What's new and nifty in my November Kitchen?
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A large selection of German Lebkuchen: this is one of the many selections in
a gift box from Evelyn. A favorite: “Dominoes” which have three layers, gingerbread,
almond paste, and jelly, and are covered with chocolate. (Irresistible!)
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| A new butter and cheese dish with a slot for the knife. |
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Also new: tongs to replace a broken pair: useful & boring.
We also bought some new spatulas -- also boring but useful. |
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| Round proofing basket for Len’s bread making. |
Cooking
During the month of November, as we've done for months during out long dark lockdown, we ate almost every meal at our own table, just the two of us, having cooked the food for ourselves. As the pandemic statistics rose to new heights, we even stopped going into the one or two little markets where we felt safe for a while. All our groceries came from deliveries or curb-side pickup.
We tried various combinations of new flavors.
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We made frittata with Asian flavors, and finished the top with the
kitchen torch rather than under the broiler. |
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The frittata had eggs (of course) and broccoli, onions, mushrooms, and
Asian condiments; garnished with cilantro, soy sauce, and hoisin sauce. |
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Wild-caught gulf shrimp with fresh vegetables.
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We constantly make new kinds of pancakes from sourdough discard.
Here: pancakes with raisins and dried apricots with a side of fried apple slices. |
Kitchen Essentials
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Essential kitchen item: Vlasic dill relish!
Tuna salad without it is impossible. |
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Essential to have on hand: wine. The beverage for Elizabeth's
weekly blogger get-together. |
Thanksgiving
Some good things we ate: mushroom gravy, pumpkin with garlic and cilantro, and a chicken with dressing made from wild rice, white rice, cranberries, and green onions. Then on Saturday night, we had a great gift: leftover duck and sides reserved for us from the Thanksgiving dinner of some relatives who quarantined for 2 weeks to be able to get together with each other.
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 | Carving the chicken on Facetime, as we shared our
Thanksgiving dinner with Evelyn and her family. |
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Down the street, Kathy’s Bear also enjoyed
a turkey dinner. |
Baking
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For Thanksgiving, Len baked apple bread (shown) and rye-raisin bread.
We ate some and gave some to several friends. |
Strangest Food Read of November
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata has some of the weirdest and most disturbing food scenes that I've ever read. I liked her first book,
Convenience Store Woman (blogged here), but this new one was really horrifying! Both books are about characters that reject Japanese society in eccentric ways, but I think Murata has gone off some kind of deep end now!
This concludes my kitchen roundup for the busy, though isolated, month of November. I’m sharing with a number of bloggers at the event “In My Kitchen” sponsored by
Sherry’s Pickings.
Blog post and photos © 2020 mae sander for mae food dot blog spot dot com.
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata has some of the weirdest and most disturbing food scenes that I've ever read. I liked her first book, Convenience Store Woman (blogged here), but this new one was really horrifying! Both books are about characters that reject Japanese society in eccentric ways, but I think Murata has gone off some kind of deep end now!
Sometimes those boring but useful tools are the most exciting. I am still on the lookout for a particular style of ladle. I have one and adore it, but all I can find are big clunky ones. One of these days I will have the excitement of coming across another. It's all about the hunt. Your food sure looks yummy this month. We've done sourdough pancakes too, and you apple bread sounds yummy. Have a happy early T day Mae. And hope December starts out in a good way!
ReplyDeleteDominoes are a must for the holiday sweets here :-)) I love that frittata.
ReplyDeleteHaving trouble commenting, will try once more. Just came over from Sherry's Pickings. Love your finds, even the boring ones, but especially that butter/cheese dish. Shouldn't they ALL come with a knife slot?!
ReplyDeleteI'm enjoying looking at your food variety :) I put sweet pickle relish in my tuna salad lol.
ReplyDeleteHappy T Day!
Looks like great fun in the kitchen Happy T Kathy
ReplyDeletehi Mae
ReplyDeletethanks for joining in again so faithfully! i love getting handy little gadgets (like my new whisk), tho i do have a drawer-full of stuff i never use too - like the garlic wheel for crushing garlic. hope you had a great Thanksgiving. it's so odd here that we have the black friday thing without the thanksgiving day before it. Soooooo commercial! have a great festive season. and thanks for your support this year!
cheers
sherry xx
Oh nothing like making up frittatas and having kitchen utensils:):) Happy T day!
ReplyDeleteFor being in lockdown, you eat better than anyone I know. Your meals always make me smile and I am always afraid to visit if I'm hungry. I enjoyed reading about the new tools, too. After all, form follows function. I also enjoyed seeing your wine holder and loved seeing your carving of the turkey via the internet (which included drinks, too). Thanks for sharing your various drinks and your food with us for T this almost Tuesday. I also use sweet relish in my tuna salad. It isn't the same without the relish and hard cooked eggs.
ReplyDeleteMy mother would love the Lebkuchen. May the new proving basket provide lots of wonderful loaves.
ReplyDeleteLots of wonderful and tempting food. Dominoes are a constant temptation in the Autumn/pre-Christmas time here, there are so many varieties in the shops, so I try to avoid them all, because once I get started, it's hard to stop! Happy T Day, Valerie
ReplyDeleteLOL. Just saw this first pic and thought ... as in "...", LOL. Brrr. Sweet.
ReplyDeleteBut luckily you came up with the cheese, YUM! And, hmmmm, it goes on on the very yummy side! Not a duck-fan, my Mum made the yummiest goose, I sure miss that (it was a Christmas-dish.)
Awww... even Teddy has turkey! Earthlings sounds strange indeed...
