In My Kitchen: July 2026

July was a crazy cold month!  It was puffer jacket weather, especially when we were told that the heating at work was out of order until the end of winter.  The month started with school holidays and it just never returned to routine: Sylvia got sick, my bike had a flat tyre and there were lots of changes at work.  We had some good news with the work heating getting fixed earlier plus the pleasure of new armchair and some family history research.  Not much time or energy for new dinner recipes but lots of good food nevertheless.  I will soon write more about our outings in My Monthly Chronicles: July 2026.

Changes in technology drives me batty.  Too many websites are suddenly inaccessible without a login.  I usually just check my GoodReads books without logging in when I am at the shops so I know if I have read a book (I find it hard to keep up with what I have read in a series).  A few weeks ago in an op shop I found I could only see my books by logging in.  So I winged it and bought the book anyway and then got home and found I had read it!  Argh! On the same day I was not impressed to discover that Yahoo suddenly reduced the free emails cap from 1 terrabyte to 15 gigabytes.  It was painful but also liberating to reduce my yahoo emails from 17GB to 12GB.  Now I just need to keep them down and try and delete more photos off my phone!  It is neverending keeping up with technology.

My siblings have recently had quite a bit of travel between them.  My brother Dave was in China and brought us back a brilliant hot pot fridge magnet that you can see above with our foodie fridge magnets.

We didn't make many new meals this month but I enjoyed revisiting a few favourites.  Clockwise from top left:

• Our version of Minestrone is on our weekly meals a lot.  This one included parsnip and fennel
• Samosa pie - this is like an Indian style pot pie and tastes so good - why has it been so long since I made it!  (It had a lot of liquid so I added a spoonful of cornflour.)
• Meera Sodha's Vegan Broccoli, Fennel, Chickpea and Orzo Stew was one of the meals we made again after loving it the previous month.
• And Fried rice with tofu scramble - but a little different to usual with Sylvia making her tofu scramble separately so we could add it at the end of the fried rice instead of cooked in it.  One big advantage of this was the the turmeric only coloured the scramble so it contrasted with the pale rice.
   

I have posted about my Vegan roast dinner pizza using short cuts.  One of the shortcuts was making roast potatoes in the air fryer.  It only works with a small batch with our small air fryer.  I got tired of either wiping up a greasy air fryer tray or using paper inserts so I have purchased a silicone air fryer insert that be easily washed.  I first bought a nicer more expensive one but it did not fit so I gifted it to my mum who loves it.  Ours is cheaper and brighter and does the trick!
 

These frozen samosa pastizzi are a new favourite.  We buy thim in FOY next to the Coburg Woolworths at $11 for 12.  They take between 15-20 minutes in the air fryer at 220 C.  The crispy pastry and spicy vegeie filling are so delicious to pull apart.  It is a challenge to try and wait for the steaming heat to subside.  This is the only pastizzi there that are vegan.  While not that cheap, they are better value at 850g than the vegan samoa packet in the next door supermarket that is $12 for 500g.

A favourite from my childhood is is curried sausages.  I figured out how to do a tray bake of vegetarian baked curried sausages a while back and revisited the recipes when we needed warming food.  Sylvia is starting to really enjoy some curried meals so it was good to see her enjoy it.

I bookmarked a recipe for a one banana banana cake quite some time ago.  As I am now eating a few more of them I put one aside to get old and soft to try this banana bread.  It was a vegan banana bread with a crumble topping.  We loved it.  There is another old banana in the fridge right now so perhaps the universe is telling me I need to make this again!  Well, who dares to say no to the universe!

We are also having more sauerkraut in our kitchen on rice bowls and sandwiches.  The Gaga's gut loving Raw dill pickle kraut is a favourite.

While on Smith street to have lunch at Not so sushi,we had a wander down the street to browse some of the foode shops: Friends of the Earth, Soul Foods, Alimentari and Hinoki.  We mostly resisted temptation but at Hinoki we bought a couple of Daifuku (a strawberry and a green tea) and a packet of frozen edamame.  We use edamame quite a bit and needed some, but I think I was also swayed by the cute red checked packet.

 

I am a fan of these salt and vinegar sweet potato nibbles which are a pleasing light snack.  Sylvia enjoys them because they are vegan unlike a lot of flavoured crisps.  We just can't work out why a flavouring like lime and black pepper needs to have milk in the ingredients.  

We went to the Coburg Farmers Market because it was the last market appearance by the always amazing vegan Better Now Bakes before they open their new shop in Brunswick East.  As usual we were too tempted and came away with so much fantastic baking: the richest best tahini brownie, the piquant pickle chive and dill scone, a fluffy tasty Japanese curry focaccia (with potato, furikake and seaweed?), a pleasing yuzu white choc and coconut cake and a scrumptious and gorgeous apple maple and pecan cake.  We will miss them at the market but can't wait to visit their new shop which is set to open very soon.

We bought some beige food from KFL - soy chunks, potato curry puffs and vegan eggs - that made the vegan ham from the supermarket look colourful!  The curry puffs weren't anywhere near as good as the samosa pastizzi's above but Sylvia loved them.  She has also been enjoying vegan ham and cheese sandwiches.  There are some plans for the soy chunks but we have no idea how to pry apart the frozen vegan fried eggs.

Here are some vegan supermarket purchases: iced matcha latte with oat milk, hearty mushroom and lentil pies, vanilla rice puds, packaged tofu scramble, the tea collection of iced mochi (hojicha, genmaicha and matcha), and a frozen mango sticky rice with coconut milk.  We have had most of these - the pies were really good with a pre-chopped kale slaw pack, the scramble was nice enough in a taco bowl, Sylvia was excited about the sticky rice with mango and the mochi.  There is a wee box of panadol to signal there there was pain too but not enough to stop Sylvia eating good food.

When I asked my sister Fran to surprise me when she had me in my family KK gift giving I knew she would find something interesting.  With the cold weather we finally got to try the Ground Pleasures original hot chocolate powder that she gave us.  It was amazing.  I am pretty fussy with hot chocolate powder but this was so good that we finished it within weeks.  Sylvia gave it a dash of pizazz with her hand held milk frother and a sprinkle of hot chocolate powder on top.  It is not the cheapest and is not in supermarkets but we might need another box before the end of winter.

Life is chaotic and busy so it is wonderful when we can slow down and create collages.  This is one I made in the kitchen in July.  You can see the mess it makes in the background of the hot chocolate photo but even with the cleaning up, it is a relaxing activity.

 

It is a year since we had our house painting.  Two of the outstanding things to do over that time were to buy a new chair for the loungeroom and to find a green teacup for the glass kitchen cabinet.  In July we managed to achieve both.  We have looked at so many photos of chairs on FaceBook market place and found it really hard to find the right one.  This floral chair was not my ideal but it is close enough for jazz!

In June I bought a green teapot and tea cup set that I really love.  More recently Sylvia fell in love with another green teapot set, this time at the Salvos op shop where we bought our chair.  It has not been easy to fit both tea sets into the cabinet but Sylvia was determined and made it work.  I have compared the three iterations of our cabinet above.  In July 2025 I organised a fairly spacious cabinet after quite a few items were sent to the op shop.  The following month Sylvia reorganised with some of the op shop pieces she loved.  Then in July 2026 the cabinet is now full with lots of lovely green.

Finally here is a close up of the cabinet so you can admire some of the detail on the new green sugar bowl with a few sentimental items including a gnome salt and pepper shaker I bought as a child and a green decanter I bought when living in student share houses,

I am sending this post to Sherry of Sherry's Pickings for the In My Kitchen event. 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 visit more kitchens and her delightful seasonal hand drawn header.  Thanks to Sherry for continuing to host this event that brings together some wonderful bloggers who share glimpses into their kitchens.  

My Monthly Chronicles: February 2026 (protests and One for the Crow cafe)

February was hot and busy (though not as busy as March which is already getting away from me before I can reflect on last month).  I joined a protest against the visit of the Israeli President.  We had vegan adventures for Sylvia's birthday and ate lots of good meals at cafes.  See more about my month: In My Kitchen: February 2026 post.

