Kitchen Refresh

Last night was the last meal I'll be cooking in our current kitchen. We moved into our house on October 25, 1986, so this year will be 40 years that my family and I have been cooking in this space. When we moved in, our daughter was three years old; our son, just eight months. I fed my young family from there, the kids grew up and learned to cook there, scores of family and friend gatherings were hosted there over the years. So it's bittersweet that demolition begins tomorrow to make way for a new, updated kitchen.

It's been a long time coming! Considering our house was eight years old when we bought it, our kitchen is nearly 50 years old, and it shows. So we're pretty much gutting it and rebuilding from scratch. It's been a lot of work getting ready for this week (AKA 'Start of Work'), and already I'm missing the familiar routine. But we're excited! As of just hours ago, the kitchen and dining room are completely empty, and now it's up to the experts to recreate the spaces for us.

I marked the occasion yesterday by baking StudioDIY's @studiodiy Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies. They are hubby's and my very favorites, and it felt important to bake them one more time before we live without our kitchen for a while. 

So stay tuned. I'm not sure when I'll report back in on the remodel, but I expect I will. Wish us luck!

Garlic Scapes

Up for the random food post? If not, I'll be back soon with quilty-content, but I had an experience over the weekend that felt worth documenting for my food-loving self.

"Garlic scapes are the curly, twirly, green flower stalks that emerge from the tops of garlic plants as they grow. They can be eaten cooked or raw, and they’re as fun to look at as they are to eat! Garlic scapes have a mild and subtle garlic flavor, softer than the bite you’d find in raw garlic cloves. This makes them exceptionally versatile anywhere in cooking where you would normally use garlic."

- heartbeet kitchen

Often found primarily at farmers' markets, I was fortunate to find freshly cut garlic scapes on my kitchen counter over the weekend, thanks to hubby harvesting them from his herb garden.

Though I knew what they were, I didn't really know what to do with them. So I put out a call in my IG stories asking for suggestions, and I had several suggestions within minutes. Pesto was the overwhelming favorite, which sounded great to me. I tried the Garlic Scape Pesto recipe from NYT Cooking, substituting walnuts for the suggested sunflower seeds, as that's what I had on hand, and it was SO good. 

Note: Charles @feltlikesweets told me he blanches scapes for 5-6 minutes before using in his favorite pesto recipe, replacing the basil. So I did blanch mine too, though the linked recipe above included both the scapes and basil in it. Just fyi.

That night, I served it over grilled chicken; the next night with rustic herb bread. I can't imagine anything it wouldn't be delicious on. Some of the other suggestions I got were:

• sauté in oil or butter
• use in soups or salad
• serve over firm white fish
• use on pizza in place of red sauce
• pickle them
• stir fry with other veggies

Now that I know, I may try them a different way next time, but meanwhile, I used all of this year's crop in that pesto, and I'm definitely not sorry.

At the Table :: 2026 Rainy Day Bites Cookbook Club | February, March, and April

Since 2026 began, the Rainy Day Bites Cookbook Club has been embracing the Year of the Deep Dive, with our main cookbook being Something from Nothing by Alison Roan @alisoneroman. January got its 
own post, I know, but here's what I've cooked up the rest of the months using this book.

February challenge - Soups On: Make any recipe from the Soups & Stews chapter

Spicy Pork Soup with Pasta & Parmesan

Ginger & Greens Noodle Soup

March challenge - Pasta is Life: Make any recipe from the Pasta & Noodles chapter

Creamy Cauliflower Pasta with Pecorino Breadcrumbs

April challenge - From Land to Sea: Make any recipe from the Meats & Fishes chapter

Goodbye Meatballs

Meanwhile, we'll be baking from Baking & The Meaning of Life: How to Find Joy in 100 Recipes by Helen Goh @helen_goh_bakes through this entire year. Below are what I've made for our February - April last day of the month baking challenges:

Chocolate Ginger Beer Cake

Dutch Baby with Mortadella & Arugula

King’s Coronation Scones with Morello Cherry Jam

Looking back over the last few months, I think it's a toss-up between the soups and the meatballs, which new recipes we enjoyed the most. Whatever, I really enjoyed trying recipes from both of these books. It'll be great to keep baking from The Meaning of Life, and I'm anxious to hear what our new savory book will be for the next four months. Hopefully we'll find out tomorrow!

