I like to keep a list in my journal of the (mostly) little, everyday things bringing me a disproportionate amount of happiness these days. I love assembling these interesting and often strange assortments in these recurring posts of stuff I love. We’ve been spending a lot of time in the kitchen lately, and the outsized delight I’m taking in my cooking endeavors is evident in this assortment.
Lentil soups
My family loves lentil soup: we’ve made Ina Garten’s Lentil Vegetable Soup for nearly twenty years now. But recently we tried two new recipes for lentil soup—using new-to-us varieties of lentils—and they’ve become instant hits!
The first is this Pressure Cooker Lentil Soup with Sausage (that’s a gift link from NYT Cooking). This soup was so easy, and it was a big hit with the whole family. Next we loved Milk Street’s Turkish Red Lentil Soup. I know a hearty soup can stand on its own as a meal, but our favorite thing is to serve these with grilled cheese on the side. That makes a substantial winter dinner, and ensures that we have enough soup left over to enjoy for lunch the next day.
The MMD Holiday Cookie Exchange
Our cookie exchange has brought me so much joy! This is the cookie comments section that keeps on giving: I’m returning to it frequently, and finding so much inspiration and practical guidance there.
I can’t think of the last time I’ve been so excited about baking: thanks so much for your generous (and delicious!) suggestions.
My newly acquired deep frying prowess
Okay, perhaps “competence” is more like it, but I’m absurdly proud of myself! I’ve always been terrified of deep frying, but for reasons I can’t explain I decided I was going to tackle this Pickle-Brined Chicken Sandwich recipe (another NYT Cooking gift link: as you may guess, we subscribe and use their recipes a lot). At first I thought I would do some kind of shallow pan-fry or air fryer roast instead of actually deep frying the chicken, because I don’t deep fry. Ever.
But then I thought: why not give it a try? I expected it to be difficult, as well as a splattering mess, and was truly surprised at how simple and relatively neat the whole process was. I don’t think I’ll ever be a regular deep fryer, but it’s nice to know I can if I want to.
Bar Keepers Friend
Speaking of splattering messes: we’ve been happily using this kitchen cleaner for years but it’s on my mind because I just bought a new one. This inexpensive cleaner is great for cleaning up all manner of kitchen uses, but it’s indispensable for keeping our white farmhouse sink looking great: it’s the best two bucks I spend to keep our kitchen looking shiny and new.
Three weeks of meals
Earlier this fall Will and I were really struggling to come up with dinner ideas that the whole family liked (or liked well enough to bother making). Meal planning felt like it was taking way too much creative energy: it was so hard to come up with a week’s worth of meals at once!
But then one Sunday I had a counterintuitive thought: since it was so hard to come up with a week’s worth of ideas, why not take advantage of already being in a meal planning state of mind and look further ahead? Will and I brainstormed three weeks of meals at once, the second and third weeks growing increasingly fuzzy in concept (e.g., “something with pasta and chicken”), but by golly, it’s easier to edit a fuzzy plan than start from scratch.
We’ve been keeping a rolling three week list for several months now, and it’s working for us. (This section in my journal is helping a ton.)
Dawn Powerwash
Another kitchen hero you all recommended when we bought our air fryer last summer. This specialized soap makes air fryer cleanup so much easier, and it’s also great for all kinds of messy, greasy dishes and similarly despoiled surfaces. Thank you all for putting it on my radar!
Smells on the stove
Nice smells around the house make me really happy, and this time of year it brings me such joy to fill a small pot with a cinnamon stick, orange peel, peppercorns, and cloves (or pomegranate peels, star anise, bay leaves) and let it simmer away on the back of the stove.
Tamarind sauce (and knowing what to do with it)
The last time I was at Jungle Jim’s in Cincinnati, I made it a point to purchase the Maggi brand of Tamarind sauce. I had read it was crucial to have this particular brand for a recipe I wanted to make … but once I got home I couldn’t remember what the recipe was!
