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Last night I had a big cooking adventure. And when I say big, I am overstating in the minds of most. I roasted a chicken and some root vegetables—but it was my first time on my own. I’m trying to get back into cooking good meals for myself and trying to expand my horizons a bit. Been eating out too much and not well too much lately. In preparation for the little big adventure, I knew I needed some spices for flavor enhancement, and realized I had no idea what herbs and spices are packed away in my cupboard. So I took an inventory. Now, I know fresh herbs are better, but cooking for one and only limitedly within the herb-and-spice realm lends itself to the dried variety.
Spices and Herbs—out from the cupboard and into life
Here’s what I found:
ground turmeric
garlic powder
ground cumin
stick cinnamon
ground cinnamon
vanilla powder
whole cloves
whole allspice
paprika
chili powder
garam masala
ground coriander seed
ground nutmeg
Highly reflective of the chickpea masala I’ve made a couple times and a mulled cider recipe I tried out once.
Which left me to buy at the Co-op yesterday:
parsley
sage
rosemary
thyme
Yes, yes, I know. The song. Cheesy. But a great reminder of herbs that are good for chicken (especially soup, which shall be a future adventure). I’ll spare all my vegetarian readers a photo of the cooked chicken. But let me say that it was all very good (and will be for the next couple days as I savor the leftovers). Any recipe suggestions involving any of the spices above most welcome!
It’s been knitting weather lately—grey and raining and hole-up-in-your-apartment-ey—and I’ve been picking up the needles to work on my mason-jar cozy queue (it keeps growing!). There’s something about working from my own familiar pattern, the movement and rhythm and sound of the needles, and the texture and smell of the yarn (I’m currently using wool yarn straight from Mile High Farm in Vermont, and it smells like the best things about a farm) that is ultimately comforting.
In 2007, I began knitting mason-jar cozies for a dear person in my life who wanted a handy holder for her mason jars, and since then have been making them for friends, the occasional random person out in the big world, and even a small batch to sell at a local coffee shop (the lovely Dottie’s in downtown Pittsfield).
Cozies in action at Monument Mountain summit tea party.
I mostly take my time, enjoying the process and experimenting with new designs—and delighting in new yarn. The newest yarn I’m excited to work with is this zebra-striped brown-and-white yarn delivered from the cozy-inspirator herself, from the Guelph Farmer’s Market (Canada!).
Zebra-Striped Delightfulness
