Yay for May! Honestly this year is flying by so fast, I can hardly keep up. It’s the first of May which means that it’s time to join Sherry and friends for the April edition of In My Kitchen. April was short and sweet and looked something like this…
April got off to a fabulous start with a visit from fellow blogger, Jo from Brookford Kitchen Diaries. We didn’t have the foresight to get a picture of us together in the kitchen but here’s one of the fabulous Lemon Drizzle Cake she bought us homemade on the Easton estate where she was staying.
We had a night away in Birmingham and a visit to Birmingham isn’t a visit to Birmingham without a visit to Primark. For my non-UK friends it’s a budget fashion store and it’s really raised it’s game in the home department of late. I had to bring this picture home with me.
Although I said I was going to be a minimalist, I couldn’t leave this plate behind either. Isn’t it the cutest?
Have you seen Clarkson’s Farm on TV? Well, we had a night away with friends in the Cotswolds and I made sure to drag everyone to the Diddly Squat Farm Shop. It was so busy, there was a massive queue to get in and once inside, the line sort of snaked round the shop to the till and you couldn’t really break out of the line to browse. It was also pretty expensive. Poor David had to stand outside with Teddy as dogs aren’t allowed inside so I bought some condiments that I thought might tickle his fancy!
My shortbread is still going strong, I’m still writing up my friend Anthea’s recipe. I gave some to Jo to enjoy on her travels and she sent me this pic – enjoying her shortbread while she was waiting to check in for her flight home.
Talking of Anthea’s recipes, I finally shared her recipe for these Apple and Walnut Squares. They’ve been on high rotation at our place.
I took Jo and Grant to our local antiques centre – it’s an absolute Aladdin’s Cave for things from the olden days. Truth be told, I take all our visitors there and often go by myself for a look but I’ve never bought anything… Until now. I have wanted a cake knife for ages and it was as if this one (pictured above) was waiting for me. Jo and Grant know what’s what when it comes to old things and they said that at £4.50 it was a steal. So of course it came home with me.
Ever since David came back to the UK, he’s had the most awful hay fever. Weirdly, he doesn’t get it when we travel away so we often laugh that he’s allergic to our town! Anti histamines aren’t cutting it these days but friends told me that you can reduce hay fever symptoms by eating a little local honey each day. We got this nectar from our local market – we had a lovely chat with the beekeeper – and it’s actually so delicious. Even David who usually can’t stand honey enjoyed it. We’re only a few weeks in with this natural medicine but so far it really seems to be working!
Our hot cross bun adventures continue – I couldn’t resist these Dippy Egg Buns from Marks and Spencers. Each chocolate bun has an oozy ‘dippy egg’ filling made of white chocolate. They’re very sweet and quite addictive but I daren’t put them in the toaster!
I couldn’t stop thinking about Sherry’s delicious Carrot Cake Granola and had to recreate her recipe at home. I made a half batch which still made loads and by golly, it was good! Thank you, Sherry!
We didn’t give each other eggs but we did crack open the Marks and Spencer Ralph the Cavapoo who looked even more like our Teddy when he was out of the box. Sadly, he was all looks and no substance, the chocolate was really not very nice at all which is most unlike M and S.
In lieu of eggs, we visited our favourite shop Country Traditionals where I purchased the chopstick rests and little dipping bowls I’d been coveting for some time. I thought this was the perfect excuse to whip up a batch of pot stickers and I finally typed up the recipe so I can share it with you soon.
Talking of blue and white pottery and dumplings – I found this gem in TK Maxx and could not go home without it! Can’t wait to fill it with dumplings!
We like Em the Nutritionist’s Superfood Bolognese so much that I hardly ever make bolognese with meat anymore. In an effort to cut down on carbs and eat more veggies, instead of eating it with pasta, I stuffed it in capsicums and topped it with cheese – so good!
I’ve been getting my shopping delivered for a month or so now and am loving it. We popped into the supermarket the other day and noticed that a selection of veg was massively reduced for Easter, just like it was at Christmas. A 1kg bag of carrots was 8p – that’s about 16 Aussie cents. What a steal! A bag of parsnips or a whole swede were also 8p!
Anyway that’s enough about my kitchen carrying ons! Let me know what’s been going down in your kitchen in the comments. I’m all ears!
