In My Kitchen

So this week, I am on annual leave/vacation.  

We are just taking some day trips, here and there.  To be honest, i booked my days off  work at short notice that there was very little time to have booked anywhere for the week or a long weekend holiday away from home with a puppy.  We went to Bristol at the weekend, I do have some graffiti art to share, so do come back later in the week please.

But firstly some deliciousness from my garden plot.

A good looking bowl of strawberries. Enjoyed with vanilla ice-cream and whipped cream. 

First of the courgettes, some peas and broad beans. 

We went to Penarth and picked up this Konge Sourdough bread from a Danish Baker called BROD. It's really good, we will be snacking on it during the Euro 2020 tomorrow, when England play Denmark.  

We went to Pontypridd, where we picked up some cannoli with lemon cream and pistachio filling from a local baker in the high street . 

I also picked up Chamomile Tea which i have been wanting to try for its health benefits. from a little place called Cortile Tea.

We also went to Llantwit Major.  I was tempted by some chocolate at a little shop called Stwff Stff.  I picked them both up with D in mind to share - Salted Caramel and Eton Mess.   As i write the names of these Welsh places, i realise that i have taken photographs of these places before and not shared here.  So i think additional blog posts are due when i am blessed with time to blog. 

Talking about being blessed with time to blog, its the same with baking for pleasure.  But i did find some time to make Johanna's Banana, Prune and Seed Loaf.  Of course I had to adapt a little to what ingredients I had at home, but not that much.  

I replaced the corn flour with additional plain flour and replaced the prunes with raisins.  Also, Johanna generously covered her baking tin with sesame seeds.  I generously scattered them on top of the banana cake. This Banana Loaf was one of the most delicious I've had in a long while; and D agreed too.  

Every other weekend, we have been eating a lot of croissants.  I think deep down we are both hankering for a holiday either in France or Brittany, with family and friends. These croissants cannot compare with a proper French pastry, they were adequate, but not flaky or buttery. 

In my kitchen we had tried another brand of plant based sausages. 

In my kitchen is this wonderful Welsh Artisan Soap.  I was gifted this hand made soap a couple of months back.  It is strongly scented, I am looking forward to washing my gardener hands with it very soon.   

I am sharing this post with In My Kitchen Series hosted by Sherry's Pickings.

April In My Kitchen

No chocolate Easter eggs in my kitchen. 

But I do have some new things to share.  

Starting with this cookbook 'In Bibi's Kitchen' - The Recipes and Stories of Grandmothers from Eight African Countries that Touch the Indian Ocean. Those of you who follow me, let me remind you this was the only cookbook that was on my Christmas wishlist last year.  D had ordered it, it was out of stock, D ordered it again in January for me; and apparently it got lost in transition - then he tried one more time; and surprise it arrived last week.  It is a mostly meat based recipe book, but i am hoping to adapt recipes to my more plant based diet. 

To show D that i was thankful for his perseverance, in obtaining this publication for me.  I thought I better cook a recipe from it sharpish.  This Black Eyes Peas and Tomatoes in Peanut Sauce called Kunde is actually a vegan recipe.  Kunde is the Swahili word for black eyed peas. It's suggested in the book to eat it with rice, but we just had it as is - like a beany thick soup.  It was lovely; ad to be honest, after eating the Kunde, we were rather full and not in need for more food for the rest of the day. I am also sharing this I am sharing this Soup with Soup, Salad and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen. 

I am a potato crisp muncher, but we have not had many coming into the house since the pandemic.  D saw these Lea and Perrins Worcestershire Sauce crisps at the supermarket and tempted by the flavours bought some home.  They were pretty good, and yes they are suitable for vegetarians.  

Here is evidence of one of the most popular recipes in our home: Nigella's Double Potato and Halloumi Bakes, except i replace the Halloumi with Feta. I am honestly, making it again as I type this blog post. 

We have an abundance of perpetual spinach still growing well.  Here is some I harvested on Good Friday.  D made me pose with the bowl for scale - to demonstrate the vast amount.  

