Happy New Year!
I hope you all had a wonderful festive season!
As mentioned previously, the In My Kitchen gathering will now be hosted by the lovely Maureen at The Orgasmic Chef. Please send your links to her and she’ll add them to the list. And please remember to get your blogposts uploaded by 10th January!
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In My Kitchen…
..were Christmas flowers from Petal Post Sydney. I’ve been really happy with their service! If you’re interested in trying them out, they currently have an order three, get one free offer…
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In my kitchen…
…is Chicago John’s cookbook! It’s a fabulous read…
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In my kitchen…
…is delicious cherry chutney from darling Charlie at Hotly Spiced. It was perfect with our Christmas turkey…
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In my kitchen…
…is glorious, homegrown Australian garlic!
Lovely Francesca at Almost Italian sent me a braid of her pink blushed bulbs. It’s now hanging up in our kitchen…
Christine from Invisible Spice‘s large white garlic arrived first, and we ate them straight away. They were beautifully aromatic and flavoursome…
Finally, our dear friend Diana dropped off a kilo of her homegrown garlic – we broke the bulbs into cloves, vacuum sealed them, then stashed them in the freezer to see us through winter…
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In my kitchen…
…were dark milk chocolate feuilletine Christmas trees…
… and little boxes of treats for friends and neighbours, including chocolate, sablés and shortbread…
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In my kitchen…
…was a box of handmade treats from the wonderful Andrew, personally delivered just before Christmas…
We flamed his old-fashioned boiled pudding and served it with microwave custard at our family dinner. It was the best we’ve ever had…
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In my kitchen…
…there is still quite a lot of fruitcake…
…and freshly picked garden produce…
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In my kitchen…
…well, actually, in my dining room…because it’s holidays…there are Balancing Animals. These New Zealand wood puzzles are enormous fun! We bought four packs in 2005, and they’ve been played with regularly ever since. Each set is carved from a single piece of sustainable timber (farmed radiata pine).
The curvy kiwis are by far the hardest to balance, but Pete can always produce a stable configuration. That’s because he’s an engineer, says Small Man…
My adorable mum found these quite addictive…
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In my kitchen…
…are new Royal Doulton Fable mugs, a gift from my baby cousin Dilys. She bought them to match the plates Lilian gave me last month. I love having things in sets (apparently that means I’m old)…
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In my kitchen…
…was a 4.3kg half leg of ham, bought on sale at Costco after Christmas. It cost me just $28! We glazed it with Pete’s quince jelly and a little mustard…
…and served it up for dinner when our friends BJ and Matt came over. It was tender and succulent…
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In my kitchen…
…are wonderful gifts from faraway friends – beautifully scented spice bags from Jason, a wee tin of tea from Tania in Perth, and gorgeous spices from darling Emilie in New York. Watch out for Em’s new cookbook, due for release in February (it was featured in the latest Oprah Magazine!)…
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Finally, in my kitchen…
…are treasured gifts from our treasured neighbours, including French vanilla perfume sticks from Mark and Emma, and homemade sambal from Maude…
There were also cookies from Liz, a Morrocan-style storage container from Michelle, homemade apricot jam from June and locally produced extra virgin olive oil from Ellen…
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What’s happening in your kitchen this month?
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
What a huge post Celia. It appears a lot has been happening in your kitchen. Happy new year.
Tasty and beautiful treats in your kitchen, Celia! Beautiful flowers. I love your mom’s happy reaction when she successfully completed her configuration. The chocolates are stunning. Prettier and probably tastier than store bought ones.
Wishing you a Happy New Year!
Busy, busy in your kitchen (as ever). Happy New Year.
Those balancing animals are great! And you are well stocked with garlic :D (As well as chocolate, as always!)
What amazing and lovely treats are in your kitchen!
So much garllic in one post Celia- maybe some of your friends think you have a problem with Vampires. As the saying goes, ‘garlic is as good as 10 mothers’. So many lovely seasonal gifts and edibles, as well as your beautiful mother, in your kitchen.
