Welcome to Spring! And the first day of September certainly didn’t disappoint! Woke up to beautiful sunshine, no frost on the windows, hot air balloons landing near the lake (the #balcony view from our kitchen window) and a spring in our step as we know the warmer weather is upon us.Everything about Spring makes me smile, knowing the Winter body will soon disappear as we start eating more salads and lighter meals and getting in exercise mode – the use of the lake never looked better. I love Winter for the amazing slow cooked, hearty meals we all enjoy but I love Spring more when we start experimenting with fresh, new produce.
In my Kitchen is . . .
. . . some fresh rice noodles that we bought when my husband took me on a tour of the world for my birthday. First stop was Little Saigon in Footscray, where we felt we stepped straight off the plane in Vietnam! Love this place & I’ll keep coming back for sure, especially for these noodles – they are amazing!
In my Kitchen is . . .
. . . three bags of dried chillies grace my benchtop. (Clockwise starting at the top) Chilli silk – slivered dried chillies; Dried chilli flakes and Red chilli powder. I’m looking forward to making some great chilli oils with these goodies.
In my Kitchen is . . .
. . . Malaysian curry paste – I feel a seafood laksa coming on! I’ve never seen this before so it had to come home with us. If this paste saves me time in the kitchen but creates an amazing tasting Malaysian laksa, I’m all for it!
In my Kitchen is . . .
. . . Pho (pronounced ferr) soup mix. There were plenty of little sachets to make all sorts of different soups. I will definitely be using the fresh rice noodles for this soup!
In my Kitchen is . . .
. . . three ham hocks, which I got the butcher to cut up for me, ready to go for making pork stock. I made a delicious pork and bok choy soup with rice noodles – yumm!
In my Kitchen is . . .
. . . Parampara Indian spice blends – anyone tried these spice blends yet? The Biryani I received to trial and the Rogan josh was in the ‘specials’ basket at the supermarket. Will hopefully try them soon as we’re on a it of a health kick at the moment!
In my Kitchen is . . .
. . . dried sweet potato vermicelli noodles. These were actually in Coles supermarkets, of all places! My husband loves vermicelli noodles and I thought these would be great to try as we’re trying to eat more whole wheat, whole grains and vegetables for a while.
In my Kitchen is . . .
. . . a sachet of dry white wine, made especially for cooking. It’s the perfect size of 250mls (1 cup), which can easily fit anywhere in the fridge. The only sad thing about this sachet is it doesn’t last as long as a bottle!
And last but not least, out our Kitchen window is . . .
. . . a surprise visitor from Mr Cockatoo, who just came to say hello, or maybe he wanted to taunt Kojiro! Have a wonderful month everyone 🙂
Oh, and in case you missed it, I share with you how easy it is to make your own tomato paste, at home. It’s easy to make and it’s super tasty – you’ll never buy store bought again!
Every month, foodies from around the world share all the goodies in and around their kitchens. Celia at Fig Jam & Lime Cordial hosts this wonderful party – we love finding new inspiration from all over the world. Come join us by the 10th of every month – we’d love to see the goodies in your kitchen! See you all soon x
I love the things in your kitchen – especially those spice mixes!
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Thank you Zirkie – I love all spice mixes too. Lovely seeing you for #IMK x
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Happy belated birthday! What were all the places you hit on your world tour? I see you have some Korean products! I love Gochugaru – the red chili powder. It’s essential for making kimchi – if you are ever tempted!
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Thank you Maggie, we also went to France for my birthday dinner – Chez Olivier in Greville Street, Prahran, not far from where we live. It was the best food I’ve ever eaten, ever! 🙂 Thank you for the tip on making my own kimchi with the chilli powder – I will keep that in mind for when I run out. Lovely seeing you for #IMK x
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Oh, that sounds like a lovely birthday!
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Great round up, love the Asian ingredients, and very curious about the sweet potato noodles, because it turns out I have a bag in my pantry, bought on impulse, need inspiration! 😉
I just replied to your comment on my blog, by the way – but wanted to make sure you get it – I need your email to forward you the bread recipe, ok? check my reply to you on my IMK post when you have a moment
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Thank you Sally, I received your email with your bread recipe. I will let you know how I use the sweet potato noodles, I’m sure I’ll put them back with a stir fry of some sort x
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Sounds like a spicy month! Cute bird, is he a neighbor?
