In My Kitchen – November 2024


It’s the first day of the last month of the year which means it’s time for two things – time to join Sherry and friends with a retrospective look at what’s been going on in my kitchen and time to find the first surprise in my advent calendar. I’ll fill you in with the calendar capers next month but for now, let’s get stuck into some full and thorough kitchen reporting…

We celebrated Halloween on the first of November because Friday parties are much more fun than Thursday ones! I made some of my spooky Halloween Slice and these severed giant’s fingers – I promise they look more scary when they’re dipped into blood AKA tomato ketchup. They tasted bloody great (excuse the pun!)

I made some more dumplings – this time I added some shitake mushrooms to this mix – and followed a combination of my dumpling recipe and Recipe Tin’s. I followed Nagi’s instructions to make pot stickers and by golly they were fabulous. We both proclaimed them the best dumplings I’d ever made. No more dumpling withdrawal for me!

My dear friend Caroline dropped round with some soul cakes – they’re little round cakes with dried fruit and spices and look a bit like a shortbread biscuits. They’re traditionally made for Halloween, All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day to commemorate the dead in many Christian traditions and I can report that they are just delicious!

I have perfected the art of choosing wine and beer from a fun name and/or label and this system has never let me down yet! It’s also why I chose this can because who doesn’t love a kitchen disco?

I couldn’t possibly wait until December to put the decorations up so it was away with the autumn leaves and pumpkins and in with the berries and Christmas tablecloth.

We also had to make room for the Christmas tree in the living room so the bar trolley is now enjoying a little staycay in the kitchen which is proving quite convenient in terms of keeping hydrated LOL!

In preparation for Christmas we supersized our gravy boat because we outgrew our previous one, of course, we replaced it with a Country Traditionals version.

I’m trying not to buy any more cookbooks (although I’ll always make an exception for Nagi and Recipe Tin Eats) a) because I don’t really have the space and b) I really want to be a minimalist. That said, I’ve been following @emthenutritionist for a while now on the gram and love her recipes so I was very excited to get her book from the library.

It’s a fab book and I might have to ask Santa if he can bring me a copy! Claim to fame: I spotted Em on the streets of Chelsea when I was in London last month but I was too star struck to say hello. I made the superfood vegetarian bolognese and it was absolutely delish. I am pleased to report that it tasted much better than it looks.

I actually haven’t bothered taking many dinner photos because it gets dark so early now and the light is woeful. I did however, press publish on not one but two recipes in November which has to be something of a personal best in recent years. First up is the Irish Apple Cake with Whiskey Sultanas which is literally too good not to share.

I also finally posted the recipe for this Easy Lemon and Oregano Chicken Traybake which is a crowd favourite at our place. I always make it for guests because it’s delicious, easy, healthy and a one tray wonder. I actually got a message from a friend who stayed a while back, thanking me for finally posting the recipe because they’d been waiting to try it at home!

Now that I’m an English person living in England it only seems right that I take some time to talk about the weather which I can only describe as changeable. One day it’s sunny and gloriously mild, the next there’s a storm blowing in with gale force winds and torrential rain. We even had some snow – which is almost unheard of in November – and although this picture isn’t actually taken in my kitchen, it is what I see from the window out of it!

So what’s the weather like where you are? And what’s been cooking in your kitchen? Tell me all the things!

Linking up with Sherry for In My Kitchen