What Does Your Fridge Say About You?
As you can see below, my fridge is not much to boast about. It’s quite tidy inside and out, but it doesn’t really scream “food blogger” does it? It’s not heaving with delectable food samples, bottles of classy wine, and jars of homemade bits and bobs. The door isn’t covered in magnets from around the world, torn out recipes waiting to be tried, or coupons for free stuff that food bloggers allegedly are knee deep in. Why? Two days before Homebase contacted me about their latest, really awesome, competition I had a clear out. A big ‘un. Spring had arrived early at food to glow in the form of hot soapy water, rubber gloves and copious paper towels and e-cloths. A bag was on standby for the inevitable toss out of expired this and that (not too bad on that score). A week before we had ‘eaten down’ the contents of the fridge. In other words what my fridge says about me is “exceedingly boring.” We seem to exist on half a red cabbage (turned into a surprisingly fab smoothie – recipe soon), cauliflower, kefir, some packs of tofu, and green stuff. Oh, and a gorgeous “naan-chilada”. But more about that soon.
So,…the competition couldn’t come at a worse time for me. But, it may have come at a good time for YOU.
Just by snapping some photos of your fridge inside or out (or both) you could win some really cool stuff (pun intended). All you need to do is snap your fridge freezer and share through your social media media accounts (Twitter/Instagram), including @Homebase_UK and #KeepYourCool.
WHAT YOU CAN WIN:
1st Prize: A Silver or Black Bush Fridge Freezer
2nd Prize: An exclusive Leith’s cookery course
3rd Prize: A Naked Wine Box (12 bottles worth £120)
4th Prize: 3 lucky winners will get a Riverford Recipe Box of your choice
Head over to the Homebase competition page RIGHT NOW for more details on how to enter, plus the Ts & Cs. And, GOOD LUCK!!
Oh, and this is what I made when I cleaned out the fridge, Fridge-raid Coriander and Green Olive Tapenade. I blitzed up ‘rescued’ leaf coriander that was lurking in the veg tray, a giant bottle of green olives I got at Makro, and some of my homemade preserved lemon for the perfect slather-on spread for grilling tofu, chicken or fish. Mix it with soft cheese or ground cashews for a fabulous dip too. You can easily make this with just the fresh lemon and lemon zest, which is how I normally make it. I got this idea from a lovely little tapenade you can get at Waitrose, but it is a doddle to make your own, and we love the zingy fresh flavour of the extra fillip of preserved lemon.
Coriander and Green Olive Tapenade
2 cups green olives (stoned) in brine, rinsed and drained
1 large bunch leaf coriander/cilantro (stems and leaves) – about 50-60 grams, roughly chopped
1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced
Juice and zest of half a lemon (more to taste)
2 tsp minced preserved lemon peel (optional)
Fresh black pepper, to taste
50-70ml (1/4 – 1/3 cup) extra virgin olive oil, plus a little extra for the jar (amount is up to you – 70 ml gives a looser tapenade)
Blend all of the ingredients, except the olive oil, in a food processor or blender until mostly smooth. Blend in the olive oil until just mixed through. Blending longer makes the colour much paler but doesn’t affect the taste. Spoon the tapenade into a sterilised jar (my method plus my tawny marmalade recipe) and top up with extra olive oil. Store refrigerated for one week, or freeze in smaller amounts to use as needed (see image).
Uses: as a topping for grilled fish, tofu, chicken (mix with panko or other dried breadcrumbs and more lemon zest – mwah!); added into soups and stews for a bit of oomph; kneaded into bread dough and baked for AMAZING breadsticks; stirred into cooked pasta or hot grains; added to extra lemon and olive oil for a dressing or marinade; mixed with soft cheese or blended nuts for a dip.
Now, go on. Skedaddle! All of you lovely UK readers go take some pix of your fridge and post them over to Homebase for your chance to win some great prizes! Good luck. 🙂
Post sponsored by Homebase.
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That looks so tasty! I much prefer green tapenade to black and I love that you can freeze it.
Oh gosh Sarah, as you can see from the pic of my freezer, I freeze dribs and drabs of joust about anything, but at least I have enough sense to use bags and label them. I didn’t always and every peak inside was a magical mystery tour…
I love a tapenade and yours looks so fresh and zingy! I’d love to try is slathered on a bit of white fish – yum! I’m afraid my fridge is empty in London while we wait to move so I can’t join in with the competition. I wouldn’t dare take a photo of my MIL’s fridge… it’s a bit of a health and safety no-no 😉
It is fantastic on white fish! For that I keep it as is, and for chicken I will mix with breadcrumbs and parmesan. A special once in a blue moon treat for us. And, of course, don’t take a pic of MIL’s kitchen. But it would be cool to get a new fridge for yourself this way. Thanks for stopping by, Katie. 🙂
I just had a clean-out earlier in the week. It now looks amazing. And, I have the exact same cat magnet on my fridge. How cool is that? 🙂
The cat magnet is almost a double of my little old man cat, who goes by the very gender challenging name of Mimi! And I wonder how long it will take to refill my fridge. And yours!
What a pretty cat Mimi must be! Like the name. My fridge will probably be filled up by the middle of next week *sigh*. 🙂
;-))
I have a pretty darn lame fridge, but my pantry is insane!
My spice cupboard is blog post all on its own! I am terrible about culling that. Spices are a bit like old friends to me. What do you always have to have in your pantry? For me, it has to be capers and jalapenos – can’t ever be at risk of eating something less than a touch spicy or tangy. 😉
I have an entire supermarket in my pantry! Cinnamon sticks, nuts, seeds, mulberries, chia powder, cacao powder, Stevia, curry powder, Mrs. Dash, sea salt, pepper, dry lentils, you name it!
Love your blog – we have something in common.
That’s super cool that you cleaned out your fridge and created a new recipe. Lovely multitasking!
My fridge is not sophisticated at all but I love it like that – simple, raw ingredients because the proof is in the cooking ;]
That tapenade looks SO good, a great way to use up bits in the fridge. And I really enjoyed having a nose around your fridge 🙂