Simply Balisha

Simply Balisha

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

My Kitchen is Humming

My kitchen started humming about 6:30am. My brain was humming and so was I. This was a continuation of my day in the kitchen, yesterday. We went swimming in the morning yesterday and Joe had an appointment in the afternoon. I had started refried beans the day before. They weren't finished that night. So, I put them in the fridge and started them again, when we got home from the pool.  They were done when Joe got home. 
So those are waiting in the fridge. I had big plans for today. My kitchen would be humming again. I thawed two small pork roasts to put in my slow cooker. I often cook two things at once. The s;ow cooker is large and will accommodate two roasts easily. I am trying a new recipe. First I rubbed the roasts with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and garlic powder. I put them in the pot and mixed up  1\2c chicken broth, 1\3c balsamic vinegar, 1T honey, and 1T Worcestershire sauce. This mixture was poured over the top and the roasts will cook for about 6 hrs.When they are done...I will use two forks to pull meat apart and then put the meat back in the juices. Joe wants some of the refried beans with his roast. The 2nd roast will be used for BBQ sandwiches later on toward the weekend.  
 My little kitchen was in kind of a mess anyway, so I decided to make those zucchini breads that I talked about the other day. I had already put the zucchini through the food processor, chopped the nuts, and drained the pineapple.....so the biggest part of the job was done. As I mixed the batter, I thought how much this batter reminded me of my apple cake. Moist and delicious. I haven't made one of those in years. 
 Here they are all ready for the oven. I didn't make a big loaf....just 6 small ones. So nice to have in the freezer to pull out later on. 
As I was cleaning up, I started thinking about my kitchens in the past. My very first kitchen was good sized. It was a three room apartment and the kitchen was the biggest room. 
The next kitchen was in a bigger upstairs apartment with a little smaller kitchen. I felt like I was up in the trees. This apartment was the upstairs of one of those big houses they call Painted Ladies. The rooms were all unique. The kitchen having wooden pull out bins for flour, potatoes, etc. in bulk. Wide ledges on the windows where I cooled pies and cakes, A step down to a little eating nook. It was such a cute kitchen and it was where I began my love of cooking. A young bride with a new baby boy and lots of time to experiment in the kitchen.
Down through the years I've had 2 huge kitchens, and my last one before here....was a galley kitchen.....narrow, but very conveniently built. 
Now, we come to my kitchen today. It's small and in a square configuration. Very few steps have to be taken in this one, and everything handy. Perfect for someone my age.  All I have to do is turn around and the appliance that I need is there. Quite a bit of storage space, but the counter top space is limited. I really need more counter space for big cooking, but there's no way to remedy that, so I work with what I have. I like neat counter tops, but find that I want to have things handy...and not have to climb around to get things...so my counter tops are cluttered. Sometimes it really bugs me and I move things here and there, never finding the best way. 
Well, the breads just came out of the oven and the house smells divine. Joe doesn't like zucchini....should I tell him what those green specks are  :)?
Balisha

12 comments:

  1. I love getting a batch into the freezer like this but 6.30

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  2. Could not comment properly before. This sometimes happens with a link from Fb. It all looks delicious and you are obviously a lark. I am an owl.

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  3. I guess you could call me a lark. I love the early morning......tho I used to be a night owl...working into the early morning hours on craft projects for shops.

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  4. Pineapple in zucchini bread sounds delicious. Have you posted that recipe?

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    1. Ernestine from http://myjourneytomindfulness.blogspot.com/ posted it on July 7...this year. It is the best zucchini bread I have ever had.

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  5. Fun to read about your different kitchens over the years. Your pork roasts sound delicious and I know the bread will be moist and good, especially with a cup of coffee or tea. I don't bake as much as when mother was alive. We always enjoyed being in the kitchen together.

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    1. I don't bake very often...too tempting for us.
      You have a nice memory of your mother.
      Balisha

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  6. Mmmm! Good food at your house. The pork roasts look delicious. I saw the original post for the zucchini bread over at My Journey to Mindfulness blog, and thought it sounded so good with the pineapple being in it too. The small loaves of bread are a great idea. I love to do the cook and prep once and then have at least two or more meals from it. I say "no" to telling your husband that those little green flecks are zucchini. He might not even ask about them. If he does ask, I guess you will have to admit to a zucchini conspiracy.

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    1. Those small loaves are eaten in a minute, but I like to limit what sweets we eat. I gave it to Joe yesterday...and he ate it . I don't think it will work, when I fix zucchini as a vegetable.

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  7. comment did not come through :) I just chop my zucchini on my bread board. Going to try one small pork roast with your recipe :)

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    1. We didn't like the pork roast. Too much balsamic vinegar and the roast was very dry.. I took the 2nd roast out of the cooking liquid and made a BBQ sauce, so we will have sandwiches.

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