I have come out of my Winter Hibernation to update you with what's been going on at Andy's Organic Market. Our June Market's were very busy - my orders at the Adelaide Central Market went through the roof. I found out that the School Holiday's during Winter is the busiest time for the Market with parents feeding hungry kids and bringing them to the market as a cheap outing like I do with my Family. Almost a year ago I approached the owner of Stall 66, The Providore at the Adelaide Central Market to see if he would like to sell my cronuts. I was going out on a limb as I had never sold to any shops before and had only recently started making cronuts. Ian ordered 20 on that first Friday and now has them at Providore on Thursday's, Friday's and Saturday's if your lucky. My order for this week was 190 all gone by Saturday Morning. My record order from them last month was 224 cronuts and 24 Kouign Amanns which pushed me to my cronut making limits. They have told me they have customers saying they are the best cronuts in Adelaide, the staff at the Yoghurt Shop next door squeal with delight when I deliver them (they can't even see them but know by the smell of freshly made cronuts wafting past) and the best story I heard was a customer told the staff to let me know he had travelled all the way from Perth to try my cronuts as he had heard about them and seen them on the Internet. When I mentioned it to Ian I was blown away with the news this man had travelled from Perth, Scotland not Western Australia as I had assumed and wasn't disappointed. Another great success story is my Guava Jelly - I made around 20Kgs of Guava Jelly this year and it has literally walked off the shelves. Not bad for something my mate Finchy was throwing out or using for compost. I turned his Guava's into Guava Jelly and sold it for $500 and Say Cheese made another $500 from on selling it so $1000 from one Guava Tree!!! Needless to say I am planting an orchard of Guava Trees this Spring and encouraging all my friends and family to do the same. I plan to post How to Make Guava Jelly on this website soon so stay tuned.
 I can certainly recommend to anybody thinking of starting a foodie business to give it a try as it is a very rewarding experience which has taught me a lot, helped me to make lots of new friends and connections and provided me with some pocket money to purchase equipment and expand my business. Making something that people buy, eat and enjoy is very satisfying and enriches my soul. I look forward to seeing you at our next market. Ciao for now (-;

It certainly has been a cold start to Winter here in Myrtle Bank in the Adelaide Foothills. One of the signs of Winter is of course wild Fungi or Mushrooms growing in the Adelaide Hills. My Sister, Sandy, recently mustered up the courage to go and ask some foragers what were they picking and could they show her. how to do it. As Mushrooms can be very deadly and poisonous if the wrong ones are eaten, it is very important that someone who knows what they are doing shows and explains to you how to identify and pick the right sort. The Mushrooms growing at the base of her property in Aldgate under a grove of Pine Trees are Wild Pine Mushrooms or Saffron Milk Caps, (Lactarius Delicosus). My Sister explained the system to me and what you required to forage and pick wild mushrooms and where to find them. As she excitedly exclaimed "It is like fishing on land" as she chuckled in the misty hills air. We were like a couple of school kids catching tadpoles for the first time - it was so much fun. The bonus was getting to eat some delicious mushrooms and now know where to get an abundant supply free instead of paying $24 per kilo when you can find them in the shops. They made the best Chicken and Wild Pine Mushroom Risotto I have ever cooked.

Well it was the 7th of June 2014 when I started this venture and the year has gone very fast. My little hobby has grown exponentially and shows great potential for the years ahead. This website has had over 30,000 hits in 12 months which isn't that many I know but it tells me that there is some interest out there in what I have to offer. In case you were wondering I started to follow my passion for cooking and my foodie dream after waking from a seven day induced coma due to complications with my surgery for Locally Advanced, Stage 3 Colorectal Cancer at the age of 44. I had six blood transfusions due to internal bleeding. I came out of the experience feeling reborn and given the opportunity to look at my life and live differently. After not eating any solid foods for seven days I was absolutely starving - it was then that I decided that everything I cook and every meal I make from that point on (if I made it out of hospital) was going to be something special. It has been four years since my surgery and I have been cancer free for all of that time. I have just over one year to go until I am in full remission so fingers crossed and with God's Grace I will reach my target.
In the meantime I will keep baking, cooking, experimenting, inventing and living every minute of every day to it's absolute fullest. The Providore is now selling my "Love Muffins" at the Adelaide Central Market as well as my Glazed cronuts and Say Cheese is selling my Guava & my Guava & Quince Jelly. I will be at the Urrbrae Old Barn Market this Saturday Morning if you want to come along to get any of my treats and say hello - hope to see you there (-;

