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In My Kitchen April

8 April 2013 in In My Kitchen

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In my kitchen…

.. are chillies, lots of em! So I decided to dry some in our biltong maker for later use.

In my kitchen…

…is this signed cookery book by fellow blogger Sam Linsall. This lovely book formed part of the prizes I received from last year’s tv show Dinner Divas. It is packed full of wonderful photographs (all taken by Sam) and some equally interesting recipes, I can’t wait to try some out.

In my kitchen…

…is my ravioli maker that I bought from Lakelands when I was in England last year. I don’t have a pasta maker but I decided to give my bingo arms a workout and rolled my homemade pasta by hand! Phew it was a mission, but the prawn ravioli was delicious and as you can see, they looked pretty darn good. *Adds pasta machine to her birthday list*

In my kitchen… 

…are these homemade pork sausages, yes, Himself and I made them all by ourselves, using a piping bag nogal!  It was a very amusing morning with many rather suggestive remarks flying around! I minced my own pork and added some extra fat, but even so, we found the consistency quite dense but they were full of flavour.  I am currently on the look out for a sausage feeder attachment for my Kenwood.

In my kitchen…

…is this Maxwell Wiliams bamboo spoon which I admired on the blog Lavender and Lime. Tandy very kindly sent me one, it has a totally different feel to normal wooden spoons and I’m very taken with it.

In my kitchen…

…were some mini battenberg cakes. I was in Cape Town last year and there I briefly met a lady called Rosemarie Oliver. Imagine my surprise when I received a parcel containing this packet from her, she had remembered that I liked them and bless her, she bought a packet back to South Africa from England. Thank you Rosemarie.

 

Want to see what other food bloggers have in their kitchens? then head over to Fig Jam and Lime Cordial, where Celia has a list of participants on the right-hand-side of her blog.

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In My Kitchen – December 2012

10 December 2012 in In My Kitchen

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Celia over at Fig Jam & Lime Cordial started this monthly round-up of what’s in peoples kitchens, I think it satisfies the nosiness in us all. If you want to see what other bloggers around the world have in their kitchen then click on this link.

In my kitchen….

….is a gift from my friend Nikki, lovely fresh veg from her Dad’s garden in Howick.

In my kitchen….

…is another win! I know, I know, I can hear you all saying “not again!” but in my defence I do enter a lot of competitions. I haven’t had time to have a good look at the book yet, but Himself has used the snazzy tongs with built-in LED light! Thank you Food and Home magazine. The Ultimate Braai (barbecue) Master is a tv program that has just aired in South Africa, the teams had to cook in some very difficult situations all over the country.

In my kitchen….

….is this cute little scoop I got in England, I bought a whole load of old cutlery for buttons and this was one of my finds. If you look closely you will see it measures 1/4 cup.

In my kitchen….

….is this slightly indulgent present to myself, Yuppiechef are having a 12 days of Christmas sale and this was offered for virtually half price……..my box of happy!

In my kitchen…..

….is this gorgeous gift of delicious salt from my friend Rachel, I love the little glass container.

In my kitchen…

….are these little bowls, I use them for individual servings of pate, etc. I bought them at the Grahamestown festival years ago. It was a girly road trip, we saw some wonderful theatre, stayed in a very strange B & B that was stuck in a 70′s time-warp, ate out everyday at some fascinating places, some of which only operate during the festival. One night we would be eating in a church hall, the next in someone’s dining room, at one place Pieter Dirk Uys was on the next table.  I remember I drove us all the way home, over 12 hours and because we’d been partying for the entire week, everyone else slept the whole damn way!

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In My Kitchen – November 2012

1 November 2012 in In My Kitchen

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Celia of the blog Fig Jam and Lime Cordial started this monthly initiative, to see more of what food bloggers from around the world have in their kitchens click here.

In my kitchen….

…is this jar of pickled onions that I made at the end of September, I think we shall give them a try this weekend with some nice mature cheddar and crusty bread, sometimes the simple things in life are just the best!

In my Kitchen…

…is an abundance of HP, I bought Himself the big bottle of sauce back from England and whilst I was there my Godfather gave me the recipe book as a gift, expect to see a recipe from it soon.

In my kitchen….

…are these cute poaching bags that I just had to try, they work, but you need asbestos hands to get the egg out and the triangular shape is a bit odd.

In my kitchen…

…is this bag of macadamia nuts that I thought were a bargain, I have made something rather yummy with some of them, stay tuned.

