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As newlyweds we moved into our home almost 13 year ago and on and off we have been renovating and improving ever since.  We have done a lot of the work ourselves and it almost feels like it is nearing completion. 

The final major stage of our renovation has been our wood oven and outdoor kitchen area.   We now have a warm, open, sunny place to prepare and cook food and we couldn't be happier with it.  

I hope one day our wood oven is a gathering place not just for our family but also for our little community.  Perhaps we could share bread making knowledge or home butchering skills or vegetables or just some warmth and a home brew or two.  

Over time I have learnt that waiting for improvements and working towards them results in a more fulfilling experience.  The time spent waiting and saving often leads to more thoughtful planning and unexpected outcomes.  

Do you have a goal, or a dream or a long term renovation happening?

Are you cooking a lamb roast or bread?

I hope you are having a lovely week.

Autumn in the vegetable garden

The weather is still warm at our place.  The mornings and evenings are feeling like autumn but the afternoons feel like summer.  It is also very dry and the only plants surviving in my garden are those planted directly under an irrigation dripper.  In between my vegetable beds the earth resembles fine, red powder.

My pumpkin harvest may not see us right through winter but I am grateful for what I have here.  

My thyme is happy and healthy and it is enjoying a revival in my kitchen.  Lately I have been scattering it over almost every vegetable that I cook as well as pizza and roast chicken. 

Hardy, dependable kale continues to flourish. I feed some to my chooks and I feed some to my family.  I recently tucked a sneaky layer into a lasagne and received no complaints.

Small but sweet yellow capsicums.

This 1952 Yates Garden Guide was a recent op-shop find for $2.00.  The basic gardening information hasn't changed much but the trends from the 50s are entertaining to read.  For example, crazy paving was all the rage in the garden planning section.   The book also recommends the vegetable garden be situated away from the main garden, some distance from the house.  I think today most people like to keep their vegetables close to the kitchen, I know I do.

I have been lucky enough to have a self-sown  tromboncino pop up outside our actual garden, underneath a young apple tree.  When plants appear so willingly it feels like a bonus and I am happy to still be harvesting this versatile vegetable. 

My lime tree is loaded with juicy fruit.  Anything that requires lemon in my cooking is now substituted with lime juice.  Do you have a favourite use for lime?

The fruit on my young Buddha’s Hand is turning from green to yellow.  Although the tree is small and not particularly lush it has produced around 8 of these fragrant but unusual fruits.  Fellow blogger Anna from The Littlest Anchovy has written an informative post about the Buddha’s Hand if you are interested in learning more.

My mother in law has a big garden full of interesting things.  When I spotted this autumn colour near the wood pile the camera just had to come out.  

Are you gardening or cooking or taking photos at the moment?

Do you find comfort in your garden?  As life gets busier I find my vegetable garden one of the most calming places to be.

In My Kitchen, May 2013

School holidays in April meant plenty of time for cooking, harvesting from the garden and experimenting in our wood oven.

These little capsicums have featured regularly in our meals.  My capsicum plants survived the heat of summer and are now enjoying the milder conditions and continue to produce prolifically.

The afternoon of Anzac Day was relatively peaceful in our house and the rhythmic process of making pasta was a comforting and quiet activity after an early start to the day.

Our autumn days are still warm and my basil is going strong.  I have made plenty of pesto using home grown garlic as well as our own olive oil to put in the freezer for the colder months ahead.

Another month and another old thermos.  This little tartan beauty was a birthday gift and my thermos collection continues to grow.  The pink rug is a recent addition to my picnic paraphernalia from  Hammamas.  It is made from light weight 100% cotton and can be used as a light towel, throw rug, baby blanket, sarong, table cloth or anything really.  I love it.

Simple, tasty zucchini relish made with excess capsicums and zucchini using a recipe from Whole Larder Love.  By the way if you haven't already got this book do yourself a favour.  If you care about your food and cook a lot from scratch or from your vegetable garden this book is for you.  

Lastly, I have had so much fun experimenting with sourdough pita bread in our wood oven using this recipe from Weekend Bakery.  Over the years I have made yeasted pita bread but after making the sourdough version there will be no going back to yeast for me.  The versatility of sourdough continues to amaze me.

How was April at your place?  What are you up to in your kitchen? 

Celia hosts this tour, please call into her blog Fig Jam and Lime Cordial and have a peek into kitchens all around the world. 

