Orla-less

They removed Orla from the kitchen. I asked them not to, but they did anyway. Now, instead of fabulous walls I have bland magnolia walls. MAGNOLIA. Do I look like a magnolia type of person to you?

The shame.

Random Kitchen Notes

I don't tend to bring my camera into the kitchen when I'm busy, but perhaps I should try to change that habit.

The boys have mostly taken over the baking. That's OK with me. I hover making sure they're not confusing ounces for grams or murdering each other for a lick of the spoon. They're getting there.



The rhubarb is still going strong. I'm in the mood for light summer snacks and salads - pita bread and hummus and things like that. Pasta is making a come back. I'm getting tired of trying to convince them that rice is edible. Pasta it is.

And it has just occurred to me that it's iced coffee season. Oh yes. Bring it on.

What's in your kitchen these days?

Scenes From My Kitchen

In our kitchen recently ::

:: Hankering after a real roast chicken dinner, the way mama used to make

:: Making it my own

:: Adding new ingredients to the jars in our cupboards and enjoying the change

:: Cleaning up the pantry and reorganising everything

:: Giving our bodies a boost after a winter long sloth of comfort eating (bad mummy)

:: Wondering if 'pay the farmer now, or pay the doctor later' should be hung up somewhere as a reminder

:: Feeling the need to dust down some old recipes, replace some others and rewrite some new ones - that old binder is getting mighty used-looking

:: Tentatively hoping that it won't be too long before picnic weather is upon us (ever the optimist)


What's happening in your kitchen?

Scenes From My Kitchen

Oh this small, dark, gloomy, cramped kitchen of mine. This small, cosy, warm, busy kitchen that is the heart of our home.

We dance around each other like ballerinas, or perhaps Morris Dancers, reaching for shelves, stirring a pot, finding the apple corer, grabbing a bowl. And somehow, we make it work.

It's not perfect and like you I dream of better - a whole kitchen just for cooking with the dining in a whole different room?? Crazy dreams.

But from our kitchen this week ::

:: Lots of organic vegetables cunningly disguised so my carnivores might ingest something other than meat.

:: Broccoli soup? Yes! Yum!

:: Kale quiche.

:: Vegetable lasagne - I had no idea carrots could be so versatile...

:: Apple crumble. Apple pie. Apple tart. Apple.

:: Homemade sweeties - they make their own and that's OK with me

:: Roast dinners. Very necessary.

:: Spaghetti Bolognese - how much mess can children make... give them a plate of spaghetti and find out!

:: And the never-ending basics of scones, biscuits and granola...


... they all somehow manage to get churned out of this little, tiny, dark, cramped space as we work together to make it happen.

Have any recipes you'd care to share?


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Corners of My Kitchen

My kitchen is small and dark and has one solitary worktop to work from which happens to be the size of a napkin. But putting this aside, I glance around me, and for fleeting moments I see small pockets of reprieve. I hold onto them to keep me sane.

It might be dark and small, but there is a prettiness here.


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Mirror Mirror Smashed on the Floor...

Well, this used to be a mirror. And then one day my babes made one of their daily pilgrimages to my side to declare 'oops, Mama, we didn't mean to...' as I winced and waited for the next words out of their mouths praying it wasn't something I really liked.



Annoyance not really an emotion I dwell upon as it does drain me so, I shrugged it off and binned the frame - it didn't come with a glass front and I couldn't see how I could salvage it into a picture frame or anything useful.

But then. Pinterest. Another site of mass distraction. Oh my. And frames seem to have a lot of life to them outside the box - some people are stapling wire or string to empty frames and pegging pictures onto them, and others are doing this - painting the backs with chalkboard paint and making themselves a little reminder board.

Not one to pass up a good idea, especially if it means landfill stays a little emptier - and hey presto! a chalkboard for the kitchen, because I never can find a paper and pen when I want to jot something for the shopping list.



I think I prefer it to the mirror! Not that I would ever let my babes know that, of course....


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Scenes From My Kitchen

Actually these pictures lie; there is so much more that goes on in this kitchen of ours, and very rarely does anything look that peaceful. Usually there is lego all over the table (and floor). Usually there are two blurs zipping in and out of the doors at either end, that I believe to be my children, but honestly who the hell can tell; it could quite easily be a Tasmanian Devil. Usually there is a hulking silverback slouched over a laptop or drinking coffee (or both).

But sometimes I order them OUT, and I get pootling, making things to eat, things to USE, things to clean with, and of course, all the washing up too.

I am currently in major batch mode for various foodstuffs that seem to be eaten by the gross weight - granola is a never-ending, continuous make, but recently hummus has been a big craze here - I love hummus, my DH likes hummus, and my eldest has joined me this year in his love for it too. We get through a batch a day. Crazy. (In case you're wondering, no, the midget hates it; of course. It isn't cake.)

So in case you would like to join this madness, here is the way we make hummus ::


Hummus Recipe

1 can of chickpeas
1/4 cup liquid from can of chickpeas
3-5 tablespoons lemon juice (depending on taste)
1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil

Do it ::

1. Drain chickpeas and set aside liquid from can.
2. Combine all ingredients in blender or food processor. Add 1/4 cup of liquid from chickpeas.
3. Blend until thoroughly mixed and smooth.
4. Eat. Go Mmmmm place leftover in the fridge (hah, WHAT leftover...)


ENJOY!

And you? What are you making in your kitchen these days?


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Scenes From My Kitchen

A few snapshots of life in the kitchen this week.



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