In my kitchen:
Are a thousand Rangpur Limes. ‘What?’ I hear you saying. That is exactly what I said when Steve told me that the fruit I had been telling people for years and years and years were Tahitian Limes, were no such thing. He boldly suggested that my tree had been mislabelled.
People have been telling me that my ‘Tahitian Limes’ look like mandarins for as long as I remember. I would hear them out and then explain: ‘That may be the case, but these are Tahitian Limes.’
Well, family, friends and work colleagues and anyone else to whom I have ever given these fruit in the past 10 years, when I looked up images of Tahitian Limes on the ‘Net, not one image looked like my fruit.
I kept searching and, finally, found something that looked exactly like my fruit. I found image after image after image. They are Rangpur Limes which are not even real limes but a mandarin lemon cross.
The New York Times advises:
The Rangpur lime, said to have originated in the Indian subcontinent, has nothing to do with limes. It’s bright orange, about the size of a clementine and a cross between a lemon and mandarin, making it easily peeled and segmented. The juice is extremely sour, like a lemon’s, but with a deeply floral, honeysuckle aroma.
I can’t think of what to do with so much citrus so I think these are headed for the compost heap.
In my kitchen:
Are these beautiful, perfectly hemispheric, pudding moulds. I bought them from Chef’s Warehouse on my trip to Sydney. They were not cheap but they are gorgeous. I could just imagine some lovely, wobbly dessert in them. I am not sure what they are supposed to be used for. No doubt, I will think of something.
In my kitchen:
Is my octagonal pie dish in which I made my recently posted lemon meringue pie . I bought it from the Op Shop for $1 or $2. The first time I made lemon meringue pie in it, it was very hard to remove the pie. Steve and Al were here and Al suggested we cut the bottom out. That is exactly what Maus later did and then replaced the bottom with some zinc alume we had lying around from the house build.
In my kitchen:
Are these herb snippers that Colette gave me. Her mum saw them at a boot market and bought them for $2. I have never seen anything like them in any kitchen shop.
They really work. This is a picture of Maus snipping parsley. They are as sharp as hell; I have a cut on my finger to prove it. The bowl is another Sydney purchase. We bought it from Turkuaz Motif, in Crows Nest, after Celia (figjamandlimecordial) did a post on the shop.
In my kitchen:
Is our new garlic twister. Maus bought it at Peter’s of Kensington. When she picked it up, I rolled my eyes. ‘Don’t we have enough garlic crushers?’ I thought. But this one is a cut above the rest. The reason? It is easy to clean.
Once you have removed the garlic, you can put a bit of water into the twister and it will loosen any sticky bits. If your recipe can handle a bit of water, add it to the pan. Otherwise, just rinse the twister under the tap.
In my kitchen:
Are two recently-picked avocados. The one on the left is a Feurte and the other is a Rincon. I never know when to pick avocados because you pick them green. The trouble is that if you pick them too early, they don’t ripen. If you have picked them at the right time, they will be ready to eat in 10 days.
The other day, we were driving back from Manjimup and I saw a sign, “Avocados for Sale”. I picked these two within 10 minutes of getting home. The trick now is to pick one or two every few days so we don’t have a glut.
In my kitchen:
Is this nifty Grip-ez Corn Cutter I received as a birthday present from my sister earlier this year. She bought it from The Redback Trading Company. It really works. It takes whole rows of corn kernels off in one strip.
In my kitchen:
Was this lovely bowl of hazelnut shells.
I say ‘shells’ wisely, because the photo below represents the net result of that whole bowl – 4 hazelnut kernels. The rest of the nuts were empty. I don’t know why. I have 5 bushes, each a different type, so there should be enough variety for some hanky panky to happen but, alas, that does not appear to be the case.
In my kitchen:
Are the three jars of produce I bought at a charity stall. I attended a family get-together where they had a stall to raise money for charity. Family members donated their handiwork and produce. I bought a jar of tomato relish and a jar of zucchini relish. I also bought a jar of cauliflower pickles, made by my 81 year-old aunt, Laura.
