What a busy month it’s been! I’ve gone back to school three days a week to study Commercial Cookery. This not only benefits my cooking skills but teaches me about basics of many dishes that are prepared in commercial kitchens. I’ve learnt so many things in only four weeks but the one thing I’ve learnt is how to sharpen knives properly – my knives have never been sharper!
Apart from school, I’m still cooking as much as I can. The only difference being that I’ll try to adapt recipes that are quick and easy – being restricted for time doesn’t allow a lot of dishes to be made from scratch. I also have been preparing dishes that can be frozen for those nights when I get home from school late & I can’t be bothered cooking – perfect! I will be sharing these with you over the month.
Again thank you to Celia at Fig Jam & Lime Cordial for hosting such a wonderful collaboration of people’s kitchens from all over the world – love meeting new people who have the same passion for food as I do. If you’d like to join us, click on Celia’s name above and join in the fun!
In my Kitchen . . .
. . . are my husband’s guitars. What are they doing in the kitchen Nicole? I hear you ask. Well, a friend of ours came down from Newcastle to stay with us. There wasn’t enough space in the spare room for both the mattress and the guitars, so they stayed in the kitchen. Bit hard to cook brekkie with them there but the guitars enjoyed my bacon and egg rolls! 😉
In my Kitchen . . .
. . . a bag of tomatoes that I picked up from the grocer for $3!
The perfect amount for making passata. I really enjoy making my own now and I think I’ll only buy passata if I need some desperately because I’ve run out.
In my Kitchen . . .
. . . my favourite knife in my collection – my Laguiole Debutant Red Tomato Knife. Worth every cent! I have never been able to cut tomatoes, chillies, buns or soft fruit or vegetables quite like the way I cut them with this knife, ever! I think if I ever lost this knife, I’d cry then go out and buy another asap!
In my Kitchen . . .
. . . fresh baby spinach – at $2 a bunch I couldn’t go past it! I was craving my spinach and ricotta triangles and as soon as I saw them I knew that I’d be making them over the weekend. These triangles are the sorts of meals I make over the weekends so I don’t have to cook when I get home from school – I put the oven on & in 15 minutes, dinner is served!
In my Kitchen . . .
. . . my new Breville ‘74 retro jaffle maker! I won a competition with SPC for coming up with the perfect jaffle. My entry was thinly sliced chorizo sausage with SPC ham baked beans and some Spanish mahon or jamon cheese, topped with perfect runny, poached egg! Still need to make it but when I do I’ll let you all know. I’ve never had a jaffle maker before and I’m so excited about having one now! I just love the old-school retro look of it too.
Can we have a peek into your kitchen?
Miss Food Fairy 
i love your jaffle maker but i am lusting after that laguiole knife. must have! and clever you doing that cooking class. what a great idea.
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Thank you Sherry, I decided to use my spare time going back to school doing something that I love – cooking! I’m loving it and inspired every day I go! Great to see you
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I love the retro look of the waffle maker I’m sure you’ll get a load of use out of it on school days. How exciting to go back to learning something you are passionate about – not like my school days 🙂
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I’ve looked at many jaffle makers but this one is old-school I just love it! Cooking is my passion so enhancing my skills can only benefit the dishes I prepare – and my husband loves the food I’m bringing home 🙂
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Hi Nicole! It’s wonderful that you are taking classes and congrats on the win! 🙂
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Thank you so much Emily. I’m loving school as it benefits my cooking at home. My new jaffle maker is just the perfect addition to my kitchen. Thank you for coming by
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I love that you have guitars in the kitchen. I’m a musician (my other passion) and I have musical instruments all over my house 🙂 I am so jealous of your Laguiole knife… I can’t wait till I can afford a whole set! Thanks for sharing! Liz x
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My husband will be pleased to know you loved his guitars in the kitchen. Laguiole knives are the perfect addition to any kitchen – I look forward to the day I have a complete set too. Great seeing you again x
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What a fun post! I love that waffle maker and you won it! Neat. I use my waffle maker twice a year, but it’s so nice to have it when I need it. Love the tomato knife and delicious looking tomatoes, too. Great post!
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Sometimes you just feel like a warming lunch or dinner that doesn’t take long to make – jaffles are a meal in itself! Great seeing you again
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That jaffle maker is sooo cool, it took me straight back to my childhood where we’d come home from school in winter and make cheese and tinned spaghetti jaffles. We’d suffer third degree burns on our chins, but it was worth it!
Love your red knife, it very cool.
Nice peak into your kitchen, Nicole.
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I completely forgot about spaghetti & cheese jaffles! How good were they – we had baked beans 🙂 And yes, you would have to be careful of burning yourself when melted cheese was involved! Thank you for coming into IMK with me
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Great to see into your kitchen. Commercial cookery will open up all kinds of doors for you. nice to meet you!
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Thank you so much. I’m not sure what I’d like to do at the end of the course but I know I’m going to benefit so much from commercial cookery. Lovely meeting you too
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Nicole, I love the look of that knife, now I am on the lookout for one.
