Tags
2014, Coconut milk, garlic rosemary lamb, home grown vegetables, July, Kitchen, lactose intolerance, roast lamb
What’s in your kitchen this month? was started by the wonderful Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. After reading what Mandy at The Complete Book had to offer I decided to join in the fun. So here goes…
In my kitchen…
Is a fantastic tea recently discovered by my husband. I love tea. In fact I love tea so much that the thought of a world in which it didn’t exist leaves me cold. Coffee makes me more mad than I already am, so good quality tea is an important staple in my kitchen.
The Wimborne based company carefully selects elements from Kenyan, Sri Lankan and Assam teas to create a golden blend that is deliciously smooth and full of flavour.
Master Tea Blender Ben Hitchcock has twenty-nine years of experience and along with his team handpicked tea’s for the blend back in 1999. Here are some of his top tips I would like to share with you.
1. The average tea drinker in the U.K brews their tea for less than ten seconds. Leave the tea for three minutes instead and you will notice the difference.
2. Catch the water when it has just boiled rather than leaving it on a rolling boil.
3. Leave the tea to blend in a pot if possible.
4. Controversially Ben says add milk if you choose, and whether you add it before or after is entirely up to you.
I couldn’t agree more with C.S Lewis when he said ‘You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.’ Our Anglo-Irish roots must be to blame.
As the majority of Doctors are totally useless, it wasn’t until I saw a homeopath that I realised I had an allergy to cows milk. In hindsight this made total sense because drinking milk has always made me feel sick. It is common knowledge that cow’s milk can cause skin rashes, diarrhoea, vomiting, stomach cramps and difficulty breathing.
However what I found more interesting was the research that shows the link between lactose intolerance, depression and mood swings.
I have since replaced cows milk with coconut milk, becauase of the health concerns surrounding too much soya in ones diet.
Kara milk is dairy, lactose and soya free. Coconut is also one of the few natural sources of MCT (medium chain triglycerides) fat in our diets. MCT fats are converted into fuel by the body much more efficiently than LCT (long chain triglycerides) and other saturated fats. Lower in calories than cows milk, Kara is also useful for those wishing to lose weight.
The unpredictable mix of sun and rain here in the U.K means that my vegetable boxes are thriving. Home grown vegetables are a luxury and one of life’s little pleasures. After all the hard work comes the time to dig and eat. July sees the harvest of these beautiful new potatoes and dwarf carrots.
Vegetables should always be eaten the day they are harvested so I will throw the carrots into the roasting pan with the potatoes to accompany my garlic and rosemary infused lamb for todays Sunday lunch.
The rosemary is freshly picked from the garden so my kitchen smells fresh and uplifting right now.
Miles my familiar.
Our rescue cat Miles is always close by while I am cooking, eagerly awaiting a taste of one of my creations. He regularly contributes to the surreyKitchen posts by walking across my keyboard at impromptu moments. He wants you to know he is not a fan of coconut milk.
What’s happening in your Kitchen? Why not join in or at least pop over to Fig Jam and Lime Cordial to see who’s sharing their kitchen this month.
I also could not imagine my day without tea. Love the photos of all your amazing fresh garden produce. Rosemary is such a wonderful herb to cook with and I am sure your kitchen smelled wonderful cooking all that delicious food. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Thanks Moya. Take care. Emma.
I like tea but not as much as you do. 🙂 I have real garden envy when I look at your carrots and potatoes. I miss my garden. I’m in love with Miles. Welcome to In My Kitchen!
Thanks Maureen. Sorry you are missing your garden. Mine helps to keep me sane. I find gardening very meditative. Emma.
I also could not imagine a life without tea. The tea selections in the markets are atrocious here, but I’m lucky enough to have access to tea stores that offer a nice range of teas. Your homegrown vegetables look fantastic!
I ma glad you have access to some good tea stores. Thank you for your encouraging comments. I look forward to reading more of your blog and sharing ideas. Emma.
Nice to see you at IMK Emma. There’s nothing better than a good cup of tea, brewed in a pot and drunk from a fine china cup, off the make one now…..
Thank you for welcoming me to IMK. I look forward to reading more of your blog and sharing ideas. Take care. Emma.
we have a rosemary bush in the garden too. lovely smell. we used to have basil bushes which the native bees loved. when the easterlies got up in the afternoons the whole house was infused with the most delicious smell. welcome to IMK.