This Blog is dedicated to my mate Willy who recently lost his battle with Bowel Cancer - pls remember that it is not just a disease for the over 50's. God bless y'all...

As we move towards the colder months of the year my little business venture has been growing and my products have been gaining a good reputation and strong following from friends, relatives and the local community. I never expected Andy's Organic Market to have been as successful as it has been so far and I feel there is a bright future ahead. I created Andy's Organic Market to explore and gain experience in setting up a small food business in an area which has always been a passion but had long been kept  within the boundaries of friends and family. My love of food, cooking, making jams and preserves has been handed down to me from my beloved Mother, Aina Skaidrite Balodis who sadly passed away in 2007. In following this dream I hope that my kids will gain some of the passion and love for good cooking and fine food that I have inherited.

I get great satisfaction from making my products and seeing the reaction on people's faces when they realise that this big friendly giant can actually cook and make things that taste good, are new, different and rarely been offered before to the Adelaide Public. My Mini-Madeline's have been causing a sensation. I give freshly baked, hot out of my Weber Q Oven samples away to passing customers which almost always draws them in to explore my other treats and gain a sale. I sold Kouign Amann's for the first time at our March Market and sold out and I will be increasing the number of New York cronuts on offer as I had to turn away at least 6 people after selling out of the 40 cronuts I had made for the market that day. Latvian Pirags are always popular and my crumpets will be returning now the mornings are crisp and cool. To add to my collection I will offering Guava Jelly for the first time at the Fullarton Market this weekend made from a friend's White Thai Guavas which is very nice with cheese and crackers.

I am also happy to announce that the Urrbrae Old Barn Market will be returning on the 2nd of May for the first time in 2015. Please come along and say hello at the Fullarton Market on ANZAC Day, this Saturday Morning from 9am to 1pm and at the Urrbrae Old Barn Market the following weekend, Saturday the 2nd of May from 9am to 12pm - Hope to see you there...

Well here we are in the new year. It has taken me a little while to get motivated and back into the groove as I am sure a few of you can relate to. Orders slowed down over Christmas and the School Holiday's due to the hot weather and people taking a break which has been a nice change from the frantic pace leading up to the end of 2014. The quieter period has given me a chance to get accustomed to the various idiosyncrasies of the food retail industry and helps me to set my strategy for the year ahead.

My new display case has also proved to be a success with customers being able to peruse the treats on offer. It is also good to keep the flies off things and looks far more professional. We are slowly getting there! I also made several batches of Apricot, Plum and Strawberry Jam, Tomato Sauce, Roasted Tomato Stock, Sun Dried Tomatoes and Plum Sauce as fresh produce has been plentiful and cheap this season. I always go to the Central Market to get my supplies just as it is shutting on Saturday Arvo to get the best bargains. I got 10 kgs of truss tomatoes for $10 and 3 kgs = 12 punnets of Strawberries for $10 - what a bargain, I couldn't resist. Needless to say everyone ended up with jam as Christmas Presents. I have also tried my hand at making Kouign Amann's pronounced "K-ween Amann's" which is described as a Croissant with layers of caramelised toffee infused through it - unbelievable. They have been called life changing and by the amount of weight I have put on recently I can certainly say that is true. Anyway, enough for now - drop me an email, share, like or subscribe if you enjoy my blog and what my website and business has to offer. Stay safe and keep smiling as always....

