I wish I would remember to take pictures. Last night I made Farro Risotta with Pancetta and Shitake Mushrooms.

My daughter is planning on baking a cake (from scratch) on sunday and trying to decorate it (ala the Cake Boss) with an air brush. Not sure she did the proper research on how to do that....but you can only give advice to teens...you can't make them heed it.

Really nautic1, now you are SPAMMING other people's threads, bad karma dude!

Oldbat, your pancakes look absolutely delicious, I can't wait to see the Lemon Ricotta cookies!

Old Bat - Looks wonderful as usual.
Can't wait to get home and start cooking again!
I want to try those luscious pancakes that Trail and you have posted. I have tons of blueberries in the freezer -if we didn't lose power!
Oh my - pancakes a la Vitamix - I am not sure I am ready to try that option with VM - I generally hand whisk the batter... Very lightly - just stirring the ingredients.

This post was edited by a2gemini on Sun, Feb 23, 14 at 6:57

And to the rest - if you're working ON your kitchen, or there are interesting projects going on IN your kitchen, these are KAW (Kitchen At Work) worthy too :)

Here's a few other KAW pictures.

DD's current science project.

Here is the only amaryllis blooming at present:

And DS has a rock crystal project going too. (The sugar I have swept up....).

Looks delicious! Love blueberry pancakes and those look like the bomb!

I made pizza with DS today. It was a blast! He's only 2.5 but helped make the dough, roll it out and put his toppings on.

I was introduced to baking young and have loved cooking ever since!

You guys are killing me. I have about 2 more months to be able to cook anything & I love pancakes! Especially blueberry pancakes. They look delish.

I always love seeing your kitchen, oldbat! That view from your window is awesome. Looks a little too cold for me tho, but very pretty. Do tell about your DD's science project! Looks interesting.

Oh, thanks for letting us/me know what KAW is! Can't wait to add to it someday soon.

Trail's pancakes are becoming famous! :) Bat - yours look wonderful too! I bought some frozen wild blueberries when I was at Trader Joe's...I'm hoping to use those to test out cooking on the new induction cooktop when it goes in.

I'm in a holding pattern right now with the kitchen - granite is getting installed on Friday...everyone keep fingers crossed that all goes smoothly. The oven is in and working, so I've used it very lightly...everything to make anything is all over the place, so a true meal is elusive at this point. I've begun to get some of my things out and I'm putting them in my cabinets that won't be affected by the granite going in (I hope). I'm also dusting, and dusting, and dusting...still so much dust.

It would be wonderful to start a weekly KAW here.

Next weekend, I am making those pancakes! Oldbat, they look delicious. Please keep the pics & recipes coming.

Great pics old bat. Just a reminder about the batter...DON'T use anything but a rubber spatula and very gently fold the ingredients...please leave lumps :) No whisk, no beater, NO VITAMIX, no stick blender. Trust me..it is like muffin batter etc...gently gently...leave lumps.

Ok..back to the regularly scheduled KAW ! Lovely pics and gorgeous views. Great science project !!

A weekly KAW thread would be terrific. Fine idea...

( don't beat the pancakes :) ) c

Oldbat, the view from your kitchen window is beautiful! And that lovely white amaryllis against that gorgeous tile, swoon! I'll have to start poking around the yard for stray amarylis bulbs, they are usually blooming now. I have been so TKO for the past few months, I've barely noticed anything else!

My KAW isn't a kitchen at all since we're mid-remodel. Posting this as perhaps an inspiration to others who are mid-remodel and feeling like cooking is almost impossible. We moved our old range to our basement and I manage to make some very simple meals there while waiting for the new kitchen.

The area where the range is has NO landing spots nearby, so my cooking surface is also my work surface, therefore, I keep things pretty simple, mostly one pot/pan meals. This morning, I decided that I would put together Italian Wedding Soup. I'm not going to lie, this is nowhere near from scratch, but it's about as good as it's going to get for now.

The recipe is really NOT a recipe at all.
Used boxed low-sodum chicken broth along with some low-sodium veggie broth (about a 5:1 ratio).

Tossed an onion in, a couple of cloves of garlic, and a few handfuls of frozen chopped spinach (if just me, I would have used more, but DH doesn't like spinach much), and some dried parsley that my mom grew earlier last year.

Tiny meatballs are courtesy of the one Italian market (we have a strong LIttle Italy), and I also admit to cheating with the chicken as well - precooked from Trader Joes. Lastly, the acini de pepe.

Boiled a bit to wed everything together. And voila, the "no-real-kitchen" soup. For others mid-remodel, you could make this too if you have just a free-standing 1-burner.

Oh, and you won't see a cut-back to see the conditions in which I'm cooking right now.

