February '23 Newsletter
above: my home baked sourdough
Hello and Happy February!
Hope you had a nice January and a peaceful start to the New Year. Some memorable things from the past month for me include picking up knitting, establishing a very comfortable sourdough bread baking routine, and having friends over for a simple, cozy dinner.
The knitting has given me something tactile to focus on during these dark winter evenings. I find it to be equal parts relaxing and rewarding. I finished knitting a little neck warmer (see photo below), and now I’m onto knitting this balaclava (free pattern!).
The sourdough baking is another task that has been making the everyday a little more magical. I’ve been baking bread on again and off again for years now, but I’ve finally been feeling comfortable enough to make it a weekly (or sometimes bi-weekly) thing. My starter lives in the fridge until I feed it the night before mixing the dough, so it’s really not too much extra work. I’ve been enjoying making bread so much that I wish I could do it more often than once or twice a week, but we can’t eat that much in time. I’m going to be making an in depth video all about my sourdough routine on our Youtube very soon.
The dinner that I made for friends consisted of marinated olives/cheese/crackers for a snack, a fennel and orange salad with vinaigrette, our creamed beans and greens (one of Golubka Kitchen’s most popular recipes), and garlic bread made with my sourdough. It couldn’t have been simpler, but made for such a perfect, wintery meal to catch up over. I highly recommend this menu.
This month’s video is a seasonal cooking class, all about cooking with winter produce and pantry staples like dark leafy greens, potatoes, and lentils. I make slow cooked greens, skin on rosemary potatoes, and creamy braised lentils.
above: a snowy afternoon / a neck warmer, my first completed item as I get back into knitting
Seasonal Pleasures and Other Things
⁕ It’s citrus season! Always such a welcome dose of sunshine and juiciness in an otherwise earthy time, food-wise. We’ve been having lots of orange-studded salads (they’re especially great in combination with bitter greens and/or, of course, fennel), and I’ve also been making this orange-braised fennel non-stop.
⁕ Lemon, Love and Olive Oil by Mina Stone is a cookbook that I checked out of the library and just got renewed because I love it so much. It’s full of very simple, but very elegant recipes, with a Greek/Mediterranean influence. I really resonate with this style of cooking. Highly recommend checking out the book!
⁕ I’ve got an all purpose cleaner recommendation: the Bon Ami Powder Cleanser. I’ve never been more in love with a cleaning product. Bon Ami is an old school French cleaner that’s made up of very simple ingredients, unscented, and super effective. I remember it being used widely during my childhood in Russia, and I now use it to clean everything from the bathroom, to the kitchen sink, to my pots and pans, the stove, and anything made of stainless steel. It works so well! And I just love that it’s unscented - I prefer all my cleaning/personal care products to be without scents these days.
Wishing you a wonderful February,
