I’ve been wanting to do an “in my kitchen” post for oh, a year now, but so much going on, nothing much IN my kitchen to talk about or I forgot.  It’s one of those reasons all the time.

Today is different.  I got some cool things last weekend.  Last week I received my much anticipated copy of Lorraine Elliott’s Not Quite Nigella book.  If you have a sense of humor, get this book.  You’ll thank me.

Last week wasn’t a terribly good week for me so on Saturday morning John said, “Let’s go to the farmer’s market and then get breakfast.”  Anything with food in it is going to get my attention and off we went.

We said goodbye to Charlie and as I closed the door I could hear the tiniest “mmmmmph” from the other side.  I’m pretty sure that was  dog for, “I want to go too!”  He waits right by the door until we get back.

As we drove up the street to the spot where the farmer’s market is, there was a car boot sale at the local church.  John looked at me, my face gleaming with joy, and said, “oh come on, it might be fun.”

Well, fun it was.  I bought cookbooks for a dollar – great for inspiration for photos or recipes.  I bought some cute little baskets to use as props and a funny cake stand that folds down.  I’m going to try to paint that.  I’m not the craftiest person in the world, so don’t hold your breath.

THEN, just as we were getting ready to go to the car to dump our treasures, I saw this one table I hadn’t noticed.  It had teapots on it.  I swear if I’d come with tons of money I would have bought the lot but sadly, I was going for a few veggies.

Seriously, won’t that be cute to use as a prop for some yet unknown Australian recipe?  John looked at me and shook his head.  “That’s just stupid, don’t buy that one,” he said.  I rolled my eyes at  him as any American would do in Australia.  Of course I had to have him!

Then I spied this chicken.  Now normally you won’t find “cluttery” things in my house.  Not that I don’t enjoy them in your house but frankly, I can’t be bothered keeping them all clean.  Dirty collectibles do nothing for me so knowing that I have no extra time, I bought this chicken and I’ll use her as a prop.

Notice that wonderful pot in the background?  I’ve already used it for an upcoming recipe.  See!

I’ll be posting that recipe soon.  It’s a white chocolate bread pudding made with brioche and rose petal and vanilla infused cream.  John who rarely eats dessert has nearly finished it off.

We bought this after we arrived at the farmer’s market.  Now you might be thinking this is the back of the bottle but alas, it’s not.  This is made by an elderly couple (more elderly than me, I might add) who live in a caravan/travel trailer and cook their goodies in a local school kitchen and sell them at markets.  We’ve bought from them before and I’ll be writing about them in my local blog, suncoastgourmet.com.au.  They are as cute as can be but they could use some marketing help with the labels.  Just a phone number, no website and they’ve marked over something on the label.

Still, I buy it because it’s so good.  We have finished off 3 bottles and jars of stuff we’ve bought from them and that rarely happens in my kitchen.  We eat some of it and the rest gets tossed because we forget to use it.  Not with this.  Anyway, at markets in Australia, homemade sauces and chutneys can cost from $9 to $15.  No preservatives, hand made with love – that sort of thing comes with a price.  How much are their sauces?  $4.  I can’t imagine that covers their costs!  I need to get to know them better, don’t I ?

What’s happening in your kitchen this month?

If you’d like to do an In My Kitchen post on your own blog, please link back to Fig Jam and Lime Cordial and let her know when your post is up, so it can be added to the monthly listing.

P.S. I’ve just learned that gremlins attacked my email signup form so if you’ve tried and you’ve been given the wheel of doom that never stops turning, John is working on it as we speak so can you try again?  I’d love to be able to let you know when I’ve posted something new.