Meanwhile, back in the kitchen

I’m still having this problem where I forget to photograph food. I think it’s partially because I feel like the pictures of, for example, a pan of scones from 2025 looks almost the same as the one from 2020. And also because it’s the time of year where it’s too dark to get a good picture. I used to have terrible trouble getting good pics of dinner at this time of year when it gets dark so early, when I was writing recipes for CSA. And speaking of writing recipes for CSA, that’s another reason. Since my CSA went to its short spring season, I’m doing “recipes lite”. Which means I search for online recipes that use up the week’s veggies, and add a head note about substitutions, etc. No food photography required, unless I decide that none of the recipes I’m finding are good enough, so I write one instead. You can see examples of “recipes lite” here.

Here’re a few cooking projects that worked recently.

Sourdough kinda worked. It rose nicely but I made a poor choice of baking vessels and got a lumpy boule and a small loaf.

But at least I think I figured out how I was killing my sourdough starter – I was starving it. Underfeeding, trying to keep the volume down so I wouldn’t have as much discard. So this time I got out the starter, weighed it and put in half the weight in water and half the weight in flour. I fed the same amounts the next day, then the third day I baked with it. I can see where what I should have been doing is discarding the same amount I put in, but I didn’t get that scientific. Next time I bake, I’m going to just take out part of the starter and feed that.

I made some sourdough discard biscuits during the feeding process, and they were really good, nice and tall and you could break them into layers. But no pics. We ate them with some pork chops that I browned and then braised in the oven with apples and onions and chicken broth. Then when I took the chops out, I immersion-blended the sauce and added a splash of cream. The leavings in the braiser didn’t quite cover the bottom of the blender, so it was sort of a slightly chunky, slightly applesauce-y, slightly gravy sauce, that was of course good on the biscuits. And I roasted a bunch of the veggies I got in that first CSA from LoveFood (scroll to the bottom for the list), cauliflower and green beans and carrots, and also potatoes that weren’t from the CSA box added to the pan. A very nice dinner, but no pics.

I tried out Smitten Kitchen’s browned butter snickerdoodles because when I read the recipe it sounded like it would work, and it did. I made them Friday and I took some with me to close the UW-Libraries book sale on Saturday afternoon and they all went before the store cookies. 

Also on Friday I made some squash hummus, that I planned to use as a filling for savory kolaches.

The kolaches were inspired by Bayou Saint Cake and and Cafe Yaya.

I made the dough for the kolaches on Saturday afternoon thinking I’d bake them Sunday, but it was kind of too much with the waffles (see below) so I crossed my fingers the dough would survive a longer cool rise and baked them Monday instead. It rose slowly but it still rose.

I thought I made such a nice dinner Monday night, Ovens of Brittany Tomato Dill soup, the savory kolaches, and a big salad. Mark took a hard pass on the kolaches, though, and made a sandwich, on bread from the lumpy boule, which is indeed nice and white and fluffy. 

He liked the sweet ones, that are filled with cream cheese and rhubarb and a little streusel on top.

Sunday morning we had sourdough waffles and link sausages and fried apples for breakfast. I also heated up one of the blueberry muffins I’d made for the book sale set up day the Tuesday before, and toasted the doughy cranberry scones. Mark wouldn’t eat any of these tried-to-be-rejuevenated baked goods, but he enjoyed the waffles with an egg on top and apples and sausage.

Jasper had toaster waffles for breakfast Wednesday.

Also on Sunday, I turned the heat on and the cats came up from their secret basement sleeping spot to loaf on the guest/student bed.

Saturday was the last day of the UW Libraries Friends book sale, and I had to go in to help close it down. But that wasn’t until 12:30, so I met a couple fellow ’55 babies for brunch before.

And there’s two Jasper days to show you.

Week before last when we got a bagel stick and ate it outside then played around the dumpsters for a long time then walked to the park. And then went home for lunch and nap and I broke out the light up pumpkins.

Then this past week, where we had waffles for breakfast, and then went to Colectivo and Wingra park.

It’s been another busy week. Besides the soup & kolaches Monday, I went on a quest for something with drawers to sit near my computer desk, that I replaced with a table without drawers. So all the junk from the drawers, pens and cables and notes and two old iPhones and chargers for my cameras, and so on, has been in a laundry basket that the cats can claw at. I also wanted something to replace the catfood container in the basement, a small plastic trash can with a lid that seals. I got the drawers OK at the used office furniture place, but the 10-gallon paint bucket I bought for catfood wasn’t going to work. I returned it and bought a designated catfood bin at Mounds on Tuesday after yoga. Wednesday was Al’s birthday so to stopped by his fancy barber shop and got him a gift certificate. I ran out of time to go take the old catfood trash can and other broken rigid plastic stuff that’s been collecting in the basement to the drop off site, I guess I’ll do that next week.

Tuesday night I took Susan out for happy hour at Cadre for her birthday.

Wednesday was Jasper, then Lovefood CSA box 2 (mostly nice stuff; the acorn squash had a soft spot so I stuck it in the fridge, and the broccoli was only one big stalk, but I added it to some other broccoli I bought at the farmers market last Saturday and I think we’ll have it roasted tomorrow) and a Willy St. Board meeting. I had roasted squash for an early dinner before the meeting and Mark walked to Milio’s for a sandwich. We finished the snickerdoodles after the meeting. 

Thursday we went to the state librarians conference, fun, but a long day. The highlight was Wisconsin’s own Jane Hamilton giving the lunchtime keynote, wresting with the question of giving a talk based on the conference theme, “Be the change”.

Next, Friday trip to Chicago for the unlikely double header of Chicago symphony in the afternoon, and David Byrne in the evening. Probably bagels before the symphony for lunch, and tavern pizza for dinner before Byrne. Saturday, breakfast at Cafe Yaya with John & Megan. I shall report back.