It’s been several months since my last IMK post. In My Kitchen is part of a collection of posts from bloggers around the world, hosted by Sherry of Sherrys pickings. The posts detail what’s new in kitchens over the past month (or several months as the case may be). Click on the link to read them or join us. What’s new in your kitchen?
In My Kitchen, or rather on the back deck, is a new smoker/BBQ. It was a very generous gift from a house guest and we have just started using it. Last night we had the juiciest and most delicious pork chops I have had in my entire life. First smoked and then quickly seared. Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures because we gobbled up every last scrap and chewed on the bones as well. I apologize to any vegetarians reading this post.

Traeger Grill
In my kitchen I have some new whole wheat grains from Community Grains.
They are a California company dedicated to restoring the full meaning of “whole grain” to commercially available products.
From a study on their website:
“This study investigates whether current systems of whole wheat production and labeling meet consumer expectations for “whole wheat”: a reasonable belief that 100% or certainly most of the kernel (“whole”) is contained in the output of any whole wheat mill and therefore any product made from it. Dr. David Killilea developed a procedure for accurately determining levels of whole wheat in products labeled “whole grain” or “whole wheat,” taking measurements of a biomarker protein (wheat germ agglutinin—WGA) present in the germ of the wheat kernel.”
The results were fairly shocking in that many products labeled whole wheat are actually not.
In my kitchen I have some imported pumpkin torchio pasta which was delicious with a sauce of roasted butternut squash and fried sage leaves.
In my kitchen I have flowers, early summer is when Northern California gardens are in their prime. I love having freshly cut flowers in the house.

Flowers from the garden
In my kitchen I have a new cookbook by Ali Slagle, I Dream of Dinner. She is a contributor to the NY Times food section.
I haven’t had a chance to cook from it yet although I am enjoying reading it. Have any of you tried anything?
The summer brings fairly simple meals around here, grilled chicken and sliced seasonal tomatoes being a favorite.

Chicken thighs on the Traeger grill
Leftovers make great tacos.

Lime Garlic Chicken Tacos
The garden has also been able to provide us with fresh zucchini and greens.

Zucchini from the garden
Because of the current uptick in Covid cases, I have been limiting how often I go to the grocery store for supplies. So occasionally the larder is somewhat bare. But I have found even a simple meal of roast asparagus and french toast eggs can be delicious. This meal reminded me of ‘toads in a hole’ as the eggs were baked in a hole in the bread.
A chilled glass of wine can make any meal memorable, even a simple one.
In my kitchen I always have dogs underfoot. My friend’s dog Heather was visiting and hanging out.

Casey, Quinn, Heather and Shanna
And here is Casey looking somewhat like a stuffed dog in her ‘thunder shirt’ which is supposed to calm her from anxiety.

Casey
Sadly she has been having a doggie version of night terrors. We are hoping that medication will calm her, so far it is having only limited effectiveness.
And that’s my update. I’d love to hear from you if you leave a comment.
Baking eggs in a hole in the bread is a speciality that we love on the BBQ as well, giving it a French twist and with asparagus sounds perfect. Your dogs are beautiful. we lost our Border collie last year, so sad. Your summer garden is so productive. Winter is our most productive time. Enjoyed your IMK post, thanks. Best, Pauline
your produce and flowers look lovely. nice to have home grown food. My mum used to make us egg in bread – i can’t remember what we called it! I hope your dog feels better soon. those tacos look delicious. thanks for joining in Liz. have a good month. cheers S
Your dogs are appealing — we have a dog-relative (belongs to my nephew) who suffers from anxiety, and all the treatments are very exhausting to the dog’s family. I hope you experience a quick recovery.
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Such beautiful flowers. I only grow flowers to bring inside. This summer they’re not too happy. Beautiful group of doggies!!!
Your garden is supplying no just lovely flowers but some wonderful veggies as well. That pasta shape is very interesting, I’m going to have to look for it at our market.
I’ve seen CBD treats for dogs. Don’t know if that would help for the pup. So sad. What a tremendous gift. Looking forward to more grilling recipes from you!
Thank you. We first tried CBD and unfortunately it didn’t make any difference. We have finally come up with a scheme that calms her during the day and gets her to sleep at night. It took a couple of months to work things out though.
We tried CBD and it didn’t really help, unfortunately.