In My Kitchen, September 2014

It’s Spring!  But you wouldn’t know it.  It’s very cold and grey and wet and windy but it surely can’t last too much longer.

In my kitchen this month there’s good news and bad news.  I’ll start with the bad.

Someone sent me a parcel.  They didn’t put their details on the satchel so I have no idea who it is from.  I also do not know what they sent me as this was all I found on my front lawn – a ripped empty satchel.  I don’t think the theft was caused by possums.

Grand theft

Grand theft

Speaking of possums, in my kitchen I had some parsley.  Lots of it.  I was very proud of it as I was growing it in my backyard.  Last summer I let my one and only edible plant go to seed and when the seeds had dried I collected them all and sprinkled them all over the garden bed.  They all germinated and I had parsley sprouting up everywhere including in between cracks in the concrete.  It was wonderful.  Then one day I went outside with my snip-snips expecting to harvest enough for a garlic and chilli pasta and this is what was left of my abundant, never-ending supply of parsley.

Where is my parsley?

Where is my parsley?

Bloody possums.  I’d have been happy to share with them but they are selfish and stole the lot.

On a happier note, in my kitchen I have NuNaturals products that I won on Bam’s blog, Bamskitchen.  These have come all the way from Oregon in the USA.  I had no idea stevia was available in so many varieties and flavours.  I’m looking forward to trying the new cocoa syrup and I love how the vanilla stevia liquid is made with pure vanilla extract.  The products are non-GMO, have no bitter after-taste, have zero calories and yet contain no artificial sweeteners, colours or flavours.  All the natural flavours are from pure plant extracts.

NuNaturals stevia products

NuNaturals stevia products

In my kitchen I have smokehouse bacon that my husband was given when he visited his relatives in Canberra.  It’s comes from the Pialligio Farm Smokehouse in the ACT where they cure trout and salmon and have free-range pigs, ducks and chickens.  There are no artificial colourings, no preservatives and no artificial flavours.  The bacon is dry cured with no unnecessary additives in the curing process.  It’s the best bacon I’ve ever eaten and we enjoyed it in pastas and as a simple breakfast with eggs.

Excellent bacon

Excellent bacon

In my kitchen I have a bottle of champagne.  My husband gave it to me for being a wonderful wife.  Actually that’s not true.  A very happy client gave it to him as a thank you gift (love those clients), and as Carl doesn’t drink champagne he gave it to me.

A very good drop

A very good drop

In my kitchen I have a brand new dishwasher.  I lived for three weeks without a dishwasher and it was a trying three weeks.  It didn’t seem to matter how often I put on the rubber gloves and did another load of dishes, there seemed to always be another pile mounting up behind me.  The kitchen never seemed clean, tidy or in order.  I chose an Asko as I’ve had Asko dishwashers before and they’ve always been excellent and this one has an inbuilt fan to dry the dishes and so far it’s working really well.

Brand new

Brand new

In my kitchen I have two gorgeous girls who are very much looking forward to the warmer weather.  They are no fan of winter.  A few years ago the vet told me my two girls have ‘an unusually strong bond’ and that they are ‘very co-dependent’.  I think he might be on to something.

Besties

Besties

So that’s the good and the bad of what’s happening in my kitchen this month.  If you’d like to do an ‘In My Kitchen’ post, be sure to link up with Celia from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial and do let her know when your post has gone live.

Comments

  1. G’day! I say pop open the champagne and make an antipasto platter with some of that gorgeous bacon!
    I do how the person who sent you the parcel reads your post and you solve the mystery!
    Bloody Possums! Hope your Besties stay warm and you as it is FREEZING once again in Adelaide! Cheers! Joanne

  2. So glad you enjoyed the Pialligo Estate bacon, Charlie… I’m doing some of the PR work with those lads… such a shame that someone stole your parcel! And I love the puppies! xo

  3. Today was definitely not very spring-like! And how odd about the parcel! I hope it wasn’t anything too important.

  4. Don’t even get me started on dishwashers: our broke a few weeks before leaving and we had it fixed after I felt like I was washing dishes for months. Then we got to NY and after a few days the dishwasher broke there too… they came a few times to fix it and it kept leaking anyway… so basically spent the whole holiday washing dishes… so glad I had ours fixed before returning home. It was one of the only positive notes of being back!

