we have been cooking

this weekend, we made:

pickled beets (from mom!)
black bean quesadillas
blackberry cobbler
roast duck with orange & garlic & onions (plus quick orange sauce)
mashed potatoes
pancakes, eggs w/ onion & thyme, sausage
cochinita pibil
pickled onions to eat with said cochinita
corn salad with cherry toms, red onion, basil, chevre
gazpacho (to be blended tomorrow)

this week we also made:

gazpacho
blackberry-peach cobbler (with residual snark directed toward mr. bittman, as the proportions were all wrong)
pasta with chicken sausage

tomorrow i will make:

baked ziti
hot tomato-basil soup
something with butternut squash (soup or just roasted)

...because whatever you do, leave a bunch of things in the freezer when you have to go away for a while. we joke about the famous "her last ziti" from the soprano's. it's so easy to put things up in the freezer when you have room to cook.

canning the beets was a sort of seat-of-our-pants kind of thing, but it actually worked out just fine, so far. i have been loving this here kitchen something fierce, cooking whenever i get the chance. baking has proved a challenge, and the oven seems to run about 50 degrees cooler than the thermostat says. but we have counter space, kids, and we have newly-sharpened knives, and mom & dad's dining table. add that to your reasons to come to toledo!