And here’s to you, High Tea Bakery!

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Another friend of the DUCW has been featured recently in the Winnipeg Free Press – Sunday May 17 edition, pages A10-11.

Many of you have enjoyed the treats and eats at High Tea Bakery on Portage, which is part Australian owned and has hosted many of us for afternoon tea.

You can see more at this link – you will have to locate the issue in Editions on the right margin – but here are a few snippets to tempt your taste buds. BTW, the Bakery is open for take out, if you’ve got a hankering for lamingtons.

When life gives you lemons, make lemon tarts. Or lemon squares. Or lemon cranberry scones.

Belinda Bigold is the owner of High Tea Bakery, a St. James institution well known for its British-style goodies. On March 17, Bigold, who founded the business in 2003 along with her mother Carol Bigold, sat down with her management team to crunch numbers.

Forced to immediately lay off three-quarters of her staff, Bigold told the remaining employees the bakery would honour any orders still on the books for that week. Then she posted a message on Instagram and Facebook reading, “Closed for now, not forever.” Practically overnight, longtime regulars of the bakery began reaching out to Bigold on social media, wondering how they were going to “survive” the days and weeks ahead without their usual fix of imperial cookies, gingersnaps or snickerdoodles.

Reading some of the comments was really humbling. It was so sweet people took the time to write and let us know how much our shop means to them,” says Bigold who, based on demand, began offering curbside pickup two days a week, Tuesdays and Fridays, near the end of March for people who placed orders online ahead of time. “At first I was thinking the last thing people would need during a pandemic is a cookie. As it turned out, lots of people were looking for a bit of normalcy in their lives, and wanted that special treat that makes Saturday still feel like Saturday.

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Here’s to you, Miss Browns!

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Photo: Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press

It’s always great to see members of our Australian and New Zealand community featured in the local media, especially right now when we don’t get to connect as often as we might like.

Thanks to President Peter Munn for letting us know about an article by Eva Wasney in the Winnipeg Free Press this week about Jenny and Steve Tyrrell of Miss Browns.

As many of you know, Miss Browns is one of our favourite places for an excellent meal, and members of the DUCW have been there many times for many different reasons. We particularly enjoy going there for brunch and lunch on Australia Day or just because.

Although they are currently closed due to COVID-19, they are clearly not sitting on their laurels, and instead cooking up a storm at home – with two of their best critics, Liv and Billie, to sample each and every one of their creations.

We look forward to supporting Jenny and Steve and all at Miss Browns when the tide turns, and in the meanwhile, enjoy this snippet from the article:

The couple met in a hostel in Bath, England, where Steve was “working for beer and food and accommodation.” They struck up a year-long email relationship and reunited in Vancouver before moving to Australia, Steve’s birth country.

They bonded over a shared passion for food and spent their downtime watching cooking shows about famous chefs, such as Anthony Bourdain and Matty Matheson. Neither is classically trained, but Steve helped Jenny develop her cooking skills by sharing knowledge he developed working in kitchens around Australia, including at the Sydney Opera House.

Their love affair with sandwiches and smoked meats started at Steve’s family-owned vineyard, where they would cater lunches for club members and weekend visitors.

While the couple’s return to Winnipeg — where Jenny was born — was prompted by the sudden death of a family member, the move created an opportunity to fulfill a longtime dream and open their own lunch spot.

As lovely as Australia is, it’s very competitive,” Jenny said. “We really quickly realized that if we were going to open a place, we needed the support.”

Support of family and customers has allowed them to expand their vision to include a catering operation and a second location in the Hargrave St. Market, which opened last December.

The coronavirus pandemic ground the business to a halt in March, but the unexpected pause has created more opportunity for home cooking and quality time with their young daughters and two dogs.

Online ANZAC Day Services

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Although our ANZAC Day event on April 25th has been cancelled, there are other ways to participate in ceremonies in Australia and New Zealand to commemorate all the ANZACs who fought and died for our freedom. Remember that services on April 25th are in fact on April 24th for us here in Canada:

  1. standatdawn.com/home – RNZ Defence Force
  2. awm.gov.au/commemoration/anzac-day – Australian War Memorial
  3. abc.net.au/radio/brisbane/anzac-day-2020/12132330 –  ABC Radio
  4. dva.gov.au/commemoration/personal-commemorations – mark the day in your own way with your family

And in case you’ve not called down under recently, the time difference for ANZAC Day is:

  • Sydney = 15 hours ahead … 5:30 am Sydney Apr 25 = 2:30 pm Winnipeg Apr 24
  • New Zealand = 17 hours ahead … 6:00 am Wellington Apr 25 = 1:00 pm Winnipeg Apr 24

Hopefully this will help you all participate in ANZAC Day this year.

Lest we forget.

Update on ANZAC Day 2020

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Although the DUCW’s ANZAC Day commemoration has been cancelled this year, we are compiling a list of opportunities to watch services online, and will post them in a new blog tomorrow.

ANZAC DAY COMMEMORATION 2020 – CANCELLATION MESSAGE

It is with deep regret to advise that our ANZAC Day service in Ottawa, scheduled for 9am on 25 April, has been cancelled. Organisers have also cancelled ANZAC Day services in Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg.

It is with deep regret that we write to advise that our ANZAC Day service in Ottawa, scheduled for 9am on 25 April, has been cancelled. Organisers have also cancelled ANZAC Day services in Toronto and Vancouver.

We are as disappointed as we know you will be with this outcome, but given the COVID-19 pandemic and the advice of the Australian, New Zealand and Canadian public health authorities, it is the responsible course of action.

While we will not be able to gather together on 25 April, we encourage all Australians and New Zealanders, wherever you may be, to commemorate ANZAC Day in your own personal way.  Please take a moment to pause and reflect on the service and sacrifice of the thousands of Australian and New Zealand men and women who serve or have served in wars, conflict and peace keeping operations. We especially ask you to think of those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their country.

Public ANZAC Day services have also been cancelled in Australia and New Zealand.  But, the Australian War Memorial will be holding a private ceremony in Canberra at 5.30am on 25 April (AEST), 3.30pm on 24 April (EST), 12:30pm on 24 April (PDT).  The ceremony will be broadcast live by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and streamed online.  Please see more information on this here: www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/anzac-day. The Royal New Zealand Returned Services Association, alongside the New Zealand Defence Force, will also be holding a virtual dawn service to commemorate ANZAC Day, which will be broadcast by RNZ National, on the RNZ App, from 6am (NZST) on 25 April, 2pm on 24 April (EST), 11am on 24 April (PDT).  You may wish to watch include these ceremonies as part of your commemoration of ANZAC Day.

Our thoughts are with all Australians and New Zealanders in Canada, and our Canadian colleagues and friends, in these challenging and unprecedented times.   Please stay safe, stay informed by following the advice of public health authorities, stay connected with your friends and family, and please stay home.

Her Excellency Natasha Smith, Australian High Commissioner to Canada

His Excellency Martin Harvey, New Zealand High Commissioner to Canada