The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 40,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 15 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
I wish for you all a 2012 that is full of your dreams and wishes, that your cup will always be full, and that you have all that you need. May it be a better year than 2011 and may it hold only joy. And even as I wish this for you, I wish it for myself. I know that there will be sad days in 2012 but I hope that they are few and far between. To start off my year, welcome to what was new in my kitchen in December. Santa visited me this year with a surprise package from Australia:
© secret santa
Dave and I were blessed with our love for each other and our hearts are full. I have a special dedication for Celia who blogs over at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial - thank you for your enthusiasm in getting us all to show you a peep into our lives. I have been inspired by you to start my kitchen garden and to keep a record of what I buy. If you want to show us all a peep into your kitchen, please link back to Celia so that she can include you in her round up.
This photograph of my fridge was taken the day after Christmas – there are a lot of left overs and a few tomatoes on the right of the photo that I got from the farmers market. Moddergat Organic Farm have a market every Saturday morning at L’auberge De Paysan and it is really worth going to.
© in my fridge
and the saying on my chalk board for December:
© december quote
I gave John Faure, the winemaker at Vergenoegd a gift of a bottle of Adoro and in return I got a gift of their MCC – this lovely dry pink bubbly has a beer bottle top which is quite different to opening a cork. But the same sound emitted when Dave ‘popped’ it – and the bubbly has a beautiful floral note.
© vergenoegd little flower mcc
With the remodel of my cottage kitchen my one rack was moved. I have re-arranged all the bits and pieces and so I have some left over space for new things.
© my 'new' kitchen rack
I would like to say thank you to yuppiechef for the two knives I received from them this year – one at the Food Bloggers Indaba and the other after my participation in the Enkosi Cookathon.
© my knife collection
I am a bit of a knife collector and these are not all the knives I have – and I use all of them! So, I am sure you are all wondering what was in all those lovely wrapped presents – take a look here!
© my lovely gifts from yvette in australia
Despite all my good intentions the only recipe book writing I did was the introduction. But, I will dedicate time to this project as I want to get the book launched soon! Anyone who knows exactly how to create an e-book can please share the ‘secret’ with me.
Tandy
I want to thank each and every blogger who signed up for Secret Santa – even those I had to disappoint as they were the only bloggers in their country. I had a few bloggers pull out after the assignments were set and to this end I have to thank a friend for stepping in at the last minute to take part. Some bloggers who signed up failed to follow up – but, that is their loss.
The first blog post is from Blue Jellybeans from Spain. Having only two bloggers in Spain taking part, they were each other’s Secret Santa and you can read all about Chica Andaluza’s gift here. I was surprised as I did not put my name in the hat so to speak, but I did get a gift box, full of lovely goodies – take a look. Pretty Little Thing has showcased her gifts here. Sous Chef Secret Santa sent her some interesting products which you can see here. Mandy got a lovely bounty from Colleen. Teri, The Freshman Cook got an amazing gift from Bexx. Bexx’ Santa chose to stay secret, but you can see what she sent here. Usha received some treats and some seeds – take a look.
I will continue to edit this post as I see more blogs surfacing.
In the meantime I would like to wish each and everyone of my reader’s a blessed Christmas and / or Hannuka if you are celebrating. And whether you do or don’t celebrate, have a great December. We are on leave from work from the 15th of December until the 9th of January – and I am taking leave of blogland for that time as well. This is the time of the year I get to celebrate my wedding anniversary and do things that I don’t get to during the year, like write about our holiday we took in France this year April and May. I will also start work on my second recipe book and cook and bake up a storm. I will be back here with a post on the 28th however, so do come and take a look then.
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly
Tandy
For the November Issue of Taste Magazine, I was featured as the blog star, together with my recipe for duck egg ravioli. Here is the complete ‘interview’:
© taste magazine
1. When did your love of cooking begin?
I really started loving cooking when I moved out of home and started cooking for myself. But, my earliest baking memories are from when I was a child and I baked with my grandmother for the Jewish High Holy Days.
2. When and why did you start your blog?
I started my blog in September 2009 because I wanted to write a restaurant review. It just took off from there, and now I am posting at least three recipes a week.
3. Where did the name Lavender and Lime come from?
I started writing a recipe book in 2001 and that was the name of the book. I decided to call my blog the same so that when the book was published there was already a link.
