In My Kitchen, October 2015

When the calendar clocked over to October I realised with alarm that it is now that time of year when I start my Christmas baking.  I’ll just have a few days out on the boat relaxing before I begin soaking dried fruits and nuts for Christmas fare.

Summer is here

Summer is here and Christmas is nearly here

In my kitchen I have a million lollies.  Okay, I haven’t counted them but looking at the enormous pile, it would seem that’s a fairly accurate estimate.  They’re leftover from the lolly bar we had at Arabella’s 21st birthday party.  I didn’t want to under-provide!  This photo doesn’t represent a 10th of them.

Oh so many lollies

So many lollies

So I don’t puff up like a blower-fish through scoffing the lot of them, I have hidden them in the back recesses of a cupboard in the office where I hope to forget they’re there.  I have offered them to my friend, Annie, whose home is inundated with trick or treaters every halloween.  She’s said she’ll take them but she doesn’t want them dropped off until a minute before October 31 in case she too, ends up looking like a blower-fish.  It seems there are more than a few of us lacking self-control.

Excellent for trick or treaters

Excellent for trick or treaters

In my kitchen I have a coriander and garlic paste that the little guy helped me make.  He’s great in the kitchen if it’s all about bashing.  This is made with white peppercorns, coriander roots, garlic and ginger and it all comes together nicely if you love giving things a good whack.  We’re having a barbecue tonight and I’m going to pour this over some asparagus spears along with some vegetable oil, oyster and fish sauces then chargrill over the flames.

Coriander and Garlic Paste

Coriander and Garlic Paste

In my kitchen we’re not just barbecuing asparagus.  I have some pork I’ve marinated for 24 hours in some of the garlic and coriander paste along with some kepcap manis and oyster sauce.

Marinated pork skewers

Marinated pork skewers

In my kitchen we have some chilli and lime salt I made to be sprinkled over the pork skewers once they’ve come off the flames.  This has a wonderful aroma you can enjoy once you’ve recovered from how much it’s cost to purchase a couple of limes – $24.95/kilo!

Lime and Chilli Salt

Chilli and Lime Salt

In my kitchen I have a passionfruit.  It grew on my vine.  Nothing remarkable about that except it’s not the right season for a harvest.  The vine has flowers on it that will develop into fruit in due course (in about three months time), but for some reason, one passionfruit decided to get ahead of the pack.  It proves what I was taught when I attended a talk by a passionfruit farmer, that passionfruit cannot be tamed, and will do their own thing all on their own schedule.

A very lonely passionfruit

A very lonely passionfruit

In my kitchen I have two Asian-styled trays that are slightly different in size so one fits inside the other for convenient storage.  They were given to me as a thank you gift for looking after Barnaby the Lodger and will be excellent for presenting Asian appetisers.

Asian-styled trays

Asian-styled trays

In my kitchen I have Rosie.  It hasn’t been a good day to be Rosie.  Yes, it’s been grooming day and I’ve tackled this task myself and given her a very thorough spring-clean.  I’ve had to trim the fur between her toes and her toes are very private and she doesn’t like me touching them.  It was a challenge but I won.  For cooperating of sorts, she was rewarded with liver treats.

Rosie

Rosie

If you’d like to do an IMK post, please link up with our host and organiser, Celia, from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial.

 

Comments

  1. Hello Rosie… hello Charlie. Love that you have one wayward passionfruit! xxx

  2. Glad those lollies are in your house – Charlie:-) Oh, Rosie does look beautifully groomed and I know how she feels about having her feet touched (I hate it:-)

  3. Oh poor Rosie! I have an Irish Wolfhound who feels the same about bath day and becomes a quivering wreck at the sound of the dog washer’s car in the driveway. She has to be intensively counselled for several hours after the event to get over it.

  4. Lollies are the bane of my existence! I don’t eat them – I have a savoury tooth – but Misses 7 and 9 come home from parties clutching lolly bags filled to the brim. I hide them til they forget about them, then usually check them. #meanMum I can’t believe it is October – so scary!

  5. I’m not buying trick or treat sweets until the day before either. I definitely don’t have control. Love the sound of your asparagus with the coriander and garlic paste, any chance you could post the ratios? You’ve made me think about the cost of limes, we buy them individually priced – per kilo that makes them really expensive. Here’s to many more Rosie grooming sessions, the Glam Pooch slinks out of the house at the sight of the bucket, he wont even tread in a puddle – he’s a bit of a woos for a Boxer. GG xx

  6. That one passionfruit was determined it seems. Glad things went well with Rosie. Hard to believe Christmas is just around the corner.

  7. The pork and asparagus sounds delicious! And good idea about the lollies. I was given some boxes of lollies and I only took two small ones because well…

  8. your kitchen really looks like the place to go for treats… unless you have fur between your toes.
    best from mae at maefood.blogspot.com

  9. Love that passionfruit but I adore that salt!! Recipe on the blog somewhere? I must have some because I can’t afford to buy it. 🙂

  10. Rosie looks as pretty as a picture, bless her furry little paws! I’d have to give away those lollies too as I am so weak when it comes to Aussie ones that I haven’t had for ages 😉 The trays look fab and the BBQ menu looks and sounds delicious.

  11. I totally understand the need to hide candy in a cupboard, especially if it’s chocolate. I always enjoy your kitchen tours.

  12. Hi Charlie, I have to hide treats from myself as well, totally understand. Poor Rosie, she looks like she fared well.

