I can’t quite believe we’re already in July aka Birthday Month in our house. Before I get stuck into all the cake and celebrations, I’m joining Sherry and friends for In My Kitchen, the monthly round up where we take a look back at what went down in our kitchens during the previous month. June in my kitchen looked a bit like this…
Well, we spent the first week of the month in Madrid and had an amazing time. Due to new border controls, we couldn’t bring back any meat or dairy products – insert sad face – so we settled for some turron which is kind of like nougat and traditionally made with almonds, honey, sugar and egg whites. It’s absolutely delicious! We sampled so many varieties in the store but miraculously we haven’t even opened this yet.
We also bought back these crisps. Truth be told, we had no idea what flavour they were when we bought them (my Spanish isn’t that good and there was no internet signal in the store,) I just wanted to buy crisps with David Beckham on. It turns out they’re ‘country’ flavour and taste kind of herby and similar to ranch. They’re certainly different!
We had an impromptu night with the neighbours and I made my trademark platter with our favourite Em the Nutritionist’s dips, the butter bean jalapeno hummus and the protein pea dip – as Em would say, so good!
I finally pressed publish on my Ultimate Biscoff Banana Bread. Everyone goes bananas for it!
Sticking with the banana theme, I also shared the recipe for these Banana Choc Chip Cookies which are super easy and require just one old banana! It turns out that bananas are quite a divisive fruit!
Princess Wookie was back for another little vacation. I keep telling her mum that having Wookie to stay is a gift in itself but she persists in bringing bonus gifts – this time it was delicious honey and Greek salad seasoning from Crete!
Wookie’s mum also bought us these fancy dates which I cannot wait to try. I think they will be right up my eat streeet.
Apparently 28th June is National Picky Bits Day and I’m here for it! As it happens we were invited to our neighbours’ barbecue so I took my all time favourite picky bits, the pesto twists! They always please a crowd and feed a crowd and this occasion was no exception. I remembered to take a pic just in time before they all disappeared! Side note – 4 years in and I still think English puff pastry is weird.
In other kitchen news, we had an ant invasion which was most unsavoury. I’ve been keeping them at bay with bay leaves (ha, see what I did there?) and have deep cleaned everything in the kitchen with a vinegar solution so fingers crossed they get the hint. In happier news, I extended my window sill herb collection and got these cute herb pots. If the herbs are all still alive next month, it will be something of a miracle – I think like us, they’re suffering in the heat. If you have tips for me, I’m all ears!
Lastly, we finally got around to putting up the print we bought in Madrid. It’s by Brooklyn-born Maggie Cowles, who specialises in “food memory” scenes – table settings and chopped ingredients that tell a story – and it feels like the perfect memento of all the incredible food we ate in Madrid. Don’t mind all the reflections in this pic…
So that’s a wrap on In My Kitchen for this month. What have you been cooking, baking or enjoying lately? What are your go-to picky bits? And have you ever tasted Turron? Tell me everything in the comments!