4. What is your favourite part of blogging?
The interaction with my readers, and the amazing friends I have made, both in the virtual world, and in real life
5. What is your day job?
I am a branch manager for a hardware wholesaling company and a motor spares accessories company. I also run my own business selling natural and organic products.
6. What, apart from blogging are your hobbies?
My first love is motor sport but I also love to read and exercise, by taking walks on the beach with my dogs.
7. What’s your favourite fallback meal?
It would have to be roast chicken. I always use Woolworths organic chickens and I make a trivet of chicken wings. The chicken gets stuffed with herbs, lemon and garlic and this recipe never lets me down.
8. What is the most adventurous meal you’ve ever made?
The most adventurous recipe would have to be the dried shitake mushroom and apricot biscotti that I made for Delheim wines. The most adventurous meal is the duck egg ravioli I have made as prompted by this interview.
9. What dish do you steer clear of making because it’s a) too convoluted, b) too complicated?
I have yet to come across a recipe I won’t try, and if I don’t get it right the first time I will try again. In fact, the simplest of recipes has taken me the longest to perfect.
10. What food blogs do you follow?
I read a lot of food blogs! I read most of the blogs on Taste, and some of the ones on food24 plus a wide selection of local and international blogs. I have a daily few which include amongst others The Only Cin from South Africa, Fig Jam and Lime Cordial from Australia, Chica Andaluza from Spain and The Kitchens Garden from America.
11. Tell us a bit more about your blog’s weekly challenges? And your daily diary?
The weekly challenge is my way of getting through all the recipes I have collected over the years. I do a regional and seasonal challenge once a month to highlight that we need to support our local farmers. The daily diary is a pure transposition of my paper journal I have kept for years. There is something so permanent about putting it on line and I really get to look back over my day and see that there is always something to be grateful for.
12. Which three ingredients would you take to a desert island?
Garlic, oil and pasta
13. What kitchen gadgets wouldn’t you be able to live without?
I have a lot of kitchen gadgets – my bread maker gets used once a week but I could live without it! I think it would have to be my Wusthof Chef’s knife, and my Scanpan pots – the rest of the gadgets are just to make my life easy, but with a good knife and a good pot, you can cook anything.
14. What would your last meal on earth be?
This changes depending on when I am asked. But, I think it would have to be roast chicken with all the trimmings.
15. What is your food philosophy?
Eat local and eat well. If you treat your food and your body with respect, you will be healthy.
Tandy
I have a very well loved pasta maker that I would like to sell. It is the Atlas 150 model. The body of the machine is entirely made of Nickel-Plated and Chrome-Plated Steel for long-term resistance to corrosion. The rollers include an opening for the handle (included) and motor (not included) to fit. The included handle and clamp have hand grips made of ABS suitable for food use. Included are two recipe books with detailed instructions in various languages and basic recipes. Roll out perfect pasta dough to the exact width and thickness you prefer with the Atlas Pasta Maker. It comes with a cutter for angel hair pasta and taglietelle as well as a ravioli maker. The total value of this is R1426 – excluding P&P. If you would like to purchase this from me, please let me know. I want R1000 for the entire lot.
© pasta maker
Tandy
The lovely Celia, who blogs over at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial, has challenged us to share what is new in our kitchens – do pop on over to her blog if you want to take part in this. Welcome to what was new in my kitchen in November:
Starting off as usual with what was in my fridge – the first of the month happened to be the day after shopping day:
© in my fridge
Last month my friend Sue showed us her pantry cupboard – so I decided to add this to my collection. The cupboard pic was taken before Dave decided to redo my kitchen so next month you should see a lot of changes.
© my grocery cupboard
I bought a set of blackboard hearts to mark gifts with – one gift has gone to Cindy for a challenge.
© blackboard hearts
© cari
Each month I have been writing a new quote on the blackboard heart I received for my birthday in July - this was the October quote:
© october quote
and here is the November quote:
© november quote
We always have open red wine (for us), white wine (for cooking) and rosé wine (for a friend) and I always seem to need tops for the wine. We have a great vacuum sealer top for the red wine which sits on the table, but the wines in the fridge need something more secure. I have two of these rabbit wine sealers and can highly recommend them.
© rabbit wine and champagne sealer
Dave has decided to remodel part of my kitchen which meant reorganizing my shelves. The coffee tin he uses for his espresso is cracked and so I needed a new one. I also needed a tin to bake my panetonne in, so I chose this one:
© a tin for dave's espresso
I needed shrimp paste and could not find any in Somerset West. I went to meet my friend Sam for lunch and as I was early, I dropped in to Giovanni’s in Green Point to get some. The driving around Green Point was horrific, but the purchase of this one item was worth it.
