Major changes in the horizon!
Tomorrow we leave on what may be our greatest adventure ever: we’ll drive (22 hours!) to Los Angeles to join a research lab at UCLA. Working in academia, we have the opportunity to take a sabbatical leave every 7 years, and this time we’ll return to beloved California. We’ll depart before sunrise with our two dogs, bikes, clothes, books, cooking stuff… and lots of music in our player!
Now, for an interesting twist of fate. We rented a “nano-house” with a tiny kitchen that is (prepare yourself…) …. without a stove or oven.
I’ll give you a few minutes to recover. 😉
I also launched into hyperventilation at this news, thinking that a food blogger without a stove is like Rio de Janeiro without carnaval, or Brazil without samba, Paris without the Eiffel Tower. You get the picture…
After much deliberation, we devised a plan of attack: we’ll take our Breville toaster oven (recently approved for bread baking), our electrical griddle, and a panini-maker. The nano-house has a microwave and an outside grill. That should provide enough toys to play with. In the past I’ve lived in such small places that I had to choose between opening the fridge or a kitchen’s drawer – literally! But it didn’t stop me from cooking. Of course, it’s not the size of the kitchen that matters, but the enthusiasm of the cook. I’m ready for this challenge!
UCLA, here we come!
At present we don’t know what the internet status will be in our new place, but I’ll be back as soon as possible to share our cooking adventures.
Au revoir et a bientot!
ONE YEAR AGO: Teriyaki Chicken Thighs
Bewitching Kitchen 
Sally, I let out a loud squeak when I read about the new kitchen! But I have every confidence that you of all people will find a way to prepare the most amazing meals ever in your new nan0-house. Think of it as an adventure – you can revisit your hippie youth of teeny tiny shared accommodation (of course, I’m assuming you actually had a hippie youth..). 🙂
Have a safe trip (I can’t help myself, I have to say that, I’m an old woman)! My one question is this: where does one fit two dogs in a nano-house? 😀
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Celia,
I cannot say I had a hippie youth myself, but my beloved was a full fledged hippie, I’ve seen some photos that are quite….. interesting… 😉
The dogs… ah, the dogs – the nano-house is a guest house behind a “real” one, so we will have a yard where they can stay during the day. They are quite old now, and pretty much lay down and sleep, pretending to guard the property against squirrel invasion…
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How exciting.
We’ve been renting for 7 years now, having left Kew Gardens in London.
And our kitchen is small, Sally.
When the oven packed up, I used the stand-alone oven for 6 months and never missed a day of the big burner, so have no fear.
You won’t be creating 6 course banquets though.
I’m envious. I wish I were bright enough to go on sabbatical …..
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Bonne route Sally, et bon courage dans la nouvelle cuisine !
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have a nice and safe trip! aguardo noticias da aventura, certamente vc dará um jeito e trazer delicias, afinal, seu brazilian backgroung for sure you be far over of your hippie backgroung. take care! bjs
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Welcome to California!
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I hope you’re singing as you go! California Girl! Enjoy the ride and the adventures J
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Good luck ! I do not leave comments so often, but I have a back problem and I cannot seat (quite serious one, we consider a surgery). But I read (in bed) and I wish you good luck, again. Take care!
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Have a wonderful trip…looking forward to your next post!
Warm regards, Barbara in Toronto
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Safe travels! If that bbq has a lid and a side burner you will be cooking up a storm in no time…looking forward to your next post!
/Cindy
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I hope the 22 hrs won’t seem endless for the 4 of you and that you’ll reach CA in great shape.
Can’t imagine myself in a house w/o a stove and an oven but counting on you to make me change my mind 😉
i’m sure you’ll have a fabulous time in CA!
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Wow! Good luck and enjoy yourselves on the trip.
I will be eagerly awaiting your return to the blog and the stories of your challenging new life in cooking.
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Sounds like an exciting adventure! Can’t wait to hear news from your kitchen. I’m sure you’ll still be turning out amazing food!
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Querida,
Depois de ver sua mensagem de adeus, fiquei curiosa pra ver os comentarios. Pelo jeito tem mta gente te desejando uma boa viagem. Com tantos bons fluidos, nao tem jeito de ser diferente, Paulo Coelho que o \diga! rs..rs…rs
bjs
Van
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Sally: Best of luck! Sounds fun and though nano, the new quarters will provide a whole new adventure, non? It’s these “challenges” that keep things exciting and us, light on our feet! Enjoy!
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Who needs an oven/stove to cook when you have a bbq… the outdoor equivilent without the indoor mess and heat. It’s a tad smaller (perhaps) than some retail stoves but none the less I baked, roasted, grilled, fried, boiled, stewed and steamed on a bbq one fall and winter in the great white north when waiting for a new oven. I did have two working indoor electric burners in a countertop stove that also needed replacing.. the oven just was the first to fail completely. Have fun
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@everybody:
thanks so much for your wishes, I am having a bit of trouble with slow connections, and barely managed to post a new entry today, so I leave you with a group “virtual-thank-you-hug”
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So this is why you have a nano-kitchen!
(I was curious about that, after reading about your fabulous Tartine bread via TFL).
While looking for this post I came across so many lovely recipes, I’m adding you to my rss reader. For someone who “cooks the stars from the sky” (as we say in Dutch), a kitchen like that will take some getting used to :). Which can be fun, of course, except for that sink!
Nice dogs!
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Oh, yeah…. the sink from hell… or thereabouts.. 🙂
I got used to most of it, but the sink still drives me nuts – we have talked to the landlord and maybe will be able to upgrade it, perhaps a “bar-size” sink…
(loved the quote “cooks the stars from the sky”)
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I have a pocket handkerchief sized kitchen, but yours pips the post. Hope your adventure went well. 🙃
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yes, all went great! so much happened since then…. life is an interesting journey
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