How Do You Deal With A Kitchen Slip-Up?

Recipes for: Labor Day Recipe Line Up + Chicken Provençal

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Hi Friends,

Everything was going splendidly on Thursday in the kitchen till I did something idiotic. I set my dough to rise in the oven for 4 hours, showered, stepped out, completed my errands, and patted myself on my remarkable efficiency in getting everything checked off my to-do list. When I came home, the dough had doubled; I folded it nicely and left it for the final rise. I preheated the oven..….. That’s when things went south. I preheated the same oven in which the dough was proofing. Fifteen minutes through, I suddenly realized what I’d done. The dough started to bake; the plastic lid melted, and it fell and solidified on top of it. The top sides of the container looked like a failed attempt at a sugar sculpture. The only good thing about this disaster is that nothing fell onto the bottom of the oven. Scraping plastic from an oven would be a nightmare. I think it might be time for me to start using Post-it notes. There was not much else to do besides thank my stars, toss it out, and repeat.

While I’m out here sharing my kitchen mishaps, a week ago, I put my favorite cake stand in the dishwasher (I didn’t read the warning label underneath that clearly said not to). The glue came off, and now I have a cakestand that’s separated into two. The good thing is that it’s fixable. I can reglue it once I get rid of the layer of old hardened glue. I’ve tried acetone, but that didn’t help, so I might need to find a ceramic expert for help. If you have suggestions, leave a comment! I appreciate your help.

Moving on from my messy week….I hope September isn’t this accident-prone.

Right now, I am knee-deep in cookbook work, focusing on answering my editor's questions and writing the remaining chapters. At the risk of sounding like an absolute nerd (and embarrassing myself), I love writing geeky cookbooks; this is a dream project coming true. I love labeling my manila folders filled with printouts of research papers by chapter and recipe sections. There’s something joyous in knowing that there is a specific home for everything; I love organizing things. Even the books on the floor are stacked into categories.

While I've started developing and testing a few recipes, I prioritize the writing first, making the process smoother. Once the writing is done, I can fully commit to the recipes. I’m also sketching out my illustrations and tables for the illustrator and my book designer, Lizzie Vaughn, ensuring everything looks like it’s supposed to. If I draw an apple, it must look like an apple, not an orange (I leave them side notes in case my sketches don’t come across like I think they should).

It’s easy to panic and get overwhelmed when writing a cookbook, and I learned early on that background white noise keeps me calm. To stay sane and focused, I fluctuate between four playlists on my Apple Music Station: Spa, Meditation, Focus, and Classical for Reading and Writing. When I need to switch things around, I’ll flip my television on to Gardener’s World, but that can become a distraction because I start thinking about ways to add plants to the house or the garden. I’m not much of a snacker, but once in a while, the urge to nibble kicks in. I keep my hot herbal tea on the side with a big tin of spicy siracha pea snacks or wasabi crackers, one of my favorite things to eat.

I’m going back to my manuscript but please keep in touch!

xx

Nik

Why do we use ice baths instead of tap water to shock vegetables from boiling water?

Heat transfers faster from a hotter object to a cooler one. Tap water, being warmer than ice water, creates a smaller temperature difference with boiling water, leading to slower heat loss and continued cooking of the vegetables. With a larger temperature difference, ice water absorbs heat quickly, stopping the cooking process almost immediately and keeping the vegetables crispy.

It’s Labor Day weekend in America, which means potlucks, outdoor cooking, and barbecues. I’ve got two potlucks this weekend (on different days), and I will take desserts. This year, I’ve curated all my favorite dishes that I want to eat for you, and I know you will find something in this collection that you will love.

Let’s talk about lavender. I don’t mind it one bit in sweets, but when it comes to savory foods, I think it’s the kiss of death. I love lavender in ice cream, cake frostings, and lemonades, but I loathe it when I taste it in savory dishes. It doesn’t taste soapy to me; I find it bitter, and the bitterness intensifies the longer the dish is stored.