In my kitchen…
…is an elephant tea caddy, a gift from my dear friend Tezza some years back. It now holds all my herbal tea bags…
In my kitchen…
…are authentic Malaysian prawn crackers, brought over by my cousin Doreen on her last visit. They’re completely different to the little coloured ones that come with crispy skinned chicken in Chinese restaurants. And believe it or not, the small dried crackers on the left expanded to the huge ones on the right when deep fried…
In my kitchen…
…is our old cast aluminium waffle iron. There is so much history in this piece of kit. When we were twenty-one, Pete and I were living in a small apartment and we didn’t have any cookware. What we did have was $100 to buy some stainless steel pots. I was busy that day, so Pete went to the kitchenware store on his own … and came back with the waffle iron.
He was so excited! It cost a fortune even back then, but he insisted it would last forever (and it has). It had languished on the shelf for so long that the woman who owned the shop gave him a stainless steel saucepan for buying it. To this day, whenever we use it, I just smile and shake my head…
In my kitchen…
…are preserved limes. They’ve been in salt for six weeks…
…and are now glossy and translucent. I’ve figured out that I only need to make a small batch each time – I never get through more than a jar every few months…
In my kitchen…
…is Australian Bloodwood honey, bought recently from Richard the Bee Whisperer at Flemington Markets. It’s dark, tangy and not overly sweet…
In my kitchen…
…are straw spoons, a new find from Chefs’ Warehouse. I love sipping hot chocolate through them, although I have to be careful not to burn myself. Pete thinks sucking hot liquids through a metal tube is an idiotic idea, but I think it’s great fun…
In my kitchen…
…is today’s harvest of chillies, waiting to be turned into harissa sauce…
In my kitchen…
…are self-sown yellow pear tomatoes, grown from seed which originally arrived as a gift from Chris at Slow Living Essentials. They’re nestled in the beautiful, long fingered hands of our firstborn…
. . . . .
Tell me, what’s happening in your kitchen this month?
If you’d like to do an In My Kitchen post on your own blog, please feel free to do so. We’d love to see what’s happening in your kitchen this month! Please link back to this blog, and let us know when your post is up, and we’ll add it to our monthly listing.
. . . . .
Here are this month’s posts…
Amanda @ Lambs’ Ears and Honey
Shirley @ The Making of Paradise
Anne @ Life in Mud Spattered Boots
Lizzy @ Bizzy Lizzy’s Good Things
…..
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Let me check my phone… yeap, it IS June already in Australia! But barely… ;-)
Celia, great stuff going on in your kitchen this month, I loved the waffle iron, made me want to go get some waffles to finally taste one (you know I am a waffle-virgin, right?)
I’m leaving to Kansas to close the deal on our new home, but wanted to slip a quick comment…. will try to get a “In My Kitchen” this month, the last one from OK, I suppose
Yep, it’s June already here – hard to believe as it was so mild yesterday. I wish this bizarre weather would make up its mind! A waffle-virgin! Phil needs to take you out for some straight away! :)
Celia, I LOVE your waffle iron. You are a very lucky woman to marry a man who can appreciate the value of a waffle iron. But I know you know how lucky you are.
Just how much money will I need for my visit to Chef’s Warehouse? You keep giving me ideas!
I have just posted my ‘In My Kitchen’ .
Glenda, yes, I know what a lucky woman I am. However, I didn’t exactly realise it at the time when he walked in the door brandishing that waffle iron. I seem to recall being somewhat put out. ;-)
Don’t bring money, bring a credit card with a big limit when you come over to visit Chefs! :) Have you checked out their fledgling blog?
http://www.chefswarehouse.com.au
Sometimes i just want to get on a plane with an empty suitcase .. imagine the raised eyebrows at check in, and come over and go shopping with you.. wonderful array of kitchen goodies and I am bound and determined to do an ‘In My Kitchen’ post today for tomorrow at dawn, in fact i shall start right this minute! have a lovely day celia .. c
Celi, it would be SO much fun to shop with you! We’d have to hit the kitchen shops before we let you loose on the bookshops though, or they’d be no room left in your luggage! :) Thanks for sharing your kitchen with us this month, I loved the vintage lemon juicer! :)
Celia, you always have the most magical IMK posts!
