Remember back when the Celia from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial started her In My Kitchen series and folks from around the world were joining in? I said I didn’t think I could participate because I never had anything much in my kitchen that was new. This month you might agree with me.
I must stay out of op shops. This month I dragged home the cake stand in my previous post and along with it this cute egg basket-y thing. John looked at it and said, “Just one word. Why?”
“Because it’s cute,” said I. “I will put it in the background of a quiche or something.”
“Or something,” he said, looking over his glasses. “WHERE are you going to keep all this crap stuff?”
I still think it’s cute.
I received this package of Marion Grasby’s Malaysian Curry and I was going to make this big post about National Cook Curry day (last month) but we had Rob here and the death in the family and life got all overwhelming. So the package sat.
I don’t normally use a package but we’re going to eat this and offer our apologies to celebrity cook, Marion Grasby. We’ll sing her praises as we eat her Malaysian curry with chicken. You can see all Marion’s recipes from her TV show on Lifestyle Food.
Last month a fellow named Jeremy Purt who lives in the northern part of Queensland wrote to me and said he had just created a website to sell his chilli jam and could I please give him some pointers on blogging in exchange for a jar of his chilli jam to try. Never one to shy away from a challenge, I did both. Jeremy’s website, Chilliseekers.com is very new. His blog has only one post so you see how new that is.
The jam is spicy and sweet and full of flavour. I thought I’d have a play with it and mixed some of this chilli jam with some fig jam and served it with cheese. I was pleased with myself. Rob thought it was too spicy (he doesn’t eat anything spicy but at 92, who does?), John didn’t think it was spicy enough. I’m Goldilocks and I thought it was just right. I also served it with some fried chicken and all thumbs up.
Jeremy makes 3 heat levels of his chilli jam and I got the mild. He’s in the very early days and only produces a few products but I think he’s got a wonderful future.
I like popcorn – we both do. I had seen a few popcorn posts on the net and decided that shaking a pan on the glass cooktop wasn’t a brilliant idea. The toss-up was whether to get an air popper or one of these Whirley Pop thingos. I decided I’d get the whirley because it just reminded me of the really heavy popcorn pan we had when I was a kid. There was a crank thing on the top that you turned around and it made great popcorn.
Enter the Whirley Pop. It’s so light that the directions say not to use it on high heat or the metal will melt. I kid you not. Any thinner and I’d be making popcorn on aluminum foil. You can only use it on medium heat but it works just fine. I’ll make something for you soon.
Have you ever promised someone you were going to do something and kept forgetting? That’s me in spades. I have great intentions and then I end up with so much going on. If I don’t write it down and organize a time, out the windows of my brain. I bought these sea salt flakes from the Great Barrier Reef for an American friend and I haven’t put them in the mail yet. I have no excuses and only sincere apologies for being a twit. Maybe embarrassing myself publicly will get me to the post office. 🙂
And that’s it for what’s going on at my house in the kitchen. As I wrote this I remembered I had two other things in my kitchen but I’ll save them just in case I have nothing in my kitchen in October. I will have tomatoes in my kitchen in October. My nifty tomato plants are covered in tomatoes.
What’s in your kitchen? I’m dying to know. I have a case of EKE. Extreme Kitchen Envy. Every peek soothes my soul. 🙂 If you join in and I hope you do, please link to Celia’s blog Fig Jam and Lime Cordial and she’ll add you to the list.
I love the egg thingy!! I have a wire cake stand thingy that i dragged home from the middle of the road of all places!! I still get eye rolls from the hubs for that one.
At least mine came from a shop. I paid a whole $4 for it. 🙂 John would probably raise a stink if I said, “STOP, let me get out and get that thing on the side of the road!” LOL
I am JUST the same and in my kitchen this month is smoked Maldon sea salt, a new pie plate and a new “old” basket for my hen’s eggs! LOVELY blog and great post! Karen
I have a box of Maldon but not smoked! Interesting and now I must be on a hunt for it. I don’t have any hens since we moved here but it’s one of the things I missed most about living on a place with acres. Thanks so much for the visit, Karen!
I agree, your egg baskety thing is really cute and your popper pan looks fabulous. It’s always interesting to see what’s in other bloggers; kitchens. Every month I intend to do an In My Kitchen, it’s been over a year since I managed it, but somehow the month has gone before I realise it.
