I said in my last post that I’ve been busy lately, and that has continued!
My In my Kitchen goodies this month come from my last two trips – to New Zealand and to Stanthorpe. I’m quite grateful to be home now for about six weeks, before I zip down to Adelaide for Tasting Australia at the end of April. Particularly grateful as I’m currently juggling full time uni with my consulting business, blogging, and trying to spend some time with my family. Yes, I think I’m crazy too!
In my March kitchen are …
… a collection of New Zealand food mags – and yes, these were the first purchase I made upon my arrival. Cuisine is a mag I’ve loved for years, and it is fairly available in Australia. Dish is a new-to-me favourite and harder to find here, and Taste is the magazine put out by one of the local supermarket chains. Of the three, I love Dish the most. Not that I have actually had time to do more than a quick flick through any of them.
In my kitchen …
… are these ridiculously moreish crackers from the New Zealand brand 180 degrees. These are also available in Australia but at about twice the price as in NZ. I brought six boxes home with me. As you do.
In my kitchen …
… some pasta and pasta sauces the lovely people at Barilla sent me. While I try to buy Australian as much as possible, I’ve long been a fan of Barilla spaghetti. The only one of these I’ve used so far is the olive pasta sauce, and I used it in place of tomato sauce on pizza when I made it for dinner last night. The chunks of olive were a splendid compliment to the salami, mushroom and red capsicum!
In my kitchen …
… are many of these impressive veggies I acquired while at the Stanthorpe Apple and Grape Harvest Festival over the weekend. I actually brought home more than can fit in my fridge. I had four days there as I was running the social media for the festival and it was one of the best weekends I’ve had in ages! Such wonderful people, not to mention the stunning food and wine! I’ll have another weekend there booked in shortly!
In my kitchen …
… is the stunning cookbook by Masterchef 2013 winner Emma Dean. Emma was a guest of the Stanthorpe Apple and Grape Harvest Festival and one of the least pretentious “celebrities” I’ve ever met. I tried to resist buying her book, but totally failed!
In my kitchen …
… are some of the fabulous apple products that Sutton’s Farm makes. The apple syrup and apple butter are going to be making a regular appearance on my table! YUM! Sutton’s (just outside Stanthorpe) also make a stunning preservative free sparkling apple juice (only available for purchase and consumption in their cafe) and an alcoholic cider that – wait for it – actually tastes like apples! So take that fake sugary nasty “ciders”! And if you do go and visit, make sure you taste their apple pie. Oh. My. God. Is all I have to say.
In my kitchen …
… a couple of cheeses I also couldn’t resist. I love the Buyna Black cheese from Kingaroy Cheese, and buy it almost every time I see them with a market stall – it’s the least I can do really! I didn’t realise the second cheese comes from Victoria, but I won’t hold that against it! It’s pleasantly stinky in a way that good cheese should be – and it goes perfectly with my 180 degrees crackers. What a lucky coincidence!
And finally in my kitchen …
… is a new hat! Funny thing for a kitchen, but it will be used a lot in the garden. Many of you know I had a malignant melanoma cut out in December (you can read about it here if you didn’t). Today I had another skin cancer cut out – ouch! – but luckily this one isn’t a melanoma. It was a weird red, raised blemish that just appeared on my mid-shin about two weeks after the melanoma was cut out. Let’s hope no more appear! And please go and get your skin checked if it’s been a while.
What’s in your kitchen in March? If you want to have a sneaky look at more kitchens, check out the list on Celia’s blog, Fig Jam and Lime Cordial – thanks also to Celia for hosting In my Kitchen every month.
I’m now off to peruse a few cookbooks so I can get back to my Cooking the Books challenge that has been sorely neglected over the last few weeks. Does anyone have any requests??
Those cheeses look rather tasty. Must look out for that one from Victoria.
Your hat is very cute! I need a hat – Pete says that now we’re birding, I need to wear one. I suggested taking an umbrella, but he thought that was a bit mad. What an amazing array of veg they had at the festival! It would have been hard to resist those capsicums. I’ve got some of the Sutton apple syrup – haven’t figured out what to do with it yet. 🙂