I received some very kind comments on my last post with two fellow bloggers commenting on my lifestyle.  I certainly have idyllic moments in the country but just like everybody else I also have moments of mess, frustration and stress.  This blog is a space for me to reflect on the good bits and it helps me to be more grateful for what I have in my life.  I am sure this is one reason many fellow bloggers also share glimpses of their life, am I right?  I really do have some lovely friends out there in blog land! 

Autumn light, holidays and horse riding

The school holidays have been busy and productive so far.

I have been babysitting tiny vegetable seedlings for a friend and I felt almost sad when it was time for them to return home.  I hope they continue to flourish! 

Mum has visited us and among other things, she gave our new olive pitting gadget a test run.

We have visited family for a combined birthday party and christening.  I just had to take some photos of their homemade garden art and tidy vegetable garden.

I have been experimenting with sourdough pita bread in the wood oven.  More to come on this later.

We have had some early morning grooming sessions at the horse yard.  A cold, wet Sunday morning was not enough to stop our young horse enthusiast from trotting out on the field at our local Pony Club and getting right into the action.  

The light is changing and it is particularly pretty when the sun is setting behind our wood oven. 

What good things are happening in your life?

I hope you are growing or sharing or making something with the special people in your life.

Olive harvest

Earlier this year we started to make plans to pick our olive crop involving a weekend of friends, olive picking and perhaps an evening spent by the wood oven sharing tasty food.   Other commitments came along and last week Terry and our generous friend Matt picked 200 kg of olives, almost all in one day.  The kids and I picked some too, but mostly we made lunches and morning tea and kept the home fires burning, so to speak.  

Maybe next year we will make a weekend of it.

Using a press owned by our local olive co-op we pressed around 28 litres of oil.

Tasting oil that has literally just been pressed is an amazing experience.   Our oil is a vibrant green colour and tastes very fresh and slightly bitter.  The bitterness may diminish as the oil settles down in the containers.  The oil has so much more character than the usual supermarket variety olive oil, we are thrilled with the results.  

Are you creating or cooking or harvesting anything at the moment?  Please share.

Have a great week whatever you are up to.  

Jane 

In My Kitchen April 2013

Welcome to another glimpse of what is happening in my kitchen.  

Last month I shared a photo of my kitchen and I thought I would continue the tour with a photo of our dining table.  My husband made this hefty piece of furniture using recycled timber from an old shed on our property.  The chairs were rescued from the rubbish tip and recovered.  Like all of our furniture is it hard wearing and not too precious which is just right for a busy country home. 

These well worn pieces of butchering equipment were a recent second hand find.  They have been added to our collection of home butchering implements and I am sure they have an interesting story in their past.

With any extra assistance on our property comes the need for extra food to keep the hungry workers happy.  This was a simple slice made with raisins and walnuts adapted from a recipe in my favourite CWA cookbook.  Like most of these recipes they require basic ingredients and they freeze well.

Harvesting my first ever apple crop was an exciting day.  Although it was a small crop I was determined to make something special with the apples.  I decided on a Salted Caramel Apple Pie loosely based on a recipe from the book Edible Selby.  The end result was a bit rustic but decadent and tasty nonetheless.  

Last Christmas my mother in law gave me an old Willow picnic tin.  Ever since then I have been searching for other old picnic wares and recently I found this Willow thermos in great condition.  The stopper is intact but it is missing the actual lid.  Would anyone have the matching lid in their back shed?  

In March I made 150 sourdough rolls that were approximately golf ball size.  For my bread friends, each piece of dough weighed just 20 grams.  My friend Paula then created these mini burgers for the patrons of the committee marque at our local race meeting.  Thank you Paula for the photo and the opportunity, this was such a fun project!  

Every month Celia hosts a foodie tour and we get a chance to visit kitchens all around the world.  Please call into Celia's blog and say hello.  

What is happening in your kitchen this month?  

Easter campfires, canoeing and cooking

1. Cooking with fire
2. Breakfast in the great outdoors
3. This bread cooked in the camp oven with coals
4. Freshly caught fish frying on the BBQ for dinner on Good Friday
5. Hot, strong tea at breakfast time
6. Well worn camping essentials
7. Our canoe and an old yabby net we found 
8. Sunset
9. Magnificent water and ancient trees
10. An old fence emerging from the water

I hope you have had a lovely Easter.  We have enjoyed two days of camping followed by two quiet days at home.

How have you spent the weekend?