In My Kitchen – May 2013

In my kitchen I have some edible dried flowers given to me by Rebecca when we celebrated her birthday at a high tea recently – yes, Rebecca brought gifts to her own party.

Edible flowers

Edible flowers

I have seen a lot of recipes lately using flowers; there’s even a new cookbook out where every recipe has edible flowers in it.  I’m looking forward to experimenting with these.


In my kitchen are two beautiful little girls.

Two special friends, Rosie and Ruby

One can never have too many photos of such special friends

Unfortunately, they blend a little too well with the vile vinyl and there have been some sad moments for them as they are stepped on, tripped over and accidentally given a swift kick.  Please don’t call animal welfare; they really are very loved and we are doing our best to sweep the floor with our eyes before taking a step.

In my kitchen is a broken wine glass.

Another asset going, going, gone.

Another asset going, going, gone

Archie has an upstairs bedroom with a terrace.  He entertains his friends up there.  Carl and I don’t go up there very often as we’d prefer to be ignorant as to the goings-on – we have enough trouble.  But back in March I did bravely venture up the stairs and I saw one of my wine glasses sitting on a table and it didn’t escape my notice that it was smashed.  ‘Archie, is that one of my wine glasses?’

‘Yes’.

‘What happened to it?’

‘It broke’.  I felt so enlightened.

The rest of March passed by as did the entire month of April and then came May.  A few nights ago I was up in his room and I saw a broken wine glass.  ‘Archie; did you break another wine glass?’

‘No, don’t worry, mum, it’s the same one’.  That’s a relief, isn’t it.

‘For heaven’s sake, Archie, do something with it’.   And he did.  He brought it down and put it on my kitchen bench.  As it’s now been there for over 48 hours I’m assuming Archie considers he has sufficiently dealt with the broken wine glass.

In my kitchen is all the stuff the uni students have to have.

The diet of uni students - kale, protein and supplements

The diet of uni students – kale, protein and supplements

There’s large containers of protein and protein mix for your cereal and special supplements and kale.  We have to have plenty of kale.  ‘It’s a super-food, mum.  You need to buy more kale’, says Arabella.

The other thing she would like me to buy is more quinoa.  I couldn’t photograph my supply for you because it’s depleted.  Yesterday Arabella sent me a text from uni asking me if I could make quinoa fried rice for dinner.  I told her I had something else in mind.  She sent back a text.

‘Can we do a carb free dinner?’

‘I’m cooking cauliflower because there’s one in the fridge’.

‘And my boyfriend is coming too.  And I’m struggling to lose weight’.

‘You don’t need to lose any more weight’.

‘Mum, I want a flat stomach’.  Don’t we all.

In my kitchen is a beautiful new plate that was a gift from my cousin in New Zealand.

A platter made by my cousin

A platter made by my cousin

She and her mother are artists and have both specialised in pottery.  When she heard I was moving house she made this for me and sent it over.  I love the colour and the shape of the plate and it has already been most useful.

So that’s what’s happening in my kitchen this month.  If you would like to do an ‘In My Kitchen’ post, just link back to Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial.

 

 

Comments

  1. Oh Charlie! I brought a gold bar of NZ butter for you the other night but in the chaos I didn’t get a chance to give it to you. I thought that you might like it in your baking escapades 😀

  2. A carb free dinner?! I don’t think I’ve ever had one of those. 😛 And your puppies are so cute!!

  3. I loved your little friends 🙂 Blessing Them. Thanks and Love, nia

  4. Broken wine glasses, demands for carb-free meals…what will those kids want/do next? Ah, the joys of mothering.

  5. Never a dull moment at your house Charlie! Your cousin is very talented….love that plate.

    Nazneen

  6. Always fun in your life! And, now I want to buy some edible dried flowers to bake with!

  7. These are fun. Thanks for sharing and I laughed so hard at the wine glass. It would occur exactly the same way in my house of boys.

