This month In My Kitchen are finger limes from Pemberton Finger Limes*. Finger limes are great in both sweet and savoury dishes, lovely paired with seafood and fantastic in ice cream. They have quite a short season, so if you are in Perth and want to try them, now is the time to buy. A list of suppliers is available here. Finger limes freeze well so I have stockpiled some for the rest of the year.
Thanks to a bulk rubbish collection in our suburb last month, I am now the proud new owner of this little cast iron fry pan. The adage “one person’s trash is another’s treasure” rings quite true in this case. It was a touch rusty when I found it, but a good scrub with steel wool, a quick season with coconut oil and I have a new fry pan. I also picked up two larger cast iron skillets at the same time but I think they are too rusty to be saved. I have yet to find the energy to properly scrub them in order to find out.
A rummage through my local op shop produced this gratin dish for the princely sum of 50c. It is the perfect size for an individual meal and I have put it to serious use now the weather has finally cooled. I only wish there had been more as it is a really useful size.
I finally found someone willing to share their kombucha mother this month. Kombucha is a fermented drink of sweetened black tea. It is slightly effervescent and very high in probiotics. You can only produce kombucha if you have a mother. I have brewed kombucha before but it never really grabbed me so I got rid of my previous mother. Then I read about secondary fermentation, which involves adding flavourings to the initial brew. I flavoured one batch with rose hip juice, which was lovely. I am thinking apple and ginger for the next batch.
We transplanted our chilli bush when we rejigged the vegetable garden late last year, and for while I thought it was not going to survive, let alone produce anything. It appears that my concerns were unfounded as the bush is now covered in chillis. I am going to dry some of these to make my own Harissa, but now that The Princess seems to be happy with a bit of heat in her food I also have plans for some chilli oil.
My parent’s lime trees are also loaded at the moment, so I convinced dad to pick some for me. I was thinking he might give me a small bagful, but I now have a bucketful. If the chickens were laying I could make lime curd but we haven’t seen an egg in over a month (as an aside I think it is time these chickens went to the farm – Dad’s real farm that is not ‘The Farm’). I will freeze some juice in the hope that there are egg-laying chickens in my future. I am also going to try making an Indian style pickle to serve with curry. Any suggestions for the remainder would be greatly appreciated.
And then there are the books. I bought Baked Doughnuts for Everyone to go with my doughnut pan purchase from last month. I have already made a couple of the recipes, which are all gluten free, and have been extremely impressed. Although Mr Grumpy insists they are not doughnuts, but rather doughnut shaped cakes. My sister gave me Sally Wise’s A Year on the Farm as a belated birthday present, which I absolutely loved. I made the crucial mistake, however, of telling Mr Grumpy I wanted to live in the Derwent Valley, which has seen him researching property like a mad man. He would happily live somewhere (anywhere) cooler than Perth.
I had to take The Princess clothes shopping during the school holidays. Clothes shopping with a pre-teen is a special kind of torture, so I picked up My Darling Lemon Thyme as a little gift for myself for being such a good mother. I have only had a quick flick but already have my eye on the Hokey Pokey Ice Cream. Then there is Power Hungry, which is full of homemade energy and protein bars to keep The Princess going between meals.
In My Kitchen is a monthly series hosted by Celia at Fig Jam & Lime Cordial. Hop over to her blog for a sneaky peek into other kitchens around the world.
* The finger limes were gifted in accordance with my Disclosure Policy
I have never seen lime fingers before and keen to see what you make with them. Ive also had my eye on My darling Lemon Thyme Cookbook. And how lovely to have a bucket of limes too!!! They look fantastic…Thanks for letting me have a peak in your kitchen xx
I have made ice cream before and quite liked that but I have a couple of other ideas up my sleeve. Fingers crossed they work. I am looking forward to the weekend so I can sit down and properly read the book, but it looks great with some lovely recipes. As to the limes, a bagful would have been enough 🙂 Sometimes you can have too much of a good thing. Thanks for visiting.
So many good things in your kitchen, Tania. I thought that skillet must be brand new. Nice job cleaning it up. Finger limes are sooooooooo yummy! I really must try and get some this weekend from our local farmer’s market. Thank you for the peak into your kitchen : )
Thanks Liz. I was really happy with the way it came up, not least because I have been coveting one for ages. Thanks for stopping by.
Oh my word. I’ve been wanting to try finger limes for some time. I think I need to get to the markets and find some, I’ve been hearing so much about them lately.
I love council pick up days. What a find for you!!