He was not shy in hinting that we haven't had Spanakopitta for a long while.  He was right, I honestly cannot remember the last time i made a vegetarian Spanakopitta. 

I actually think it may have been when I was running the vegetarian and vegan cafe; and what's worse I cannot remember which recipe I usually base my recipe on.  I flicked through the Greek cookbooks on my shelf and would you believe it, not one of them had a recipe for spanakopita.  I was gobsmacked actually.  

So flicked through some general vegetarian cookbooks and decided a recipe in Good Housekeeping Step by Step Vegetarian Cookbook.  It was good, but not as good as I remembered having made it before.  I just cannot which recipe i made and adapted from which cookbook, but both D and me agreed it had dill and perhaps spring onion.

So i will be making another , especially as D had picked up two packets of filo pastry from the supermarket.  

I should also have held this for scale as the photograph above, does not do the homemade Spanakopitta recipe justice. 

 In the garden we also have purple sprouting broccoli coming on strong too. It stunning actually and gives the garden some colour. 

And i am not fibbing when i tell you, we have had this dish three, maybe four times in two weeks.  Its essentially Aglio, Olio e Peperonicino with PSB.  It's been delicious! This gives me an excuse to also join in with Harvest Monday tomorrow hosted by Dave from Happy Acres.  

Now here is my curve ball.  Some of you may remember a few blog posts back, I said  my garden boots/wellies have worn, so I have ordered a pair of wellies on-line. I knew it was a risk and it proved right.  They did not fit.  Wish you could see my disappointed face. Either my feet are swollen or they are plain old chubby like the rest of me. D said I should have got one size larger for thick socks.  Bit late telling me after placing the order. Good job I dare not order clothing online, no matter how tempted.  Anyway,  because they are so pretty, they are on the windowsill in the downstairs bathroom like a decorative piece.  I asked my nieces over the telephone, if they were in need of new wellies, but both have larger feet than me. 

Onto other things in my kitchen.  Some herbal Teas: Elderberry and Echinacea and Three Ginger. 

Forest Fruits and Tropical herbal tea. 

Finally, some lavender potted up in the trug in the garden.  I'm sharing this blog post withSherry's Pickings who hosts In My Kitchen Series.

July In My Kitchen

Tomorrow is the start of my annual leave.  I have a week off from work and i plan to switch off the best that I can. It the first time i have take time off from work since the lockdown and I am so looking forward to it and to some self-care. 

I don't have very much in the way of new things from the shops to share, I do have some homegrown vegetables to share with you.   

The garden vegetable plot is beginning to produce.  Above is a courgette that was spotted just in time before turning into a marrow.  

The dwarf purple climbing beans have been prolific.  I am picking them every day enough as a side dish.  The peas are also starting to appear and the runner beans.

The purple stemmed kale is doing very well too, so far the white cabbage butterflies that often demolish them have not touched them.  I look at them wanting to be creative such as stuffing them will a flavourful filling, but so far - I've just shredded them and sauteed them in good olive oil.

I am also picking some raspberries and wild strawberries.  I made Wild strawberry Cake that went down really well with D. 

Last month I was rather envious of Johanna's Scrabble Cookie Cutters that she shared on her June In My Kitchen blog post, that I suddenly had the desire of wanting them too.  I had gone onto the internet, but everywhere they were sold out I was disappointed.  So when D asked me did i want anything.  I said yes, but you won't be able to get them. Then early this month he  presented it to me. I plan to make some savoury cookies with them this week. 

Like i said before, D has been going to the supermarket to pick up household essentials and food.  He said he was the only one in the supermarket with a face mask on.  

He brings me some new things to try and these were appreciated as a few days ago I was feeling a bit under the weather.  Strawberry & Cucumber and Aloe Vera tea and Citrus & Ginger and Echinacea.  I really loved this one more than the Strawberry one and have told him he can pick it up again.