Sometimes Instagram really comes through for me: when I asked you why I might have bought it, you answered. It turns out I was preparing to try a quick and easy chickpea bowl from Jenny Rosenstrach’s cookbook Weekday Vegetarians. (Thankfully that basic recipe is also available online right here.) Jenny calls for frying the chickpeas on the stove, but I’ve been making them in the air fryer for hands-off cooking, which leads us to …
A few not-so-little things
I mostly share small things bringing me outsized amounts of joy in this space, but we’ve made a few bigger purchases that are making us too happy not to share. First, about that air fryer: we have a family of six, including four teenagers, and while we loved the sound of an air fryer, we didn’t want to sacrifice the counter space. After much debate Will found an air fryer that flips up when not in use, which means a much smaller footprint: the Ninja Foodi 9-in-1 Digital Air Fry Toaster Oven. (We got ours at Costco, but it’s also available on Amazon.) We love it—for quick lunches, for kids’ hot snacks, even for mealtime cooking.
We also bought a new chef’s knife for the first time in twenty years. My mom gave us this Cook’s Illustrated top pick shortly after we got married (twenty years ago!) and it served us well for many years. But, unlike some of the knives out there, it turns out this model was not designed to last forever. We’d reached the point where it never got—and definitely couldn’t stay—sharp, not even after being professionally sharpened. (I still highly recommend it: it’s inexpensive and easy to use and lasts a long time—just not forever.)
We finally replaced our chef’s knife with this model and I cannot overstate the difference it makes. Because knives dull slowly, it took us a while to realize just how much our old knife had worn down, but now that we’ve remedied the situation the difference is drastic. Routine tasks like chopping onions (we chop so many onions in the winter) had become a real drag, and now it’s a breeze. A word of warning if you replace your knives: we do have to be careful now, because this thing, as promised, is SHARP.
And finally, our trusty immersion blender died after a similarly long life. After doing the research we decided not to replace our Cuisinart but instead tried this somewhat fancier Breville model, and we are very happy with it. This time of year we use it most often for soup making, like for the black bean chili and golden cauliflower soup in this post with our longtime favorite recipes for soup season.
What (mostly) little things are bringing YOU a disproportionate amount of happy in the kitchen lately? I’d love to hear in comments.
P.S. A book lover’s best tips for buying wine and 9 tasty teas to warm up your winter days.
71 comments
Jungle Jim’s!!! One of my favorite parts of living in CincinnatI! I love their British section, a great selection of teas and British candies!
My electric milk frother makes my morning coffees feel like a luxury, while I am saving money by skipping the drive thru coffee line.
Oh, forgot to add, Target’s gingerbread whipped cream to top coffee off for a Christmas treat
I LOVE my rechargeable milk frother!!
It sounds as if you have solved your Air Fryer issue but for others: if you have a convection oven, it will work in exactly the same way as an air fryer with the advantage of taking up no additional storage space (or countertop space) in your kitchen. An air fryer is simply a convection countertop appliance.
Seconding that Breville immersion blender. I even use the accessories it comes with (the mini processor, the big blending jar, the balloon whisk), which I thought would never see the light of day.
Three weeks at a time is genius!
Would the ballon whisk attachment be powerful enough to whip egg whites to stiff peaks?
I’m so intrigued by this, Deborah!
We just got an air fryer and I’m so excited! Where have you found your favorite air fryer recipes?
1. An electric kettle. We recently purchased one for a brunch we hosted, and it’s so much faster to heat water than on the stove.
2. Homemade vegan parmesan. My sister found a recipe for a vegan parmesan made with cashews, nutritional yeast, and garlic, and it tastes amazing! My spaghetti is no longer sad and boring.
3. Bigelow vanilla caramel tea. Just so delicious!
4. Frontier soup mixes. They make perfect winter dinners (although we eat them all year round).
5. Color-coordinated cutting boards. I just love having dedicated cutting boards, so I don’t have to worry about cross-contamination.
