Category Archives: In My Kitchen

In My Kitchen – May 2013

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In my kitchen:

Are tomatoes, cucumbers and a chilli!!!

I decided to take some photos this month in case you didn’t believe me.  It is now May and this is how many cherry tomatoes I picked yesterday!!  The plants are amazing.  OK, they are looking a bit sick in the middle but the outsides of the plants are green and healthy and they have flowers on them!  More bloody tomatoes!

When we first started picking, we would search in the vine jungle to get everyone we could find.  Now, if one jumps out at us and demands to be picked, we bother; otherwise, we just keep walking.  We are still picking much more than we can eat and I am making a grand effort to think of ways to use them.  This plateful is more than 2 kilos and, at $2.50 a punnet (250g), this plate is $20+ worth.  Considering how easy they are to grow, it is a disgrace how expensive they are.

2013 05 01_0206 copy

One reason, I believe, for the continual growth of my plants and the prolific cropping is the strange weather we are having.  Perth’s mean temperature in April was 2°C to 3°C above average.  We also had the hottest April day on record.    Here are a few quotes from the Burea of Meteorology for those who do not believe in climate change. Continue reading →

In My Kitchen April 2013

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In my kitchen:

Are tomatoes and cucumbers.  Yes!!! Still!  They are slowing down a bit.  We can now leave the property for a few days without coming back to a squillion cucumbers – we picked 16 the other day.

As it has been a bit cool lately, the tomatoes are taking much longer to ripen and not colouring as richly as those shown here.  The plants are beginning to look very sick, too.  It won’t be long before I pull them out.

IMG_2636 copySince I figured you would be so bored with my tomato and cucumber saga, I decided to take a few arty shots to make it a little more interesting. Continue reading →

In My Kitchen – March 2013

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In my kitchen:

Are cucumbers and tomatoes.    What else?  You may well ask.

My vegie patch experience has taught me so much this year.

Number one lesson:  10 cucumber plants will feed, at least, 50 people for the summer.  I have never seen so many cucumbers in my whole life – 28 was our record for one day.  At last, they are beginning to slow down. We are now picking about 8-10 every second day.   I don’t know how many cucumbers I thought two people could eat.  Maus has even taken to accosting strangers in the street and offering them cucumbers.  On most occasions, they are so amazed at the offer, they take one.

We now know which of our neighbours are big cucumber eaters.  I am sure this is useful information that will come in handy one day (a bit like all the things in Maus’ sheds).

Here is a photo of Jules doing the right thing for the cucumber cause.  Luckily, my three dogs like cucumbers.  They are a great treat for dogs because they are good for them, they love them and they have very few calories.  Lily has been known to eat half a cucumber at one sitting.  IMG_2560 copy Continue reading →

In My Kitchen – February 2013

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To be honest, what is in my kitchen this month are cucumbers and tomatoes.  But since I have already bored everyone with my dilemma, I decided not to take any more photos of mountains of cucumbers or tomatoes or, if I bothered to pick anymore, silverbeet.  I just have to move on!

My Maus is a good sort.  All who know her would agree.  But for those who don’t, I need to tell a short story.

We arrived in Bridgetown last week to 19, yes, 19 cucumbers.  The next evening, we drove (it is not like the city, you need to drive to your neighbours’ houses) around to all the neighbours in our vicinity offering cucumbers.  We got rid of six.

The next day, Maus had to go into town to buy some milk.  Here is the bit that proves, beyond doubt, that my Maus is a good sort.  She said to me,  “You know that nice man with the ute who always waves to us?  I wonder whether he would like some cucumbers.”  (The proof is in the pudding!!)  I looked at her, dubiously, and said,  ”Maybe, I will put some in a bag and you can ask him.”

She came back all puffed up and chuffed. He took the lot. They like cucumbers at his house.  As it turns out, he has two teenage sons and they eat a lot of cucumbers.  He also likes SILVERBEET!!

I need not say more.

So, when I was whinging to Maus the other night about the lack of items for my IMK post this month and she retorted, in a not so very nice way, “In my kitchen are my boots and dirty socks”,  I let it ride.

In my kitchen:

are my boots and dirty socks!

IMG_1863 copy Continue reading →

In My Kitchen – January 2013

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Happy New Year,everybody!!!

Most here are a bit seedy today.  I am being accused of leading my friends astray.  It appears that I am personally responsible for their over indulgence in food and alcohol during the past week…

But life goes on and it is time for another ‘In My Kitchen’.

In my kitchen:

Is garlic…

IMG_1538and lots of it!!! Continue reading →

In My Kitchen – December 2012

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IMG_0915 copyIn my kitchen:

Is my Weihnachtsmann Räuchermänner.

Räuchermänners (smoking men) are carved, wooden figures from the Erzgebirge, Germany. They are hollow and come apart in the middle so that an incense cone can be placed in the lower half of the body and lit. Smoke then billows from the mouth, as though the figure is actually smoking. Continue reading →

In My Kitchen – November 2012

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In my kitchen:

Are these beautiful field mushrooms I found on our block.

There is a funny story associated with these mushrooms - well, funny and tragic.  Sadly, the day we had them for dinner, we heard of the death of a young man who had done some work for us.  He died, unexpectedly, in his sleep.  His wife was away at the time and he was found by his young children.  His death, obviously, played on my mind. Continue reading →

In My Kitchen – October 2012

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In my kitchen:

Is proof I didn’t compost all my Rangpur Limes (aka mandarin/lemon crosses).  This is a small sample of the cordial I made.  We gave away as many as we could find homes for and then started squeezing.  The cordial is amazingly good.  We like it better than the lemon cordial I made earlier in the season.  I used 3 litres of juice, 1 kilogram of sugar and ½ teaspoon of metabisulphate (to preserve it).  I brought it all to the boil and then bottled it – very easy and no guilt.  All up, I made 9 litres. Continue reading →

In My Kitchen – September 2012

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In my kitchen:

Are a thousand Rangpur Limes.  ‘What?’ I hear you saying.  That is exactly what I said when Steve told me that the fruit I had been telling people for years and years and years were Tahitian Limes, were no such thing.  He boldly suggested that my tree had been mislabelled. Continue reading →