In my kitchen…
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial is a blog I read very regularly. Celia keeps hens (and even posted a video of them recently), bakes all her own bread using a starter and shares recipes of just the kind of food I like to eat (including custard). Once a month she does a round up of interesting things in her kitchen that month – from a jug of tulips given by a friend to pasta in strange turtle-shell shapes. I love having a poke around other people’s kitchens, even if it is a virtual one.
I just realised that in my kitchen this month there are more than a few unusual food items, including a gift that I had to ask friends to identify as I hadn’t a clue.
So in my kitchen…
Ginger flapjacks given to me by my lovely friend Debi. I’ve ignored her post-it advice as best I can due to their total chewy addictiveness. I need this recipe.
The turkish delight I bought in Turkey was too gooey for my tastes. Caroline, the arbiter of all good things in Istanbul, brought a box of the best. Please come and help me eat this – KP and the girls are not fans – I’m doing rather too good a job single-handedly.
You can buy most things in Dubai, but when something unusual hits the shelves you grab it. I seized this with joy (in Aswaq) planning a seafood sensation, but KP nearly fainted when he saw squink ink pasta. The pleasure of eating tagliolini nero will be mine alone.
Witty and multi-talented Hedonista brought this round for a Come Dine With Me gift – a jar of jam. Not any old jam, but orange and walnut from the Emporio Armani Caffe. So kind, so stylish.
This was a gift from N when she arrived for book club last week. “It was given to my husband, I’m not sure what it is or where it is from but I thought you’d like it. I think it might be cake.” I opened and tried it but was absolutely none the wiser, so took a pic and turned to Twitter. Grace solved the mystery. It’s a Japanese sweet called Yokan: bean jelly squares in different flavours – red bean, honey, white bean & green tea.
So that (and the gingerbread above) is what’s happening in my kitchen this month. Anything in yours that you’d like to share?
My Custard Pie 
I love the idea of sharing peeks into kitchens and will work on mine today. BTW, in South Africa we call those biscuits ‘crunchies’ and we call crumpets ‘flapjacks’.
…and Americans call scones ‘biscuits’! Look forward to having a snoop round your gaf (as we British say!).
and a crumpet is a pikelet…. in some parts of the UK. Confusing, huh?
Sooooo interesting – amazing how addictive kitchen cupboards are. Your creativity truly shines through every post. Love to share a bowlful of tagliolini nero with you. ps. And I live opposite Aswaaq incase you run out!
Thanks Foodiva. Aswaaq also has quite a few nice French foods plus organic cheese and juice that other supermarkets don’t have.
Sally, thanks for this wonderful post and the linky – I love seeing what’s in everyone else’s kitchens! Those Turkish Delights look exactly the way I like them – most of the ones we can buy are too rubbery for my tastes, but those look divine. And love the squid ink pasta – we recently made a sauce with crabmeat and chilli with ours! But I’m sorry, I can’t help you with the bean jelly cakes – they look so pretty but I’m just not a fan… 🙂
golly!! my ginger flapjacks are FAMOUS!! but if I give you the secret recipe I will have to kill you……no seriously I just slosh naughty things in a saucepan and then 15 mins in the oven!!
What a lovely post- a little like that very old gameshow ‘Through the keyhole’!
I love the “In My Kitchen” posts on Celia’s blog and was super excited to see that you are doing it now. I am going to commit sharing just as soon as we are settled back home.
🙂 Mandy
thank you for sharing, what a wonderful idea!
Such fun! The turkish delight and squid ink pasta look quite perfect to me. In my kitchen? As of yesterday, there was four kinds of pie (you may see a post on one soon), and some serious leftovers that we need to eat or it will be a tragedy…more posting again, must be done…so much cooking, and so little time to write. Arrggh! Thanks for sharing!
What is Aswaq and why don’t I know about it??
This post is so fun, really enjoyed reading it! And those famed gingerbread cookies of yours – love the hearts!
I was hoping to use baby food to make mini cupcakes in my kitchen this week (something I saw on food network), but then I realized that I don’t have mini cupcake trays 😦 so the plan has fallen through. Maybe I’ll get inspired to try or buy something else after having read your post!
I think it’s a fun feature and have been meaning to do it too.
Love the goodies in your kitchen…so international.
Love these posts…I’m going to do one as soon as I can round up enough interesting things in my kitchen!
Here at Cindy Taylor’s suggestion.
Charming blog. Glad to find you.
I love the ‘In your Kitchen’ posts – from Celia and now yours. Its a great opportunity to learn new things and see new ‘foods’. The jam is right on top for me – I think orange and walnuts would make a white-bread feast with the finest butter you can find. Have a great weekend. Or has yours already begun?