Nina's Kitchen

19/09/2024

Succulent roasted veal: the best meal of my summer holiday, which only proves that home cooking beats even the greatest restaurants any time. And the fact that it was made by a dear friend. Priceless ❤️

10/09/2024

Flashback of this summer:
One of those places you keep going back to because they’re soooo good!
Gazdinstvo Ficović in Pelješac, Croatia

04/09/2024

The best of Herzegovina - all homemade or homegrown on this table 😋

29/03/2024

Finger food and its centerpiece: beetroot, walnut & horseradish dip with feta cheese - yum!

02/02/2024

Pavlova is a simple but delicious dessert with egg whites. But what to do with the leftover egg yolks? Make an equally delicious, slightly sweet, brioche ‘bread’. It’s a win win!

18/12/2023

Just another manic Monday…

01/12/2023

Delicious Greek dessert: portokalopita with yoghurt, fresh orange juice & filo pastry. Yum!

22/11/2023

Beef stew with oranges & thyme - what a lovely fragrance!

01/11/2023

The summer is well and truly over: roasted veal tail and root vegetable salad with Brussel sprouts & hazelnuts.

22/09/2023

Using up the last of this summer’s figs in this delicious cake with ground hazelnuts & yoghurt

01/06/2023

Focaccia: Italian classic that only asks for a really good olive oil. The topping and the rest is up to you.

24/05/2023

Creamy stew with cannellini beans, shiitake mushrooms, leek & thyme. Lemony white rice goes perfectly with this light summery dish.

22/05/2023

What daughter wants, daughter gets: beef steak marinated in homemade bulgogi-style sauce.

17/05/2023

What a beautiful ode to such a seemingly ordinary item ❤️

The History of 'APRONS'

I don't think our kids know what an apron is. The principle use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath because she only had a few. It was also because it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and aprons used less material. But along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids..

And when the weather was cold, Grandma wrapped it around her arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.

Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.

From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.

In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men folk knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.

Send this to those who would know (and love) the story about Grandma's aprons.

REMEMBER:

Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool. Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw.

They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron.

I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron - but love...

16/05/2023

‘White gold’, ‘Queen of vegetables’, ‘Pearl of the Land’: All the names white asparagus used to be called. Combined with pearl couscous, capers, mustard & dill in this ‘Queen of Salads’.

16/04/2023

Just when you think Easter is over, another one comes along!

05/04/2023

Still can’t let go: the joy of picking (some of) your ingredients yourself: savoury cakes with wild garlic from my local park.

03/04/2023

Roasted cauliflower & Iranian saffron soup with feta & hazelnuts. With homemade Turkish bread.