January Kitchen Thoughts

What’s New?

New recipe box which I’m starting to populate with other people’s recipes.
Len made me this recipe box. Yes, I mostly keep recipes in a database, but this is a fun retro choice.

New rubber ducky and new tiny cookware. The Ducky is for Eileen’s Critters!

New table caddy: Len also made this.

In My Kitchen In January

It’s been a very quiet month in my kitchen. Few new gadgets, not very adventurous cooking, but lots of good food to enjoy quietly as the snow has been falling. We did try a few ready-made food products. I’ve posted several of these photos during the month, but I wanted to show them again in this wrap-up.

Impulsively at Trader Joe’s we bought two “stirring spoons” with which to make afternoon cocoa.

Zingerman’s Bakehouse features UP style pasties, a flaky pastry with either a diced-potato filling or a
potato-and-beef filling. (UP means Michigan’s Upper Peninsula where the miners once brought these for their lunch) 

Another Trader Joe’s ready made foods: a meatloaf with red sauce. Not bad. 

Impromptu cuisine leads to sort-of-new combinations.
Maybe never to be done again in the exact same way.

Shrimp stew with TJ’s olive bread. 

ABC Stew: Apricots, Beef, Carrots and quite a few other ingredients.

Also Len’s incredible cinnamon rolls.

Pork chops for a simple, classic dinner.

Our neighbor Anne brought us croissants of various shapes.

Mona Lisa is back on the refrigerator this month

Bringing an old cookbook to life again

Meatballs served with mushroom and onion gravy and fresh vegetables.

Alice Cooks

Alice cooked creamy pasta and brought us bread sticks and salad to accompany it.

Alice brought heart-shaped pasta and other anticipations of Valentine Day.

Home made crumpets, fruit, mushrooms, and smoked salmon for brunch at Alice’s apartment

What do I want to cook?

These are the New York Times recipes that I’ve saved in hopes that we will some day cook them.

A toast from Alice

We are so happy that Alice is now living in Ann Arbor as a graduate student
at the University of Michigan.

Outside the Kitchen: Sad Thoughts

Blog post and all photos © 2026 mae sander

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