How quickly has June gone! I can’t believe its July already but I’m so glad to be back with you all – I missed you. Thank you to Celia from Fig Jam & Lime Cordial for another wonderful party – it’s so good to have a peak in your kitchen for some new inspiration. What’s in your kitchen this month?
This month In my Kitchen . . .
. . . More cookbooks! I just love my cookbooks, especially anything to do with Asian cuisine. My aim one day is to have a bookcase where a whole wall is devoted to cookbooks! (I can only dream of having a wall bookcase one day.)
The Vietnamese Street food cookbook (most Vietnamese food that is typically served on the street of Vietnam, you can now make in the comfort of your own home – Roast duck, skewers, wonton soups and baguettes – yumm!)
The Spicy Lovers Bible cookbook is the comprehensive collection of recipes, cooking techniques, food history & horticulture for cooks interested in spicy cuisine – I just love this cookbook, it’s absolutely my favourite right now. All of these wonderful cookbooks were given to me by my wonderful husband – unannounced surprises! I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.
The Jacques Reymond Cuisine de Temps was bought when we were at the Melbourne Good Food & Wine Show last month – I got Jacques to sign it too! A free tea towel from Myer was also thrown in with every book purchase.
. . . No Worries Curries spice blends. These were purchased when we visited the Melbourne Good Food & Wine Show last month. They are made locally here in Victoria by a lovely lady who one day, while cooking with her friends, decided that these spice mixes should be shared with the rest of Australia and the rest is history. Made Butter Chicken the other night (recipe coming shortly) and it would have to be the best butter chicken I’ve ever had! These spice mixes take the guess work out of gathering all the spices myself. These are perfect to get those Authentic Indian flavours for dinner if time isn’t your friend – dinner is on the table within the hour, perfect!
. . . Also found at the Melbourne Good Food & Wine Show last month Urban Spirit condiments. We bought three different sauces and tried them with some pulled pork pasties, which I made a couple of weeks ago. I’m still looking for the perfect dish for these sauce to work perfectly with. Do you have any suggestions as to what you think these sauces would go well with?
. . . It was my nephew’s 3rd birthday and he’s really into all large industrial machinery – loves diggers, cranes, dump trucks, excavators, tractors, etc (and he knows exactly what each one is called!) I came across the idea via Town Mouse Country Mouse, through In my Kitchen actually, last month! I knew my nephew would be so excited about this cake – his smile was enough to know it was a pretty awesome cake. All I did was construct the cake from store bought sponge, Betty Crocker’s chocolate frosting, maltesers and flake. I borrowed my nephew’s matchbox diggers and that’s how you ‘make’ a cake. I was proud of how it turned out.
. . . I also baked! I know, it was a shock for me too 😉 I don’t normally bake but these cupcakes looked so good I had to try them for myself. And yep, they were good! They were even delicious warmed up in the microwave for 20 seconds with cream, ice cream, custard or yogurt on top for dessert – yumm! Think I’ll be making these again as they were loved by both adults and children at my nephew’s party!
What a fantastic birthday cake. I am sure your nephew was very happy. I would love to get my hands on your cook books. Very jealous of all those shelves you have. I am new to what’s in my kitchen so my post is a bit late. It is up now if you would like to read it. Take care. Emma.
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Thank you Emily, all I can do is keep dreaming for a wall bookcase like that! I’m coming on over to have a look at you IMK post now. Nice meeting you
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Hi Nicole, lovely kitchen goodies! I like the spice mixes, I make my own so I can add more or less spice depending! Thanks for sharing 🙂
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I normally make my own Indian spice blends too but these spices come in so handy when we run out of time and the flavours are amazing. Sometimes there’s just not enough hours in the day 🙂 Nice to meet you
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Fun post, Nicole, and neat to see what’s going on in your kitchen! I have been so curious about the Vietnamese Street Food cookbook. I hope you post in the future about whether you like it or not. All those spices look terrific, too.
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Thank you for coming by. I’m dying to try something from the Vietnamese Streetfood cookbook & will definitely let you know how it goes. Nice meeting you through IMK
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Lots of lovely goodies indeed!
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Thank you. I just love sharing IMK and it’s amazing how many items get collected in a month
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Oooh, I don’t have that Dave Dewitt one – thanks for the headsup! And what a beautiful dining room you have! Your nephew is a very lucky boy, that cake is fantastic! 🙂
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Hi Celia, I wish that was my dining room – it’s just a photo I liked for the wall bookcase (sorry) If you get your hands on the Spice Bible grab it, it’s very interesting
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Nicole, your whole post made me smile — colorful, fun, imaginative, and flavorful! I’ve never tasted wild rosella before, but I was thinking it (& its cranberry counterpart) might be a fabulous side with your butter chicken. 😉 Also, that’s the cutest lil’ ‘construction’ cake I’ve ever seen!
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Thank you so much, I will keep that rosella & cranberry sauce for the next time I make butter chicken & let you know how it turns out. Digger cake was a BIG success
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Cookbook numbers are like a woman’s age. No questions, no lies! We had a blast as the food and wine show too, but missed the curry spices, damn…
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Click on the No Worries Curries link, they could deliver to you I’m sure. I like your logic on the cookbook numbers & woman’s age – a chuckled to myself!
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Oh My I thought I had a lot of cookbooks, but now I bow down to the queen 🙂 thanks for sharing this month! Liz x P.S That cake is amazing!
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Thank you for your kind words. I don’t think I’m the queen of cookbooks yet but maybe one day 😉
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LOL! 🙂
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No worries curries look darned interesting, I would love to have some of those. I dont think I have seen them in US though. I love the Vietnamese street food……
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I’m not sure if they’ve hit the US market yet but you could contact No Worries Curries via the link to see if they post internationally. I love all my cookbooks – sign up for my posts so you can see when I make a dish from the cookbook
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G’day! Your cake is AWESOME and glad we share a cookbook addiction!
Thanks for this month’s kitchen view also!
Cheers! Joanne
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Thanks for coming past, I love meeting new foodies with the same passion & inspiration for food as me. I’m not sure how many cookbooks I actually have – my husband keeps asking how many I have 🙂
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That cake is awesome! Your dining table set is awesome too 🙂
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I did quite well with my nephew’s cake don’t you think! Nice meeting you, hope you come back soon
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Your cookbook wall would be a dream for me too. The cake is very cute and those cupcakes sound delicious. What could be served with cream and ice cream that wouldn’t be wonderful?
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Agreed! Chocolate especially! Glad you came past and said hello. It’s great to see lots of inspiration
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I think a wall of cook books is a great idea!
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One day it will become a reality. Nice to see you again
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Lots of goodies there, including plenty of books! I have a wall of books, and more! : )
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My cookbook collection is growing for sure and I continually feel inspired by each & everyone of them.
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