Scratch biscuits and grits...yankees, don't look!!!

Nancy

This is what is left of an entire tray of bagels, DS#1 grabbed three stuffed them in his pockets and headed out on snow shoes. {{!gwi}}From GW Photos

Boo hoo, I'm sitting here eating deli chicken and slaw wishing I had a K to be AW in. All those pics look delish.

Soon.

Oh, Trailrunner if you read this, my Meyer lemons are starting to ripen, probably be able to pick them in another week or so.....

so I'm thinking your lemon curd is in the future... that was Trailrunner, right?

A weekly KAW would be really fun!

Trailrunner, I only combined the eggs, oil and buttermilk in the VM, I promise!! The dry ingredients were then (sort of carefully) added by hand. (Kudos to DH)

I was very piggy and made these again this morning, sans Vitamix and adding a little sugar, with bacon instead of ham. Good but yesterday's were better. I am using butter vs. oil and a skillet instead of the griddle; these are burning a little sometimes before they are done. Also - will try to be even more gentle next time.

A2 - Why so much travel and how long have you been away?

cbink - It's so much fun cooking with help, isn't it? My mother was a great baker and I was ALWAYS there by her side, hoping to get a taste or two along the way. Glad to hear you are passing the tradition on to your son.

bicycegirl - thanks, you'll get there! The two months will fly by....feel free to sneak in a few shots of your kitchen progress in the meantime. The winters so seem long when we have snow on the ground from December through March, but it's been up in the 50's the past two days and it's lovely watching the snow melt. I'll have to get back to you on the science project!

andreak100 - Granite on Friday? Hooray!! Loved your Italian Wedding soup picture.

Thanks Romy718 - you'll love them!

fishymom - you have amaryllis blooming in your yard? How lucky! Where are you?

springroz - YUM!

localeater - did you make those? I haven't ever tried them yet and am impressed by the thought.

deedles - SOON!

Spanish Chicken and Fideos Soup:

Lemon Ricotta Cookies - different taste! The kids and DH like but I'm not 100% sold on yet. Both these and the soup are from Nordstrom's Family Table Cookbook.

I'd love a thread on everyone's favorite tried and true recipe. These cookies remind me of my Grandmother's orange cookies (now those are wonderful!)

Great thread !DH is making cantuccini at present and I have 1 huge wreath of Challah rising and later we are making jambalaya with our son's charcuterie tasso that he makes ! I promise to get a few pics. Those ricotta cookies look fantastic as do the soups ! I love wedding soup. Live grits and biscuits !! DH makes those too. Don't know about fideos...can you share more ???

Old bat...there is sugar in the original recipe...did you leave it out the first time ? DH whisk's the dry and whisk's the wet and then gently stirs them together. It is very hard to use a skillet...they always burn..that is why I love our griddle...I saw they have them on ebay...get one you will love it !! I will link below..there are a couple on ebay...you can watch for them...perfect every time ! Knead to knead :)

Here is a link that might be useful: griddle/waffle maker

oldbat2be - Yes, my DD was the one who made the boeuf bourguignon.

Turned out I had to make the cakes for DD (since she had a soccer game)...made "Rich, Tender Yellow Cake" from Cook's Illustrated Science of Good Cooking cookbook which uses the reverse creaming technique to get a fine crumb since DD wants to split each layer and frost with a different color between the layers to make a "rainbow" cake. She'll be doing the decorating this afternoon.

Everyone's treats look yummy!

This post was edited by itsallaboutthefood on Sun, Feb 23, 14 at 15:53

We were AW in our K today, too. (finally) but it was a different kind of work. lol Seriously...I am so glad to see those cabinets going in, I just want to dance a jig! Can't wait for granite - templates tomorrow - and appliance installs - most of them Tuesday. Can't wait to try those yummy recipes you guys keep showing. Thanks for the inspiration.

pics...AR ..looking good ! You will be there in NO time at all.
itsallaboutfood..got to have the recipe..don't know what reverse creaming is !! Do you stand backwards :)? deedles...Meyer Lemons...yum !! We have it on yogurt with homemade granola almost every AM....you will love it and way less butter...makes it better IMHO ! Need the orange cookie recipe too ! Old bat :)

Ok...we are almost ready...Jambalaya has to be made but a pic of mise en place is below....so here goes.

cantuccini di prato dough shaped :

{{!gwi}}

why I love soapstone...almonds cooling for cookies ! :

finished 2nd bake..hence the name "twice baked cookies "

{{!gwi}}

challah risen and ready to shape:

make snakes :

braid:

{{!gwi}}

wreath...egg white glaze and sesame seeds ( this is 3 loaves worth in one braid)

done:

mise en place for jambalaya...tasso is in front...it is SO yum...quintessential New Orleans...only better :)

more pics later...great idea for an ongoing thread..what better way to celebrate kitchens than to use them ! c

trailrunner - I wish I could come to your house for dinner!