Lots of wonderful treats in your kitchen. The fable mugs are gorgeous and love the balancing puzzles.
What a wonderful array of gifts and foodie treats! Happy New Year to you all!
Those beans, cucumbers and zucchini look exactly like they’re out of an Italian garden. Buon anno!
You are a tour de force in the kitchen Celia and what delicious looking goodies from everywhere. Happy New Year!
Is the feuilletine Christmas tree store bought or was it made with a mold? Have a Happy New Year!
Hi Jan, it was homemade. I’ve added a link to the post with more info!
Happy New Year, you wonderful woman! The photo of mum putting the puzzle together is better than all the others put together. What a sweet lady. The garlic is pretty special and that chocolate tree is gorgeous. Too much stuff! :)
Wow – looks like you had a very happy xmas. There hasn’t been much happening in our kitchen for the last few weeks as it’s just been too hot. Christmas lunch was aborted at the last minute due to our paddocks catching fire and any of the yummies that we were given from friends have been eaten in lieu of meals. I’m really looking forward to a good run of cooler weather – I’m too old for all this!
Happy new year Celia. xo
Happy new year Celia and thanks for a great year of informative and lovely posts! I hope 2016 is a good year for you and your family. :-) By the way, that photo of your mum is just gorgeous!
Happy New Year, Celia . . . may the year-to-come be healthy and a bit wealthy in all possible manner . . . you have begun it with a great post!! Would just love those balancing animals: would look as chuffed as you Mom on completion!! But have ‘bragging rights’ to owning John’s book : a very special tome on my bookshelves . . . it is now available on Kindle also . . .
Beautiful, colourful and happy as always Celia! I think my favourite is the dark chocolate Christmas tree…Happy New Year to you and your family xx
Wow! Those flowers are gorgeous, and so are the desserts! What fabulous things you have in your kitchen!
What a load of wonderful loot! Can NEVER have too much garlic. I like the egg carton for transporting garlic and I really like those balancing puzzles. Your mum looks ecstatic about her completion! Happy New Year, look forward to seeing some more wonderful posts from you in 2016. Cheers, Maree.
I can always imagine your kitchen, Celia. In my mind it is a welcoming, bustling place, full of wonderful smells and interesting things to look at. Have a happy, healthy 2016, and thanks again for hosting IMK.
Lovely, lovely and lovely, Celia. Wish you a happy and creative New Year 2016. And thank you for sharing the beauty of your cooking and amazing recipies
What a gorgeous post Celia dear. Happy New Year to you, Pete, the boys and Mama Celia.
Thank you for sharing these beautiful sentimental moments with us Celia! My neighbor’s a truckie & always waits for the banana cakes I make for him to have for morning tea each day. For Christmas this year his gift to me was a whopping 13kgs of bananas!!! I’m thinking by the end of 3 weeks he may start hating banana cake altogether!! Hehe…
OMG! All that garlic, how wonderful!!!!
Happy New Year to you all, Celia xxx
You’re kitchen is always filled with the most beautiful things Celia. How stunning is your chocolate christmas tree and all those beautiful gifts from far and wide. Such lovely treats. I hope you’ve had a lovely festive season.
So many things in your kitchen, Celia, and all gorgeous as always. Happy new year dear friend. May it be a good one xxx
Always delicious and so beautiful your kitchen, dear Celia. Thank you, Happy New Year and Happy Kitchen Days, Love, nia
Stunning flowers and so many lovely things – homemade gifts galore! That’s because you are a beautiful person and people want to show you how much you are loved :) That photo of your mum is fabulous!
Happy new year
Happy New Year! Always love your posts! Freezing Garlic, WHY have I never thought of that!?! Love the things I learn from you! X
Hi Kathy! I wrote this post a while back on frozen garlic:
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2011/01/08/frozen-garlic/
Freezing does change the texture, but it’s still perfectly good for cooking!
