Golly, it’s nearly too late for this month’s IMK post, a blogging forum graciously hosted by Celia at Fig Jam & Lime Cordial.
I’ve been house sitting for my daughter while she was away and taking advantage of having a ‘real’ oven. See my post “A quickie” to see how I coped with that!
So, in my kitchen this month,
Is a vase of lovely spring flowers, and my new cast iron dutch oven. Is it wrong to buy a pot because it matches the tablecloth I bought in Sumatra?
Is a big pot of stock simmering in the slow cooker. Smells great! I’ve found this is the best way to make stock and we never run out any more.
Is a big basket of freshly picked oranges, kale and broccoli. It is just about the end of the crop for all three so I’m making the most of them. Tonight’s dinner will be leek, broccoli and mushroom risotto. The broccoli have been absolutely sensational this year. Harvesting from next planting is still a few weeks away yet.
On the fridge is the next page of the list of instructions we found left by Sheila for the housekeeper. We think circa 1960, first time I’ve ever heard of spare keys being kept in a pin cushion!
In my kitchen is an old cheese/butter cellar. This is built under the floor of the kitchen. It’s about 500 deep and 400 wide, there is a hole covered by mesh on the lower section where cool air from under the house enters into the cavity keeping things cool. You access it by lifting a bit of wood on the bottom shelf of a base cupboard. I’m hoping to incorporate this into our new kitchen design by using it as the bones of a cooling cupboard. This was very common way of keeping perishables apparently before refrigeration was commonplace.
This months view out to the oak tree. Amazing that the new leaves are so well established in such quick time. It’s almost as the last autumn leaf falls the new ones pop out. This tree is a great haven for birds of all kinds. It is hilarious watching the pecking order. First come in the lorikeets, then the corellas, rosellas, then galahs push their way in and then back to the lorikeets. Today, I caught a couple of Corella lovebirds up there preening over each other. I just couldn’t live somewhere where there were no trees!
Around The Mulberry Tree 
What a beautiful harvest you’re getting! You seem to have a very similar climate in Gippsland to what I have in the Southern Highlands of NSW – the broccoli, Kale and oranges are what Im harvesting right now too! You can get tighter heads on your broccoli by using a bit more Seasol during the development stage of the plant – I wrote a complete guide to growing broccoli on the blog if you want to check it out! http://bit.ly/1tyCJSP
LikeLike
HI, I’ll definitely check it out! Thanks.
LikeLike
I love that cold cupboard even if it’s a bit tricky to get to. 🙂 I’ve never made stock in my slow cooker but after looking at yours, I’ll have one going this afternoon!
LikeLike
Hi Maureen, I love stock in the slow cooker! I keep all the trimmings of things as I go in a container in the freezer and when its full just dump the lot in the pot with a few chicken bones etc. Add water and leave it to do its stuff. i’m not that fussed about how clear it is for general use but do strain it more for pho etc. Hope yours goes well! 🙂
LikeLike
How gorgeous! I’ve never seen corella lovebirds before! And I’m very taken with your butter cellar, although I’d probably be tempted to keep wine in it! 🙂 Beautiful veg and lovely cast iron pot – too heavy for me, but I can admire it from afar! 🙂
LikeLike
The birds really moved me, just gorgeous.
LikeLike
Wonderful Post…. I love the birds and I can’t wait to see what you do with that butter/cheese space… Very cool! I’m very jealous of your Orange tree 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
LikeLike
I’ve never heard of a butter cellar before, what a great idea. I find that Aussie homes (especially the pre air con ones) are definitely designed with environment in mind. They are definitely different than our homes here in Canada!
LikeLike
Hi, it’s quite interesting and I hope to put it into use when I finally get a real kitchen. Cheers.
LikeLike
G’day! Thank you for this month’s kitchen view too!
Your stock smells wonderful smells wonderful through the screen and love the birds!
Cheers! Joanne
LikeLike
Thanks Joanne, those birds were just awesome. Sadly haven’t seen them since.
LikeLike
The stock looks great! How do you strain the slow cooker? I find the slow cooker a little awkward for stocks sometimes. I’m also loving the matching tablecloth and cast iron dutch oven, such a beautiful colour the blue. Thanks for sharing IMK
LikeLike
Hi, I leave it to cool (o/night in fridge) scrape off any scum, fat oil etc and chuck the lot into a colander placed over a pasta pot. Waste goes to chooks and I freeze the stock in 250ml and a couple of 1 litre lots. I make quite a lot of pho and its great having a larger lot for that. The small ones are good and you don’t get much waste. I keep old sour cream containers and use those over and over for freezing.
LikeLike