In My Kitchen - Jan/Feb 2018

French Apple Pie: a little messy but tasty, a bit like life.

It's February... already. Hilary arrived with a hand-decorated heart plate piled high with a stack of healthy and delicious cookies, a reminder that yet another holiday arrives next week. We ate the cookies during her visit, before I even thought to grab a photo. 

Valentine's Day is just one week away - now how did that sneak up so stealthily when the last of the previous holiday trimmings are barely tucked away in storage? Denial on my part perhaps, while studiously ignoring the calendar and some promising signs of Spring outside the kitchen windows. Winter hellebore bloom alongside clumps of energetic daffodil stalks that daily shoot skyward so quickly you can almost see them grow.

When we spent time aboard the boat last month the view from the boat galley was more wintery, gray and wet with gale force winds and occasionally white-capped surf inside the marina. No promise of Spring observed here yet.

Sweaters, turtlenecks and raingear were daily attire and warming meals were in order, from oatmeal breakfasts to stews and vegetable braises. We ate interesting meals from provisions already on board and in our travel cooler. No way was I eager to brave the elements to struggle along the lurching, bouncy dock and head for a grocery.  Happily the pantry was well-stocked with staples. Strangely memorable was RL's ferry boat lunch featuring bland, underseasoned Manhatten clam chowder and his condiment choices of vinegar and mustard to top a packet of fries. Mustard! really? I wondered, "Why not poutine?" if he wanted an unconventional flavor experience. (Note to self: don't judge without tasting. The fries were surprisingly good.)  

New arrivals In My Kitchen include...

*...Emilie Raffa's sourdough cookbook, so highly recommended by numerous IMK bakers. My breadmaking has suffered lately, disappointingly inconsistent loaf to loaf with several epic failures. It's time to go back to basics, quit "winging it" and strengthen my starter, Old Faithful. Wish me luck. 

* ...a colander, bowl and pitcher that match other Sam Scott pieces in my collection. The artist's work is available at his studio in north Seattle, in numerous galleries, online at Etsy, etc. but I'd rather pick up a few pieces each year at the local Seward Park Clay Studio.  

*...plus a few more soup bowls, just because. It's time to rotate out the early marriage bowls no longer in use, the ones that hold nearly four cups. Hmmmm, did we really have appetites that large all those many years ago? 

*...a new cookbook holder that can accomodate fat cookbooks as well as a thin iPad. Yes, you can tell by the titles of the new cookbooks contained inside that I'm off on another food challenge addressing potential treatment side effects. New cooking adventures, here I come.

What's happening in your kitchen lately? Click over to Sherry's Pickings for a monthly peek into interesting lives and kitchens around the globe. Good things happen in the kitchen.