October Kitchen Post

In My Kitchen in October, 2024

Happy Halloween! We’ve viewed a remarkable number of Halloween decorations this month, and will look forward to the Trick-or-Treaters tonight. The weather has been wonderful, prolonging the season for farmers’ market produce and for the herbs in our garden — though the last few nights have been a bit hard on some of the more delicate ones.

The basil went to seed a few weeks ago, but we’ve used all the herbs this month in delicious ways.

First, a Few things that we cooked this month

Roast chicken — served with a bat spatula.

Late Summer Fruit Crumble

The crumble in my favorite baking dish, purchased in Paris long ago.

Last plum cake of 2024?

Little Lettuce Salads with Thousand-Island Dressing

Cottage cheese and veggies for lunch.

What’s New in Our Kitchen?

Maybe for the Trick-or-Treaters. Maybe for me.

Yes, this device really works. Len installed it on the underside of a shelf in the pantry.
The photo shows the box it came in.

Kitchens in Distant Places

Art Exhibit: “Food Culture in the Islamic World”

Last weekend we viewed a wonderful exhibit at the Detroit Institute of Arts titled “Food Culture in the Islamic World.” This exposition: “brings together 230 works from the Middle East, Egypt, Central and South Asia, and beyond to explore art and cuisine.” It’s open from September 22, 2024 - January 5, 2025. (Museum Website)

Here are two miniature paintings depicting kitchen scenes. I’ll be writing more about this very rich exposition.

A Kitchen in 16th-Century Persia

This is a kitchen scene from Shiraz, Persia in around 1570.

This scene is from a book called The story of rice and dumplings: “The person in yellow and red at left is the sufrachi, the hospitality manager of an elite household. Servants with trays line up behind him. The cook, wearing a white apron and wielding a red stick, has attracted the group's attention. Another servant peeks in from the doorway, perhaps a bit concerned about the holdup.” (Source: documentation in the exhibit)

Automated Wine Dispenser from Iraq, Syria, or Egypt, 1315

This is an ingenious device for serving wine: “This design for a wine-serving automaton combines mechanical engineering and entertainment. Devised by the scholar and inventor al-Jazari (1136-1206), a figure on a rolling plank emerges from a cabinet to offer a cup of wine and a napkin. After the drinker consumes the wine and wipes their mouth, they replace the cup and raise the figures arm. Wine from the reservoir at top drips into the cup to repeat the process.”

Antarctica: Two VERY Remote Kitchens

This compact kitchen is in a specially equipped tractor that will traverse Antarctica and go to the South Pole.
The researchers will live in the tractors as they spend months exploring this little-known continent.
From my friend Carla, who works at the research station in Antarctica. (source)

A view of lunch prep in the kitchen at McMurdo Research Station in Antarctica.
If you are intrigued by the life of researchers in this very remote place, see Carla’s blog:
Traversing the Space Between.

Happy Halloween!

This year’s Giant Pumpkins a few blocks from our house.
For pictures of this neighbor’s pumpkins from the past see this blog post.

Blog post © 2024 mae sander; photos as credited