  8. Hi Charlie. I really enjoyed reading your “in my kitchen” post. Kinda inspired to do one too! Lovely job and very humorous. Hehe and omg my 2 dogs are constantly in my kitchen too

  9. Sweet Posy Dreams says:

    The uni food gave me a smile. My son became such an “expert” on what to eat after he went to college. Don’t know how he lived for the first 18 years.

  10. It’s funny how all houses that contain kids have a cleaning fairy, Not! The Glam Teens don’t bring down the glasses from their bedrooms until there isn’t one left to drink from and then, kindly they’ll bring one down for themselves. Love the dish and such a fabulous size. GG

  11. Your two girls have beautiful soulful brown eyes. I bet you don’t deny them little treats whenever they turn them your way. The pearlized (?) glaze on the platter is lovely. And, I’m left with the puzzling thought, “what does one DO with edible flowers in that form?” Barring of course the obvious … eat them. But in what sort of dish?

  12. The wine glass episode and the uni diet had me laughing out loud, never a dull moment in your house.

  13. What a fun ‘In my kitchen’, there’s so much going on. Broken wine glasses, kale, quinoa fried rice, your two beautiful dogs! Thanks for sharing.

  14. Charlie, it’s a war of attrition with teenagers, isn’t it? Your cousin’s platter is beautiful, and I haven’t had a chance to play with Becca’s flowers either, but I think they’d be gorgeous on one of your divine cakes! xx

  15. I love the platter! I can hear Archie telling about the wine glass now. Honestly though, there are way more things to keep kids busy than cleaning. My mother chased every flake of dust her entire life but never had any fun. Too soon they’ll both be gone and you’ll be thinking how nice it would be to have them around more.

  16. It sounds like there is never a dull moment in your kitchen. 🙂 Love your beautiful plate.

  17. What a gorgeous platter indeed Charlie, so beautiful! I’ve not heard of the flower cookbook, would you happen to know the name of it? And tell Arabella the only way she will get a stomach that’s any flatter is to remove a few less essential internal organs- she doesn’t seem to have a spare particle of excess fat on her body! Xox

  18. hahahahhaa!! Oh well, you ask the question, you get the answer. Every time!!! And of course Archie thinks he has sufficiently dealt with it 😀 And if Arabella went any flatter, you could turn her into an iron board, lol!

    I am slowly getting accustomed to living with the mess constantly. Somehow, their laughing voices, chatter and conspiratory looks seem more interesting than a squeaky clean house.

  19. My parents could relate to broken glasses (or any glasses) sitting unmoved for many weeks. I think my brother and Archie would get on well! I like the look of your dried flowers and will look forward to seeing what you make with them, and hope Arabella moves on from her carbohydrate-free zone soon!

  20. Who could worry about a wine glass with those two gorgeous faces looking back at you? (You can take this to mean Archie and Arabella or the pups. Your choice. I think both.)

  21. Well, I can only see your dachsies and am wondering whether they are ‘miniature’ or not. Our two, Toby and Timmy, lived in the kitchen in oft vain hope that roast pork or duck would be baking in the oven – in that case they actually made peace and sat next to one another without one single movement for the whole baking process in front of the oven with eyes glued on the door . . . well, guess who got the first bits before we ate dinner! Thanks for the memory 🙂 !

  22. That is a beautiful plate, Charlie. Does your cousin have a website where some of her pieces can be viewed? She’s so talented. I, too, had a small dog and he learned to move quickly, unlike Max who seems to take delight in blocking my path.

  23. Oh dear Archie. I guess for a boy that probably is cleaning up. Could you leave it there and give us a running commentary as to how long it lives there for?
    I’m not quite sure how Arabella’s stomach could get any flatter either!
    I’ll have to agree with them on the kale though. I am a little bit addicted to kale chips. It’s rather pricey though!
    Love the bowl. What a talent!

