January 11, 2025 by Liz @ spades, spatulas, and spoons

In My Kitchen – January 2025

Happy New Year to you all. In My Kitchen is hosted by Sherry, from Sherry’s Pickings. You can visit her site to see all the wonderful new things bloggers are sharing this month. Consider adding your own post to become part of this virtual party. It’s a chance to share all the new gadgets you may have received as gifts during the holidays, and your month in food.

It seems like the time between Halloween and the New Year passes in a blurr. I know I did some cooking, but forgot to take pictures. My new year’s resolution is to do better.

It’s been very rainy up here on the Northern California coast. I wish we could send some of it down to Southern California to put out the fires ravishing communities. I feel for those who have lost so much.

So, what has been going on? In my garden there are items that will end up in my kitchen.

Asparagus

Do you see those spears just emerging? This is the third year for the asparagus bed, we will be able to harvest and eat some this year.

Garlic

This is the first year that I have planted garlic and shallots. These are the first shoots, I was inspired to plant them because of some recipes for garlic scapes (not something you will find in the grocery store). Do you know garlic scapes? Garlic scapes are the long green shoots that grow from the garlic bulb, and they are an amazing way to add garlicky flavor to your favorite dishes. They’re a bit milder than garlic cloves, which makes them the perfect base for pestos, an addition to quiches, or even eaten straight up sauteed with a little salt.

It’s also the first year that I planted leeks in the garden.

Leeks

I will let them get a bit bigger before I harvest the first of them.

In My Kitchen I have new ccokbooks, a favorite gift item.

It’s going to take some time to go through them. Cookbooks and seed catalogs are my favorites for rainy day browsing with a cup of tea.

Salad with air fryer ravioli

For dinner, roasted cauliflower, sliced sausage, arugula and air fryer ravioli.

The ravioli are wonderful, crisp with a creamy filling. And they couldn’t be easier with an air fryer. Use fresh ravioli from the refrigerated section, simply spray with a tiny bit of oil and cook at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes or until browned to you liking.

Every winter we have a few downed trees with the resulting loss of power. For the past couple of years we have been the bad guys since the trees were on our property. This year it was another neighbor. The tree fell across the road, cutting off about five houses. What a wonderful excuse to pull our the chainsaws after the power company had delt with the downed wires.

Chainsaws armed and ready!

December 13, 2024 by Liz @ spades, spatulas, and spoons

In My Kitchen – December 2024

I have been absent these last couple of months. Why, you might ask? The election threw me a punch. There is no other way to put it. I have yet to be able to read most newspaper headlines, and somehow, posting has also been affected.

I’ve been cooking and buying cookbooks—they are both refuges. I have also taken up embroidery. It keeps my hands busy when I have difficulty settling. Are any of you feeling the same way?

Friends have a cabin on Donner Lake, and we visited them in early October. Wendy is a wonderful crafter; she makes quilts (of which I have several) and other needlework. She introduced me to cozyblue, and I was hooked. It should be in my DNA because my parents, Grandmother, Great Aunt, and Uncle were artists. I do it for the relaxation and meditative aspects and am a beginner.

We ended up with lots of tomatoes from the garden, but they never ripened.

Green Tomatoes

So when life presents you with green tomatoes, you pickle and make chutney.

: Green Tomato Chutney

: Pickled Green Tomatoes

We have not tasted the pickled tomatoes, but the chutney is terrific. I tried three different recipes, and they are all excellent. Next year, I may not even bother trying to get ripe tomatoes.

There have been some stellar meals over the past couple of months…

Chicken ricotta meatballs with ravioli and salad

Pasta Puttanesca

Pasta Puttanesca for my husband’s birthday meal.

Kale Salad with Delicata Squash and Pomegranate Seeds

The kale was harvested from the garden.

