In My Kitchen, October 2012

My friend Celia from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial does a monthly roundup of interesting things in her kitchen.   She’s a cracker baker and chocolate temperer (erer?) so it is well worth swinging by her kitchen and checking it out.  Every so often I actually manage to get organised enough to join in – like this month!

Fairy floss is something I thought I was well past in this life, although I do sneak the odd mouthful if I happen to be at the Royal Show, but a parcel which arrived in the post last week is about to change that.  Genevieve Loxley one day wondered why you can’t buy passionfruit flavoured fairy floss and three years later Spun Fairy Floss was born.  Now available in over 100 different and gorgeous flavours, Spun Fairy Floss is wonderfully fragrant and vegan friendly, gluten, fat, sodium, lactose and preservative free which I’m hoping makes it some kind of health food because I had it for lunch today!

Although I really did have fairy floss at lunch time, I lifted my game a little for afternoon tea after a trip to the fruit and vegetable shop.  Once my blood sugar crashed I went looking for something a little more sustaining and came home with a loaf of the absolutely stunning pumpkin bread from Mylor Bakery in the Adelaide Hills.  Not available in many places, their genuine sourdough bread comes in several different varieties and is worth looking for.  This moist loaf has just a hint of nutmeg and I really can’t get enough of it.

While meandering around the greengrocers I discovered a new line of local Adelaide-made dips.  Thia’s Dips are family-made in Norwood, largely using the fresh organic produce which is grown on the family farm at Virginia and are preservative and additive free.  They are very new and won’t be found in the large supermarkets so, once again, you’ll have to look for them.  There is a glorious image of a widely beaming Thia on the lids which makes them instantly recognisable.  My favourite is the Eggplant & Spanish Onion dip which looks and tastes as if it was made this morning – and goes very nicely with the pumpkin bread.

Adelaide Showground Farmers Market and Willunga Farmers Market habitue’s will be very familiar with the gorgeous honey products of Silvia The Honey Lady and now she has brought her goodies up into the hills, opening her new shop last week in Hahndorf.  She is making herself at home in a charming heritage cottage on the main drag where she stocks her full range of natural raw honey and honey blends.  The Honey Lady also sells a wonderful range of hand blended herbal teas and will be releasing an all-natural honey-based range of skin care products in time for Christmas.  I’ve had a little sneak preview of these and I fell instantly in love – I just can’t wait until these are available!

Silvia has developed quite a reputation with her blended honeys which include a vanilla blend, chai blend, licorice and turmeric.  These are all popular home remedies for various ailments but are also splendid secret ingredients in your cooking.  The sweet licorice honey will completely lift a pork dish up to the next level and the vanilla and/or ginger  honey turns a panna cotta into something truly sublime.  And, of course, they are perfect in a cup of tea – which is my favourite way to enjoy the ginger honey.