assistant, my caput cook JB and I pulled a 21 hr day, starting astatine 5 americium successful the morning, past getting location astatine 1.30 americium the adjacent day. Stephen, the Chef astatine my nutrient bank, started astatine 6 americium astatine RTM. We fto him spell location to person a shower, past helium came to our meal to assistance retired determination until precocious into the night.

It was a immense undertaking. An tremendous challenge. But also, truthful satisfying that we pulled it disconnected without a hitch!

My squad are amazing. I americium truthful fortunate to person specified a hard working, dedicated team.

Also, the proceeds from summons income went to RTM. So, well, you know. Their deficiency of slumber was for a bully cause! ❤️

4 1/2 hours later… the room had a black-out

Oh yes. Then that greeting astatine 6 am, we recovered retired that RTM had a blackout. So the program to fto my squad slumber successful the adjacent time didn’t rather happen! We had fridges and freezers afloat of nutrient that had to urgently beryllium dealt with. We besides had to marque definite we could inactive marque 400 meals that day, without power.

My incredibly resourceful squad managed to propulsion disconnected a miracle. We mislaid nary nutrient (using a operation of crystal bags and taking nutrient to fridges astatine restaurants my room unit knew). Thankfully we navigator with state truthful were capable to marque the meals for that time – albeit with nary exhaust instrumentality our small room got VERY smokey!

A time similar that reminds maine however fortunate I americium to person the squad I do, who spell supra and beyond erstwhile indispensable to marque definite we get our promised meals retired each azygous day, without fail. Honestly, I support saying it – the enactment morals are dissimilar thing I saw successful my firm days.

We had a committee gathering & appointed an auditor – I consciousness truthful grown up!

RTM is simply a charity, and with that comes grown-up responsibilities. I acceptable it up successful a antithetic entity, I person good kept accounts for it (I’m an auditor, by background!), there’s documents and agreements for “everything”, and betwixt america and our lawyers, we’re making definite we tick each the boxes with applicable not-for-profit authorities and get the close licences to run a charity.

I appointed autarkic directors to the RTM board, 2 good respected superior professionals (one lawyer, 1 ex-KPMG taxation partner) who bring with them a wealthiness of acquisition and assistance usher maine arsenic I navigate my mode done the not-for-profit world.

This mightiness each dependable similar overkill to you, particularly fixed RTM is “just a tiny charity” presently solely funded by Dozer (we usage his dainty budget). But for me, this is each the groundwork I’m doing to acceptable the close model and instauration to turn RTM done donations, volunteers, partnerships with corporates and authorities backing truthful I tin execute my goal: to supply much escaped meals to much people, and acceptable up RTM truthful it tin support moving agelong aft I permission this world.

It mightiness dependable similar a large imagination and large goals. But I’ve ever been a believer that you request thing to aspire to!

We’re inactive looking for our caller nutrient slope kitchen….

The RTM room successful Potts Point connected the borderline of the Sydney CBD is rather… cosy, shall we say! We’re astatine capableness with unit (3 burly blokes) and repast production, the main regularisation being sheer antagonistic abstraction to battalion 400+ meals each day. Every azygous inch of antagonistic abstraction successful the full room gets utilized for nutrient packing!

I’ve been talking astir moving to a larger room for implicit 6 months now. My squad and I person been connected the lawsuit and person checked retired a fewer premises, but present we’re getting serious. We’ve adjacent hired an cause to find a premises for us…. fingers crossed helium pulls done for us!

These are photos of a imagination room we visited, owned by a catering company. So overmuch space!!

WANTED: Lease of premises for nutrient bank

I cognize this is simply a agelong shot, but it can’t wounded to enactment this retired there!

We are looking for a premises suitable for a catering room wrong a ~5 kilometre radius of Ryde successful Sydney’s north. A 200sqm+ abstraction with a locomotion successful fridge and freezer, grease trap, exhaust fans, nonstop thoroughfare access, casual parking and bath facilities, suitable for nutrient production.

Restaurants don’t truly enactment due to the fact that they are acceptable up to maximise eating abstraction and minimise room space. Whereas we conscionable privation cooking space!

I’m prepared (want to!) to bring successful each my ain instrumentality – stoves, ovens, sinks, benches etc – and to bash renovations arsenic needed. We conscionable request the space!

If you cognize of immoderate imaginable spaces, delight could you email business@recipetineats.com.

But for now, the caller java instrumentality is keeping the boys happy

My Christmas contiguous to the boys astatine RTM was a caller java machine. I conscionable couldn’t carnivore the thought of them drinking that powdered worldly immoderate longer. And if you’re reasoning that they are surely surrounded by loads of large java shops, they are… but they aren’t unfastened astatine 6 americium erstwhile they commencement work!!

So though they’re inactive moving successful our cosy small kitchen, the caller java instrumentality is keeping them happy. I mean, look astatine those Coffee Machine Smiles!

And concern arsenic accustomed astatine RecipeTin HQ!

And with everything other we’ve been doing, it’s been concern arsenic accustomed up astatine HQ! Developing recipes to stock connected this website, photographing and filming them. Working with my publishers present successful Australia and overseas, continuing to lend recipes to Good Food Australia (Sydney Morning Herald and The Age – here are my latest recipes), preparing for the UK motorboat of my cookbook (NEXT WEEK!! 🎉), readying for the US motorboat adjacent month…

Eeeerrr… what else?? Oh yes, tons of readying happening connected immoderate breathtaking caller things I’ll beryllium progressive successful this twelvemonth which I’ll beryllium announcing successful a fewer abbreviated weeks.

It’s lone February, but 2023 is already looking to beryllium engaged – and fun!

And that’s a wrapper – for now……

This week – photoshoot astatine RTM to get “official photos” of the squad to motorboat the caller RTM website. I’m taking look pulverization with maine to de-shine the guys. It gets very blistery successful that kitchen! This should beryllium fun. I look guardant to sharing photos with you…

Next week – UK cookbook release date! Monday 27th February, my cookbook hits the stores each crossed UK and Ireland, and for those of you who pre-ordered, it lands connected your doorstep. YEE HA!

Week after – The RecipeTin squad conference! A uncommon juncture to bring my full squad together. There volition beryllium overmuch laughter. Expect hilarious stories to beryllium shared!

And onwards….

I anticipation you enjoyed this small penetration into what we get up to extracurricular the kitchen. A small (a LOT!) longer than I expected – it’s been a engaged commencement to 2023! I look guardant to sharing beingness down the scenes a small much regularly with you.

– Nagi x

Life of Dozer

With each the enactment happening implicit the past 6 weeks, wherever is Dozer, you mightiness wonder??

Well, the world is that helium can’t spell into the RTM room (hygiene and each that). He wasn’t allowed to travel to the scholar meal for the aforesaid reason.

But remainder assured, beingness is inactive fantabulous for Mr Dozer. Basically, helium does arsenic helium pleases. Case successful constituent – bedewed tile:

And determination helium is, bolting towards the filthy play dam with my camera connected maximum zoom portion I’m ~~yelling~~ screeching astatine him to travel back: