IN MY KITCHEN, SUMMER 2025

In My Kitchen posts are hosted by Sherry, from Sherry’s Pickings. Please visit her site to see what everybody else is sharing this month. I join four times each year, on the first day of January, April, July and October. If you are a food blogger, consider taking part of this fun event. It is a chance to share those little things you bought or received as gifts and that make your life in the kitchen easier. I open this post with one amazing shot taken by my beloved, when he was at the golf course. The world is a beautiful place and I wish humans would work harder to keep it that way.

In our kitchen…

It is not very easy to find raw pistachios unsalted at the grocery store. This product was recommended by a cookbook author and I decided to give it a try. They are indeed excellent and I think you will be very happy by ordering from this company.

In our kitchen…

This is a very interesting cooking oil that I heard about recently and decided to try (available here). It is very low in saturated fat and has a super high smoking point so it is perfect to sear meat on top of the stove or use it in any kind of recipe that calls for sauteing in high heat. It has absolutely no after taste. Interestingly enough a couple of weeks after I bought them I saw Jeffrey Zakarian recommending it on the Food TV show The Kitchen.

In our kitchen…

This little cupcake stands were a surprise find at our Marshall Store. Of course, I put them to use very quickly once I brought them home.

In our kitchen…

I am totally in love with this one! A product just launched by Evil Cake Genius, it cuts 2” circles that are perfect to use in molds to make Chocolate Covered Oreos. No more cutting the chocolate transfer sheets by hand, a tedious process that is also not easy to turn into a perfect circle. Ordering info here.

In our kitchen…

Another lucky find at Marshalls which I HAD to bring home… It now hosts some of my food safe pens and I always smile when I grab the box to play.

In our kitchen…

We saw this basket for berries and fruits at my brother-in-law’s home. I had to get one for us, as it is perfect for storage in the fridge after washing them. Available at amazon.com.
A note about washing berries: the husband is the official fruit handler in the house. He makes a 3% salt solution (about 1/8 cup salt in a quart of water, if you don’t have a scale), and soaks the fruits for 5 minutes. Then he rinses in cold water to remove the salt. This gets rids of impurities and also deals with any pesticide residue present. Below you see the color of the water after soaking.

In our kitchen…

This is such a cool ingredient! It is great drizzled over cheese, used in salad dressings, not too hot, just deliciously spicy. Available here.

In our kitchen…

What are the odds on that? Should we play the lotto? TWO double-yolk eggs on a single pan! Those were for our lunch on a Saturday, so definitely made the weekend start on a great note…

In our kitchen…

I love scented candles (although I am very picky about their scent) and light them almost every evening. On the other hand, I absolutely despise grocery store matches like the infamous Diamond brand. They come in a box of 300, but after match #20 you can’t make a single one light on your first attempt. These are a pleasure to use, and the boxes are little works of art… (different styles available here).

In our kitchen…

Sometimes, serendipity happens… and the outfit of the baker matches the bake!
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And now, for something completely different….

Apparently some four-legged friends are anxious to bark their piece, so without further ado, let’s welcome them to this edition of In My Kitchen…

Prince Freckles of Tatarrax is the resident countertop surfer. Osky is too short and too feeble, Star does not seem to be interested in standing on her back legs to inspect the surroundings. Prince misses absolutely nothing. On the back you see braided chews that are too big and too hard, so we soak them for a few hours in warm water, untwist them, and cut in small pieces. The three pups get one small piece every evening while we watch TV, but Prince seems to think that he can make them levitate into his mouth if he stares at them long enough. He will stare, turn around and look at us, stare some more. Can you say adorable?

Please, spare me. Nothing adorable about that. He is being silly, immature, and endlessly annoying.

Star, on the other hand, could not care less about Osky’s opinion on the brother. She tends to keep herself busy, by taking power naps around the Kingdom.

and yes, sometimes the power nap will take place in the middle of a ball game…

Oscar is quick to point out that Star’s approach to handling a ball – to put it mildly – SUCKS. That is how it is done! And while you are at it, FIX your ear, it is not a dignified look.

The Black Spotted Heroes in fact know very well how to play…

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And things can get quite intense…. much more intense than Osky could handle!

Obviously, after so much activity, they do need to take it easy, preferably enjoying the scent of one of their favorite humans….

So all was going well with the year 2025,
but dark clouds accumulated on the horizon. Very fast.

DID WE HEAR THE K-WORD??????

Yes, unfortunately they were forced to spend some time in the kennel, It is not fun for anyone, we hate to leave them behind, but sometimes there is no other way…. At least they get to ride in the pickup truck in style!

Before you accuse us of playing favorites, Osky has never enjoyed car rides, he gets the shakes, hates every minute of it. Prince and Star go with us to the grocery store, run a few errands, and we imagine it is pretty cool for anyone driving behind us to see the license plate and two Dalmatian heads sticking out of the window.

True, I could not care less about their fancy rides. “I” am the only one to get professionally groomed, which is the true mark of being special…

BUT BACK TO WHAT MATTERS! The pups have a hard time believing we struggled with being away. Yeah, that’s what they say… But does it look like they are struggling? Zenless even got to cheat on us with other pups! THE NERVE!