Great looking meals. And I like that butter dish you got, with a place for the knife. Teddy is now very upset with me, asking why I didn't give him a Thanksgiving meal the way your neighbor Kathy did with her bear. :-) Happy T-Day!
ReplyDeleteWow! So much delicious looking food. It looks like you two really enjoy experimenting with ingredients. The raisin and apricot sourdough pancakes really sound yummy to me. Looks like you ate well over the Thanksgiving holiday. Hope that you are able to see your family again soon in person. That was nice that you dined together through the screen.
ReplyDeleteHappy Tea Day,
Kate
I really like this post. This is such a good looking meal. I too use the tools you have posted. I like the idea that you and your family ate together via screen.
ReplyDeleteoh my it all looks good. Love the wee bear having a solitary dinner. I'd be tempted to sit with him
ReplyDeleteIt's wonderful to be able to cook like that, especially in times like these. Everything looks scrumptious. Our cooking is pretty boring. But we did make our traditional Thanksgiving dinner. And we have the leftovers to prove it - lol.
ReplyDeleteThe frittata with Asian flavors looks really appealing to me. Yum.
The little bear at his Thanksgiving feast is really cute.
Happy T-day! Stay safe and well. Hugs, Eileen
Looks like you've been having a fun time! Lebkuchen are a favourite of our this time of year, so yummy with a nice mug of hot chocolate ...lol 😀. Happy T Day wishes! Hugs, Jo x
ReplyDeleteYum! Frittata and lots of other delicious food! And I love Dominosteine. So delicious!
ReplyDeleteIt's almost time to prepare supper and now I'm so hungry! All that food looks wonderful. I'd really like to try the lebkuchen, too. Take care and Happy T Day
ReplyDeleteLotta good stuff in your kitchen! We're not going anywhere either, and get all our food delivered. We're actually wondering if we can do away with our car -- it gets so little use these days. Anyway, I'm always in favor of pancakes, particularly savory ones. And I can never resist a frittata. Haven't made one with Asian flavors that I recall, but I can assure you that's in our future. :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely food-filled blog post!
ReplyDeleteKitchen basics might be boring, but you can't do without. When something important brakes in my kitchen I'm out of sorts and can't wait to get it replaced, and when i do, I do a happy dance!
You say you have been cooking your own meals since the beginning of covid. Does that mean, you didn't cook before? Did you go out every day?
How very kind of your relatives to give you a yummy left-over duck! And carving the bird via Facetime sounds fun too.
Your husband's baking sounds great. I am intrigued by the rye and raisin bread. I will try and find a recipe for that (I don't have sourdough, but I'm sure that's bot strictly necessary).
Sorry I'm late,
Happy belated T-Day,
Hugs,
Lisca
The chocolate with gingerbread is calling out to me. I need to find that next time I get out to World Market or Trader Joe's if they have it. Glad to see and read you had a nice Thanksgiving. The meal sounds so good. Maybe I ought o get my In My Kitchen post together and share.
ReplyDeleteI should know better than to read your posts around dinner time. It all looks wonderful -- food, gadgets and all!
ReplyDeleteAlways love seeing what you're up to and Len's baking. That Dominoes variety sounds oddly delicious. Thanksgiving was weird this your, for certain. We did visit family but wore masks and/or were outside the entire time. No hugs. Did some zooming, too! Loved that Vlasic made your list! :)
ReplyDeleteThose boring tongs look really exciting to me, I love kitchen gadgets more than anything. Your life under lockdown looks similar to ours, with dinners for two. Good to see that you could celebrate Thanksgiving via the screen and enjoy some traditional treats while still maintaining social distancing. Len's bread is looking very good. And the wild caught prawns, yum, my favourite. Hoping that the next few months bring you some relief from this ongoing disaster. I admire your courage and outlook.
ReplyDeleteHi Mae, so many interesting things in your kitchen! Love that butter dish, such an elegant slot for the knife! I've got a little collection of bannetons as well :) Len's bread is looking pretty amazing
ReplyDeleteAll those cheese dishes should come with a slot for the knife. I love that you were able to share your holiday dinner via Zoom or the internet.
ReplyDeleteMae, I really liked your chicken stuffing suggestions. YUM! (Remind me to get a kitchen torch while I'm at it, too -- one of the few things I've yet to acquire IMK -- sounds like an "essential worker" I need.) Glad to hear you're getting on well there, despite things. What a year it's been, eh? Yay for Vlasic pickle products, too! (My hubby's fave is their baby gherkins.) Me? I'm all for dill relish on Chicago-style hotdogs or pretty much anything, lol! Wishing you a safe and Happy Holidays, xo.
ReplyDeleteOops, sorry if this comment is a repeat, Mae. Tried leaving one on IMK, but the Google gods are making it seem like mine didn't go through. My current blog post is https://alittlelunch.com/2020/12/10/in-my-kitchen-december-2020/ and I thank you for your comment there. (Will get back to you shortly!) Hope all is going well for you during this tumultuous holiday season, xo.
ReplyDeleteSorry I haven't been over, just haven't been blogging so much the past few months. I had a quick scoot of your blog posts, always like feasting my eyes. Wishing you and your family a joyful, safe and Happy seasonal holidays.
ReplyDeleteBelated Merry Christmas Mae - it has been quite a month as well as quite a year but we are lucky to be able to have gatherings without masks and quarantine. I am sorry to hear that you are bunkering down even more as the virus gets worse in America - hopefully a change of government and the vaccine will help to flatten the curve. Glad you are keeping in touch with family and enjoying lots of delicious food - in fact I am impressed by all your cooking - Len's apple bread looks wonderful and your sourdough pancakes sound delicious with apples!
ReplyDelete