In My Kitchen – March 2013

Fresh Eggs

For the past few years, we enjoyed a steady supply of fresh eggs from a colleague of my daughter. How sad was I when she changed jobs and no longer came home with freshly collected eggs! We can buy lovely farm-fresh eggs from the market but nothing beats homegrown, so I’m thrilled to have found a new source of supply. Gail, your eggs are beautiful and we are happy to barter whenever you like …

Easter Eggs

Speaking of eggs, is it really that time of year? It feels like we have just got over Christmas and now Easter is upon us. My daughter Alise brought back these delicious Lindt chocolate eggs from her recent trip to Europe.

Heineken Bottle Opener

The Heineken bottle opener also came from Alise, bought during her visit to the Heineken factory in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Pancakes with Seville Marmalade

During our visit to Europe, we picked up little jars of orange marmalade from Seville (snatched from the hotel breakfast buffet – shhh! – well, we couldn’t pass up the real thing, could we?) The slightly bitter marmalade goes beautifully with Alise’s crêpes.

Heilal Vanilla

For a friend’s birthday, I made a yummy meringue torte with Heilala vanilla and Gail’s eggs.

Kempinski Hotel pastries

We’ve been snacking on pastries courtesy of the Kempinski Hotel at the Dead Sea. I brought them back from my recent trip to Jordan. Watch this space for more lovely things from Jordan.

 

The garden continues to turn up all sorts of surprises, including this tiny watermelon which despite its diminutive size tasted just as watermelon should.

Rocket

The world’s finest rocket continues to flourish. We’ve been using it in an amazing array of salads, including the delicious Barbecued chicken and peach combo that I featured in a recent blog post.

Stephanie Alexander's Kitchen Garden Companion

I recently bought Stephanie Alexander’s Kitchen Garden Companion from Book Depository for $25.12 – a bargain. It’s giving me plenty of food for thought.

Thanks to Celia, at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial, for hosting In My Kitchen, and giving us all the opportunity to share our finds. What goodies are starring in your kitchen this month?

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9 Comments

  • Pass me a fork please, that pancake and the pastries look divine! Nothing beats fresh eggs… I, too, am mourning the loss of a very reliable source, however have found another. Was just marvelling this morning at how beautifully jelly like the whites are! And what a bargain from the Book Depository! Well done you. ; )

  • My heart sank when I read this as I miss having my chooks. I had enough to supply my neighbourhood with eggs and enough to make the most extravagant cakes. 🙂 One day I’ll do it again. I miss the girls.

    Those pastries made me drool a bit.

  • That Stephanie book really is a bargain, thanks for the headsup Christine! You’ve been to Jordan too! It sounds like a wonderful place – I was just reading Lorraine’s post about it. I’m so glad you have a new source of eggs – it’s hard to go back, isn’t it? Our chooks aren’t laying as much as they used to, so we’ve been running a bit low as well. And your garden is producing great treasure – we don’t grow rocket any more (no-one will eat it except me), and I miss it! 🙂

    • Hi Celia,
      Jordan was indeed wonderful. You’re lucky having your own chooks. I wonder why they’re not producing as many eggs as they used to? I wouldn’t normally eat rocket either – I really hate it when restaurants pile a mountain of rocket onto the plate simply to make the dish look more abundant than it actually is. It never tastes great and it’s just stringy stuff that gets stuck in your teeth and throat! But I have to tell you, our rocket is not like that at all. It’s fresh and crisp with a delicious but not overt peppery bite, and it has lovely big leaves that are wonderful in salad and other dishes. I am madly saving seed so that I can keep growing it forever!

  • Wow that is indeed a bargain for The Kitchen Garden’s Companion. I love that book and refer to it often. We have chooks in our backyard and I love them. And their eggs. I can’t believe it took us so long to get some!

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