What's Cooking December 2022

Bread baking again. I decided to try a recipe from my new book so refreshed my starter and got to work. Tara's class is the first sourdough class I ever took she's so nice and knows so much that I needed to get the book.

I decided on Lunch Box Loaf since I could bake a loaf in one day. The directions are great, the loaf was pretty and delicious, buy a scale.

Since my starter was so refreshed and I had a good amount, I decided to try some sourdough English Muffins. Also good! I did refrigerate the dough overnight. I split the muffins before freezing them.

I bought a gift for myself. Well, for the house I guess. I've been using a grain mill for a while now, it's been good, has stainless grinding plates, I wanted a mill with stones.

There was a sale, I now have this beauty! I used it to mill some grain for the lunch box loaf and am so happy with my purchase. It's a dark green color.

The dirt in the pot to the left is my avocado that finally rooted, maybe it will sprout. Stay tuned.

I tried a new soup recipe and we both enjoyed it. I used kale because we love it but spinach would work, Swiss chard or escarole. Not photogenic. Kale keeps well also.

I'm not sure why I had so very many potatoes, but since I love them, not a problem. I seared some tuna with seasoning, roasted potatoes and green beans. Not exciting but good.

Really a lot of potatoes so I made potato soup. I added the bacon and cheddar to the soup and garnished with chives from the front yard. They generally grow all year.

Working on menu planning to not overbuy produce, not waste food, and work around Christmas. Shopping every two weeks or so still seems to be working.

We had SO many tomatoes still, so I cooked them down with a little olive oil and seasoning and then used the sauce on frozen Costco spinach ravioli. Very good! I can't pass up a giant box of organic grape tomatoes for .99.

Made Scampi with Linguine that I've made many times before, easy and good.

Very good cookies, and if you need gluten free they fit the need.

Other good meals but no pictures:

Mahi Mahi with Thai Coconut Curry Sauce is something I've made for years and love. I adapted it some though - I mix the sauce ingredients together, put the fish in a baking dish, pour the sauce over and roast at 400 until fish flakes. Any fish you like would be good and the sauce over rice is delicious.

Thai Style Ground Beef is very quick and tasty.. I served it with butter lettuce, the leftover rice I had and Trader Joe's scallion pancakes (they are delicious).

On the deck, my deer friend was back to hang out by the fence. I scared her though when I looked over the deck before dumping bird baths. Now I look out the window before going out.

We also had an opossum hang out on the deck one evening. Husband not as excited about our wildlife as I am. I read that they kill snakes, he hates snakes, but he is still not open to the whole wildlife preserve.

I made a trip to Trader Joe's and visited a friend after, I took her some things she wanted from TJs. Also lunch. We chatted for a while, she is pretty ill, very courageous and her faith is amazing. I got potato chips for myself and scallion pancakes that are delicious.

So glad I got brave and went to the knitting group several weeks ago. It's hard to meet new people as an adult and this group is very nice. One of the women hosted a Christmas party on the 14th and there are some good cooks too.

Porch plants are doing well. The kale might grow enough for another harvest, the celery is gorgeous.

Fun adventure was a trip to SCAD to see the Madame Grés exhibit. I had never been to the Atlanta location and as much as I don't dress up, I love design and fabrics. The exhibit is wonderful, I think it's on until June.

Parking is free, the admission was $8 to $10 and even the view from the roof was excellent.

After the exhibit we got lunch to go from Cafe Sababa, another favorite. I had the lamb sandwich, husband had gyro. Everything is great.

Working on menu planning, my Butcher Box comes the 13th so that means I need freezer space. And that means potato soup for another meal, no room in the freezer!

I made space in the freezer by using a container of chicken soup, a container of beef queso and rearranging some. I can coast for a while on cooking!

Grocery shopping on the 19th to make it through I think until the beginning of January.