In My Kitchen - July 2019

In my kitchen it is winter.  That means the heater is on because it is so cold outside, it means snuffles and sickness, it means stews and soups.  Despite just wanting to hibernate inside until it is lighter and warmer, life has been very busy.  Work continues to be crazy busy with a new manger, a restructured job and school holidays.  I have some leave this week and hope for some lazy days but I am sure we will get out and about.

Above is my chopping board when I was making split pea soup a few weeks back.  Perfect winter fare.

Winter is also great for baking bread.  Well it means that I don't mind turning on the oven but it does mean the dough rises so much slower.  Above is my latest discovery with my overnight sourdough bread.  It is a scraper I found in my drawers.  Great for cutting dough into smaller pieces.  And when I finish and have to clear up, it is useful for scraping all the semolina into a pile for disposal.

A favourite winter purchase is my Thermos for soups and stew.  I wanted to take soups to work but was fed up with my tubs leaking.  This container keeps the soups and stews warm as well as not leaking.  After sitting in my bag for 4-5 hours the food is nicely warmed but does not retain the really hot state they are in when I pack it.

The Thermos kit comes with a lid and a little bowl on top.  What I really love is the spoon which folds up and clips on top of the lid.  It is such a good spoon that I love to marvel at the ingenuity of the design.  Here you can see some tangine with chickpeas and Israeli couscous in the Thermos.

Here is a piece of artwork that Sylvia did at the local library craft classes in book folding.  I had never heard of book folding before.  If you google it, you can find some amazing artwork.  And I guess if you are in a library, you are not short of old books to use in craft classes!

We bought these vegetarian marshmallows at Aunt Maggies on a wet cold weekend, when Sylvia and I were out giftshopping for farewells at work.  I had a terrible lunch that day at a Fizroy cafe.  Imagine a plate of salad with a piece of onion pie dumped on top of the salad.  Who puts pie on top of salad!  We fared better at dinner at home.  It was only baked beans and fresh bread but for dessert we made chocolate pudding and cooked it topped with these marshmallows.

I have made a few other purchases from Aunt Maggies lately.  This chocolate caramel popcorn with cashews was very good.  The squares of chocolate cookies were ok but a bit bitter and crisp for my liking.  I loved the caramel popcorn with cashews.

I also bought some Truffle paddock black truffle and black garlic salt.  Very fancy and very pricey.  I confess I haven't really used it yet.  It would be very good on some roast potatoes.

This is a few goodies from Aldi.  If we are nearby, we sometimes peruse the middle aisles for bargains.  Most times we pass on everything.  Occasionally we are tempted enough to justify queuing at their registers (the queues there try my patience).  On this occasion we got a cat scratching set (not pictured), charcoal flour, choc chip brioche and lattice crisps.  Also pictured is potatoes from the farmers market.  I am yet to try the flour but the brioche and crisps have long gone.

Years ago I was fascinated by brussels sprouts still on the stalk in British supermarkets.  Now they are appearing in our supermarkets this winter.  I am not sure if it is the time of year or the stalks but they have been perfect tight green sprouts.  I tried to cut up the stalk for the worm farm but it was tough going.  This month our council are starting a trial run of accepting food scraps in the compost bin so I will be able to dispose of the stalk that way.  I like the idea of the scheme and hope it is a success.

At work we have had quite a few people bringing foreign food home after travels.  I brought home a few of these tamarind sweets from China.  They are very soft and not too sweet.  I quite liked them but they did not go down well at home.

My old phone that I bought in 2013 is still hanging in there.  I was reluctant to buy a new phone case but the old one was falling apart.  I hope the phone will keep working a little while longer to make the purchase worthwhile.

Charcoal is all the rage lately.  You can tell that a product is popular when the risk-averse multinationals embrace it.  When I saw this charcoal toothpaste on special, I was curious.  On the brush, it looked like a humbug boiled lolly with the black and white stripes.  The taste was fine.  I didn't notice any difference to my teeth with the charcoal.  Curiosity satisfied.

Sylvia decided she was in need of a new apron which she saw this cute pussy cat apron.  It hasn't had much of a workout yet.  I take some of the blame as I have not have much time and energy for baking lately.  Not unless you include bread and pizza which still are appearing regularly.

Finally I finish with a picture I took of my food photo set up for my macaroni cheese with broccoli.  Winter is presenting many challenges with taking photos of food in natural light.  When light is drawing in early, a favourite place is by the back door.  I often share the space with our cat Shadow who loves to stand at the flywire door to sniff the fresh air or demand to go outside.  Well, we are past the winter solstice and have lighter days ahead, albeit chilly ones.

I am sending this post to Sherry of Sherry's Pickings for the In My Kitchen event, that was started by Celia of Fig Jam and Lime Cordial,  If you would like to join in, send your post to Sherry by 13th of the month.  Or just head over to her blog to peek into more kitchens.