At the Table

Believe it or not, there are readers of A Quilter's Table who have always loved my At the Table posts the best. It's been a while since I was committed to the weekly Tuesday at the Table feature, but occasionally, why not? If it's not your thing, trust me. I'll be back with something quilty soon!

So the topic today is broccoli rabe.

Though I go through spurts of trying vegetables (or ingredients of any kind, really) that I haven't tried before, for some reason, I had never tried broccoli rabe before. I'd seen fellow participants in Rainy Day Bites Cookbook Club enjoy using it, so I really wanted to try a recipe I'd found in Colu Cooks Easy Fancy Food by Colu Henry @coluhenry, a book I was cooking through all through September. I tried many stores throughout the month, and no one had it (maybe because it's seasonal??), though one store had a sign with a product, which is why I accidently purchased and discovered what escarole is. 

But finally, I found it, so I got to try Broccoli Rabe Toast with Melted Provolone. Yum. 

Of course, this is only one way to use broccoli rabe (though a tasty one at that!), and when I see it again, I'll buy it to try something else, as I'm still curious. Holler if you use it on the regular (or escarole, for that matter), as I'm open to learning more.

At the Table

This post is late, and self-serving, and I apologize for that. Begun shortly after this menu was served on June 25 of last year(!), I'd drafted it, but never completed or posted it. But it marked a key moment in my husband, Joe's life, when he said goodbye to serving in youth ministry with our church community. Celebrating nearly 40 years of volunteering, we hosted a delightful evening in our home with the current co-leaders; and at the time, I made note of the menu, fully intending to post it. There's no good excuse why I waited until now; but I want to remember, so here we go. Oh, and I also want to remember that our son and daughter-in-law, who were living with us at the time, helped with prep, cooking, and serving, which was great fun, doing it all together. So without further ado, for the sake of memories....

appetizers

Pesto Torte 

Marinated Goat Cheese Spread from Olive & Mango with Crackers

Palmiers with Mustard and Prosciutto 

Joe's Moscow Mules

main course

Grilled Pork Loin

Grilled Salmon

Sharon's Baked Beans

Grilled Vegetables with The Best Grilled Vegetables Marinade

Baked Gruyère Tomato Bruschetta from Half Baked Harvest

dessert

Alison Roman's Raspberry-Ricotta Cake

So thanks for letting me share. I trust you'll forgive me. I'm working on quilting my Pantone challenge quilt, so rest assured, I'll be back with quilty content soon!

At the Table

If you subscribe to my newsletter, The Scrap Basket, you may have already seen that I mentioned the current butter board trend. It apparently originated with Justine Doiron, inspired by chef Joshua McFadden. Zestful Kitchen shared a butter board mini series though lots of others have shared their version too. I gave a shout-out to my daughter-in-law, Lindsey, who shares 'board' ideas back and forth with me... like a peanut butter board, a bagel board, or this gorgeous butter/cream cheese board! Yum.

Fast forward to last weekend, when our family gathered to celebrate THREE November birthdays. Lindsey and I took the opportunity to make our first butter board together! We used:

• one cup of soft, unsalted butter
• roasted garlic
• chopped parsley, thyme, & oregano
• lemon zest
• Maldon Flake Salt
• Bees Knees Salted Honey

Let's just say it was very fun to satisfy our butter board hankering, and it was tasty to boot. I think the family got a kick out of it, and we've already chosen another board we want to try.

Obviously, I'm always curious about food trends... are you? What's one you've tried or would like to try?

At the Table

Do you know Chili Crisp? I did not, obviously behind the times, as according to Molly and Matthew in their recent Spilled Milk podcast, chili crisp really became a trend in 2020. Other than just reading about it, my 'formal' introduction was in the form of a newsletter from DeLaurenti Italian market. I was placing an online order, and took the opportunity to add a jar of locally made KariKari to my cart.

