In My Kitchen – July 2015
It will perhaps be with a sense of shock that Celia from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial sees me join her In My Kitchen series for the second month running. Up to now I’ve only managed about one a year. However, today is my birthday and these posts are in themselves a sort of celebration of what is going on in so many kitchens around the world, so it seems fitting that I share this with you.
In my kitchen, I have some very tasty chocolates that I made yesterday in lieu of a birthday cake. Sometimes nothing will do except cake, sometimes it’s chocolate that is needed, sometimes both are required. I’m feeling a little deprived of good quality chocolate at the moment and can’t guarantee I will be given any for my birthday. These are a sneak preview of a post that will be going out on 15 July – it will be worth the wait.
I don’t always succeed, but I do try to have hand picked flowers on my kitchen windowsill throughout the year. Now it’s the turn of chives, picked from my garden.
My kitchen is not a big one and finding space to put anything in it is always a bit of a trial. However my Optimum 9200 Next Generation high speed blender gets used so often I had to give up a bit of my precious counter top to make room for it. It’s worth it though. I can put all sorts of ingredients into our morning smoothies that I could never use with my old blender; they are ground so fine their texture is undetectable: kale, linseeds, goji berries, dried calendula petals, nettles and so much more. And it’s not just used for smoothies either, I’ve made all sorts, including raw chocolate cashew spread and quick tomato sauce with seaweed.
In my kitchen is a goose egg, probably the last one I shall get this year as geese have quite a short laying season. They are good for baking, but also make terrific scrambled eggs – one being enough for both of us.
Rummaging through one of my cupboards the other day, I came across this forgotten bottle of pumpkin seed oil. It’s meant to be very good for you and it also makes a tasty edition to a salad dressing. I quickly rustled one up to go with our evening salad and it was quite delicious: lime juice, balsamic vinegar, a dash of tamari, cold pressed rapeseed oil and a little pumpkin seed oil.
I found five of these fabulous glasses in a local charity shop a couple of weeks ago and bought them all for £1. We’ve used them every day since.
It seems my winning streak has continued; my recipes for fat hen and chickweed pesto and rose syrup were picked for June’s Simple and in Season – many thanks to Ren. The prize was At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen by Amy Chaplin. It’s a fabulous book and right up my street too with lots of nourishing recipes using the sort of ingredients that are generally to be found in my kitchen, plus a few new ones for me to explore.
Our strawberries were not very prolific this year, mostly due to neglect and birds, but these five were very sweet and flavoursome and definitely worth having.
My mother has recently returned from her first visit to Germany. She brought me back some Extra Dark 65% drinking chocolate to try. I tried it and it’s very very nice. It has a robust chocolate flavour and is hardly sweet at all, just how I like it. I made mine with half milk and half water. Hot chocolate is not usually something I’m that keen to drink in the summer, but the weather has turned a bit cold and wet, so it’s actually very welcome.
Disclaimer: the Optimum 9200 is an affiliate link. If you buy one through this link, it will not cost you any more, but I will get a small commission.
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Tin & Thyme on Tumblr
Just counted 16 individual roses in the garden. There may be more, as yet undiscovered. This was the first one out. Starts off orange, then turns yellow. It has a delicate scent too.
An afternoon at Hinton Admiral. Such glorious weather, such fabulous gardens and grounds. So many Wisterias and different colours too. Stunning peonies.
Haven’t made beet kvass in far too long. It’s so good for you, even beetroot hating CT will drink a glass. Looking forward to trying it in another day or two.
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Liz Posmyk (Good Things)
8th July 2015
Lovely to see you join IMK again… love your pretty vase and display. Sorry we were not able to catch up when I was in Cornwall recently. Next time!
Choclette
8th July 2015
Thanks Liz. It would have been lovely to see you, but you were here for such a short time. I’m enjoying seeing all your adventures unfold as you go.
Johanna @ Green Gourmet Giraffe
8th July 2015
Happy birthday choclette – hope you get chocolate and cake to celebrate – great to look around your kitchen – nice to know we aren’t the only ones to struggle for room for a blender! Love the new glasses, and we are very partial to hot chocolate at this time of year when it is so cold.
Choclette
8th July 2015
Thanks Johanna. I got both chocolate and cake, so I did very well and feel very full now. Space is a huge issue in my kitchen, but for some things it just has to be found.