The final evening of February rang in the craziness of March with the USA bombing Iran and my sister turned back homewards midway on the first leg of her flight from Dublin to Melbourne via the Middle East.  There is lots more I could write about this but that will have to wait until my March post.  

Above is a delicious Summer salad I had at Wild Timor Cafe in Coburg.  It had apple, lettuce, goats cheese, tomatoes, carrot, cucumber, a pretty swirl of vinaigrette and something crunchy (nuts?).  I didn't take notes.  Just the thing for a hot summer day.

Hareruya Pantry, Carlton

I had this miso brownie at Hareruya pantry (15 - 17 Lincoln Square South) while on a lunchtime walk.  It is opposite Lincoln Square, a lovely green urban park.  I have not been there for ages and was enchanted by the kids play area with rope ladders and a little wooden house on a pole.  There are lots of shady trees so when I met a friend I used to work with, we met here on a warm day and were pleased to get out of sunshine.

Tylers Milk Bar, Preston

I have raved about Tylers Milkbar (656 Plenty Road) so many times; they always impress.  We love it.  Sylvia and I had a great lunch there.  I had the Caesar salad of "Crispy cos lettuce, chickpeas, roasted carrots, green peas, croutons, crispy bacon bits, capers, dill, chives & creamy tahini dressing finished with a cheesy seed crumble".  I had the tofu bacon option to make it vegetarian.  Sylvia had "The F*#%ing amazing toastie" with a chickpea omelette.  More about this toastie further down.  We were both very satisfied.

Pan Pan Theatre's Casando, North Carlton

This photo of a gorgeous sunset was taken on my ride home on a thankfully cool evening after immersing myself in Pan Pan Theatre's performance of Casando by Samuel Becket.  (An fantastic birthday present - thanks Chris.)  We met in the Wild Geese pub on the Southern end of Sydney Road, Brunswick and then crossed into Princes Park in North Carlton where we donned black hooded cloaks and noise cancelling headphones with a recording of Irish actors reading the play.  We walked in single file around the park with our heads down (mostly) and steady footsteps that made rhythmic crunch on the gravel.  I would have loved to have been an onlooker.  Nevertheless it was fun to be part of the spectacle and occasionally look up to see reactions of passers-by.  

I felt like a monk taking part in an ecclesiastical assembly as we paced among the trees in silence and meditation.  With our earphones hidden under our hoods, it looked silent but actually we were listening to Irish voices, intoning a script in which the mundane becomes portentous, and the occasional bursts of discordant music.  One bloke in a ute, driving past us on Royal Parade, yelled out "what the hell?" and who could blame him in these apocalyptic times! 

Protest against visit of the Israeli president, Flinders Street Station, CBD

On a Monday night I rode to the city after work to join the protest against the visit of the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, who was invited by our government despite him being found by the UN to be responsible for inciting genocide.  I finally had the fire in my belly and the circumstances where I could get to a pro-Palestine protest.  I wish it had been earlier but was glad finally to demonstrate my anger and concern!  I was met by a sea of Palestinian flags, political placards and thousands of people gathering in one of the busiest intersections in Melbourne (Naarm).

As it was I stayed for an hour of speeches and then went home rather than continue with the March.  The speeches were varying in quality.  (When Lidia Thorpe spoke about the links with the Australian Indigenous experiences, I was amused to overhear someone say that they didn't know that Israel was oppressing Aboriginal people.)  When I got home and saw that the mainstream media only focused on the Sydney protests where the state governments recent legislation allowed the police to created conditions for unnecessary clashes and violence.  I was so angry I contacted our local radio station the next day but it is so frustrating trying to comment on a complex issue in the short space allocated.

Most moving and insightful at the Melbourne protest was the speech by Mai Saif who starts by saying "I was asked what would you say to Herzog if he was right in front of you ... I just looked at the reporter and said what do you say to a person who cannot see you as a human being."  She told of her memories in Palestine as a 6 year old having a soldier point a gun at her head, of being tear gassed when coming home from school, of her grandfather released from prison being beaten and broken but refusing to be silenced.  You can see more of her speech and more footage of the protests as well as insightful and compassionate commentary on The Shot's episode on 15 February 2025: Cohesion, Division and State Violence – with guests Crystal Andrews and Antoun Issa.