: Carrots from the Garden

: Salad of Roast Vegetables – Carrots and Cauliflower

Roast Cauliflower Salad with Pinenuts and Dates

Mexican Pizza with Black Beans and Mango Salsa

Crispy Oven Roasted Gnocchi Salad with Butternut Squash and Feta

Crispy Oven Roasted Gnocchi Salad with Butternut Squash, kale, and Feta

In My Kitchen, I have some new cookbooks. I read them like novels and love trying new flavors. My birthday is in October, and cookbooks are fabulous presents. Sometimes they are to me, from me, love me.

We have also had some doggie adventures. Ollie visited with his owner, and we took a walk in the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens when the dahlias were in full bloom. It’s a very dog-friendly place.

Shanna and friend Ollie at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens

At Donner Lake, we hiked a lot with the dogs. Quinn was completely tuckered out. Here she is trying to fit into Ollie’s bed.

Quinn, after a long day of hiking in the Tahoe Area.

Quinn, after a long day of hiking in the Lake Tahoe area

Shanna at Donner Lake, showing off

Shanna just wanted to stretch out.

Next, we visited Utah for more visits with friends and their dog.

Inyo and Shanna in Utah

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday. Thank you for visiting. And your comments make me happy.

September 10, 2024 by Liz @ spades, spatulas, and spoons

In My Kitchen – September 2024

Although the title is September, this post reviews what’s been happening in my kitchen for the past few months. In My Kitchen is a gathering of bloggers worldwide who share the latest news. Sherry of Sherry’s Pickings hosts it.

Summer is a season of minimalism in the kitchen, as much of my time is spent in the garden. You can read about that in this post, “In My Garden – August 2024.”

Nasturtiums from In My Garden – August 2024

In My Kitchen, I have produce from the garden.

Zucchini of mixed varieties

A recent cookbook acquisition has inspired me to make pizza. The pizzas are arranged seasonally, and she suggests accompanying salads.

Pizza Night by Alexandra Stafford

Zucchini and zucchini flower pizza using green squash

Zucchini and zucchini flower pizza – using yellow squash

We cooked them on our gas grill, and they were delicious.

A tomato salad with creamed feta accompanied the pizza.

Tomato salad with creamed feta (that’s a dog toy in the lower corner, not a dead squirrel)

Another pizza was this one with purple cauliflower from the garden.

Cauliflower pizza

We do a lot of outdoor grilling in the summer. Meals have included skirt steak.

Skirt steak

And turkey burgers with smashed tater tots and salad.

Turkey burgers, smashed tots, grilled zucchini

I have been experimenting with fermentation; these are fermented pickles.

Fermented pickles

They were pretty tasty with the turkey burgers.

One night, dinner was a large shredded cabbage salad with chickpeas from another new cookbook by the author of the Weekday Vegetarian, Jenny Rosenstrach. This one is the Weekday Vegetarians Get Simple. It contained crisp chickpeas and fried onions with a curry yogurt-based dressing. I admit we cheated and had a bit of grilled salmon as well.

the Weekday Vegetarians Get Simple

Cabbage Salad

The tomatoes are so wonderful right now, and we enjoy their abundance. I have been making a variety of tomato salads, sometimes combining them with fruit such as peaches, nectarines, or watermelon.

Tomato and peach salad with burrata

When I don’t feel like cooking, my husband steps up to the plate with his specialty: bruschetta. It’s always melted cheddar with sliced tomato and avocado, and we never tire of it.

Tomato and avocado bruschetta

The farmer’s market has an abundance of produce, including these russet potatoes. I was inspired to do something a little different. I first boiled them in a Chinese ‘master stock’ before completing the cooking and crisping them in the air fryer. They were flavorful and delicious. The idea of boiling them in an intensely flavored stock was new to me.

“The salty-sweet and intensely umami stock is perfect for repeatedly being used as a poaching liquid to infuse flavor into various proteins and vegetables. The flavor of the stock will change slightly with each round.”

I strained and refrigerated it and will use it again. Please be sure to look for the recipe in the future.

Air fryer potatoes

My constant kitchen companions are always on the lookout for a handout.

Shanna and Quinn

And in my kitchen (from the garden) I have dahlias.

