Kitchen pottering

I've spent the afternoon in the kitchen making sure everything is ready for the week ahead and that we all have some treats ready for watching Merlin tonight. We are really enjoying the new series although I am still missing Doctor Who. The flapjack has been made and I'm just about to make some chocolate chip muffins as my ds has requested them. I've also made some hummus (although I think I may have overdone the garlic this time) and I've made some dukka to go with it. This is a seed, nut and spices mix that I found in Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Veg Everyday cookbook. It's brilliant on top of hummus or eaten by dipping bread in olive oil and then into the seed mix. As it's only me that eats the mix it lasts quite a long time in our house. Unfortunately it ran out at the beginning of the week so I needed to make a new batch. Here's the recipe:

100g cashew or pistachio nuts. I use cashew nuts as they're cheaper and I buy the big packets from our local Asian delicatessen. Toast the nuts for 5 minutes at 200 degrees centigrade. Once out of the oven, chop them quite small.

Toast 1tbsp coriander seeds and 1tbsp cumin seeds. Put into a pestle and mortar and bash until quite small.

Toast 3 tbsp sesame seeds. I do this in a dry pan, the same one as I used for the spices. I started buying the sesame seeds at a health food shop but I then realised I could buy much larger quantities for a significantly cheaper price at the Asian superstore - I love that shop. Add the toasted sesame seeds to the cumin coriander mix. Stir in 1tsp dried chilli flakes and 1tsp flaky sea salt. Finally, add the nuts and put everything in a jar with a good seal. I put mine into a Kilner jar but a clean jam jar would also be perfect. I always save jars ready for when it's time to make jam or chutney so I always have a stash available to use as storage jars. My mum gave me a collection of Kilner jars so I'm using those  at the moment as they look pretty on the side in the kitchen.

What I really want is a larder so that everything can be on shelves in a cool, dark place and be easily accessible. My granny had a larder in her flat and it was always cool and kept food fresh for quite a long time. She also used it to store all her cake making equipment and ingredients. I have to say that she probably used it to store a lot of other things too but time is not good for the memory and I can't remember in too much detail. I'll add the larder to the to do list for the house (which is quite long at the moment). Life is all about spending our precious spare time doing the things that make us smile which at the moment doesn't include painting the walls. I'll save that for another day.