My kitchenware purchases 2012/13
(Marbleized splatter enamelware -  blue marble flat salad plate & red marble muffin tin. From Labour & Wait. Now one of many enamel goods I already have. I love enamelware…!)
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Hello!!!! Hello!!!! Hello~!!!!Â
How have you all been??? Tell me! I hope you’ve all been good!!!
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Me? Well, I can report to you that I’ve been alright y’know, I’m still my happy self. ^^ Although, I must admit, last week was a hard week for me, a few minor things has happened that upset me, I had to deal with a nasty character, but it’s nothing I want to discuss about in detail here. Besides, don’t worry, it was nothing too major nor dramatic that it changes me. Although…, what it did do however is, it made me all the more aware that I have a loving family, some true friends (& trusty blog readers!^^) & earn an honest living out of work I still love doing. That I am on a good track, that I am lucky.
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Though, talking about awareness of one’s status, recently, I’m also feeling much aware that every day seems to just meld in to one another without much distinction, … if that makes any sense (?) lol…, like how the cycle of everyday affairs is a given. It’s a ‘set’ that has to be done: Wake up, get the kids ready to go to school, make the beds, tidy the house, make the dinner, do the washing, then devote Thursday, Friday & Saturday to my market-work, etc, etc…
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Oh, but don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining! Far from it, I actually find comfort & peace in this secure situation, it”s rather cushy n’ snug isn’t it, although to some, it may come across as mundane & monotonous!
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Then…, perhaps it came from a counteraction to feeling monotonized, & in need for fun spontaneity, I suggested to Mr.D who just turned 49 last week, that for his next birthday ~ the big five-oh ~ I could perhaps take him on a holiday to somewhere very very special. Somewhere unusual from our daily lives. I was thinking somewhere where the stars are beautiful. Like Chile, as he is very much in to star-gazing. (He can’t stop watching DVDs about it). Then he says the one place he’d love to go to is the Himalayas. HIMALAYAS!? Like Tibet or Bhutan!? Wow! Now ‘THAT’ is very special. ^^ The very thought that this time next year we might be somewhere so extremely different from here excites me. So since then, I’ve been researching about how to travel there already. On the off chance, has any of the readers here been to the Himalayas?? If you have, I would greatly appreciate to know how you did it please!
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ANYWAY! Sorry, I suppose this is some sort of a food blog, so here’s some pictures of kitcheney things I bought within the last year! I hope you like them as much as I do! T xx
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eBay purchase! Vintage chopping board from Germany. Wooden Mr & Mrs Onion heads crying.
Usually my own policy when buying on eBay is to buy from the UKÂ only, one, because the expensive overseas shipping fee outweighs the value of the item, & two, because having that personal limit stops me from buying willy-nilly (& I will). But, in this case, I decided to buy it regardless because I had a fond memory of seeing these many years ago, hanging on Mr.D’s late father’s kitchen wall!
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Beautifully grained wooden pedestals, from the 1930’s. Cakes look instantly classy when displayed on these!
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Glazed tartan stoneware dinner plate by ANTA of Scotland. The tartan is an early, orIginal design by Annie Stewart, co-founder of ANTA. Handmade & decorated in the Highlands.
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Vintage Royal Worcester bread plate with animal pattern. I’ve never seen this design before! I would love to know the name of the collection, but it doesn’t say it on the back other than Royal Worcester…
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Again, another design I haven’t seen before. This bread plate is from Alfred Meakin Studio. The design is called Little Green Apples.
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And this is my current craze! (Lol! How boring am I??) It’s a vegetable sun-drying net basket!
You can put deseeded tomatoes, peppers, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, asparagus, daikon radishes…, all-sorts, you’d be surprised with the variety of foods that can be sun-dried. And if you’ve been lucky with hot weather, the veggies shrivel & dry in no time, & what you’d end up with are foods that has boosted nutrients & condensed umami flavour. It can also be preserved a lot longer, although I often just semi-dry them & have it for dinner that same day as drying.
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Now what else… Oh yeah, I also bought an OXOÂ mandoline slicer in white (Don’t worry, I also have a cut-resistant glove!!). It’s a superb product, especially when you want to create beautiful apple galettes with uniform super-duper thin apple slices, but otherwise I don’t use it often, & is boxed up. At the end of the day, it’s quicker to cut foods yourself by knife, &, no matter how I try, I end up with the the end piece left over.
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Then I also bought my now 7th (!) hand mixer. This time, it’s a James Martin by Wahl hand mixer (300 Watt). I’m super happy with this one. It’s on the bigger & heavier side, but it is powerful (meaning it cuts the time in whipping eggs!) &, despite this, is quieter than the other models I have used in the past. I also like that the whisk attachment is ever so slightly longer than the other models’ too! ^^
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Hello! Tamami! How lovely to read your new post! I love all of those purchases! I hope you have a good summer. All the best.
Comment by Louise - July 9, 2013 11:20 am
Hello Louise! Thank you for your lovely comment! I’m glad you like the purchases! Louise, please also have a great summer!!! X
Comment by Tamami - July 9, 2013 11:23 am
Lovely to read a new post from you, Tamami! I like all of your purchases, especially the Anta plate and the Royal Worcester animal plate.