:-) Mandy xo
Mandy, as do you! Thanks for always showing us what’s in your kitchen. You guys really are the best, I said to Pete as I went to bed last night..”it’s the first day of the month, and already I’ve peeked into seven kitchens from all around the world!”. xx
It’s still May here in Africa! :) I always enjoy your IMK posts.
Thanks Sue! I always enjoy yours too! :)
Your yellow pear tomatoes look fantastic! I grew the same type of tomatoes last summer!
Amber, there’s quite a story behind those! Chris sent us the seeds, and we tried to grow them indoors (we don’t have a lot of luck with tomatoes outdoors as a rule – too much fruit fly in our area). They didn’t grow very well, so we emptied the pots outside. Lo and behold, six months later, they’re growing self-sown in the beds, in the middle of winter, when the fruit fly are all dormant. Strangest thing ever, but we aren’t complaining, as the tomatoes were absolutely delicious!
:)
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2011/10/28/indoor-tomatoes/
Loving your post – love that elephant tin:) Have a Great Day!
Thanks Renee! The elephant tin is just lovely. I pulled it out of the cupboard last month to stash my tea bags in it, which means I now get to handle it several times a day! :)
I guess Pete should now be praised for his foresight, but I bet you weren’t too happy at the time, even with a free saucepan thrown in.
I just love the shape of the bell-like chillies – which variety are they?.
Suelle, you all know me too well, I think. :) Yes, he had great foresight, and he likes to point out that we’ve used it for over 25 years and that he was right about it being a great investment. He’s just lucky he still has a wife to point that out to, after wandering into our little apartment waving it around and saying..”Oh, and look, she gave me a saucepan too!” :D
The chillies are known as bishops’ crowns, and they’re my favourite. The seeds are a bugger to germinate though – low strike rate and they take weeks and weeks to shoot, but the plant grows well once it’s established. Here are a couple more photos:
Celia, another wonderful adventure in your kitchen. Is it June already! (*Scratches head*). I have always wanted a waffle iron, all my life… I have yet to get one, LOL. Love the little story behind yours. Those bishop’s hat (?) chillies are amazing, I must plant some next Summer. And the limes… tell me, what do you do with those? We always have limes on the fruit platter. Happy to report we now have a dwarf lime (and lemon) in pots on the front porch of our blue house at Parsley Street. ; )
Lizzy, I know, hard to believe it’s June already! I use the preserved limes exactly as I would preserved lemons – mostly in tagines and Moroccan style dishes, but also as a salty citrussy hit in all sorts of things. Sometimes I put it into my egg salad sandwiches! I always rinse the lime, remove the pulp and just use the rind, although many people use the pulp as well. The recipe is here:
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2010/05/07/limes/
If you do grow the bishops’ crowns, please note that the seeds are fussy – slow to germinate and poor strike rate. But once they get going, the plants are quite robust. Our lime trees are all in the ground now!
You have some beautiful pieces in your Kitchen Celia, those straw spoons are very unusual. lovely post :)
Shirley, thank you! I love my straw spoons. I heat up a mug of milk and then stir Belgian choc chips into it and suck it through my straw as I wander around the garden. It’s become a morning ritual, and it’s been really nice as the weather has cooled down. Pete, of course, thinks I’m bonkers and tells me so every time he sees me sipping gingerly at the metal straw.. ;-)
Lovely, lovely, lovely! I can imagine those spoons are great fun
Claire, they’re heaps of fun! They were really cheap too – just $2 each. They really have quite irritated poor Pete though – yesterday he was going on about how they were really designed for ice cream sundaes and ice coffees.. ;-)
When growing up we had a ‘jaffle’ waffle iron we used for late night snacks, we put it on the open fireplace in the living room. Thanks for the memory.