In my kitchen…

…is this rectangular tart tin, I’ve wanted one for ages but they are rather pricey here in South Africa and I couldn’t justify buying one as I have a perfectly good round one. This one was reasonable in England so I treated myself.

In my kitchen…

…is this rather cool silicone mat which I used to make this lovely old fashioned Cream Swiss Roll. I also want to use it to make a neater  Pavlova Roll.

 Click here to be taken to the Swiss Roll recipe.

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In My Mother’s Kitchen – September

18 September 2012 in In My Kitchen, Sous Chef, Sous Chef South Africa

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Well here I am in England, the weather is holding, sort of, the sun has shone but the wind has been very cold. I thought it would be fun to do an IMK entry from my mother’s kitchen.

In my mother’s kitchen is….

Now I’m a Bovril girl, on Facebook we have ongoing debates about the merits of both these institutions, I even saw in the supermarket that they have limited edition Gold Marmite and extra strong flavour versions. I would have bought me a limited edition had there been one by Bovril…Oi Bovril catch a wake up!

In my mother’s kitchen are…

Herbs,  British salad cress (one of my favourite things) and what is called living lettuce, you snip off the leaves and add to your more basic lettuce to pretty up your salad.

In my mother’s kitchen is….

I actually did a double-take when I opened the fridge door, who buys this stuff?….well, clearly my mother! After I’d sung a snatch of Monty Python’s Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam…Wonderful Spam song! I hurriedly closed the door and hoped I wouldn’t have to eat it. No such luck, it was served for lunch with salad the next day, I very gingerly tried a piece and it wasn’t bad…smeared with some Branston pickle! You can take the pom out of England…..

In my mother’s kitchen is…

This lovely old brass ships clock that my father poudly stole liberated from somewhere, it keeps very good time.

In my mother’s kitchen is…

My parents live in a rural environment and there are many immigrants from Poland who work the fields, hence the local supermarkets stock quite a lot of products from their country. No idea what mum is going to do with this shredded celeriac and she’s got 2 jars? Any suggestions are welcomed, just don’t tell me it goes well with Spam! :)

In my mother’s kitchen are….

Pears, lots of em, the tree in their garden is loaded and the branches are simply sagging with the abundance.

In my mother’s kitchen are…

These gorgeous olives, which I buy from Lidl every time I visit, 65p a jar is an absolute bargain, wish I could find them in South Africa. I’m on my second jar already!

In my mother’s kitchen is….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My mum!

Now the final pic is nothing to do with my mother’s kitchen but we visited a little market at the weekend and I was very amused by the sign on the Norfolk Royals……..don’t mess with those spuds!

To view other blogger’s happening in their kitchens go to Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial who started this fun initiative.

 

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In My Kitchen – August

8 August 2012 in In My Kitchen, Sous Chef

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In my kitchen….

…is this jar of hundred & thousands, now I know you are all thinking what a strange women, why would anyone have such a huge jar? My daughter used to go out with a pig farmer and a biscuit factory gives their broken biscuits to local farmers. Sometimes the biscuits were almost perfect, they often didn’t make it to the poor little piggies and sometimes there were unexpected goodies like a sack of hundreds and thousands! Sow there, now you know !

In my kitchen….

…is fellow blogger Jane-Anne Hobbs new book Scrumptious which I was very fortunate to win through the Sunday Times. It’s a lovely book, full of scrummy recipes and fabulous photographs to drool over. Jane-Anne styled all the food herself, read about it here on her blog Scrumptious.

Now I was pouring over it yesterday when one picture caught my eye, there was something very familiar about it.

When I was in England visiting my parents last year I saw a couple of old forks and thought they would be nice for styling, mum said I could have them and mentioned that they were from a set that she was given when we lived in Norway back in the fifties. It transpires that Jane-Anne’s Norwegian grandmother used to give her children pieces of silver cutlery for each birthday and Christmas, and that spoon in the pic is her mom’s. What a coincidence, there is no doubt in my mind….. that book was destined to end up in my grubby paws!

In my kitchen…

…are two gifts I received when I was in Cape Town for the Food Bloggers Indaba recently, one is from our favourite Italian mama Jan Tripeppi, I love the little utensils hanging from the ribbon, such attention to detail.

The other is from another blogging pal Usha Singh, she went to the trouble to make 130 packets of spices to go into the goodie bags at the Indaba, how thoughtful is that?