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Love my spices & chillies Lori. The cockatoo is wild – there’s a pack (about 15-20) of them flying around the lake throughout the day. Occasionally they might sit on our balcony at dusk. Lovely seeing you for #IMK
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look at all the wonderful chillies and pastes – lots of cooking ahead for you:) what a cute cockie!
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I can’t wait to use the curry pastes. I’ll let you know how they taste in coming posts. Thanks for coming past & I’ll see you next month for #IMK
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Love your morning view with the balloon Nicole!! Isn’t Melbourne amazing, always another hidden treasure to find 🙂
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You’re right Jan, Melbourne can be great! Lots always happening out our kitchen windows
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Nicole, your kitchen balcony view is magical with that hot air balloon hovering over the water! Isn’t it fun to see something unexpected? Loved the ingredient name “chili silk” — also your noodle stash (rice & sweet potato) and soup you made with those delectable pork hocks. (YUM!) Thanks, too, for the tip on 1-cup wine (agreed, a whole bottle is more fun, ha! — but how convenient.) I also loved your tomato paste tutorial — thanks for the link!
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Thank you Kim for all your lovely words. We certainly get to see some great sights living here 🙂 If you try the tomato paste let me know what you think – I’d love to hear your thoughts. Lovely having you here for #IMK x
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Lovely views and what a pretty visitor! Great pastes and spice mixes. Love to hear how the biryani turns out and how you like it, it’s the regional dish of where my hubby is from Hyderabad. 🙂
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Emily I will be sure to let you know how the Biryani spice mix works out – I’m a bit excited to find a spice mix for Biryani 🙂 Lovely seeing you for #IMK. Have a great month x
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What a fabulously tasty IMK post. Love the idea of sweet potato noodles.
You have a beautiful view from your kitchen too.
Have a happy day.
🙂 Mandy xo
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Thank you Mandy for your lovely comments – will let you know how the noodles taste 🙂 We are a bit spoilt with our view from the kitchen. Have a lovely month x
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Hi Nicole, my you have been shopping. It all looks great, You certainly have some interesting dinners coming up.
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Looking forward to trying some new & exciting goodies for sure Glenda. Lovely seeing you for #IMK
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Love those fresh rice noodles they are a treat aren’t they, Celia (Fig Jam and Lime Cordial) has given me several packets of the Malaysian curry paste . It is spectacularly good. Thats a great idea with the wine. I bought some in cans that I forgot to put in my kitchen post, you just reminded me.
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How good are fresh rice noodles? I’m addicted & I can’t get enough. I’m looking forward to using that curry paste – if Celia recommends it then it must be good. Great seeing you here for #IMK x
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What a glorious view! And so many goodies! Happy cooking xx
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The view is just beautiful, we are very spoilt indeed. Hope you had a lovely holiday in the UK Liz and it’s great seeing you xx
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Ah, so is the local title for Footscray Market Little Saigon or is there somewhere else I need to explore? Definitely the closest thing we have to a traditional Asian market that I’ve seen. Fresh rice noodles, wow! Do you know if they do the lacy ones? Pho, a bog favourite. It has become such a comfort food I don’t know how we survived without it! Did you fill those gorgeous bottles with chilli oil yet? I was hoping togged a peek at the colour. Handy sachet of wine, shame it’s in plastic! How cockie is that cockie? Great post 🙂
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There’s more to Footscray than just Footscray market Maree – my husband introduced me to Little Saigon. I have lived in Melbourne my whole life & never knew this place existed! Check out my Google+ write-up https://plus.google.com/113653057029030052932/posts/8ewHUkiEUed
There’s nothing better than those fresh rice noodles – they were the best thing ever! And they freeze well too! I will be posting about the 3 day chilli oil very soon – stay tuned Maree. Lovely catching up with you xx
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Guess where I’m going next school holidays? Thanks, love asian food shopping!
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Me too! We should have a foodie tour of Footscray! 🙂
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I’m in!
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Then we should organise it!
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