March 2014 Showcasing In My Kitchen

Another month has rolled by and my has it been hot! February is our traditional heatwave month and it arrived and did not let up. Midnight showers to cool down were in order and much barbecuing was done. Salads were served and our al fresco dining area saw much activity. There are a few new things in my kitchen this month, March 2014, and as usual I am linking this post to Celia from Fig Jam And Lime Cordial who hosts IMK each month.

al fresco dining area
al fresco dining area

The most amazing gift was given to Dave and I by our dear friends John and Dorothy. Dorothy is from Scotland and she collected a series of Glenfiddich tins titled the clans of the highlands of Scotland. She had given all but 1 away when she moved to Stellenbosch 12 years ago. We invited them for dinner on Burns Night and she remembered that she had one tin left over from her collection and decided it would be a great gift for us. When she went to dig it out of the cupboard she saw it was Clan Sinclair. How amazing is that?? This is one gift I shall treasure for ever as it emphasises how good friends are there, waiting to be met, at any stage of your life.

Clan Sinclair In My Kitchen March 2014
Clan Sinclair

I do not usually buy many foodie magazines but this is my copy of the January Fresh Living as my friend Sam’s recipes are in it. She won Freshly Blogged last year and a recipe feature was part of her prize.

Fresh Living
Fresh Living

Dave and I do not eat carbohydrates in the evening and I often feel like making noodle dishes. My supplier recently added these buckwheat noodles to their range and so I got a pack to try. Buckwheat is related to sorrel, knotweed, and rhubarb and is not a grass! I will give some feedback once we have tried them.

Buckwheat Noodles
Buckwheat Noodles

When I was in Johannesburg in December visiting my Mom for her birthday I went shopping at the Pick N Pay on Nicolway. This is a fantastic store, only bettered by the one at the V&A Waterfront. I saw these dried mushrooms which my Dad gave me as a gift. Aren’t I lucky!

Dried Mushrooms March 2014
Dried Mushrooms

Another supplier has added wine salt to her selection and I could not resist this. We are now using it for everything that goes onto the barbecue!

Wine Salt
Wine Salt

I have never made popcorn from scratch. I have always made microwave popcorn and even though I have been very successful with that, Mark has managed to burn the microwave by burning the popcorn. It took years before the smell dissipated. I am now braving up and will try and make my own popcorn which means I get to play with the flavours!

Popcorn March 2014
Popcorn

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55 thoughts on “March 2014 Showcasing In My Kitchen

  1. I really love buckwheat noodles but haven’t been able to find 100% buckwheat ones in Australia. I will keep looking. 🙂

  2. I love your al fresco dining Tandy. Hope it stays warm long enough for you to enjoy many more meals there. I love the idea of wine salt – sounds great and I have only ever made popcorn in a pot with a little oil. Hmm, think I will have to make some this evening for pudding.
    Have a beautiful happy week ahead.
    🙂 Mandy xo

  3. My husband occasionally makes microwave popcorn, but I love popcorn made from scratch! When I was a little girl my mom always made our popcorn with bacon fat and when I first tasted microwave corn I thought it was terrible- no bacon flavor!
    Love the tin- what a gracious gift.
    Thanks so much for sharing!

  4. Your alfresco dining area looks gorgeous! And yes, I too am so relieved February has been and gone… bring on autumn! I can’t wait to read about those gluten-free noodles, they look divine. I still need to perfect the popcorn making – I always seem to burn at least two batches before I get it right, so will look forward to reading about your attempts and get some tips from you 🙂

  5. ah, your outdoor dining area looks so tempting and I’m sure is a wonderful place to spend an evening. I look forward to seeing what flavours you come up with for the popcorn Tandy

  6. Love the organic popcorn, Tandy. I threw out my microwave years ago, I never liked the microwaved popcorn with its artificial flavour. I invested very little money in an electrical popcorn maker, CHF 20.00, and I am very happy with it. No risk of burning pots!

  7. Tandy, I hope the change of seasons comes soon for you, sounds like your summer has been almost unbearable! We are now well into the fall here…. you have some truly good things in your kitchen this month! Thank you for sharing.

  8. You have some great things in your kitchen, the buckwheat noodles look like they would be delicious. Did not know that they are in the same family as sorrel, very interesting.

  9. G’day! You got me at the alfresco dining Tandy…thought you were inviting me…DOH!
    Love your selection of noodles, wine salt and recently was given some of that popcorn, but haven’t tried it yet…
    Thank you for this month’s kitchen view!
    Cheers! Joanne

  10. Dried Mushrooms!? Awesome find! Very nice! Love the photos, btw! Thanks for visiting and commenting on mine as well!

  11. I make popcorn every now and then, but having read Heidi’s comment next time I’m going to use bacon fat.Love your temporary table – so inviting.

  12. Tandy, what a great idea from Heidi, I’m going to try making popcorn with some of my pan drippings! Lovely post, and how cool to have a Clan Sinclair Glenfiddich tin! It’s been a long time since I last had soba (buckwheat) noodles, must go look for them again, and the dried mushrooms are just the most fabulous gift, lucky you! 🙂

  13. The wine salt and dried mushrooms look so tempting- I haven’t seen either of these products. The heatwave is still on here and we haven’t had rain for weeks. It does affect the food one cooks.

    1. I was quite pleased with the noodles which we ate last night. And I have made my popcorn in a pot as we don’t have space for an air popper 🙂

  14. I burnt something in my microwave at the beginning of the year and I thought I’d never get rid of the smell. However, I boiled a mixture of half and half vinegar/water for 5 minutes twice. Then I changed the vinegar/water mixture for fresh and repeated the process 3 times. After all that, I used water and bicarbonate of soda to make a paste and cleaned the interior of the microwave (whilst still moist with the vinegar steam). Smelt like new after that! Thank goodness because that burnt microwave smell is up there with the worst!

  15. our microwave smells of porridge because we make it every morning in there. I have made popcorn in the microwave but would like to do it on the stovetop – just wish I could work out the quantities so we don’t have leftovers that sit around for ages. And I love the brick legs on your table and would just swoon over wine salt – all looks lovely

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