Good Bread

 

In My Kitchen, July 2026

New Things in My Kitchen

New octopus-shaped jar which Evelyn made for me.

Dragon coffee bowl, also by Evelyn.

New grill pan which marks the food with grill marks.

Magnets

New magnets on the refrigerator.

A Little Magnet History

My magnet collection, which contains quite a few of them, hasn’t changed much lately, but Evelyn visited Arches National Park in June, and brought me the Arches magnet. The second new magnet — which I bought at a local shop — depicts the “Big Tire,” which is a famous Detroit landmark on Highway 94 between Ann Arbor and Detroit. 

The photo from a car window, taken a couple of years ago, shows the actual Big Tire as we were driving past it. The structure inside the “tire” was originally a ferris wheel built for the New York World’s Fair in 1964. The tire company purchased the ferris wheel in 1966 at the end of the fair. They moved it to its current location beside the freeway where it was repurposed as a record-setting outdoor advertisement. 

It makes a good magnet!

What We’ve Been Eating

Ripe local peaches. The stone-fruit season is just starting.

Lots of vegetables: here, tomatoes, green beans, potatoes.

Fresh corn

Meatballs

Berries

Len's Bread

Salmon from Seattle, a gift from Miriam

Salmon that Alice cooked for us in her kitchen

Blintzes in a fairly recently purchased skillet.

Pasta with cheese and pepper (cacio e pepe) — an Ottolenghi recipe

Cherry tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and grilled chicken

More Berries

Cookbook from the library: most of the recipes call for too much chili pepper.

In July we can cook outdoors all the time, and often do so.

 All Photos © 2026 mae sander

Shared with In My Kitchen, the monthly blog event

Eating lots of salmon. Also reading classic mystery.

 Reading Today

An insanely complicated plot! 
I don’t think I can face another book from this author.

Recently: Lots of Salmon!

Pacific salmon: a gift from Miriam in Seattle. I love salmon.

Miriam’s salmon with potatoes and salad.

Photo from Miriam in Seattle. Wish I had been there too.

Salmon at Alice’s house.

More Food

Len’s freshly baked bread

A chopped liver and corned beef sandwich in Southfield, MI last week.

Sourdough

  

“The starter greeted me like a puppy, yapping and leaping, excited to be alive.”
A quote from Robin Sloan’s Sourdough.
Len’s starter is better behaved than the starter in the novel, which is very naughty.

Len’s bread made a few years ago — he makes it often, and will bake it this afternoon.

I’m rereading Robin Sloan’s novel just for fun.
While Len bakes for our coming guests.

Good bread for sale in Ann Arbor: including sourdough loaves at Zingerman’s Bakehouse

March in the Kitchen

 New in My Kitchen in March

New Mug Rack that Len made for some of our many mugs.
Len has been doing a lot of woodworking.

We have been using the new tray for many meals… such as this patè, cheese, bread, and chips.

Good Meals in March

We cooked at home for most of our March dinners. Here are photos — some new, some you’ve seen earlier this month. 

At Home

… and another roast chicken!

For Saint Patrick’s Day, of course.

We frequently have tuna salad in one form or another.

Alice made us some classic chocolate chip cookies.

Len made Pad Thai — super good!

Another meal that Len made.

Bacon on Special

I needed a few strips of bacon for classic Boeuf Bourgignon, so I went quickly into a Kroger store.
They had a special: buy one package get one free. So we have had about a year’s worth of bacon this month!

A Take-Out Meal: Food from the Himalayas

At Slurping Turtle 

Miso Soup

Seafood plate.

Sashimi with raw tuna and vegetables.

Final March Reading (not in my kitchen)

I’m not sure I’ll keep reading this in April.
The first 200 pages have been disappointing. I expected more from
Diana Wynne Jones.

Shared with Sherry’s “In My Kitchen” 

Blog post and photos © 2026 mae sander