Home Remedies

I have been a most neglectful poster so far this year.  But I have had a wonderful holiday down at the beach, so much so that when I returned to work I forgot my main computer password and even what day it was.   One of those fantastic sandy salty beach holidays where the children tumble exhausted into bed each night, and we watch no television and read books and gaze at the sea for hours on end.   Just perfect.

I promise to post pictures of our bunk room, and some of the house next time round, I just have to remember to take my camera down with me.

Real non holiday life has been a bit of a shock this year, because the Herceptin which is infused into me every three weeks has been giving me some trouble.   You may recall Herceptin is the wonder drug with no side effects, which I am on until April (a year in total).  

 

I have such a minimal kitchen. Every now and then I hanker for a kitchen like my gran's. Like this.

I don't get angry about much these days, at least I try not to, but I was unreasonably enraged at my dashed expectations.  Particularly because I have been on Herceptin for 6 months now with very little impact, so I really thought I was coming to the end of the pain and discomfort.If there is anything worse than a cancer drug with lots of scary well publicised side effects, it is a cancer drug which you are assured has No Side Effects but in fact does.    Each weird ache and pain convinced me I had something unspeakable like secondary bone cancer.  BUT 30 seconds of Internet research demonstrated I am not crazy, and that Herceptin does have some well known side effects.  It is just that those side effects are still denied by many nurses and doctors.  

Pink fridge courtesy of an automotive painter

The side effects vary, and obviously not everyone gets them but mine are constantly runny nose, thin nails, and terrible joint pain.   The first two I can live with but the joint pain, which also featured when I was on Taxol, is stabby and painful, severe enough to wake me at night and particularly bad in my left shoulder and collarbone and wrists and ankles and in my feet when I first wake up.   My joints crack when I move them. It is like being 90 years old.  It is technically arthralgia, not arthritis because there is no swelling.

The last thing I want to do is take more pain killers.  So I thought that before I resorted to Panadol I would try some home remedies.  And whilst I was researching this, it occurred to me that there are a few bits and pieces from my pantry which I now use regularly which have really helped me.  I use these in conjunction with good old nuclear grade conventional medicine.    And exercise.  Being a recent convert to exercise, I feel a bit preachy going on about this, but strenuous weight bearing exercise has really helped me over the last year, and definitely helps with joint pain. 

All I need now is for my grandmothers to come back to life so I can chat to them about what they cooked up in their kitchens. 

Apple Cider Vinegar.  ACV is meant to be a cure all for many things, but particularly good for joint pain (arthritis, gout and all others).  Sounds too good to be true doesn't it?  You take it as 2 teaspoonsful in a standard glass of water, I think warm is the best.  What I am about to tell you will amaze you. I have been taking ACV this way twice a day for a week now, and my joint pain has almost completely gone.   I love you ACV.   If you are interested in the claims for ACV, check out Earth Clinic, which is an all round fascinating site, but you may need to take a big pinch of salt because in my view some of the posters are clearly nutters.
I use this one:

It is also apparently great for hair, you use it as a pre or post shampoo rinse, it gets rid of gunky build up.  Haven't tried this yet. 

Turmeric and cayenne (ie chilli powder) great for sinus and easy to use a lot if you do lots of Indian cooking as I do.  Turmeric is a blood purifier and an immune system booster.  You can make a turmeric tea if you can be bothered, like this: a teaspoon in warm milk, or alternatively, simmer a teaspoon plus some cardamom in water, then add same amount of milk.  You can sweeten with honey.   An Ayurvedic would also suggest you add a couple of spoonfuls of almond oil.   You can also steep ginger, honey and lemon juice in hot water, then add some turmeric powder and a dash of cayenne.  Very good for colds.

Lemon in hot water. When I can remember, which I confess is less often than it should be, I take this first thing in the morning, as a nice way to cleanse the body before the rigours of the day.  And on the days I remember I definitely feel better inside.

Green smoothies.  I have talked about these here.  Unfortunately kale is out of season at the moment in Melbourne. I have asked my mother who has a green thumb and a fantastic veg garden to try to grow some so I have a ready supply.  In the meantime I am using lots and lots of spinach as a substitute.

