The horrors of moving

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There was a terrifying moment here over the weekend. Growing increasingly bored of unpacking things and cleaning, I chose to distract myself by familiarising myself with my new kitchen. The most important task, of course, was investigating my new oven. I placed a shiny new oven thermometer inside and was momentarily self-congratulatory- I was part way there to outsmarting this oven. Smugness turned to confusion when I realised that the thing had no buttons, only dials that didn’t seem to do anything.

Distressed, I turned the dials and sat there, watching the unwaveringly still needle on the thermometer. After around twenty minutes, Chadwiko took pity on me and called the landlord for help. Using all my willpower to contain my hysterical sobs at the prospect of life without an oven (would I have to buy a tiny toaster oven and endure Chadwiko’s constant ‘ but it’s size appropriate’ mockery?), I listened as the landlord appeared to have no idea what to do. But ever the brazen explorer (some call him the Bear Grylls of appliances), Chadwiko discovered and pulled a flap off the top of the oven to reveal functional buttons.

Crisis averted.

And to make things better, the landlord did tell us how to fix the spa bath that had so perplexed us the night before (turns out you have to plug things in to make them work).

To properly test the new oven, I made zucchini bread. I’m allergic to bananas, and my years as a barista were filled with a constant sense of inferiority- it turns out that all anyone ever wants with their coffee is banana bread. Bread that smelled glorious, but whose deliciousness I would never know. I had resigned myself to a life of holding my contempt for the world deep inside until it bursts out at a highly inappropriate time, but then I learned of the existence of zucchini bread. And I suddenly knew fulfillment.

Zucchini bread

I use this recipe, using whole wheat flour instead of plain, mainly just to make myself feel a little bit better about all the sugar. I tend to reduce the sugar a little bit as well, since I can usually only find sweetened applesauce and don’t often have time to make my own. Needless to say, my oven works just fine and, despite the shaky start, I think we’ll be good friends.

Tonight I also made the channa masala from Yellow Rose Recipes.

Channa masala with turmeric rice

This was one of the recipes that first caught my eye when I bought this book, and I’m not sure what took me so long to make it. It was probably my favourite thing I’ve made from Yellow Rose Recipes so far, and Chadwiko definitely liked it- he had seconds, then I later found him in the kitchen eating out of the pan and shielding the remainder from me like some kind of wild animal defending its kill.

As of this week I’ll also be taking part in a vegan cookbook challenge, cooking from a different book each week. I’m looking forward to tackling some more recipes from YRR in a few weeks, but tomorrow I’ll begin with the new kid on the block, Appetite for Reduction. I’m definitely looking forward to trying some new things from books both old and new- and testing the capabilities of my new kitchen as I go.

1 Comment(s)

  1. Please don’t torture me and wait so long to post a new daily anecdote or recipe. I love this blog!

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    jesse.i. | Jan 12, 2011 | Reply

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  1. Mar 11, 2011: from Cookbook challenge: Tamale pie and zucchini muffins : Meet the Wikos

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