Monday 1 July 2019

In My Kitchen - July 2019

July - the month of American Independence Day and French Bastille Day and Canada Day; the month marking halfway through an Aussie winter.  We've only had a couple of cold nights here in sunny Queensland so far.  I noticed the other day that Scotland was having the same temperatures as we were! - and they're in mid Summer.  You gotta laugh!

So here are a few more things in my kitchen.  Feel free to join in this month, my lovely virtual friends.  And it would be brilliant to see some newbies here, so any of you foodie folk who read IMK but don't join in ...  I am sending brain waves out to you - join in, join in :-) ... 


 In My Kitchen:


a chocolate haul

I bought a few things online from Coco Chocolate; that's their hot chocolate mix bottom left.  Sooo delicious, but not cheap so that's why I made my own.


and then there's olive oils

I ordered these from an olive grove in Victoria; beautifully zingy oils; the lemon one is great in hummus.


another beauty from Sit Still Lauren 

I love her kinda clunky but gorgeous work, with that tell-tale indent for your thumb, making it easy to hold.  There is something so comforting about holding a beautiful, handmade object and drinking delicious beverages from it.

 
hmm another book?!  Yes indeedy

I loved reading all the Gerald Durrell books when I was young, though I cringe these days thinking about the awful way he 'collected' animals for zoos.  Babies taken from mothers, trees chopped down to reach them, mothers killed to get the babies ...  Oh, how it makes me shudder!  But anyway - I shall enjoy these family recipes, and think of their (somewhat) idyllic life on Corfu in the 1930s.



and more chocolate

And then there was more chocolate; this time from The Chocolate Box in Melbourne.  Online shopping, you are killing my bank account :-)  Delicious peanut butter frogs and fluffy marshmallows.  And a few other things which I shall show you another time, my friends.

 
as per the label :-) 

I bought this little gem in a very quirky general store in the backblocks of the Northern Rivers hinterland (you know it's the place of my heart) in a village called Clunes.  They have the best cemetery ever!  I might have to be buried there, with the cows and the rolling green paddocks...


 cute green tree frog and black bean pod 

Okay, not strictly in my kitchen but close by.  This is the sweetest little green tree frog sitting in a black bean pod, all made from clay.  The artist is Lindsay Muir, who hails from the Sunshine Coast hinterland.  Below is a photo of the actual pod (courtesy of the Australian National Herbarium).  Lindsay's beans look so real, don't they?  


Image result for black bean pod
black bean aka Moreton Bay Chestnut 

I didn't realise these are Australian natives; for some reason, I thought they came from South America, but no.  In fact, the indigenous Australians have used them for food for millennia.  The leaves and seeds are toxic to livestock though, so farmers have to make sure they don't let their cows near them.  



delicious one tray chicken and veg bake

Nothing nicer than a delicious one tray bake with chicken and veg., flavoured with wedges of lemon and garlic cloves.  We had this with rice one recent cold (for Queensland) night.



brilliant red chillies from a friend's garden

A gift from a friend's garden.  We love chillies in this household!  They go into just about everything we cook and eat: chilli, stews, curries, stir-fries, soups, you name it.  You could even add them to chocolate mousse to give it an Aztec aura.

Okay, that's it from me for this month.  I will await your wonderful posts with breathless anticipation!


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In My July Kitchen:


Avocado & Finger Lime Toast
Not Quite Nigella





                      
Sherrys Pickings

44 comments:

  1. So much chocolate, so little time! I love it too. The little frog is delightful.

    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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    1. hi Mae
      first again! thanks so much for being here. have a great July. cheers S

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  2. Plenty of good stuff in your kitchen, Sherry. That handmade ceramic bowl looks really beautiful.

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    1. hi Angie
      yep i do love all the ceramics in my (bursting) kitchen:) cheers sherry

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  3. I always love your pottery finds. That tree frog piece is amazing. Can't wait to see what you do with those chilis. Isn't it funny how our perceptions change. I have revisited some books I loved in an earlier life and I also cringe.

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    1. hi debra
      i shove chillies in everything:) I was using some dried chillies the other day and couldn't believe how the jar was nearly empty. how did that happen? cheers S

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  4. I printed your hot chocolate recipe for next fall! Good chocolate really is expensive! I love infused oils, right now I have one that’s gremolata, and one that’s mushrooms and sage that I’m also going to open in the fall. Fun stuff!

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    1. good chocolate is always worth the money! what do you do with the infused oils? they sound so interesting...

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  5. Hi from another Queenslander! We love visiting cemeteries too especially when overseas. There is one in Paris with lots of famous people in it. That was interesting! Sue R.

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    1. hi sue
      sorry - i don't know/remember if you have a blog? nice to see you here. yes the paris cemetery Pere Lachaise sounds amazing. maybe we will see you here with an IMK post? cheers S

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    2. Hi Sherry. No I don't have a blog.

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    3. ah well there's always time to start ...:-)

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  6. Lots of lovely chocolate there Sherry! And how did we ever live without cups with those thumb grooves?

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    1. actually these are the first cups i've seen with the indents:) Lauren does make lovely ceramics. they're so comforting to hold.

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  7. Looks like you're having a lovely July with all those chocolates. :) It is very similar for me with my holiday mood.

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    1. thanks veghog. i hope you are enjoying the summer break over there. thanks so much for joining in! cheers S

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  8. I loved Gerald Durrell's books when I was younger, too. And now share your sentiments about how he went about collecting animals. His brother, Lawrence, was actually a pretty good novelist. Good stuff in your kitchen this month -- thanks.

