Thursday 3 November 2016

In My Kitchen: November 2016

November is a crazy month.  It starts with a birthday lunch and ends with Christmas well and truly on the way.  This year I am participating in Vegan MoFo (as introduced yesterday) and so my blog is only featuring vegan food all November.  In my kitchen is lots of interesting vegan purchases and home cooked food, a little Halloween and the welcome return of stone fruit!

I start with a batch of vegan meringues (above).  Sylvia had to take something to Show and Tell at school under the theme of The Science of Cooking.  I baked this batch of meringues for her to take in and ask kids to guess what was in them.  No one got it.  (In fact no one even guessed egg white that is traditionally used in meringues!)  She then told them a bit about the exciting recent discovery of using aqua faba instead of egg whites.

I think I was more excited about aqua faba and she was more excited about taking meringues to give out to her class.  But I still feel it a great thing for kids to know about.  Oh, and I learned that I need to make sure not to pipe the meringues too close together, even if I am very tired.  

As it is Vegan MoFo (where bloggers around the globe post often about vegan food), I thought I would post some of our favourite vegan food.  We regularly have these items in our house: hummus, rice crackers, roasted fava beans, seaweed crackers, biocheese, bba sausages, tofu, and Fry's schnitzels.

A new vegan item in my kitchen is this packet of smoked chipotle sausages.  I haven't tasted them.  They are from the freezer section so I keep forgetting about them.  I love anything smoky but am hoping they aren't too spicy.

I have been making an effort to eat my vegies and loving how pretty they look.  Isn't purple cabbage just gorgeous?  I ate it with dal and rice.

Another recent meal was these Coconut Black Eyed African Beans.  It is a favourite stew with coconut cream, tomato passata and black eyed beans.  When I make favourite dishes that I blogged years ago, if time permits I take a nice photo to improve the look of old posts.  My photography skills still need much work but I have improved since I started blogging in 2007.

I am quite fond of Australia's native wattleseed but have run out of my stash and it is not something I have been encountering in shops recently.  It is good to see energy bars featuring wattleseed.  I like this Macadamia and Wattleseed version from The Bar Counter.  And the packaging is so pretty too.

We made some purchases at the preserves stall of the recent school fete.  E chose the fancy Orange, Grapefruit and Cognac Marmalade.  I bought some corn relish and also a jar of crabapple jelly (not pictured) for my mum.  We haven't opened any yet. 

The fruit bowl is looking better than it has for a few months.  The last of the apples are hanging in there.  I went to the newly opened South Geeelog Farmers Market with my mum and bought some very nice oranges.  Most excitingly, we have Aussie peaches back in the shops.  Not at their peak but it is so wonderful to eat peaches.  You might also see in the background that we have flowers on the lime tree.

Sylvia was very excited to see the Halloween designs on some Kelloggs cereals boxes.  Here is the rice bubbles (also known as rice krispies in other countries).  I also caved into pester power because the Coco Pops have a spooky box too.  They are so sweet that they are not an everyday breakfast.

Sylvia has been very excited about Halloween.  These plates, serviettes, bags and mini Halloween pumpkins would not be in my kitchen but for pester power.  Which is not to say that I didn't have fun doing a little carving.

And finally, here are a few of my extravagant purchases that have be used in making Halloween treats.  Blue multigrain tortilla chips, vegan marshmallows, black tahini and a truckload of chocolate.  Stay tuned to see how I used them. (Check out the black tahini in biscuits)

I am sending this post to the In My Kitchen event, that invites bloggers to share a peek into their kitchen.  Started by Celia of Fig Jam and Lime Cordial, it is currently hosted by Lizzy of Bizzy Lizzy's Good Things.  If you would like to join in, send your post to Lizzy by 10 November .  Or just head over to her blog to check out some fascinating kitchens.

This post is part of the Vegan Month of Food (Vegan MoFo) in November 2016.  Go to my Vegan MoFo list for more of my 2016 Vegan MoFo posts.

37 comments:

  1. ha yes, the old pester power! A powerful force indeed. I have some recipes noted that use blue corn tortilla chips but every time I see them I decide not to buy, then regret it. I haven't tried those chipotle sausages, hopefully they're not as spicy as Field Roast (they were quite surprising with how very spicy they were). Happy Mofo!

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    1. Thanks Faye - the blue tortilla chips are fun but I don't seem recipes often that use them! And the chipotle sausages were pretty spicy so I must try another flavour as I liked the texture

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  2. Ha ha! Pester power doesn't decrease with age...... I dread Miss GF saying she wants to come to the shops with me..... I know I am going to return much poorer!
    I MUST try aqua faba meringues!!!!!!! x

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    1. Thanks Kate - I love going to the shops with sylvia but the pester power is the downside. And yes try the meringues if only to be amazed that it really does work

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  3. Black tahini! Can't wait to see how you use that. What a fun ingredient.

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    1. Thanks Kelly - the black tahini was amazing - have put a link to the bikkies I made with it

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  4. Hello there lovely one... how about that aqua faba. I have yet to try that! Love those rice bubbles, it seems to have been decades since I ate them. Thanks for the beautiful shout out and for the peek into your vegan kitchen XX

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    1. Thanks Lizzy - I highly recommend the aqua faba - it is amazing - and I don't eat rice bubbles so it is strange to see Sylvia embrace them!

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  5. Who knew that Rice Krispies went under an alias on other continents? Very amusing! Do the three little elves Snap, Krackel, and Pop also have other names?

    Your kitchen has great things this month, and your photos are very beautiful. It's hard to get good photos of stew-like dishes, isn't it?

