In My Kitchen – August 2014

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Yippee, just one more month to go until Spring.  I shall be counting the sleeps, but before we get there, here is what is in my kitchen this month.

In my kitchen…

Is a belated birthday gift from my folks.  I have been wanting a tier cake stand for a long while but couldn’t find a plain white one until I nearly tripped over one a couple of weeks ago, plus it was the last one in store (other than the display) so it must have been waiting for me.

Cupcake stand

In my kitchen…

Are egg cups.  These are something else I have been searching for and every person I ask seems to think I am mad and repeat back to me, “egg cups, you are looking for egg cups?”.  Clearly we are the only household left who enjoys boiled eggs with toast fingers.

Egg cups

In my kitchen…

Is some of the wine which I meant to share with you last month.  We bought these when we were at the wine estate.  I love that these are part of Graham Beck’s Game Reserve campaign.

Graham Beck game reserve

In my kitchen…

Is the best champagne sealer I have ever come across.  This one allows you to seal a bottle super tight by turning the handle.  The more you turn, the tighter the seal as opposed to the other clip on versions which don’t work quite as well.

Champagne sealer

In my kitchen…

Are tea-light stands.  They add a lovely low light elegance to a dinner table.

tealight holders

In my kitchen…

Are beautiful old cookery books which my Aunty Christine was kind enough to share with me for a while.  I want to read each book page for page – never know, I may even do a series on one of these, like I did with our very much loved Woman’s Home Companion Cook Book.

Old cookery books

What’s in your kitchen this month?  Please remember to link back to Celia’s blog Fig Jam and Lime Cordial if you partake in the fun and drop her a quick note to let her know when your post will be up.

92 thoughts on “In My Kitchen – August 2014”

  1. Mandy those tea light stands are so pretty! The old cookbooks sound really interesting, I look forward to your post! Happy cooking xo

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  4. What a lot of lovely things. I love the cake stand and I’m pretty sure I have the exact same one. The wine labels with the animals on them are gorgeous. I need to buy new egg cups and it would be fascinating to read through those old and well-loved cookbooks xx

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  7. Hey, Girl,
    I love the stuff in your kitchen. Thank you for allowing me to peek inside.
    The wine bottles are totally cool & the cake stand is FABULOUSSSSSSSS.
    kiss from Duluth. xxxxxxxx
    Ps. you are beginning Spring….& we are almost done w/ Summer ((((SIGH))))

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    • You are always so sweet Kim, thank you! Come visit me in your winter, we can still drink red wine – I shall have to keep one of these bottles aside for us to share. Kisses back to you from Sundays River. 🙂 xoxoxo

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  9. Love the cake stand. 😍😍😍
    Not so much the egg cup 😞 (I just don’t do boiled eggs but can cook them to a turn on order) although they would come in handy for the GB, awesome wine, should I run out of wine glasses Although I have been known to drink straight out the bottle but this is always a last resort! Especially in polite company! I see them as a great alternative to sherry/port glasses really!
    The UNOPENED Champagne sealer??? This only shows one of two things – either you do not drink much champagne (Hahahaha, yeah right!!!!) OR (the one I’m going for) you know that there is no such thing as LEFT OVER champagne! So, this item is actually one of the most useless things a champagne drinker can ever own!!!!!!😊
    Tea light candle holders 👍👍👍👍👍

    And the old recipe books – for the nostalgia they have lurking in their pages! I have a bunch myself & love turning the pages to the find the memories they hold!

    Love your blog & as you will notice I never mentioned PARKRUN once!
    Luffies & hugs!

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    • We should get together and bake something to go onto the cake stand. 🙂 I have spare wine glasses – you can borrow them any time, although it would have been a lot easier if you were still living next door – speaking of which, we have ANOTHER new neighbour. See, I knew somebody intelligent would understand why the bubbly sealer is still in its packaging – oh and of course its the latter as there is no such thing as left over champagne! Thanks for the awesome comment and loving my blog G! Hope you and the familia are all well. Park, what was that you were saying. 😉 xoxoxo

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  10. Why is it that egg cups are so hard to find? We’re reduced to using the ones leftover from children’t Easter presents so currently using ones with Magic Roundabout characters on. Yours look much more sophisticated. The cookery books look interesting – On With The Apron sounds like fun (if a bit Jolly Hockey Sticks).

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  12. I love old books. I’m always in second hand book shops. Those cook books are stunning. I was looking at a cake stand just like your one the other day. I need to get a champagne sealer too. That wine looks delicious. Enjoy!

