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Happy New Year!

This year, we’re moving our In My Kitchen posts to the first of each month, to give everyone who wants to join in the entire month to do so.

In my kitchen…

…are imported treats – French chestnuts, Italian mayonnaise and Lyle’s Golden Syrup…

In my kitchen…

…are two new cookbooks that I bought myself for Christmas.  I bought two copies of the Nick Malgieri book – one for Maude and one for myself.  Abby  tempted me with recipes from Bake! all last year, so I finally indulged…

In my kitchen…

…are two bottles of Pete’s vanilla syrup, made with the empty pods leftover from our vanilla sugar

In my kitchen…

…are a few pickings from the garden.  Our cucumber plants are starting to pick up steam…

In my kitchen…

…is a container of rosemary salt.  It adds a magical zing to roast potatoes…

In my kitchen…

…is a bag of quince green tea and a jar of marinated baby (Persian) figs, a gift from our friends Andrea and Chris…

In my kitchen…

…is a jar of Kampot pepper, which Pete’s sister Katey brought back for me from Cambodia.  It smells amazing!

. . . . .

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 use this format, and to leave a comment here linking back to your post.  We’d love to see what’s happening in your kitchen this month!

…..

In My Kitchen posts, January 2012

Misk @ Misk Cooks

M & E @ Chabichou & Sheep

Helen @ Casa Costello

Sally @ My Custard Pie

David @ Cookbooks Anonymous

Claire @ Claire K Creations

Choclette @ Chocolate Log Blog

Jane @ The Shady Baker

Sue @ Sous Chef

Linda Maree @ My Garden Feast

Heidi @ Steps on the Journey

Shelley @ All Litten Up

Amanda @ Lambs’ Ears and Honey

Caryn @ Crumbly Plum

Mandy @ The Complete Cookbook

Cindy @ The Only Cin

Tandy @ Lavender and Lime

Lizzy @ Bizzy Lizzy’s Good Things

It’s always a challenge at this time of year to use up our Christmas leftovers!

I combined a bowl of cold mashed potatoes with a handful of chopped ham and a couple of spring onions from the garden.  The mixture was shaped into patties and dusted with flour before shallow-frying to golden brown.

Topped with a freshly laid egg and garnished with a little backyard purslane, our homemade bubble and squeak was a great start to the day!

. . . . .

We had four leftover eggwhites from the brandy custard we made to accompany our Christmas pudding.  They became a double batch of marshmallows

…which in turn became Rocky Road, with a blend of dark and milk Callebaut chocolate, pailleté feuilletine and roasted skinned hazelnuts…

. . . . .

And finally, our leftover Christmas turkey and gravy became the base for a delicious turkey pie.  The pie was better than the original turkey dinner!

. . . . .

How are you going with using up your Christmas leftovers?  We still have some glazed ham left, and I’ll have to get creative, as the boys are sick of eating cold sliced ham!

I hope you all had a great Christmas!

There were some wonderful treasures under the tree this year, including the adorable Papaya Christmas decoration above, a gift from Chris and Andrea.

I was overjoyed to receive a set of La Rochère bee tumblers from Pete’s cousin Fiona!  I’ve been trying to find a set for months, ever since I spied them at a lunch with Roz

Made in France, each chunky tumbler has four Napoleonic bees pressed into the thick glass…

Santa left me a special surprise this year – a cast aluminium pizzelle iron!

I’m yet to try it out, and I’m intrigued that it has a different design on each plate…

Big Boy bought me tea for Christmas – my son went into T2 and sniffed all the open bowls of tea to try and find one he thought I might like…

It wouldn’t be Christmas without speculaas, so I made up a batch using Maureen’s recipe.  I still can’t get the dough to hold an intricate design, but these little stars and gingerbread men were perfect eating…

A pressie from Pete – a little pâté knife…

…with a glowing azure blue handle…

A copy of Marcella Hazan’s classic Italian cookbook, a gift from Maude.  I can’t wait to explore its pages…

And here are the ladies, enjoying a Christmas feast of rice and salmon, their all-time favourite food…

Did you give or receive any exciting foodie gifts this Christmas? We’d love to hear about them!

My friend Lil is Luca’s big sister, and she and I are big Doctor Who fans!

She bought me a River Song bracelet for Christmas, and I gave her and Luca a copy of The Brilliant Book of Doctor Who 2012.  In the back of the book was a paper doll…did you know fezzes are cool?

Although sometimes, the Doctor wears a Stetson…

. . . . .

For those of you who aren’t Doctor Who fans, here are some photos of today’s loaves. I made a wreath following these instructions on Teresa’s blog.  I used my ciabatta dough and filled it with homemade quince paste and leftover stuffing from Christmas lunch…

And here are two sandwich loaves, made with the same ciabatta dough and baked in lidded tins.  I cut each loaf in half and froze them for school holiday lunches…

Are you a Doctor Who fan?  We’re all looking forward to the Christmas Special tonight!

A bowl of red and green from our garden

to wish you all

a very Merry Christmas!

With love,

Celia, Pete, Big Boy, Small Man

and the Chooks

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