Friday 3 October 2014

In My Kitchen - October 2014

September was such a crazy month with Vegan MoFo, the saga of the stolen car, and all manner of celebrations and goings-on.  Let me start this peek into my kitchen with Nigella's cheese stars.  (A bit like these or these.)  I made them for a cake stall at Sylvia's school concert.  I was glad they cooked well as I regret the same could not be said of a slice that went to the stall.  It was edible but should have been cooked better if only my timing had been more vigilant.  (Sometimes the timer is mightier than the skewer.)

It has been a long time between takeaway dinners.  We like to eat out regularly but it is often hard to justify (or organise) takeaway dinners when I usually have so many vegetables about.  I rode my bike down to Malabar Hut after spending the day searching for a car to buy.  It was a magnificent meal that cheered me up when I really needed to remember the good things in life.

With out car stolen I found myself mostly doing small amounts of shopping on my bike.  Here is a sample of groceries.  I liked the spiced pear and quince yoghurt but not quite as much as our favourite 5:am vanilla yoghurt.  I tried the camomile and spice apple tea because the honey and camomile tea I have been loving was out of stock.  Cinnamon in tea just is not my thing.  Despite me finding a chai tea that I enjoyed.  We often have some Le Snak in the cupboard for convenient snacks to take out (I know the packaging is horrendous).  The Aussie BBQ cheese and bikkies were really good.

We regularly go to Zaatar for zaatar pizza and zoccacia.  In third term Sylvia had a student led conference (after two terms of parent teacher nights).  Afterwards we had dinner at Zaatar.  It was late so we took home some baklava.  Can you think of a dessert more likely to produce sticky fingers in a 5 year old!  It was delicious.

As I mentioned I have a new blender.  It is a Froothie Optimum 9400 that I bought with my own money.  I am enjoying using it for smoothies, nut butters and dips but I am looking forward to finding time to use it for cashew cream, vegan cheese sauces and maybe even trying some vegan milks.  Then perhaps I will write about it n more detail.

I visited Aunt Maggies in Brunswick for a quick snack.  She has an amazing array of chocolate.  The Oskri fig and dark chocolate bar was delicious and intense.  I wish I could say such nice things about the coconut juice with green tea and white peach flavour.  The nicest way I could put it is: no wonder it was on sale.  The chocolate bars were presents and received very high praise.  I had a taste of the Alter Eco dark salted brown butter chocolate and it was wonderful.

I am yet to write about my trip to Adelaide.  Here is a little sneak preview.  I was interested to see a tin of Old Bay Seasoning.  It is a great seasoning mix with some heat in it.  It worked well with chipotle chillis in fajita vegies.  I have used it in a couple of dishes but there hasn't been much cooking in my kitchen lately.

This is some of the food I bought in our recent trip to Port Fairy.  We bought jelly slice at the market, swiss cheese at the supermarket and the casalinga sourdough bread, spinach and macadamia dip and chilli bayou seasoning mix at the Darriwill Farm Shop.  A posh food shop and good bread really doth maketh the holiday!  More about Port Fairy soon. 

Meanwhile here is a close up of the Salt of the Sea chilli bayou seasoning mixture.  It hasn't been opened yet because, as I mentioned above, I haven't done much cooking lately.  Not only did we not cook on holidays but my mum has kindly gifted us some lasagna, curry and cake to tide us over since we got home.  I am looking forward to using this spice mixture.  It appealed because it seems more black pepper and mustard seeds than chilli.  I am sure E will enjoy its heat!

We were in Port Fairy during the AFL Grand Final and I saw nothing of the football all weekend except some suggestions for face painting in team colours.  My little nod to the footy was this packet of Arnott's Footy Fever shapes.  Sylvia liked them because they were little.  I loved them but goodness they were covered in moreish seasoning.  They were very good dipped in the spinach and macadamia dip.

And finally, a bit of craft.  We have had a lot of birthdays recently.  I didn't make as many birthday cards as I intended.  However here are a few of the ones that Sylvia and I made.  Note to self: glitter glue and stickers seem a perfect match but are best kept separate on the card. 

Since Sylvia has started school this year we have done a lot less craft.  Perhaps that is why I embarked on this foolhardy school holiday activity inspired by Mr Maker.  When he dipped oranges and other citrus fruit in plates of paint it looked brilliant.  There was no suggestion that a lot of paint got wasted this way or that the fruit became all slippery in little paint covered hands or that a little girl might decide it was easier to use her fingers to make the circles.  And we really should have put on our art smock aprons!  Never mind, it was lots of fun.  And I found out that Sylvia likes grapefruit!

I am sending this post to Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial for her In My Kitchen event.  Head over to join in and/or check out what is happening in other bloggers' kitchens.   

23 comments:

  1. That Mr Maker is a fraud, one can rarely 'make it in a minute'! Give me Jimmy Giggle any day. I have a very low tolerance for kids tv hosts but all these (few) years and I'm still loving Jimmy Giggle and his eyebrows. Old Bay seasoning! I always look out for that as it's in a few of my American cookbooks but I've never seen it. I still haven't made it to Aunt Maggie's yet. Looking forward to your Pt Fairy posts because I'm wondering whether or not to go there next year along with some other towns on the coast!

