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In My Kitchen – November 2014

November 5, 2014 by tania 27 Comments

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In My Kitchen - Nov 2014 | thecookspyjamas

It’s been slightly quieter In My Kitchen this month.  I have been avoiding the supermarkets, so there are not many new finds to talk of.  This is good, however, as I can finally share my kitchen pride and joy with you – my egg skelter.  I saw it on a River Cottage episode a few years ago, hunted it down and had it sent from England.  Prior to purchasing it, we didn’t have a great system for storing eggs.  The skelter takes all the guesswork out of this.  The oldest eggs are used first, and as you take eggs from the bottom new eggs slowly roll down and fill the gap.  It is also means that my eggs are always at room temperature.

In My Kitchen - Nov 2014 | thecookspyjamas

My new Bruny Island Cheese Club delivery has just arrived for the month, so I am now all stocked up on cheese.  This is only my second month of ordering from the club.  They send four cheeses, both hard and soft, which means we get to try cheeses I might not otherwise purchase.  I have been very impressed with the service and the quality of the product, and even though it comes from the opposite side of the country it arrives cold and in perfect condition.

In My Kitchen - Nov 2014 | thecookspyjamas

There is the opportunity to add other Tasmanian delicacies to my cheese club order.  This month I selected fresh Tasmanian walnuts and stoneground semolina.  The walnuts will be eaten on their own.  Fresh walnuts are so sweet that I just want to enjoy them as is.  I am going to make fresh pasta with the semolina, seeing as I have lots of eggs at the moment.

In My Kitchen - Nov 2014 | thecookspyjamas

The first of this season’s peaches have finally started to appear at the farmer’s markets.  We always enjoy the first peaches as fresh fruit.  As the season progresses, I start to buy them by the tray so they will be roasted with red wine for dessert or made into individual peach crumbles.

In My Kitchen - Nov 2014 | thecookspyjamas

New season potatoes are also beginning to appear.  I always do a happy dance in my mind when I find dirty potatoes.  Does that make me weird?  A little dirt helps them last longer and I am more than happy to scrub a few potatoes before dinner if I know that the product is fresh.

In My Kitchen - Nov 2014 | thecookspyjamas

I made a small batch of my favourite Low Sugar Strawberry Vanilla Jam last week.  I make my jam in small batches now as I found that I would get bored with larger batches and ended up with a lot of excess jam.  Small batches allow me to experiment with different types of jam.

In My Kitchen - Nov 2014 | thecookspyjamas

Finally my single supermarket find.  I was intrigued by these coconut chips but was in a hurry and didn’t read the label properly.  These are very nice but are unnecessarily sweetened with sugar.  Thankfully the jar isn’t very big and The Princess seems to have taken a fancy to them.  I can’t see the jar lasting long.

Don’t forget to pop over to Celia’s at Fig Jam & Lime Cordial to see what is happening in other kitchens around the world this month.

Filed Under: In My Kitchen Tagged With: IMK, In My Kitchen

Previous Post: « Low Sugar Strawberry Vanilla Jam {Small Batch}
Next Post: A Real Food Meal Plan – Spring 01 {How To Eat Real Food Everyday} »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jo Smith

    November 6, 2014 at 7:20 am

    Your egg skelter is very cool. How long do you keep the eggs at room temp for? I have lots of strawberries in the freezer and am going to try your jam tomorrow.

    Reply
    • tania

      November 6, 2014 at 9:37 am

      It is good isn’t it 🙂 I love it. We go through eggs pretty quickly in our house, and when the skelter is full I start giving eggs away to people. But I keep eggs for up to a couple of weeks in winter at room temp and slightly less in summer. I read that eggs are actually OK at room temp if they are not refrigerated. Refrigerating apparently destroys part of the egg that helps keep it fresh. If I ever think an egg has been there too long I will crack it into a separate bowl rather than into any food I am preparing, just to be sure.

      I have used frozen strawberries before in the jam with great success. I would love to hear how you got on.

      Reply
      • Jo Smith

        November 11, 2014 at 11:36 am

        The jam is great! Although maybe lacking in flavour, perhaps due to the frozen fruit? I combined your recipe with one from Tenina and cooked it in the Thermomix, using an apple and a quarter of a lemon (zest and flesh removed) for pectin. Using 400g fruit and 160g of sugar I ended up with 1.5 small jars of fruit spread rather than jam so it was definitely a small batch but I was happy! I still have some of the defrosted fruit in the fridge so will have another go.

      • tania

        November 11, 2014 at 2:29 pm

        I have used frozen fruit before with no problems Jo. Unfortunately with any jams or relishes it will only be as good as your produce, so it would depend on how yummy your strawberries were to start with. You can also loose a bit of flavour if you overcook the strawberries. I’ve not made jam in the Thermomix so I am unsure whether this would affect the flavour. Fingers crossed the next batch tastes better.

  2. Nancy @ Plus Ate Six

    November 6, 2014 at 1:27 pm

    I love your helper skelter too – what a fun thing to have out in the kitchen.
    I was just looking at the labelling on those coconut chunks – it’s very annoying isn’t it when they make a point of ‘gluten free, baked not fried, nothing artificial’ and then go and add a load of sugar!!

    Reply
    • tania

      November 6, 2014 at 1:52 pm

      Thanks Nancy. The skelter really is great. I was really quite annoyed with myself over not reading the label. I am usually quite good but every now and then I need to slap myself. This was one of those times. Coconut is so good on its own. It doesn’t need sugar.

