In My Kitchen ~ April 2014
Every month there is a community of bloggers who open their home, or more specifically, their kitchen and share what’s new. It is a series hosted by Celia over at Fig Lime and Cordial . You can head over there to check out who else is sharing. It’s a fun way to link up with people around the world who talk about what interests them. This month I thought I would join in and say hello to everyone. As my kitchen is new to everyone I have lots to share with you but, for this month at least, I’ll keep it to a brief 5 but favorite things.
In my kitchen I have a Salt Box that I adore. It was crafted in Portugal and I purchased it in the US from Williams Sonoma. I keep it right by the stove so salt is on hand whenever I need it. I love that it has a lid that flips up with a wide opening to access the salt. Other salt boxes and salt pigs have such a smaller opening which, for me, are clumsy and annoying. Besides being functional, this box adds a “pretty” element to my kitchen.
In my kitchen I have a garlic keeper that I searched high and low for! Go figure! I didn’t think that it was going to be so difficult to find a simple terra cotta keeper but alas I was wrong (again). Garlic keepers can be found online and at a variety of stores. However, most of what I found in the market were glazed pottery and not what I was after. My sister and I finally found one at a random kitchen shop in Durham NC. Garlic keepers keep cloves dry and prolong the life of your garlic. Keeping them dry and dark will prevent sprouting. When I get my heads of garlic home from the market I break them apart into individual cloves and dump them in. When it is time to cook I can just grab a few cloves, peel them and then chop, dice, mince, or slice it up. I love my new garlic keeper and I’m glad I kept searching for it.
In my kitchen I have this basket gifted to my by my sister. I absolutely love it. I keep onions and shallots in it for the most part. It’s a solid rock with cork feet and a hole drilled for the wire basket to fit on top. It is very bottom heavy and sturdy. Just a really unique piece to have and a lovely addition to my kitchen.
In my kitchen I have a sponge holder gifted to me by my mom and dad. A sponge holder you say? Why would you need something like that? I’ll tell you, when I first received this I never used it and it sat under my sink tucked away for awhile. After a spring cleaning I found it and decided to give it a go. The idea is the sponge fits vertically in it and up off the base slightly. It elevates it up out of any water and allows it to dry more quickly. The more quickly it dries the less chance bacteria and mold have to grow keeping the sponge a cleaning device rather than a bacteria and mold spreader. I want to say this was purchased at the Philadelphia Home and Garden Show but I could be wrong. In any case, they can be found at craft fairs and artisan potters. I bet Etsy would be a good place to find one. It’s so nice to support small businesses isn’t it?
The final item in my kitchen I will share this month is my kitchen scale. I love this digital one we have. It makes my life so easy. You see, I use recipes from all over the world so the measurements could be in grams, ounces, milliliters etc. Having a digital scale that can handle all of those measurements is a must. For example, if I want to make US Nestle Tollhouse Cookies I know I need two sticks of butter. However, we don’t have sticks here in Australia and if we did they likely wouldn’t be the same size. I know in the US when I buy a box of butter it is one pound (16 ounces) and has four sticks in it. So if a recipe calls for two sticks I’m looking for 8 ounces of butter. Easy done! Cut it off the block and weigh it. The scale is a must in my kitchen!
Thanks for visiting! I hope to see you again next month for another look inside my kitchen and thanks again to Celia for hosting!
18 Comments
Sally - My Custard Pie
Love the name of your blog 🙂 Covet that salt keeper – beautiful.
Lauren
Thank you! The name was a long time in the making. Probably the hardest part about getting the blog started! I carried that salt box over to Australia from the US in my carry on luggage. I didn’t trust it to arrive safely any other way!
Francesca
The basket containing the onions is rather special and very unique.I wouldn’t mind receiving one as a gift!
Lauren
It is very unique. My sister is a master gift giver.
celia
I couldn’t survive without my scales, they get used every day. And your salt keeper is genius, and very beautiful. I have a similar garlic pot, but it’s quite small, and your rock onion basket is a true art piece. Thanks for playing! 🙂
Lauren
Thanks for having me! I hope to share some more special items next month.
tableofcolors
Love the garlic keeper and the basket for the onions. I also have my onions in a straw basket on the table. Welcome to In My Kitchen. 🙂
Lauren
The garlic keeper is really nice to have. I had been looking for one for ages and am glad I held out to find exactly what I wanted.
Lisa
I’m now coveting your garlic keeper. I must keep my eyes peeled (ha!) for one locally…. And can I also say, that onion basket is truly lovely. Thank you for opening your kitchen!
Lauren
Thank you for visiting!!
Lizzy (Good Things)
Hi Lauren. That Portugese salt box is amazing!
Lauren
Thanks Lizzy! I love it too. There are other pieces from the collection (serving platters etc) but I love the salt box the most.
shaheen
I love your salt box, we call them Salt pigs in the U.K
I have a small collection that my husband says is getting out of hand http://allotment2kitchen.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/salt-pots-salt-pigs.html
, as I have added three more to the collection!
Lauren
I like your collection! My mom brought me back one from the UK after her visit. We call them salt pigs as well, however, I thought calling it a salt pig was specific to the shape of it. Would you also call my salt box a salt pig? I wasn’t sure…
shaheen
No I would def. call yours a salt box 🙂
Fiona @TIFFIN bite sized food adventures
Welcome! I too have a terracotta garlic storer which is a must in humid Brisbane. I have never thought of breaking up the cloves – makes sense though. And I laughed about the stick of butter. I see people asking about sticks of butter all the time on twitter, fb etc. Looking forward to next month’s tour.
Lauren
I can imagine its tough with the humidity to keep things for very long! Thankfully things stay pretty dry in Perth. The stick of butter dilemma! That and not using the proper measuring cups and spoons. I have two sets. One I bought here in Australia and one I brought with me from the US.
Thanks! I hope to have some equally as interesting items!
Joanne T Ferguson
G’day! What an entertaining blog post today and love your garlic keeper!
Thanks for this month’s kitchen view too!!
Cheers! Joanne