In my kitchen over November

My silver beet tower and broad bean mountain are so much smaller than last month — phew! Thanks to everyone who visited last month — so many silver beet lovers out there! However I may have a similar tower and mountain problem a little way down the track. I had sworn off silver beet [chard] plants and the broad beans were ready to be cut down when lo and behold, there was a neighbour with spare tomato and silver beet seedlings. I couldn’t refuse them, just had to plant them and the broad beans are reshooting…..

Anyway, out of the garden and into the kitchen. This month I have made a couple of  recipes from other bloggers. So lots of yumminess 🙂

Firstly there was Celia’s Cranberry, Apple and Walnut Cake. I would recommend making that one. Jump on over to her blog, Thekitchensgarden. Even if you don’t want to make the cake, her blog is a joy to read, full of wit and wisdom.

Celia’s apple, walnut and cranberry cake (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2014)

Then there was another cake from our other wonderful Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial, who hosts In My Kitchen. It was a seriously delicious ricotta slice. And her site is an inspiration to bake and share! The cake was so good that I had to ban the Fella from eating the last slice before I photographed it!

Hmmmm, yummy! (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2014)

I will make them both again. However, in my usual fashion I did muck around with the recipes a bit (“Whoops, I don’t have any of that, I will try this instead”) so they could well be different.

At this time of year we go to parties and get-togethers where we are told ‘to bring a plate’. I love to do this. Not only does it mean the hosts don’t have to provide everything, but you get to sample lovely goodies from a range of people. Yesterday I met up with friends and came away with a few new recipes to try. My contribution was a beetroot salad.

I roasted the beetroots, par boiled some green beans, toasted some pine nuts. I put it all on a serving platter, tossed around some feta cheese and drizzled over olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Colourful and tasty.

Lastly I want to show you another staple in my kitchen. It is a drawer for the compost. You can see from the photos that it is a simple arrangement and the plastic box is easy to remove to dump the veggie peelings into the compost bin out in the garden. It is also easy to clean and tucks away out of sight. My architect suggested it when I had the kitchen renovated many years ago. It is one of the Best Things, and I would highly recommend it. 🙂

Just a hole cut to fit the plastic dish (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2014)

Easy to remove (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2014)

Tucks away, out of sight (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson, 2014)

What’s happening in your kitchen this month? Don’t forget to pop over to Celia’s blog and take a peek into kitchens from around the world.