I hope you don’t have any more ‘trouble’ with anyone, I’m sure you didn’t ask for it.
Comment by Jeannette - July 11, 2013 7:18 pm
Jeannette! :) :) :)
Thank you for your comment! ^^ I love the Anta too – it really oozes the Scottish Highlands vibe right? Have a look at their website; they have beautiful rugs and stuff too! – And as for the trouble,,, yes, I very much hope so too…!! xx
Comment by tamami - July 11, 2013 10:58 pm
I did look at Anta’s website last night, you are right there are some lovely products there, but a little on the expensive side ufortunately!
I was just thinking, how do cope in this hot weather with your baking, do you do it very late in the day or very early?
Comment by Jeannette - July 12, 2013 1:28 pm
Hi Jeannette! ^^ yes, expensive! I bought mine on ebay…! Lol, I’m always on there…!
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– As for the hot weather, acually, I’m taking tomorrow off for that exact reason – it’s too hot, especially underneath the plastic tarpaulin roofing on the stalls, I think it adds extra 2, 3 degrees!
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Last week was about 28 degrees I think. And I was suffering! Besides, people seem to seek out ice-creams & cold drinks rather than spongey cakes, so the sales wasn’t superb either. As for the baking, I have to bake all-day near the hot oven to meet the schedule, there’s no way around it…
Comment by Tamami - July 12, 2013 6:25 pm
Beautiful kitchen things. I get a bit out of control when I go to labour and wait! That is the only good thing about not living in london anymore.
Tanami, don’t you have instagram? :)
Comment by Alison - July 15, 2013 4:25 pm
hey hey Alison!!!! :) :) :) How super to hear from you!! Same with me when in that shop. Lol, it’s good there, but not good for the purse! And instagram…, hm…, nope I don’t. I’m late on the bandwagon as usual. Do you think it’s worth starting? ~Do you have instagram? xx
Comment by tamami - July 15, 2013 9:17 pm
Oh wow, I can’t believe I missed so many posts. I think the notifications had been going into my spam folder or something, and since you hadn’t posted for a very long time, I hadn’t checked the site. Today I remembered to check and what a treat :). I am so glad there are so many new posts for me to read. Lovely kitchen gadgets by the way, I particularly love the vintage chopping boards and sun drying basket, they are so cute :).
If you are visiting Himalayas and Nepal, why not come to India too, and visit the Taj Mahal? Northern India is not that far from Nepal. If you do decide to come, please feel free to drop me an email and I’d be happy to help you with any information or details that you might need.
Comment by Poornima - July 16, 2013 5:58 pm
Yes! I have instagram. It would be great to see your pictures! My user is allgoodthingssg if you join :)
Comment by Alison - July 16, 2013 8:27 pm
Hi Alison! cheers for the link to yours! Wow, I see you’ve got a fantastic collection of pictures!! Really amazing looking cakes, & an peek-y insight to how you live. Very interesting! I’ll look in to getting instagram too then. Though knowing myself, I’m absolutely crap at taking good pics! *_* Will let you know if & when I start! xx
Comment by tamami - July 16, 2013 9:43 pm
Poornima!
he he, I’m super glad you came back to read the blog! ^^ I’m so happy that you are still visiting this blog despite that I am not very good at posting regularly…! Lol!
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And ohh, how lovely/ sweet/ kind/ generous of you to offer to help!!!!! When time comes (if at all) & if it involves india I will def. contact you then! ⤠THANK YOU! â¤
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Your messages always makes me turn to a big smile. Poornima, have a lovely lovely week!! xx
Comment by tamami - July 16, 2013 9:58 pm
About 13 years ago I went to Pokhara in Nepal and it was so beautiful. Its a luvly little town set around a beautiful lake with the snow capped Annapurna range in the background. Stunning setting and everyone was really friendly. And great stargazing as well!! xx
Comment by Rosie - July 22, 2013 2:15 pm
Hi! Finding a good quality But affordable hand mixer is certainly a chore. I think I’m on my fourth in something like 3 years. They always seem to go on the fritz during holiday cookie baking time.
The splatter ware is gorgeous. I like the air dryer as well. The wooden pedestals are quite graceful..Hoping your local birds don’t decide to attack it for the treats inside ;)
Comment by jonquil - July 22, 2013 4:35 pm
Rosie! :) :) :)
Thank you very much for letting me know about Pokhara! Just now, I just googled it, & ohhhh,,,, you’re right, it’s breathtakingly beautiful… Nepal might well possibly be the destination actually, as when I was looking in to Tibet, their situation with china seems to really restrict travel there, as well as, I can only find a detour way of the actual traveling to get there too… Are you from UK? Can I ask how you travelled to Nepal? xx
By the way, just yesyerday I saw a travel programme about Nepal, & they were also saying that the Nepalese are very very nice people!!
