Moving into My New Kitchen

Life is hard; food doesn't have to be #121 [vol4, 2.4] ‌

Sweet Momma Brown gave me a personalized dish to celebrate.

Last night Momma Brown was waiting for me at church (running late!) with a gift. She’d personalized a baking dish that says, “Life is hard; food doesn’t have to be.” I love it (and her!) with my whole heart. It’s from from Personalization Mall.

Countertops Installed

With countertops installed, I began to fill the drawers! The most requested link from IG Stories was for this bamboo tray. I bought mine at Costco, but this one is a better price for exactly what I needed.

I’m a longtime fan of The Lazy Genius (blog, books, podcast) and have used her principles as things go back into the kitchen. Have you seen her six-part series on YouTube about The Lazy Genius Kitchen? Taking principles from her book, she goes into 6 different kitchens with real people and solves real problems. I especially liked episode 5 on the Liquid Index - which is how to create your own recipe.

It’s a different kitchen book than any other I have seen. It’s not a cookbook or a book on organization but rather a book to help us think about the kitchen. If you’re a regular listener of her podcast, most of the info is from it…just written down.

My husband is naturally organized and loves all things organization to include reading about it (recently he read The Filing Cabinet: a Vertical History of Information and found it riveting. I can’t make this stuff up.) So when I told him my friend Laura recommended that we read the LG Kitchen book before finishing the reno he checked it out from the library. Then bought a copy for me.

Organizing, like many things in marriage, has been a dance for us. I’m definitely messy creative by nature. He has tried over the years to help organize me. Bless him, he has even cleaned up my messes more frequently than I care to admit.

Recently we have had so many conversations about organization - partly because of the kitchen reno and The Lazy Genius Kitchen. The conversations and the book have both been good.

Recipe to Try

Melanie texted this recipe for Orange Chicken Casserole and said she made it stove top because her oven is broken. I decided to make it in my Instant Pot with hopes of sharing the details here.

My version was okay. But not amazing. The family didn’t complain. When I started thinking about how much I’d changed about the original recipe, I would be writing an entirely new recipe. I told Melanie that one-pot dishes aren’t always my fav (unless it’s stew or soup) because everything is mushy.

Even though I cooked this dish in layers: cooked meat first, added rice, then steamed broccoli last, it was just okay. I think I’d rather dirty a few more dishes and have better end results.

If you try the recipe, Melanie said the final dish had too much liquid. I reduced liquids by half. If I make again, I will try substituting OJ concentrate (frozen, not reconstituted) for the juice. The OJ flavor was a bit flat.

Are You a Good Guest?

Here’s a quiz from 1944 to help discern if you are a good guest.

10. Do you try to make the gathering a success, rather than concentrating on “making a hit” yourself?

11. Do you refrain from doleful observations on the weather, the international situation, etc.?

12. Have you tried to learn, and observe unobtrusively, such points of etiquette as make for good manners?

Related: How to Be the Perfect Party Guest

Life is hard; food doesn’t have to be,

Julie