In my kitchen:
Is this huge pile of candied orange peel. We had two boxes of oranges in the cool room waiting to be squeezed into juice for ages. When I finally got around to it, I decided to candy some of the peel. I ended up making this huge amount. Each piece is a quarter of an orange! Maus, who is a particularly polite woman, did ask (in the nicest way possible), “Do you really think you can eat that much peel?” The challenge is on!
In my kitchen:
Is this year’s garlic harvest. The day before we were to go back to Perth to fly to Lebanon, I noticed a bag of shooting garlic in the cool room. I had great plans of preparing the soil before planting this year’s crop but we just ran out of time. In about 10 minutes flat, I planted everything that was shooting. The rest got plonked into a plastic bag and put in the freezer. This is the result. There is a lot of garlic here. I broke most into cloves which I intend to freeze, some we will eat fresh and the rest we will save for next year’s crop.
Those who follow these posts may recognise my washing machine bowl in the above photo.
In my kitchen:
Is a lid for my washing machine bowl! My friends, Maureen and Jenny, came for lunch a while back and I served the salad in my bowl. During lunch, I lamented that it didn’t have a lid which, as I explained, was a pity as it is, reportedly, oven proof and, therefore, would make a perfect casserole dish. The next time they visited, they came bearing a lid for my dish. They explained they had visited their local tip and asked the attendant for the glass bowl out of one of the discarded washing machines. Now, only a true friend would get you a gift from their local tip:). They indicated they might give all their friends one for Christmas, so beware!!
In my kitchen:
Is my first crop of beetroot. I have many more in the ground. Friends have told me you can leave them in the ground until you want to eat them. I hope this is right. I know these would have made a better photo if I had left their leaves on and a bit of dirt, but I didn’t think ahead when I washed and trimmed them 😦
In my kitchen, well …..Astrid’s kitchen:
Are two loaves of bread Astrid made. Astrid contacted me and asked if she could have off-spring from my wheat and rye starters to which I happily agreed. These are her first loaves. She tells me her bread baking is a ‘work in progress’ as she is still developing her technique. These two loaves look pretty good to me. Astrid has also advised that she named her wheat starter Glenda after me!!!! Now that is exciting! It is the first time anyone (or thing) has been named in my honour. Astrid didn’t say what she had named her rye starter.
In my kitchen:
Is a near empty 5 kg bag of deZann couverture milk chocolate challets. I featured the same bag in my August IMK post when it was full. I bought this bag of milk chocolate and a bag of 58% chocolate at the end of July to practice my tempering skills. There is still plenty of the 58% left but a little mouse must have been eating the milk chocolate because it is nearly all gone and I haven’t done much tempering at all.
In my kitchen:
Are last two of the barazeks that I made in August. If you recall, I made six huge trays of them following a recipe from a book I bought in Lebanon. Lisa, from the Gourmet Wog, promised me her auntie’s recipe when I ate all of the barazeks. Only two to go, Lisa!
In my kitchen:
Is some Marshmallow Fluff. I recently posted on coconut joys and one of the ingredients was marshmallow crème. I advised you could get Marshmallow Fluff at your local supermarket. Several readers were amazed such stuff existed. So was I. When I saw that one of the ingredients was marshmallow crème, I went searching on the web to find out what it was and came across a forum where someone was asking the same question. She was advised it is sold as Marshmallow Fluff and will be in the spreads section in her local supermarket. And it was. It is made in the USA. The ingredients are corn syrup, sugar, dried egg white and flavouring. The serving suggestion is to have it on bread with peanut paste!! I still can’t believe such a product is available, let alone as a spread for bread.
In my kitchen, well ….. on the deck:
Is my new Weber Q. It is sort of my Christmas present to myself. Choice Magazine recommends the Weber Qs and we have been thinking of getting a small barbecue for the deck so we bit the bullet and bought one. I won’t pretend it is as easy to clean as the videos make out but it is decidedly easier than our other barbecues so we may use it more often. I baked some chicken wings in it and they turned out fabulously. I then grilled some kebabs but they ended up a wee too charred for anyone’s liking.