Ballards, Thornbury

We shared an amazing 9 dish dinner at Ballards vegan restaurant (915 High Street).  I loved that the courses were lots of vegetables, nut and seed sauces and whimsical touches with no mock meat.  Having a non- alcoholic sangria was also a treat.  This was such a great special meal that Sylvia organised for my birthday.  You can read more about our dinner in my Ballards blog post.  

Tylers Milkbar, Preston II

I had a pleasant lunch at the wonderful Tylers Milkbar (656 Plenty Road) with my friend Jo in the courtyard.  She had a vegan version of the Top of the Morning burger.  I had the "The F*#%ing amazing toastie (Vegan option, GF option): Spring onion omelette, Six Eyed Scorpion crispy chilli oil, more spring onion and double tasty cheese with a side of our roasted sesame sauce for a dipping good time".  I had a vegan version so I could have the spring onion chickpea pancake which was so so good.  Sylvia earlier in the month had had hers with tofu bacon and asked for minimal chilli oil.  I forgot to ask for either of these and loved the chickpea omelette that I didn't mind but I did scrape most of the chilli oil off my sandwich and found that it was a nice spiciness for me.  It was fun to have Jo's company for most of the bike ride home.

Croix Croissant, Flemington

Sylvia and I had a visit to Croix Croissant bakery (185 Mt. Alexander Rd) soon after Valentine's day.  She was delighted that they still had their seasonal specials available and ordered the vegan Pink rose brulee danish  and the soy Pink latte with a sweet berry flavour.  She loved them.  I had a (not vegan) Banoffee cruffin which was lovely but my personal preference would have been more caramel and less custard.  Then because we got there so late, we were given a freebie vegan Passionfruit coconut cruffin topped with the cutest vanilla cream with a centre of passionfruit and coconut jam.  Again Sylvia enjoyed it more than me as I am not really into vanilla cream but the pastry was amazing.

Damona factory, Williamstown North

One of Sylvia's heart's desires on her birthday was to visit the Damona factory (40 Chelmsford St) to buy offcuts of their fantastic vegan cheese.  We rang first to see if they had offcuts before leaving home that morning.  They were very friendly and we got samples of mozzarella, American cheese, pecorino, feta and brie.  It is Sylvia's favourite vegan cheese and we are so happy it is made here in Melbourne.

 

Adventures in the western suburbs of Melbourne

The above birthday trip to Damona was just the start of Sylvia's birthday adventure in the west of Melbourne.  We are not out that way often so we made the most of it by shopping at the wonderful Helping Hands op shop (85-89 Hampshire Road, Sunshine), purchasing Dubai chocolate pistachio paste at iPantry (99-101 Proximity Drive Sunshine West) and finding more bargains at Savers (33 Albert Street, Footscray).  See my In My Kitchen: February 2026 post for more about these and also Sylvia's birthday presents.

Along the way, I found out the hard way that if you don't take the correct lane on the West Gate freeway to skirt around the new tunnel you have to go the long way over the bridge and back to turn off to Williamstown.  I also enjoyed seeing some beautiful street art and have shared these among other photos in my post on  Street Art in Melbourne: North Melb and West of Melbourne.  We also had a fantastic lunch at One for the Crow in Maidstaone which as you can see above had some wonderful crow wall art.  You can read below more about our scrumptious meal.

One for the Crow - burger

Sylvia was already a big fan of One for the Crow (9 Commercial Street, Maidstone).  She could not wait to try more after enjoying the Big Brekkie at this vegan cafe previously.  On this visit she ordered the "Nashville Hot 'Honey' Burger: Crumbed enoki mushroom drizzled with a hot 'honey' glaze, served with cabbage slaw, pickles and a side of chips, $24".  She declared it one of her best ever burgers.  

