I know it's still November but...

...Christmas has already started to sneak into my boys' bedroom :-)

Kitchen Corners

I just thought today I'd share some of my favourite little parts of our kitchen (I've just given it a good clean, so it's nice to capture it in this spotless state ;-)

I'm really not in love with the wood-effect cabinets and countertops in the house we're currently renting, but it's a good sized kitchen and has loads of storage for all my "stuff" so I've done my best to make it my own. Yes that's right MY own, I'm the only one in my house of boys who uses it!

Here's my little baking corner, my much adored Kitchenaid is surrounded by baking utensils, jars of cupcake wrappers, edible sprinkles and even little mini utensils for my boys :-)

Yes I DO love blue (and a hint of pink thrown in).

Yet MORE utensils, my favourite are my Nigella Lawson enamelled utensils and my Donna Hay silicone which I use with my cast iron cookware as they don't scratch it.

There's always something cooking on the stove.

The little blue framed notice board above was a thrift store find that I painted duck-egg blue (for a change) and use to display little Instagram photos of our trip to Paris (WITHOUT the kids!!!) last December.

My little corner of random bowls and cute things.

That's it, where I spend a huge portion of my time, fetching, preparing and serving up food to my hungry little hoard :-) By the way if you're as OBSESSED with kitchenware, recipes and ogling other people's kitchens as I am, head over to The Kitchn, one of my absolute fave blogs ever!!

All mixed up

I absolutely love clattering about my kitchen, making a big mess with pots, pans and bowls everywhere. We have a dishwasher but I am "old skool" and prefer to wash by hand. In the 9 months we have lived in this house the only time the dishwasher has even been opened was the day we moved in when I checked that the last tenants hadn't left anything behind.

I've mentioned many times how much I love kitchenware and some of my favourite things to collect are mixing bowls and jugs. I have LOTS, some vintage, some brand new, all very loved :-) Here are my favourites...

I love this vintage large lotus bowl, it cost a couple of dollars as far as I remember.

Another vintage classic shaped mixing bowl, again I think I paid about $2 for this.

I got this lovely beige "Delicious" mixing bowl with spout in the Myer sale.

A classic styled blue Tala mixing bowl, from Victoria's Basement, one of my absolute favourites!

Another market find, a cute white bowl with spout.

I love this pretty pink Le Creuset mixing bowl from their "Junior" range :-)

I got this fab red snowman mixing jug from "Meadows and Byrne" in Ireland last year, can't wait to use it at Christmas :-)

This beautiful huge robin egg blue mixing jug is another Irish purchase, I got my lovely Dad to buy it for me last year then lugged it back on the plane to Australia with me :-)

I love these blue vintage "Fowler Ware" bowls, made in Australia.

Yet another buy from Ireland, I adore this Mason and Cash red strawberry bowl.

This Le Creuset teal mixing jug is from Myer.

I got this fab pink mixing jug on eBay.

I love the vintage patina on this bowl, a flea market find.

I bought this gorgeous set of Nigella Lawson blue nesting mixing bowls on Amazon, they are a gorgeous shape to hold under your arm while mixing :-)

And no bowl post would be complete without some Pyrex of course! I have never seen the pattern on this large cinderella bowl before, anyone know what it's called?

And you couldn't possibly forget my leaning tower of Pyrex could you? ;-) To see those bowls in all their glory click here.

Oh this is only the tip of the iceberg but that's all for today, I wouldn't want you getting too bowled over (sorry I couldn't resist ;-)

A little corner

I love this little corner of our sunroom. It has 2 of my absolute favourite pieces of art...

I got this awesome Star Wars original gocco print from Etsy, how cute are Yoda and R2D2? Etsy is an absolute goldmine for original art, I have gotten some lovely paintings and original screenprints there too, love it!

Another of my absolute favourite places to buy art is Gallery Artes, all the work there is by artists who work under the Studio Artes initiative, check out their website and gallery, they have the most awesome original paintings and prints for really affordable prices. The gallery itself also has a small studio where you can see the artists at work, it has a lovely relaxed yet productive atmosphere. This original lino cut print is by artist Matthew Calandra, I got to have a great chat with him the day I bought it, a really lovely man, great artist with no pretentions, I'm hoping to buy more of his work soon.

My entire Le Creuset collection - Vintage, Retro and New!

This morning I decided to tackle one of my least favourite household chores, cleaning the tops of the cupboards and shelves in my kitchen. As I hauled down my various bits and pieces of Le Creuset cookware I thought I'd do a little photoshoot and share my collection :-)

I thought I'd start with some new pieces to my collection...

A cast iron 2 quart pumpkin shaped casserole, bought online from the USA.

A red 2 quart cast iron heart shaped casserole bought on Amazon UK.

An Antique Rose pink heart shaped cast iron casserole. These were made in a limited number and only available in Japan so you have no idea how I stalked eBay until I found a brand new one in the USA and cajoled the seller into shipping to Australia :-)

A cast iron doufeu, another ebay purchase, I really scored on this one! The seller just put something like "cast iron vintage pot" as the description, including the word doufeu would have set the price soaring, I got it for $34 including postage!!

A lovely cast iron terrine - another Amazon UK purchase (before they stopped shipping homewares to Australia :-(

I think most of my other cast iron pieces have been shared on the blog before but here's a recap...

Various vintage pieces in the flame colour including an awesome retro Cousances casserole (Cousances were Le Creuset's main competitor before they bought them out in the 1950s).

My Enzo Mari designed Mama cast iron baking dish.

       

       

Various scallop handled gratin dishes.

Various pots and frying pans including my prized Enzo Mari designed white cast iron pots, a steal at a market a few years ago and used daily ever since :-)

My beloved French ovens in Teal and Coastal blue, different shapes and sizes for different meals, the huge 28cm teal casserole is perfect for cooking in bulk, bought from John Lewis and Amazon in the UK.

I adore this teal shallow casserole and use it for various casseroles and pasta bakes, bought on Amazon UK.

My absolute favourite find of all time is this turquoise Raymond Loewy designed retro coquelle, $15 at a car boot market.

Another Raymond Loewy coquelle, the shallower size - $65 including postage on eBay, the seller didn't put "Raymond Loewy" in the description, score!

I have also collected some bits and pieces from Le Creuset's stoneware collection, the orange mini-casseroles were a gift from my little sis, I got the turquoise heart shaped mini casseroles and mixing jug in Ireland, the pink bowl was another Amazon purchase and the salt crock and utensil jar are from Myer and David Jones.

So here it is in all its glory, in one photo, all my cast iron pieces together...  

 Some more gratuitous group shots...

 And finally my little stoneware collection...

OK so all in all it's a BIG collection, but it's not really hoarding if you use it EVERY day, is it?