  5. I’ve heard such good things about that bacon – I think I’m a little jealous!
    Congrats on the new dishwasher, it is such a reality check when the white-goods die, isn’t it?

  6. I can’t believe someone tore into your parcel like that 🙁 Lucky you being married to a man who doesn’t like champagne though – it’s all yours 🙂

  7. I am QUITE jealous of your dishwasher! But not of the possums and mail thieves. They just sound obnoxious.

  8. What a shame about the package and the parsley thieving possums. And that’s a lovely bottle of champagne regardless of where it came from. 🙂 The two girls are adorable as always.

  9. Are you sure it is possums and not raccoons? When I used to live in the States I had deer eating all of my flowers and raccoons causing major damages around the house, cute but cute the little pest. I am so glad your giveaway arrived. Have a super week. Take care, BAM

  10. how bizarre to find the package with no contents – and disturbing! you need some champas to forget it (surely carl thought you were a wonderful wife to help rid him of the bottle). The birds eat my blueberries but I have never had enough success with parsley to have anyone eat it. Have heard good things of nunaturals but never enjoyed stevia much – can cope with it in small quantities alongside sugar. I have heard that if you get a good stevia it makes a lot of difference.

  11. You’ve got possums — we’ve got squirrels. I don’t know which is worst. Fun stuff in your kitchen this month — thanks.

  12. Charlie, our new UK flat doesn’t have a dishwasher and it’s really proving quite the challenge at times. (Less so when I make Mr B do the washing up though!) I think all kitchens really should have one, and I’m glad you have one back in action. I’m also impressed with your Nu Naturals prize pack – that’s a good selection of products!

  13. Sorry about your parsley, looks like it was such a lovely patch, they will bounce back though, perhaps your should put up a protective fence around them. Not sure which is worse: the garden thieves or whomever stole the content/s of your package.
    I am happy with my Asko dishwasher, it is so quiet.

  14. Oh no Charlie. I hope the person who sent you the parcel will tell you what they sent and I would also be the helling with anything that ate my parsely like that. Great win from Bam and the bacon looks fabulous. Not sure the bubbly would last for a special occasion in our home, I would have it chilled and ready for dinner and I too could not live without a dishwasher, even being on my own half the time when Pete is away.
    Have a wonderful day Charlie.
    🙂 Mandy xo

  15. So sad about your parcel!! 🙁 I am really jealous of your beautiful dish washer…we don’t have one ;(

  16. Oh no Charlie, thats terrible about your parcel. On another note you’ll be very sugar free . Stevia is an amazing thing. I do love your little Rosie and Ruby x

  17. I love your new Asko but especially because my dishwasher broke down last week. We are now facing the dilemma- fix or buy a new one. I am sure you went through that one too. A few other things have broken down this week too- a computer, a ride on lawn mower, our new hot water service. Pass over that Champagne- I need a drink. F xx

  18. Charlie I know how you’re feeling about the possums! One ate all my parsley and every single pea seedling I planted. But they are so cute.

  19. Ohhh, your dogs are so gorgeous and loving. 🙂 Sorry about the dratted possums. 🙁 I don’t have possums, but the rats are the bane of my life. I think we finally got rid of the last of them and so far my garden is surviving. Fingers crossed!

  20. We too have a blight of cute parsley eating possums. To save our lettuce from punk haircuts I bought long wooden kebab skewers and planted them pointy end up all around the lettuce – with some success – but they seem to go wild for parsley so in the garden I have installed some veggie netting over poly pipe and on our deck where we have a large herb pot we’ve found that the Weber kettle BBQ lid makes an effective goodnight dome – sometimes we forget to take it off before leaving for work, but it seems to survive having to talk to itself all day in the dark. Good luck with the possums – otherwise I think champagne bottle corks
    make good pop guns!