He also came back home with this Cocoa and Coconut Rooibos Infusion.  I must admit I wasn't too sure about the Rooibos part, but my goodness i want more of it.  It is so good, the coconut flavour was spot on. I will be putting that on the shopping list for him.

I had asked D to pick up some dark chocolate so that we had some in the house for that urge to make brownies.  He came back with the priciest Dark Chocolate in the shop.

 He also picked up some Smoked Hot Dog and Cumberland Shroomdogs. 

A couple of weeks back he came home with chorizo style bangers.  They were alright, but i prefer making vegan sietan chorizo sausages at home.  He also picked up vegan salted caramel cheesecakes, that was good. 

I have had a jar of mixed nuts that i often use to make nut roast from scratch, but they have been there a while, that i decided to make Nigella Lawsons Union Square nuts. 

Like i said, I am on annual leave this week and one of my plans, amongst other things is to straighten up my dishevelled cookbook shelves. 

I  am sharing this post with Sherry's Pickings who host the In My Kitchen series. 

June in My Kitchen

So I have found some time for myself to sit down and blog in what have been some very busy days and they are not over, as I start work all over again tomorrow.  I am looking forward to taking some annual leave. I really did not think I would say that whilst in quarantine as I thought working from home would be less tiresome, but it has been anything but.  I am hoping to take some time off early July and of course when I do, like most of the world I won't be going very far, but i need the break its been manic at work, it really has.

Anyway, let get down to what is in my kitchen this month.  

Last year I volunteered to be a recipe tester for a cookbook for a charity called Heart & Parcel.  Well I finally got my hands on Heart & Parcel cookbook.  Heart & Parcel was established in 2015.  The project supports women from ethnic minority communities in Manchester to develop their English language (ESOL) and communication skills by coming together to cook dishes from around the world, sharing recipes, stories, experiences and connections. All the recipes were contributed by migrant, asylum seeker and refugee women. 

I tested for two recipes including this Middle Eastern recipe called Aubergine Fatta - Iraqi Salad with Toasted Bread, which was delicious by the way.

I have put on some weight.  I know haven't we all - I know why in my case though, mostly because I have not been exercising, rather than excessive or comfort eating.  

I have been eating melon.  I have been making an effort in slicing them and sitting down to eat them with some mindfulness.  I have really been enjoying eating them.

Some gifted mangoes. I loved eating them, squished the pulpy fruit in its skin, then bit off the nib and sucked the sweet mango smoothie fruit.  

I cannot blame my excess weight on junk food, like i said its lack of exercise, but you may think otherwise as i share a vegetarian burger. I am only sharing this because of the home grown pea shoots.

I am trying unsuccessfully to cut down on my excessive coffee drinking too.  I find myself drinking five to six mugs a day when normally I would have two.  The last time D went to the supermarket, he picked me a selection of fruit teas.  I like the Echinacea & Raspberry, Spiced Ginger and Cranberry & Blood Orange, but I was not at all keen on the Mango & Strawberry combination - it just doesn't seem to work well. 

He also came back with some Maldon sea salt. 

We were grateful to get a delivery of Strong White Flour for breadmaking.  Those of you may remember from my last  In My Kitchen blog post that we were running out.  This will last us a good while. 

Talking of fruit earlier, we also harvested our first bowl of homegrown strawberries and wild strawberries that taste like sherbert that of course demanded either cream or ice-cream - of course we had neither, but we did have Greek yogurt.  The strawberries not only tasted amazing, the fragrant was quite powerful too. 

As my kitchen is relatively quiet with new and exciting things, let me share with you what's been going on in my parents kitchen.

Some of you may remember that last month on my In My Kitchen blog post I shared that I had made Nigella Lawson's 'Chocolate Brownies'.  Well this inspired my niece and nephew to have a go at making some Brownies in their own home. This was the final result elevated further with white chocolate drizzle and strawberries dipped in white chocolate.  I wish I was there! 

I am sharing this post with Sherry's Pickings who kindly continues to host the In My Kitchen series in these difficult times and its goods to be able to participate and continue to support the event.