We also ordered one of their vegan fried eggs on the side because although Sylvia had had it previously I was curious.  I had intended to order it on the Hummus and Avocado (Beetroot hommus, sliced avocado topped with almond feta, smokey soy and sesame roasted pepitas, lightly pickled cucumber with fresh herbs on toasted sourdough.  Perhaps fortunately it was unavailable because am not sure I could eat a whole one of these eggs.  The yolk is a carrot and sweet potato mixture and the white is seasoned tofu.  It was gooey in a way that I find icky in regular eggs and was too eggy for me.  Sylvia enjoyed it though she found it less flavoured than regular eggs.  But it was fascinating that it looked so real and like regular fried eggs, it makes a meal look so much fancier!  We just had it on the side on a plate and even then it looked amazing.

One for the Crow - Reuben

Instead of the Hummus and Avo, I had the Reuben Toasted Sandwich: "Pastrami spiced tempeh, cheese, pickled cabbage, almond feta, dill pickles and kimchi mayo on sourdough toast, $21".  I am so sorry my photo does not do justice to this amazing sandwich.  It is the best Reuben I have ever had and I just loved the spiced tempeh and the vegan cheesiness with the tart pickled veg.

One for the Crow - waffle

Our lunch was so good and it was a birthday celebration so we splurged on the "Creme Brulee Waffle: served with cashew custard, honeycomb, strawberries, roasted almonds and ice cream, $20".  I was glad we were sharing as we were pretty full by now.  But it was a wonderful waffle.  The combination of nuts, honeycomb, ice cream and berries was superb and the waffle was hot and crisp as it should be.

It was a great experience.  For our drinks, Sylvia had the Biscoff milkshake with a shot of coffee and loved it.  I was happy to have a kombucha.  The staff were friendly and happy to help.  We were both very full as we left but very happy to have eaten such good food.

Red Sparrow Pizza, Fitzroy

Sylvia is fond of a week of birthday celebrations so a few days later we went to Red Sparrow Pizza (60 Rose Street).  It claims to be Melbourne's first and only vegan pizzeria.  We are lucky it is only a few suburbs away.  Sylvia had eaten there before and raved about it.  She started with the Garlic Parmesan Not Wings which she enjoyed but asked me if chicken is always so stringy, having never eaten the stuff herself.  On her last visit, she loved the Cheeseburger pizza (Tomato Base, Mozzarella, Crumbled Burger, Red Onion, Pickles, Burger Sauce and Sesame Seeds, $30) so she ordered it again.  I chose the Verde pizza (Pesto Base, Mozzarella, Artichoke, Spinach, Broccolini, and Toasted Pepitas, $28 with optional goats style cashew cheese).  It was the prettiest pizza with edible flower garnishes and tasted good but I preferred the Cheeseburger.

Red Sparrow Pizza II

We also ordered mocktails: a berry and a matcha.  Mine was a bit tart but Sylvia's was really delightful and she loved having a vegan foam on top.

Of course we ordered too much and took some pizza home in their cute Red Sparrow box (with the lost in sauce illustration) that our cat now enjoys sitting on.
 

Wild Timor Cafe, Coburg II

On another warm day, I returned to the Summer Salad at Wild Timor Cafe (282 Sydney Rd).  It had apple, lettuce, goats cheese, tomatoes, carrot, cucumber, vinaigrette, dukkah and pomegranate arils.  While I loved it this time, especially all the crunch from the dukkah, I was less keen on the dukkah's spices.  I preferred the previous version of the salad that you can see at the top of the post.  I had a chat to the staff who said I could try it without the dukkah next time.  

In the News:

The media have continued to be focused on Epstein and Israel, with some the Winter Olympics offering some light relief.  In Australia there was a lot to be said about pro-Palestine protests (see more above), immigration and the Liberal and National parties joining up once more to be the Liberal National coalition.  Our Prime Minster put his foot in his mouth when he called Grace Tame 'difficult' and our Treasurer is looking at reforming Capital Gains Tax.  Some interesting reading below:

Jeffrey Epstein Couldn’t Stop Emailing People About Eugenics, MotherJones, 10 February 2026.

When peaceful protest is allowed to work, democracy works, Pearls and Irritations, 11 February 2026.

