In My Kitchen February ’17
It’s February and In My Kitchen, the monthly forum of worldwide food bloggers is back in full swing after a festive break. In Australia it’s the end of the long summer holiday and the beginning of the new school year too. Liz at Bizzy Lizzy’s Good Things Blog is our host. Follow the link to her blog and check the list in the sidebar for links to those participating. Why not join in, it’s free and open to everyone.
Brisbane’s weather has been too darn hot to even contemplate spending hours sweating over a hot stove so we’ve been living on salads. I do make an exception though when it comes to baking sourdough. I couple of times each week I turn on the oven and at the same time crank up the aircon so I bake just the loaves, not myself.
100% Spelt 1:3 Wholemeal
Continuing to stick with 100% spelt flour, I’ve been experimenting with adding a proportion of wholemeal flour and also pre-soaked grains to white spelt loaves. This loaf is 30% wholemeal flour. The texture is moist and chewy, the crust crisp and tasty.
stubby holders
Beer is our drink of choice when the days are long and hot. Our unique stubby holders are an Aussie thing. Made of neoprene, it keeps the beer icy cold and stops condensation dripping onto the table top. A stubby holder makes a useful and quirky souvenir. We have quite a collection from our travels by 4WD around Australia.
Cookbook Gifts
Having celebrated both Christmas and a birthday recently I have a pile of new and pre-loved cookbooks, gifts from my nearest and dearest. They were self selected during the year. I’m currently enjoying sitting on the couch in the evening with the above mentioned beer, ceiling fan whirling, browsing through the pages of a new book and marking recipes to try.
Italian Confectionary
We have a tightly guarded stash of Italian confectionary in our fridge. We like our chocolate dark, bitter and hard and if there is nougat or praline involved all the better. I’m not sure how much longer we’ll be able to resist these goodies. We’re currently wading through a mound of chocolate of much lesser quality that’s leftover from Christmas.
“Divine” blue cheese
I discovered a quality deli hidden away in a suburban back streets a few weeks ago. They stock artisan cheeses from around Australia. This organic blue cheese from the Adelaide Hills doesn’t lie, it really is “Divine.” It’s full flavoured and firm textured much like Stilton and super delicious on Oat and Walnut Crackers.
Chilli Bayou
Last but not least, I met Sherry from Sherry’s Pickings for lunch just before Christmas. She gave me a delicious foodie gift, a locally produced spicy salt and pepper mix with chilli and mustard seed. The “Tridosha” blend is labelled Chilli Bayou. It’s the perfect balance of salt, spice and heat for our palates. Thanks Sherry, you’re a star.
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41 comments on “In My Kitchen February ’17”
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Please Pass the Recipe by Sandra Gay is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
Please Pass the Recipe 
Hello! How do you like the “Tasting India” cookbook? I am looking for one that would be a good introduction…
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I’m really enjoying Tasting India but it may be a bit daunting for a starter. I’d recommend a Murdoch Publication The Food of India as an alternative. It’s a user friendly book with loads of info and simple authentic recipes. I love India as a travel destination and I love the food, I’m featuring Indian dishes on the blog over March
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Sandra, I love the name “stubby holders!” Here in the U.S. they’re called “can coolies” (used to keep beer cans cold) — but I prefer drinking out of glass bottles. I’m going to adopt “stubby holders” into my vocabulary! I can picture you enjoying a “brewski” while perusing a stack of cookbooks. Enjoy!
P.S. Loved your chocolate thoughts, too, and Divine cheese and crackers.
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Thanks Kim, I think beer is much better out of glass, cheers🍺🍺🍺
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hi sandra
are you turning into a puddle like me? i have way too many cookbooks and i have just ordered another! naughty naughty me. your loaves look divine. and i too love dark and hard chocolate. it was so lovely to catch up with you before Xmas. glad you liked the tridosha salt. a good excuse for you to head down to northern rivers area and buy some more at the source so to speak:=)
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Yes Sherry I’m ready for some cooler weather, or even a storm would be nice. Cookbooks are one of life’s pleasures, you can never ever have too many, although storage can be a challenge. Keep cool x
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Sandra I’ve put pics and basic info re stubby holder on your Instagram. Sing out if need clarification! Maree
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Dear pleasepasstherecipe.com! I marked your blog to Blogger Recognition Award. https://gastrogranny.com/testimonial/blogger-recognition-award/
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Thanks GastroGranny but Please Pass The Recipe is a blogger award free site
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Oh, sorry…
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Thank goodness for the stubby holder, how do you store yours? Our son made us a holder out of down pipe for Christmas and it’s great, tucked on wall in the storeroom, drop them in the top and pull out from the bottom. A bit like those shopping bag storers. I’m with you on style of chockie, that sounds amazing and I can feel the relaxing mood of sitting with a coldie, reading your books in the evening. Ahhhh, the serenity! 🙂
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Love the sound of the stubby holder storer your son made you, Maree might steal that idea as my stubby holders are taking a lot of room in a drawer. That’s brilliant, thanks x
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I’ll send a pic!
