Via Chef Mimi I have just discovered another great foodie blog Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. Fellow Aussie blogger Celia hosts a monthly “In My Kitchen” series open for all to join, a fun way of sharing your space, equipment, books and ingredients, a slightly voyeuristic look at what makes the cook/blogger tick! This is my inaugural contribution.
I have two kitchens, a city townhouse kitchen and a beach house kitchen which is shared with whoever comes to stay. One was designed by me, equipped by me and stocked by me, my most of the time work space. The coastal kitchen is a generic, one size fits all, basically equipped workspace with bare bones staples in the pantry.
In my beach house kitchen………..there is always a large bowl of fruit. Oranges to squeeze for breakfast juice, bananas to slice onto muesli, apples for snacks, ripening avocados, lemons and limes. Depending on the time of year, mandarins, plums, peaches, apricots, pears, grapes, passion fruits and figs might also be in my wide blue glazed bowl I carried home from Monsaraz in Portugal.
Wherever I’m in residence, in my kitchen…………..you will always see my trusty Nikon D90 DSLR with a versatile 18-105mm lens mounted on a bench tripod for foolproof low light photography. In conjunction with a new compact Canon G15, I am able to capture the angle, composition and depth of field I want without using flash or fancy lighting equipment.
In my beach house kitchen……….standing on the bench, is a 375ml bottle of Charles Melton Sotto di Ferro, a dessert wine in the style of Vin Santo. Charlie hangs the grapes to dry “under the iron” roof of his rusty shed. My bottle of luscious stickiness has travelled around Australia with us, and now I think we should imbibe. It’s waiting for me to make a chocolate dessert to team with it.
In my kitchens……….are knives, sharp knives, but they’d be dull if not for my marvellous diamond steel.
In my kitchen………..I have the best loose leaf peppermint tea money can buy. Organic Mentha Piperata, grown and processed in Australia and sold under the Southern Light Herbs label is available loose or in 50g packages from health food stores, organic food shops and pharmacies. I fill my tea infuser to the brim for a super strong fresh brew. No other peppermint tea can match Southern Light Herb’s product for purity of flavour and freshness. I’m addicted!!
Welcome to IMK. That’s one classy beach house with a Melton in residence! I’m interested in your recommendation about the peppermint tea as it’s the only tea I drink (I’m a coffee drinker). Thanks.
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Thanks, happy to be in the communal kitchen! As for Mr Melton, Nine Popes taste on a beer budget!!! FYI, we drank it and it was nectar of the Gods!
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Your fruit bowl looks so inviting — full of goodness and memories. I especially liked the descriptions of your kitchens, including your reply to Anne’s comment. Your kitchen window overlooking the waves must be a wonderful place to sip peppermint tea.
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Oh, it is very special, and quite a contrast to my other kitchen
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i’d love to have one of those knife sharpeners!!
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Sure makes knife sharpening a breeze!
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Ooh, I like so many things about this post. I like Chef Mimi and I found Celia recently and was an immediate fan. “Kitchen posts” are one of my fave types of food blogging posts. I love when http://bizzylizzysgoodthings.com/ posts hers. Now about what’s in your kitchen … what can I say except that I wish it was open to the public! Camera, dessert wine, bowl of fruit, goodness knows what other unmentioned treats. Fabulous!
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There’s a lot more to see, watch this space!
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Hi, and welcome! What a treat having two kitchens must be! Will you show us your other one next?! I’m a sucker for peppermint tea, almost as much as I am for licorice root tea, and yours sounds just divine!
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I feel very welcomed to IMK, thank you. Licorice root tea is my second favourite!
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Welcome to the IMK gang, it was my first time last month and they are all lovely. Your peppermint tea looks great I can almost smell it from here.
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Thanks for having me, I’m enjoying a cup of peppermint brew as I write!
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welcome to the IMK family!!
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G’day and congrats on your first In My Kitchen post, true!
Love interesting and unique dessert wines and re Organic Mentha Piperata, thank you for allowing me today to learn something new!
Cheers! Joanne
Viewed as part of IMK
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Thanks, just love the IMK concept. I plan to make it a monthly post. Southern Light Herbs produce herbal infusions of the finest quality. I cannot recommend them highly enough! ( I have no connection with SLH, just love their products )
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Oooh, I am interested in the mentha piperata tea! Must look out for that one. Thank you for the peek into your kitchen.
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The tea’s the best! Thanks for visiting
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Great post…welcome to IMK. I always think knives are the most important thing in any kitchen.
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Me too!
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Love this post Sandra! I would LOVE to hang out in either of your kitchens. And enjoy your delectable, mouthwatering meals! Oh, and let’s not forget your scrumptious desserts!
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And we could drink endless cups of tea ( or glasses of wine) and talk food and cook together. It would be a pleasure to have you!
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A beach house kitchen sounds enchanting. Is it as romantic as it sounds?
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I love our beach house in winter. We have an unbelievable view. We see the waves crashing on a reef which is home to a southern fur seal colony, we see whales passing by on the way to their safe haven to calve, but it comes at a cost. It’s cold, often wet and mostly windy, very windy! My kitchen takes in the view so I spend many hours making warming meals and treats, cosy with the heat of the oven.
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How lovely to have you joining in, thanks for playing! Your Portuguese bowl is beautiful – it must have been a job to bring that home in your luggage – and the dessert wine sounds delicious. And there’s almost nothing more important to a cook than sharp knives, is there? 🙂
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Thanks for having me! Adding the weight of a large bowl to luggage was a tad foolish but I don’t often see things I have got to have. That bowl was worth every gram. 😉
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Nice one Mum. From my perspective In your kitchen…. is thousands of hours of love, joy and stories of meals that have passed over the years, of lessons learnt and techniques shared and most of all of delicious, amazing and real food!
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My reply last night didn’t stick!! Thank you Leah, your comments add a significance to my kitchens beyond what is in the cupboards and on the bench, and are all the more meaningful coming from a daughter who loves to cook! Hugs and love XXXX
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What a sweet, wonderful thing to say and how beautifully put!
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And I’m very proud of my beautiful and talented daughter!
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