Since my last in my kitchen post the festive season has come and gone and now it’s February. We’ve started some much-needed renovations in the house and at the moment everything seems upside down. But it’s a good time to do some clearing out, something I’m going to do a lot of in the next few months… let’s hope I can part with some cookbooks and magazines too.
In my kitchen…
Was Heston Blumenthal’s earl grey stollen from Waitrose, bought on my travels. A little dusting of powdered sugar and a sprinkle of tiny gold stars made it look more festive.
In my kitchen…
For the festive season baked a cauliflower, sage and chestnut cake, a recipe from a BBC good food magazine. Tasty, but not a huge chestnut fan… guess you could add some walnuts instead.
Had some tasty za’atar from Jordan and used some in a scone recipe for our cookbook book club. Scones always go down a treat and are super quick to make.
Rolling out some shortbread dough with my new bee embossed rolling-pin. The baked cookies looked beautiful too… will post a recipe soon.
Not everyone in my family loves Christmas pudding and I’ve made Delia Smiths sticky toffee puddings for years. Her recipe is perfect and they always rise beautifully. Just out of the oven in this photo… behind the scenes I was preparing the sticky toffee pecan sauce to pour over them.
A festive cappuccino with stencil art and Heston’s stollen on the side.
In my kitchen…
A strawberry cutter, handy when preparing lots of strawberries for slicing. I am sure this kitchen gadget will get plenty of use.
In my kitchen…
This was the first cake I baked in my beautiful new bundt pan,… it’s called a crown bundt and looks like a piece of gold jewelry. The banana cake turned out beautifully… I almost didn’t want to cut into it.
In my kitchen…
An old-fashioned zester that I pick up at a market… love the retro look of some old kitchen utensils.
In my kitchen…
A masala dabba is a great way of keeping your most used spices together in one container and here have used the spice tin as a prop when photographing the ingredients for Dukkah, a middle eastern blend of seeds, nuts and spices nuts.
In my kitchen…
Desert truffles (fagga) from Saudi Arabia, a gift from a thoughtful neighbour. These did not have as strong a flavor as the ones I tried from Kuwait last year, nonetheless, a treat to have and we love them sliced and sautéed in a little butter and served with scrambled eggs for breakfast.
Although I’ve decided to not add anymore stuff (this year), to my overflowing kitchen, the spice tin, strawberry cutter and new bundt tin are all gifts from lovely friends… they know how much I love kitchen paraphernalia.
Lizzy is the host of the monthly “In My Kitchen” round-up, do visit her blog bizzylizzysgoodthings and check out the list of other lovely bloggers who love to showcase their kitchen treasures.
Food and Tools 
Hi Moya. I am currently trying to down size. It is so hard. I am not even a shopper. Most of the wonderful things I have were presents. And that is the problem, most are wonderful so it is so hard to throw them out. I have a masala thingy (it was a gift) like yours. I do use the little containers when measuring out spices.
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Hi Glenda, yes am sure it’s not easy, what to keep and what to let go of. Best of luck and look forward to all your updates 🙂
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Love the zester!
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Me too, love rummaging around markets and delighted to find this zester.
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The cauliflower, sage and chestnut cake sounds delicious I’m going to check out the recipe. I love your old zester too – very retro!
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Love everything but especially that Bundt tin- what a pattern!
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Looking forward to baking more bundt cakes with this crown bundt pan, it is beautiful and the cakes look spectacular 🙂
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That cauliflower cake sounds really interesting. I have a zucchini cake recipe that is fantastic, but will check the cauliflower out, sounds like it has a lot of potential, chestnuts or not!
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Definitely lots of potential and a wonderful way to have cauliflower cheese, zucchini sounds good too 🙂
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Hi Moya, apologies that I didn’t see this post of yours… not sure if you commented on my IMK post, but it certainly hasn’t reached me. I’ve linked you up now. That strawberry slicer is interesting… haven’t seen those before, not even when I had the kitchenware store and school. The cauliflower, sage and chestnut cake sounds interesting and I LOVE the bundt! Waitrose makes good things too. Happy new year xx
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No problem Lizzy, I’m not sure what happens with these comments sometimes. Hadn’t seen a strawberry slicer either… but my eagle-eyed friend did 🙂 Absolutely love the bundt pan too. Yes we love to shop at Waitrose when visiting the UK as they have some delicious goodies. Best wishes for the year ahead xx
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That stollen looks yummy, bet it would be delicious toasted with a bit of lemon curd. I never would have thought of using cauliflower or za’atar in sweet recipes. I will have to look those up. And that bundt tin, oh my! How beautiful. I would have been terrified of tearing it to bits when un-molding. Clever you!
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That’s bizarre, I was looking for one of those bundt tins today and have shortlisted it. Gorgeous! I don’t collect many gadgets but that straw cutter looks interesting and I would love to see/know more about your bee rolling pin. Cheers.
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Hi Fergie, I think you will love the bundt tin and I hope you buy one. Will post a recipe soon using my bee rolling pin… it really is bee..uatiful 🙂
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Renovations are tough so good luck! I keep forgetting the name ‘masala dabba’. I shall try and remember as I use mine quite often 🙂
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Totally bonkers over your treasures, edibles and gadgets alike. Does your Reno include adjusted or expanded utensil & gadget storage? My Bundt pans, pasta roller, soup tureens etc claim too much territory so the excess hides out in other rooms and closets.
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that bundt cake is an absolute thing of beauteousness. so gorgeous. my kitchen and pantry are full of ..stuff! i keep trying to get rid of things but… Desert truffles sound very interesting.
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