Finally in my kitchen…

…were these cake pops that I attempted at a workshop at Just Boutique last week, it was a fun evening out, but I think I shall stick to sprinkling hundred and thousands over cupcakes! :)

So what’s in your kitchen? to see what other food bloggers around the world are up to, go to Celia’s blog Fig Jam and Lime Cordial.

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In My Kitchen – July 2012

2 July 2012 in In My Kitchen

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In my kitchen….

Is the latest copy of Taste Magazine

I was thrilled that my recipe for pork neck steaks was included in their Readers Issue and that it came in as one of the most economical and in the top five dishes!

Taste very kindly sent me the above two images, this is my photograph of the actual page in the mag, so now you know who I am! :)

For someone who spends a lot of time on her computer….how amazing is my handwriting?! :)

In my kitchen….

Is some Nomu Hot Chocolate, this product was mentioned numerous times by the MC at the Food and Wine Bloggers Indaba Paul Raphaely (he owns Nomu with his wife Tracy) He constantly teased Pick n Pay for not stocking his hot chocolate, so I decided to buy some and try it,  I like, very much!

In my kitchen is…..

This jar of preserved figs made just up the hill in the village of Hilton, which I bought to accompany the next item in my kitchen.


In my kitchen…..

Is this Fairview handcrafted Camembert that was in one of the goodie bags at the Indaba.

I baked the Camembert for 20 minutes at 180 C until it started to puff up a little. Then I covered it with toasted pecans, my homemade preserved ginger, the preserved figs and drizzled some of the juices from both over the top. So simple to make and utterly delicious, served with some sourdough baguette. It went down very well yesterday, as we sat on the patio soaking up the winter sun and drinking some fine South African wine.

If you would like to see what some other foodies from all over the world have in their kitchens, pop over to Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial who started this monthly initiative.

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In My Kitchen – June

5 June 2012 in In My Kitchen

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Celia from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial hosts a monthly initiative whereby food bloggers from all over the world write about what’s happening in their kitchen, do go and have a squiz, you will find the people who contribute listed on the right hand side of the home page.

In my kitchen…

are gorgeous tangy pepperdews grown and pickled by my friend Micheal, they inspired me to make a lovely sweet potato and pepperdew soup.

In my kitchen …

is this Moleskine Kitchen Journal that I won from Yuppiechef, they recently held an Heirloom recipe competition and I entered my Mum’s wonderful Sage & Onion Sausage Rolls. I love getting a box of happy from the guys at Yuppiechef, everything is always beautifully packaged with a handwritten card and a fridge magnet to add to my collection. The journal has various sections in which to write favourite recipes, tabbed sections to personalise, food calendars, facts and handy measures and conversions.

In my kitchen…

is this old enamel bowl. I found it in a junk shop here in Pietermaritzburg, when I turned it over to see the price I was astounded to see the name Ruby Gill written on the bottom. It was a sign – the bowl was meant to be mine, you see my maiden name is Gill.

Sadly I’ve only used it once as a prop to hold rice, I put a beef dish in it the other day and was about to photograph it when Himself walked by and said “oh yummy, dog food!”

In my kitchen…

are some of the lemons from our two trees, as you can see one gives us a very smooth skin and the other a rougher skinned lemon. Last year I squeezed some of our crop and froze the liquid in ice trays and then popped them into a zip-lock bag, it meant I had lemon juice all year round.

In my kitchen…

is this bottle of Verlaque balsamic reduction, this particular flavour (honey and rooibos tea) goes particularly well with my 3 ingredient sticky chicken.

On the 21st of June I am flying to Cape Town for the Food Blogger’s Indaba (conference) I really enjoyed last years event and this one is promising to be very exciting, well done to Colleen Grove aka browniegirl for all her hard work and dedication in organising it.  Whilst in Cape Town I will also be filmed by Anne Meyers I shall be cooking a 3 course meal for her website I Love Cooking. I have two scenarios in my head,  there’s the one where I present a brilliant dish to the camera, batting my eyelids in a Nigella fashion whilst uttering those iconic words “here’s one I made earlier” then there’s the one where I stand in front of the camera opening and closing my mouth like a fish……told you my name used to be Gill! :)

 

 

 

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In My Kitchen – May

3 May 2012 in In My Kitchen

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In my kitchen…..

Is a beautiful treasured bowl that was a gift from my brother David and sister-in-law Sally shortly before he died, it’s quirky, colourful, and very African.

