In my kitchen…
…is a box of cherries, a gift to Small Man from his Great Aunt Liz, who purchased them at the farm door in Young on their way to Sydney. The lighter coloured variety are Eagles; the darker ones are the more traditional Supremes. Both are superb, despite 2010 being a difficult season due to heavy rainfalls in the region.
In my kitchen…
…is a bag of the most amazing salt pyramids I’ve ever seen – a gift from our ever generous friend Moo. The crystals are huge!
In my kitchen…
…is a bowl of garden hodge-podge – today’s lunch. New potatoes, carrots, cavolo nero, tomatoes and parsley from our backyard were combined with chorizo sausage, rosemarino pasta (so called because the shape resembles rosemary leaves) and tinned lentils, finished with chopped preserved lime. Incredibly tasty, even though it was simply cooked in water without any added seasonings!
In my kitchen…
…are bonbonnieres from the Jackhammer’s christening, for which the wee man wore a shiny white Elvis suit and cap. Truly, I have the coolest friends…
In my kitchen…
…are six logs of freezer shortbread cookie dough, ready for last minute baking and gifts…
In my kitchen…
…are a bag of blueberry and oat cookies, a gift from Brydie, who accompanied them with the most gorgeous hand-drawn chicken card!
In my kitchen…
…is a gift from Iris, Andrea’s mother. Every year she bakes us one of her pan de pascua, traditional Chilean Christmas cake. She’s very secretive about her recipe, and rightly so, as it’s delicious! I love that my friends’ parents feel the need to feed us – we had mince pies from Nic’s mum recently as well..
So tell me, what’s happening in your kitchen this festive season?
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
What a lucky Small Man, I’m so envious – I hope he appreciates his gift. English cherries are incredibly rare and expensive – we only get fresh cherries if we go to France during June. We didn’t go this year! :(
You look as if your Christmas preparations are well in hand – I’m going to try your biscotti recipe today, even though I’ve lost the pistachios I intended to use.
Not much going on YET, though we woke up to 2 inches of ice covering things today! I have plum brandy(Celia inspired) and a buttery appricot brandy ready to bottle and gift.And outrageously blissful tropical salt + sugar body scrubs to mix up and package for gifting! Still need to make eggnog with our teen, have Skype conversation with son #1 who is at war in Iraq with US Army. Still have shopping to do, gifts to wrap, tree to put up and decorate. But love every minute of it. Will grab your recipe for shortbread freezer dough and look for salt pyramids-they are gorgeous!
If you BUY cherries (at least 250 gram) from Norton Street Grocer or some other outlets you can go to http://www.lovesummerlovecherries.com.au and enter to win $1000 or $100 gift cards. You need to keep proof of purchase in case you win. The cherries are not that great so they need some incentive for people to buy them I think, maybe it was too wet this year. They do taste a bit watery. Maybe the good ones are being saved up for Christmas. I like your blog a lot. It is like virtual eating. Handy if you are on a diet like me. I’m doing really well under 60k and heading for 55. I think it’s true that man does not live on bread alone but partly on the thought of bread.
Celia, always look forward to your “In My Kitchen” posts.
Right now in my kitchen is a mighty big mess. I inherited some goodies from my brother and his wife who left the island yesterday and I am in the process of sorting and packing away.
:-) Mandy
Here in Kentucky I have Celia-inspired Plum Brandy to bottle, also made a batch of buttery apricot brandy ready to bottle. I have blissfully tropical salt & sugar scrub ready to go. Still to do: some last minute gift shopping, gifts to wrap, tree to put up & decorate, eggnog to make with the teen, cookies and truffles to make, set a time for Skype conversation with our 20 yr old son who is at war in Iraq with the US Army. Wishing everyone a very happy holiday! Sara
Poolish for an attempt at ciabatta, a fresh whole Cornish Crab for me to sort out this evening, hours of harmless fun there, some goodies from La Rula, a bag of maize meal, already forgotten what that was for… two mad poodles, wind and rain and more arctic cold on the way….don’t know about festive, but it’s all good fun :)
Tonight, we’re having a party for the book group I lead at a local library. It’s an Asian-themed buffet: cold sliced pork in garlic sauce, green papaya salad (you can see we’re all over the map), and pork/leek dumplings. Plus, some chocolate bark with candied ginger and pistachios. So that’s in our kitchen today.
Beautiful kitchen as ever Celia.
My kitchen is full of fear … my first Christmas away from my home and Mum. But it means I am the cook and I’ve never cooked turkey before. I’m sure it’ll be grand!
The hub made a batch of Rice Krispy squares and another one of Reese’s Peanut Butter cereal. He was very popular at school.
Not much baking going on around here. I’ve been under deadline with a book to finish.
I did a gingerbread which disappeared pretty quick. Vacation starts tomorrow. Yay!