© shrimp paste
I have one silpat and find it amazing, and so with my voucher from yuppiechef for the enkosi cookathon I got myself another one. I am planning on using it to roll out pasta dough for its first use.
© silpat
I also won this lovely Joseph Joseph measuring spoon – so fr it has only been used to hold my recipes on the fridge.
© joseph joseph measing spoon
part of the remodeling means putting my collection of Willies Chocolate on display. Maybe now I will remember to use it more often.
© willies chocolate
Cindy and I went to cook with Alvin, and I got this recipe book – it is dedicated to the both of us 
© master chef australia
My sister has moved to Sydney and before she left I asked her to pick some bay leaves off her tree. I have never asked her before but they were great in the bobotie I made for her and this is the first time I have a bunch of fresh leaves to use.
© bay leaves
I do not have a windowsill in my kitchen but these have been purchased for use with food even though the grow packs are in my lounge. I have had great success with the basil which I opened first.
© kitchen garden
Have a great December everyone!
Tandy
If you take a look at the tabs above, you will see there is a tab for my daily diary. This gets updated most days, but I am going away and will not be on line until Wednesday the 23rd. I will not be posting anything while I am away. Neither will I be reading blogs or commenting, or replying to comments. My sister is leaving South Africa for Australia and I am going to spend as much time as possible with her and with Sasha.
I would like to say thank you to Karen of Back Road Journal for giving me the Versatile Bloggers Award – I am not passing it on again right now :)
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for simple pleasures
READY STEADY COOK!
If you think you have what it takes to cook three courses from 7 ingredients then click the picture below:
This weeks challenge: something sweet
Hug a child today, and everyday – and let your pets know you love them.
Give back the blessings you have received.
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly
Tandy
Celia who blogs over at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial, has initiated a concept for us to share what is in our kitchens. Welcome to what was new in my kitchen in October:
I am starting with a picture of the inside of my fridge. This is a great way to see if we pack our fridges full of things that end up being thrown away or not. You can see a green bag in the one drawer. It was full of lemons from a friend’s tree – it still has some in them – lucky me
© in my fridge
This is a photograph of a lovely mustard pot from France and inside is mustard made with Guinness and the recipe is from Celia’s blog. I divided her recipe by 5 as that is how many mustard seeds I had – and it has made this pot plus another small jar!
© guinness mustard
Next is a jar of masala made for me by my friend Ishay – this was in exchange for a jar of
my ras-el-hanout.
© ishay's masala
I went to the launch of Cape Winelands Cuisine and came home with these recipe cards – I will make each dish and blog about them (probably next year the way this year is rushing by)
© cape winelands cuisine recipe cards
This is my most proud moment of the month – I am featured as the blog star in the magazine – I would love each and every one of you to buy one but as that is not possible I will upload the interview on my about page next month.
© taste magazine
I won this fantastic recipe book by entering the yuppiechef competition with my lamb shanks
© lamb shank with mashed potatoes
© jamie's great britian
Have a super November everyone
Tandy
I am away for a self imposed long weekend, and will be back tomorrow to catch up on comments and posts! I would like to say a big thank you to all the bloggers who have already indicated they want to take part in this gift giving. With just under 60 days to go, Secret Santa is nearly ready to be implemented for this Christmas. This is how it will work:
It would be great if we all put the widget on our blogs:
[<a href="http://tandysinclair.com" target="_blank"><img title="" src="http://tandysinclair.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/c2a9-secret-santa.jpg?w=150" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a>]
Please add your email address to the comment section!
Tandy
Mandy has devised a set of questions so that we as bloggers can get to know each other a bit better.
1. Who would you be honoured to have cook in your kitchen?
2. What have you always wanted to cook or eat but never have?
Rabbit
3. What is your favourite part of a chicken?
The thigh
4. Do you use a knife or a vegetable peeler to peel potatoes?
I hardly ever peel my veggies, but if I do, I use a peeler
5. What one item do you keep in the kitchen you know you shouldn’t use but do?
There is nothing in my kitchen that should not be used!
6. Do you like using the new culinary foam with your meals?
I cannot see the point!
7. What 3 meals would you take to a friend who is sick in bed?
Chicken soup, lasagna and chocolate cake!
Tandy
