Calamity Shazaam in the Kitchen

Look what I inherited from La Mamma! Two Dansk enamel pots. These are the most versatile pots. Before scoring a maslin pan for short money, I used the big one for making jam. I use it for making soup and stew and pasta sauce. The nice thing is is that it can go from the stovetop to the oven to the table. I've made casseroles in it and it works beautifully. It also doesn't hurt that I find them really good looking. Probably because I am going through a phase of loving all things Scandinavian. PS: The minute I buy reindeer jerky is the minute before I need an intervention. 

One of the best things about having a functional kitchen again is being able to bring my own lunch to work every day.  Usually it's leftovers and it is typically true that things taste a little better the longer they get to sit around together.  This lunch is leftover polenta I made with gruyere, and toasted quinoa, sweet potato, and golden raisin casserole from the other other day.  It was pretty delicious and I didn't feel like rubbish afterwards from all the preservatives and crap that is in most processed foods. 

If I never eat another bowl of Cheerios for dinner again, that would be fine with me. Some of you might be aware that I am doing a little work on ye old homestead and said project is crawling along at a glacier pace. Which is better than nothing I suppose. Anyway, just before Labor Day the kitchen came apart. All the way down to nothing.

Seriously, you are going to LOVE this book.

( Editor Update : So the Sales & Marketing Director just put the kibosh on promoting the book as it technically is not supposed to be released until January. So I will just adjust this to a SURPRISE giveway (*wink*wink*) to keep this post alive. If you don't win this "mystery" title this time, I hope you will all pre-order the title over at Amazon. Thank you and sorry for the confusion!) I am ridiculously excited about this book - a) because I love books, and b) this is one of those books where you go from recipe to recipe, eager to make the next one immediately, and c) the author ( Faith Durand ) happens to be a lovely, down-to-earth person who has created a very nice cookbook that is a perfect blend of normal everyday food with just the right amount of fancy. It's a necessary antidote to the Ad Hoc at Home type titles that collect dust ton my bookshelf for most of the year. How lovely does  Beans Baked with Caramelized Onions, Corn, and Cheese sound on a ch...