Wednesday, March 31, 2021

In the Kitchen with Evelyn, Tom, and Alice


March has been a great month in our lives. As soon as our vaccinations were effective, we drove from our home (which we have not left in over a year) to visit our family in Fairfax, Virginia. While visiting, I have been cooking jointly with my daughter Evelyn and granddaughter Alice and son-in-law Tom. It’s been a pleasure! I’m starting this post about their kitchen with the 3-D printed hedgehog and celebratory champagne flutes on display in their kitchen bookcase. Evelyn has taught courses in math applications of 3-D printing, and the hedgehog was printed by some of her students.

I intend this post to be shared with other bloggers in the great kitchen-sharing that takes place every month. I’ve been taking photos of what is in the kitchen here: it’s so great to be out of my own kitchen for a while. I am especially featuring their great electric devices like the Air Fryer and the Instant Pot. To see what other bloggers are sharing this month, check out http://sherryspickings.blogspot.com/


Alice and I chopped a lot of mushrooms for a
mushroom-filled pastry dish.

And we chopped lots of ginger and scallions for soup.





Evelyn and Tom’s Air Fryer

,
Potatoes ready to go in the fryer.

The cutting device for prepping the potatoes.

Also good in the fryer: Chinese dumplings.

Air Fryer broccoli.
Great as it is, and much as I’ve enjoyed eating these dishes that Evelyn and Tom cooked, I don’t think that an air fryer is right for me in my own kitchen, mainly because I lack the space for it. The same goes for the next device: the instant pot ...

Yogurt in the Instant Pot

Evelyn’s yogurt starter is named Ivan.
She makes yogurt from Ivan every week.

Evelyn’s Instant Pot: making her very delicious yogurt.

Blog post © 2021 mae sander 

21 comments:

Angie's Recipes said...

Ivan starter...how cute! Those fried dumplings look so good.

My name is Erika. said...

So glad you were able to visit family and enjoy all that fun kitchen time Mae. You must be in seventh heaven for sure. That yogurt reminds me I should make some. Have a wonderful rest of your visit.

IzaBzh said...

That hedgehog is great, I love it ! I don't have many appliances in my kitchen but I do love my Thermomix, I use it sometimes several times a day :) Thanks for sharing !

Divers and Sundry said...

Congrats on completing the vaccination process! Your photos have made me hungry lol

Jeanie said...

Evelyn has such a great, welcoming smile! This is such a fun post and I can imagine being in someone else's kitchen was a great treat! I want to know more about the soup with ginger and scallions! So glad you have had this opportunity. I'm thinking lunch together can't be too far away!

Kitchen Riffs said...

Getting fully jabbed is such a relief, isn't it? I got my second last week, Mrs KR today. So in two weeks we can get out in the world again! Glad you can travel again. I keep thinking about getting an Instant Pot -- they do make sense to me.

Pam said...

Love the hedgehog, great things are made with the 3-D printer, I saw a cool one that a friend made that explained 2020 perfectly. Good you got both of your vaccinations and did some visiting. Bill was done with it long ago, in 2 weeks I get my second one.
I got rid of Instant Pot and air fryer followed shortly afterwards. Too bulky to deal with and clean and...

Sherry's Pickings said...

so much delicious food Mae! and how wonderful that you could leave home at last. our lockdown (for 3 days) is ending early at midday - so in 53 minutes. Yay! so we can have easter after all. i'm not even sure what an air fryer does? Fry?? Have a marvellous Easter/Passover/whatever you do or don't celebrate:-)
cheers
sherry

Sherry's Pickings said...

isn't 3D printing amazing? they will be able to - or maybe already do - make personalised limbs and things for disabled people. Marvellous!

Tandy | Lavender and Lime (http://tandysinclair.com) said...

These are two kitchen appliances I also don't have and doubt I ever will. Enjoy all these kitchen moments.

francesca said...

How nice to peep into your daughter's kitchen. I love the idea of using an instant pot for yoghurt. And very impressed with that shitaki mushroom soup.
Congrats on completing your vaccination programme. The roll out is very slow here.
Regards, Francesca. www.almostitalian.blog

New Classic r said...

Very much enjoyed get a bird's eye view of your kitchen. I absolutely love my air fryer. It is the hardest working device in my kitchen.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Lucky you to be able to leave. I'm happy for you. I've been on lockdown for so long and don't go anywhere or have anyone over. I will live vicariously through your trips now that you have been vaccinated. Now tey've opened up the age limit in my state, after I got my phone and internet back online, I called to try for an appointment. I can't try again until Saturday.

I also wouldn't have room for one, but I think Sally bought an air fryer. Glad you got to use it, though.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

This was fun Mae! I enjoyed the kitchen tour and absolutely love that it has a bookshelf! Cooking with your daughter and granddaughter sounds heavenly. I did not know you could make yogurt in an instant pot. We have one in our Florida home. I’m not much for small appliances (such as anything more complicated than the toaster) , my husband is the exact opposite, so the instant pot is really his! I’ll ask for homemade yogurt when we get to go back there (so far he has managed to resist buying a duplicate for our kitchen here in Oregon.).

DVArtist said...

Yep can't be without an airfryer or intantpot. This is a great post.

Tina said...

Great photos and it's nice to visit with family! We just bought that same electric kettle. I love it.

Marg said...

How exciting to finally get to see your family after all this time.

I have been thinking about an air fryer, but I think I will wait a bit longer before I decide for sure!

Shaheen said...

Ah nice, adore absolutely adore the hedgehog. So cool and cute. Good to read you had your vaccinations and were able to see family. We are still waiting for ours. Mushroom Ginger soup sounds lovely and that is a compliment coming from someone who is not that keen on mushrooms, YOur chips chopper reminded me of my childhood, my parents had one of those gadgets once upon a time. i remember them being quite funky at the time and all the rage. Evelyn making yogurt, also took me back to another memory - my mother still makes yogurt by storing it in warm spots in the home, it used to be near a central heater. This such a lovely post that brought back memories of my own.

Beth F said...

Fun to get out and about.

Debra Eliotseats said...

I'm planning a trip to pick up my dad this weekend (we're all three weeks out from our 2nd dose). Can't wait. I also can't wait to visit other family member's kitchens again. Hope to do that Mother's Day.

Be safe and well! LOVE the hedgehog!

Liz said...

Congratulations! How wonderful to see your family and cook in someone else's kitchen. We had the first visitors in our kitchen this past month as well. It was pure joy and you can see that in your daughter's smile as well. We have both the electric pressure cooker (which I use almost exclusively in the cold weather) and the air fryer (which I use almost every day). It does take up counter space but saves me turning on the oven for a single item. So wonderful to see your post!