Winter days at home

Kylie is a very funny and generous blogging friend and she sent me this package of kitchenalia all the way from Western Australia.  There is nothing like a package tied with brown paper and string to brighten up a grey winter day.  Thank you Kylie, truly.

On some recent cold, dark mornings and afternoons we have been playing our treasured vintage edition of the board game Candy Land.  I am not sure who loves passing through Lollypop Woods the most, the kids or myself!

Collecting firewood is a good, physical outing and a whole family affair.  The man of the farm takes care of the chainsaw, naturally.  I pick up whatever cut wood I can lift.  The kids disappear into the jungle which is actually a scrubby swamp but it feels like a jungle to them.    I love the feeling of the four of us together in the fresh air, no distractions, everyone has a purpose, working towards something that will keep us warm and fuel our wood oven.  Aside from cooking, collecting wood might almost be my favourite winter activity.

The final touch to our outdoor kitchen area has been 100 metres of fairy lights, thank you Ebay.  They create a little bit of magic and are strictly reserved for weekend use, just to keep the magic.

80mm of rain has turned our land from a dust bowl to this.  The ground is finally damp and with a green tinge in the paddocks winter is looking good.

How is winter looking at your place?
I hope you are staying warm and perhaps jumping in a few puddles?

In My Kitchen, June 2013

Welcome to another tour of my kitchen.  With the temperature dropping and the days becoming shorter there has never been a better time to be in the kitchen, wouldn’t you agree?

My love gave me this lavish book for Mother’s Day.  He was so enthusiastic about the recipes that he gave it to me a week early, bless him.  The Complete Middle Eastern Cookbook is the perfect book for our lifestyle.  There are plenty of lamb recipes, all of the quantities are on the large side and almost all of the ingredients are available to us.  Already I have trialled several recipes. 

This is the start of an experiment with dried limes or loomi from the book mentioned above.  These have taken some time to actually dry and when I have had residual heat in the wood oven I have put them inside it, sometimes overnight.  Does anyone have any experience with dried limes?

Eating sausages feels so much better when you know exactly what has gone into them.  Here the home butcher is skilfully tying off a string of homemade lamb sausages.  We kept this batch very plain which means the whole family can enjoy them and everyone can add their favourite condiments as they wish.

My young kitchen assistant recently helped me to bottle the remainder of our olive crop.  I had to smile at her unique, personalised labelling system.

 

A full trailer load of oranges equals a lot of orange juice and orange cake.  Nearby orchards have been giving away imperfect oranges that the major supermarkets will not accept.  I could probably write a whole blog about the average consumer being obsessed with perfect fruit or are the supermarkets obsessed?   I am not sure.  Anyway, after some oranges were shared among friends I made these delicious cakes using Sophie's recipe.   The rest of the oranges were greatly appreciated by our sheep and cattle as supplementary feed.  

This was my first attempt at wood fired sourdough focaccia using Celia's recipe.  This bread contains a generous amount of olive oil and with plenty of our own oil on hand I know this is going to become a regular feature throughout the winter. 

Please call into to Celia's blog and take a tour of interesting kitchens all around the world.

I hope you are staying warm and baking or creating.  Lately at our place we simply cannot stop cooking!

The Garden Share Collective, June 2013

This month I am linking up with Lizzie of Strayed from the Table for The Garden Share Collective.  The aim is to create a community of bloggers who share their vegetable patches, container gardens and the herbs they grow on their window sills. 

In my veggie patch I lean towards growing food that we are unable to access locally such as garlic and heirloom varieties of fruit and vegetables. 

Summer in our part of the world is extremely hot and dry and the winter is cold with frosts.

The majority of my vegetables are raised from seed purchased through the Diggers Club.

The main patch is made up of six raised beds as well as one bed planted directly into the ground.  I have access to an endless supply of sheep, horse, chook, cow manure and old hay which I dig into the soil regularly. 

Golden beetroot

Purple garlic

Kale, rocket and basil

Wongbok

Quince trees

May in my garden

Planted

Beetroot

Broccoli

Cabbage

Cauliflower

Coriander

Garlic

Snow pea

Sweet pea

Wongbok

Harvested

Basil

Capsicum

Kale

Lime

Mint

Quince

Rocket

Thyme

Tromboncino

Ongoing observations and tasks
The pome and stone fruit trees are going to sleep for the winter.

Asparagus ferns are growing tall and unruly.

All vegetables are receiving a fortnightly dose of liquid seaweed fertiliser.

All fruit trees have been fed with an organic, pelletised fertiliser.

I am reviving my worm farm that unfortunately did not survive the summer months.

While it might not be the sexiest gardening fixture I am using recycled milk bottles to cover my tiny seedlings when they are first planted out.  This protects them from clumsy feet and pests while they establish themselves.  It also provides a tiny greenhouse for each seedling.  I have found this simple idea to be very effective.

Happy winter gardening.

Quince harvest

  

My first quince crop, if only it had been larger.  Next year I am hopeful that it will be.

After admiring their golden beauty for a few days I baked them with a little water and a vanilla bean in the slow heat of our wood oven.