Ashling, if you see this, will you please share the recipe or link to the recipe for the vegan parmesan? Thanks!
The recipe is from Oh She Glows.
https://ohsheglows.com/2017/11/06/cashew-garlic-parmesan/
Wonderful! Thank you!
I am curious about your Parmesan substitute recipe. I use a recipe from the America’s test kitchen vegan cookbook. The ingredients are cashews, pine nuts, nutritional yeast, and green olives. The only problem with it is that it’s so delicious it never lasts more than a few days here (I have been known to eat it by the spoonful), and I don’t always have the time and ingredients to make it.
The recipe my sister found is from Oh She Glows. It uses cashews, garlic, nutritional yeast, and salt. It never lasts very long for me either, for the exact same reason.
https://ohsheglows.com/2017/11/06/cashew-garlic-parmesan/
I brought back Victorinex paring knives from Switzerland as little gifts. They were inexpensive but sharp, and everyone reports them as their go to knives. It’s always the one I grab.
We have both the black and red Victornox paring knives. You can order them online in the US. We use them every day!
We love these paring knives!
Thank you for this recommendation! I just ordered a set of 4 so I could use them as stocking stuffers for my adult children!
Lemon, rosemary and vanilla is a great stovetop combo, too. I saw it on Pinterest years ago and bloggers were saying it was the scent Williams Sonoma uses in their stores.
Thanks for that tip, Ally. Will try it tonight!
I’ve never tried this combo but it sounds divine!
I am loving this roll of disposable scrub sheets! Stinky sponges and scrubbers make me cringe. This is like a roll of paper towels and you can cut the sheets in half to make them last longer. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08683JD4Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I’m also loving these dishclothes https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SCT2XHP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1. They dry quickly and wash nicely.
And lastely, I’m loving this usb candle lighter. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08SJ3KTB2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
And LASTLY please forgive the misspelled word!
You know we will ❤️
Snapshots of a December kitchen’s sights and tastes, aromas and favorite memories …
http://www.lindastoll.net/2022/12/porch-72-december-kitchen.html?m=1
That Dawn powerwash also works great as a stain remover including making my son’s white soccer kit look new and removes all sorts of child markings from walls. Lifesaver.
I also love superhot coffee and my Ember mug makes me happy every morning. Worth the huge splurge.
Oooo…good tip about the Dawn Powerwash! Thanks!
That is so good to know! That makes sense since it’s so effective at cutting through grease, but I wouldn’t have thought to try had you not shared that tip here. I’m grateful!
Before I was married in 1972, I bought a set of Cutco knives, guaranteed forever. Recently, I sent in the Utility Knife, which I use the most often of all of them, and they replaced it after 50 years! I’m not sure what’s harder to believe: that it lasted that long, or that they are still in business and honoring the guarantee.
I have had mine 20 years, also bought when I got married. I send them in for sharpening regularly. Such a great service. This time they replaced four of the 15 knives I sent in, including my chef’s knife and scissors. An amazing company!
YES! Cutco is amazing! I love mine; inherited from my parents who were married in 1955. Seriously, they do sharpen and replace…even if it’s 60 years old!
Another happy Cutco user! I was given one for my wedding 22 years ago. It’s the sharpest knife in the kitchen and stayed that way for a long time. We just sent it in for the sharpening service, which was a fabulous experience.
Lifesaver! One of our favourite restaurants is closing down and we get these amazing fried chicken sandwiches and now we won’t be able to, sad face! Now, we can make our own!!!
I hope they turn out great!
Reynolds’ parchment sheets that are cut to fit cookie sheets. I use these to cook almost everything I bake in my oven, not just cookies, but also salmon, oven roasted vegetables, etc. Makes cleanup a snap. Also, I saw Bachan’s Japanese BBQ sauce advertised on social media and was intrigued. I found it at my local grocery store, and it is fabulous. So delicious on chicken, vegetables and rice!
Yes!! I was getting on here to mention the parchment sheets. So much easier than the rolled parchment.