After 3 days of preparation, cooking, numerous taste tests and Family discussions Dominique Ansel's Cronut Recipe beats my home made version by a short neck. My Daughter Bethany said that she likes the taste of mine better however the texture of the Dominique Ansel's Cronut was better than mine. I think have to agree and I also think his version looks better and produces a more consistent product. My version are more Croissant than Doughnut and Dominique Ansel's Version is more Doughnut than Croissant which I found surprising. In saying that time will tell in terms of customer satisfaction and feedback so we will see how we go. After trying his recipe I don't think I could call mine cronuts anymore as they were slightly different so I am going to use his recipe from now on. I am still using Laucke Mills Organic Flour of course and will more than likely have a play and experiment a little to tweek it somewhat and see if I can improve on what is already a great recipe. BTW - I also bought a new Kenwood Mixmaster as I was getting a serious workout from mixing all of my dough by hand. Glad Myer's had a sale on.

Check out my slideshow to see my efforts.

I will also be uploading the video to my new YouTube Channel "Andy's Organic" in the next few days so check it out.

I know I have bombarded you with talk and pictures of my cronuts and I am sure you have suffered cronut overkill by now so I promise to post something healthy and organic out of my garden for every post I upload on cronuts from now on - will try anyway.

Hope to see y'all at the Fullarton Markets this Saturday Morning from 09:00am - 01:00pm at the Fullarton Park Community Centre. Look out for the Andy's Organic Market Sign and our big red marquee. I plan to have a few new cronut flavours on offer and I also have a brand new display unit...look out world!!!

I wanted to let you all know that I have just created a new YouTube Channel for Andy's Organic Market and I plan to use it as a way of letting you know what I have been up to, what I have discovered and fun things I would like to share with friends.

My first video is a video / photo montage put together by my Daughter Bethany after she negotiated a $10 fee. It is of the recent Rolling Stones Concert here in Adelaide and it is one of the best versions of Organic Rock 'n Roll I can find. Check it out by clicking on the link http://youtu.be/tsmhQo5Z4y4 
or by clicking on the Google+ button above.
Your support and subscriptions will be very much appreciated.


Last weekend we were at the Urrbrae Old Barn Market on a cold and blusterly Saturday Morning. Thanks to everyone who braved the chill and the wind to come and say hello. My home made Crumpets were a big hit and my cronuts keep on improving as I hone my craft. I heard one girl telling her friends that she has been buying cronuts at the Central Market and said she was addicted to them since she tried them so wanted to try one of mine. I was thrilled to tell her the cronuts she bought at the Central Market were mine after confirming she got it from The Providore - Stall 66.

I also received my pre-order copy of Dominique Ansell's first cookbook "The Secret Recipes" this past week so now the quality and consistency of my home made cronuts has risen to a new level. Yesterday I made a cronut with Whipped Lemon & White Chocolate Ganache, dipped in Lemon Maple Sugar with a Vanilla Lemon Glaze - it was sensational if I do say so myself. Feedback from Family and Friends was the same. Here are a few piccies:

Next market day for Andy's Organic Market is at the Fullarton Markets on Saturday the 22nd of November - hope to see you there.

Well it's been a busy week with new customers, daily orders and baking close to 300 cronuts in one week - my all time record including over 100 last Friday alone. I'm looking forward to the Fullarton Markets this weekend as I have a few new ideas I will be trying.

I sold my first box of my homegrown veggies last week with the same customers coming back no less than 4 times during the day to completely buy me out of all of my snow and sugarsnap peas. At the moment I have freshly dug potatoes, kale, snow and sugarsnap peas, broadbeans and celery. Let me know if you would like any, I can also deliver.

I had a look at the Holland St. Organic Market last weekend and thought it was very nice but might be hard to get into. I am doing my best to scout for new Farmer's Market locations and will let you know if I have any success. One of the ideas I had was mini - cronuts. I have called them Monkey-nuts and they are great for parties or Corporate Lunches / Staff Meetings etc. I will be adding a "Shop" page to this Website very soon so please visit again for my new products and prices to be added shortly.

Hope to see y'all at the Fullarton Markets this weekend - keep a lookout for Andy's Organic Market Sign and our bright red tent to locate us easily, cheers...