I slipped some pieces into this deliciously simple cake.  We have enjoyed the remainder with yoghurt or cream depending on the time of day.  

Along with the pretty light and and the golden leaves, quinces are becoming one of my favourite parts of autumn.  

I hope you are warm and enjoying your week.  

Home

As newlyweds we moved into our home almost 13 year ago and on and off we have been renovating and improving ever since.  We have done a lot of the work ourselves and it almost feels like it is nearing completion. 

The final major stage of our renovation has been our wood oven and outdoor kitchen area.   We now have a warm, open, sunny place to prepare and cook food and we couldn't be happier with it.  

I hope one day our wood oven is a gathering place not just for our family but also for our little community.  Perhaps we could share bread making knowledge or home butchering skills or vegetables or just some warmth and a home brew or two.  

Over time I have learnt that waiting for improvements and working towards them results in a more fulfilling experience.  The time spent waiting and saving often leads to more thoughtful planning and unexpected outcomes.  

Do you have a goal, or a dream or a long term renovation happening?

Are you cooking a lamb roast or bread?

I hope you are having a lovely week.

Autumn in the vegetable garden

The weather is still warm at our place.  The mornings and evenings are feeling like autumn but the afternoons feel like summer.  It is also very dry and the only plants surviving in my garden are those planted directly under an irrigation dripper.  In between my vegetable beds the earth resembles fine, red powder.

My pumpkin harvest may not see us right through winter but I am grateful for what I have here.  

My thyme is happy and healthy and it is enjoying a revival in my kitchen.  Lately I have been scattering it over almost every vegetable that I cook as well as pizza and roast chicken. 

Hardy, dependable kale continues to flourish. I feed some to my chooks and I feed some to my family.  I recently tucked a sneaky layer into a lasagne and received no complaints.

Small but sweet yellow capsicums.

This 1952 Yates Garden Guide was a recent op-shop find for $2.00.  The basic gardening information hasn't changed much but the trends from the 50s are entertaining to read.  For example, crazy paving was all the rage in the garden planning section.   The book also recommends the vegetable garden be situated away from the main garden, some distance from the house.  I think today most people like to keep their vegetables close to the kitchen, I know I do.

I have been lucky enough to have a self-sown  tromboncino pop up outside our actual garden, underneath a young apple tree.  When plants appear so willingly it feels like a bonus and I am happy to still be harvesting this versatile vegetable. 

My lime tree is loaded with juicy fruit.  Anything that requires lemon in my cooking is now substituted with lime juice.  Do you have a favourite use for lime?

The fruit on my young Buddha’s Hand is turning from green to yellow.  Although the tree is small and not particularly lush it has produced around 8 of these fragrant but unusual fruits.  Fellow blogger Anna from The Littlest Anchovy has written an informative post about the Buddha’s Hand if you are interested in learning more.

My mother in law has a big garden full of interesting things.  When I spotted this autumn colour near the wood pile the camera just had to come out.  

Are you gardening or cooking or taking photos at the moment?

Do you find comfort in your garden?  As life gets busier I find my vegetable garden one of the most calming places to be.

In My Kitchen, May 2013

School holidays in April meant plenty of time for cooking, harvesting from the garden and experimenting in our wood oven.

These little capsicums have featured regularly in our meals.  My capsicum plants survived the heat of summer and are now enjoying the milder conditions and continue to produce prolifically.

The afternoon of Anzac Day was relatively peaceful in our house and the rhythmic process of making pasta was a comforting and quiet activity after an early start to the day.

Our autumn days are still warm and my basil is going strong.  I have made plenty of pesto using home grown garlic as well as our own olive oil to put in the freezer for the colder months ahead.

Another month and another old thermos.  This little tartan beauty was a birthday gift and my thermos collection continues to grow.  The pink rug is a recent addition to my picnic paraphernalia from  Hammamas.  It is made from light weight 100% cotton and can be used as a light towel, throw rug, baby blanket, sarong, table cloth or anything really.  I love it.

Simple, tasty zucchini relish made with excess capsicums and zucchini using a recipe from Whole Larder Love.  By the way if you haven't already got this book do yourself a favour.  If you care about your food and cook a lot from scratch or from your vegetable garden this book is for you.  

Lastly, I have had so much fun experimenting with sourdough pita bread in our wood oven using this recipe from Weekend Bakery.  Over the years I have made yeasted pita bread but after making the sourdough version there will be no going back to yeast for me.  The versatility of sourdough continues to amaze me.

How was April at your place?  What are you up to in your kitchen? 

Celia hosts this tour, please call into her blog Fig Jam and Lime Cordial and have a peek into kitchens all around the world. 

I received some very kind comments on my last post with two fellow bloggers commenting on my lifestyle.  I certainly have idyllic moments in the country but just like everybody else I also have moments of mess, frustration and stress.  This blog is a space for me to reflect on the good bits and it helps me to be more grateful for what I have in my life.  I am sure this is one reason many fellow bloggers also share glimpses of their life, am I right?  I really do have some lovely friends out there in blog land!