Hi Choclette,
Every month I tell myself I’m going to photograph the day things arrive in my kitchen. So far it hasn’t happened. 🙂 I hope you do a post!
it was my birthday week last week, so i have 2 new red pots— not only just pots, it’s le creuset cast iron . it had always been in my list, and now i have not just 0ne but 3… and they are in red! hihi.
I wish i am back home so i could see what else is…
thanks for sharing Maureen
3 cast iron pots? I have serious pot envy, Malou!
I have never seen the flakes before but they look really awesome. Sounds like you are going to have lots of tomatoes soon!!
I’m going to take some photos of pre-red tomatoes soon. 🙂
What a lovely post Maureen, I love that egg thingy, so cute! I’m going to participate soon, I just haven’t been home much lately. I really must get Celia’s blog on my reading list too, its been recommended a lot.
See? That’s what I said, Eva, but the truth is, the things that you consider ordinary in your kitchen (like I do about mine) aren’t ordinary when I look at your kitchen. You can buy different things than we can down here and your taste is different (but I’m sure complimentary). I like seeing your dishes and quirky things in your photos and the In My Kitchen only showcases the background rather than the recipe hero. 🙂
Maureen, I love the chooky thing…. and the popcorn pot is a great idea! Loads of good stuff in your kitchen : )
I’m not sure about the popcorn thing. I’m afraid it’s going to melt 🙂 I’ll be very careful. LOL
I get the same response from my hubby when I bring new treasures home! I don’t think our men are visualizing our blog photos when they see our new purchases 🙂 You have lots of fun things in your kitchen this month. And now I’m craving popcorn!
LOL! If I had of brought the egg holder home I would have got the same reaction from Mr GG.
Love the look of the chilli jam, YUM!
Okay first of all that egg holder is adorable! I’ve always wanted one but don’t have enough bench space. And that popcorn holder is a great idea! 😀
Confession: i sneak new purchases into the kitchen and hide them at the back of a cupboard, then bring it out muttering something like “i’d forgotten all about this”. Works every time! Jealous of your egg holder thingumajig!
Chili jam! I used to make my own chili jam before I got super busy managing a Chinese Restaurant in Capalaba area. It’s a versatile jam and perfect accompaniment to aged cheese!
okay so now I need to get me some sea salt flakes and chili jam! ITs all i can think about after reading this post!
Cute little egg faces!
Maureen, I love that egg stand, and the cake stand! Why do I never find anything like that op shops!
Fancy egg basket!
i’m jealous with you my friend!
it’s gonna be great as a egg dish background photograph……
Hi Dedy, I’m certainly hoping it works 🙂
btw, i had the same issue with you too, too many kitchen toys, i reallize sometimes it can fit’in in my kitchen….hehehe
I agree with the cuteness of the egg basket but then I put an empty fruit bowl on the kitchen table because I thought it was cute and I found it at my parents’ place. One of these days I’ll have to put actual fruit in it. Maybe I’ll buy those marble fake fruits instead because knowing my fruit eating habits … well, spoiling fruit would not be pleasant. 🙂
I recently acquired a glass top stove and that ruins my habit of shaking an aluminum pot with popcorn kernels in it as well.
My husband would say the exact same thing if I came home with your gorgeous egg holder! Why?…I’d be like ‘Why not?’!! After a while, I tend to hide things all over the house without telling him. From shoes to food 🙂
I can’t wait to see what you plan to do with your funky popcorn pot!
Yes @ yummy chunklet. The egg holder is fabulously cute, but the faces on the eggs? GOLD! Almost as good as “It’s so light that the directions say not to use it on high heat or the metal will melt” – That popcorn maker wouldn’t last 5 minutes in my kitchen, I reckon I’d have it melted and in a smouldering mess before it even got through its first batch. Impatience is my middle name!
Yeah it’s cute, poor men don’t understand things at times. In my kitchen.. hmm.. I still have a spice which doesn’t have a name and I got a new Jar of Para dried fish in a vinegar chili spice marination. New tools and kitchenware? zero. =D
I should change that soon!
Maureen:
You sound pretty much like me. 🙂 I have so many things in my mind that I end up forgetting important things when I don’t write them down.
All these are great products…The cookbook made me curious and the chilli jam seems a must-have.
I love these kitchen favorites, Maureen! My mind immediately went to sprinkling those sea salt flakes on something sweet… I’ve gotta get my hands on them!