    I'm enjoying all the kitchen posts this month -- My kitchen post is here:
    http://maefood.blogspot.com/2016/11/my-kitchen-november-2016.html

    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks Mae - Snap Crackle and Pop have the same names though I don't know how to spell them but I was amazed to see rice bubbles wasn't used everywhere when I started blogging! Photographing stew is challenging - the only way around it is to make everything about it look good, which is not my forte :-)

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  6. Lots of different things to try this month!

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  7. Those little meringues look like tiny ghosts - they would have been perfect for Halloween! The marmalade looks good. I'm in total agreement about red cabbage - purple veggies always look so cheery when they're cooking!

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    1. Thanks Joey - last year i tried AF marshmallow ghosts for Halloween and they did not have enough backbone to stand up but I think trying ghosts with AF meringues would work better though I would struggle to get the height - I did think of putting them on a cake but then we ate them first :-)

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  8. I'm intrigued by the black tahini - what will you do with it?

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    1. Thanks Amanda - have put a link in now that I have posted my chocolate and black tahini biscuits

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  9. Some learning for me to do to find out what a few of these incredibly interesting sounding things are. Yes, purple cabbage is gorgeous!

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    1. Thanks Around the Mulberry Tree - yes I love purple cabbage and learning about new ingredients and ideas

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  10. How funny that Sylvia's classmates didn't even guess egg whites! A little worrying too, although thanks to you there may now be a cohort who grow up associating meringues with chickpea water instead of eggs :D

    Those sausages look delicious and your stone fruit signals summer is coming!

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    1. Thanks Kari - I had thought everyone knew that meringues are made of eggwhite and sugar but at least I have planted an alternative idea in their heads and hope it might be useful to them one day!

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  11. Good on you for making meringues! I've tried once but they got a bit saggy and didn't set well, will have to give it another crack. I'm with you with purple cabbage too - makes everything beautiful!

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    1. Thanks Caeli - I think the meringues took longer this time than last time - the first lot I piped were quite sturdy but the second were softer (not sure if I should have beat them again before the second lot got piped) - hope you have another go

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  12. Johanna, one of my fave "go to" meals is a gluten-free, dairy-free (Vegan) dish: Black Bean Tamale Verde from Amy's (out of the freezer, no less!) Convenience foods can be a blessing, especially when there's no allergens involved. Thanks SO much for the link to your Coconut Black-Eyed African Bean recipe, too. Black-eyed peas are a staple here in the South and your rendition sounds delicious. (So do your smoked chipotle sausages!)

    Incredibly (or ironically) there's a box of Rice Krispies (er...I mean, Rice Bubbles) on the counter IMK to make a batch of "treats" for the local football team tomorrow. Isn't it cool how different yet similar our worlds (and kitchens) are?! Lovin' your blue corn tortilla chips and truckload of chocolate, too. :) xo

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    1. Thanks Kim - we now have a few Amy's meals here and I have tried one of her burritos which was really good - I could imagine having them regularly. The chipotle sausages were a bit spicy but I highly recommend the black eyed beans dish. Hope the treats go well!

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    2. Johanna, I dropped the treats off at church tonight (topped with mini-M&M candies) and I'm confident the pan will come home empty. :) Printed off your black eyed peas recipe and it's on the counter IMK in my "must make" line-up. Glad you liked Amy's!

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  13. Oooooooo yum! Marmalade with cognac! That has got to be good!

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    1. Thanks Marcellina - haven't opened it yet but am sure it will be delicious

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  14. Johanna I'm loving the sound of the African coconut black bean stew - I have a can of black beans ready to go, I'm pinning the recipe for later reference :) Lots of great goodies for IMK this month. The sound of the cognac marmalade sounds like a perfect way to start the day, spread over toast ;) See you next month x
    https://missfoodfairy.com/2016/11/04/in-my-kitchen-november-2016/

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    1. Thanks Miss Food Fairy - the stew is great and I think cognac marmalade sounds like you need a starched linen tablecloth and a butler at breakfast :-)

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  15. Gotta love the snacks - I really like roasted bean snacks and seaweed snacks.
    The veggie sausage looks interesting. You'll have to let us know how it is.
    Purple cabbage is most definitely gorgeous.
    I think you food photography is great! It's something I aspire to, I really need to work on mine more. Although I think it's one of those things to always be worked on.
    Rice Bubbles huh? Interesting. Sounds better than Rice Krispies.
    Black tahini?? Very cool =) Great kitchen finds!

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    1. Thanks Kimmy - the sausage was a bit spicy but I liked the apple sage ones better. Thanks for your kindness about my food photography - I sometimes feel I am getting there and other times despair! (And you have some really lovely photos on your blog too).

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  16. Love purple cabbage, and it is so good for you! Great post.

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    1. Thanks Liz - have had rather a lot of purple cabbage lately and been loving it! Easy on the eye as well as good for the gut :-)

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  17. I'm shocked nobody guess egg whites! I've yet to try aqua faba but have heard many good things about it. The black eyed peas look fantastic, I'v already pinned it and will make soon.

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    1. Thanks Gretchen - Yes I thought everyone knew about egg whites in meringues but now I wonder if less kids have them made in the home regularly these days

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  18. Johanna, those meringues look fantastic! My Pete was just talking about chick pea brine the other day. He said, "have you heard about it?" and I said, "Of course! My vegan blogger friends are all over it!" :)

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    1. Thanks Celia - your comment made me laugh - are you experimenting with chickpea brine - it still amazes me

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  19. it is still amazing to me that chickpea water does what it does. seems like a miracle. your meringues look great. isn't it odd that kids didn't have an idea what they were made of? i mean normal ones. yes i think rice bubbles sounds more exotic than rice krispies. veg sausages? sounds interesting.

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