They are quite a novel fruit. I love the little burst of flavour you get when you bite into the vesicles. It is great that they are becoming better known. I’m not normally that lucky when it comes to council pick ups but this time I was very happy 🙂
Well done saving the cast iron pan! It looks a thing of beauty now. I make fresh lime juice cordial, here’s the link to the recipe. It makes a killer vodka lime and soda.
http://wp.me/p2frs2-7w Thanks for the peek into your kitchen
I’m glad I could save the pan. It is a very handy size. Thank you for the suggestion of lime cordial. I have made lemon before but didn’t think of lime. Will make a batch this weekend. Cheers!
OK first things first. You could always tell your dad to drop off a bucket of those limes the next time he is driving through Midland. I promise I could find a use for them 🙂
Next, how do I get my hands on that finger lime booklet. I really need hints on how to use mine.
Your pile of chillies is very impressive. Its bigger than mine 🙂 I do have piles still on my bushes though …
Don’t get me started about op shops, I love them. The second hand shop in Balingup is great, but alas, not at op shop prices.
I wish you hadn’t show cased that Sally Wise book. It does look good.
BTW The Derwent Valley is very, very, very, very cold.
I’ll tell him Glenda. He passes through Midland all the time 🙂 Send me you address and I will put the booklet in the post. I can easily get another one. I loved the Sally Wise book. She has such an easy style of writing. She has a fantastic recipe for toffee quinces I want to try. Just need to get to the markets to lay my hands on some good quinces. I am thinking cold wouldn’t be so good. I seem to have just reached that age where my bones know it is going to rain before me 🙁
I also love those limes. I juiced a heap last year to use when they were out of season – particularly good in Mexican food, which I cook often. I ran out JUST as they became cheap again 🙂
Congrats on the cast iron – I need to do a bit more op-shopping. Maybe tomorrow…
I was going to juice a heap for curd but you have now got me thinking of freezing some in smaller portions for other meals as well. Thanks for that. Now I just need to locate those ice cube trays 🙂
I’d never heard of finger limes until this week and now I keep reading about them. They sound intriguing. Very jealous of your bucket of limes as they’re so expensive over here but always look so appealing that I want to buy loads. I tried not to read about the books as I really don’t need any more but …
Finger limes are definitely different Anne but so yummy to work with. As to the books … you can never have too many (in my opinion 🙂 )
I love finger limes! We planted a small shrub a few years ago, but who knows how long it will take to fruit. I’m still hoping it will. What amazing finds on the cast iron (it looks like new, must have taken some elbow grease!) and the gratin dish – best kitchenware for 50c ever! Your bucket of limes hold so much promise… 🙂
I thought I heard about 4 years to fruit Celia but that may be completely off base. I don’t understand why limes are always so expensive here too when they are ridiculously easy to grow. The small frypan was only slightly rusty so wasn’t too hard to clean. The larger ones are in a worse condition and I don’t know they can be saved. Time will tell 😉
Such beautiful photos! Really really beautiful. What a good find in the cast iron pan and gratin dish.
Thank you Lauren. My photos are very much a work in progress but I am trying. I was really happy with the finds 🙂
Shut Up about that doughnut book! That looks amazing. I’ve got my eye on a donut pan so I think the final vote has just been cast. Lovely to see that op shop buy and retrieved pan – I love a good council clean up myself. Cheers!
It is a really good book. I have baked heaps out of it. The recipes are really easy to put together once you have the ingredients and the results are lovely. You so need a doughnut pan 🙂
I love the frypan from the rubbish collection. what a great find
Thanks. I was pretty happy with the way it scrubbed up.
I love op shop goodies and the gratin dish is great for fifty cents. The little frying pan for free was a great find.
I’m looking at your bucket of limes with envy. 🙂 Thanks for a great peek into your kitchen.
I actually picked up the gratin dish as an afterthought because it was in good nick and only 50c. I am so glad I did because I have used it heaps. Likewise the pan. I almost drove straight past it but decided to go back and take a closer look. So glad I did. Thanks for stopping by.
I love finger limes so much. Its great to see them being grown all over the place. It would be my dream to be able to get my hands on so many Limes!. I love all of your books and look forward to getting My Darling lemon thymes book one of these days
It is good to see the finger lime market expanding. A few years ago I had to really hunt for them. Now they are quite easy to find. If you lived closer you could have some of my limes. I have almost too many. Is that possible?
Tania, your “treasures” were indeed a find — I love it when things like that happen — meant to be! Hope you’ve found more uses for your abundant lime stash (a whole bucket full… sigh.) I squeeze fresh lime juice into my drinking water, salsa, guacamole, … hope that helps. 😉