In My Kitchen- May 2014

 

I"m Baaa-aaack!

So sorry Dear Readers, I know I left you abruptly for a while, but yet-another-health issue and yet-another-surgery and stay in hospital took the decision right out of my hands
Thankfully, Mum and Dad are here on a visit to look after me as I convalesce and also to give BigJ and the girls a well deserved break. They have all been wonderful at putting up with me and taking turns to be my personal slave while I've been stuck in bed. It's nice to know I've trained them so well  :)

 Perhaps it's fitting then that as my last post was  In My Kitchen- April  that my first post back should be In My Kitchen- May. This is to link up with lots of other lovely bloggers in Sweet Celia's In My Kitchen Roundup over Here at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. It's lots of fun, so feel free to join in and give us a sneaky peaky Into Your Kitchen too


In My Kitchen...
Is this cute little Dumpling Kit that my Mum gave me. I can hardly wait to put it to good use- yummo!

In My Kitchen...
Is a Two Timer! Perfect for my busy kitchen where there's always more than one thing cooking at once. Another gift from my lovely Mother

In My Kitchen...
Is a couple of bags of Dehydrated Mango. All organically grown and dried by my Dad from his own trees. Some years the trees are prolific producers and luckily this year there was lots to share

In My Kitchen...
Is a great, big bottle of Lemon Grass Syrup. Delicious in soda water, especially with a sprig of mint and a couple of kaffir lime leaves for extra yumminess

In My Kitchen...
Is a set of Antique Kitchen Canisters. These belonged to my Grandmother and are in great condition. They'll happily guard another generation of tea and sago on my kitchen bench from now on

In My Kitchen...
Is a knitted cute Cup Cosy made by MiddleC. With Winter well and truly making it's minus 2*C presence felt this morning, I can rest assured knowing my Earl Grey will stay hot till the last delicious drop

In My Kitchen...
Is another new Cookbook. I got this one at Costco where the book prices are very reasonable and always manage to temp me. I haven't had a good look through it yet, but the bits I've seen certainly look tempting

In My Kitchen...
Is a cute Cup and Saucer from MiddleC, who knows that I do indeed take my tea very seriously. There is little margin for error with a good cuppa, yet sadly, not enough people care to master the art

In My Kitchen...
Are the last few tomatoes from my garden. The frost has finished off the rest, but these little gems are so sweet and juicy that you can still taste Summer in every bite

In My Kitchen...
Are the first of my Autumn Saffron crop
The long red stamen is the part that is dried and sold, the bright yellow pollen and purple petals are discarded. Every day I harvest just one or two flowers, but the honey-ish scent is strong enough to sweeten an entire room as they dry out in the sun

In My Kitchen...
Is the rest of my garden harvest.
the task of digging the root crops fell to Dad while Mum handled the above ground beds. My little patch is a far cry from their big organic farm, but I still think we did pretty well

 A close up of my Potatoes and Jerusalem Artichokes

In My Kitchen...
Is a Chocolate Raspberry Trifle made by littlej. She saw the recipe in one of my cooking magazines -maybe Donna Hay?- and presented me with a shopping list and the expectation of a trifle dish. She did a great job, but was a bit disappointed that we didn't get a photo before the layers started to run. I can tell you that it was absolutely delicious, but it took us a week to get through and I'm sure I suffered sugar withdrawal when it was finally gone!

For My Kitchen Garden...
Is a wonderful Quince Tree from my dear friend Pony and her boys. One of my favourite fruits with the prettiest blossom around. Aren't I a lucky little Chef indeed!

So Dear Readers, what's going on in Your Kitchen this month?