Reverse creaming means you cream the butter into the dry ingredients first. Then add the eggs and other liquids. I found a website which has the reciple (we have the cookbook at home).

Here is a link that might be useful: Rich, Tender Yellow Cake recipe

Old Bat - I have been consulting in SSM ON. Hard to train for Boston but did my long run today (with a cold, so cut it a bit short). Great Cross Country skiing and the snow is surreal! And the polar vortex has been brutal!

I should be home by the beginning of April and then head your way for the marathon. (and somewhere in there - I need to raise money for my charity....Maybe we could have a GW bake sale - LOL as I would buy everything!)

At least I can drool over the beautiful pictures and I discovered Lemon tarts at Superior Bakery - bad.....

AR_Kiki : What fridge/freezer columns are those? They look like the Electrolux Icon ones? We plan on getting those. Would love some feedback!

I made some roasted butternut squash soup last week (with a touch of coconut milk and curry). That's a sprinkle of cilantro, crushed bacon, and a lime sourcream on top. Good stuff for cold weather.

Izhwong - Yes, they are the Electrolux Icons. We're only had them about a month, but so far, they are great, There is a tremendous amount of storage in them, the icemaker works well, the lighting is fantastic. The little tilt out bins kind of annoy me a little bit, but I think I just haven't figured out what to put in them yet, since the kitchen as been totally non-functional. For the most part, they are quiet, which was VERY important to me. I can hear the fridge when it kicks on a little bit, but I'm hoping that will diminish when they install the surround. If it doesn't, the noise level will be extremely acceptable the way it is now. We keep the milk on the door and it is very cold, so we're happy. I 'm in love with the extra compartments in the crisper drawer. Makes organizing and choosing vegetables a snap. Also, the crisper seems to keep things much longer than our other fridge did and it was new, also. The freezer has a great amount of storage space and it is very well organized. It is also very quiet and I love all the shelving in both units. Makes it easy to organize and find things without have to do so much moving of things around. We are very satisfied so far and would gladly purchase again. Go for it. I think you'll be happy with them. And last but not least, they are gorgeous. Very impressive standing there together like that. No one who sees them fails to comment on them.

OMG, all of this food looks divine! Wait a minute, let me wipe the drool on my computer! Ok, sooo want the recipe for the lemon cookies oldbat. I cannot pass anything lemon up. As a matter of fact, I just bought a Meyers Lemon tree because of trails post on the preserved lemons. It is full of blooms so I hope I get as many lemons as there are blooms out of it. Then I can make the preserved lemons & oldbat, your cookies too, if you'll be so nice to share w/ us!

trail were you in the kitchen all weekend? Is it still snowing there? I wish I had time to be in my kitchen cooking all weekend. Well, it'd be nice to have a kitchen right now. But, it's ok because we've had some fantastic weather this weekend & I've been out in it the whole time. Sunshine, in the mid to high 70's & a nice breeze! So, it's been a gardening weekend for me. Saturday w/ my garden club & today bagging leaves at my own casa. Back to your food...what is cantuccini di prato? Is that the dough for your biscotti that looks so yummers? I'm beyond impressed w/ the challah bread! I'm going to have to tackle bread one day. I love to bake, so allaboutthefood, thanks for the cake recipe. Will be giving that a try one day too.

deedles, I'm w/ you on the store bought foods. Roasted chix, potato salad & baked beans....from my local grocery store around the corner. Unfortunately, no comparison to this lovely food that I can taste just looking at pictures of!

andrea, you are so lucky to have a stove in the basement. I could be so lucky. I'm working w/ a microwave & a single bathroom sink & tub! That's the extent of my working kitchen! Great improvising on your yummy looking wedding soup.

chief, your butternut squash soup looks as good as the one my garden club friend made yesterday for all of us. It was so good. I'd love to hear how you made yours.

springroz, if you're anywhere near me in Texas & have any leftover biscuits & grits, I'm more than glad to come help finish them off! One of my fav breakfasts.

AR, your kitchen is looking so nice. I'm sure you're chomping at the bit to get it finished. I can't wait to see your final pics!

Thanks for the lovely images everyone. I'm w/ you all in wanting a weekly KAW thread! Or, at the least, a monthly one! This is so fun.

Oldbat, I checked my Amaryllis and they have not bloomed yet but the stalks are starting on some. I will take pictures when they bloom, the bulbs are piled up in a recycling bin after being moved from out previous home. We are on the east coast of South Florida, so they usually start blooming the end of Feb/early March. My Frangipani trees are getting leaves, blooms will soon follow!