In my kitchen…..

Is a novel fish tea towel and the 2012 eatin magazine, which I won on their Facebook page, you had to send up a photograph of your supper,  I sent in my saucy pork sausages and I won :) It’s a very useful magazine for foodies, tells you where the best shops, markets and restaurants are.

In my kitchen…..

Languishes this jar of German sour cherries that shouts “kommen sie hier” everytime I open the cupboard, I’m ignoring it as I’m not inspired, any suggestions?

Finally in my kitchen is……

I know, I know! now before you go striking me off your subscriber lists, I went to a hen party last weekend. My daughter Gilly is one of the bridesmaids to the daughter of old family friends this Saturday. We went on a hilarious bus journey to the Natal Midlands, a very picturesque area in our province. One of the stops was to the only vineyard in Kwa Zula Natal called Abingdon, which is fast earning quite a reputation in the wine world. We thoroughly enjoyed a wine tasting and a very lovely lunch of mezze type platters.

Then we went candle dipping and the prize for the best candles went to moi and I won the wonderful willies!

Whilst I was very erm…. delighted to be the recipient of something destined to send me to cloud nine I was very envious of one of the other ladies because she won this……

I really coveted the penis pasta, I wanted to post a blog to make the Food24 Editor Caro fall off her chair! *drops lip*

If you would like to peer into some kitchens from around the world visit Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

 

 

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In My Kitchen – April

1 April 2012 in In My Kitchen

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Celia from the blog Fig Jam and Lime Cordial hosts a monthly initiative whereby bloggers from all over the world show & tell what’s in their kitchens.

In my kitchen…..

…are loads of spices that I won.

They came in this package which was hand delivered to me by the general manager of Chisa Faya himself.

Being a local Kwa Zulu Natal company they support the Sharks (our provincial rugby team) and asked their Facebook followers to send in photos of their rugby supporter gear.

I posted this photo of Himself and I taken some years ago.

We had been invited by one of our suppliers Kyocera to the launch of a new photocopier range in Johannesburg at a place called The Castle. The invite said to wear black and white and be inventive, so being avid Sharks supporters we duly dressed in our black and white. Upon arrival at the castle severe doubts began to form when we entered the very posh venue and saw a lady playing the harp and people milling around in evening wear. We looked at each other in abject horror and were about to do a runner when the MD spotted us. At the time Canon Copiers were the sponsors for the Sharks, I had sewn Kyocera signage over all the Canon bits on Himself’s jersey which the big cheese from Japan thought was hilarious “lugby velly good” and he insisted we join him on his table for the evening! Was our humiliation going to get any worse?….. oh yes!

As we were in Blue Bull rugby territory we stoically  took a great deal of teasing the whole evening and then we were paraded in front of the entire venue and given the prize for the best dressed! I did feel better when I saw some bird had made her dress out of newspaper and another chap came as a dalmation!

Thanks Chisa Faya for the great spices, I’m already hooked on the Chilli Chisa Mat.

In my kitchen…….

…is this fabulous Pineapple Chilli which is absolutely wonderful on top of any cheese, particularly goats cheese served on rocket.

In my kitchen…..

…is my favourite mug which a friend bought back from Scotland for me, it always makes me smile!

 

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In My Kitchen – March

7 March 2012 in In My Kitchen

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In my kitchen……

…is my homemade version of HP Sauce, a condiment of which Himself is immensely fond, sadly I wasn’t able post the recipe because we had to wait four weeks before testing it and yes, you guessed it, I lost the piece of paper with the recipe and my tweaks thereof!!

In my kitchen…..

…are my Chinese bowls, these were a 21st birthday present *mumble* years ago!

In my kitchen……

is this little teapot for one, it has Hotel Rendezvous engraved on the bottom, *whispers* I suspect Himself stole it! He insists that the hotel gave it to him as a keepsake, it was the place he first stayed in Boksburg when he arrived in South Africa from England way back in 1973.

In my kitchen…..

…is my beautiful Carrol Boyes cake stand, I won it in a competition together with stylish cake forks and cake server. I think it is too lovely to put away in a cupboard, so it doubles as a fruit stand while it waits patiently for me to bake a cake.

Finally In my kitchen……

…is my invention, in order to maximise the space in the biltong maker when drying mango I cable-tied three metal racks together, it works a treat.

Visit Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime cordial to see more In My Kitchen posts.

 

 

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