Maz
PAN DE PASCUA…FROM A CHILEAN!!!!
Wow, these Chileans sure do get around!!
Loved this blog and am thinking of making your shortbread cookies, because I LOVE the idea of freezing them and baking them in the last minute!
Great for Christmas in the summer with high heat !
Suelle, that surprises me, I thought cherries were everywhere in the UK! I remember Jo’s post about finding them on her walks. They’re a cold climate fruit, so there’s no chance at all of growing them in Sydney, which is a shame. I hope you enjoy the biscotti! :)
Sara, happy holidays to you and your family as well! Hope you enjoy the shortbread, and wishing your family, and especially your faraway son, a happy and safe 2011.
Frances, thanks for the headsup! Although not sure I’m up to braving Norton Grocer’s at this time of year… ;-)
Mandy, I hope you find some treasure in the process! :)
Jo, it sounds like you’re all set to play indoors, which can only be a good thing given the weather. Hope it eases for you soon!
Mark, I wish I was in your kitchen today too! That all sounds fantastic! :)
Gill, absolutely it will be grand! Enjoy your first Christmas in your new home!
Maz, if your new book is anywhere near as good as your Christmas one, put me down for a copy now, please! Small Man made your nutcracker yesterday – very happy with himself! :)
Jude, they certainly do get around – there’s quite a community here in our state. Iris’ pan de pascua is particularly good this year – moist, spicy and full of walnuts!
Wild and/or garden cherry trees exist still, but very few cherry orchards are still in existence for commercial purposes. It’s made English cherries very rare in shops.
PS – I found the pistachios and the biscotti were superb! Will post about them soon. Thank you so much!
Fantastic! I’m so glad you liked them, thanks for letting me know! That’s a great shame about the cherries in the UK though…
There is not much in my kitchen just now. Mangoes are disappointing, I guess because of all the rain. I usually have eaten so many mangoes by now that I don’t want to see another for a long time. So far the stone fruit has been ordinary – hopefully it will get better after Christmas.
We have no children in our family, so Christmas is a bit boring really.
Ha! I guess when your son is 6’6″ tall, he’s no longer a child, Deb! Fingers crossed the stone fruit improves – slightly better cherries coming out of Victoria last week when we were at the markets…
In my kitchen I have: my third batch of panforte; loads of individually wrapped figgy-logs; rum balls (made with brandy when I ran out of rum); white choc, lemon and coconut truffles; gingerbread Christmas tree decorations ready for their royal icing decorations; Christmas cakeballs (inspired by one of your posts this week!); chocolate-apricot truffles; and rum-almond truffles.
Also lovely cherries and nectarines from the farmers’ market.
Later today there will also be two dozen reindeer-shaped butter biscuits.
I love Christmas baking (can you tell!)
Emma
Hi Celia,
Not much happening in the kitchen here. The bread is baked and it just finished snowing, so now we’ll go outside and shovel snow. Once that’s done, I still have presents to wrap, cards to write and mail, and then I can think about the remaining Christmal baking! I better hurry, don’t have much time left…….so I better get dressed and go out into the cold and play in the snow.
Lovely cherries, hope they tasted delicious!
My kitchen has been fairly quiet these past two days as I’ve been going out a lot-naughty naughty! This morning I’ve been baking which is not how I usually like to ease into the day. Lovely looking cherries, is one variety sweeter than the other?
My kitchen is very clean as my cleaner came yesterday! However, that is about to change as I begin the Xmas cooking/baking. I’ll be starting with your shortbread dough today and also making some sundried tomato and olive tapenade for gifts for some of my friends.
I wish I was in your kitchen!
Mine isn’t quite as impressive but I do have 4 logs of cookie dough ready for baking Christmas Eve, a big container of maple covered walnuts ready for bagging up for gifts, some home made spice blend and chili-infused oil with chilies from my garden.
Emma, all my fruitcake truffles have been eaten, so I have to make more for Christmas! :) Your Christmas kitchen sounds like a wonderful place!
Manuela, enjoy your white Christmas! :)
Lorraine, the Supremes were definitely sweeter but both were lovely!
Amanda, tomato and olive tapenade sounds wonderful! We’ve just harvested a kilo of rhubarb to make some jam for Christmas gifts!
Claire, thank you for the reminder, I still haven’t made the spiced nuts yet! Must get on it right away! Chilli oil sounds like a wonderful present!
In my kitchen….I have the smell of a wonderful fresh christmas tree personally selected at the farm!
I’m not in my kitchen- but here in Chincoteague in my niece’s kitchen- I’m making pizza and chicken soup (your version) and spicy pumpkin soup. We have a ham ready for baking tomorrow and sauerkraut balls(mixed with cream cheese, carmelized onions, and sausage, then rolled in bread crumbs and baked) and I’m making some fresh noodles to be made into cabbage noodles tomorrow! These are my niece’s favorite foods- got to get them all made before she goes back to her post in Japan!