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    • Thanks Emma. I can’t wait to sit down with the books. I remember browsing through wonderful book stores when we visit the UK 6 years ago – somewhere in Bath – can’t remember where exactly. Have super day. 🙂 xo

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    • Hi Sherry. I am optimistic in saying, I hope to get a lot of use out of the sealer and the books are waiting patiently on the coffee table for me. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week ahead. 🙂 xo

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  15. I’m going to have to look for the Champagne sealer as I need to replace the old one I have now. I hope you do a post or two about the old cookbooks.

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  18. Love your opening, Spring for you as Fall is approaching for us. Just uploaded a very summery In My Kitchen myself. The beauty of sharing In My Kitchen posts literally the world over!

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    • It is absolutely wonderful to be able to share our kitchens with each other. Definitely my favourite post to do. Have a super day, I am heading over to your summery post. 🙂 xo

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  20. I love the items in your kitchen! I have yet to get a tiered cake stand, but it is on my list of things to get! The bottles of wine look delicious…I need to drink a glass of red wine tonight now hehe! Thanks for sharing what’s in your kitchen!

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  23. I think egg cups are like Glenda’s toast racks – they seem to be a quaint idea of the past. I don’t eat boiled eggs and even I bought some lovely egg cups on a cross chanel ferry from Spain to Plymouth of all places. The cookbooks will send the stylists green with envy! Cheers xx

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  24. Those old books look inviting and they are the nicest little tea light stands I’ve seen. Those eggcups took me straight back to the breakfast table when I was little, checked gingham tablecloth with cross-stitched pattern on it. Dippety doo eggs I used to call them, oozy yolk running onto fresh bread slathered in butter. Yummy!

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  25. Lovely and very useful items in your kitchen, not sure about the usefulness of the champagne stopper though. I particularly adore those tea light holders. Those old cookbooks should surely make interesting read.

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  26. I have a similar cake stand. They are so pretty when stacked with little cakes and pastries (though they don’t stay stacked for long at my house.)

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  28. Oh I can see that cake stand just had your name on it! That’s a beautiful find and I’m guessing you’ll have something fantastic sitting on it soon. I don’t think I’ve seen egg cups since my daughter was little & she had a My Little Mermaid one.
    That looks like some nice wine you’ve got just waiting for you – of course I’d soak off those labels & use them in some kind of artwork or at least save them for some future artwork. Which forces me to ask – do you really need the stopper? Because I could help out if you have any excess champagne.
    I love, love, love those tea lights & you’ve reminded me of a cute glass tea light holder that is a globe with an opening in the top for a flower…I’m going to have to find that, thanks for the reminder.
    You are definitely going to have some fun going through those books – keep us posted on any fun things you find. How far back do they go?

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    • We just used our egg cups and I loved being able to dunk my toast finger into my egg without having to hold it in my hand. Hmm, oops, there is all of one bottle left of the wine. Had I known Diane, I would have soaked off the labels and sent them to you – sorry! See, the logic of the stopper is to try and curb the intake of those very addictive bubbles – hasn’t worked yet. Oops again. 😉 I hope to see your tea light holder in an up coming IMK post. The first book is dated 1908! That’s a lifetime ago. I will put a post together for next week. Have a beautiful day. I see I have an email from you so heading off to read it. 🙂 xoxoxo

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  29. Loving the cookbooks and the tiered stand will serve so many uses for you 🙂 I love wine products by Rabbit because they work – have to check out the one you have – gadget time – have not done that in a while – ha! Happy Tuesday

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    • Renee, the stopper really works so well, first Rabbit product I have bought so its reassuring you say they work. Hope you get more use out of your stopper than I am getting out of mine. Maybe I should open a second bottle just to use the stopper. 😀 Happy Wednesday to you. 🙂 xoxo

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  30. Mandy, your cake stand is very sweet – I love that it’s plain white – I love patterned china too, but it would be so versatile to have a plain white one to put colourful treats on! I’d buy those wine bottles simply for the labels, and I know exactly what you mean about the egg cups – how hard are they to buy these days! We ended up with little plastic ones in the end, but yours are so much more elegant – love the little hourglass shape! 🙂

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    • I seem to be only wanting white lately Celia, not sure why. I do have a definite theme of blue running through the kitchen though – although everything is getting long in the tooth now. Diane just said how she would have soaked the labels off. Is such a waste not doing anything with them. Strangely I could find plastic and wire cups but that wasn’t what I wanted so went without for a long while. I am full of nonsense. Have a wonderful day. 🙂 xo

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  31. A champagne stopper? Is there need for such a thing? Well, regardless, that is one item you needn’t pack for your visit. Save that space for the egg cups. I love those, though I would rarely use them Enjoyed your IMK post, Mandy, though I don’t share your eagerness for the coming Spring. One more month? Counting sleeps? Oh, no!!!!