In my kitchen:
Is a jar of lemon butter and a jar of strawberry jam that my sister, Sandra, made. As you can see, when I took this photo we had already opened the strawberry jam. I have since opened the lemon butter. Both are delicious.
So what is in your kitchen this month?
If you would like to see what is in other bloggers’ kitchens this month, visit Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. Celia hosts In My Kitchen each month.
Passion Fruit Garden 
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Hi. Please don’t bin your Rangpur limes. Rangpur lime marmalade is famous. Rangpur limes are named after a Bangladeshi city. They export Rangpur Lime marmalade to the UK. There’s an excellent recipe in Blue Chair Jam, see that website also. I am growing several trees from seed, would love your fruit to preserve! I’m Carolyn at unusualgarden.wordpress.com
Hi Carolyn. Everyone made me feel guilty about the Rangpurs so I made 9 litres of cordial out of them.
Well done! At the moment, I’m making cordials from all the grapefruit, lemons and blood oranges that friends have given me (possibly because I have soooo much marmalade already, even for my market stall).
Hi Carolyn. I checked out Sally’s mandarin jam recipe. I might make it next year. Too late this year, I have given most of my mandarin’s away.
Hi Glenda, Love all the goodies in your kitchen. How strange about the hazelnuts! I wonder what the secret is?
I don’t know Christine. I have 5 different varieties, maybe I need more or maybe the varieties I have are not compatible.
Hi Glenda-
I love your stories as much as your kitchen!
Those steel bowls have put a gleam in my eyes-
and your bowl of hazelnut shells made me laugh out loud.
Love meeting you here each month!
Hi Heidi
I just don’t know what those hazelnuts need to produce nuts. I always thought as long as they had a lot of choice with a mating partner, they would be happy. Obviously they want more (just like a man I guess):)
Oh my, would you look at those pudding moulds – just too gorgeous and I love your herb scissors – definitely need to get myself a pair! The bowl you cut the parsley into is beautiful – I have a bowl and jug fetish!
Everything in your kitchen this month is magnificent!
🙂 Mandy
Thanks Mandy. I am not certain what to do with those moulds but they are lovely.
What interesting citrus fruit! Tahitian limes…don’t worry, I thought that they were lemons! What will you do with all of them?
It was interesting to see the photos of your avocados. I’ve only seen the Haas variety where I live. We get one other variety too but I forget the name. It’s gigantic. The last time I checked, it actually had a sticker on it that said ‘made with 55% less calories’ Odd, I know. Anyhow, I’m curious to know what they taste like. Off to Google I go!
Hi Emilie. It is too cold here for Hass. Hass probably has the best flavour but these are nearly as nice.
Mine are bush lemons, a really common fruit around here (Northern NSW), because they are a a rootstock that breeds true from seed. Mine are all seedlings that came up in the garden originally. Maybe your Tahitian lime graft died, and what you have is the rootstock? It’s my best lemon, like a Meyer lemon in style (and I think Meyers are a cross). It’s very thorny, with vicious looking thorns, but so prolific.
Hi Linda,
Mine is not the root stock. I checked the other day. You can clearly see the graft join, below the graft is fatter than above the graft.
Glenda, oh you made me laugh! I can just imagine you insisting these were Tahitian limes for the last decade.. 😉 Linda Woodrow uses her surplus lemons to make all sorts of cleaning products – her post might be of interest?
http://witcheskitchen.com.au/the-last-of-the-lemon-glut/
I love all your other things! The herb snippers, and the corn zipper (I have that!), and especially the garlic twister, which I will now probably have to buy as I’m so damn suggestible and you said it was easy to wash up. 😉 Oh, and are you allowed to buy preserves? Aren’t you the one who can’t throw anything out ever, so therefore you already have a fridge full of ten year old jams and chutneys? 😉
Lovely peeking into your kitchen – I so wish you guys would come over again and play!
