July 2022 saw my first birthday dinner party since 2018! I turned 50 in 2019 so we went out to celebrate. And in 2020 and 2021 we were under curfew so evening meals with friends was out of the question. It was wonderful to have the whole day to prepare, and to be with special friends.
Meals and more in my kitchen
I started off the month making Cape Malay venison shanks. Cape Malay spices are the ones most familiar to us in Gordons Bay where we have a very large Muslim community close to us. In Johannesburg where I grew up, Indian curries were the norm. Personally, I prefer the mild and fragrant Malay spices. In order to make my chicken and chorizo pasta I had to make purea di peperoni. There was some left over which went into more pasta dishes, and a casserole. The Berbere spice blend was used for a chicken recipe which I am sharing next month. Mae asked which dishes I had used it for, and since making it, the spice blend has been used for more chicken dishes as well as a beef stew. Dave added some to his homemade mayonnaise and it was delicious. To end the month I baked a prune soda bread.
Trying to get the perfect biscuit
I want the perfect ice cream sandwich biscuit which needs to be espresso based as it is to go with a tiramisu inspired semifreddo. I am not succeeding in getting what I want, but I am keeping Dave in tea time snacks. First he had salted chocolate biscuits to enjoy, and then a batch of mocha cookies. Hannah indulged in a few pomegranate popsicles on warm winter days. And we enjoyed some mulled cider on the colder ones.
One new thing in my kitchen in July 2022
I bought this infuse your booze gin kit as I liked the bottle! I infused some vodka with it which was used to make my cherry and vodka jam. And I have had a few vodka tonics over the summer. Only sharing one new thing a month has meant I am still sharing things from last year.
International Scone Week 2022
Here is the blog post asking bloggers from around the world to come together and bake scones for International Scone Week 2022!

This is my August submission to the #IMK series hosted by Sherry. Each month bloggers around the world gather to share what is new in their kitchens.
View the previous posts on August 3:
- 2020: Sourdough Chocolate Cake
- 2018: Chocolate Tiffin
- 2016: July 2016 Showcasing In My Kitchen
- 2015: Chocolate Soufflés
- 2012: Ambrosia Custard
- 2011: Chilli Plants
Hi Tandy A great round up. I haven’t come back to you on my site updates yet because Kaye is publishing all three of the new anthologies in the next couple of weeks, so it makes sense to wait for those and add them to my changes. Have a lovely Thursday. I’m so excited to have a long weekend coming up.
Enjoy the long weekend!
Your kitchen has been rocking! Happy belated birthday wishes to you.
Thanks for sharing with us.
Velva
Thank you Velva!
thanks so much for joining in tandy. much appreciated. I am a bit behind on everything due to falling down some stairs a week ago! Scones already made and ready for blogging in a few days. I am a big fan of sri lankan spices and use a mix for my curries now and then. lovely mild flavours.
cheers
sherry
I hope you are healing perfectly!
thanks- getting there slowly.
That bruise looks like it will take ages to heal!
you are right there tandy!
Hi Tandy,
So glad that you were able to celebrate your birthday (Happy Birthday) with a dinner party with friends. I think that you were under curfew longer than we were in the US. Also , thanks for explaining about the spices from the various cultures in your area (very interesting).
We had an exceptionally long period of curfew, but it was worth it as our hospitals stayed protected 🙂
Nice date scone! I’m also intrigued by all the colours of the berbere spice mix.. there’s no good Ethiopian place in Sydney (hard to believe given how big Sydney is but true) and I’m just loving the Ethiopian places in Toronto!
I cannot imagine there would have been much, if any, migration from Ethiopia to Australia.
After visiting South Africa, I found a cape Malay chicken dish, and I can’t wait to make it. My husband won’t eat venison.
I can’t wait to see what you make!