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    1. Thanks Veganopoulous - I don't think I have ever tried to make it in a minute - I know I would take longer and making it in a minute never looks that much fun! I find Jimmy Giggle an odd man-boy but I do love the set. Perhaps I need to gift you some of my old bay seasoning. And I am happy to report having 2 kale salads on holidays so there is some hope for you in the south west :-)

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  2. Arnott's Shapes! gosh they bring memories...

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    1. Thanks Cate - I am very fond of BBQ shapes but rarely have them because they are very moreish

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  3. I also love Malabar Hut, and go there for an el cheapo Indian meal often. Have you tried their Gobi Manchurian? I love that expression too- the timer is mightier than the skewer- must remember this! The new blender looks like a mean machine.

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    1. Thanks Francesca - am quite fond of the gobi 65 but haven't tried the gobi manchurian - must try it next time. I found it ironic as I am so careful about using the skewer but it really doesn't work sometimes and having baked the slice before I know if I had baked it a bit longer it would have been better! Yep great blender!

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  4. Fun kitchen! A Froothie blender? What a fun name. It looks very powerful and wonderful all at once =)

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    1. Thanks Kimmy - froothie is quite cute - too cute for so much power :-)

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  5. Ooh that baklava looks good. Its one thing that I have never made, probably due to my fear of working with filo pastry (eek!). I love that your blender is red. Very stylish.

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    1. Thanks Kirsty - I have only made baklava once with a friend but not sure I would attempt it alone - but would love to (though imagine a huge batch of the stuff - so much sweetness). I was sad they didn't do the blender in green but red does nicely

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  6. I laughed at your tactful description of the coconut water. Coconut water really isn't my thing at all, but the chocolate bars you picked up all sound wonderful. I'm glad you're enjoying your new blender too and hope you have time to explore new dishes with it soon. I relate to small grocery shops too, and find we now combine our weekly on foot shop with a monthly delivery, for the heavy / bulk buy / harder to find items that we can get much more easily online. Buying everything on foot really can be tricky.

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    1. Thanks Kari - I don't quite get coconut water but thought that one sounded interesting. The blender is great fun - have made a great cashew cream sauce last night - and got a new car last week but yet to do a big grocery shopping expedition - probably because I haven't been cooking much. I remember living in Edinburgh and walking the groceries home and it was always tough carrying them up the three flights of stairs! I spoke to a friend today who doesn't have a car who said she has discovered online shopping and how much easier it has made her life.

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  7. Ha, ha. Glitter glue alone sounds like a terrible idea. I am pretty sure that our whole house would look like a giant birthday card if I kept that on hand. The cards are adorable! And quince yoghurt sounds like an amazing thing. I think I might steal that idea and make some myself.

    We don't have a car but the infrastrucure is very good here, so there are a lot of stores in my neighbourhood and I just go shopping several times a week. But I can totally see how stressful it must be if you are not used to it our have to drive some time to get to a supermarket in the first place.

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    1. Thanks Mihl - There are days I wish I didn't keep glitter around the house (found sylvia with a tube of glitter a week or two ago - argh!) Hope you enjoy some quince yoghurt - it is a great idea.

      I actually live quite close to the shops - especially in Australian terms - but have mainly been shopping when on my bike and haven't managed to get out my trolley. In the past I have lived in houses with no car and managed quite well but we were very organised and the bearings in my back wheel of my bike regularly wore down from me carrying too many groceries. Generally we have got along without a car well but I did miss doing one lot of groceries or getting to some of the shops that are further from us. Nice to hear that it is something you can do quite well in your town.

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  8. The goodies from Port Fairy look very good. The cheese star biscuits are very cute. I wouldn't mind some of that baklava! xx

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    1. Thanks Charlie - Port Fairy is a good place if you enjoy food - lots of cafes and I love Darriwill farm shop. And the baklava was really good.

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  9. Looks like a yummy kitchen this month!!!! Thanks for sharing! Liz x

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  10. What a tasty look through your kitchen.
    Have a super week ahead.
    :-) Mandy xo

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  11. What lovely birthday cards. Baklava sticky with kids, boy do I know the feeling! What fun foods in your kitchen this month.

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  12. You had me hooked at the cheese star biscuits love those and also the baklava, a favourite but have never made it. Lots of tasty treats in your kitchen.

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  13. Ooh I have that Seed and Bean chocolate on my shelf! I haven't dared open it yet, it seems really special! I had my eye on the salted brown butter choc too, but was not surprised to find it wasn't vegan. Dammit!

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  14. I loved Sylvia's craft work best of all! I'm sorry to hear the stolen car saga continues - hope you found a replacement in the end. Sometimes a good takeaway is the only solution at the end of a long day! Your stars look fabulous, I'd have bought them! And can I ask - a "student led conference" for a five year old? Did I read that right? ;-)

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  15. G'day What a great post that brightened my day GG! I love home made cards and so remind me of childhood!
    Thanks for this month's kitchen view also!
    Cheers! Joanne @What's On The List

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