My third attempt was this T-bone steak and that looked (and tasted) pretty bloody good. The white stuff on the steak is Toum (garlic sauce). The recipe is Lisa’s (from the Goumet Wog) Quick and Easy Blender Toum which wasn’t that quick nor that easy but it worked and it tasted great. I followed Lisa’s instruction to a “T”. I was very impressed that it worked because I had just tried another recipe from one of my cookbooks and I ended up with a jug of garlicy, salty olive oil!! Thanks, Lisa.
In my kitchen:
Is this cute little herb container. We bought it in Positano on a trip to Italy. I love little souvenirs you pick up on holidays. They always remind you of your trip and the good times you had.
In my kitchen:
Is my olive stuffer. Something ever kitchen needs! You put a bit of capsicum in one end and then push the lever into the olive and voila! The olive is stuffed!
If you would like to see what is in other bloggers’ kitchens this month, visit Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. Celia hosts In My Kitchen each month.
Passion Fruit Garden 
I love that your friends went to the trouble of going to a tip to get you a lid for your washing machine bowl! True friends. 🙂
Hi Mary, I think it is hilarious. So good of them.
that weber q is soo cute! sooo much garlic 🙂
Thanks Giulia, The Weber Q is very cute and does a great steak. Yes we do have a lot of garlic, but that this better than paying $45+ a kilo for it.
So MANY wonderful things in your kitchen … and wonderful photos. I LOVED it all!
Thanks Marianne.
Hi Glenda
I was talking to a lady at the park the other day walking the dogs as you do. She said she had heaps of oranges and didn’t know what to do with them all so I told her about your candied oranges. Can you scan and email me the recipe so I can pass it onto her please.
They look very tasty by the way!!
Hi Gain, check you in box, recipe delivered.
As long as the white sauce on the steak isn’t marshmallow fluff, it will be fine…My mum always said, tongue in cheek, the only gadget she didn’t have in her kitchen was an electric banana peeler so now I’m going to have to ask her about the olive stuffer! Thanks for the tour!
Mmmmmmm an electric banana peeler, now there’s an idea!!
What a treasure trove your kitchen and garden are! Can you please share the secret of growing garlic – mine produced shoots and then promptly faded away – I was so disappointed! I would love to have a big patch of beetroot but unfortunately space is limited in my small garden. Maybe I can find space for a few however!
Merry Christmas!
Hi Marian. Many have said you need some chill factor. When I grew them in Perth, I had very disappointing results but you can’t stop them in Bridgetown.
Hello, Glenda. Your kitchen is chock full of good things, although Imust admit my eyes were drawn to the garlic. I think it’s in my blood. I’ll also admit that I’ve never tried marshmallow fluff. Peanut butter and jelly works for me. Why try to improve upon a winner? That olive stuffer is way cool! 🙂
Hi John, if I were you, I would stay away from the Marshmallow Fluff 🙂
I just love snooping in your kitchen Glenda. In case you’re having a hard time getting rid of those candied orange peels, I’d be happy to help you out. Your Weber looks so space age & beautiful. I’ll have to start looking for a new grill for next spring since ours has developed holes & is pretty battered & bruised. Love that olive stuffer too but I’ve never heard of anything like that & the herb container is very eye catching. Looking for some things like that for my counters to add some color.
I’m so sorry that you didn’t grow up on Marshmallow Fluff. It was a mainstay in everyone’s lunch bag in school.
Hi Diane. Thanks for stopping buy and checking out my IMK post. I am amazed you guys actually eat Marshmallow Fluff on bread. There should be a law against it!!
It’s a mainstay for kids – not just the Fluff, you have to add peanut butter.