Hi Celia
Yep , I did insist for at least a decade. I would have convinced (so I thought) at least 100 people:)))
I am very lucky as I have 3 dogs and I cook all their food so, when a chutney has been hanging around for too long, I chuck it in the pot I am cooking up. Yesterday, half a jar of chilli jam went into the pot. All the preserves I bought were different from what I have made so they will be used and, if they are not so yummy, into that big pot they will go.
I am very keen on that chocolate-tempering course that Roz did or even a Celia chocolate-tempering course, so maybe …..
I’ve just about finished the last of our lemons and limes – I made limeade with many of the limes because I was worried they would go off – it was lovely to have in the fridge and top up with soda water when I wanted a refreshing glass! Love your octagonal pie dish and the herb scissors – never heard of either before but now I want both
Johanna, I made cordial with them because I couldn’t put them in the compost heap. If I make one more batch I will have used them all.
How sad to compost those lovely (unusual!) limes. I have serious citrus envy. Ever since our fantastic old lemon tree died about 8 years ago we have had no luck with growing any replacement lemons or limes. The Kaffir lime tree grows like a weed and puts out tons of fruit that it unusable but no lemons or limes (and yes, I have tried planting different varieties in all sorts of different locations around the garden).
When we get given stacks of lemons or limes I juice some and freeze in ice cube trays. Then it easy to pop out a cube and put into cooking or a cool drink.
Hiya Spice and More
Thanks for visiting. It is funny with citrus (or all fruit, really), you either have to buy them at exhorbitant prices or you have a truck load.
Wow – you have some fabulous gadgets there! I agree with Lizzy, oh no the compost!! Could you use the ‘limes’ as preserved lemons? The honeysuckle aromas would be perfect in a tagine ; )
Hi Mrs Mulberry Thanks for visiting. I have already made 4 jars of preserved lemons this year.
I have been feeling very guilty about the compost heap comment so I made 3 litres of ‘lime’ cordial. I could always make another 3 litres, I suppose but I do have 3 lemon trees full of lemons to find uses for, as well.
Glenda you’ve got some great things happening in your kitchen this month. I love all of them and if I had a whole heap of those limes-not really limes, I’m be making marmalade. I haven’t made any this season… hmm, maybe I need to get on to that.
Those pudding moulds are beautiful.
Hi Brydie. The ‘limes’ are lovely. It is just that there are so many of them. I have some friends visiting at the moment and I gave them a bucket full. It is great when people can use them.
Hi Glenda
Are those the limes (which are now not limes) you were to give us? Boo Hoo.
F & A
Yes, they are the exact ones. I have kept a small box for you. I was going to send you an email to see if you still wanted them. They are good for juicing, marmalade, lemon or lime tarts etc but they are not real limes. Sorry.
How could you compost those limes? They look fab.
Hi Anne
They are fab, but what can I do with so many. There is a limit to the amount of cordial I can make:(
Hi Glenda Where is Peter’s of Kensington located? I want one of then garlic crushers. Thanks
Hi Sue
It’s in Anzac Parade Kensington NSW. They have a great online shop. Here is the link. http://www.petersofkensington.com.au/Public/Default.aspx Don’t spend too much money. Once you start, it is hard to stop.
Wow, now that’s what I call a line up of goodies! What a bargain on the cake tin, and a great idea about cutting out the bottom. Smart thinking. Interesting citrus fruit. Oh no, the compost bin? What do they taste like?
Hi Lizzy. The fruit taste a lot like a lemonade – a very mild lemon, but they look like a mandarin. I will make some cordial with them but I have so many…. You can use them for anything that you would use a lemon for.
I have the same herb cutters, my Mum gave them to me. Interesting IMK, my life has been hectic so I don’t know if I will have time to do one this month.
Hi Sue
I have never seen the herb cutters before. I hope your life is hectic and fun, not hectic and stressful