July 2019 Showcasing In My Kitchen

~ Tandy

July 2019 was an extremely special month for me. I turned 50! The celebrations began on the day of my birthday with Dave and I spending the evening alone. On the 27th I had a small dinner party for friends. My friend Stella who lives in Johannesburg came to spend time with me to celebrate. On Monday my friend Kim arrived from Australia. We have been friends since we were 13 and the last time we were together was an early celebration of our 40th birthdays. We were born 16 days apart, so for the next 3 days I am older than she is. As you read this, we are in Hermanus spending some quality time together. On Friday my parents arrive and I am having another small dinner party at a restaurant whose origins are nearly as old as I am.

Chestnut Spread

When we were in France in May I did a lot of shopping. I saw these tins of chestnut spread for the first time in Auxerre but did not buy them as Bev did not want any. But when I saw them again on our last day of driving around Normandy I decided to buy them. I have used one so far in my soufflés and have no idea what to do with the rest. Do you have any suggestions?

Confit De Cidre

I also bought this bottle of Confit De Cidre on a visit to a cidre presse. I served it when I made the porchetta for a dinner party. Pork and apples is a match made in heaven and the cidre jelly was perfect with my Italian pork roast.

July 2019 FOMO Box

I cannot say that the July 2019 FOMO box excited me. More chilli anything is so not welcome in my house and so far all we have opened is the bacon jam. I will use the blue matcha in baking at some stage but who knows how I will make use of the cocoa tea? The most useful item in this month’s box was the olive oil as that is the one ingredient I use a lot of.

Oyster Shucker

This is another bring home from France. Dave and I went to the D Day beaches and while we were there we bought oysters to have for dinner. They were still in the shells and the only way to open them was to buy an oyster shucker. We are forever leaving our one at a friends’ house so now I have 2 so I can give him 1 the next time he brings oysters home.

Popsicle Maker

Lorraine keeps on making ice lollies and I was getting a bit of FOMO. As I cannot just pop into her kitchen to taste her creations I had to buy my own popsicle maker. So far I have only made one flavour as since then it has been far too cold! When summer comes along I shall start experimenting with new creations. I love that I can make different flavours at one time so there will always be something new to try.

For those of you who would like to take part in International Scone Week 2019, please take a look at this post. This is my submission to the #IMK series, hosted by Sherry. Pop on over to see who else has showcased what is new in their kitchens this month.

I am away and have limited access to the internet so please forgive me if I don’t reply to comments straight away. I will be back at work on the 12th of August.

Inspiration published on Lavender and Lime August 7:


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