I don’t know that the sea salt from the Great Barrier Reef is any better (or worse) than salt from any other part of the ocean 🙂
I love that egg basket/stand. You have avery fun kitchen, what’s in it and what comes out of it 🙂
Bet your brain can’t beat mind. I have a brain like a sieve. Bet your friend understands. 🙂
Those are cute egg basket. I am very much intrigued with the chili jam – how interesting. 🙂
That pop corn thingy looks way cool. We just pop it in the microwave (regular popcorn we put in a paper bag – not that high priced stuff). But that looks like fun, although I’d be sorely tempted to test whether it’d indeed melt (reminds me of high school chemistry). Fun stuff – thanks.
Maureen, I adore you, you always make me laugh so much! Every time you drag something home from the op shop and John says, “why?”, I think, “uh-huh”. I’m still grinning over the koala tea pot. I AM sorry though to hear about the death in the family. Don’t ever feel bad about making a curry from a pre-made paste, that’s how almost ALL my Chinese Malaysian relatives do it and have always done it. They go on long quests to find a good paste, but at the end of the day, I don’t know a single one of them who blends their own. The chilli jam sounds promising – how good of you to support a new business like that! And the popcorn maker was lightweight? That sounds odd – I always thought those things had to have thick bases? Lovely post – I smiled at your first line, because I’m always SO happy to see your IMK posts! 🙂
Love the Whirley Pop thingy and your chook egg holder too!
Thanks Maureen for this month’s in your kitchen unique view!
Cheers! Joanne
Boy does your husband sound like mine. Thrift shops are my favorite digs for food photo pieces. I love your egg stand. I can’t wait to see how you use it in a quiche post.
I love the egg holder!!! Great stuff and I bet the chili jam with the fig jam was delicious!
I LOVE your egg thingy. My hubbie thinks anything that isn’t ‘practical’ is superfluous but luckily for me I have a huge pantry where anything new is tucked away! I use Pataks curry pastes all the time I’m sure Marion’s will be yum.
I think you have plenty going on in your kitchen – just like you do in your life! I was contacted by Jeremy too. He seems like a lovely guy but as you know, I’m quite overwhelmed with many different projects/events and I just didn’t think I could give him the help he needed. I’ll be interested to get your thoughts on Marion’s products – I haven’t bought them yet as I’ve been so disappointed with just about every pre-packaged paste I’ve bought xx
I love your cute op-shop find. 🙂 Bear shakes his head in amusement at what I bring home too. 🙂 In my kitchen? Well, I just got groceries last night so they’re piled everywhere, five blocks of beeswax for making lotions and candles, cute little jars for putting homemade face cream in, and a whole stack of papers that need filing. 🙂
The egg basket is definitely the cutest kitchenware I’ve ever seen!! I love anything vintage, so you’d probably find a lot of it in my kitchen 😉
i love the egg basket , i want to have one
I think the egg stand is cute too – a very worthwhile purchase! I like the sound of that chilli jam too.
Some cool goodies indeed Maureen- especially the popper! My mum has just started volunteering at an Op shop, and I bet their sales have tripled overnight 🙂 She just can’t resist a good bargin!
I think that wire egg holder thing is so cute! You could also perhaps use it as a cupcake stand?
Hi Maureen. I love your popcorn pot. Was it made in China? You get some amazing instructions in English on Chinese goods. I love reading them. Sometimes the instructions are more fun than the actual item.
I agree with Celia, I love your IMK posts, and always have a great smile in my face while reading – well, not in this one, sorry to hear about the death in your family…
As to the chili jam, my Dad passed away at 82, but I can guarantee you he would love it at 92, or 95, or 98. He was a pepper addict and could stand a level of spice that no one else would be able to match. I miss him a lot, even though it’s been 9 years…
I liked the egg basket thingie, and I bet Phil would love it, but we don’t have enough space to justify bringing that to our kitchen. Kitchen? What am I talking about? I have NO kitchen right now (sigh)
What a fun idea for a post. And you have many new goodies in your kitchen too, the egg holder is adorable.
What CUTE new additions!! Which to pick? I love them all =)
That egg basket is so cute! Definitely a worthwhile purchase! 🙂
The egg stand & basket is so adorable! Malaysian curry from an Australian masterchef contestant? hmm..
