Here we are, December, already! 3 weeks until Christmas!! Where has this year gone! Shopping, what shopping, I haven’t even thought about it but every year I leave it until the last minute and fight the crowds. At least my friend from Japan got in early and is more organised than me – my lovely Chrissy present from Japan (pictured above and all the food has been eaten already!) Are you battling the Christmas crowds for pressie shopping? Me too! I’m never that organised and as for Chrissy day lunch – no idea!
I’ve got my IMK in early this month due to the fact that school has finished, for now. I still have to make up three classes of stocks, sauces and soups next year and some work experience in a commercial kitchen, for me to get my Commercial Cookery 3 certificate where I’ll become a professional cook – YAY!
I love being a part of In My Kitchen, which is hosted by Celia at Fig Jam & Lime Cordial. The wonderful people I’ve met and become friends with from all over Australia & the world, just by looking in their kitchens every month is amazing.
May you all have a wonderful (foodie) Christmas and fantastic (foodie) New Year xx from all of us at Miss Food Fairy
In My Kitchen . . .
. . is some fantastic produce from my sister’s veggie patch – an over abundance of Cos (Romaine) lettuce and spring onions. I never have to buy lettuce or spring onions again for the next month or two! I’ve had to freeze the spring onions for future use and I’m always looking for new inspiration for using salad – what do you use your lettuce for? I would love you to share your favourite lettuce recipes with me.
In My Kitchen . . .
. . Peking duck. I went to the Queen Victoria Market looking for a organic, free range duck, when I came across The Chicken Pantry. They have amazing organic, free range poultry and game. This little beauty was 2.6kg and was absolutely delicious! So much duck stock (20 cups to be precise!) was made from the bones, that I can’t wait to use and the duck eggs, I haven’t used yet – I’m savouring the moment until I can’t wait no more 😉
In My Kitchen . . .
. . a lovely gift from Celia – red, ceramic egg holder and some sour dough starter! Now I have somewhere for my eggs when I get them out of the fridge (and they won’t roll off the bench and smash on the floor!) Now I’ve finished school I’m looking forward to making some sourdough from scratch – very exciting! Thank you again Celia, very thoughtful and kind of you x
In My Kitchen . . .
. . is my new pastry brush (on the left). As you can see my old one on the right, which I’ve had for as long as I can remember, has a few melted hairs and the handle is starting to rot near the metal clasp. It was time to upgrade and she’s a great addition to my kitchen.
In My Kitchen . . .
. . is my new brown chopping board, used for cooked meats, and my dough scraper. The dough scraper is so hard to find, without having to pay upwards of $4-$5! This makes light work of getting those doughs out of your bowls in one go – happy days! I needed this new cooked meat (brown) chopping board as the glass board I was using for raw and cooked meats (that’s a big no-no in the commercial kitchen, due to cross contaminating) had to go, as it was blunting my knives.
In My Kitchen . . .
. . another new family member – Smith & Nobel 30cm frypan. Our old one finally gave up – the handle wouldn’t tighten anymore. Our new frypan is amazing! It can be put from stove top to oven, withstanding 300°C temperatures and has a 10 year warranty.
And lastly In My Kitchen . . .
. . is my gluten free cherry Clafoutis, made on the last day of school. It’s so moreish and I will be sharing with you the recipe very soon. Such an easy dessert that I think I’ll be making more of these for sure.
See you all in 2015 for another wonderful IMK instalment and remember
lovely things in your kitchen this month. i love the red egg holder. and how marvellous about the duck- all that stock. what fun you will have. have a wonderful xmas.. the clafoutis looks great, and i love the pastry brush.
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Wow all that duck stock! What will you do with it? I see lots of Chinese duck soup in 2015 for you. I’m waiting on my starter from Celia too – how exciting:)
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Hi Nancy, just made lasagne so used some of the duck stock for that, instead of chicken stock – it was delicious! Hope to start my sourdough very soon – good luck!
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The fresh produce from your sisters garden looks delicious. Unfortunately my veggie boxes are bare now it’s winter here in the U.K. Emma.