  13. Love the idea of your paste and the pork marinade sounds heavenly. I too would battle with the sweeties in the house.
    Have a wonderful week ahead Charlie.
    🙂 Mandy xo

  14. Rosie is such a doll! That sweet little face – just adorable. 🙂 Your coriander and garlic paste sounds absolutely delicious. I bet that will be terrifice on the grilled asparagus (my favorite way to eat asparagus is grilled!). Have a great BBQ!

  15. You’re lucky Charlie, those treats actually come alive in my house and SCREAM out my name, so no matter how well they are hidden and out of sight, they just don’t allow me to forget about them!
    $24.95 a KILO? that is nuts? don’t you guys grow limes in your neck of the woods? Your salt looks amazing, I’d love the recipe; can it keep in the fridge or will the fresh herbs wither?
    Beautiful trays, they will be lovely to present on for sure.
    Rosie’s pedi reminded me of one of my earlier bunnies (Boon). Boon was a boy and loved attention. He also loved a pedicure. He would stretch out his little legs and spread his toes so it made it easier for me to trim his nails. Crazy bunny!

  16. Lollies … or in my case a couple of pounds of lokum/turkish delight and nougat/torrone brought home today cause I finally caved in went in to pick them up. There was a parking spot practically in front of the store so it must have been meant to be. I’ve already eaten 1/2 a pound (5 candies). No willpower here either. 🙂

    I can’t believe limes are that price. They’re 4 for $2 at the worst of times here.

    Rosie looks so quiet and sweet. Can’t believe she puts up a fuss at getting her nail hair manicured.

  17. That’s a gorgeous photo of Rosie! Sounds like you have a wonderful bbq. And good luck with the lollies – we always end up with lollies leftover after parties and sylvia thinks they are all hers – trick or treat sounds like a great use for them – though I shudder at the chocolate ones because it is now the time of year when I try to limit chocolate in the house as I hate it in the fridge and it gets soft so quickly in this weather

  18. oh rosie looks so sweet. love the asian trays; very pretty indeed. and i love the chilli/lime salt. i cannot believe the price we pay for limes in this country. what are they fed with? gold-leaf fertiliser or something?

  19. I don’t know if I’d want to give up that beautiful sunshine and boating to prepare for Christmas, but I know you probably need to get to it! And Miss Rosie is just the sweetest thing. I think we all love her. 🙂

  20. I have two huge boxes of lollies because my friend works at a lolly/ fudge factory. Help….. Look at little Rosie she looks adorable

  21. That is a good stock pile of lollies! You will be very well equipped for Halloween. I love the sound of your BBQed asparagus too – and the marinade more generally.

  22. I love, love, love mixed lollies. I’m taken right back to standing in the milk bar with my sixpence in my hanky, trying to decide which were the best choices. “I’ll have one of them, two of them, one of them. How many more can I get?” was the discussion every time with Mrs Slack the shop owner. Bring on the blower fish I say! Beautiful trays too. 🙂

  23. Those pork skewers sound terrific! And lollies about the house are always a dangerous temptation. It’s amazing how easily you can resist them when they’re physically out of sight.

  24. Charlie! I love your pick’n’mix / lollies selection, these days I am particularly partial to sour sweets. BBQ things look and sound amazing but for me it has to be that last bit about Rosie’s toes. My girls hate to have their nails trimmed and I just smiled imagining the battled you had on your hands 🙂

  25. H Charlie, Stay on the boat and don’t say the ‘c’ word. It’s only October.
    Tasty looking salt, might make some myself.

  26. Oh those big dog eyes (on a little dog though!) so darn cute, how could you ever…ever say no when she looks at you like that.
    Christmas cooking Charlie? I’m quite mortified at the the thought, but you are right. Damn it.

  27. Christmas always seems to sneak up on us!! Almost that time, indeed. Having all those lollies around sounds dangerous! ;0

  28. Yum – that chilli and lime salt looks very impressive!

  29. Charlie, you’ve demonstrated without a doubt that grilling has come a long way since the ol’ hot dog & hamburger days. What a flavor fest! I hear ya on “self restraint” tho… but it looks like you’re keeping the blow fish at bay. 😉 Love your serving plates and kitchen helpers — 2-legged and 4-legged. xo

  30. The most persistent passionfruit ever!

  31. Thoughts of Chili Lime Salt with Marinated Pork Skewers have my tastebuds tingling in anticipation – it sounds amazing. Hidden follies? ah yes, RL has tucked away some nut-crusted chocolates that a friend gifted us, doling out one or two per day, just to save me from myself.

  32. Oh Rosie, she’s so beautiful every time I see her I just want to kiss her! Everything in your kitchen looks delicious as always. I love the trays, the red is very pretty. I cannot believe that you have to pay that amount for limes!! I’m pretty sure I just bought several organic limes for less that $2 a pound. Yikes.

  33. Rosie is such a sweetie! The pork kabobs with the coriander paste and lime sea salt sound quite delicious! A tasty week i the kitchen I can see. 🙂

  34. Fiona Ryan says:

    Limes and avocadoes – the prices are ridiculous! Rosie looks quite the little lady so she has obviously borne this with grace.
    I wish I had 1 million lollies in my kitchen!

  35. That BBQ sounds delicious… ! I’m sure you will come up with a recipe for the salt as they are very easy to make rather than pay so much! Saying that I paid $28 for some black smoked salt the other day 🙂
    It’s my first missed IMK post since I started over a 18months ago… But I’m in hospital and feeling a bit better, now to catch up 🙂
    Liz xx

  36. Oooh that salt looks good, Charlie! I’m dying for limes, but our tree hasn’t produced any yet this season! And so many lollies that you’re giving away! Won’t you have T or Ters at your place? 🙂

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