New ingredients I’m trying this month Maldon sea salt flakes and coconut nectar
Coconut nectar? Now I need to go shopping! I do use Maldon sea salt flakes in my kitchen. I’m glad you like my eggy basket. 🙂
Two Le Crueset stock pots, fresh eggs and Kitchen Aid stand up mixer in my kitchen.
Have a great weekend.
Velva
The egg thing is so cute! How could anyone say otherwise? The jams sound amazing as well!
Sarah, I couldn’t agree with you more. 🙂 I keep telling him he has no taste every time he laughs at my chicken egg basket.
You are unbelievable!!! This gave me a hoot of laughter. I am afraid your wire egg stand might not be as good a prop as you might have thought it would be, but it is adorable. Though I can empathize with John and his indignant tone.
I am sorry for the death in the family…..
I found you through Rambling Tart. I love the name of your site!! And I’d love one of those egg holders too please… is that not the cutest thing ever?!!
I love Krista too! I’m pleased we’ve connected. When I’m done with it, I’m happy to send it to you. 🙂
Hello Maureen, I hope you are doing well. This week I have been going through all of my kitchen stuff and it is amazing all the things we accumulate. I quite like your little hen basket, very cute. I am in shock and awe in the amount of spices from all over the world I have. I just went though and organised it all put them in special container, labeled them all dated them all. You how people talk about having a spice drawer, I think I need a walk in “spice” cabinet. LOL Have a super weekend. BAM
LOL you know, I’ll be somewhere in the world there is a woman saying, “My walk-in spice cabinet is too small.” I want to be her. 🙂
Nice post, Maureen – and tell John that room can always be found for interesting bits and pieces, but to be careful opening cupboards!
He already knows to be careful, especially in the storage/laundry room 🙂
Oh I loooove the egg basket! I’ve seen some cute ones before, but I have to say yours is my favorite! So cute, love the hen on top! And this is my first time seeing that popcorn pot. Pot!!! I had no idea and want one – we love popcorn too and this is better than a giant popcorn machine I thought of getting one (but unrealistic). 😀 Love “In My Kitchen” series!
I almost bought one of those big popcorn machines for the theatre at our old house. I got busy and then forgot about it. I love popcorn.
I want that egg basket, never seen anything like and it is adorable. This is a great post, love to see what’s happening in the kitchen and the chili jam looks good.
We live 5 minutes away from an antique store, street. The whole street has the most beautiful antique shops, I was introduced to that street by my husband which he seriously regrets now..:), they will never get it.
John is more than used to me after nearly 20 years. He likes me and I remind him that it’s my quirkiness that I fell in love with. He says he’s pretty sure it was my boobs. 🙂
That wire contraption sure looks interesting. I am sure you have now posted the salt. These days of instant everything, it always seems such an effort to actually post something.
I only wish I could say that it has happened. 🙂 I’ve been away at a food festival and I hope to get it done today.
I love your egg stand. It was a perfect find.
Hi Maureen,
I was at your talk today at the Real Food Festival. What you said really helped me and I am keen to add some of your suggestions to my blog.
Thanks for the great talk
Elly
Ellie! I’m so happy you let me know. It was my first talk to strangers and I worried that it wasn’t fantastic. 🙂 Anytime you’d like to get together for some help, just send me an email at maureen [at] orgasmicchef.com.
Oh, I like the look of all that… that egg thing is really cute, but… space for only 8 eggs? That wouldn’t cut it in my house – big egg fans that we are.
What’s an “op shop”… I guess it must be one of those Australian expressions. Is it like a thrift shop?
I adore that egg basket!! My husband has the same reaction when I bring home my newest photo props!! 😉
Maureen, I’m notoriously tardy in responding to everyone’s IMK posts, including yours (and including your subsequent posts)… such is the collateral damage of being graced with a virus from a visiting Labor Day weekend lake neighbor. Anyway, your chicken “basket” is adorable — I was thinking it’d make a nice “popover server” (if they’ll fit) or a display stand for Faberge eggs. 😉 Will have to check out the chilli jam… even if it’s only vicariously, I can “taste” how good it is. I think there are plenty of things in your kitchen to share, especially stories. 🙂
I don’t think it would fit a popover but I’m going to give it a try 🙂 I’m sorry you have been under the weather. Too many people have gotten that bug.
I want your egg thingy.
The egg stand is so cute!
Thanks, Chloe. My husband still thinks it’s dumb. He’s at least glad I’ve given away the koala teapot. 🙂