I’m impressed with your garlic…. Hope you are both well as it’s been ages since we spoke. Catch up soon. Sue & Patti & Tillee XXX
Hi Guys. The garlic all stems from those sprouting heads you gave us. From small things, big things grow, alright. Thankyou
Hi Glenda, your kitchen full of wonderful thing again this month. That garlic is amazing and what great beetroot mine always end up odd looking. I love the BBQ, its funny no matter how “foodie” we go you can’t beat a bit of charred meat on a barbie.
And I hope Lisa comes to the party with the recipe your biscuits looks very very tasty.
Good luck with the Fluff….
cheers
Jason
Hi Jason. Lisa is definitely on a promise …. Garlic and beetroot seem to work in my vegie patch. I know a lot of people can’t grow garlic but it seems to look after itself here. That Fluff, who would have guessed you could buy such stuff.
You have so much going on in your kitchen. I didn’t know it was possible to buy an olive-stuffer! And I love all your orange peel and would love to know what you do with it xx
Hi Charlie, The plan is to coat the orange peel with tempered chocolate but I do have a lot!!
An olive stuffer? Oh my goodness! I had no idea that they even existed. I’m going to need a new gadget drawer at this rate… 😀 Marshmallow fluff scares me. Some things just shouldn’t be bought in a jar!
Hi Jas, I do have a drawer dedicated to gadgets and the like. I do agree about the Fluff. I think it demonstrates the difference in the US and Aus cultures, we can’t understand it and the American’s take it in their stride.
Your bread looks lovely! I’m very envious of your garlic though. I tried growing it last year, and the summer was too wet – it rotten right where it was planted. So disappointing!
Hi Misky, that is not my bread but Astrid’s though, I will take the compliment. I am so happy about the garlic. It costs $45.50 a kilo at our local supermarket. At that rate, this is about $90 worth.
Glenda, you always have so many interesting goodies in your kitchen. An olive stuffer is new to me – what a great gadget.
I once saw Marshmallow fluff here in a store and then never again. There is a company here which now sells it on line.
Our Weber which we are using this evening funny enough is about 100 years old – think it high time we upgrade. 😉
Have a super week ahead Glenda.
🙂 Mandy xo
Hi Mandy, Is your Weber the kettle style or the new Q? A lot of people swear by the old kettle webers.
Glenda you always have the most amazing contraptions in your kitchen. An olive stuffer! Who even knew that such things existed outside a commercial venture. Love the look of your beetroot (our last ones only grew to marble size) and your beetroot but you can keep your marshmallow fluff. Well, if I was next to an open jar I might possibly just have a little taste …
Hi Anne, Who would have guessed, an olive stuffer and Marshmallow Fluff in one sentence 🙂
An olive stuffer??? Seriously my jaw hit the desk when I finished the post. That is hilarious – where can I get one?! I smiled the whole way through Glenda especially when I read about your washing machine bowl. Thanks for sharing – and for the chuckles.
Hi Nancy, That washing machine bowl is the antz pantz! As for the olive stuffer, I am yet to use it but I am sure every good kitchen has one!!
I love your garlic! Enjoy your Weber – we use ours several times a week. I also hope you can leave beetroot in the ground until you need it as I have so many still underground 🙂
Hi Tandy. I tried scones today. They tasted great but the first lost didn’t brown. For the second lot I brushed them with egg yoke and that did the trick.
soooo jealous of your garlic haul! How fabulous!! also your beetroot – mine was a total fail – probably because the possums ate the leaves as soon as they grew. Oh well!
Hi Mel, luckily we don’t have a possum problem. Rabbits are a real problem but I have raised vegie beds so they can’t get in 🙂
You can eat beetroot leaves. I like them roasted like kale chips.
Hi Emma, Do they still taste ok when they get big? I know you can eat them when they are little but mine were huge.