Sounds fantastic. I would love a basil bush. Thank you for welcoming me to IMK. I look forward to reading more of your blog and sharing ideas with you. Emma.
I love the Fig Jam & Lime Cordial IMK posts. Great tea tips, I particularly hate re-boiled water. I’m always nagging various family members use fresh water but sadly they are lost causes.
Your fresh from the garden veges & rosemary look fabulous but most heartwarming of all is Miles, the most wonderful of kitcenalia… kittynalia 🙂
Thank you for all your lovely comments. Miles says hello. I look forward to reading more of your blog. Have a great week. Emma.
Look at your vegetables, they look so delicious and fresh! How wonderful that you are already harvesting and eating some of your produce! I’m interested in the Kara “milk” that you’re using. In the past year I learned that I have a lactose intolerance to milk and I’ve had to come up with creative alternatives. For some reason I can handle most cheese and yogurt but milk is a big no no. I’ll to try and give your suggestion a try!
It is so sweet of you to say so Heather. How is little Maya? Some of the non lactose milks are nicer than others. I like coconut milk and almond milk best, but I guess it is all down to personal preference. I am the same as you with yogurt and cheese, which is a blessing because I bought dairy free cheese from the health food shop and ended up throwing the whole lot out because it tasted and smelled just like plasticine. Have a great week. Emma xx
Your veggies are amazing! We get a wonderful array of non lactose milks here which I want to start experimenting with soon 🙂
It is so sweet of you to say so. Good luck trying the non lactose milk. Some are nicer than others. I like almond milk and coconut milk, but I guess it is all down to personal taste. I look forward to reading more of your blog. Have a great week. Emma.
Great tips on tea drinking, but coming from Yorkshire, I think you can guess what brand we drink. Your familiar, Miles, is the spitting image of one of our cats – alas, no longer with us. I’m sure he enjoys your efforts in the kitchen!
I love Yorkshire. You are very lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the world. I was in the scouts as a kid so we used to do a lot of hillwalking and potholing up there. We always stayed in a little village called Ingleton. To be honest we get through lots of varieties of tea, but I thought people might be interested in a new discovery of ours. Miles looks like so many other cats. I thought he was sitting in the front room window of another house in my street one day. I was very cross but it was a good job I didn’t say anything to the people living there because when I got home my Miles was curled up on my bed. I look forward to reading more of your blog. Have a great week. Emma xx
I too am a tea lover – can’t go very long in the day without a cup. I have the fondest memories of enjoying tea in the UK with my hubby and my folks a few years ago – the scones and clotted cream which accompanied our tea were also very nice. Sadly I am a cow milk drinker – probably shouldn’t but can’t imagine my tea tasting different. I only use fresh milk – the boxed stuff just tastes yuck.
I admire your beautiful home grown veggies – I have been thinking more and more about converting a portion of our garden to a veggie patch – I would love to spend all day in the garden as would my 3 cats so it seems like a win win.
Miles is welcome to come and play with my 3 any day.
Have a wonderful week Emma and thank you for the link love.
🙂 Mandy xo
Scones and clotted cream – yum. Somewhere buried away on surreyKitchen is a great recipe for Devonshire fruit scones if you are interested. I am not puritan about the whole cow’s milk thing. You are right, other kinds of milk do not taste great in tea. I drink my tea so strong I only have a dash of cows milk. The change was more for cereal etc…where I am eating larger quantities of milk. Veggie patches are hard work but worth the effort. You will have to post a photo of your three cats. I would love to see them. Miles says hi. Have a lovely day. Emmaxx
I wish I had a garden, you’re dwarf carrots and baby potatoes look amazing! I love a cup of tea for afternoon tea – it’s my 3.30 pick me up 🙂 Miles is too cute, my cat usually comes and sits quite close while I’m writing posts – they want to be a part of everything you do. Good to have you joining IMK
Thank you for your lovely comments. I look forward to reading more of your blog. I wouldn’t be without Miles as I am sure you would not be without your cat. Take care. Emma.
Doctors are pretty worthless, aren’ they?!!! Unless you’re in a car accident. I see a naturopath, myself. Great post!