Canberra bar declared a crime scene as police seize 'clearly satirical' posters under new Commonwealth hate laws, ABC News, 19 February 2026.

Albanese changes tune on immigration and 'ISIS brides' as One Nation effect hits, in ABC News, 23 February 2026.

Could Andrew Mountbatten‑Windsor’s arrest bring down the British monarchy? in The Conversation, 20 February 2026.

Left-wing plumber helps Greens sink ruling Labour and far right in surprise U.K. election win, NBC News, 27 February 2026.

Nearly 5,000 sailors, malfunctioning toilets: What’s happening on US’ largest warship amid Iran tensions? Firstpost, 25 February 2026.

Notable deaths were Jon Kadulka, the sharp-witted Tasmanian political cartoonist, and James Van Der Beek who is remembered fondly from Dawsons Creek and his good humoured sending himself up in later years.

Watching and listening (highly recommended):

Stranger Things, series 5: the final series of this coming of age, sci-fi, horror Netflix series.  Great characters, fascinating plot, amazing scenery, disturbing villains, 1980s nostalgia and memorable lines like "well butter my butt and call me a biscuit" from Murray.  My favourite character has to be Joyce because Winona Ryder makes me nostalgic for my days as a twentysomething.  

Tales from outer suburbia: an animated tv series based on Shaun Tan's otherworldly graphic novel, shown on ABC iview. 

Emily Kate Genatowski: My year living with a robot: Fascinating Ted talk podcast about considering on the day to day and policy challenges we will face with AI-powered robots in our lives rather than panicked statements on robots taking all our jobs and destroying our world. 

A short history of the innovations that have shaped human progress: a Conversations podcast with Andrew Leigh about his book on the history of innovations and how they change people's lives in both good and damaging ways (eg the printing press, the industrial revolution and AI) and how when a society is stable they are more likely to emerge.

In My Kitchen: February 2026

February was busy with back-to-school, birthday celebrations, Shrove Tuesday, a mouse murder (by our cat), bike rides, and quite a few new recipes. We ate lots of Asian and Mexican recipes as befits a month of hot weather.  I am glad summer is now over and we will have cooler weather but I will miss all the salads and summer fruit.  It was also a month of big religious events such as Lent, Ramadam and Lunar New Year. 

Above is one of our thrown together salads.  This one had fried caramelised tofu, which we first had in rice paper rolls but found it is every bit as good in a bowl with sticky rice (from a microwave packet), edamame, cucumber, red cabbage, carrot, spring onions and furikake.
 

 

We are still trying new vegan foods since Sylvia went vegan at the start of the year.  We have had Milk tea boba mochi and Pickle crisps both of which have been new favourites for Sylvia.  I liked the crisps but am not a mochi fan.  Sylvia tells me not all mochi is created equal and she loved the above milk tea boba one much more than the below matcha mochi with the bean paste.

More vegan goodies: agar agar (for feta cheese below), Beefy Brats (still unopened but destined for greatness, we hope), the not good mochi, Wildy Good Cheese Cauli Poppers (excellent) and Pana vegan Rocky road Chocolate.  The chocolate was amazing.  Sylvia was excited she could eat it because it was peanut-free and had vegan marshmallow.  It is lucky to get one or the other and rare to get both of them in a any sort of rocky road.  This one also had vegan raspberry lollies and finely chopped almonds.  

Many months ago, I was given the olive oil bottle on the left by a friend who had two.  In February I finally finished the commercial oil spray can.  Since then I have had my olive oil in this bottle with a pouring spout and a spray mechanism.  This spray doesn't froth up like the commercial one so I like it better.  Next to my new olive oil is a pretty bottle of LaEspanole olive oil with an olive flower pattern and my favoured local olive oil from Cobram.

Sylvia has had some chia pudding breakfasts in the last few weeks.  She makes chia pudding with soy milk and serves it with coconut yoghurt, thawed strawberries, sliced bananas and my toasted muesli.  This seems too much milkiness for me but Sylvia really enjoyed it.

