In My Kitchen - August 2012

I've been spending a bit of time in my kitchen lately, since nausea seems to be giving me a break and my appetite has returned to normal (if anything I'm a little more ravenous than usual!). I've even been getting a bit more creative with dinners, cooking spinach & ricotta cannelloni, tuna mornay and spinach & egg pie this week, none of which have appeared in my kitchen for many months. Unfortunately I don't have any new toys in my kitchen this month, but I do have a few other things of interest.

In my kitchen are some whole macadamia nuts, in their shells. My sister-in-law recently went "down south" and brought these back for me, amongst a few other little goodies. For the non-West Aussie readers, "down south" refers to the south west region of Western Australia. These macadamias are the hardest nuts I've ever tried to crack. We broke our nut crackers on the first one and have since resorted to a vice and hammer. They kind of make you burn the calories before consuming them.

 

In my kitchen is a batch of (slightly overcooked thanks to baby brain) Breakfast Muffins, ready to share with a local community group I go to. There are often lots of evil tasty treats brought for morning tea, so I thought I'd be the healthy contingent this month. Next time I might take some decadent Mocha Bars to even things out.

In my kitchen (in my freezer to be precise) is a batch of Nigel Slater's Apple Icecream. I watched him make caramelised apples with this icecream on the TV a few days ago, and while I've never made icecream and don't own an icecream maker, this looked too easy not to try. And it was incredibly easy, using ready-made pouring custard. The end result basically tastes like frozen custard with apples (which it is). It's a pleasant change from the shop-bought chocolate icecream that normally resides in my freezer.I might have to make some sort of pudding tonight to go with it.

In my kitchen is a copy of The Edible Balcony by Indira Naidoo. This was a birthday present from hubby. I turned 30 while we were on the road (What was that? I don't look a day over 25? You are too kind!), and he managed to sneak the girls off shopping, buy me this together with a book about running, and hide them in the camper trailer until my birthday. Needless to say the books got a little scratched and stained by red dirt, but I was none the less impressed with his efforts. Naidoo has some great tips and ideas about gardening in small spaces, and the book is packed with lots of fun recipes too.

Other than being a mess from my renewed interest in cooking and baking, nothing else noteworthy can be found in my kitchen this month. I have grand ideas about baking bread and flavoured scrolls this afternoon, but I suspect sleepiness and dinner preparation may stand in my way. Maybe tomorrow...

Check out what's happening in some other kitchens this month by following the links at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial.