A photo a day for the month of January ~ week 2

Again like 2015, 2016 is flying along, well for me it seems.  It's week 2 of the the photo a day for the month of January challenge that I'm loving.  I was really lucky to have a 5 day trip to New Zealand to meet up with some dear friends for laughs, food and relaxation and it was fabulous.  I think it will take me awhile to recover from it but was worth it :)
Ok, so here's my week: 

Day 8 "Landscape"

Day 9 "Shoes"

Day 10 "Lucky" this was a bucket list item of travelling overseas flying solo and I did it without raising stress levels and Air New Zealand were a pleasure to deal with. (Not a sponsored comment!!)

Day 11 "Outdoors" this was at the breathtaking Brick Bay winery

Day 12 "Something I wore" my wedding and engagement rings that I love

Day 13 "Three of a kind" mojitos baby!!

Day 14 "Close up"

so until next week....ciao Jan x

A photo a day for the month of January ~ week 1

I was super excited to see that the photo a day challenge #fmsphotoaday is back to monthly instead of weekly, for some reason I couldn't get into the weekly one but I'm back in the saddle for this month.  I'll post on here each week but if you want you can follow me on instagram @janelladean which is different from my @agluttonouswifehooks account as it has no crochet - gasp!!! :)  You can find all about the challenge here.

So here's week 1:

Day 1 "black and white"

Day 2 "what I did today"

Day 3 "water"

Day 4 "circle"

Day 5 "leaves"

Day 6 "something blue"

Day 7 "reading"

If any of you are joining in the challenge, let me know and I'll come follow you :) until next week....ciao, Jan x

In my kitchen ~ January 2016

Whooooo here we are all finished the Christmas and New Year hoopla for another year and it's time to look at what's been happening in my kitchen which is a series now being hosted by the lovely Maureen from orgasmic chef  who has taken over the reigns from Celia who is taking a break.  Grab yourself a cuppa or a vino and settle in for a peek into what's been happening in my kitchen.

We had a wonderful Christmas day but it was around 33c (91f) which I could be called crazy for doing a traditionally hot cooked lunch but it was worth it and the air conditioned kitchen helped.

The feast started with these puff oysters and prawns.  These oysters are one of my favourite ways to eat them.  You place a teaspoon or so of garlic butter onto the oyster and then cover them with puff pastry and bake in a hot oven, 200c, for 15 minutes or until golden - the photo has them uncooked. Ah-mazing!!

Sorry there isn't any more photo's from the big day but it's hard to host, cook, clear, drink, laugh, eat and be expected to take photos!! I am only one woman ;)

I was given these darling salt and pepper shakers all the way from Dublin from a dear friend who travelled recently - aren't they just the cutest!

It wouldn't be my kitchen at Christmas if there weren't these shortbread.  I traditionally keep them plain but I had a little helper who glittered some up for me.

I also make baby fruit mince tarts that are gifted to special friends as they are a labour of love....psst see these pretty plates above and below, they are from a local artist friend of mine Louise at Tipsy glass.

I made up a big batch of sausage rolls for the freezer for those nights when you don't know what day it is nor do you have the energy to think about cooking dinner.  I pack mine with lots of blitzed up vegetables so I feel less guilty.

This month I had a go at Fiona's apple scrap jelly which was both a success and a disaster.  I first made it, boiled it for ages, sterilised all the jars, bottled and after it cooled I realised it wasn't set!!! Back into the pot to boil it again, wash everything only to take my eyes off it and it boiled over onto the stove so when it was all said and done I had 4 jars!!!! But I will be making it again :) I loved it with cheese and biscuits but my daughter loves it on hot toast.

I got this tart case for $1 from one of the op shops here - what a bargain!! I'm yet to christen it but plans are in place.

and lastly it wouldn't be in my kitchen if I didn't share some of my crochet - this is one of 4 projects I have on the go at the moment.  I'm loving playing with different stitches.  This blanket will be for my bed and I'm just coming close to half way - this is around 30 hours so far!!! Another labour of love :)

Thanks for coming over! Until next month, ciao Jan x

In my kitchen ~ December 2015

Here we are at the end of another year and the final installment of my IMK series hosted by the lovely Celia from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial.  If you'd like to take a peek into other peoples kitchens from all around the world pop over and take a look....grab yourself a cuppa or a wine and settle in to see what's been happening in my kitchen.

