In My Kitchen in March 2016 and travel plans

In my kitchen lately we have had upheaval and busy times.  Fortunately we have also enjoyed generosity and good food.  The next month will be even more crazy. 

You see, my father in law died in Scotland recently.  It was very sudden and I am so sad that it has been some years since we have seen him.  He was a dear gentle generous man with a great sense of humour and will be missed by many.  E has gone over to be with family and Sylvia and I will head over next week for a month with a little time in Paris as well.  And in the midst of this upheaval is Sylvia's birthday and we have had a handyman getting a few things sorted around the house.  I imagine that blogging will slow down but I hope to write about some of the places we visit. 

Any recommendations for places to eat good vegetarian good in Edinburgh and Paris would be much appreciated.

And now on with my monthly kitchen update.  Starting with these gorgeous roses from our garden.  Thanks to my mum's help they have flourished and are a joy to behold.  I have even learnt a bit about pruning from her and now and helping with keeping them healthy.

It has been the month of tomatoes.  We have been buying lots from the shops and roasted some cherry tomatoes for a salad that tasted good but looked such a mess.  The ones in the top right hand corner are grown by my brother in law and were great in a simple tomato sauce to serve with dinner.  We have also had some from our cherry tomato plants in our front garden but Sylvia eats them too quickly for me to photograph.

We have had a few generous parcels from overseas lately.  These baking goodies are from Scotland (thanks Anne) and I am looking forward to using them when life settles down a little.

I had great plans for making some different sorts of dumplings and then I decided I really liked Nicki's vegetarian dumplings that I have made before.  They were lovely fried both sides but I still can't get the hang of frying one side and then steaming.  (When I tried frying and steaming the fried sides were too dark.)  However since then I have seen Nupur's dumpling recipe and want to try it.

I made bunting out of some craft papers.  I bought a hot glue gun to help but I am not sure if it was any better than other glue I have.  I was pleased with my bunting though.

I made these burgers from Vegetarian Burgers Every Which Way.  I think they might have been the quinoa, red bean and walnut burger.  I really enjoyed them.  They were similar to the Vegemite Burgers I made recently.

We made vegan banana french toast a few weeks back.  One thing I had about French toast is the wasted dipping mixture if we don't use it all.  So I tried frying it like a pancake. It was a bit 'eggy' for my liking and a mess when I flipped it.  (Yep I know it doesn't have egg in it but I don't know how else to describe the texture.)  Maybe if I added a bit of flour it might work for me.

After making these aquafaba crepes I had heaps of chickpeas leftover.  Note to self to remember to make lots of mock tuna salad with surplus chickpeas.  I love this salad so much.  It makes a satisfying dinner or an easy lunch. 

While making notes to self, must remember next time I buy smoked paprika in a plastic tub, I should put it into a proper jar before storing it above the stove.  Not only did a clumsy moment mess up my stove in a big way but it also reminded me how much colour residue is left by smoked paprika.

Finally I can't finish this post without a Minion moment.  Sylvia is totally obsessed by this cute little yellow fellas lately.  These biscuits were pretty ordinary and just a marketing gimmick but she loved them.  I can promise that there will be more Minions on the blog.

I am sending this post to Maureen of The Orgasmic Chef for In My Kitchen.  It is an event where bloggers around the world share what is happening in their kitchens.  Please head over to Maureen's blog and visit some other bloggers or even join in (by 10th of each month).