Roz, that would have been lovely! I remember those (although we never had one) – the ones that soldered two slices of bread around a hot filling?
That’s a gorgeous photo of the honey in the little cup. I love the way it oozes over the side.
What a wonderful story about the waffle iron. Heart-shaped too. What a man!
Thanks for saying that, Claire! I was annoyed when I dribbled the honey onto the side of the shot glass, but I thought it would look worse if I tried wiping it off! :)
What a man, indeed. :)
Celia, thanks for putting me onto the bishop’s hats chillies. They are so good to grow. There are still some green ones on my plant. I wonder if the plant will survive the winter?
Christine, I’m so glad you like them! We’ve had them in the garden before, and from memory they lasted a couple of years. Our one is certainly not showing any signs of slowing down coming into winter!
Those chillies look great! I agree about those straws too, they’re too ffab not to be fun :D
Nic, thanks for backing me up on this one! They’re on the counter at Chefs’ if you need any! :)
love the look of your preserved lemons.
Lemon tree is just starting to colour up so along with lemon curd must add preserved lemons to the list of must makes!
Sue, I can’t wait until our lemon tree gives us enough fruit to play with. At the moment, we’re waiting for our very first lemon to ripen! :)
Glad to see you’ve included some FOOD in this post! I’ve never preserved limes, only lemons. Do you get the same result and would you use them in the same way? I love the look of your tomatoes and your chillies – just perfect. And of course that waffle iron is a kitchen essential – just so much more useful than a saucepan! xx
Well, one of us had to, darling. :)
The preserved limes work in exactly the same way as the lemons, although the flavour is slightly different. I’ll tell Pete you thought he made a wise purchase all those years ago.. ;-)
Whoop! I’m beyond excited by your yellow pear tomatoes! They looking wonderful. Do you think they’re a late cropper? Ours have only just started ripening in the last month or so, exactly coinciding with our cold weather..agh!
Lovely looking limes..we have some preserved lemons in the pantry from a dear friend, I’m planning to use some in a tagine soon..
As always, a glorious month in your kitchen, Celia! (Loving that waffle iron too!). :)
Chris, thanks again for those tomatoes. I’m so glad they grew – we didn’t have much luck when we planted them, but the self-sown ones were fantastic and soooo sweet. It was a great treat to find them in the garden, hidden behind the dying cucumber vine. Hopefully we’ll find them in the garden always now, much as we keep finding cherry toms.
It’s bizarre, we can’t seem to grow tomatoes at all when we plant them, but the self- sown ones keep coming up.. ;-)
Dear Celia,
Every Malaysian that comes here seem to be raving about how wonderful a particular prawn cracker brand is and I still have a packet in my pantry. I wonder if they are all from the same supplier or manufacturer. I love prawn crackers especially during happy hour drinks :)
Chopinand, you are right, of course, my cousin was insistent that these ones from her home town were the best (she was right!), and that they didn’t need the usual two days of sunbaking before deep frying! :)
I always look forward to see what’s in your kitchen,the elephant tin is beautiful,if I may ask why do you preserve lemons?
Thanks Sponge! I make preserved lemons and limes whenever the fruit is cheap. The finished preserve is salty and citrussy, and is both a great side dish as well as an essential ingredient in all sorts of North African and Moroccan cooking. I tend to eat them on everything – sometimes I even chop the rind finely (after rinsing to remove some of the excess salt) and sprinkle it over my pasta soup! :)
My husband always comes back from the supermarket with a whole load of things I don’t need but no milk. Pete’s waffle story beats that hands down!
Sally, Pete won’t let me go to the supermarket, because I do the same thing! I really can’t be cross at him, as I’m usually the one who makes the impetuous purchases in our family.. ;-)
What a lovely collection this month! I love drinking my cafe latte through a straw :)
Thank you, Tandy! Could you please let my husband know that we’re not bonkers? ;-)
Not much going on in my kitchen this week, the boy’s been sick, so soup and more soup. I’m in a rut of tacos, burgers and pasta. It’s so hard sometimes to cook for a carnivore, an omnivore and a vegetarian.