I tried the chili crisp - ever so sparingly - on a hard-cooked egg, and it was pretty darn spicy. I loved the crunch though, definitely. As I continued to research, I learned that the standard, as far as chili crisp goes, is Laoganma, widely acclaimed as the original version. So next time I was at the grocery store, I picked up a jar to compare to the KariKari. I had heard that the Laoganma chili crisp wasn't as spicy, and it did have it's own unique flavor. But for me, it was definitely still pretty 'hot.'

According to Better Homes & Gardens, "The condiment is so hot—literally and figuratively—that chili crisp has a cult-like following at this point. That's likely because it's incredibly versatile and is not just burn-your-face-off hot; it's complex and layered with spicy, umami, and tangy flavors."

I'm kind of disappointed that I probably won't be hopping on this trend. I was - and am - really intrigued by it all, and know there are A LOT of versions available, and many recipes to make your own. But so far, it's a little spicy for my taste. 

Here's a little more reading in case you're interested:

• Serious Eats' Homemade Spicy Chili Crisp Recipe
• What Is Chili Crisp? 7 Ideas on How to Use It, according to professional chefs on Insider
• Chili Crisp Fried Egg Bowl from Food Network
• Chili Crisp Grilled Cheese compliments of karen's kitchen stories

So are you a fan? Just hearing about it like me? Share with us in the comments!

At the Table

Before the year's end, I couldn't resist posting one more collection of recipes we've tried over the last couple of months. One of the pluses of this pandemic time (and there aren't many!) has been my renewed interest in trying new recipes. All of those I'm sharing here we'd definitely enjoy again.

Half Baked Harvest

• Easy Ginger Chicken and Spinach Ramen - After trying grown-up ramen for the first time at a nearby noodle shop, we decided to try our hand at making our own. Some yummy ingredients (like curry roasted squash!) are hiding under all those noodles and chicken, but this was fun to make and super tasty.

• Crispy Salt and Vinegar Smashed Potatoes - oh goodness. A little effort due to both boiling the potatoes and roasting them, but the 'salt and vinegar' flavor was realllly good, and we're fans of crispy. A couple bites in, hubby after me to make these again.

Smitten Kitchen

• Apple Cider Caramels - We had actually made these before, but it had been a while. And if you haven't, you should.... SO good with such intense cider flavor.

• Dark Chocolate Tart with Gingersnap Crust - Just tried this last weekend, and not only was it way simpler than I anticipated, but it was really delish. We topped with some lightly sweetened whipped cream, and enjoyed every bite.

• Cider-Glazed Bacon-Wrapped Dates - Another one we've made several times, but they're so simple and irresistible, I had to share. For obvious reasons, we only make these when we can share them with guests.

• Broccoli Cheddar Soup - oh yeah. Not a whole lot to say about this except we finished one batch, and the next day, made another. I think I'll make it again for lunch today, in fact.

Ina Garten

• Fried Chicken Sandwiches - Just had to include these. Yeah, they're fried, but the flavor is just delightful. Definitely a treat now and then.

Molly Baz' Cook This Book! 

I bought Molly's book last summer after enjoying some of her cooking videos, and later, her podcast, The Sandwich Universe. An interesting (and helpful!) feature, especially for newer cooks, are the QR codes that access videos on the Molly's site. I think that's brilliant!

• The Minimalist Wedge - About the simplest wedge ever, it's the dressing that makes this dish. SO fresh-tasting.

• Master Beans - Seriously, with Molly's recipe, I've made the best beans I've ever made. I've started with dried Rancho Gordo heirloom beans both times, and am happy to finally have a go-to bean recipe.

SO yeah, I'm actually kind of pleased that we're still trying a new recipe or two every week. Most of the above can be found online, but I wanted to share the recipes from Molly's book just for the record, and you can find many of her recipes online just by searching, as she used to work at Bon Appetit. Anyway, enjoy! Let us know in the comments if you have any new favorite recipes you've tried, too!