the happy kitchen

I have been a little MIA on this blog and in life. A week ago, my friend shared a sourdough starter with me. I never had one before so I did not quite know what to expect. Nurturing a sourdough starter does take some work- it has a regular feeding schedule and needs to be fed very specifically. I did not do so well keeping my herb garden alive, so I was slightly worried that my sourdough starter could potentially not last very long either. I took a chance on this new venture. Since things are, well, very uneventful right now, I figured I could manage taking on the responsibility of being a new sourdough starter mom. It has been great. I have made four loaves since I got the starter last week. Of course, we can't eat that much bread, so I have been distributing the sourdough goods to anyone who wants a loaf. I recently experimented with making an olive sourdough loaf which turned out delicious. My first thought after making the olive loaf was how great it would be paired with a sha...

We celebrated another birthday in this shelter-in-place. Ryan's birthday was yesterday. I asked him if he wanted a unicorn princess birthday party like Bella but he declined. His only request for his birthday was his favorite meal- Fusilli all'Amatriciana. So, I made sure I had all the ingredients I needed in order to make his wish come true. I also made his favorite butter toffee cookies. A lot  of butter toffee cookies. But, I will save those for another post. When Ryan and I first started dating, he requested Fusilli all'Amatriciana. To be honest, I had no clue what it was so I had to do some research. It sounds super fancy but, surprisingly, it is actually not difficult to make. It has all good things like pancetta, garlic, red onion, and lots of freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano. Although, Ryan will argue that the most important part of the dish is the fusilli pasta. It has to be fusilli, because it is the most fun shape pasta to eat.  Fusilli all'Amat...

I finally got a time slot to get a Costco delivery. The one caveat is that the expected shop and delivery time given is considered a "fast and flexible" five-day window. Still, I thought I would give it a try because it would save me the headache of entering the madness that is Costco and we are not completely depleted of groceries. I had a very busy week- two Zoom meetings and a webinar. That was sarcasm, in case it did not come across on page. My life is very much not busy at all these days. Though, it has been nice to catch up and reconnect with people during this time. It seems like most people are still somewhat working for the most part. Funny enough, the reason I chose my profession is because I wanted a job that I can physically go to and do not have to bring any work home. But now I realize that, in times like these, maybe it is not so great to have a job in which working from home is entirely impossible. Oh, well. I have been making the most of the time I have o...

It has been over three weeks since I have worked. Although some may say that tending to all the cooking and cleaning around the house is a full time job, as well. It feels like one around here, at least. At the beginning of this whole thing, I really wanted to make my favorite cheddar jalapeño bagels. They are a real winner. But with no yeast or bread flour to be found for the past three weeks, I have given up on making those pillows of goodness for now. Hoarders, you have crushed my dreams. Just so you know. Unfortunately, I jumped the gun and already bought a whole bunch of jalapeños thinking it would not be difficult to find yeast and bread flour. Big mistake. Learned my lesson the hard way. For the past couple of weeks, I just stare into my refrigerator produce drawer and it's like those jalapeños are sitting there mocking me- reminding me of the bagels they could have been. I knew it was time to take action. I could not stand another day of watching those jalapeños wasting...

It was a very gloomy and rainy weekend over here. Since I had some extra carrots, celery, and onion after making the Instant Pot Beef Stew , I decided that I would attempt chicken noodle soup in my handy dandy Instant Pot. I did some searching on the Internet and came across a popular recipe that fit with the ingredients I already had. Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe by Kristine's Kitchen INGREDIENTS 1 Tbsp olive oil 1 medium onion, chopped 4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces 4 ribs celery, chopped 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp dried oregano 1/2 tsp dried thyme 1 bay leaf 3/4 tsp salt  1/4 tsp black pepper 4 cups low sodium chicken broth 4 cups water 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used chicken boneless skinless chicken thighs) 6 oz. egg noodles (I used fusilli noodles) chopped fresh parsley, optional for serving DIRECTIONS 1. Press the SAUTE button on the Instant Pot and add the olive oil to the...

I have had an Instant Pot for a couple years now and, admittedly, I have not quite mastered it. For some reason, it just is not one of the appliances I could use everyday. Although, everything that I have attempted to make with the Instant Pot has always come out excellent and surpassed my expectations- soups, stews, and any meat recipes. I never thought I could make pulled pork and pulled chicken, but the Instant Pot makes the process quick and the meat always turns out so incredibly tender. Anything that would normally need to cook and simmer for hours on the stove or in the oven can be done in at least half the time in the Instant Pot. Mind blowing. Instant Pot Beef Stew is one of my go-to recipes that I will use over and over. In fact, it is also the recipe I will recommend first for anyone looking for something to make in the Instant Pot. It is the epitome of a great one-pot recipe. Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe adapted from Well Plated INGREDIENTS 2 lbs boneles...

Based on the latest COVID-19 update, the shelter-in-place order in California is being extended to May 3rd. It is only April 1st. That means another month of managing all this crazy. I went grocery shopping yesterday and I was exhausted upon reurning home. It is a real feat right now, getting out there and getting supplies. My local Trader Joe's was awesome. I appreciated how organized and thorough they are being given the circumstances. There was no line to get in like there has been my past few visits. A woman was wiping down every cart and handed me a wiped cart right away. There was another woman at the entrance who was regulating how many people entered the store at once, closing the door behind every person that entered. She asked me if I needed any toilet paper. I do not buy my toilet paper at TJ's but appreciated her asking. After I got checked out at the register, the woman who rang me up offered me hand sanitizer as I left. "A+" customer service all around....