Kitchen Notes 16.11.2018

It’s been a busy week in the kitchen as I crawl out of the hell that was whatever virus struck me down the week before. I have the kids home today too as the youngest one slept all night with her head in a bucket, telling me she didn’t feel well. Nobody slept very much at all, really so it’s a quiet day on the couch for the girls. So far no spew though, and I’m grateful. The five minutes I was asleep overnight was filled with dreams of her vomiting so I’m super stoked none of it has actually happened!

I had been watching a lot of cooking shows during my own convalescence, and my greatest desire was to get up and PIPE SOMETHING FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, pastry bags come at me. I fulfilled that desire with the strawberry cupcakes I mentioned earlier, piping icing as though my life depended on it.

Also in the realm of baked goodies, we had double chocolate chip muffins, in which I ingeniously hide zucchini so the small child actually ingests some kind of vegetable. I’ve not blogged them yet, but I will – they’re pretty great and the zucchini is completely tasteless. They last for a week in an airtight tin and they get trotted out for lunch almost every day.

I also made this Claire Ptak banana bread and I don’t wanna peak too soon but I don’t think I’ll be making any other banana bread in a hurry. Even my own. I subbed wholemeal flour and spiced rum for the regular. It stayed so soft and never dried out at all even though it took us a few days to eat it. New favourite!

And a soothing loaf of wheaten soda bread because once you start eating that shit you literally cannot stop. Every morning for breakfast and alongside soup and every other meal this week. Hot damn it’s good.

I’ve also got a pot on the stove of my best full-flavoured veggie stock to have as tortellini en brodo for lunch today with the one serve of pasta I have left in the freezer. No insipid vegetable water here! It’s a banger of a recipe.

Dinner-wise this week, we’ve done:

– “meat” pie, mash / roast pumpkin / sauteed spinach and asparagus / steamed broccoli and carrot

– ricotta tortellini with a roast pumpkin and blue cheese sauce + toasted pine nuts

– Everyone else had bean quesadillas/nachos on Tuesday and I was out at the opera, I had a very disappointing (and expensive) gnocchi

– Buffalo “chicken” and potato casserole, corn on the cob / broccoli / carrot

– Rissoles with relish, herby mustard potato salad / fresh tomato and snap peas / eaten outside with a cold G&T.

Tonight will be pizza, because Friday. The MOTH will be away so it will be just us girls. I might give them pizza if the young’un can stomach it, and me leftover pie and mash from last night. Eaten on the couch with a fork AKA HEAVEN.

I’m out of rye and spelt at the moment, and have finally found the massive bag of coconut sugar I bought from Costco and promptly lost for two weeks. Turns out it was sitting at my front door (hidden by a blanket). I think we’ve also managed to eat our way through the extraordinary amount of food in the freezer, which is handy because nothing else was going to fit. I think there’s just some stuffed baked potatoes in there now, and several varieties of lunchbox muffin. Maybe a bag of brioche hot dog rolls and the ever-present veggie gyoza. I can see the back of the freezer now and feel a bit better about that!

Thus endeth this week’s kitchen notes.