  21. that bacon sounds fabulous. and i love veuve- my fave champers. bad news re parsley and the parcel. what a damn shame. and how awful that you don’t know who sent it so you can’t even get onto them to find out what it was. how frustrating!

  22. Snap! I have the same Asko dishwasher. We got ours just before Christmas and it’s fantastic and also very quiet too. Enjoy…

  23. What a shame about your parcel, very strange. Best you pop that bottle of bubbles and try to forget about it, it’s my fav champagne too! I’m going to be on the look out for the bacon, sounds great. I’ve just had to replant parsley in our veggie patch although I don’t think what is eating ours is as cute as a possum, we live near a racecourse and have thoroughbred sized somethings sneaking around, yuck!

  24. Oh Charlie…I love peaking in your kitchen…too bad about the parcel…and the parsley…I know how it feels…I have to deal with squirrels here…and they can be very annoying…
    Hope you are having a nice week dear 😀

  25. Wow, that was a pretty brazen thief! I hope you eventually found out what you missed out on! The stevia products sound very interesting, and I love the look and sound of that bacon! Thank you for the tour of your kitchen.

  26. The package had to be blog related, surely? What creepy people to steal stuff.

    Love the dishwasher. I got a new one recently and they’re coming to replace the door already. I’m glad you’re having better luck.

    Your girls are gorgeous.

  27. Lousy mail thieves Charlie, at least if they took the outer covering you wouldn’t be left wondering- that’s just adding insult to injury! We’ve just had a possum move in for the first time ever, and I’m really worried for my veggie patch. I’m hoping the dog will deter it from nocturnal noshing, but we’ll have to wait and see.
    You have some gorgeous goodies indeed, that bacon is totally delicious!

  28. Bloody possums! Your parsley looks exactly the same as mine. Nice of Karl to share the Champas with you.

  29. We actually have that problem with birds, sometimes they even eat the spices we put out to dry – crazy! Sorry about your possum problem, hope it is fixed soon!

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

  30. Hi Charlie – so nice to see all that is going on in your part of the world! It is getting on to fall here now, so my kitchen is mostly full of tomatoes on their way to the canner and freezer 🙂

    A shame about the possums! A few years ago, I set out all of my carefully started and tended herb plants and overnight a skunk dug up every single one of them – that was not a good morning. When you live out where we do, there is no end to the depredations of wildlife in our garden!

  31. That bacon looks delicious! And the champagne – even better! Of course your girls are the sweetest thing in the post. 🙂

  32. Ugh, I am not a fan of possums. We have them around here, too, but it’s the raccoons that do the stealing! Looks like a lot of yumminess in your kitchen. And the girls are adorable!

    P.S. Yes, it was some “bad code” from a sponsored post that caused all the ruckus. Who knows how this not-so-techy brain figured it out. I am relieved my emails are going out again 🙂

  33. Well I certainly hope whatever was in that parcel wasn’t important! Sheesh! People. I think I’d like to move into your kitchen for a while….especially when you’re cooking up that bacon. And your sweet girls…oh my goodness.

  34. Hi Charlie, nice dishwasher, your girls are adorable!

  35. I had such a problem growing anything in Sydney because of the Bloody Possums! I just have to deal with bugs on the Gold Coast and they are much more polite… they don’t eat everything! Oh and Verve is my favourite champagne!!! Thanks for sharing! Liz x

  36. Wow, thanks for sharing, Charlie! If I remember it right you had your kitchen renovated, too, a few weeks ago? Then your good-looking dishwasher just found a perfect spot in your home 🙂

    Julie
    Gourmet Getaways

  37. That is a long time to go without a dishwasher! I had to go a couple days when our’s broke until my husband fixed it. I was miserable. That bacon looks great and enjoy the champagne!

  38. Lucky you 🙂 , I hope my dishwasher will drop dead soon… I hate it and really want to change it as soon as possible. Congrats on your new one. I’m sorry for your parsley.

