My post this month for “In My Kitchen“, a monthly blogging party organized by Celia from the blog Fig Jam and Lime Cordial, is going to be a short one.
I’m not in my kitchen as we are vacationing in Key West with family. I’m enjoying a week without any cooking but with much feasting on glorious fresh fish and shell-fish from the Atlantic and Gulf oceans.
Please use the link to read wonderful posts from talented cooks in kitchens around the world. It’s a fascinating glimpse into other food cultures, and seasonal cooking from both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
Key West
My brother made me this wonderful salt-cellar in his workshop and brought it as a gift. It’s made from a mix of maple, oak, cherry and walnut.
It will certainly enjoy pride of place when I get home.
I have a few new cookbooks and have already made some wonderful dishes from each of them.
New Cookbooks
I’ve been using a mixture of seeds with many of my vegetable dishes to add extra crunch. I call it Seedy Seasoning Mix.
Seedy Mix
So far I have used it with zucchini, green beans, and roast carrots (to be posted later this week).
Seedy Seasoning with Zucchini
Green beans with spinach and seedy mix
Roast Carrots with Garlic Mayonnaise and Seedy Mix
And lastly, I’ve discovered a trick for making a sugar-free (at least refined sugar) teriyaki sauce. The magic trick is dates; blended with garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and water.
Teriyaki Sauce
Hello from Key West, I will be home next week and look forward to catching up with you all.
90 miles to Cuba
Enjoy the sunshine….
We are, the last two days have been very hot and sunny. Hot enough for a dip in the ocean, which is a treat.
I like your seedy seasoning mix – good name for it, too.
Thank you, I’ve been using it on everything, even scrambled eggs!
What a lovely brother you have making you a special salt holder. Enjoy your time away. 🙂
Thank you, I love having things that he has made from me. He is very talented with woodworking.
Thanks for the date teriyaki idea!
I hope you enjoy it. You are welcome.
I loved Key West. I tell everyone it’s like no other place in the US. By coincidence, we just happened to visit on the weekend of Fantasy Fest. We had never heard of it… Oh My! Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem is never far from my hands these days – it’s a fave. xxx
This week has been Songwriter’s Fest and there is music everywhere, an accident for us as well. I agree, it’s like nowhere else. We hadn’t been here before and are enjoying ourselves, the fresh fish has been amazing.
I have the Jerusalem cookbook to but at the moment it’s just one of many waiting on the bookshelf for me to have time… but I will be making the seedy mix and teriyaki sauce… what fantastic ideas. The G.O. always needs a little extra incentive to eat his veges 🙂
Gosh how gorgeous is that beautiful wooden salt-cellar and even more wonderful that it’s handmade, let alone that your brother made it for you. Gorgeous!
What a great gift from your brother! Love gifts that are home! Always enjoy seeing various seeds and thanks for this month’s kitchen view too!
Thanks for sharing a glimpse of your “vacation kitchen” — have a wonderful time! I like your seedy mix and the idea of garlic mayo on roasted carrots — YUM! Beautiful salt cellar, too. Have fun!
Thank you Kim. How is your new home coming along? I have such respect for your courage and positivity.
Enjoy the end of your vacation. We honeymooned in Key West, can’t get enough fresh seafood there! What a beautiful salt cellar. I am loving your seedy sprinkle, how neat.
I am happy you like the seedy mix, mine is almost gone and I need to make some more. This time I might use pumpkin seeds and mustard seeds in the mix.
Isn’t Key West an interesting place? Would be a wonderful romantic place for a honeymoon.
Thanks for the teriyaki sugar free sauce – I’ve pinned that for later use thanks Liz. What a beautiful gift your brother made you, it’s absolutely beautiful – is that where you keep your salt? Hope you had a lovely holiday (it sure does look beautiful 🙂 )
I’m afraid I am a salt fanatic. The Kosher salt goes in that container, Maldon flaked in another, then there are various sea salts both plain and flavored. Try the teriyaki sauce, it was very good…nice and thick.
I did have a wonderful holiday and am having trouble getting back into the writing (and cooking) habit again. Work has been too busy with lots of travel in the next few weeks.
that salt cellar is just gorgeous. how wonderful of your brother to make it for you. the seedy seasoning sounds healthy and delish.
How nice to see the photo of you at the end of your post! And the salt cellar is absolutely stunning and oh-so-precious a gift from your brother! Sounds like you’ve had a most glorious time! 🙂
Thank you for visiting Celia. I seem to have dropped off getting your posts even though I follow you…maybe I need to resubscribe? The salt cellar is a precious gift, and we had a wonderful time. I’m only now getting out of vacation mode with the blog. It doesn’t seem I am doing much cooking and with summer almost here, most of my cooking is what I call “non-cooking”.
Hi Liz, that’s happened to another friend too. Not sure what’s happening with WordPress, but I’ve heard of it being a problem for other bloggers as well. Sorry!
I think posts could be going to the Reader, but I usually get an email about a new post and that hasn’t been happening. Did a Google search but couldn’t find anything.
Try logging into your WP reader page and see if the settings have changed? Sometimes they do for no reason! 🙂 there’s an “edit my subscriptions” option that will bring up a
List of the blogs you follow.