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    1. hi KR
      yes i truly shudder at how very clueless he was about collecting animals. hard to believe! and he ran a zoo for goodness' sake. thanks for stopping by. How about joining in IMK sometime?:-) cheers S

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  9. We have a matching item in our kitchens this month! and I must try making hummus using my falvoured oils :)

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    1. hi tandy
      yes it's handy having those juices in a bottle:) the hummus works out really well with the lemon oil. just gives it a bit of a boost. thanks for joining in!

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  10. What a pleasant surprise with all of these ideas.... I am so in love with Durrells that you have just made my day :-) :-) Thank you so much !

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    1. hi there davorka
      yes the Durrells were so fascinating and flawed:-) pity gerald didn't realise how badly his 'business' was damaging the local environments he went into, to collect animals for zoos. such a naughty boy. cheers S

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  11. I certainly love seeing what people have across the world, it’s my way of traveling 😉
    This month I was thrilled to link up as I’d recently had eye surgery and had been unable to use the computer or read for a while.

    Love your ceramic bowl and the olive oil. Anything Chocolate! That tray bake gives me an idea for dinner.

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    1. oh i hope your eye(s) are much better now tina. thanks for dropping by and for joining in IMK this month. take care, cheers sherry

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  12. What a month, Sherry! Love the Coco chocolates, and the oils! But most of all, I can’t wait to get Dining with the Durells! We just saw the series and loved it. Of course, I need to read the books now, too!

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    1. i've not read lawrence's books but i have read all the gerald ones. they were very entertaining tho we all cringe now about his 'collection' methods. have a good month david cheers sherry

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  13. Always good things in your kitchen, but I am really loving the clay green tree frog in a black bean pod. And those chillies look brilliant red chillies are amazing, look forward to seeing what you make with them

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    1. me too shaheen. he is such a clever artist, and it looks so life-like. i use chillies all the time, no special dishes, just into stir fries, soups, stews etc....cheers S

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  14. I still cant comment with my blog name, so trying Anonymous this time. More lovely chocolates and tasty oils. Love the little hand potted bowl. Cheers, Francesca

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    1. hi francesca
      thanks for persisting re commenting. yes i often have serious probs commenting on wordpress blogs so i just keep on and on ... and on :)

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  15. Yours definitely feels like a winter post. Chocolate, lovely inviting new mug for a hot cuppa, baked chicken and veggies. Hoping we'll get some of your lovely Queensland weather down here in Canberra! Thanks for hosting the linkup. =)

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    1. Hi Jen Rose and Sherry,
      Commenting isn’t working on your blog. Here’s my comment with apologies to Sherry:
      Good to find someone else who is a marshmallow fanatic! I am now working on a package of jumbo marshmallows. One is more than enough. Sometimes I eat two. I never remember to toast them after we eat our grilled dinner.

      Did you try running hot water over the stuck jar lid? Sometimes the sticky sugar gets in the threads. I didn’t know they even made maraschino cherries any more. Did you read about the time that a maraschino factory in NY was careless with the run-off, and local bees made bright red honey?

      best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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    2. hi Jen
      thanks for joining in this month. we've had some grey rainy days lately so i'm glad we are back to sunny blue skies! i have pasted Mae's comment on your blog post for her. Perhaps Disqus is not her friend?:) cheers S

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    3. hi Mae
      I've added your comment to Jen's post. signing up for disqus on her blog is dead easy - you just put your name and email address I seem to remember! cheers S

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    4. I'm in Discus -- I just couldn't get the button to actually let me post the link. It acted like it wasn't a link at all. Usually it works. I'll have to experiment more with just what circumstances make it work. Maybe it's only ok on some devices. I just felt too worn down after several tries and gave up and put it here. I'm sorry.

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    5. no worries at all Mae. it was no problem to add your comment to Jen's post. I'm just surprised that disqus didn't work:) that's the one thing that doesn't give me problems unlike all the times i try to add to others' wordpress blogs:-) tee hee

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  16. I am intrigued by your green chocolates at the top - what flavour are they? All your chocolates look rather good as does your ceramic bowl. And I was laughing when a relative from scotland said it was 17 there and it was 18 in Melbourne but we have had some chilly weather (all relative of course as I spoke to a woman at the farmers market who said how much warmer it was in melbourne than where she was from somewhere more inland)

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    1. hi johanna
      thanks for dropping by and joining in. i think the green chocs were just nuts covered in dyed chocolate from memory. i ate them too fast to remember:) it is another fab Qld day today - all blue skies though chilly. we've had some grey days and that's just not on!:) have a good month. cheers S

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  17. Hi, Sherry! I just posted (at long last) and attempted to comment, but I've been away from my computer for so long I goofed up. (Plus, I was distracted by your chocolate.) :) Loved your olive oils, one-tray chicken bake, peppers, and one-of-a-kind bowl/drinking vessel, too. Hope this comes through. Looking forward to perusing everybody else's posts as well! xo

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    1. hi kim
      so fab to see you here. thanks so much for posting in IMK. i hope your year is going well! cheers and best wishes S.

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  18. Just love that hand made bowl, so pretty and unique. Gosh I haven't had a chocolate marshmallow in years, could eat one now. Enjoy all the lovely chocolate, you certainly are on a chocolate roll Sherry :)

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    1. thanks Moya. funnily enough i don't eat that much chocolate usually. :)

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  19. Just love that hand made bowl so pretty and unique. Gosh I haven't had a chocolate marshmallow in years, could eat one now. Enjoy all the lovely chocolate, you certainly are on a chocolate roll Sherry :) Let me know if you get these comments, Ive tried a couple of times.

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