What's new in the kitchen


What's new in your kitchen?

Do you like to add new things every now and again?  I do, but have to be careful not to get carried away as there are so many wonderful things available these days that I would love, BUT . . . I only have so much space in my kitchen. Here are a few new items that have found there way to my kitchen over the last few months.  None are expensive and all have been used and found to be very handy. 
Do you remember your grandmothers using these, often chipped and well used? Its great to see them back in the stores again and in a variety of sizes. This one is from Woolworths and cost $10. Perhaps larger families would need a bigger one but this is perfect for two (for two meals).  And below is the pie dish in action - a traditional beef and potato pie with suet pastry made by my dear  husband. Didn't he do a great job!
Always wanted to try proofing my bread in a banneton. This isn't a true banneton basket and nor was it as expensive - this one was $6 from my local kitchenware store and should work just as well. Can't wait until I try it. My other bread making item is a scraper that will be so useful when removing the yeast after 24 hours of fermenting (which I do for the no-knead bread).  It was a cheery $3.
I love to zest lemons however all the zesters I owned never really worked (especially if the lemons were too waxy) until I bought this hot pink microplane (I don't think it is the colour that makes it work so well!).  It really works and I have recommended it to others!! Its also perfect for finely grating parmesan cheese which I use with pasta dishes. This was bought from my favourite online store - Peters of Kensington for $20 and it has been used a lot, money well spent. 
I am a fan of jugs (7 cup/2 litres jugs in particular). These are so handy for many activities in the kitchen and I use them all the time. Therefore I was thrilled to see a jug with a lid.  This brand is Anchor and made in the USA. I bought mine through Peters of Kensington for $14, not bad when I have seen it in the stores for way more.  My eldest son was checking this one out the other day, might have to order him one before he packs this one in his bag!

We love pasta in our house and this is our current favourite which I buy from the local markets for around $3.  Great with some gently fried zucchini, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, bacon or chorizo with lemon juice and goats cheese (which melts nicely through the pasta). A very quick and tasty meal with parmesan cheese.   Below are cupcakes I made my husband on Saturday - these are chocolate chilli cupcakes that are very chocolately and have a warm "glow" when you eat them! The marriage of chocolate and chilli really do work well in this recipe and my husband really likes them. The recipe would also be great just for a standard chocolate cupcake without the chilli. 




Have a lovely week ahead. 
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Comments

  1. I love new things for the kitchen. I recently bought a set of 6 square, fluted ramekins. A steal at only $2 for the set. They will be great for serving individual casseroles or desserts.
    Those cupcakes look so darn good! I love chocolate with chili in it.

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    1. Its always good to grab a bargain. My friend makes individual spinach and feta pies in her ramekins and freezes them which is great idea. Those cupcakes were pretty good - I gave my daughter-in-law some to take home yesterday when she came around!!

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  2. I think the only new thing in my kitchen right now is our stone flour mill (hand operated) - I bought it secondhand from a friend, which made it affordable!! I've been having so much fun grinding up a few different kinds of grain - I've even figured out how to use it to flake oats so we can have freshly ground muesli or porridge for breakfast! :)
    Later this month we hope to have some other new things in the kitchen - my birthday will result in some excitement in my kitchen this year!! ;) I can hardly wait!!

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    1. Looking forward to hearing all about your birthday gifts - how exciting. Your present is yet to be posted as I have been waiting for it to arrive by post - so it will be belated.

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  3. Thanks for this interesting post, Jo. I especially like the bright colored glass storage jars at the top. Do they have a story? They look vintage to me.

    The Anchor brand jug with the lid looks very useful! I wish mine had lids. :-)

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    1. Whilst I would love to say the jars are mine, they aren't (just used them as a banner!). Sadly i can't remember where I got the photo from - somewhere off Pinterest.

      Anchor is an US brand made in the US so I would assume you can buy it there. The lid will come in very handy when i want to store things in the fridge.

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  4. Love this peak into your kitchen! I have been looking for a zester just like that so I guess its time to do a Peters shop! :-)
    I saw those dishes in Woolies and was really tempted to get one, though I have a similar one in ceramic that I use regularly so I thought I would wear that out first before buying a new item. hehe - like you said, I got to be careful not to buy too many kitchen items too ;-)

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    1. That zester is excellent and I use it all the time - it really does live up to its name as being a "premium" zester. I would recommended it highly!!

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