Kath
8th July 2015
I hope someone buys you chocolate. Come on CT, you can do it! x
Choclette
8th July 2015
He came up trumps indeed Kath as did my mother who also made me a cake – completely spoilt 😀
Catherine
8th July 2015
Happy Birthday!!!
Choclette
8th July 2015
Thank you Catherine, that’s very kind of you. I had a great day thank you with a fabulous walk around a bit of the Cornish coast.
Food Glorious Food
8th July 2015
Love the look of your green juice in your Optimum juicer.
Choclette
12th July 2015
Thank you. We go through a lot of green smoothies and every one is different depending on what’s available at the time 🙂
Joanne T Ferguson
10th July 2015
Happy Birthday! Hope you enjoy your special day like you! I sure could go for trying one of your chocolates right now and thanks for this month’s kitchen view!
Choclette
10th July 2015
Thanks Joanne, I had a lovely birthday. I might have tried more than one of those chocolates and they were everything I was hoping for 🙂
shaheen
10th July 2015
Belated Birthday wishes Choclette, so pleased your participating in IMK as it delights me that I can have a nosy in your kitchen, loving the chives in your little vase – they are the kind of flowers I want in my kitchen too
Choclette
10th July 2015
Thanks Shaheen, I had a really nice day. Every month I mean to participate in IMK but before I know it, the month has run away with me. Chive flowers are wonderful, as I’m sure you know, the florets are great for sprinkling over salads.
Kate @ Veggie Desserts
10th July 2015
I love that you have chive flowers on your windowsill – they’re so pretty. And I love my Froothie blender as well – it’s the only gadget that gets counterspace permanently 🙂
Choclette
10th July 2015
Thanks Kate. Chive flowers on my windowsill and on my food. It’s hard to imagine a life without the Froothie blender now.
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy
10th July 2015
Happy belated birthday! I love pumpkin seed oil, it gives my salads a nice nutty taste.
Choclette
10th July 2015
Yes, it does Dannii. I’m so glad I found it again 😉
Jacqueline Meldrum
10th July 2015
I love posts like this. I want to try everything. I want the flowers, the chocolate and whatever you whizzed up in your Optimum 9200 Next Gen.
Choclette
10th July 2015
Haha yes Jac. Trouble is I can’t remember what I whizz up in my Optimum 9200, because I never remember to write down what I’ve done. It’s always delicious though and nutritious too 🙂
Janice
11th July 2015
An eclectic mix Choclette, which I think sums you up very well 🙂
Choclette
12th July 2015
Hmmm, not quite sure how to take that Janice 😉
Heidi Roberts
12th July 2015
What a lovely collection of goodies! Happy birthday by the way too!
Choclette
12th July 2015
Thank you Heidi. I had a lovely day, although it already seems like a long time ago.
Sarah
12th July 2015
I’m on the hunt for a new blender, I must check your one out. 🙂
Choclette
12th July 2015
If you ever do get one Sarah, please do consider buying it through my site 🙂
Fiona @ London-Unattached
12th July 2015
I love that picture of hot chocolate. And now I’ve got chocolate cravings too. The glasses are very pretty – 1960s styling I think?
Choclette
13th July 2015
Ah do you think so? I’ve no idea. I picked them up in a charity shop a couple of years or so ago.
nadia
12th July 2015
Happy belated birthday Choclette 😀 Those birthday chocolates look fab! I would always choose cake AND chocolate on my birthday…if you’re going to do it, do it right I say 😛
Choclette
13th July 2015
Thanks Nadia. I had a lovely day. You are of course right about cake AND chocolate and in the end I got them both. My mother made me a cake – woohoo.
sherry from sherrys pickings
15th July 2015
happy belated birthday. your blender looks impressive. i am on the hunt for a new one soon:) glad to hear you got chocolate and cake. terrific!
Choclette
15th July 2015
Thanks Sherry. The blender is Australian, so I guess it has to be impressive 😉
Emily @amummytoo
3rd August 2015
A belated happy birthday. Love the sounds of the raw chocolate cashew spread – will be giving it a go.
Choclette
4th August 2015
Thanks Emily. The chocolate spread was gorgeous as was the roasted version I’ve also posted – both quite different, but equally delicious.