In my kitchen - November 2014

It's November already and time to join the lovely Celia, from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial, together with a bunch of friends, bloggers and fellow cooks from around the world, as we play In My Kitchen, a fun show and tell hosted by Celia. Let's start with these macadamias in their shells, which we collected at the Duck's Nuts plantation in the Byron Bay hinterland. Do you love macadamias as much as I do?

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'Would you like a nice cup of tea?' I always ask Peter mid afternoon. I read somewhere once about a study that found that making a cup of tea for someone is akin to stress relieving therapy. Not that Peter is stressed, mind you, but we do both enjoy some tea in the afternoon. In my kitchen are some treasured tea cups, featuring Fairy Wrens. Coincidentally, they were given to me at as gifts by some very special friends, Doggie and Christine C, who both know how fond I am of those little birds. I have some fun tea-making accoutrements: the little floating duck was a prize from Sealy, and the little man was something Peter bought for himself from Two Skinny Cooks Larder in Berrima. The Vanilla tea is from Mrs Oldbucks, also in Berrima. 

In my kitchen is a packet of asparagus crowns, waiting to be planted. As soon as our garlic is ready to harvest, these will go in. Watch this space for my photographic essay on growing garlic. 

You know Christmas is just around the corner when the boxes of Panettone hit the supermarket shelves. I have always loved it! This one came from Aldi and will be used for bread and butter pudding, I suspect. One of these days I will try my hand at baking my own. 

The team at Bare Coffee Company sent me a sample of their copy beans to try. One of the things I like about their coffee is the smart zip that peels off and makes the bag easier to open.  

In my kitchen is this 'Luxury Fudge', also from Aldi. I can and do make my own, but this one happens to be my son's absolute favourite, so as soon as we see it in stock, we buy several packets to stash away for the Christmas stocking. 

Remember how I popped some Heilala vanilla beans into vodka back in January this year? Well, this is how the maceration looks now. It's still tucked away in a dark cupboard and should be ready to use very, very soon! 

In my kitchen is a pile of cookbooks for my review. I hope to bring you my conversation with Adam Liaw, as soon as I hear back from his publicist. Sweet Envy is a cracker of a book, written by Pastry Chef’s Alisatir Wise and his wife Teena, who have a cake shop and bakehouse in North Hobart. I can hardly wait to tuck into that one! I do like to take my time with book reviews, thus giving the author, the publisher and the publication the due regard and consideration that they deserve. Watch this space for my upcoming snippets on each of these titles. 

And finally, in my kitchen is this beautiful pear and a few of its friends. I have very special plans for this pear! Stay tuned. 

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In closing, I'd like to leave you with a message that was my father's mantra throughout his life. It is always with me, but is particularly poignant on this day as I learned the devastating news that a dear friend has lost one of her own this morning. My heart is absolutely aching for my friend and her family.

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Thank you, as always, for taking the time to pop in and say hello, dear readers. It means a lot to me.