theHumble Kitchen

When news broke that the schools would close until further notice, and 'Lockdown' was imminent my mind went into overdrive. I had two days to reorganise our house, and make plans. The next few months would be challenging in several ways.  The first change I decided upon was to all eat the same lunch together every day. We have always done this with our dinner, so I knew it was the easiest way to cut down on money, food waste and workload. The days of every family member having lunch, suited to their preferences was done.   

With the current uncertainty around food (what's available and when/how can I get it?!), I have been planning our meals a week in advance, with a shopping list posted on our fridge. The stress of forgetting something essential has been palpable  

Homemade chicken fingers was on the menu. I didn't have a recipe in mind, but with our tub of low fat yogurt in the fridge, I searched for inspiration. I combined two different recipes (thank you, BBC Good Food and Tesco!), and made the following Buttermilk chicken fingers:

In 1999, I was was preparing to leave home in Canada, and start a new adventure in England. My aunt gifted me with a cook book set, which I still have 20 years later! Betty Crocker's Old-Fashioned Desserts has some cracking puddings and sweet treats.   

It's the beginning of April, 2020. Less than a month ago, my family's daily routines changed dramatically - like countless others around the world - due to Covid-19. It has taken me many weeks to feel more at ease with the [temporary] changes.   

One of the biggest adjustments has been shopping and feeding our family efficiently. My initial questions after the UK went into lockdown was "How do I get the food we need, without any/multiple trips to the shops?" and "How to we make the most of the food we have in the house?"   

One of my first experiences of making pastry was when in my home-ec class at the age of 12.  We were making Canadian Butter tarts.  If you’ve never had butter tarts before, you don’t know what you’re missing!  They are one of my all-time favourite sweet treats.  So imagine my excitement when I brought home a batch of my very own.

In junior highschool when I was 12, I took my first home-ec class. Being a Canadian school, I was first taught to follow recipes with basic metric measurements (millilitres and litres). Once the class got to grips with metric, we moved on to learning American recipes using cups. I can remember being instructed to fill the 1 cup with flour, then tap it on the table to help the flour settle, top up with more flour if necessary and then level it using the flat side of a knife to ensure accuracy.

Valentine’s day usually conjure up images of roses, hearts and chocolate. But this year, I find myself thinking about cookbooks. I know, I know, I’m a true romantic!

There’s nothing like a good cookbook. Look through another friend’s cookbooks or recipe collection and you would easily identify the favourites; the pages with folded down corners, notes written in the margins or splatter marks from being propped open near the cooking facilities.

I have been trying to work up the nerve to attempt some sourdough bread (without commercial yeast) for several months. In 2015, I will bite the bullet and give it a shot.

In the meantime, I’m sticking with something easy.  No, not the bread machine; it only made an appearance once or twice a year, so we gave it away. Something even easier than the bread machine - once you take cleaning up into consideration - Irish soda bread.