I might not be in my kitchen in Shanghai but that doesn’t mean there’s been no cooking going on. Last week I was staying with my very best and oldest friend and her family in Kent. I can get away with that because she’s a whole nine days older than me and at our age every day counts don’t you think?
We go way back to our broking days in London in the 90’s and when we weren’t trying to track down old colleagues on facebook we were out and about in the glorious English weather. When we were back at base after ferrying the kids around to various summer camps and sleepovers I was roped in as sous chef to Sophie and her friend Alice. Ollie did plenty of cooking too but being the whirlwind eight year old that he is I just never managed to get a photo of him.
In my borrowed English kitchen….. were mini meringues and lemon curd. We made the curd with the left over yolks and loosely based it on Celia’s recipe except we had 4 yolks and a whole egg to work with. I’ve done this a couple of times now with leftover yolks and it seems to work OK.
We picked the very last of the summer raspberries at a nearby farm….
…and turned them into the most delicious and gooey white chocolate and raspberry cupcakes.
I’d forgotten how amazing English raspberries are. They are in the supermarkets for £2 a punnet and I have to admit that now Rich is here we are going through a couple of punnets a day. For some reason I always think they are super expensive in Melbourne but I could be wrong.
In my borrowed English kitchen……
……the girls made fake chocolate but they weren’t convinced. Sophie prefers milk chocolate and with half a cup of cocoa they can taste a bit like plain chocolate. Not to worry though, Ollie loved them and squashed raspberries into the top of them which I thought was a great idea. At the end of the day, it was all about being in the kitchen and trying out new things.
By the by, what would you do for hair like that? I offered Sophie £20!
Not in my kitchen, but just outside is the garden where we spent our evenings timing the kids as they ran around the obstacle course. I’ve also forgotten how long the summer days last here and with the beautiful warm evenings we sat outside until 11pm when the indigo blue skies finally disappeared.
I haven’t heard a car horn for nearly four weeks. No one has burped in my ear. I haven’t jumped out of my skin at someone hocking up behind me. I’ve crossed the road on the green man and traffic has stopped for me. I haven’t had to dodge bikes on the pavement. Shop assistants have been really polite and helpful – it’s all been most unsettling! Next month I’ll be back in my Shanghai kitchen. I’m missing it a bit I have to admit – the view, the noise, the mayhem, my wet market. Until then, I’ll be scoffing my body weight in raspberries and Liquorice Allsorts.
In My Kitchen is kindly hosted by Celia over Fig, Lime and Cordial – head over and take a nosey in kitchens around the world.
What’s going on your kitchen this month?