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    • See, I always have good intentions, really I do, so thought the stopper would be a good discipline – turns out it’s not! Yay, more packing space for me for when I come visit. I would love to be able to set a date – think I shall play the Lotto today to try and bring my trip into fruition sooner than what normal funding will allow. Get ready… Have a wonderful day John and I will enjoy the Spring for the both of us. 🙂 xoxo

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      • Yes, I cannot wait to see the assortment of lovely items you’ll carry now that your burden has been lightened by the omission of the stopper.
        Trust me, Mandy, I would no sooner deny your enjoyment of Spring than I would my own wonder at the sight of Winter’s first snowfall. Of course, we’ll revisit this issue after snowfall number 5 — and every one to follow. 😀

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  33. wow, i’ve been looking egg cup for ages now
    i even thought to sneaking one of the hotel’s breakfast conuter for soft boiled egg photography props, but my inner voice tell me that someday i gonna found it and then i didn’t did it, lol

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  34. Miss Mandy, you have all the fun things in your kitchen this month. I love it all! Especially the wine, Ive not heard of Pinotage before, awesome labels too. I adore the little tealight stands, super cute, and the books, wow… I love old books, its lovely to think of all the people who have read them. Bring on Spring… Oh it cant come soon enough! Im fffffrrrreeeeeeeezzing!
    Hugs and loves to you sweet lady. Mwah! xox

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    • Aww, you are always so sweet Anna! Think I shall have to call on your when I have a bad day so you can lift my spirits. Right, Pinotage is on the list for your visit! Knowing these books belonged to my gran and great gran, I always try and imagine when or where they read them or what the made from them. Oh how I wish I could go back in time.
      Love and hugs right back to you dear Anna. 🙂 xoxoxo

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  36. I’m loving your 3 tier cake stand – how hard are they to find, especially plain ones! It’s just gorgeous. Those old cookbooks look amazing and I’m looking forward to you sharing them with us. May I ask where you came across that wine/champagne sealer – I have one but you can never have too many! Thanks for a peak IMK, it’s nice to meet you

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  37. Everyone is talking about your cake stand, but it is simple elegant 🙂 I love to egg cups and I have a few as I love boiled eggs with toast soldiers 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing! Liz x P. S champagne sealer, really, puff, who ever has left over champagne LOL!

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    • Thanks for stopping by Liz. I am really pleased I found a plain white cake stand just like I wanted – my patience paid off. The bubbly sealer is just for good measure in the event of an extra bottle being opened. 😉 Have a super day. 🙂 xo

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  38. I especially love the egg cups! I have started quite a collection of my own, we use them regularly here and I’m always on the look out for some more. I really like the look of the wine too, great labels – I hope they taste as good as they look? I’d love to see more about what’s inside those gorgeous cook books. Thanks for sharing. Vicki

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  39. Hi Mandy! Happy Birthday, I have to agree with you on the sealer it does a great job. And I’d love to see what recipes are in those books.
    Thanks for sharing! 🙂

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  41. Mandy those old cookbooks look so fabulous and I am sure you will find lots of inspiration reading them. Pretty tiered cake stand which I am sure you will fill with delicious home baked treats. Thanks for the peek into your kitchen 🙂

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  42. Such graceful elegance in these pieces! Including, of course, the vintage cookbooks, which always have a gentility that I enjoy immensely. The cake stand and egg cups are so simple with those clean lines and smooth white surfaces that they’ll never look dated or compete with the beautiful food they’ll instead accentuate. I’ll take a note on the bubbly-sealer, too! We have Rabbit-style wine bottle sealers with a vacuum pump and they work wonders, but fizzy drinks need different treatment. 🙂 We just visited some friends’ winery this last week and I’ll probably be posting about it soon; the estate you visited sounds splendid!
    Cheers, darling!
    Kath
    xoxo

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    • Kath, I wish I could write like you – you have such a wonderful way with words, thank you for always sharing them with me. I bet your vacuum pump would work wonders on a bottle of bubbly. Wish we had friends with a wine estate – that would be very handy. Have a wonderful day dear Kath. 🙂 xo

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  43. Ha, I recently bought egg cups too! I haven’t even used them for breakfast yet but did use them for photos for the blog! More of a prop use in my house! Enjoy your spring, I am looking forward to autumn, though it will take a while to cool off here.

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    • Never thought of using the egg cups as props – very clever. I think we are in for a very hot summer this year – the winter has been incredibly mild so I have been a happy chappy. Have a super weekend Mama. 🙂 xo

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