Jungle Jim’s is one of the things that brings me disproportionate happiness in the kitchen! I was delighted to see it mentioned on your post. We will make the nearly 2 hour trek from our home to stroll through their aisles, check out the butcher and cheese counters, marvel at the produce selection, check out the craft beer and wines, and buy international delights (heavy on the candy offerings!) I love that place!
My kitchen scale. Baking this holiday season with a scale has been a game changer – so much quicker and way more accurate.
And ditto on The NY Times cooking subscription! Their recipes are always hits in my house.
Agreed, Edie!
Oh my goodness, I ADORE my kitchen scale! We bought it to weigh our coffee but converting to the scale for baking has been a game-changer.
I just got an air fryer too and am loving it! It started because I can’t eat enough of Costco’s salmon and I was tired of using the big oven for a single piece of fish. I also just upgraded my blender to a Vitamix and it’s amazing.
Jungle Jim’s makes me laugh – in my state it’s a kids play space and restaurant like Chuck E Cheese!
A friend gave me a Dreamfarm Supoon – a combination flexible spatula and spoon rest. I love it and use it every single day. Just ordered several for holiday gifts. A little kitchen miracle!
I may need one of these for my own stocking …
Regarding your meal planning segment, let me suggest the website of my daughter-in-law, Nicole Breivik. It is gundaandleone.com. Those are the names of her grandmothers, and Nicole has worked and fed her family of 6 for many years, making most of the meals herself. So she developed a series of weekly menus that she has added to and changed over the years. She gives the recipes and talks about them and how they are received. As the mother of 4 boys, she has had her challenges! I go there when I’m stumped for a meal and also when I just want to know what new recipes she’s trying.
Thanks for sharing!
We just made two kitchen purchases, one inexpensive and one an investment and both are serving us so well. We bought a $10 foldable metal dish drainer from IKEA and it’s wonderful. Holds way more than it looks like it will and it’s surprisingly sturdy. Then on Black Friday, we bought the Breville Smart Toaster Oven Pro which we have been looking at for months. It’s really been amazing and I am even baking bread in it which is turning out as wonderfully as they said it would. Love all your recommendations, it’s so nice to hear of things that actually work well!
Hmmmm, we’ve been wondering if we should get a dish drainer. I’m not keen on it taking up counter space all the time, but we wash so many dishes this time of year it sure would be handy!
I decided to give Geometry tea towels a try after years of frustration at HomeGoods and Target kitchen towels that mostly just push water around. I found myself telling the kiddo to grab a rag towel to clean up the spills when I accidentally left the water dispenser go too long because I knew our dish towels would do nothing. And they work! Hurray!
Cassie, this is my first introduction to these tea towels and I’m intrigued!
I love Jungle Jim’s. This reminded me that we’re way past due to head on down there–thank you!
I absolutely can not believe how much easier my cordless wet dry vacuum/mop combo machine makes cleaning my floors! It was amazing and almost fun. I was able to clean my kitchen mats too. I got the Tineco floor S5 on Black Friday.
This is one of my favorite posts ever — and that’s saying something, because they’re always great! A jewel box of comments, too. Thanks, all!
Ruthie, thanks for reading!
We recently got an espresso machine (a base model DeLonghi from Costco—nothing fancy, just espresso and a frothing wand) after using a drip pot for years, and it is bringing me so much joy! I have a lot of food intolerance issues, so we are using Purity coffee and hemp milk with a little bit of local honey. It’s delicious, I tolerate it well, and I love the ritual of making it in the morning. A cappuccino to rival the local coffee shop’s!
Now THIS is something to celebrate!
I have been using the Lazy Genius dinner queue idea for several months and absolutely love it! Every two months, I make a list of meals for the next eight weeks. Then all I have to do is pull some of those meals off the queue and into the week’s meal plan. I love that I only have to look at a short list when meal planning each week while still having room to adjust each week as needed.
Such a smart system!
