EOW No. 13

Wow, I'm finally reviving these posts from Summer 2020 (!!!) and realized that I've been negligent for far too long.  Things have been emotional / volatile / heavy (when have they not been that way), but it's nice to have a quiet reminder of the good things that I've discovered / used / found right before the weekend break.

I've mentioned this before but one of the things I started doing last year was checking out cookbooks from the library.  I receive plenty of cookbooks as gifts but have a bad habit of not cooking any recipes out of them.  If anything, they're the coffee table books of the kitchen.  However, some of the covers are quite enticing so I borrow them from the library to see if there are any recipes that I like.  Early in January, I checked out See You on Sunday by Sam Sifton, and Bryan and I made the beef and Guinness stew.  It was DELICIOUS.  That recipe alone is probably reason enough to purchase the cookbook but he had a few others in there that I'm itching to try.

My chocolate chip cookies, as styled by sister

My sister has been on a baking kick and for Christmas, we bought her Dessert Person by Claire Saffitz.  She's gone to town and has been baking way too many desserts from it, if I'm being honest.  They're all really good, but I need another dessert like I need a punch in the eye.  Out of all of the recipes in her book, I liked the one for Chewy Molasses Cookies the best.  They're Bryan's favourite kind of cookies and she adds pepper, which adds a kick to them.  The recipe makes a gigantic batch and they're best eaten dunked in coffee or tea.  Last weekend, I also baked Joanna Gaines's chocolate chip cookies from her cookbook (gifted from Bryan's mom a few years ago).  My sister said they're some of the best chocolate chip cookies she's ever eaten and she's a connoisseur.  I think Joanna's secret is the amount of brown sugar she uses - 2 cups - which gives it the caramel-like flavour.

The actual sweater I bought

It's been incredibly rainy and chilly this past month and I'm so thankful that I have a vintage fisherman's sweater cardigan that I bought in December from Diamonds and Rust.  These sweaters are as warm and cozy as people say they are and will double as a warm jacket.  I am, as always, trying to be more cognizant of the "new" things I am buying, particularly clothing.  I've blogged about my love of Poshmark and buying used - both economical and a way of reducing waste.  

Lastly and probably most grossly, we haven't cleaned the oven in our house since we moved in (so almost 3 years).  It's mostly fine since we don't use it a ton but it was still bothering me.  I tried the vinegar / baking soda / foil ball trick on the oven door window which worked but also scratched up the glass, so I started doing some research instead.  I found Easy-Off which is truly as easy as the name.  You spray it into a cold oven, wait for an hour and a half, and wipe off with damp paper towels.  Our oven looks way better, and I even cleaned our stainless steel sink with it last night.

That's all I have for everyone this week but I've been reading some stellar books lately - stay tuned.  I hope everyone is staying warm, healthy, and as sane as possible.