In my kitchen I have the wafting aroma of burnt coffee pot and coffee. Forgot to put the water in the bottom, and was enthusiastically wondering what the neighbours were burning as it smelt weird…sigh.
Still procrastinating over whether to make stollen, a huge batch of ginger biscotti are done, more christmas baking to be done this afternoon though…which looks like dinner could be cheese on toast :-)
…actually and I have pan de pascua as well!
My kitchen had 4 kg of cherries last week, but they are all gone now….thank goodness the cherries were picked the week before the storms hit. But they don’t taste as great as previous years…
Wow, your Christmas preparations look fantastic, we’re travelling interstate this year, so my friend’s kitchen is going to be the busy one.
Celia it must just smell so wonderful every time you go out and walk back into your kitchen! Inspired by you I have finally got around to making some Xmas gifts today – white chocolate bark with cranberries and pistachios and three different flavoured salts. So my kitchen is filled with a decidedly odd combination of smells :)
Lots of lovely things in your kitchen – which I would expect at this time of year. Actually I expect it at all times of the year. Love Brydie’s chicken.
In my kitchen right now, I have a tin full of your chocolate biscotti – thank you for the recipe. I also have several jars of chocolate dipped candied orange strips. A chocolate, orange and date cake and some jars of cranberry sauce. All destined for gifts – apart from the cake which is there to feed any callers that might make it through the snow.
Oh yes, I bought some cherries for my dad this week and he said they were just right! They were dark ones, not sure what variety…
In my kitchen, there have been two batches of your biscotti, thanks for such great instructions! They were packaged up for teacher presents along with some shortbread. The garlic is all braided and hanging up, and from the window I can see sunflowers, tomatoes and corn all bursting into life from the recent rain. Enjoyed looking at your festive kitchen pics – your bowl of lunch is looking mighty tasty, I do love a good garden meal! :)
Awesome gift! In my kitchen I have a box, yes, a whole box of mangoes glowing in their golden goodness. These were my bribe, I mean gift, from BigJ for letting him go to the U2 concert this week. I don’t want to eat them, I just fondle them and sniff them, like a mango-y miser. I also think the Elvis suit christening sounds like a lot of fun!
Looks very very good!
Ohh, that lunch dish looks wonderful! – as does that cake – wow! Is that a traditional “quick-rise” or a yeast risen cake – the crumb almost looks like the latter, though I imagine it isn’t. In my kitchen is some levain about to be refreshed for a morning mix and a pot of raisins, grated carrot, spices, rice and barley syrups cooling off for a Christmas cake mix in the morning. Craig
Liz, that’s wonderful! I read the funniest Christmas tree story today on the Pioneer Woman’s blog (well, at least I found it very funny!): http://thepioneerwoman.com/blog/2010/12/a-beautiful-christmas-story/
Heidi, your niece’s kitchen sounds every bit as wonderful as your own usually does! :)
Brydie, your biscotti look wonderful, and I can’t believe you have a pan de pascua as well! What are the odds of that? Did you make it?
Soy, lucky you, getting cherries before the really bad weather! Agree that they’re not as nice as last year, but a December without cherries would be unthinkable!
Sarah, hope you’re having a truly wonderful time in your NEW kitchen! :)
Choc, I love how almost every item in your kitchen (except the cranberry sauce) has chocolate in it! :)
Chris, I love how similar our gardens are sometimes! We have corn and tomatoes at the moment too, and have just harvested our first bed of potatoes. SO exciting! :)
Chef R, if I let on that I’m a U2 fan, will that date me? ;-)
Lee, thank you!
Craig, I really don’t know – Iris won’t tell! All she ever says is “it doesn’t have ginger in it”. ;-) I don’t think it’s yeast risen though, possibly baking powder, but as I said, I’m guessing! Your Christmas cake mix sounds amazing!!
I followed the link! Grew up a farm kid. Fell over laughing! I’ve never had to do the job.
in my kitchen tonight – takeaway chinese containers. SIGH.
too much socialising and not enough cooking so I cracked tonight and we had takeaway.
On the plus side, I also have shortbread rolls in the freezer, so at least there’s something nice on the horizon for visitors!
I am shopping tomorrow and I want to buy the ingredients for Lorraine’s (NQN) gorgeous swiss roll cottages! – well, we have the core ingredients, but need the lollies and some Lindt chocolate for decorations.
I am hoarding eggs as I know we will need a lot over the holidays with visitors and baking and the girls are happily producing. Mind you, they won’t be happy tomorrow that there aren’t vegetable peelings or leftover for them – they don’t like us eating out or not cooking!
Isn’t it lovely having eggs for Christmas baking, Anne? One of the great joys of my life at the moment.. :)