  24. Oh dear, i just love the way you write about those things that are happening in my house too. You make me laugh so much. Thats a gorgeous platter that I am sure you will get lots of use out of

  25. I just love this series! I would like to participate but the only interesting thing in my kitchen today is the mouse that ran off with the mouse trap! Can you believe it? I’m hoping he ran outside but I suspect he’s still caught up in it! Poor thing.
    Your girls are indeed lovely, I’m surprised they haven’t learned to stay away from underfoot! Those dried edible flowers sound great too, can’t wait to see what you do with them!

  26. Love this post Charlie…and..that plate too.

  27. LOVE hearing about your kitchen…those darling pooches,the escapades of your children, and the magnificent plate from your talented cousin. We, too, have a similar size jar of protein powder sitting on our counter. I told Nick I’d be happy to whip him up some eggs…sounds better to me than that powdery stuff :/ Happy weekend! xo

  28. Love the tern “vile vinyl” & love the dogs – very sweet. I, too, find it best not to go into the kids rooms too often. There be dragons.

  29. Lol about the wine glass!!! I can’t believe it stayed put for so long … Although I try never to go into my teenagers room… You never know what you might find!!

  30. At least there was nothing growing in the wine glass. Oh dear poor pups – they are not alone though as our cats LOVE being underfoot in the kitchen – desperately waiting for something to fall from the counter top.
    Moving house, where did I miss that? Sorry, I have missed a couple of posts so I am clearly behind. Your cousin is very talented and how special to have something handmade! I am sure we will see something beautifully displaced with your edible flowers soon.
    🙂 Mandy

  31. Where are the other pieces to that glass? And don’t let Archie’s friends near that gorgeous plate. I am not yet into quinoa yet, but I want to be. I must search your blog for some inspiration when I invest in some.

    Caro

  32. Your kitchen has a bit of everything – like your life. Variety galore!

  33. Hi HS, loved catching up with your blog. Your dogs are adorable as is the pottery plate. Less said about the broken wine glass the better … these things happen 🙂

  34. I wish I had a couple of cute doggies in my kitchen! Maybe some day. And, I’ve been wanting to do more with edible flowers too. They’re always so pretty on the plate.

  35. The wine glass story just cracks me up! That is so something Mr. N would do. The stories of your children always make me smile Charlie. 🙂 Great stuff in your kitchen – especially those two little beauties!

  36. I went through a phase of decorating individual cakes with edible flowers crystallized with egg whites and sugar. At a shower for a church lady, a friend took a couple of the little cakes to her kids. The next day, one went outside and ate a bunch of different flowers that weren’t edible. Yikes! Emergency room and stomach pumping ensued. I always think of this whenever I think of eating flowers again. Love your kitchen though and your two little helpers.

  37. What gorgeous dogs! I loved the broken wine glass story – so typical of a male. It was kale that was almost my undoing because of the very high fructose level in it, so it is not my friend, and Arabella is welcome to it. Ah, yes, a flat stomach – what is that again?

  38. So, all that protein and funky powder stuff is for Arabella? I’d always figured that sort of stuff was a guy thing, though I suppose anything’s possible… today I learned, I guess. It’s been a long time since I’ve been a student, that’s for sure!

  39. Gosh don’t the uni kids eat normal food these days lol they shouldn’t just rely on these protein shakes >_<

  40. Love that platter/place of your cousin’s I would love to make pottery.

  41. This is my favorite series! These days so many kids prefer to eat junk food over healthy food such as kale! I wonder if I can have a flat tummy if I eat like her (nah probably too late, and it won’t last a day). =P

  42. I’d like to think that if I was still at the university that there would be kale in my diet. Sadly most likely not, but I do enjoy it now. 😉

  43. Your story of the broken glass really took me back! I am now laughing when #1 daughter and #1 son tell me similar tales of their teenagers.

    I love your wee dogs! irresistible.

  44. Hi Charlie, thanks for sharing your story, always enjoyed your posting. That’s a very elegant and beautiful plate. 🙂
    Best regards.

  45. Beautiful platter!
    That’s a funny story bout the wine glass lol
    Your furkids are beautiful!

    • Thanks for your email! 🙂 Really appreciate it – I’ll have to look into the comments section to see if I can work that out!

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