Happy new year Celia, what a wonderful array of things in your kitchen. I’m off to New Zealand in a few weeks and will be keeping an eye out for those balancing animals – and I love the photos of your mum.
Lovely to see your post, we will all miss your hosting :)
Warm regards,
Jan x
You amaze me all the time with everything you accomplish in the kitchen! All that garlic, wow. I never thought to freeze it. The chocolate tree is just gorgeous. Christmas was quiet but still delicious here. I’ve already pre-ordered my kindle copy of Emilie’s book, can’t wait for the release date!
That’s a wonderful photo of your mum when the animals are all balanced! Looks like garlic is the present of the season. How clever of Francesca to send them inside an egg carton. Perfect upcycling. cheers – Fiona
I’m glad the chutney arrived safely – always nervous posting glass! The gifts you made for your neighbours are so beautifully packaged. Your mother looks so youthful. That ham was an incredible bargain – I don’t want to think about what I paid for mine and it was 10kgs and we ended up giving it to Drew’s parents – think I had about two slices! Happy New Year to you my precious friend, and my you and Pete and the boys have a very blessed 2016 xx
Happy New Year Celia. I’m loving Chicago John’s book too.
What a feast of lovely goodies, Celia. Love the wooden puzzles from New Zealand. And what an incredible bounty of garlic! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and welcomed the new year in style.
Always a lovely post. Your mum looks delightful (like you)!
As always you take such pleasure in the little things Celia. Gorgeous to see your Mum in your kitchen. Happy New Year – hope 2016 is a good one for the whole family.
Looks like you’re set for garlic for the next little while. haha. You can have too much good garlic. I adore the pud pyrotechnics. What a super festive post. Happy New Year.
Happy New Year! Fab photos that make me hungry – my new year’s resolution is to take better ones.
I’ve always enjoyed your IMK posts, Celia, but this one came with a very nice surprise. How very gracious of you to share the spotlight with my little book. Thank you so much. I do love all that you shared here — that photo of your Mum is gorgeous! — but that ham has my mouth watering. And I ate dinner not long ago! I can almost taste a sandwich made with one of your freshly baked rolls. Now that’s how to start a new year!
Wow what a stash! I love your mum’s expression when she balances the animals – I can imagine this to be a really frustrating game if you are a tiny bit clumsy! That garlic is mightily impressive – That would last us months! Happy New Year to you x
That’s an intoxicating array of deliciousness and fun in your kitchen!
As the year begins, I’ll be shortly home to re-start my sourdough adventures, ℅ Priscilla’s impressive output, and your generosity.
A year of good happy and healthy outcomes to us all.
The ham! Oh the ham! I was sad to come to the end of our Christmas ham. I never tire of it. Storing the garlic in the egg carton is clever. I’ll be using that idea when I send garlic to my daughter. It’s quite a trip through the post office so this should minimize the bruising.
Here’s what’s happening in my kitchen. http://robinfollette.com/in-my-kitchen-january-2016/
Hi Robin, please let Maureen at the Orgasmic Chef know – she’s now hosting the IMK gathering! Thanks. (Details at the top of my post)
Happy New Year Celia, your Christmas looked busy but full of love, great company and wonderful food. I’m loving all your garlic – the perfect addition to any kitchen for sure! Enjoy your beautiful produce :)
Happy New Year Celia what a delicious month in your kitchen! So many lovely gifts and I love the photo of your Mum when she balanced the animals
What a wonderful first installment of IMK Celia. Filled with so much love.
Happy New Year to you and your wonderful family.
Love from SA.
:-) Mandy xoxoxo
[…] friend to so many people across the world including myself. Happy New Year Celia. Please visit her kitchen here and join in with Maureen here (before the 10th of the […]
[…] brought to you by Maureen at The Orgasmic Chef (same great fun, new hostess), with many thanks to Celia from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial for getting the proverbial ball rolling (and to Maureen for stepping up to the PLATE, literally.) […]
Oh my goodness, your kitchen is filled with so many delightful goodies. I’m so happy that you had a wonderful Christmas. Wishing you and your family all the best in this new year.
Wow Oh Wow Oh Wow Celia – what a lot of wonderful and delicious things you have in your kitchen this time of year. Such excellent photos and I so enjoyed seeing everything. On another note, I’m saddened that you won’t be hosting ‘In My Kitchen’ in the future. I always meant to ‘get my act together’ so I could post an ‘In My Kitchen’ on your blog.
Its very nice that Maureen of ‘The Orgasmic Chef’ will be taking over ‘In My Kitchen’…. but it just won’t be the same. I hope you’re having a terrific start to the new year – it sure looks like it with all those wonderful, edible gifts!!
Happy New Year Celia.
I am loving the balancing animals, so much more fun than Jenga!
Happy New Year Celia! Lucky you with so many lovely and generous gifts from friends and neighbors. Those heads of garlic are impressive and I love the balancing animals. Costco has become an amazing place hasn’t it? Delicious looking ham.
Hi! Nice to meet you! I was just checking out the original post for this month – didn’t know there was such a think as “in my kitchen”. Very excited to see. I had no idea that you could vacuum pack fresh garlic and freeze it like that! So so so excited to learn this since Iive near a garlic farm and would love to be able to use their garlic all year! I love the balancing animals as well – I can say – that would be a game that would live a long life on my dining room table since I live with an engineer, have an engineer son in law and an engineer son. lol. Cute. Thanks!
[…] is part of the In My Kitchen series that is now hosted by Maureen at the Orgasmic Chef. Celia from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial is taking a break from hosting. Stop by Maureen’s blog for links to kitchens all around the […]
What a great idea those balancing animals are! I bet my children would love them as well and it would help work out some the nervous excitment that kids tend to have during the holidays. So may gifts and delicious looking things in your kitchen, Celia. Hoping you the best for 2016!
Celia, it was with total JOY that I finally got to read, savor, and CELEBRATE your first-ever IMK “participant” post today. Maureen will do a great job in the interim (permanently?!) as you’re stepping back for a much-needed break… enjoy every moment!
Goodness, what a truckload of garlic you have (thanks for the tip on freezing it, too — didn’t know that — I can NEVER have too much garlic on hand!) I also agree with everyone else’s enthusiasm over you Mum’s triumphant balancing act! May we all achieve the same with a smile and “Happy Dance” pose (in life or with puzzles) as she did in 2016.
Last, but not least, are your gorgeous chocolate creations. I marvel at your “hand” in them (and generous spirit), plus various other cool stuff you shared — thanks for the links! Happy New Year, my friend. Always a pleasure to see/hear what’s on your mind… looking forward to reciprocating “surprises.” :)
What a glorious set of visuals in your post. At first read I thought those amazing chocolate trees were chocolate pasta “fettuccine” – but a quick Google search led in a pastry direction. How intriguing, AND how gorgeous. Your kitchen continues to be a happening place that is such fun to visit.
So much love in your kitchen Celia.
I always look forward to your posts and want to comment over every single item but I don’t want to be that stalky commenter with too many words
:)
I am jealous of the loads of garlic in your kitchen. I do love local garlic so.
Happy new year xx
I also bought Chicago John’s cookbook… on Kindle – he let me know it was available from amazon.com.au, and it’s just what I need to lay on the verandah futon & read… when I have a little more time…
Between the bulbs of garlic and the succulent ham, I am salivating.
such glorious things in your kitchen celia. i love fresh aussie garlic which i also freeze – no vacuum sealing tho:) and i always buy boutique aussie olive oil even tho i have a sneaking love of italian oils like Ravida. too many lovely things for me to comment on. Have a great 2016! x