In My Tropical Kitchen, November 2025

 Welcome to the November edition of In My Kitchen. I'm so glad you stopped by. I am essentially a constant home cook and love to share what I've created, learned, and stirred into my culinary life. Please share your thoughts in the comments section below, I would love to hear from you. Now please relax, and read on.

First of all, I am sharing with you the joy I have received from these beautiful orchids in my garden. A great place to start. These orchids have been flowering for the last three weeks, and continue to brighten my day. The Fuchsia coloured flower below which is a new Vanda orchid I was given by a good friend, even survived the strong winds of a hail storm that we endured last week. The hail was only the size of a pea here, but it still packed a punch. I love that I can see these flowers from our kitchen and patio.

My beautiful Vanda orchid, growing in harmony with our Grevillea Sandra Gordon tree, which is native to Northern Australia and an ideal host tree.

My Dancing Lady orchids, from the Oncidium Orchid species, decided to dance happily this year. I always need to move then under cover for protection at this time of year for protection against any rain or storms.

Once again it's time to be sending this post to Sherry of Sherry's Pickings for the monthly  In My Kitchen event. If you would like to join in, send your post to Sherry by the 13th of the month. Or just head over to her blog to visit more kitchens. Thanks for hosting this event once again Sherry, it's a lovely initiative and unites all of the keen bloggers and cooks around the world.

Sunday morning breakfast should be a special meal, and Portabello Mushroom Toast with Goat's Cheese, Pine Nuts and Chives was the perfect breakfast treat during Mr. HRK's birthday weekend. The recipe can be found here, where you will find much nicer photos as well.

During October, my book club met in our home. We discussed an Australian novel called Stoneyard Devotional by Charlotte Wood. This very contemplative and thought provoking novel was set in an enclosed convent on the rocky Monaro Plains near Sydney in New South Wales. We all agreed that up until the 3rd chapter we were wondering whether we could keep persisting with such a despairing tale, however the writing talents of Charlotte Wood shone through, the story also developed well set against the shadow of Climate Change, and once completed, I felt quite humbled by this book. Interestingly enough, the main character, the narrator, wasn't religious, but all of the Convent Sisters obviously were. The convent was a place of industry, not recreation, and completely self sustaining without any financial support from the Catholic Church. So the main character did most of the cooking, fed the chooks, and did lots of other chores to earn her keep. It was nominated for the 2024 Booker Prize.

The beauty of being a member of a book club, is that books are chosen which I normally would probably never choose to read. As we were reading such an Aussie tale, when catering for afternoon tea, I needed to take the Summer heat into account and prepare food which would keep well in the warmer conditions. My book club ladies, only 5 could attend this time, enjoy a good sandwich, so I made the quintessential Egg, Mayonnaise and Chive sandwiches, no Curry Powder this time, on very fresh White Bread; my Lime Syrup Cake, always a winner, the ladies love this cake; and of course, some very Rustic Aussie Damper Scones. Each one of them left with a little "doggy bag" of leftovers. I would like to think that many sandwiches were made, and scones baked in the Convent at the centre of this book.

Lime Syrup Cake is always fresh, sweet and tart, and keeps fresh in a sealed container for a few days.

The rustic Aussie Damper scones were a favourite for Afternoon tea with jam and cream or just butter. Leftovers went straight into my freezer for another day. They reheat beautifully in the oven or microwave and can be whipped up in a jiffy when needed.

My Mahjong friends came over the following week for our weekly afternoon games of Mahjong and cake and coffee. I decided to bake this Rhubarb, Meringue and Almond cake. I substituted ground hazelnuts for the ground almonds in my published recipe, even though I used flaked almonds as a topping. This is a delicious cake at the best of times. However, I underestimated the effects of the humidity on the meringue topping, and whilst I baked this early on the morning of Mahjong, within two hours the meringue topping was starting to soften and almost melt. So into the refrigerator it went, and it was still very edible, but lesson learned. This is a cake for Winter in the Southern Hemisphere, not our Summer, or for when the  air-conditioning is definitely turned on. 

Here's a photo of  my cake just out of the oven, at it's best. The combination of a delicious cake, topped with a layer of rhubarb, and then hazelnut meringue is also wonderful served for dessert with ice-cream.

A very good friend came over for morning tea, and I made more scones. Whilst I was on a roll, and the oven was turned on, after baking some scones, I also made some mini vegetable quiches to use up the rest of the thickened cream and some leftover vegetables. You can find the recipe here that I made these quiches from.

Mr. PS arrived with a beautiful plate of  Madeleines, his first batch, as he was practicing making them for another occasion he wanted to take them to. We are very happy to be experimented on. They were delicious, however once again because of their delicacy, the humidity softened them slightly. He used Nagi's recipe from Recipe Tin Eats. So note to self to make these next Winter, or turn the air-conditioning on first.

Delicious Madeleines

With all of these sweet treats in my kitchen in October, I really needed to balance out the calories that we consumed during the weeks in between. Here are a few of the meals I made, keeping lower calories in mind.

Delicious Chicken and Apricot Tagine, eaten  over a couple of nights

A simple Chicken and vegetable traybake with lots of fresh herbs from the garden.

Baked Salmon, with Pea, Broccoli and Mint Mash

Pan fried Barramundi, with Bulgur Wheat Risotto and Halloumi. The Risotto is always a reminder to me that good things often come from humble beginnings.

Fillets of delicious Barramundi being cooked in butter and olive oil

Fresh asparagus has been in season this month, and this Asparagus quiche was the perfect way to eat it.

Some interesting new foodstuffs in the pantry should prove to be very tasty.

Nuffin Hommus Dip, comes just in a paper based tub, completely plastic free.

More delicious Beetroot hommus, for the days when there is no time to make it myself.

This caught my eye, as a guilt free way to eat pancakes. A weekend treat coming up.

And that's a wrap my friends. 

Hope everything is going as well as possible in your part of the world.

Warm wishes

Pauline