Sunday, March 1, 2015

In my kitchen - March 2015

I am linking this in to Celia's monthly In My Kitchen event at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial.


Do you remember all the apples I had in my February In My Kitchen post? Some of them were turned into apple pie. It's not in my kitchen any more, but it was delicious while it lasted.


In my kitchen, there are signs of spring. The days are longer, the sun is brighter, and flowers are starting to pop up in local parks. It's rather nice.

Not in my kitchen, but near it...

Perhaps as a result of the weather shift, my kitchen is seeing lots of fruit, yoghurt and cereal. It's replaced porridge as my breakfast of choice, and I'm alternating between fresh blueberries and frozen mixed berries.


In my kitchen, there was a flurry of baking for a bake sale I held at work on Friday, in honour of my marathon fundraising. Amazingly, I forgot to take a single photo. In addition to the peanut butter and chocolate brownies I shared on Thursday, I made my fluffy banana bread, dark chocolate and orange biscuits (based on these), and a lightly adapted version of this apple and berry cake. Everything was well received, and the lack of leftovers meant I couldn't even snap some photos afterwards.

In my kitchen, there is more chocolate. I know, it does crop up regularly. I bought two blocks when we visited the Eden Project - a dark chocolate bar of their own making, with baobab and mint, and a Kernow chocolate simnel cake bar.


I didn't know you could eat baobab and I'm still not sure quite what it tastes of, because the chocolate block was very minty. I'm not entirely sure if I like it. In contrast, I adore the simnel cake bar. It has orange zest, currants, and almond essence. I think it's an Easter special, which is a shame, because I'd happily eat it all year round.


Last but not least, in my kitchen there are stir fried vegetables cooked in tahini and sweet chilli sauce. It's my current favourite flavour combination.


What is happening in your kitchen this month?

29 comments:

  1. Simnel cake chocolate sounds amazing - are there chunks of cake in there too? I like the apple pie vanishing and the welcoming of flowers and berries - is this your first spring as resident in the UK? (Seems like you have been there forever.) Congratulations on selling everything for your bakesale - great fundraising idea!

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    1. Ooh, chunks of cake in chocolate would be wonderful! Sadly they aren't present, but the block is so delicious it almost doesn't matter in that case.

      This is my first spring in the UK ever :-) I'm pretty excited!

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  2. Oh apple pie is a real favourite if mine. Yours looks scrummy. And all those goodies for your bake sale sound amazing. Lucky for those who scored some of that goodness.

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  3. Stir-Fries are the BOMB and so easy! :) My kitchen has seen A LOT this month, even if I haven't been cooking all that much or I have been eating very last minute.... Lots of canned seafood, which to me is absolutely delicious... And roasted butternut squash... MMMMMMM :)

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    1. Mm, I haven't had butternut squash for ages! I have to fix that.

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  4. I want pie now!
    There is a LOT happening in my kitchen this month with all the recipe development for my book.

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  5. You're making me crave banana bread! That's interesting about baobab, I also didn't know you could eat it. Happy first signs of spring!

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    1. I had no idea you could eat it either! I'm still not entirely sure it's normal to!

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  6. Hi Kari. You are turning to berries and yoghurt and soon, hopefully, we will be thinking of porridge.

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  7. baobab? what an interesting flavour. you have probably heard about the frozen berry scare here in australia. i threw mine out!

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    1. It gave me a scare too! I worried it might affect us here, but apparently not. I may also skip frozen blueberries for a while though :P

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  8. G'day and thank you for allowing me to learn something new!
    As soon as I heard about the frozen berries scare, everything got immediately dumped from the freezer!
    Thanks for this month's IMK view also!
    Cheers! Joanne

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    1. The berry situation in Australia is quite scary! I'm glad you dumped yours :)

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  9. Love the idea of that simnel cake chocolate bar, sounds fascinating!

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  10. I can understand the apple pie not lasting long, it looks scrumptious. I am looking forward to spring as well, it means planting the garden and fresh produce all spring and summer!

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  11. Kari, though I didn't do an In My Kitchen post myself this month, I'm trying to visit everyone on Celia's list. So glad I found your lovely blog! Love that pie.

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  12. I didn't know you could baobab either. As to the bake sale, a similiar thing happened to me a few years ago. Clean forgot to take the photos - I was in the moment. Great to hear that you're getting some warmer weather. here's to a lovely spring for you.

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    1. I'm glad it's not just me who forgets the camera!

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  13. And now I want pie, yours looks so amazing! The berries look delicious, I'm a bit deprived at the moment as I'm leery of eating anything berry related. Pears and apples are all well and good (and plentiful in stores right now) but nothing quite compares to lovely plump berries.

    Enjoy that tasty looking chocolate (baobab, really?!) and the onset of Spring!

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    1. Thanks Lisa! And I feel your pain on berries - apples and pears get boring so quickly :S

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  14. I do remember those apples and that pie look delicious! We are heading into Autumn here in Queensland, but you wouldn't know it, I'm at home with the Air Conditioner on as it is so hot... so enjoy spring! Thanks for sharing! Liz x

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