Tea tree oil.  I dab this on chemo related spots.  I also use this in my home made anti lice conditioner (one bottle of cheap conditioner, half empty out, put in small bottle of tea tree oil, small bottle of eucalyptus oil and small bottle of lavender oil.  Mix and use weekly in place of conditioner.  My daughter has not had lice for 5 years now!).

Coconut oil. I use this on really dry foot bits. And also use lots in cooking. And on my cereal when roasting it to make it a bit crunchier.

 And finally, whilst not a home remedy, here is some Eyelash help.   Another nasty surprise from Herceptin was my eyelashes falling out 4 months after I finished chemo.  For the second time.  But just in one eye.  My eyelashes have always been rather pale, and not much to brag about, but this really annoyed me so I went off to Mecca Cosmetica and bought this, by French brand Talika:

So far it has really helped, my lashes are definitely thicker and longer.   Do you have a cure all from your pantry?

(Images (1), (2), (4) Country Living, (3) House and Hem (5) Eva Kylland)

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I Love My Stickblender

Nigella Lawson's new book Kitchen has a couple of useful chapters about the way she sets out and designs her kitchens, what she uses in terms of knives etc and very interestingly, the appliances she loves and those she is ashamed of purchasing. 

I declare upfront - as you can see by this picture of our kitchen. I do not share her dislike of a zen kitchen and I don't agree you can't cook properly in such a kitchen.   Whilst it is true, it does not always look like this, I find that as with an office, I can't concentrate properly if there is crap everywhere.  

As you can see, all food groups are represented in my kitchen (bread, red wine and herbs) 

I do however share her dislike of pointless appliances (and I speak as someone who doesn't even have a microwave, which sometimes makes me feel like a wartime bride).  This is partly because we don't have a huge amount of benchspace, and you have to have appliances to hand if you are going to use them.  I found her list of what she considers critical very interesting.    You can see from this image (taken some time ago, I would say at least 10 years) that she has always liked her kitchens to have everything within reach. 

Nigella in her kitchen (photo by Paul Clements)

These kitchens illustrates perfectly why I don't like lots of stuff piled up.  Where is the bench space?

Here is Nigella's list of key appliances and kitchen equipment:

1.   Potato ricer

2.   Rice cooker.

3.   Timer (must be portable so you can do other things whilst food is cooking).

4.   Electric whisk (if you have ever tried to make meringue by hand whisking you will see the wisdom of this).

5. Free standing mixer like a Kitchenaid.

6. Stick blender.

7. Food processor.

8. Thermometers (meat and candy).

9. Mezzaluna.

10. Graters. 

And in her Kitchen Hall of Shame? Appliances including a yoghurt maker, professional icecream maker, electric jam maker, electric grater and electric waffle maker. 

I actually love my icecream maker. If you have children, as you can whip up a sorbet in no time at all.    I also think those manual pasta makers are fun to do with the children, but otherwise you don't use them much.    

My completely and absolutely must have kitchen appliance is a stick blender like the ones Bamix make, which I use for soups, curry pastes, pesto, chopping nuts, mincing meat and everything in between.   They are not very expensive at all.  

Being a Good Wife, and always trying to improve myself, it did make me wonder if there was some appliance I might need which I don't have.   I started thinking about this when someone emailed me this ad this week. 

I can assure you if I received either of these for Christmas I would be officially over the moon:
 

Magimix see through toaster

I know, I know everyone laughed when this toaster was released.  I certainly did.  But I have come around a bit. If you are a litle bit obsessive, as I fear I may be, and just a little bit distrustful of your toaster and its cunning plots, you will be constantly popping the toast up to check its shade of brown.  So, I admit it, I can now see the logic. 

Kitchen Aid Premium Stand Mixer in steel grey

To bake properly, you need a mixer.  This is what I am told anyway. I am not really a baker, or a dessert maker, but if I had one I would probably do it more.   


And for completeness, my list of pointless appliances:

1. Sandwich Maker (too hard to clean.  An Italian friend taught me to make toasted sandwiches in a fry pan over heat, squashing the sandwich down by pressing a plate on it and resting a heavy tin on top.  And student-y as it is, I still do it this way).