Maz, I’m so sorry to hear the boy’s been unwell! Hopefully he’s on the mend. He’s probably past the age where you can entertain him with paper toys, which is a shame.. :)
Hope you kick the rut soon… xx
You have prettier possessions in your kitchen than I.
Although my finery is still packed in boxes in the shed – waiting for the day I get a bigger kitchen (and a bigger house).
Interesting to see you preserved limes in salt. I’ve always preserved lemons and limes in salt.
Till someone persuaded me to use olive oil for a better result.
It’s taking me ages to go through the med sized oily kilner jar, as I’m not loving the smell. Nor the oil.
I’ll stick to salt from now on.
Gill, I hope you get your bigger kitchen soon! I tried preserving limes (sliced) in oil once, I think it was a Claudia Roden recipe, and they just went completely off. I’ve never tried since!
Ah, I think I’ll sling the lemons then. They can spoil a perfectly good meal – for me anyway, as I can smell and taste the unpleasantness.
And make some salted ones instead. Much nice.
Very interesting things in your kitchen. Is the waffle iron held over a fire or burner (reason for the “handles”)? The old ones always last a long time!
Manuela, we sit the waffle iron over the gas burner, and turn it over using the handles. I don’t think they’re actually long enough to go over a fireplace – they end just a little out of the frame of the photo. And it certainly has lasted a long time! :)
Awww… I love the story of your waffle iron. That’s so sweet. ALL of my kitchen gear is in boxes on a ship somewhere between the USA and Australia. I regularly spend hours dreaming of opening the boxes and being reunited with all my happy kitchen things! When my stuff arrives I’ll join you in an In My Kitchen post… I’ll be keen to show off all my things!
SK, looking forward to it! I thought of you yesterday as I drove past the Abercrombie! :)
Thank you once again for the foodie fun Celia. Your kitchen looks interesting as always. The waffle iron story is lovely! The preserved limes would be delicious, I have only recently discovered preserved lemons. The honey is a beautiful colour…yum! And the straw spoons, I didn’t know these existed, these posts are a great place to discover new things! Have a lovely weekend. (My IMK post is linked)
Jane, thanks for joining in, your IMK post is magnificent! I should have come and hand pasta making classes from you! :)
The straw spoons are a treat – your kids would probably love them. I first came across them in the Max Brenner chocolate shop, and then went looking for them.
I love that elephant teacaddy.
Thanks Barbara, so do I! :)
So many things I didn’t know about and now think would be a good idea! I love the photo of the honey.
Thanks Anne! The honey is really delicious, and not too sickly sweet. I had to google Bloodwood, I had no idea what sort of tree they were!
I love looking at your kitchen and visiting amongst your things. And I love reading how much everyone else LOVES it too! You have a worldwide community of friends- so glad I’m one of them! :)
I love the elephant tin- what is it about elephants? And the waffle iron is a work of art- as is the story one of love and forbearance- I love that it still makes you smile!
The photo of your son cradling those tomatoes in his hands is my favorite. I love pictures of hands- busy working hands, especially. I put up a post this month, too!
Heidi, you’re not just one of them, you’re one of my very first and dearest blog friends! And thank you for commenting on my beautiful boy’s beautiful hands – they’re very gentle, just as he is.
If you’re an elephant lover, you really have to see my friend Tania’s most recent post!
http://mykitchenstories.com.au/2012/05/chocolate-leftover-rice-cake-gluten-free/
I went to Tania’s blog to see elephants- and came away inspired to make those chocolate and salty caramel rice cakes! Thanks, Celia!
Celia, I love this ‘In My Kitchen’ idea!
I have also joined in the fun and posted my first “In My Kitchen” on my blog at Spoon Feast.
Great peppers! Hard to believe it is time to harvest already.
