In My Kitchen - May 2019

May you say?  The month between hubby's April birthday and my own in June.  Heading into Winter at last, my fave season perhaps, here in (sometimes too) sunny Queensland.  I am a Winter baby, and I love being able to slap on a scarf and jacket.  Funny thing Life - with me ending up here where the sun shines most of the year.  Do you feel you are in the right place, my friends?  Or is it a bit of a mystery how you got there?  Truth to tell, I don't think I could cope with real Winters anymore, so just as well I'm here :-)

Enough of that mental meandering now.  Let's take a leap into the previous month's goings-on in my kitchen.  It was as busy as usual clearly, 'cos it just flew on by, faster than a Concorde jet.  Or maybe faster than a Virgin spaceflight, though less deadly.  Nope, you're never getting me into one of those things.  I like a bit of gravity in the morning:-)  

a beautiful blue ceramic bowl

Here we have another ceramic bowl I bought recently.  This one is made by Ruth Bruten, a Melbourne writer, cook and ceramic artist.  And mother of five!  A busy lady indeed.  I love its smooth roundness in my hand.  Happiness!

handmade pastries

I love these cute little baked pies.  So handy to have in the fridge!  I made quite a few, which didn't last long as Mr P. and I scoffed them down for lunches.

baked Brie

We had friends over for dinner one night so I popped a Brie with walnuts and honey on top into the oven for about 15 minutes till it started to run.  So delicious, folks.  Serve it with warm bread as a starter.

more wooden spoons!

Are you laughing Tiffin Fiona?  Yep I knew it.  Only one of these is for me though.  The white oak one is for my nephew who just gained his chef's papers.  The wood came from a Bundaberg Rum distillery vat!  And the silky oak is for me, origin unknown except for Far North Queensland.  The carver Ron makes wonderful implements from reclaimed woods all over the place.  Every time we go to Stanthorpe, we stop by Jersey Girls Café for a milkshake made with fabulous jersey milk, and I can't go past Ron's fab stuff. 

as per the label

Yep this is tartaric acid, not quite the same as cream of tartar apparently.  I had to hunt for this one, as it is not readily available.  I will be using it in a recipe soon, so keep an eye out for an upcoming post.

a cookbook!  told ya:-)

Remember I said last month I was expecting another couple of books?  Well, here's this one by Irris Makler, an Australian journalist based in Jerusalem.  Over several years, she collected the stories of Holocaust survivors who shared their family recipes with her, and now with us.  Thinking of the Holocaust reminds me of a young man we met in Hungary years ago over a cup of coffee.  He kindly invited us to stay at his flat in Vienna, which we did.  I got sick and we had to stay for a week (he must have been sick to death of us by then).  He regaled us over the week with tales of his neo-Nazi leanings.  Being laidback Aussies with not an anti-Semitic bone in our bodies, this was indeed a bizarre experience!  

local (ish) olive oil

Mr P. and I headed west a few weeks ago for a short break.  It's so good to get away from city madness, and head off to the country.  We pottered around, caught up with friends, and bought some local produce, including this extra virgin olive oil.  Surprisingly to many, it does actually snow in sunny Queensland; this olive oil comes from an area on the border with New South Wales where it does indeed sleet and snow now and then.

Easter treats

On Easter Sunday morning, we ducked out to the local chocolate shop to grab some last minute treats, handmade by the lovely chocolatier Jessica.  See the beautiful pink bunnies?  You may have heard of the latest craze - ruby chocolate, made from the ruby cocoa bean.  All very top secret as to how it is made!  Tastes like white chocolate with a fruity hit.  Really delicious.

my cute ceramic toad overseeing my kitchen

Last but not least is Ferdinand, my kitchen toad.  He is made and hand-painted by an artist in L.A. - Caroline McFarlane-Watts, who makes beautiful miniatures for Hollywood.  How could I resist this green beauty?  That's enough from me this month, so join in my friends with your kitchen happenings!


Please feel free to join us for this month's In My Kitchen link.  Everybody is welcome!


(Addendum to links for IMK: Inlinkz has changed its linking method due to the new EU data protection laws, so I can only add other people's posts on their behalf, in a list separate to the actual linky.  So, I will still have the inlinkz option up, but you have to either verify yourself through social media or create an inlinkz log-in.  I think you only have to do that once!  I will also have a list of posts for those who don't want to log-in, so if that means you, either comment with your details on this post, or email me with your post details and I will add it to the list - hoorah!)



1. Add via the Add Your Link button at the bottom of this post.  Instructions can be found on the sidebar of this page, under the Add your IMK link

2. Comment on this post, providing a link to your post so I can add it to the list below.  

3. Email me: sherrym1au@gmail.com, with your link or any queries about the link process  

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

                      

Sherrys Pickings