07 | October | 2016 | Bewitching Kitchen

It’s been two months since my last In My Kitchen post. Time to invite you for another little virtual tour of our kitchen, as part of the fun event initiated by Celia, and now hosted by Lizzy from Good Things. I have quite a few gifts to share so let’s get this party started

Our friends Denise and Hélio came to visit us and showered us with gifts….

Straight from France, a bag of the most fragrant Herbes de Provence! One of our favorite spice mixes, we do not make croutons for our Caesar salad without a nice sprinkling….

Also from Provence, a sampling of gourmet salts. These are incredible! Lavender salt, Hisbiscus, Curry, and sun-dried Tomatoes with Basil. I eat a lot of fried eggs for lunch, and these salts are perfect to finish them, adding variety and fun.

Did they spoil us or what? Gourmet mustards… my favorite, the tarragon version… spectacular on grilled salmon.

This super special tea, which made me do a happy dance all over the kitchen… It turns out I had just saved a recipe for a very intriguing type of ice cream and it called for Rooibos tea. The blueberries in this one will only make that concoction better, if you ask me… Stay tuned.

In our kitchen…

Yes, it’s exactly what the label says. Pistachio paste. OMG. I put it to very good use, by the way. Filling for macarons. You will have to be patient, at some point I promise to share. The smell as you open the bottle is out of this world amazing. I think it might have aphrodisiac components in it. Beware.

In our kitchen….

Or should I say, from our garden… This humongous zucchini that escaped our radar. Are we the classical absent-minded scientists or what? Anyway, I had no idea what to do with it, but it ended up as a delicious dinner. On the blog soon. Yes, you can call me a teaser…

In our kitchen…

Two ingredients that our grocery store now carries in a special spot dedicated to Italian and Spanish ingredients. Have I ever told you I love mortadella? I grew up fighting with my Dad for the last slice, so whenever I see the authentic product for sale, I get nostalgic. One of my pet peeves is people comparing mortadella with Bologna. My blood boils, and I need to count backwards from 100 to calm down. I then go into a lecture, as politely as possible to state that no, Bologna doesn’t even begin to compare to one of the greatest cold cuts in the known universe with its pieces of pistachio peeking at you. A few times we served it to friends and they go “It’s JUST like bologna, right?” I can hear Phil taking a deep breath and whispering “oh, boy, here we go….” Hey, you can love Bologna, and we’ll still be friends, but if you tell me Mortadella is Bologna, be ready for my speech. The other ingredient, is of course prosciutto, the second best cold cut in the known universe. Nothing quite like it, although American speck is very tasty too. But it is NOT prosciutto. Got that?

In our kitchen….

You win some, you lose some. I bought these out of curiosity, as they are supposed to be very low in carbs. Well, the texture is barely ok, but the coconut taste too pronounced and taking the wrap into a sweet territory that I don’t find that great. After all, when wrapping a nice piece of chicken with Mexican spices all over it, I prefer a savory wrap. I know some people love them, but I am not one of them. Phil looked at my face when I took a bite and quickly grabbed a corn tortilla. He is a smart man. But he is taken, so don’t get any ideas. I am small, but I will put up a fight you’ll never forget.

In our kitchen…

Lavender extract. Also something I bought with macarons in mind, but have been using in many other recipes. Just a couple of drops will be enough, this stuff is very potent.

In our kitchen…

A slightly smaller jar to keep my starter in the fridge. I like the bigger size for refreshing the yeast, but prefer to keep a smaller amount hibernating in the fridge between feedings. This size is ideal, and I love the color of the lid. Found on amazon.com.

In our kitchen…

It’s the time for fall colors… I have something in mind for these sprinkles. Maybe a Halloween-friendly version of Brigadeiros? Another surprise find at Marshalls. Love that store! You never know what you’ll find hiding deep in one of their shelves.

In our kitchen….

A can opener. Amazing how much I love this one. It turns out that when we had to drive all the way from Portland to Manhattan bringing Bogey, we needed to feed him his special diet, that involves a particular brand of canned dog food. As many Dalmatians, he had problems with kidney stones. Phil’s sister had quite a few of those cans stored in her garage, but of course we needed to be able to open them. We grabbed this opener from her kitchen. I am sure it is several years old, but it works better than any other opener we’ve ever had.

In our kitchen…

Little dog sculptures of The Fabulous Three! Maybe you should get to know their full names:
Oscar For the Love of God Stop
Bogey Quit That
Buck Don’t Snap Me

Speaking of that trio, it’s time to let them share their own adventures, but first….

Chief’s Stories

Many years ago, when we lived in Oklahoma, Phil trained the dogs to fetch the newspaper in the morning. Each day one of the dogs would fetch. Things were going pretty nicely, until a particular day in which Chief grabbed the newspaper, and just as Phil said “good job” he took away running around the neighborhood, newspaper firmly in his mouth. Phil was not pleased as he chased the little rascal, still in his pajamas and without any coffee in his system. Chief was fired from that job. Pits, our dalmatian, was the one in charge from that day on. Of course, Chief made it very clear he wasn’t happy with the new arrangement. I caught this scene, and it’s hilarious the way Chief grabs the newspaper after Pits fetches it, as if saying, “here, I can do that too! Now pass me that darn cookie, and make it fast!” At the very end he goes back at the plastic wrap, still a bit peeved. Undoubtedly, he had the strongest personality of any dog we ever met…

Buck and Oscar sit down to listen to Dad tell them they need to be nice to Bogey. His new brother has been through a lot and needs to feel welcome.

Buck seems totally fine with it, as the new brother meant he also got a new bed to rest his bones after a tough day of chasing squirrels and killing snakes.

Although he thinks nothing beats his good old bed, where he can relax in all his glory…

Oscar and Bogey get into canine disagreements every once in a while, but for the most part they get along ok. One day I rolled out my mat to do my exercises and went upstairs to change. When I came back, to my surprise, they were both laying by the mat, as if waiting for me, and stayed there very well-behaved during my virtual torture session with Tony Horton.

Bogey is slowly adapting to a different life, spending his daytime outside with the two new brothers….

He clearly thinks he is a lap dog, and tries to prove it to his Dad at every chance he gets…

Of course, Bogey is not alone in being persuasive…

Sir, would you find it in your heart to give me
a little bit of whatever is left from your dinner with Mom?

I close this post with a little video. Bogey doesn’t like his paws touched, so “shaking” doesn’t come easily for him.
But, some progress is being made.