Welcome to my new year kitchen. Hard to believe it is 2015. Yet it also feels like life goes on. My kitchen is full of summer fruit, glitter and the last of the festive clutter.
Above are apricots from my brother's tree. I took this photo a few days ago and already they have ripened in the heat. There is nothing like apricots from a backyard tree. We have been scoffing many and I made a lovely tart with some (on my blog soon).
The kitchen is smelling wonderful thanks to this kind gift from my friend Heather. We had planned to go to the Fitzroy Market just before Christmas but spent time looking for missing keys instead. Heather had planned to see us in Fitzroy but changed plans and had a coffee at our place. She gave us this candle with a gorgeous cinnamon and vanilla scent from the market.
You know that moment when you look at something new in the supermarket and say do I want to buy it? Yes. No. Yes. No. And you decide not to buy it. Yet you arrive home and find it in your groceries. Well that was how I found I had bought these roasted coconut chips. They were crispy and delicious but rather sweet.
I bought these herbal teas with great hope. Such pretty packages. The teas were not quite as fruity as I had hoped but quite refreshing. I think I prefer the Apple and Pomegranate tea (Coles own brand). The Calming Peach is nice as long as I don't leave the teabag in too long.
I don't buy calendars until after Christmas because sometimes we receive some with our gifts. This year there were none under the tree. So on New Year's Eve we headed off to Readings bookstore where all calendars were on sale. I really like the bright foodie images in this calendar for our kitchen.
On the same shopping trip we decided to buy a Christmas cake from Bakers Delight. I hadn't intended to. In fact I had considered making one but felt we had so much food anyway. Then I was tempted by these cute cakes in the shapes of Christmas trees. It pleasingly moist and soft with lots of spices.
Our kitchen has been loaded with food. Here is a glimpse of my fridge on new year's eve. It was packed to the rafters. (The middle shelf is my nuts, flours, seeds etc.) You may notice Sylvia's fringe. Her photobombing made it challenging to photograph the fridge.
I also had intended to make an apricot tart on New Year's Eve. Again, I was beaten by the amount of food in the house. Instead we ate gingerbread and butterscotch ice cream and I added a slice of
chocolate salami. Scrumptious!
I have now made Celia's amazing
overnight sourdough loaf twice. It is so easy and so delicious. Who would have guessed you could have soft spongy sourdough bread with so little work and in less than 12 hours.
Coles Supermarket was big on the Heston Blumenthal products this year. There were huge piles of the hidden orange pudding. I wanted to try the Christmas pudding with hidden chocolate sauce. But again too much food in the house! Hard to justify buying a pudding to serve 8.
We went to my mum's on New Year's Day to see my sister and nephew who arrived from Ireland a few days before. Mum served the hidden chocolate pudding for dessert. It was very rich with a sludgy chocolate filling. Nice but I think I prefer regular Christmas pudding. Mum sent us home with some leftover pudding which we have been enjoying. She also gave me a box of Heston's spiced shortcrust mince pies. I find the exceedingly spiced pastry a bit much for me. E is enjoying them with brandy cream.
On the same visit, my sister Christine gave me some nested canisters. She said mum had asked her to give them to me. They belonged to my nan and bring back memories of being in her kitchen with these canisters above the stove. When my mum saw them she said they were for an op shop. By then I was already attached. I have no room for them, no lovely spacious shelf to welcome them. So one of my summer challenges is to fit them in the kitchen by hook or by crook.
Christine also brought me a souvenir apron from Dublin. She knows how much E and I have enjoyed visiting the
Queen of Tarts cafe. I have already been wearing it in my floury baking adventures!
I am sending this post to Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial for her
In My Kitchen event. Head over to join in (by 10th of each month) and/or check out what is happening in other bloggers' kitchens.
I always love checking out your IMK post. Adore those cannisters and hope you find space for them somewhere in your kitchen. So much food, my husband would be so envious of those fresh apricots. I like the calender. I bought my husband one this year Spike Milligan and he has stuck it in the kitchen, I will have to show it off next month for IMK. The sourdough bread looks gorgeous, D has been making bread, but in the bread maker. I got some of Celia's Sourdough starter, so need to get baking too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Shaheen - good luck with the sourdough bread making - reminds me I should be putting some on (now done) - spike milligan sounds like a great calendar theme - and I would love to send D some apricots but they just aren't lasting very long around here :-)
DeleteOh that bread looks good!
ReplyDeletethey're all fantastic and those canisters are brilliant!!!
ReplyDeleteYou know, I've looked for those coconut chips a couple of time but can ever find them. I'll have to give it another go. The canisters are lovely but I understand about wanting to keep something but not having the space. My mum gave me here perfectly serviceable Sunbeam Mixmaster from the 60's. I love it but have to keep it in the bathroom cupboard!. Thanks for the always entertaining tour. cheer Fiona
ReplyDeleteThanks Fiona - I actually thought they were a different sort of coconut chips - a friend had given me a taste of some that were thicker and less sweet but goodness knows what they were called. I have refused a few mixmasters due to space considerations but the canisters really remind me of my nan so I couldn't resist!
DeleteThat is a full fridge - and a full kitchen! I may not miss the heat but I do miss apricots and am glad you have a good stash happening. I like the look of that cake in a tree shape too (for the shape, mostly!) and very much relate to the yes/no/yes/no deliberations that can accompany supermarket trips. Those canisters are fantastic too, and all the more so for their history.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kari - fresh stone fruit is one of the perks of putting up with the heat - it is just gorgeous at the moment! I had one of those yes/no yes/no moments that other day and then realised I should be checking if I had to pick up sylvia and had to snap out of it quickly :-)
DeleteHappy New Year lots of lovely things in your kitchen this month. I'm especially liking your foodie calendar and that apron is gorgeous! See you next month for IMK
ReplyDeleteYour fridge looked like mine on Christmas Day. We have a smaller one in the garage for wine/beer and seldom used condiments...it was also overflowing. Looking at it this week feels like going on a diet.
ReplyDeleteHappy 2015.
Thanks Liz - our fridge is slowing losing the bulge and it is lovely not to have to rearrange everything yet again to fit anything else in - especially during the hot weather when so much spoils if not if the fridge! Love that you have a spare fridge for seldom used condiments!
DeleteYour kitchen is so very fun! Those coconut chips look absolutely delicious.
ReplyDeletelots of lovely goodies here. i bought a Heston pudding with the hidden orange and it is still sitting on my bench unopened. we just had too much food:) i loved his spicy fruit tarts- i do like a lot of flavour. both our fridges were full up and there are probably things still lurking that i don't want to know about.! cute apron. happy 2015.
ReplyDeleteIt all looks fantastic! Love the photo of your fridge, if I had the nerve to show a picture of mine it would have been just as full, if not more. Luckily now that it is well into January it looks more normal!
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy you had success with the overnight sourdough recipe! It's so easy (and I'm so lazy) that it's almost the only bread I'm baking at the moment. :) Beautiful apricots - we have a tree out front which I'm willing to fruit, but it's not quite there yet. And I had to smile - loved Sylvia's photobombing the fridge pic! :)
ReplyDelete