 

I was intrigued by this vegan cashew feta recipe which had agar agar and olive brine.  It was blended and then cooked.  As I have not used agar agar much, I was unsure if I cooked it long enough.  It tasted delicious as a spreadable feta but not quite as easy to crumble as the recipe suggested.  I definitely want to try it again.

Sylvia made a really nice Pasta salad with jalapeno and chorizo from TikTok.  It was quite spicy for me with the jalapenos but I really loved the vegan chorizo chopped up small and fried into crispy crumbles.  It was great for one of the last warm days of summer.

 

We have enjoyed the spiced rice from the meal prep burritos in a few meals - it is an easy way to add more flavour to meals.   In the above photo I had quesadillas with the spiced rice, lettuce, cabbage, red capsicum, yoghurt, salsa and feta.

This is another very satisfying meal with spiced rice topped with lettuce, red cabbage, tomatoes, corn, seasoned black beans, feta and crispy fried Field roast chorizo crumbles (leftover from the pasta salad).  

We have been enjoying La Costena whole black beans in Mexican style bowls.  Then we accidentally bought the La Costena refried pinto beans.  The labels are pretty similar.  We used it because it was there and enjoyed it.  When we went to buy it again, we checked the ingredients in the supermarket and found it had pork lard in it.  Urgh!  So sadly this is off the menu now.  But the whole black beans are vegan so we are still buying those.

My worst cooking experience of the month was making a stuffed onions recipe that Sylvia had chosen.  It was a recipe I didn't understand, it took forever, the ingredients didn't work as I expected and I thought the end result was not worth the stress.  My idea of stuffed onions was a British one where the onions are hollowed out and stuffed.  Sylvia's stuffed onion recipe was more Greek and Middle Eastern where each layer of onion is boiled and stuffed.  I learnt the hard way that you don't separate the layers until you boil the onions.  I didn't like having the different size layers and also having to cut down the side of the layers being stuffed, Even worse was adding faux mince meat for Sylvia.  Of course it knocked all the ingredients off balance and I had to tweak and tweak and tweak!  Next time I will make these baked onions with hazelnut, sultana and feta stuffing.

Sylvia made Sesame noodles from TikTok (rhi.scran): ramen noodles with a sauce of tahini, soy sauce, rice vinegar and maple syrup.  We served it with lettuce, red cabbage, carrot, cucumber and furikake.  After the photo, I remembered to eat the edamame we had heated.  I enjoyed the noodles much more than Sylvia, which is not surprising given that I love tahini and she is not much of a fan. 

Sylvia made some very impressive Tempah and black bean tacos for dinner.  Another TikTok find from rhi.scran.  I had mine  -  The filling were made in the frypan with tempeh and blackbeans, onions, garlic, seasonings, lime juice and water, staffed into tortillas and baked in the oven.  I served mine with guacamole, yoghurt, pickled red onion, lettuce and cabbage. 

I made the Sticky miso tofu that Sylvia found on Plant Based RD (I found out that RD at means registered dietician not Road).  The miso made it a lot creamier than the fried caramelised tofu you can see at the top photo.  I prefer the caramelised tofu but both are great.  What was a great revelation was tossing the chunks of tofu into cornflour and seasoning and then air frying it.  It was so crispy and delicious.  We served it with sticky rice, lettuce, cabbage, cucumber, carrot and edamame.  You might have noticed how much we have loved pairing lettuce and raw cabbage this summer!

I found this Sweet Plus Dubai chocolate in Terra Madre.  It was pretty delicious and cheaper (and smaller) than some other bars I had seen.  I can't find it on their website so will need to check it out in store when I am next there.

Sylvia's favourite chocolate of the month was also pistachio.  She was very happy to find the Loco Love's Pistachio Mylk Praline.  It was pricey at $11 for 70g.  It had not been easy for Sylvia to find so she was delighted both to be able to eat it and with the bar.  She thought it a bit like a vegan Dubai chocolate but I did not, though we both agreed it was delicious.

