My Favourite Things – End of Summer Edition

Repurposing Kitchen Utensils

I love multitasking….and I heart gadgets and utensils than fit that bill. A garlic press shines new light on mincing ginger, a pasta roller that doubles as a pizza base roller, creating consistently thin Italian-style pizza bases – so what if you end up with pizza lenghts as opposed to rounds? Deliciousness cannot be constrained by geometry!

DSC_0859

A pizza stone that…

DSC_0374

….becomes a hot sizzling tablet for some beaten flank steak…DSC_0358

So make room for less on the counter tops, L&G….make room. Do you have any favourite kitchen utensils that moonlight/do a double-triple act?

New acquisitions

Brand new items with no specific purpose in mind, save looking pretty. 

Food52
Courtsey of Sara Shatz, Food52

Say a big welcome to my Jaener egg coddler, first spied in a recipe by Amanda Hesser.

DSC_0856

Or 2nd hand things with many uses – expanding my burgeoning knowledge and collection. All in the interest of science me says. A tortilla press which can find other uses – think chapattis, parathas.

DSC_0840

Skewered meats beginning with S

Suya (Nigerian);

IMG_8175
Homemade Suya

 Shashlik (German);

IMG_5190
Shashlik in Cologne

Satés or satays (Asian); 

Satés, chili topped

Shish Kebab (Lebanese), Souvlaki (Greek). Shall I go on? For a while now, the number of ‘S’ names for meats on sticks have preyed on my mind. A drive by to  Wikipedia confirms there are a few more to be had Sosatie (South African), Spiedino (Italy) and Spiedies (New York State). Of course there are others beginning with different letters of the alphabet but the ‘S’ ones have caught my fancy. Do you know any other S meats – they must be impaled on sticks?

Tasting new ingredients

Artichokes which remind me of avocado….but creamed. I’d always shyed away from them with fear but I have since overcome this. Future blog post!

DSC_0167

Fresh diver-caught scallops. Unlike my previous run-ins with this shelled creature, this has put them on my map. Pan fried, with no seasoning and fried in butter, my weekend was much improved, considering the grey skies. But then, butter has that effect on me!

DSC_0655

DSC_0670

Happy Discoveries
Like creating flattish bubbles (thank you to my children) and then discovering surface tension….by leaving the tap running and seeing how long the ‘bubbles’ last. Needless to say, ‘go wash your hands’ is no longer seen as a command in our house….in fact, I have to pull them (and their friends) away from taps!!!!

DSC_0800

Starting afresh

And for all the good things about the last 4 years, I am looking forward to change. This will be my last ‘My Favourite Things’ written in the Netherlands, the September edition will be live from my tropical city! Hopefully I would have settled down long enough to share my new found faves from home.

As we’re moving out of our home at the start of next week, we no longer have internet access. I’ll be back when we’re settled in a hotel with free WiFi :-). Lots of love and read you soon.[wpurp-searchable-recipe]My Favourite Things – End of Summer Edition – – – [/wpurp-searchable-recipe]

17 Comments

  1. Your Delightful website was found when I was looking for ‘Agriculture of Nigeria’ and photos, for a project in my Geography class at Olympic College (I’m retraining at 61, after an injury as a paint specialist/5gallon buckets in mixing paint). The world has become a much smaller place, and finding another Child of God makes us all one Bride of Christ Jesus. Thank you for such an amazing collection of pictures and great writtings that explain them. I felt as though I was helping you eat all those yummy foods, even the cocoa beans. Maybe one day I will visit Nigeria, with a much broader curiosity about eveything around me. A fellow butterfly, God Bless, Lynnette

  2. Thank you all for your kind wishes. The move is underway – our house was packed up and sent away on a boat and an airplane – with my heart and flooded with tears!!!!!!

    We’re in a hotel with 20000 things still to do and sign and post but…come Tuesday we’ll be on a plane, homeward bound.

    Thank you for being there. Much love X X X

  3. Oz, have a safe trip on your move back to the motherland. Your move is making me homesick already. I pray you transition well. I really enjoy reading your blog.

  4. You are one of my favorite things 😉 Just had scallops tonight fried in butter…simple and delicious, glad they showed up on your list.

  5. Miss you already, my friend. 🙂 I was so hoping you’d “have” to stay here a while longer. 🙂 Have a wonderful trip!! Much love. 🙂

  6. may all flow smoothly and well! blessed be all of you! we are looking forward for your news soon! we thank you for all the inspirational posts! sunny warm greek greetings! 🙂

  7. Wonderful post and you will be missed. Hurry up and settle down because I always look forward to your posts. I wish you a happy journey back home and many blessings to you and yours.

    I willbe leaving for Puerto Rico for about three weeks and will be hopefully posting from there.

    Bon Voyage!

  8. I can’t wait to get my hands on a tortilla press. I live in Canada and I’m to cheap to order one off the internet. As for double duty tools, I use my metal skewers to make mangoes on a stick, the best Popsicle dessert ever!

  9. I love your take on the ‘S’ meats 🙂 And of course, butter has that effect on me also. It’s such a universal ingredients that goes with most things but my all time fav is making maple butter. SO GOOD!

  10. hi oz, you are absolutely right. The Indian steel glasses or tumblers as we call them in south, are not only used for drinking water, coffee or tea but…. also to steam a special variety of IDLY called the Kacheepuram Idly. And numerous other things..

    We are going to miss you – can catch up with your blog.. but as neighbours ..I just hope you visit India and we can cherish our memories back again!

  11. Wow! It seems like everyone is moving. You are the third blogger I visit on a regular basis who is moving. I just moved apartments and that felt huge, but here you are moving countries. Looking forward to wonderful stories from your homeland Ozoz.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.