The photo above and the next two were taken on a visit to Hampton Court Palace a few years ago, and show the basic but naturally large, well-equipped and working palace kitchens. Those are real pork pies in the photo, that visitors could sample in the cafeteria.
To 2002, and here you see into the galley style kitchen of the last house we owned in Sydney, complete with chef, dishing up dinner for the guests at our daughter's 22nd birthday party. It was 12 months after her 21st birthday, when she had been studying overseas, and was the one and only time we hired a catering service so that we could relax and enjoy the party too. The chef was probably not overly impressed with the kitchen facilities, but at least it did include a double oven, and I think most of the dishes had been pre-prepared.
The next picture shows an old kitchen in the reconstructed village at Den Gamle By in Aarhus, Denmark, which we visited in 2011. Those big cast iron Aga type stoves were always the heart of the old kitchens. It's a fascinating museum of old buildings transplanted from around the countryside and collected together here.
To 2002, and here you see into the galley style kitchen of the last house we owned in Sydney, complete with chef, dishing up dinner for the guests at our daughter's 22nd birthday party. It was 12 months after her 21st birthday, when she had been studying overseas, and was the one and only time we hired a catering service so that we could relax and enjoy the party too. The chef was probably not overly impressed with the kitchen facilities, but at least it did include a double oven, and I think most of the dishes had been pre-prepared.
You don't often take photos of the leftovers, but these two photos above and below are a little bit different, because they're not real leftovers - all the food scraps and everything on the table bar the plates and glasses is made out of icing sugar! You can watch an interesting video clip about this 2013 exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria and the ladies who created it here: http://www.abc.net.au/arts/video/2013/melbourne-now-the-hotham-street-ladies-131115/default.htm
Our son Strahan looked the part in the professional kitchen while taking a cooking unit as part of his business degree in Hotel Management, but unfortunately he didn't go on to make a career out of it.
Finally, here are my late mother Jean and Velella, one of her granddaughters, in my sister Louisa's kitchen in Kerikeri NZ, showing off their gingerbread creations for Christmas 2010. Jean always made gingerbread for Christmas, but it didn't always look quite so fancy.
That's it from me, but for more photos of classic kitchens and tasty treats, check out Sepia Saturday # 281 at http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com.au/2015/05/sepia-saturday-281-30-may-2015.html
13 comments:
Love the "leftover" shots! And your galley kitchen -- not enough room to swing a cat, as we say here in Maine.
True, there was not very much spare bench space in that kitchen, but we managed there for 18 years feeding four children, and a cat :-) I realised recently that the expression'swing a cat' referred not to he animal, which would be rather cruel when you think about it, but to the cat o' nine tails, which was cruel in a very different way.
I love these pictures! Enjoy yourself while you're away, see you posting when you can!
The sugar art is amazing....the glass in particular. Interesting about swinging a cat. How great that your Christmas baking spans the generations. Have a wonderful holiday.
Great photos! And Happy Holidays!
I remember trying to make gingerbread men once for Christmas. I apparently didn't chill the dough long enough before using a cookie cutter & by the time I got the cut out ginger folk onto the cookie sheets they were l-o-n-g skinny things. I tried pushing them back into a less stretchy shape, but then they just looked squashed & lumpy, so I left 'em long & put extra silver 'buttons' on their torsos to compensate. They tasted fine, however!
What great photos you have in your collection in order to "pull these out of a hat" so to speak. Now my mouth is watering for gingerbread cookies!
I have just finished reading and watching Wolf Hall --- so immediately place the first 3 photos in that era --- and having seen similar kitchens when in England and Scotland. And the sugar icing was great. Good job --- even tho being on holiday may have cramped your style.
Now you've made me long for a good old melton Mowbray pork pie.
Brett and I are of one mind. A real pork pie with a proper crust. I’m drooling Jo!
I was tempted to use photos for some of our previous kitchens this week but decided they weren't very interesting.' Your shots are beautiful.
I enjoy touring old homes and always find old kitchens fascinating.
Your son with the knife is a classic shot. I think your family should have a caption contest for that one.
Post a Comment