Comment by Tamami - July 22, 2013 7:21 pm
Hello~ Jonquil!! :)
Lovely to hear from you! :)
Re: hand mixer, ditto! But one good thing about having to buy the next ones is that, I now have a few spare sets of whisk attachments! It really comes in handy, because I don’t have to wash a set every time I swap between whisking the batter, and then on to whisking the egg whites for meringue, which as you know, whipping egg whites successfully requires you to use super clean & super-dry attachments! ;-) xx
As for the birds? So far they haven’t been interested in my shriveling shiitake mushrooms, etc! Phew! ;-)
Comment by Tamami - July 22, 2013 7:22 pm
What gorgeous kitchen accessories! I particularly love the sun drying veg basket – hmm sun dried tomatoes – yum! where’s that from?
Pumpkin x
Comment by Pumpkin - July 23, 2013 10:49 am
Hi Pumpkin! xx Thank you! xx
The sun-drying basket is, unfortunately from Japan… I tried to look for something similar in UK, but had no luck…! x
Comment by Tamami - July 23, 2013 11:20 am
Shame about that! It looks so useful! Thanks anyway x
Comment by Pumpkin - July 23, 2013 4:01 pm
Pumpkin, ah yes, I so wish they sold these in UK too… x
Comment by Tamami - July 23, 2013 6:51 pm
Hey Tamami, happy to get some “news” from you..
Great decision to go to the Himalayas :) It will definitely be a different kind of holiday.
I have a very good friend that has been to both Bhutan and Nepal, he actually works in a travel agency that organizes tours there, and he goes for checking out the opportunities in tourism there. However if you have any questions about your trip, please do let me know and I will get in contact with him to get some good tips :)
Comment by Mara - July 25, 2013 8:07 am
Oh my God! Mara! That’s fantastic bit of news to me about your friend that works for a travel agency!!! Thank you for your helping hand!!! :) If you don’t mind me asking, what is the name of the company? I’ll check it out online. It’s early days of planning at the moment, & I don’t have any particular questions yet, but, if I do in the future, is it alright if I contact you via email?? T xx
Comment by Tamami - July 25, 2013 12:42 pm
Hey sure, no problem. The name of the company is LivingStone, it is however in the Czech Republic, here is the website : http://www.livingstone.cz (it’s in czech) but I give you my email and if you have questions please email them to me and I’ll get in touch with my friend, or I can even put you in touch with him directly.
Comment by Mara - July 26, 2013 7:42 pm
Mara! Many many thanks!!!!!!!!!! (I’ve also emailed you!)
Comment by tamami - July 28, 2013 10:28 pm
Hey Tamami chan!!
Hope you are well. Your site is always look lovely!
My friend’s birthday is on this Sun 4th Aug and I am just wondering if you can make a birthday cake for me. I know always last minutes…. Sorry…
Can you let me know if it’s possible.
Thank you!!
Aya
Xxxxx
Comment by Aya - July 31, 2013 9:07 pm
Hello Aya san!!!!! Just sent you an email!!!! xx
Comment by Tamami - July 31, 2013 10:24 pm
Hi from Southern California! I found your blog via chocolate and zucchini blog that I have followed for years….and wanted to let you know that I lived and worked in Nepal for two years until 2011, and spent a good amount of time in Pokhara, the starting point city for most himalayan treks, and also had a *great* travel agency for my trip to Bhutan –“keys to bhutan” which was fantastic. Let me know if you need suggestions for places to stay, etc in Pokhara and/or Kathmandu, and as I mentioned above, “Keys to Bhutan” was a great company to use. It was just me, my friend and our guide for the whole trip ..which was great since we had been concerned we’d be stuck on some large group tour. nope. Happy to share more details if useful, just email me. – C.
Comment by Claudia - August 11, 2013 11:38 pm
Hi Claudia!!!!! I’ve just sent you an email!!!!! T xx
Comment by Tamami - August 12, 2013 12:42 am
Hi Tamami,
I have just discovered your website & can’t wait now to come & visit your stall at Broadway Market! The cakes & chocolates look absolutely scrumptious! I also noticed on one of your old Christmas posts you were selling the most beautiful hand carved wooden hare with dangling limbs! I have tried everywhere to find somewhere who sells them??? With no success! Could you possibly tell me where he came from??? I think you mentioned it was a German company . . . do you have there brand name??? I would be sooooo grateful . . . Many Thanks in advance!! Natalie
Comment by Natalie - December 14, 2013 5:43 pm
hi Natalie, thank you very much for your kind comment! Yes, please visit one day!! :)
As for the wooden hare…, unfortunately they don’t make them anymore. I can however tell you where I purchased them from – Boltz. It’s a wholesale giftware company. – After a v. successful sale of all my hares, I went about with another order, but had to return all the new stock as they put a horrible dark varnish on, it looked ever so sinister…!
Comment by Tamami - December 14, 2013 8:30 pm
Hello! I have a Royal Worcester bread plate like yours, only mine has an elephant in the center. Have you found out yet the name of the pattern? I’ve been researching , and so far come up with a blank. Cheers!
Comment by Julie K. - January 18, 2014 3:00 pm
Hello Julie K.!
How interesting!! I’ve been dying to get more of the collection but like you, have not yet found the name… If I ever do, I’ll let you know!!! x
Comment by Tamami - January 18, 2014 3:05 pm