My cookshelf

I have mentioned my cookbook addiction before and thought I'd chat about it today :-) I used to wonder if I was a bit weird in that I devour cookbooks like novels. There's nothing I love more than to curl up with a gorgeous cookbook and browse through the lovely photos and recipes and come up with new ideas and combinations of flavours. When I visit friends I always have a nosey through their cookbooks too.

There are many others out there though! Since I have started reading foodie blogs I have realised it's pretty common to enjoy cookbooks not only as something to use as a strict guide to follow, but also something to browse and just enjoy and not necessarily adhere to. My hubbie thinks my collection is getting a tad large, but I beg to differ, Nigella Lawson has over 4,000 cookbooks! My collection pales in comparison but I thought I'd share some of it anyway ...

This is not all of them, I have little piles tucked away in drawers and cupboards and a whole other collection in my parents' attic back in Ireland. I used to have to stifle my collection due to the ridiculous prices of books in Australia but the discovery of the Book Depository got me back on track, I buy the majority of my cookbooks brand new but have a little collection of retro books I love to read as a nostalgic look at the way food was when I was little :-) I've also found Abe Books to be a great source of hard-to-find titles.

Anyone else out there a little bit addicted to cookbooks? Please share :-)

Cupcakes!

When we have friends over there's nothing I love more than serving up homemade cupcakes in this lovely vintage cake dome :-)

I have a lovely little collection of cake plates and domes - I will definitely feature them in a future post! Hope you're all eating something yummy today :-)

Breadwinner

I have been looking for the perfect bread bin for ages. Not too fussy or anything, all I wanted was for it to be made of solid wood, painted duck-egg blue, with a brass cup handle and front-opening rather than top-opening so that with our limited counter space I could store things on top of it too.

There are some lovely blue options out there such as Nigella Lawson's bread bin which retails in Australia at $179 or the gorgeous Norwegian Blue bread bin from Ella's Kitchen Company which retails at 127 pounds, neither of these were exactly what I wanted however and way too expensive so I decided to try a little DIY project.

It took a while to find the perfect bread bin to "renovate". I passed up on several shiny roll-front versions, too much sanding, and painting them would be a nightmare. Then finally, at the rummage sale I visited with my Dad when he was here, I bought a nice plain little pine bread bin for only $3!

Add a sample pot of Dulux "Tanzing" for $9 (Mitre 10), a brass cup handle for $5 (Bunnings), a little elbow grease and a lot of cursing and ta daaa, I have my perfect bread bin for under $20!

I am having some chipping issues where it closes at the top so will need a good few more layers of sealant but I LOVE how it looks!

Oh no, not MORE kitchen stuff!

I'm afraid so! Why so many kitchen finds, you may ask. Well mainly because I am obsessed with kitcheny stuff but also because aswell as being fab looking, vintage kitchenalia is still so useful. I use my casseroles, bowls, dishes and utensils on a daily basis, and when they're not in use, they still sit there looking beautiful :-)

Here are a few...

I am in love with these beautiful canisters/jars. They are pretty large so I will either use them for utensils or flour and sugar etc. I love the way the green graduates into the gorgeous turquoise. They cost a total of $8 in Vinnies.

This little set of drawers has already had various uses in my kitchen, storing supplies for topping cupcakes, herbs, spices etc. They cost $2 at a market. I think they are reminiscent of this set which retail at 175 pounds!

I love Nigella Lawson's living kitchen range of products, but they are ridiculously expensive here in Australia, her set of 2 coffee cups and saucers retail at $89 at this store but mine cost $2 at a car boot sale :-)

This set of turquoise melamine cups were $1 at Vinnies, I love the shape and colour and the fact that my boys can play with them without any breakages :-)

Unusually shaped jugs really appeal to me - this one cost $1 at a market.

I paid $2 for this old flour canister at a market - perfect for utensils!

In my experience one can never have too many jars - these were 50 cents each.

And in upcoming posts:

- Stuff I bought that's NOT blue or green (shock!)

- My cookbook obsession

- Bread bin makeover

$5

On the way to the beach one day, while my Dad was here, I mentioned a little rummage sale in a nearby church that happens once a month and my Dad said he'd be happy for us to stop off and have a look. This is how lovely my Dad is, he has no interest whatsoever in markets, lives with a serial hoarder (my mum) and is on a constant de-cluttering mission.

BUT he does read my blog and knows that my collecting habits are in control (for now). I am equal parts my Mum (bower bird) and my Dad (de-clutterer / minimalist). I think it's this combination that stops my "stuff" from ever getting out of control. Every few months I feel the "urge to purge" and either donate unwanted/unused items to charity shops or sell them on eBay. I have also curbed my buying in the realisation that I only have so much space for my things and there is absolutely no point in having heaps of vintage stuff tucked away in cupboards, unused and unloved.

Anyway, I digress...

Back to the afore-mentioned rummage sale. My middle munchkin was in tow which meant it had to be a quick dash (why do little boys hate shopping so much?)

I had picked up a couple of little things and thought that was that until I Dad pointed at a box I had missed and said "you like this sort of green pottery don't you?"

Look!

Better still, check out the price!

Only $5 for this dusty box full of beautiful celadon glazed pieces from Thailand. My Dad is right, I LOVE this stuff, I have featured some of my collection before on this blog and Dad was obviously paying attention.

They cleaned up beautifully...

Well spotted Dad!!! :-)

Rainbow

Since I last posted on my tiny collection of vintage Pyrex pie plates, I have amassed quite a few more! For all you fellow Pyrex nuts out there, here they are in all their vivid glory (oh and in case you think I'm alone and there AREN'T any other Pyrex nuts out there, head over to the Pyrex Collective, the truth is out there).

And now for the individual photoshoots...

You might be forgiven for thinking my collection is complete. But oh no, because I WILL NOT REST until I have a turquoise Pyrex pie plate. I have never actually seen one in real life but know they exist because of this post.

It will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine ;-)