In My Kitchen February 2012

In My Kitchen February 2012

Welcome to my kitchen in February 2012.

Divine blogger and baker extraordinaire, Celia from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial, features a monthly segment titled 'In My Kitchen', where colleagues from across the miles allow readers to peek into their kitchens via links on the page. It is a great initiative and I am glad to be part of the fun. Thanks Celia for welcoming me and thanks to our fellow bloggers for introducing us to your kitchens. 

The days, weeks and months have simply flown by and as I mentioned at the end of my post on Basil and Lemon Ice Cream, I miss being on holidays and pottering in the kitchen garden for hours each day. The garden has been flourishing this year and we are enjoying a surplus of strawberries, basil, lettuce, cucumbers... and even dug up our first crop of Kipflers! 

There is a feast of good things going on in my kitchen. Below is a snapshot. What's happening in your kitchen this month?

In my kitchen I am growing a variety of cress, snow pea, mustard and other sprouts

The fruit platter is well stocked, as always

There are always lots of lemons from the farmer's markets on my fruit platter, so I made limoncello while we were on holidays

The lemon zest is currently steeping in vodka... watch this space

We dug up our first crop of baby kipflers from the kitchen garden

In my kitchen are apricots for making jam with vanilla and almonds. See my post for the recipe.

I love to have fresh flowers or even sprays of foliage in the house and these are Calla lillies and agapanthus from our garden

Having enjoyed a superb meal at the Manfredi's Balla Osteria recently, I am revisiting Bel Mondo from my bookshelf. This big beautiful book, written by Stefano Manfredi and John Newton, combines recipes with a very good peek behind the scenes and the running of the renowned restaurant, Bel Mondo. While it has been out of print for some years, copies are still available from Amazon. Click the image above to take you to the exact link. A sterling addition to the bookshelf.

In my kitchen is the best chevre we have ever eaten... Willowbrae, available at the Orange Grove Markets (see Market People)

On my kitchen table are these little beauties from our crop of SELF SOWN cherry tomatoes

I recently found a secondhand copy of one of my favourite books of poems: Kate Llewellyn's 'Figs', bought with a birthday gift voucher from my friends, The Dog and MB

And of course, fresh figs and mint for the fig salad with mozzarella and fig vino cotto in my latest post

In my kitchen is Panettone bought at the Haberfield IGA... essential for bread and butter pudding in Winter

Gah! Also in my kitchen are more cook book indulgences. One from a gift voucher, the other, The Retro Cookbook, a gift to myself

Another really good find is this fragrant Maesri curry paste... see my Red Curry Chicken post for the story behind this and a great recipe

And finally, not in my kitchen, per se, but on the fence around the courtyard and visible from my kitchen... a pair of wrens snuggle on the fence. Apologies for the fuzzy shot, they were constantly moving.