tea – Eating My Words

Lighter Kefir Banana Bread

Milena’s Cooking Adventures

Yesterday we had a wonderful lunch. Two of our dear childhood friends are visiting from the U.S. and I wanted to cook a lunch for all of us. My French love came from out of town and helped advise us in what order to drink our wines (a Very Important Decision). We bustled furniture around to make everyone fit around the table and put the wines out on the balcony to get nice and cold. It was so lovely to be surrounded by old friends, translating important English words like “heckin” and “potate” for our French visitor. This, in case you weren’t aware, is a heckin potate:

POTATE — heckin potate (aka Helen the pibble)

Whenever I find myself facing a multi-course meal, I find it’s best to combine the known and unknown– a couple of dishes that are tried and true, and then some that I’ve done a million times and know I won’t need to think too hard about. And to prepare as much in advance as possible. This is about how my brain works when I look at the menu I prepared. Continue reading Lighter Kefir Banana Bread

The Fry Up Police: A Gladiatorial Battle

Milena’s Cooking Adventures

The internet– which you must know because here you all are, on it– is a terrible place. It’s insulting, disappointing, petty, ugly. And that’s why I like The Fry Up Police. In an online world of hatred, swearing, infighting, and incredibly irritating memes, this group stands as a shining beacon of love, support, and welcoming comradery amidst the chaos.

Just kidding.

Continue reading The Fry Up Police: A Gladiatorial Battle

Pumpkin Banana Bread

Milena’s Cooking Adventures

I was banned from making this recipe by my former roommate (she who Travels to Istanbul and Brings Me Things, if you’ve been following previous posts). You might think that makes sense. Simple, you say. Maybe she didn’t want this sweet banana bread to tempt her. Maybe she’s allergic to bananas. Maybe I make messes in the kitchen (this last point is obviously blatant slander and has no connection whatsoever to the truth).

No, it was because of what I did with the bananas. Most banana bread recipes call for spotty overripe bananas, but I found that I never had more than one of these at a time. So scrolling down into the comments’ section of Smitten Kitchen (whence I adapted this recipe), I found the suggestion to freeze overripe bananas as they happen, then simply thaw them out when you need them for a recipe. “Brilliant!” I thought. “What a remarkable idea!” I thought.

Except no one told me what they look like.

Continue reading Pumpkin Banana Bread

Potatoes

“I only want to live in peace and plant potatoes and dream!”
– Moomintroll, from the Tove Jansson comics

Sometimes I dream of a rotund life. A potato life. Warm, comfortably asleep under dark blankets of earth, it seems a good existence. I’d like to be a lumpy, happy sort of person, round and confident of the direction I’m going, sending out little feelers ahead of me in all directions, ever upward, ever confident of the nearness of sunlight.

But graduate school doesn’t always seem to line up with potato dreams. Continue reading Potatoes