Seasonal-scented dish soap and multi-purpose cleaner (currently using Meyers brand). I find myself scrubbing out the sink at least one extra time just for the delicious seasonal scent. Also, a new set of Food Huggers in pretty greens. It really is the little things that bring the most joy sometimes!
I found that my coffee (or tea) was getting cold in the cup before I finished it. A disappointment. Then…. browsing in Shopper’s Drug Mart, I found a cup that solves my problem! It is made by http://www.Mannahydration.com and I cannot recommend it highly enough!! It wasn’t cheap, I paid $19.99 Canadian which is approximately $15 US. But, after trying the cup out, I went back to the store and bought the last one they had! If cold coffee is something that has you annoyed, I have the solution for you!!
A small thing that makes such a difference in your daily routine!
I love my new cooking blender from Pampered Chef! Also loving my meat thermometer (removes the guesswork and over-cooked meat) and Swiss Miss Simply Hot Cocoa (hot chocolate without all the fillers).
Your post reminded me that my husband had suggested I make a monthly menu plan and then repeat that each month. I guess he’s tired of me asking what to make!
Stainless Steel Magnetic Measuring spoons (enter this in the search bar on Amazon and they will come up)- they cost just $14.00 ish dollars and make baking and measuring easier and more orderly. Plus each spoon has measuring on both ends, so if you need a clean one just turn the spoon around. Great little gift for the cooks on your list too.
I count myself very lucky that Jungle Jim’s is my regular grocery store (and my happy place)! The Cinnalicious bread from their bakery makes the best French toast.
Some of the handiest things we’ve picked up over the last few years are the Joseph Joseph Elevate series utensils. They have integrated rests to keep them off the counter–so no spoon rest is needed. Super handy.
A few years ago I decided to sit down and come up with a 6 week meal rotation because I was sick and tired of menu planning. It is one of the single best decisions I’ve ever made. I started out by sitting down and making a list of all of my regular go-to meals and then I added categories like chicken night, breakfast for dinner, Mexican night, meatless night etc which helped me fill out the rest of the weeks. The google doc has expanded over the years to include a list of possible side dishes and links to recipes I want to try at some point. Once a week I sit down and look at the doc and create a 7 day menu. Then I write up my grocery list from that meal plan. The menu is on the fridge and in the morning I look at it and figure out what we’ll have that night. I’m not joking when I say this process has saved my sanity. I used to dread meal planning and the daily question of “what’s for dinner?” It’s also saved us a ton of money because we don’t eat out nearly as much as we used to.
Jungle Jims – one of my favorite places in Cincinnati, great grocery memories! Bar Keepers Friend is also great for cleaning up enameled cast iron cookware (Le Creuset and the like). I do not do it often as I am sure it is not manufactured recommended but when you you have a stubborn stain it does the trick!
For meal planning the best app in the world is Paprika. It stores your recipes, has a browser so you can find and bring recipes right into the app, it has a grocery list generated from the recipe and it has a meal planning calendar. Simply scroll through recipes, add them to the calendar as far out as you want, add ingredients to the grocery list and shop. This can all be done from your couch or in your car while sitting outside the grocery store. No more wondering what to make while standing in the isle at the store. No more leaving the grocery list at home. It’s always on your phone. Best money I’ve ever spent. You’re welcome.
I agree- I have found planning for 3-4 weeks of meals at a time is best! I leave a few blank spaces for leftovers or quick meals if what I have planned gets juggled around. It’s SOOO much less stressful than coming up with things on the fly!
A new APRON is my happy place! I wear a full apron every day, because somehow food always finds it’s way to my clothes. This year we got chickens and for my anniversary gift a good friend bought me an apron with colorful roosters on it, and I love it. The year before that, my sister gave me a really good quality solid red one, because red is the accent color in my kitchen. I’m happy every time I put them on!
I love that you make the trip to Jungle Jim’s! I’m 45 minutes north of there in Dayton. I go there to find things I grew up on in upstate NY.