The Market from Hell!!

Last Saturday morning will go down in history as one of the most memorable for me, & not for any good reason!
I packed up the family truckstar early that morning, busted my back trying to lift an esky full of ice & dip into said truckstar & headed east, to a town I dare not name, in case any of the 'people' (I use that term very broadly!), should send their cousins, or their wife or husband, who is probably also their cousin, after me!!
As I munched on my cold toast & sipped my warm thermos of Earl Grey tea, I was quite excited about the prospect of setting up my little stall of love, & sharing my product with the masses on a lovely Saturday morning; not to mention, mentally spending the thousands of dollars I was going to make & envisioning myself on the front cover of BRW Magazine's Top 50 Rich List, sporting a new nose (which of course I would have bought with my millions!), holding a tub of Pesto Twirl in one hand & my new 'Personal Assistant' - Mathew McConaughy's, hand, in the other!!  Just kidding Pete, on second thoughts, I'd probably be holding the marinated mushrooms instead!
Anyway...this particular morning was going to make the difference between potential & reality glaringly obvious for me.  For starters I set up under a lovely tree to make sure my dips weren't in the sun & then responsible for a food poisoning outbreak, all seemed well & good until it started raining Lady Bugs & didn't stop until I packed up & left.  Then the lovely Italian gentleman next to me came over & complimented me on my products, but then followed up with a swift, "but you know you won't sell any of that over here, not the market for it"....excellent!  Unbeknown to me, I should have listened to the guy, packed up then & there & saved myself three hours in purgatory...but then I wouldn't have this humorous little tale to tell!
Next a ute pulled up alongside me & out hopped my other neighbour - he was selling cow poo, & I think every fly from here to Albany came along for the ride - fantastic!
Over the next two hours, my dreams of appearing on the front cover of BRW Magazine, quickly morphed into an appearance on the front cover of 'Mass Murderers Monthly', for if I didn't leave when I did, which was a very long two hours after I arrived & if I had to endure the presence & attempt at intelligent communication of one more moronic individual, I would have definitely gone completely off the reservation!
In fact the response I received, much to the amusement of my fertiliser-selling friend next door, was nothing short of unbelievable, in fact it was so bad that I started collating the insults & by the end of the LONG two hours I realised that I had clocked up at least fifteen 'yuks', twelve 'what's that?', quickly followed by 'but I don't like dip' & 'I hate olives' - of the fifty five or so morons I encountered only five morons actually tasted anything & one of those I suspected was just having his breakfast fix at my expense (also he had no teeth, so dip must have seemed an attractive option!).  Many morons inquired as to whether they had to pay to taste anything, but before I could answer, most of them quickly deduced that I wasn't selling Cheeseburgers or Big Mac's & so didn't want a bar of me!
Of the two sales I did have that morning I can honestly say that the people were lovely.  One sale, Salmon Mousse, was to a lady originally from Geelong, who had lived in this particular town for only three months & was interested in starting up a Farmers Market, good luck, I shan't be there! 
My other sale, Roast Garlic Hommus, was to a elderly gentleman who was an organic farmer in the area, he seemed lovely until I started to be lectured on 'the youth of today & how their phones were rotting their brains' - I wasn't quite sure how to take this - did he think of me as a fellow old fart raring to enthusiastically bag 'the youth of today' along with him, or did he think I was a junior headcase myself because he saw me checking my phone every five minutes, (I was actually looking at my phone & willing it to ring with some sort of situation that would allow me to get the hell out of there - no such call came!).
Anyway, to cut a long & tragic story short, at 10am I decided to pull the pin on my little stall of love, which I had, over the past two hours, began to think of as my little stall of shit.  I grabbed my complimentary sausage in stale white bread & a can of lemonade (because they didn't sell Tequila), & jumped in the car, eager to get home...of course the bloody battery had to be flat, didn't it!
Forty five minutes later, no more sausage, no lemonade, no RAC guy...lots of bad language!!
Luckily for me I have married a very sympathetic & understanding man, who comforted me upon my arrival home with, "well I'm not really surprised" (information I could have done with four hours ago...), we're no longer married!
Until next time faithful Nibblees, keep on Nibbling!
Jen x

Salsa...sational!

As we travel along at 'break-neck' speed toward Summer, the days are getting longer, the weather, warmer, & the bees, busier, we are definitely entering 'dipping season'.  My favourite time of the year!
Perfect for friends, bbq's, chilled wine & kids running through sprinklers in their undies...
Inspired by our recent bout of beautiful days I got into Salsa mode & started experimenting.  The results, I'm happy to say, were fruitful & moreish & concluded with me adding two more nibbles to our product line.  
The first is a lovely tribute to Summer - a vine ripened tomato (not those horrible floury numbers), mild chilli, spring onion, beautiful sweet basil, mint & parsley picked fresh from the garden & a little crunchy celery, mixed together with a fruity extra virgin olive oil, fresh lime juice, garlic & red wine vinegar.  Beautiful served in a bowl with corn chips for scooping or piled high on freshly grilled Ciabatta bread or sour dough - a meal in itself on those balmy Summer nights.
The second salsa is more of an Asian inspired mix, combining beautiful sweet mango, spanish onion, fresh coriander & mint, crisp cucumber & mild green chilli.  Gently mixed together with some fruity extra virgin olive oil & fish sauce for a little saltiness to balance the sweet.  
This salsa is lovely with corn chips or crunchy crackers or spooned over grilled fish or chicken.
The salsas will be available at the Narrogin market this Saturday morning - so drop in for a taste & say hi!
Until then keep on nibbling!
Jen      

Time to get your nibble on....Little Packages is back!!

Just in time for the weather warming up...Little Packages is back on the shelves of the Williams General Store & coming to regional & Perth farmer's markets soon.
Delivery is expected at the store on the morning of Friday 2nd November & you'll see some old favourites as well as some new items.  We are introducing two new nibbles to our range, Holy Guacamole & Sunnyside Salsa.
Holy Guacamole has a beautiful tangy quality - made with fresh coriander & lime juice, organic yoghurt & some mild chilli for a bit of zing!
Our Sunnyside Salsa is bursting with all the fabulous produce that the sunshine brings - vine ripened tomatoes, fresh basil, mint & parsley, spring onion, lemon, mild green chilli & garlic.
Both dips are perfect for the warm weather to come & can also be used as a topping for bruschetta (as can our marinated mushrooms).
Perfect for a bbq - brush some fruity evoo onto slices of ciabatta bread & toast on the grill of your bbq - then while still warm top with our mushrooms, guacamole or salsa...fabulous with a nice glass of chilled white...YUMMMMM!  A meal in itself...& not the least bit naughty!

We will be at the Boddington Community Market on Sunday 4th November & Narrogin Market (Ngn primary school oval) on Saturday 17th November - hope to see you there!

As in the past we will keep you posted as to what's on offer at both the General Store & upcoming markets - but please let us know of any requests you may have!  We will also be sure to keep our product page up to date so as you know what's coming.

In the meantime...."keep on nibbling".

jen x