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I’m having some serious grill envy right now! I hope you enjoy yours. It’s cold here right now so my grill gets used as an out door refrigerator to temporarily hold overflow. The herb container is absolutely precious. I’ve heard of a cherry pitter, and now I know how they get those olives stuffed! I’ve been known to stand in the kitchen, pull out the red things and replace them with Marcona almonds, by hand because I don’t have one of your cute contraptions!
December already?!
Hi Pamela. You have summer envy and I have winter envy 🙂 It is hard for me to imagine it is time to be putting the Christmas tree up but it is. Have a wonderful festive season.
An olive stuffer? You have the coolest things ever in your IMK posts, Glenda! Love that you have a starter named after you, and you KNOW what to do with all that peel, right? Choc-coated candied orange for Christmas! 🙂 I love that you have garlic, we planted a heap and didn’t get a single one, I think they were swamped by the perennial leeks!
Hi Celia, Luckily we still have some of the 58% left. That mouse hasn’t eaten that as well as the milk chocolate.
Glenda, a lot of people (here in the U.S.) extol the virtues of a “Fluffer Nutter” sandwich, but it’s never appealed to me. Your orange peel stash does though! (Garlic, too.) The washing machine bowl and new “lid” are wonderful! Congratulations on having a starter named after you. 🙂
Hi Kim. I just worry about the lack of nutrients in the Fluffer part of the sandwich. Of course, no one expects confectionary to be good for you but the hope is that a sandwich would be. The washing machine bowl and lid are out of this world! I just love it. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
G’day Glenda! What a warm and beautiful this month’s kitchen view!
Love your barazeks and Marshmallow Fluff make me smile as brings back many wonderful memories to me!
Love your herb container and yes, always love the memories of pieces bought while on holidays that take us all back to the sights, sounds, foods, people too!
Cheers! Joanne
Hi Joanne, I would love to hear about your Marshmallow Fluff memories.
Love the orange peel. I did a stack last year but use it more for baking so I froze it. I seem to still have loads. I also love your garlic haul. I am particularly intrigued by your olive stuffer. I have never heard of such a thing.
Hi Tania, I intend to coat mine in chocolate. I do have a LOT though …
ahh was it really August when I said that? Oops! Sorry Glenda 😉 It’s coming right up, promise.
My 2 garlic bulbs are embarrassing compared to your bumper harvest!! LOL I’m green with envy. Absolutely love that herb container, it’s just gorgeous and adds so much colour to the kitchen!
Also, intrigued by that olive stuffer! Does it remove the seed too, or do you need pre pitted olives to stuff them?
Hi Lisa, I have never used the olive stuffer :(. You have to pit the olives first then put something up the tube and then push. I just got it out to have another look and the little red thing on the end comes off and inside is a little brush for cleaning the tube. It is very cute indeed.
Loving the round up of good things in your kitchen this month! The Weber will be one of your best investments, I’m sure. I’ve had a Baby Q for years and love it to pieces! They use less gas than most other BBQs too. The candied peel is interesting, I’m about to do that too… something I haven’t done for years! Just waiting on a shipment of chocolate to arrive. Well done on the garlic, too! Will watch with interest the many recipes you post with it…. garlic is a key ingredient in my kitchen… we only had a small harvest this season. Many thanks for sharing xo
Hi Liz, thanks for all your comments. Do you find your Q easy to clean or is it just like any other BBQ?
Oh for summer again. I know – it isn’t even winter yet- but we have had lots of snow already and the garden is long gone. Looking at Australian summer always makes me long for fresh produce.
I love orange peel! I dip it into dark chocolate and then sprinkle with chocolate jimmies(like long sprinkles or 100’s and 1000’s) and they are so delicious.
I put marshmallow fluff/creme in fudge- never with peanut butter.
Thanks for sharing- I like your olive stuffer- have you had much use of it?
Hi Heidi. Now fudge I can understand. I used it to make a coconut confection which tasted great. I have never used the olive stuffer!!