      Reply
  3. Maree

    November 7, 2014 at 6:54 am

    I brought back 2 big bags of flour from Callington Mill recently and my bread has never been better! Interesting about the cheese club, I bought some cheese while there and noticed the info but didn’t follow up on it. I may have to now. 🙂

    Reply
    • tania

      November 7, 2014 at 10:07 am

      I’m heading to Tasmania early next year Maree and I will be coming back with something similar. Shhhh don’t tell the husband. Loving the cheese club 🙂

      Reply
  4. Veganopoulous

    November 7, 2014 at 3:02 pm

    the egg skelter reminds me of watching the lotto draws on tv as a kid! Those coconut chunks look interesting, what a shame they’re sweet!

    Reply
    • tania

      November 7, 2014 at 5:46 pm

      You’re right. It is a bit like that 🙂 I saw the coconut chunks in another store this afternoon, and even the savoury ones had sugar in them. 🙁

      Reply
  5. Joanne T Ferguson

    November 7, 2014 at 4:00 pm

    G’day! Can I just come and stay in your kitchen? 🙂
    Thank you for your warm and welcoming kitchen view this month too!
    Cheers! Joanne

    Reply
    • tania

      November 7, 2014 at 5:49 pm

      The good thing about close up photos is that it hides all the crud in the rest of the kitchen 🙂 But you’re welcome to drop by, just avoid your gaze from the pile of dishes. Thanks for stopping by.

      Reply
  6. Gretchen

    November 8, 2014 at 8:55 pm

    I just love roasted peaches for dessert! Too bad peach season here is over. The egg smelter looks amazing! My host family in Germany always kept their farm fresh eggs at room temp year round it they were the best eggs I ever had.

    Reply
    • tania

      November 11, 2014 at 3:01 pm

      I think I actually prefer roasted peaches to fresh Gretchen. I love room temperature eggs. They are always the perfect temperature for cooking.

      Reply
  7. Glenda

    November 8, 2014 at 11:57 pm

    Tania, I love the egg skelter too. I am very interested in Bruny Island Cheese Club, what a great idea.

    Reply
    • tania

      November 11, 2014 at 3:00 pm

      The skelter is great isn’t it Glenda. I am loving the Cheese Club, right down to the way it is packaged. Highly recommend it.

      Reply
  8. Francesca

    November 9, 2014 at 10:02 am

    The Bruny Island Cheese is so delicious – very tempted to order some for Chrsitmas.

    Reply
    • tania

      November 11, 2014 at 2:58 pm

      It is really very good Francesca. We had some ODO stirred through pasta last night. Very, very good.

      Reply
  9. Kirsty

    November 9, 2014 at 5:54 pm

    Hi there Tania. Isn’t it great to have peaches again! I picked up some today at a market here in Canberra. White flesh, and so so juicy. I love summer fruits. Your egg skelter is just adorable.

    Reply
    • tania

      November 11, 2014 at 2:58 pm

      Absolutely Kirsty. I have big plans for a summer of peaches 🙂

      Reply
  10. celia

    November 16, 2014 at 5:38 am

    I remember seeing the egg skelter on RC too! Such a clever idea! And I’m very impressed Bruny Island cheese manage to get their product to you in Perth in such fine shape! I don’t think I’ve ever had really fresh walnuts, I must look out for them – thanks for the inspiration as always, Tania! 🙂

    Reply
    • tania

      November 17, 2014 at 10:32 am

      The skelter is a great idea isn’t it Celia. At least it stops my eggs rolling over the bench. I have been so impressed with the manner at which the cheese gets to me. Still very cold and the gel packs still frozen. I am seeing fresh walnuts around a bit at the moment so they must be in shops. Hope you can find some.

      Reply
  11. Elizabeth

    November 16, 2014 at 7:07 pm

    What a lovely kitchen this month Tania, I LOVE the egg holder… I need one too!!! Could you give me the address where I can order it, oh and BTW how wonderful is Hugh! I’ve been watching him for 15 years 🙂 my post also has some wonderful Bruny Island cheese that I picked up at the good food and wine show, my fav is the raw milk cheese! anyway, thanks for sharing this month!!!

    Reply
    • tania

      November 17, 2014 at 10:36 am

      I just bought mine on UK ebay Elizabeth, but that was a few years ago and they now appear to be available in Australia. Try here, although they only appear to have the one colour whilst I had lots of choice. I love Hugh, and have my eye on his new book. I did like the Bruny Island raw milk, but I m loving the opportunity to try some others as well.

      Reply
  12. Miss Food Fairy

    November 23, 2014 at 7:16 pm

    Very interested in how you make your pasta, please share the recipe once you’re done. I’m always looking for a good pasta recipe. The Bruny Island Cheese Co. cheese looks good, I’ll get to try some one day. Thanks for a look in your kitchen, see you next month at IMK.

    Reply
    • tania

      November 24, 2014 at 1:18 pm

      Generally I just use a proportion of 1 egg/100g flour but this flour appears to be wholemeal. It took a lot to work it into a manageable pasta so I think I am going to have to play with it a bit more before I can share.

      Reply
  13. Sandy

    November 26, 2014 at 5:21 am

    Avoiding the supermarkets means lots of $$$ saved I find!
    Cute egg storer – though I’d use it for apples instead 😉
    How good are the peaches this year!!! I’ve been really enjoying them 🙂

    Reply

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