  39. Charlie that parcel picture is just sad. Why would someone do that??
    As for possums, yes little buggers seem to have no lines to stay behind do they.

  40. Ohhhhh, nice shiny dishwasher, YAY!!! I say make a cake with your Stevia, then celebrate with some Champagne……oh and add some bacon to the mix, maybe in your cake!!! Yum is really what I am trying to say!!! Enjoy your treats, Hugs, Terra

  41. I love these In my kitchen posts Charlie, thanks so much for sharing with us. What a shame that someone stole the contents of your package, even more curious is why they left the empty package on your lawn? To rub it in? I hope you find out what went missing.
    Veuve is my fav, so lovely of your hubby to re-gift it to you! Makes me wonder what line of work he is in to get a bottle of Veuve!
    I’ve not heard of that type of dishwasher but I do love the sound of the fan instead of heat drying. We only have heat drying option and we always turn it off as it really dries out your dishes and makes them quite susceptible to chips and breakage. Can’t wait to see what you do with that gorgeous bacon.

  42. Well, I’d say your kitchen and yard hold an absolute treasure trove. Clearly the possums agree. They sure can be pesky, can’t they? And how aggravating about the mystery package. I wonder what it contained.

    I have viewed the “In My Kitchen” feature on several sites, and I very much enjoy seeing what others have in their pantries, cupboards and fridges.. I think I’ll join in and share what’s in my kitchen. Thank you for the inspiration.

    Open that champagne and celebrate your new dishwasher. The Widow Clicquot would approve. I am certain. It’s a funny thing about dishwashers. We recently moved out of our home because we are remodeling. Our rental home has no dishwasher, and although I do miss the ease of having one, I am surprised at how quickly I have become accustomed to living with out it. Sure, when there are lots of dishes I do miss it, but over all it is not as difficult as much of an inconvenience as I had expected. However, I wil be glad to have a new one!

  43. Those doggies made me SMILE 🙂
    LOooooove the look of that bacon. Why doesn’t our American bacon look like that?
    xxxx

  44. You have some fun things in your kitchen – love the Stevia and your girls. Boo to parcel thieves and possums.

  45. Looks like you need Possum Busters, I got them a few years ago and have not have one on my roof since!!

  46. Aww your girls are so beautiful 🙂 Awww that’s so rude of the possums! And it’s strange how the sender didn’t give you their address!
    Ohhh you got a present from Bam’s Kitchen that is so wonderful, we met up in Hong Kong, in July when I was there she is absolutely lovely!

  47. We’ve had some stella Spring days in the Berra this past few days, but I still feel frozen to the core, so not saying anything too positive about the weather until I thaw out.
    You’ve got some fun things happening in your kitchen this month. 🙂 Especially the Pialligo bacon. Soooooooooo good!

  48. Those girls are just adorable.

  49. Hon, it is time for you to move. Between the stolen parcel and the stolen rosemary bush (it was YOUR IG feed I saw that on, right?) and the stolen parsley, it’s all getting too much up there! Seriously though, I’m sorry you didn’t get to see whatever surprise was in your parcel! The bacon and champagne sound fabulous and your girls are just so cute – I love how they keep you company in the kitchen. Hooray for new dishwashers! Ours has just been repaired, it’s nearly 13 years old and it goes constantly!

  50. Oh that bacon looks really good! Using for the pastas and breakfast sounds very nice!

  51. Your girls are just the sweetest things! I love their bond. Would they ever gang up on the possums? That could be helpful. 🙂 I use the flavored Stevias all the time, Charlie. I sweeten my smoothies, or add the flavors to sparkling water. I even have a chocolate Stevia. I hope you enjoy them. 🙂

  52. What fun to see all of these goodies, but the winner is the pups. Of course. I didn’t even know flavored stevia existed–only the regular unflavored kind has made it here to San Miguel, but I will be on the look-out!

  53. Other than the package theft and the disappearing parsley, you had some nice things in your kitchen this month. Congratulations on a new dishwasher!

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