Minus seven and a 'severe' frost this morning prompted me to pop outdoors and check on the lemons. Thankfully the pots are partly sheltered by the eaves and all three plants are content and fruiting profusely. Having waited a lifetime to own a lemon tree, seeing these beauties on the verandah (and the kitchen bench) is balm for my soul.  

Sporks and spurtles, chinoises and canelles are among a variety of interesting items you will find in a well-stocked kitchenware store. I've yet to meet a chef, food writer or home cook who doesn't enjoy browsing endlessly in what can often seem like an Aladdin's Cave of tools for cooks. 

Successful cooks rely on good, solid equipment — the kind that's designed to last a lifetime. One of the best-loved and most-used tools in my kitchen is an 'East West' Füri knife produced by Füritechnics, a company previously owned by mechanical engineer, Mark J. Henry. As the co-owner of a cookware store and cooking school in a previous lifetime, I sold dozens of Füri knives, and many of my readers will no doubt have seen them used and recommended on television by celebrity chefs around the world. Mine is still as good as the day I bought it, many years ago. So, from my perspective it's good to see that Mark is back on the scene with a new product.

A deliciously interesting conversation has evolved between myself and some lovely friends of mine, who are also food writers and dedicated cooks. It started on Twitter a few weeks ago when Celia from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial and Mel from The Cook's Notebook were chit-chatting about Le Creuset enamelled cast iron cookware sets that Mel had spotted on 'sale' at her local newly-opened Costco.