It is absolutely guaranteed that anytime I go away I will return with at least a few new pieces for my kitchen, much to Mr Grumpy’s disgust. Our recent trip to Victoria was no different, and I have lots of goodies In My Kitchen to play with this month. I restocked on tea towels whilst away as I can never seem to find any nice ones in Perth. Apparently all the good ones don’t make it west, because there was so much choice in Melbourne that I could easily have come back with twice the amount that I did.
I found this ice cube tray in a souvenir shop of all places. It caught my eye from the street as I wandered past. I had been searching for the perfect mould to make my own gummies, and was so pleased when I stumbled across this one. It has already been put to good use and produces perfect gummie koala bears.
We took a Laneways Tour whilst in Melbourne, which is a walking tour of the hidden lane ways and backstreets. I highly recommend it if ever you find yourself in this fair city. We came across an amazing spice shop in The Block Arcade that sold many different spices in bulk. It was difficult to choose, but in the end I decided to stock up on flavoured salts. The truffle salt is going into egg dishes, whilst the French Lavender salt is going on this week’s roast chicken. I have yet to decide the best place for the smoked salt. Any suggestions would be welcome.
We came across a stall selling all manner of cupcake paraphernalia in the Victoria Markets. Mr Grumpy told me to ‘go for it’, however if his face is anything to go by when I had finished then we have very different ideas of what this term means. I thought I was quite restrained, but my purchases will all be put to good use making muffins and mini cakes for The Princess’s lunchbox. I found the little cupcake stand in H&M where The Princess dragged me to check out the clothes. H&M also have a great, albeit small, home wares section, and I was sorely tempted to buy more. The only thing that stopped me was that my bag carrier (aka Mr Grumpy) had abandoned us by this stage to go to the football.
The Princess has recently developed the habit of having a cup of herbal tea before she goes to bed, so we picked up a few different blends for her to try whilst we were in the Yarra Valley. They smell beautiful and brew a lovely cup of tea.
Also In My Kitchen, and having nothing to do with Melbourne, is this Crio Bru pack I bought before we went away. Crio Bru is roasted and ground cocoa nibs that brew like a cup of coffee. You control the amount of sweetener or milk, which suits me as I like my chocolate bitter. I have been wanting to try some of the different blends without having to buy large packets, so when this special variety pack came on sale I jumped at it. It conveniently came with a single cup to brew the cocoa in. The Princess is eying them all off though, so I might need to hide them.
Finally I just wanted to share my latest fermentation project. I found this recipe for red radish kimchi on Pinterest, so when my sister gave me a heap of freshly picked radishes from my dad’s vegetable patch I decided to give it a try. The kimchi is still fermenting but I have had a nibble and it already tastes great, so I think this one is a keeper.
That is all from my kitchen this month. Don’t forget to check out Celia’s at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial to see what is happening in other kitchens around the world.
Ooooh, gummy bears, how cool! Love the sound of the roasted cocoa nibs! And you can never have too many tea towels xo
You never can have too many tea towels can you Liz 🙂 At least that is what I tell Mr Grumpy 😉
I saw the radishes on instagram and wondered what you would do with so many:) I never actually walk into the Block Arcade when I’m in town but I will for sure next time – thanks for the heads up.
Unfortunately Nancy these were not the radishes on Instagram but a second lot. The larger bag you saw is still in the fridge waiting to be dealt with 🙂 But I think I will make more kimchi with most of them.
I will absolutely make a bee line for The Block Arcade when next in Melbourne, if only for the spice shop. It is opposite the tea rooms.
The tea and salt looks amazing! Love your tea towels and the gummy bear mould 🙂
I am really impressed with the salt Tandy. It tastes so very good.
Hi Tania, my sister went on that laneway walking tour recently. She said it was great too.
It was really informative Glenda. I highly recommend it if you are in Melbourne. Apparently the groups are normally mostly locals but we were all tourists on our tour.
Travelling is always a great excuse for picking up some new things for your kitchen. I love the look of your tea-towels and I’m impressed you’re doing your own fermenting. And you make your own gummi bears? They sound fabulous xx
That is what I tell the husband when I am buying everything Charlie 🙂 I love fermenting. It appeals to the scientist in me I think. The gummies worked out well so I am going to have to try other flavours.
Those tea towels are just beautiful and what a wonderful collection of spices. Lavender salt sounds wonderful. Thank you for sharing. I hope you enjoy my IMK post too. Emma.
The lavender salt was absolutely perfect on the roast chicken. So yummy I wish I had bought more.
What a post- you did well in Melbourne! And thanks for the hint about the spice shop in Block arcade, I must visit it. Also, I am keen to learn your pickled radish recipe as I always have too many. I hpe Mr Grumpy enjoyed the footy: footy makes me grumpy! Thank goodness for the kitchen.
Football makes me grumpy too Francesca, which is why he went alone 🙂 The spice shop is well worth a visit. I am really happy with my salts. I have put the link to the radish recipe in the post above. Sorry I meant to put it in before. It is a simple little recipe but quite tasty.
What lovely muffin wrappers and stand. I had no idea H&M has a small housewares section. We don’t have a store here but next time I am near one I must look into this. I also enjoy buying food or kitchen goodies while away.
I was really happy with the stand Gretchen as I have been searching for a small one for ages. We don’t have H&M yet but it is under construction, which could prove dangerous.
Those tea towels look too good to use. I haven’t heard of roasted and ground cocoa nibs so I’m not sure if we can get them in England; will have to check it out as they sound very interesting.
Goodness, you DID come back with treasure! Love the gummi mould, and the herbal tea looks very pretty – bet it tastes as good as it looks! I really must pay more attention to tea towels – they get heavy usage in our kitchen, so I rarely buy pretty ones, but your first photo is making me have a rethink! And tell Mr Grumpy that we bakers think you were actually very restrained with the paper cases.. 🙂
What a great little tour of Melbourne, was that Queen Victoria Market you went to get those tea towels – they’re so gorgeous, I would love some! The Smoked Sea Salt I’ve used in my creamy mushroom pasta (my husband thought I added bacon to the sauce – he loved it!) I’ve thought about seasoning my lamb roast, instead of using normal sea salt and the girls (who work there) suggested using it on their salmon. Let me know how you go. Glad you had a great time in Melbourne. Nice look IMK, see you next month
I love smoked salt, I put it in everything, it is lovely rubbed into meat/marinades… but I especially love it in my macaroni and cheese… it gives a lovely flour that enhances the smoked paprika that I also put in 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Hi Tania! Oh, those koala gummies are awesome, I love the mold! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thanks Emily. I was pretty happy to find the mould 🙂 Thanks for stopping by.