2. Juicer (too hard to clean. Yes, there is a theme emerging here (laziness)).

3. Rice cooker (in spite of what Nigella says, I find I get really good results using the good old absorption method over the stove top).   We did have one once, and I am ashamed to say I threw it out after a few years. 

4. Popcorn maker (please.  You can hold the lid on a pot can't you?)

5.  Exploitative Baby Food appliances (you know, the ones that prey on your paranoid fear you will kill your baby by food poisoning him or her - baby food trays and containers, mini baby food mashers and choppers and heaters etc.  Read Smitten Kitchen's sensible suggestions about how to do baby food without all of these extra things).

6.  Gimmicky things like a 'Muffin Maker' (in an online spiel for this I read this pitch 'Compact and easy to use, it cooks three large, light and fluffy muffins without the hassle of pre-heating the oven.'  Because you know what a hassle it is to twist a knob right? And besides, who ever needs only three muffins?)  

And finally, I have heard speak of a magical German appliance called a Thermomix which can allegedly chop, beat, mix, whip, grind, knead, mince, grate, juice, blend, heat, stir, steam and weigh food.  So, you put the ingredients in, and 30 seconds later, risotto is produced.    It sounds like something JK Rowling would come up with.  Like the see through toaster I started laughing when I heard about this.   Does anyone have one? 

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Coppery Potness

I recently cleaned out some of the high inaccessible storage cupboards in our kitchen which need a ladder to look into (thanks Mr Architect!) with the aim of throwing out or giving away those items no longer needed, moving not so much used stuff in, and creating more room in the everyday part of the kitchen.

There were many things up there I had forgotten about, including novelty Y2K champagne glasses (remember Y2K? All the contracts we drafted had to have special Y2K clauses in them just in case everything re-set to Year Zero!  Seems so silly now), a huge lobster pot, old emission globes left by the previous owners and these two copper pots:

Okay, I obviously hadn't forgotten they existed.  They were there, in the deep recesses of my brain, but we had not used them for so long, they had slipped into a limbo area.  I got a nice surprise when I found them but they were almost black (with some green bits) and needed a really really good clean.  I got my husband to do that, and as you can see they are still not perfect.  

I have a very minimalist kitchen.  I don't really have anywhere to display these beauties.  But sometimes open shelving beckons me because I really love copper pots against stainless steel.  Something about the contrast of industrial modernity v an almost Gothic patina of age.  I so love this kitchen. 

This is a bit judgmental I know, but I just feel that someone who colour codes their cookbooks probably does not get much use out of these beautiful hanging pots. 

A lot of US and UK kitchens have a central hanging pot arrangement. It is not very common at all in Australia.   I don't think I could live like this but if you used your pots regularly it would be quite practical.   When I was a little girl I saw a story on Farrah Fawcett Majors in US Vogue.  It must have been about 1978 and she was at the height of her fame.  The story had a picture of her in her 1970's kitchen with a huge set of hanging copper pots.   She spoke of her love of cooking, and it made me look at her in a completely different light. 

This is a very English kitchen, complete with an Aga stove. 

This is Martha Stewart's kitchen at Turkey Hill.   Many famous chefs have kitchens which are copper pot heaven. Julia Child's, with her pegboard hanging wall, is very well known.  And this is Elizabeth David's:

Every kitchen should have a copper pot.  They are things of beauty not just practicality.  And they last forever. They are a pot to pass down to your children, if you can keep it clean enough! 

Apparently copper bowls are very good for whisking eggs.  But in fact I feel I only need one, the little pot, which can be used for cooking sauces.  These pots distribute heat really well, and can also be brought to the table for serving, just as is done at Vue de Monde as you can see below:

I must get out the copper cleaner again this weekend.  What a pity there is no miracle quick and easy way to clean copper. 