My experience of doctors both as a patient and professionally in my work as an occupational therapist is very negative I am afraid. It is not just their incompetence that annoys me it is the whole god complex thing. I got straight A’s in school but unlike a doctor I don’t go round telling everyone. I could have done medicine if I had wanted to, but was much more interested in occupational therapy as it is holistic. This idea just seems totally lost on them. They are insecure, unattractive people I am afraid. At college we all had to read Carl Rodgers who invented client centred therapy where the dynamics between therapist and patient are an equal one. Unfortunately doctors still follow the old medical model where they are God. They need to start teaching more Carl Rodgers at medical school. Sorry for the rant, but you are spot on when you said doctors are only useful when you have suffered a serious trauma. I am not surprised some parts of South Africa has done away with GP’s. Patients are triaged straight to a specialist instead. Sorry for the rant Mimi but this is something I am very passionate about. Take care and have a good week. Emma.
Agreed. And when I have to go to a “real” doctor, they’re terribly threatened by the fact that I see a naturopath, instead of embracing the fact that I’m advocating for my health and wellness. The state that I live in doesn’t consider naturopaths real doctors, so there’s no insurance coverage. And my compounded hormones have to come from out of state. It’s really crazy.
I wish my doctor would notice my pecuniary deficiency and help me out:)
LOL. Sorry I didn’t mean to start a rant about doctors. Emma.
Thanks for joining in, Emma! I love the Kara brand – their coconut milk is brilliant. I never thought to try it in tea though – I will now! Your potatoes and carrots look scrumptious! 🙂
Thanks Celia. It is very kind of you to say so. The Kara milk is definitely an acquired taste in tea, but you never know you might like it. Emma.
Very jealous of your thriving garden!! Rosemary and thyme are about the best I can do in this sandy Perth soil. I bet those carrots were delicious!
The carrots were delicious but they are pretty hardy. We don’t have a problem with sand, more with stones. Our garden has lots of stones in the earth. I’m not quite sure why. Take care and thank you for welcoming me to IMK. It is lovely to chat with you. Emma.
What a lovely kitchen you have… Welcome to the IMK Family… it is so wonderful to see what everyone is up to each month! Thanks so much for sharing! Liz x
Thank you for the welcome. I agree IMK is great fun. Emmax
Very jealous that you can walk outside and pluck carrots and potatoes for your roast dinner. Thanks for the peep into your kitchen this month.
Thank you for your lovely comments and for welcoming me to IMK. The home grown vegetables are hard work but worth it. Emma.
Yes, tea is definitely a comforter. We are just going back to a making pot and the ritual involved as its so much more relaxing and soulful. Sunday mornings I make ginger tea I learned about in India, tea, milk, cardamon and ginger. Great on cold winters mornings! Ha ha, whats a blog without the occasional rant? Good entertainment 🙂
Thanks for your lovely comments. I try to keep the ranting to a minimum on the blog. Emma.
I keep telling myself I will do one of these posts! Maybe next month I will finally get around to it. That tea sounds wonderful.
Hi Emma, Welcome to IMK! There is a special feeling you get when you eat food you’ve grown yourself, and those carrots and potatoes look lovely. I can almost smell the roasting lamb and rosemary yum! 🙂
welcome to the clob! Your veggies look really tasty. Also, thanks for the tea brewing tips.
club!!
Thanks Francesca. So nice of you to welcome me. I look forward to reading more of your blog. Emma.
As I sit drinking my own coconut/almond milk concoction in my coffee, I’m glad to read the reminders about brewing tea! We are an ecumenical household so I drink both. And mostly I don’t drink milk any longer but because it contributes to the low level inflammation in my arthritis… and no, a doctor didn’t tell me that! Interesting post Emma, welcome. I didn’t participate in IMK this month, but I’ll be back soon!!
I am now suffering carrot-envy. My allotment ones do not look at all as juicy as yours. Also that Kara milk is one of the best alternatives that I’ve found to milk. You can cook with it and everything, though not quite so keen on it in tea.
Look at those carrots! They are gorgeous! 🙂
Thank you. That’s so sweet of you to say so. I do some voluntary work for a charity called Riding for the Disabled. I took some up for the horses who literally went nuts for them. Emma.
The tea, that´s what I always have in the morning and at night. In the morning I can have 2-3 cups….is that normal. I think is good for your digestive system so that´s part of my reasoning. There is also red tea, which is to regulate fat in the blood if I´m not mistaken.
I need my 1 cup of coffee to get myself going in the morning but when I want to sit and enjoy, a cup of tea is just the thing. I think it’s interesting that I rarely find much difference in the taste of good quality coffee but the variety of teas is so much more interesting. Kudos to you for your gardening efforts!
I am so glad you enjoyed the post. Have a great week. Emma.