So, December...one of my favourite months.  I know there are many who don't like Christmas or the craziness that seems to come at this time of year but I love it.  I don't have to worry about overloaded social engagements (just a nice steady stream....)nor do I have to spend too much on gifts and I think this has a lot to do with it.  I'm lucky to have never really had any Christmas family dramas of drunken fights or other bad behaviour - smooth sailing I'm very blessed to say.  Two years ago I took over the reigns of cooking Christmas lunch and I love hosting this as my gift to my family...

In my kitchen is lots of fresh garden produce...these carrots I love roasted with cumin, 

our purple garlic didn't fair that great a crop this year but I'm making lots of garlic butter for the freezer so I can use it for months to come.

this years basil has been so leafy I'm in heaven!  I just wish the tomatoes would hurry along so I can enjoy them altogether :)

lots of cavolo nero and mint - I love the cavolo nero lightly blanched, drained well and then tossed with evoo, garlic and lemon juice.

In my kitchen I've been making ricotta gnocchi with fresh sage & lemon burnt butter as a potato substitute that is sublime.

that heady smell of frying sage, butter and evoo gets me everytime

In my kitchen I've been crushing on this unfiltered evoo that I got from a trip to La Manna in Melbourne - perfect to dress a salad or add a slug to finish off dishes. 

In my kitchen is duck fat for my roasted potatoes on Christmas day.  I buy a whole duck and render the fat which I find is more cost effective than paying for just the duck fat and the added bonus of roasted duck for dinner!  Aldi stock Luv a duck at this time of year at only around $14 a bird which is great when you can pay up to $10 just for the fat at some grocers!!!

In my kitchen has been the sweetest locally grown cherries that we have been eating by the kilo - yum!

In my kitchen is this Turducken that I'll be roasting Christmas morning.  I know, I know, it's cheating but it will make for a dreamy lunch service ;) I've never had one before and am really looking forward to trying it - fingerscrossed it's good!! I wonder if any of you had tried one?

In my kitchen on Christmas day will be my treasured carving set brought from the Waterloo markets in Belgium a few years ago.

It wouldn't be December in my kitchen without my shortbread, 

baby fruit mince tarts

rosemary salt that are all perfect for gifts or just to enjoy in your own kitchen ;)

In my kitchen sits my latest crochet project that I'm loving creating.  It will be a large blanket for the end of my bed.  I originally started the pattern from here but I've changed colours and some stitches along the way so now I'm just flying solo with my own ideas.

and finally, I'll leave you with a quote that I think just puts life into some sort of  perspective for me!

Ciao, Jan x

In my kitchen ~ November 2015

I know we say it each month, and I missed last months IMK series, but they are zooming by and before we know it 2016 is going to be kicking at our heels!!! I've been busy doing orders for @agluttonouswifehooks (look me up on instagram) but I did just want to share a few things with you all even if it's not a proper "in my kitchen", it's things that have happened in my kitchen, I hope you'll forgive and humor me.

A few months ago I entered a comp with the lovely Lorraine which was totally on a whim....it was about memories of cooking and here was my entry of 25 words: "cooking mama's chutney evokes special memories - I'm keeping tradition going - eating it on toast & butter straight from the saucepan & fighting over the jars." Low and behold, awhile later I received an email I almost sent to my junk emails but it was a notice telling me I had won a spot in the CSR "Made for Memories" cookbook.

"Squeel!!!!" NO!!! Really, me? Our family....in a cookbook? I was so thrilled you have no idea. Or maybe you do! My small amount of words tried to sum up the sentiment, taste and treasure that was my Mama's chutney.

The little insert photo of mama was mine but the food styling wasn't.  We would never have had our chutney as in this photo.