(Images (1) Marie Claire Italia (3) Raimondkoch.com (4) Badgley Mischka's kitchen via Decorpad (5) Coastal Living (6) House to Home (7) Martha Stewart (8) JohnnyGrey.com (9) Vue de Monde)

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Paintings in the Kitchen

By kitchen art I don't mean the scribbles we stick on the fridge, or our daughter's latest take on Sleeping Beauty's puffed sleeves and pouty lips but real art.

When I was little my parents had a huge oil canvas hanging over our kitchen dining table. It was a painting of an enormous orange hill, with only spindly trees and a bit of scrubby grass to alleviate the baking dryness. At the very top of the hill was a little man, with his arms in the air either waving hello or help. I can see that painting in my mind's eye as if it were yesterday, it is imprinted on my psyche. It is one of those paintings which is happy-sad, because you never really knew whether the man was pleased to be at the top of the hill or frantically trying to be rescued. Like life really.

For this reason, I was determined to have art in our house, art which would become part of our children's life and evoke a time for them many years later. Further, kitchens can be very sterile and art can really humanise the space.

One has to be practical however, I guess a canvas over the stovetop is not very sensible unless you want it to change colour pretty quickly.

You can include a statement piece:

What about a jumble of frames:

Or vintage style:

Or perhaps a perfectly pristine 'Aerin Lauder in the Hamptons' style lithograph:

Or just one gilt framed delight:

In our kitchen we have two paintings, by an artist from Adelaide called Nona Burden. I love their orangey tones and the round bowl. It felt to us like they evoked the feeling of food and sharing.

They may be due for a move, so perhaps I need to start looking out for some new kitchen art so I can still look at a painting when I am musing over a cookbook, and not feel like the kitchen is reproving me to:

What about you? Do you have art in the kitchen? If so, what kind?

Have a happy weekend.

(Images: (1)Tim Evan Cook (2)(3) House and Garden Aust (4) Verandah (5) Apartment Therapy (6) Marie Claire Maison (7) Abigail Ahern (8) Apartment Therapy (9) (10) PCH (11) Hannah Zakari)

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Rustic country kitchens - dustcatcher or bliss?

As I have mentioned, my mother lives on a farm in northeast Victoria. It gets very cold and also baking hot. And when the phone lines come down in a storm, you are on your own. She has a wonderful country kitchen complete with uneven wooden floorboards, Aga wood burning stove, a second oven, a window looking out over the pomegranate tree and lots of free standing wooden cupboards for pantry and other storage.

When I recently visited I was rather taken with this little 'Celery and Chicken' arrangement my mother had over the cupboard where she stores some of her glassware.

The jugs on the top shelf are cabbage leaves, and the plate on the left is a lettuce leaf. These plates are made by Royal Doulton and I have two. Here is a close up:

I use them only for eating spinach salad. It just seems to be appropriate.

I really love rustic kitchens. They are great for warming up, being cozy, and sitting and talking. And if things get a bit messy, it doesn't matter. Another kitchen I have spent time in is that of my husband's aunt, who lives in a four storey converted mill in Leicestershire in the UK. She has a flagstone floored kitchen with a huge battered wooden table, a window seat looking out to the back garden and the mill creek and pond and an enormous Aga stove. And my goodness - the food which was magicked from that stove. I know I would never be able to cook pheasant in a wood burning stove, but she can pull it off.

Here are some images of my favourite country style kitchens.

This is my favourite. I know it has been styled to within an inch of its life but the shelf arrangement is cluttered yet clean.

This is a stunning wooden dresser.

I love the simplicity of this one, wonderful for a little cabin.

We have one of these Dualit toasters. They are very effective but boy do they take up a lot of room.

This laundry style sink which has been built into the bench is a great idea. I feel many kitchen sinks are too small.

I love these framed pictures against the industrial wall and with stainless steel too!

These pale green wrought iron chairs make this kitchen delicate and feminine.

But do you do need carefully planned storage if you are exposing your crockery to the world. Isn't this a clever solution? Completely tailored to the needs of the kitchen.

What do you think? Would the dusting get you down? Would you have to keep obsessively rearranging?

Images: (1)-(5) (9)(12)(13) House to Home (6) (11) Mairie Claire Maison (7)(8) Homes and Gardens (10) P0int Click Home (14) Elle Decor France

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