They are beautiful this time of year. If you visit Fort Bragg, you must make a trip to the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. They have a breathtaking Dahlia Dell, a favored site for last summer and early fall weddings.

Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens

For my ending, I wanted to throw in this funny: Many gardeners are overrun with zucchini this time of year. Maybe that’s true for you as well.

August 22, 2024 by Liz @ spades, spatulas, and spoons

In My Garden – August 2024

There is so much blooming in my garden right now that choosing what to write about is difficult. I can only give you a snapshot. So, here goes.

The big news is that we have finally finished our little vegetable farm. We now have ten 3×6-foot raised beds. We built them a foot off the ground to deter the redwood roots.

Ten raised beds

Raised beds in the vegetable garden – chard and kale, beans, chives, tarragon, winter savory

Raised beds in the vegetable garden

You may ask what is planted…

Chard and Kale

Zucchini

Globe Artichokes

Sunchokes

Lettuce

Potatoes

Bush Beans

arugula

Basil

Radishes (French and watermelon), beets, carrots, and several lettuce mixes are not pictured because they are too small.

There is room for a little seating area for an evening glass of wine.

Ready for tea or cocktails

The tomatoes are growing, with three small green ones on the vines.

tomatoes

Who is this? I found this cute little guy hanging out in one of the water tubes around the tomatoes.

Froggy friend

And, of course, there are flowers. It is looking very much like an overgrown cottage garden.

August abundance

Nasturtiums

It’s keeping me busy and dirt under my fingernails, but the garden is my happy place.

Thank you for visiting and spending time with me in the garden.

August 20, 2024 by Liz @ spades, spatulas, and spoons

July – Meatloaf with Chicken and Duck

Okay, I know meatloaf is not the most exciting-sounding recipe on this blog. However, this recipe, inspired by one for turkey meatloaf on Sally’s Bewitching Kitchen blog, is a keeper. Aside, you should look at her blog if you are a baker. She is an artist with cookies, cakes, and all things sweet.

I took some liberties with her recipe. I’ve been trying to clean out my freezer and found a package of ground duck and one for chicken, but no turkey. If I had seen some turkey, I could have called it turducken meatloaf! If you only have ground turkey, it will be delicious. A mix of turkey and chicken would also be good. I made a turkey/chicken meatloaf with seasoning from Oprah Wiinfrey’s turkey burger recipe a few weeks later. That one is still in the development stage as it was criticized for being a bit too dry.

I doubled Sally’s recipe, so there will be leftovers for meatloaf sandwiches later in the week when we are too busy to cook. Leftover meatloaf is like gold in the fridge.

chicken/duck meatloaf

This recipe is full of healthy vegetables. Shredded carrots and flecks of chopped chard are visible. It’s also gluten-1 free since I used almond flour instead of bread crumbs, as did Sally.

Doubled the recipe will serve 6 to 8

Ingredients:

1 pound of ground turkey
1 pound of ground duck
1 cup of almond flour
2 cups of shredded carrots
1 cup of finely chopped fresh kale or chard
1 cup of grated cheese (I used an Italian blend)
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup chopped parsley
2 eggs
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons of kosher salt
1 teaspoon of ground chipotle pepper

For the glaze:

1/2 cup of ketchup
4 tablespoons of brown sugar
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix the ingredients for the glaze in a small bowl and reserve.
Add all the ingredients for the meatloaf into a large bowl (minus the ingredients for the glaze). Using a fork or clean hands, mix everything until full incorporated.
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and pour the meat into the pan. Shape it, with your hands, into a loaf shape. Try to keep it level so it cooks evenly.
Bake for 25 minutes, then remove it from the oven and brush with the glaze.
Place back in the oven for another 25 to 30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.
Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

spades, spatulas & spoons

Adventures in gardening, cooking, and eating

In My Kitchen – January 2025

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In My Kitchen – December 2024

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In My Kitchen – September 2024

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In My Garden – August 2024

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July – Meatloaf with Chicken and Duck

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