Your Lemon Ricotta Cookies look scrumptious! My husband would love these, may have to give them a try when things settle down.

Coming along...

haha bicycle..nope only a couple hours today. Takes no time at all ! Our weather has been glorious also and I worked outside getting leaves up. This is central AL so it was open the windows weather all weekend. Glad you had great weather there in Austin too. Sounds like you had a wonderful time.Here is a link to the cookies...they are biscotti and they have no fat in them...so they are really healthy !

Chief..miss your posts. You are such a great cook and love your kitchen. I make the same butternut soup ! I make Alton Brown's curry powder...you can google it . It is the best.

Its..thanks for the recipe ! The decorating looks fabulous !!

Here is a link that might be useful: cantucci di prato

AR_Kiki: Thank you for taking the time and commenting on the Icons. We are getting them (the cabinet for them has been made) but my husband read some awfully negative reviews on them. I'm glad to hear your positive feedback.

Did you install the trim kit? If so, was that a difficult process? Our appliance store is charging almost $300 to install it! I'm not sure if it truly is a difficult install or if it's just another way for them to make more money.

Izhwong - I know what you mean about the reviews. I went through the same thing, but it was important for me to bring the freezer into the kitchen during our remodel, as it has always been out in our game room. I actually had a brand new fridge that I really liked and looked for a panel ready freezer in our price range for a couple of months but didn't have any luck. To my mind, that left me with the Icons, the Frigidaire pair, or the Kenmore set. I think any of them would have done well for us, but I really liked the look and features of the Icon. I really love the huge handles. The reviews weren't good, but most of them looked older to me and I figured they had sold thousand and I only found twenty or so reviews. Guess maybe people are more apt to write a bad review than a good one?
We did get a trim kit. The TRIMKITSS2. I wasn't going to, but DH fell in love with that. I was coveting the storage space that the trim kit would take up. It's not installed yet and I didn't ask about charges. It is scheduled for this Tuesday so I will update afterwards. I will say, though, that after more research, I am glad he insisted. People say the trim kits really tie them together and level the set and keep it from moving. I hope you like them as much as we do. I really like having a separate meat drawer. Keeps everything neater and more sanitary, especially if you have leaks.
And the handles! Oh...did I mention the handles?

Hey trailrunner, how's it going? I actually couldn't post here for the longest while. Every time I tried to post I'd get sent back to the home page. I finally sent an email to the admins and although they never replied my posting bug got fixed.

Thanks for the tip on Alton's curry powder. I'll definitely check it out.

Doing great chief. I have missed your posts and seeing your lovely home and the foods you create. I remembered with that curry powder recipe I always use half the cardamom he calls for as we are not fans of too much. Otherwise all the same. It is an amazing curry . I make it grind and store in the freezer.

Only posting I do is an occasional KAW...need to make sure folks on the forum don't forget that is why they have a kitchen :) Take care and keep posting. c

Finished and served!

Now THAT is fabulous. Three cheers to the chef! Limey accent now- OI think we 'ave a winner....

Wow!
The soup and cake are amazing!
Keep posting my inspirations.

Whoa, that is an awesome cake allaboutfood! Your daughter did this? Is she a chef? Looks like a chef's coat in the pic, but I could be wrong. I'd love to see a pic of it before you cut, it you have one! Or, at least the sides & top. It looks like a rainbow! It must have taken awhile to assemble & have quite a few bowls of different colored icing. Very impressive! She needs to send pics to The Cake Boss!

Thank you all...my daughter is only 13...she is a wanna be chef. She is in a cooking club at her middle school and they made cakes for an event at the high school. They wore chef coats to the event.

She used an air brush to paint a rainbow on the outside using watered down food coloring. It worked much better than I thought it would, but perhaps not as as well as she had hoped. And yes, there were 7 bowls of different colored buttercream to frost the inside layers.

wow....she is on the right track...willing to try new things and see how it goes. Have to be inventive ! My son, the chef , made elk pepperoni as part of his newest charcuterie...and for an event recently he made candied pig snout ! It sold out !!! The sky is the limit if you imagine. c

That rainbow cake is great!

Oldbat, I checked my Amaryllis bulbs this morning, no blooms on the ones in the bin, but these in the pot are just about open! I had to put a sweatshirt on when I walked the dog this morning, 57 degrees but will warm up to the low 80's by midday.

fishymom: just to make you jealous, we have to put on our snowmobile suits to walk the dog...7 below now and we should make it to 10 above so sandals and shorts for us today!! Woohoo!