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Fabulous thanks, I think I know a few people who could use one!
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He’s a plumber so used scraps to make Christmas gifts. I love that, so practical.
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Yummm! :)))
I nominated your Blog to Blogger Recognition Award. Have a lovely day!
https://holywhisk.wordpress.com/2017/02/05/%EF%BB%BFblogger-recognition-award/
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Thanks you, I appreciate the thought however PPTR does not subscribe to blog awards
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Those Italian chocolate goodies look fantastic. I know what you mean about the mound of lesser-quality Christmas chocolate to get through! Sitting with a cold bear in the evening flipping through your new cookbooks sounds like heaven!
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We’ve been resisting the Italian chocolates, but last night our resistance was at a low ebb, all I can say is Yum! Thanks for commenting Alex
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You’re a big fan of Diana Henry aren’t you? I must seek out her books next time I’m home. I can’t get over how amazing your spelt sourdough looks – I really must get back into it.
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Henry’s books are very user friendly Nancy, great for everyday use. I’m totally in awe of sourdough bread, I feel as if it just makes itself. I’m very hands off with the dough and yet the loaves are wonderful.
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What a gorgeous sourdough loaf! We tend to eat a lot of salads in our summer months as well. It’s too hot and humid to think about cooking or even standing at the grill outside.
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Thanks Gretchen, I’m still loving the sourdough process. I’m beginning to grow weary of salads, I need to up the interest factor..
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Bless you, I developed an addiction to those NZ oat and walnut cookies over Christmas, and was going broke buying them at $8 a packet! Will head over to your recipe now! And you’re a star with the spelt sourdough – you produce such consistently perfect bread! Will watch for that blue cheese, thanks for the headsup. xxx
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That’s a lovely thing to say about my loaves, Celia, thank you. I’m so grateful to be able to bake bread that agrees with my gut. Enjoy my copycat Walnut and Oat Cookies. Coles recently had the 180degrees brand for $4 a box here, but after making them you realise even that has a huge profit margin…
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Great post, beautiful sourdough and I adore blue cheese. Lucky you to have found a local cheese shop. I have only recently discovered Diane Henry, how do you like the Salt Sugar Salt book?
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Sugar Spice and Salt is wonderful if you are interested in preserving, and as in Henry’s other books everything is fairly straightforward. I tried the strawberry and passionfruit jam, the flavour’s fabulous.
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What fun to share some of your favorite things. Though our seasons are opposite, I share your choices in warm weather only I buy the bread from a local baker rather than making it myself.
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Thanks Lulu. IMK is a terrific forum, an amazing caring and sharing Community. Why don’t you join in, you just have to write a post then link it up
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That cookbook collection predicts that you will be trying some very interesting recipes when your weather allows you to cook!
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
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Thanks Mae, Already I’ve tried some quick vegetable curries that were really delicious.
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Just go say how much I love these IMK posts. You just nudged my memory of meeting John Susman a few times back in my fish market days, I need to put this book on my birthday list as well! Ps those stubby holders are tops.
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A stubby holder is as essential as the beer it keeps cold in Qld, cheers Lisa
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Hi Sandra, happy new year and happy February too. One can never have too many cookbooks, methinks (she says, while looking at a pile on the library floor that are for sale!). That sourdough looks very impressive! We are living on salads too, because it’s been in the high 30s in Canberra for a while now. Love the Tridosha salts. We used to sell them in the cookware shop when I had the school. Thanks for the lovely shout out and happy cooking or salading.
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Thanks Liz, I’ve become far more selective with cookbooks choices and usually borrow a copy from the local library before I commit. I reject many I would have bought after a brief flick through in a bookshop. I had a massive clear out when we moved north.
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I do agree with you – blue cheeses (particularly Stilton) on your nutty oat cakes are superb. Next time, add a small sliver of your ruby red quince on top of the cheese – even more superb. It is only morning here and you had me drooling over the Italian sweets, particularly the dark chocolate. It is a bad sign that cravings hit so early in the day! My husband would love those stubby holders for beer. Great Aussie idea.
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Those walnut oatcakes are just perfect with cheese and a touch of quince is sublime. Every visitor we have had from overseas has taken home stubby holders….
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Nice stash of books there Madame S. All on my list to borrow ( I have the Indian one).And now, I’ll just reach through the screen and grab that cheese. hmmmmm, creamy.
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I had previously borrowed all these books from the library and realised I either need to buy them or contravene the copyright law. It mad for a handsome Christmas wish-list. The Indian book is out of print but I got a used version from the US that looks as if it has never been opened. Love everything I have cooked from it so far, a long way from the average Punjabi take-out.
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I haven’t yet found that fish book in the libraries I frequent.Should I persist? Is it good? I know you have mentioned it before.
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It’s much, much more than a recipe book. The recipes tend to be a bit cheffy but an experienced cook like you could easily adapt the flavour combinations and cooking techniques every which way.
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