Well it's been a quiet week here in Lake Wobegon, my hometown.
Wait a minute, that's somebody else's opening line.
It's actually been a delightful week here at the castle.
While seeking out homemaking inspiration, I discovered some lovely new blogs , including Jeannine's
Grace and Peace, where she writes about
her family's Epiphany celebration (a holiday I now have a hankering to celebrate). She is also
a fan of Queen of the Castle, which of course makes her my new best friend. :)
(What? You haven't read Queen of the Castle? Click
here to see what you're missing.)
With the zeal for decluttering that seems to hit me this time of year, I spent a bit of time cleaning out and organizing one of my kitchen drawers, discovering some napkins, napkin rings, and other assorted treasures I'd completely forgotten about. I even put down new shelf paper, seeing as the old stuff had been in there since my two manly sons were in diapers . . . Yeah. That was quite some time ago.
I made some interesting pumpkin-studded bread.
Let's just leave it at "interesting," shall we?
And I discovered this wonderful book,
The Kitchen Counter Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn, which I think would make a perfect housewarming gift for young people moving into their first apartments, or newlyweds, or anyone, really, who is even a little bit interested in food and who never got the chance to go to cooking school. I've been playing in my kitchen for decades now, and I still have soooo much to learn. In this book, I'm learning about different methods for cooking meat, and different ideas for vegetable cookery. Whether you're a novice or somewhat experienced in the kitchen, there's something in this entertaining book for you.
So I leave you today not with a recipe, but with these inspiring words from author Kathleen Flinn:
"So who says you can't cook? Not every meal has to be from scratch, nor does everything you consume have to be organic, locally sourced, and pasture raised. Try to find a comfortable place somewhere between Tuna Helper and Top Chef. If you burn, scorch, drop, overcook, undercook, underseason, or otherwise put a meal together that's less than a success, in the end it doesn't matter. It's just one meal. You'll make another one tomorrow."
So bon appetit. Enjoy your warm, homey kitchens, wherever they may be.