Mama is my almost 90 year old grandmother (January 3rd 2016 will be the big milestone) who is more like a best friend to me. She had 11 children to a husband who didn't crack up to all she had hoped, to put it mildly. But, she raised them on her own in a 3 bedroom house on the smell of an oily rag and did a remarkable, selfless job. When I was growing up, a gazillion years ago (1980s, I'm not THAT old!!) , there was no daycare other than Mama. Lucky for us grandies. We were left to explore and be seen and not heard until meal times. Her ability to make a meal from nothing or have grated potato cakes doled out to too many grandchildren and adults to count as well as her famous potato & spaghetti soup, pancakes, or zucchini slice, or roast lamb shoulder to name a few and then having a batch of scones in the oven before we could wash the backyard dirt from our hands was a thing of legend. I have documented Mama's famous scones here. 

an old photo of Mama and my Mum xxx

I moved away from my country town as soon as high school allowed and it wasn't until I returned many, many years later, got married, then fell pregnant that I was home with my own child that our relationship changed from grandmother to a real friendship which we developed and was nurtured. She was a wealth of knowledge for me especially in those blinkered months of a new born baby: "give her some 'carb soda (bicarbonate of soda) it won't hurt, I did it with mine", when my daughter wouldn't settle, "put her in the bath, it will settle her"...."they are too spoilt!"..."it's easier to raise other peoples children" and this ripper "what is bred in the bone, comes out in the flesh" were only a few of the pearls of wisdom she would recount and I would gobble up. During my maternity leave, bearly a day went by that Mama didn't come and visit me for a cuppa or a light lunch, it was my break from the Groundhog day.

Many years later when I was struck down with my own illness, I then started to have Mama visit almost daily again. I had a few alterier motives. I had lots of time on my hands and I knew that she was a great baker and from who knows where this desire to bake filled me. I'd scour the internet, magazines and cookbooks to come up with fail proof methods. Mama was my ruthless critic. "No, it's not cooked enough"... "It could do with less fruit".. ."Hmm this could just be my favourite lunch" (my own home grown eggs in a cheesey omelette with brown field mushrooms fried with lots of butter, parsley and garlic) "Yes, that is perfect..." I think it needs more sugar..."Maybe next time use less spice". Although it sounds like tough love, I adored her for her honesty as she knew I was keen to learn. I devoured her old handscribed cookbooks and really loved evoking food memories for her.

Mama grating butter for her legendary scones

As the months and a few years went on, it was only in the months preceeding this chance opportunity, that Mama had been served a few very terrible health blows, one that held both her mortility and independance in it's hands. Ever cherished by all of our family, it's with a deep breath that I say she is still with us - what a fighter she is, thank the Lord. When I went to see her with the cookbook in my hand she was absolutely amazed to see herself in print - smiling photo and all. ( She is reknowned to not smile and have her eyes closed in each family photo!!)

So it is with a full heart and thankfulness to both CSR and Lorraine for this wonderful opportunity, and hopefully the family helps with record sales :)

Thanks to Celia for the IMK series each month, pop over and check out other peoples kitchens!


Ciao, Jan x

a gluttonous wife....hooks

As many of you long time readers will know, last year I taught myself to crochet.  I've never had a hobby other than cooking so it feels so good to finally be in that group of people who feels like they are doing something they are passionate about and love.  It started as a bit of fun to help fill in time as I have a lot of it on my hands but I never thought it would amount to much and I'd be onto the next thing as soon as I could master a granny square.  I never thought of myself as one of those 'crafty' people but it's really been one of the biggest blessings and surprises to come along in my life and I will be forever thankful I decided to give it a try.  

I started an instagram page @agluttonouswifehooks and have been busy with orders which is wonderful to help feed my addiction!  On the down side, my cooking and blog has taken a back seat but I'm still here hiding with my hook and yarn.  I've been drawn to doing beanies and baby goodies but I've also had a few blanket orders which I also love doing.  Most of the beanie designs are my own apart from the basic beanie tutorial which can be found here, although I've been using this sizing chart that has been fabulous from here. Here's a bit of what I've been making and a few links:

These baby packs are proving popular and so cute!! The bootie pattern is from here, the heart from here and the ripple blanket from here

baby butterfly from here

this flower is just a scalloped boarder rolled up and these booties from here

I taught myself to do these letters late one night

this teacosy from here

There's alot more on my instagram page if you feel like having a squizz....so that's me all caught up!

If you are interested in placing an order or finding out more, feel free to email me at agluttonouswife@hotmail.com
Ciao, Jan x