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It’s fantastic to eat homemade produce. You must be sad but there’s other amazing produce to get from a Winter garden, isn’t there? Lovely meeting you Emma, see you next month at IMK. Merry Christmas
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Great post Nicole. I can’t wait until we get our new kitchen next year as I’ll be getting a few new pans and some better chopping boards. In the mean time, I’ll stick it out. What I couldn’t wait for though was a new pastry brush. I had two very similar to yours, one for savoury, another for sweet. When one of then expired I tried a silicone one and haven’t looked back! If you had any duck left (or bought another ; ) you could use the lettuce cups for san choi bau. Thanks for the very tasty tour! cheers Fiona xx
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You’re getting a lovely new kitchen!? Lucky you. You want everything new & shiny for your new kitchen & you always make do with what you have – it will get you by. It’s lovely seeing you again Fiona and I will definitely be making that duck again & sharing the recipe with you all. See you at IMK next month x
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Nicole, what a lovely post! I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed the egg holder as much as I have, and I hope you have fun with the starter! I didn’t know you could freeze spring onions! Do you chop them up or blanch them first? And LOOK at all that duck stock! That’s amazing from the one bird! Have an absolutely wonderful Christmas and December! xxx
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I look forward to making the sourdough, hopefully before Christmas – the starter will be alright in the fridge? I will be sharing about the spring onions very soon and it really works. The duck stock, I must admit, came from the bones of about 3-4 ducks (we cooked duck at school & I took the bones home plus the bones from the Peking duck I made!) May your Christmas & New Year be beautiful, thank your lovely comments – you make my day xx
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I used to make cherry clafoutis all the time until I cracked my favorite baking dish. I look forward to seeing your recipe. And I’m impressed with duck stock. Sounds like a great base for soups.
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I need to find a really beautiful pie dish specifically just for my clafoutis – isn’t this ‘cake’ just amazing! My absolute favourite as it’s so easy! And it’s really delicious using almond flour too – will be sharing very soon, I promise 🙂 I can’t wait to use the duck stock, always thinking of inspiration to use it. Lovely see you & I’ll see you next month at IMK
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Fantastic IMK this month.. and so much is going on! isn’t Celia wonderful… my starter arrived and is well on its way… I will be making my first loaf tomorrow 🙂 very exciting! I love Peking duck, but I’m yet to find a recipe that is as good as what I can get from my local restaurant! any suggestions would be appreciated 🙂 Thanks for sharing! Liz x
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Good luck with your sour dough Liz! Can’t wait to see how your bread turns out – very exciting! There’s nothing like the Peking duck you get from your Asian restaurant – they take days to get it tasting like that! This one I made is quick and easy. The skin turns out perfectly crispy and golden while the meat is succulent. On the show Ask The Butcher (Foxtel) Series 1 Episode 4, Dan Hong cooks his best duck recipe is great but I can’t seem to find the episode on YouTube – I may have to ask Santa for the DVD for Christmas 😉 which shows a great Peking duck. I will be sharing my recipe with you all in the new year. See you next year for another IMK x
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Ok great thanks I’ll look forward to the email alerting me to the recipe 🙂 xx
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G’day Tick, tock goes the clock…the stress starts to set in for most!
Hope you and your family have a great Christmas…love the tag….
Thanks also for this month’s kitchen view too!
Cheers! Joanne
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It’s good to see you again Joanne, thank you for lovely Christmas wishes. Love #IMK and having a laugh and peek into everyone’s kitchens. See you next year for IMK, thank you for coming over x
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Don’t remind me that it is only 3 weeks until Christmas! Where does the time go? Thanks heavens for online shopping and no crowds. Everything in your kitchen looks wonderful, especially the cherry clafoutis.
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Thank you Gretchen, the cherry clafoutis was amazing! Great with chocolate ice cream 😉 Christmas has come around so fast hasn’t it! All the best for Christmas. Thank you for stopping past, see you next month at IMK x
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Great things here again this month and it’s just hit home only 3 weeks until Christmas! I love that Christmas label you have, fantastic!
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Thank you Vicki, I thought the label was appropriate. See you next month at IMK, thanks for coming past
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I look forward to IMK posts too. So many interesting and delicious things to see and read about in other peoples kitchens. Your Cherry Clafoutis looks delicious. I could eat some right now with a naughty dollop of double cream. And Christmas only 3 weeks away? Don’t let it be so.
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Thank you for your kind words Jennifer, it means a lot to hear you say that 🙂 I eat mine with chocolate ice cream I also made at school – yummy! Lovely seeing you, love having you here x
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Ooops, did you have to mention that it’s only three weeks to Christmas?! Goodness me, where has that time gone! I am loving all the good things in your kitchen MFF… your new pastry brush is very stylish… and I love the clafoutis. And isn’t Celia a gem!
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I know, I know! Why is Christmas here already! Celia is an absolute doll, I can’t believe she thought of me as soon as she saw it! Just beautiful 🙂 Actually all IMK foodies are just beautiful. Clafoutis is my new favourite dessert. Let me know when you’re down in Melbourne & I’ll make you one. Great seeing you Liz & thanks for stopping by x
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