That’s great, thanks for playing! I couldn’t find the link to your post though – could you please give it to me by reply comment, and I’ll upload it to the list. Many thanks! :)
Sure! http://www.spoonfeast.com should get you there. The post is scheduled to publish at 6 AM EST time in the US
Thanks, your blog is quite enjoyable.
Thanks! I’ll add the link once it’s up! :)
[…] have a lot of fun with that lot. Check out Celia’s In My Kitchen when you get a chance – she started it all. Like this:LikeBe the first to like this post. […]
I love the waffle iron. The honey pic is very pretty. I have never seen pear tomatoes in SA. They are so pretty!
They have them occasionally on sale in the gourmet tomato packs, but this is the first time I’ve grown them! I think the seeds are available from Diggers, if you’re interested.. :)
I have that tea caddy…2 actually, 1 in Brisbane and 1 in Italy.
They come in a few different colours, and I’ve always been tempted to get a set, but could never justify it.. :)
Gorgeous things as always. I’m so late getting round to visiting you, but know that there will always be interesting things in your kitchen. Mine has a red/white/blue theme at the moment…. perhaps I’ll get round to taking photos to share!
Caroline, I’d love to see them! We’re all so busy at the moment, and I’m finding it hard to keep up with my blog reading as well! But it’s always a treat to hear from you.. xx
I love your old cast aluminium waffle iron, bet Pete bought it because it makes heart shaped waffles, how romantic.
Norma, I would so love to believe that! ;-)
Trust a man to buy something like that! Very sweet, but not practical for setting up your home. Once my hubby spent $350 on a mandoline slicer and didn’t understand when I threw a fit. He said ‘but it’s better than your plastic one’
Becca, when Pete brought it home, he just kept saying, over and over again, “but it will last forever!”… ;-)
between the waffle iron story and the russian roulette of sipping hot liquids through a metal straw… I had a good chuckle :-)
Brydie, I had Big Boy laughing at me this morning as I was burning myself on the straws! But I just can’t stop using them, they’re so much fun! :)
Beautiful, tasty & lovely things in your kitchen, Celia! I love the elephant pot: so adorable & those chili peppers & yellow tomatoes rock!
Thanks Sophie! The chillies and tomatoes have been delicious!
[…] from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial hosts a monthly initiative whereby food bloggers from all over the world write about what’s […]
I always enjoy your IMK posts, loved the story about the waffle iron. My IMK is posted.
Great! Thanks for sharing your kitchen with us, Sue! :)
Nice post Celia. Love the elephant tea caddy!
My nanna used to always have yellow pear tomatoes growing in her garden, but I have struggled to find them locally – not as seedlings and most definitely not as seed. I’ve been meaning to search for them online ~ any suggestions? The sight, smell and taste of them always brings back fond memories of my childhood. ;)
I missed last month’s “In my Kitchen”, but I am back on track to take part again this month: http://sorcha-sidhe.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/in-my-kitchen-june-2012.html.
Enjoy the week!
~S.
[…] the beginning of June, which means that it’s Celia’s In My Kitchen time again. I have a few items that I’ve collected from my holiday in Hawaii whilst playing with my […]
Here’s my June post! http://miskcooks.com/2012/06/14/june-in-my-kitchen/
Oooh preserved limes….I have a massive bottle of preserved lemons in the cupboard courtesy of an abundance of lemons a couple of years ago and a recipe and an inclination to make them! As yet I’m still at a loss as to how to use them but gee they look good!
Here’s my IMK contribution…http://alllittenup.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/in-my-kitchen-june-2012.html
:)
Shelley, that’s why I’ve learnt to make smaller jars – I just never got through the huge ones! I agree that they’re fun to make though.. :)
Thanks for playing! x
Great story about your waffle iron. I don’t think I’d know what to do with it. Your preserved limes look lovely. I made two jars of lemons about 18 months ago and I haven’t even got half way through the first jar yet. But I do like them and they are very handy to have on hand. They work particularly well with runner beans I’ve found.
The little jar is just the right size, I think. Hopefully it will last me until next year when I have lemons of my own to preserve! :)