Shrove Tuesday always a great reason to make pancakes.  I have fond memories of eating pancakes at this time of year as a kid before giving up dessert (which we called "sweets") for Lent.  My childhood pancakes were never as decadent as these vegan chocolate pancakes I made this year.  I wanted them extra chocolate so I added an extra 1/2 cup cocoa instead of 1/3 cup of the flour.  I did not have choc chips but added 2 extra tbsp of sugar and used wholemeal flour.  I cooked them with olive oil spray over medium to medium hot heat on my cast iron frypan for 3 minutes on each side.  (The timer was more reliable than checking for bubbles.)  They were delicious and not too sweet.  

I served the chocolate pancakes with a strawberry chia jam (1 cup frozen strawberries, 1-3 tbsp water, 2-3 shakes of mixed spice, the juice of half a lemon, 2-4 tbsp maple syrup cooked on the stovetop  about 5 minutes till thickened slightly), Sanitariums's vegan chocolate soy ice cream, Billy Van Creamy's vegan caramel cashew ice cream and maple syrup.  Totally amazing!  The recipe made a lot for the two of us.  (This is not in the spirit of Shrove Tuesday to have pancakes leftover for Ash Wednesday when Lent starts but we are not practicing Catholics!)  Next time I think that half the pancake mixture would be find and we would both love more of that chia strawberry jam.  

We held a Birthday tea for Sylvia's birthday.  She had cucumber and cashew cheese spread sandwiches, sushi stacks, crisps, fairy bread, vegan marshmallow teacups, pink iced cupcakes and fruit.  It was a small and relaxing get together.  My mum brought the cupcakes and my dad helped saw through the old padlock on our back shed that refused to open up after I locked it (and I remembered the code).

Here are some of Sylvia's birthday presents: an Angelina ballerina book, stickers, snacks, chocolates, jewellery, a butterfly hair piece, a photo frame, a Tori Amos CD, a tapestry purse, a tiny tea set and jewellery holders.  So much good stuff.

I also took Sylvia for a little drive in the west of Melbourne which included a visit to the Damona vegan cheese factory where we got all these offcuts cheaply.  There are packets of American cheese, feta, Pecorino, Brie which cost $35 in total.  We weighed the huge bag of feta a week or two after buying (and using) it.  It weighed almost 700 grams and it was excellent.  The American cheese was great on pizza and quesadillas.  The Pecorino was really good on a Minestrone but had to be crumbled because it did not grate well.  We still have quite a bit of it left.

While out in the West I bought some Pistachio Kunafa Sptead from ipantry in Sunshine.  I bought a jar of this from a local Middle Eastern shop last year and loved it so much I went back for more a few months later.  They had stopped selling it as the Dubai chocolate craze is on the wane, apparently.  Sunshine was the closest place I could buy it, though I had to order online at the door so they could give me the jars.  I bought two because if it is not being sold widely I probably wont go out of my way to buy it again for a long time.  It is so delicious and creamy and crunchy but is so sweet and decadent too!

My final meal for the month was a quick Burger bowl (inspired by the one I made in my July 2025 IMK post).  I really loved the vegan cauliflower and cheese burger from the Coles plant based range called Nature's Kitchen.  We are not going to Coles very often lately due to the some of their underhand practices but these burgers call my name.  I at it with tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, carrot, cornichon pickles, pickled red onions, yoghurt and tomato sauce.  (The tomato sauce is one from my sister at Christmas that has a personalised label! So cool!).  

I also used up the last of the packet of parmesan cheese.  Sylvia had loved it before going vegan but I don't eat it nearly as much.  With her now being vegan, my eating habits are also changing.  I am not sure I will continue to buy parmesan regularly, I haven't bought eggs fall year and I only have bought the vintage tasty cheese but none of our regular mozzarella grated blend.  I am eating less sweet foods as being vegan has limited the amount of sweet baking Sylvia and I are eating from fancy bakeries.  Overall the change is positive and as you can see, we are finding lots of new vegan meals to enjoy!

I am sending this post to Sherry of Sherry's Pickings for the In My Kitchen event. 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 visit more kitchens and her gorgeous hand drawn header.  Thanks to Sherry for continuing to host this even that brings together some wonderful bloggers who share glimpses into their kitchens.