In my kitchen – December 2015

It was with a mixture of sadness and joy that I read Celia’s latest In My Kitchen post last week.

Total sadness when she revealed this will be the last month she hosts the many, many bloggers who participate every month.

However sadness tinged with joy as she announced that the irrepressible Maureen, from Orgasmic Chef, will be taking over from January. PHEW! And thank you Maureen. While my contributions to this fabulous blog-fest have been sporadic, it is one of my favourite posts to write. And who doesn’t love to peek into another food blogger’s kitchen?? 

In my December kitchen…

… are a lot of new cookbooks! In case you have missed my super-exciting news, I now co-host a podcast, The Activity Pod, with my friend Annette, who blogs over at World Travel Tribe. Our first guest was Julie Goodwin – I would love you to listen! Julie talks about how she stayed focused to win S1 of Masterchef Australia, and why she opened her cooking school, Julie’s Place. In anticipation of our interview Julie’s publisher sent me a copy of her latest book, Homemade Takeaway*. I’ve cooked a few things so far – mainly sweet stuff. The shortbread lemon slice is an absolute ripper.

We had our bookclub Christmas party last week, and for Secret Santa we all had to bring a gift-wrapped book. Makes sense right? Some kind soul brought Curtis Stone’s latest, and I snagged it. It was meant to be. I haven’t yet had a chance to cook from it, but there are many mouth-watering recipes. However, it’s the stunning photos of his family that I love the most. The love shines off the page.

I wonder if we could get Curtis on our podcast…

My final book this month is Tania Hubbard‘s latest, Abundance*. In the spirit of abundance, she gifted me a copy, which I was delighted to receive. I have met Tania a few times over the years and she is one of my favourite people. Her recipes are all gluten and grain free, so if you need to eat this way for health and wellness, then grab a copy of her book.

In my kitchen…

… were the results of baking from Julie Goodwin’s book, Homemade Takeaway*. The shortbread lemon slice was inhaled. The chocolate and macadamia brownies were tweaked from Julie’s blondie recipe – I’m really NOT a fan of white chocolate!

In my kitchen…

… is a bag of brown basmati rice. I saw this at the supermarket for the first time recently and thought I would give it a go. Verdict: definitely buy again!

In my kitchen…

… is a lot of lasagne! The husband of a friend is in hospital undergoing treatment for leukemia, meaning a temporary relocation from north Queensland to Brisbane. I’ve been cooking a few extra meals to give my friend over the last couple of months so she doesn’t need to think about cooking when she gets home after long days. The lasagne was a particular favourite of hers – it’s one of my favourites too!

In my kitchen…

… are my new reading glasses. Ugh. It wasn’t bad enough that my regular glasses needed to become multi-focals (or whatever the new term for them is), I also needed to get reading glasses. And they are ALSO multi-focals. Double ugh. The biggest challenge is now reading while watching TV without constantly swapping specs!!

In my kitchen…

… was a case of Naked Wines. Have you tried Naked Wines yet?

Many of you may know that I am a Naked Wines Angel as I am a huge fan of their wines. I also love their philosophy of supporting small wine makers via a customer-funded system – it takes 1,000 Angels to support a new winemaker. You can read more about it here.

So why am I telling you this? Until 31 December if you also want to become a Naked Wines Angel, you will receive $100 of the first case of wine you order (and I will receive $30 towards my next case of wine).

If you want to take advantage of this please use my personal invitation link: www.nakedwines.com.au/invite/mel-kettle.htm. 

And if you don’t, that’s fine too! 
So that was a little spin around my kitchen this month. What goodies are in yours? If you want to see what other bloggers have in their kitchens this month, visit Celia over at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial for the full list.

* Starred items were gifted to me in accordance with my editorial policy. I have not been paid to write about any of these products. All opinions are mine unless otherwise mentioned.