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It’s an amazing knife for all soft fruit and vegetables and really soft bread rolls – perfect! Let me know if you need help finding the knife, there’s a couple of websites that sell them. Thank you for coming past. It’s nice to meet you
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You look wonderful there in your whites! Sounds like you’re having great fun, and as you say, learning to sharpen knives is such a wonderful skill to learn (wish I could do it, but I’m accident prone). Your guitars in the kitchen made me laugh – how DID you cook around them? And the jaffle iron looks fabulous – congrats on a well-deserved win! 🙂
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It’s so funny seeing myself in chefs whites Celia! I look like a real chef for sure! Sharpening knives are essential for me as they get blunt so quickly, it would end up costing a fortune for knife sharpening. The guitars slept overnight and stayed until out guest woke up at 11am! Walking around them & trying to be careful not to accidentally knock them took everything I had 🙂
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Oooh…jaffle maker…I remeber my mum had one that you needed to cook under the grill. The Breville Snack Sandwich maker was a revelation! Great tour. I’m loving that knife hard (v. jealous) xx
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How good are jaffles!? Very Australian aren’t they?! And so many options to fill them with – what’s your favourite? Would love some new ideas on fillings 🙂 Thank you for coming to share my IMK – heading over to see your IMK now. Lovely meeting you
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What a wonderful IMP instalment. School, hmm, quite a scary thought for me – kudos to you.
Have a lovely day.
🙂 Mandy xo
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School can be difficult when you get older as so many personalities! It’s taken me 5 weeks to try and stay calm, understand that we all learn at different paces and try not to get upset (that’s a BIG try!) with people not understanding! I was taught to always listen to the teacher but some people . . . Anyway, love school as it’s something I love learning about. Nice meeting you Mandy x
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I good knife is a cooks best friend.Yours is pretty to boot. And the jaffle maker is a knock-out.
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I have many beautiful knives that I love using but my Laguiole tomato knife is just a dream for those soft ingredients. Thanks for coming past
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Stunning guitars. Very jealous. I play guitar too so I don’t think its weird that they’ve made it to your kitchen. Sorry if this is a stupid question. What is a jaffel? Looks cool though. The passata looks delicious. Hope you enjoy my IMK. Emma.
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My husband didn’t think it was weird either! He loved it! I will let him know you’re a fan of his guitars 🙂 A jaffle is a very Australian thing, which we all grew up on. Great for nights when you can’t be bothered cooking. It’s basically a toasted sandwich filled with a variety of condiments (ham, cheese, tomato or baked beans, even nutella & banana). When ready, it’s cut for you and the filling is deliciously hot inside – mmmmmmm . . . getting hungry just writing about it! If you would love to subscribe to my blog you’ll see when I make my winning jaffle, straight to your inbox. Lovely to have you here.
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Thanks for sharing, that knife looks awesome as does the silver beet. I hope the tomatoes taste as good as they look. Good work going back to school, never can learn too much!
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Thank you for your kind words. The tomatoes make the best homemade passata. Better than anything I’ve ever bought at the supermarket – no preservatives or added colours or sugars. It’s great meeting you
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G’day! Love your jaffle makes and love retro recipes!
Enjoy your kitchen view post also today too!
Cheers! Joanne
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Thanks Joanne. Everything in IMK gets treated with lots of love and used when needed. Thanks for coming past
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Just had to google “jaffle” as never heard of them before. One of the wonders of IMK is that every month I learn something new. Just wish I could remember it all. Your passata looks good.
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Isn’t what Celia does just beautiful! How would we ever have met if it hadn’t been for IMK!? I’m so glad you learnt about jaffles – they’re a very big part of the Australian way and can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Subscribe to my blog and when I post about my winning jaffle recipe, you’ll see it first straight into your inbox. Nice having you here
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I haven’t seen a Laguiole tomato knife before but I can undertand how it would do a great job. The silverbeet looks so fresh I’m sure it would make great triangles, yum!
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I hadn’t either before I bought it but it was definately worth every cent and I can’t believe I went so long without it! Hope you have a chance to make my spinach & ricotta triangles, they’re pretty tasty! Lovely having you here
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How fun that you’ve gone back to study commercial cookery! Love the knife… and those tomatoes look tasty. Thank you for the peek into your kitchen xo
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School is really exciting! Love learning about food and knowing that this can benefit me in so many ways. It’s good to see you, thank you for coming past x
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Three cheers for you going to cooking school! That jaffle maker looks the goods! Ours is on the way out so may have a look for one. Thank you for sharing with us.
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Loving school – I’m learning so much. The Breville ’74 jaffle maker is awesome – it cuts the jaffle in half (triangles) so you don’t have to burn your fingers cutting the jaffle when it comes out. Lovely meeting you
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How exciting to be going back to school! Lots of goodies in your kitchen for sure 🙂
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Anything to do with cooking and food is always fun. Thank you for coming over to say hi
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