I have decided to bring back a weekly post where I share small things that mattered to me for one reason or another. The practice keeps me intentionally chronicling bits of my life that I might otherwise forget, and I love sharing them here with you.
I found out yesterday that the Fort Worth Sur La Table is closing. I am heartbroken. That store is so special, I have so many fond memories associated with the brand, and the people who work there have become my friends. I know Sur La Table is not a small business, but they are local to me, and the closing will effect many people. Elizabeth and I went over yesterday when we heard then news, just to commiserate and offer our condolences. I wanted to buy everything in the store and take it home with me.
This week at work I was recipe testing a few things for the fall. Specifically, sweet potatoes and pumpkin tart. Both were huge misses on round one, so it was back to the drawing board. It can be tough not to let those little failures get to me. I have to remind myself that developing a recipe is a process of finding out what doesn’t work until you discover what does. I finally nailed the sweet potato recipe by the end of the week, but I still have my work cut out for me with the pumpkin tart.
Not the most elegant photo, but this meal was amazing! Lately I am loving dinners where I cook a bunch of vegetables (either roasted or sautéed) and then add a protein of some sort. Sometimes it’s a bit formulaic and not outstanding in the flavor department. But this week I made a particularly flavorful combination involving mushrooms, squash, onions, peppers, tomatoes, and some Italian chicken meatballs I found at Central Market. It was so tasty!
I wrote about browning butter this week, and I am wondering…do you keep butter at room temperature in your kitchen? In our house we always have a stick of butter at room temperature for making toast or cooking eggs. And now, according to Martha, we can continue without much worry.
Next week is the last week before school starts in our house, and I am ready (more than ready!) for my kids to begin learning again. But I am also incredibly anxious about managing the online learning situation for four children while also working full time. My coping mechanism is to get organized, and so I made a massive google spreadsheet with a tab for each child. It includes log in user names, passwords, teachers’ names, class rotations, and all the different scheduled online learning times. I am still anxious, but having all the information in one place is reassuring.
Have a lovely weekend!
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