The Whipple Table

I love a goal that takes concentrated forward motion over a long period of time - one I can't just sit and furiously knock out in one afternoon in trying to run from the anxiety of having it looming over my head. Cooking-related goals have been a home run for me in seeking something sincerely fun, actively creative, and forcibly long-term. Maybe you don't feel the same, but for me, it's nearly impossible to abandon a cooking goal because I have to cook anyway in order to remain alive. So, if I'm cooking, I may as well do it with intention. The preamble is meant to set up this point: as I get closer to reaching the completion of two of my favorite cookbooks, it's been interesting around here. I don't cook in any certain order, instead basing my decisions on what's struck my fancy for the week (or what ingredients are on BOGO, because I'm a BOGO queen). The predicament naturally created by this process is that the recipes left for the end of the journey ar...

  This dish is out of the Laura Lea Balanced Cookbook and uses chicken thighs and oats as its base (here's to making friends with my food processor.) If I make this again, the meatballs could use a few more ingredients to add some life - maybe onions or garlic? Furthermore I would make the meatballs smaller and throw some broccoli in the slow cooker. This was my bad, they were meant to be, like, half the size I made them. They were also meant to be skewers, but we served this over rice because I have a rice addiction. + Other Odds and Ends Guacamole from Magnolia Table - Avocados were on sale at my Publix and this was one of the few appetizer recipes that needed to get crossed off my list. It was good, not much to say here... Sourdough - Sigh. Friends, this wasn't good. It was obvious after the initial (and secondary) 'rise' that I didn't use my starter at the right point but then I was committed to the bit so I had to bake it anyway. Look, it's edible , but it...

  I made this from my Dinner: A Love Story cookbook , but Jenny features this recipe on her blog, too - linked here ! One of many bragging points when it comes to this recipe is the fact that "it's nearly impossible to get wrong." I have to confirm that it was pretty close to perfect just the way it happened, but next time I'll use more tomatoes and less wine - it's just that I added the wine first, and there wasn't enough room in the dutch oven for all the tomatoes.  I doubled the recipe because that's how big my package of pork was, and then froze half of it as a favor to my future self. Served alongside some leftover Layered Arugula Salad from earlier in the week, I was proud to pair the pork as recommended with "a little sweetness" from the pears and pomegranate. Love when a plan comes together. What really made this sauce shine was the fresh pappardelle - and besides, this was the perfect recipe for the undertaking since it braised in the o...

Okay, FINE, I forgot the sesame seeds. Sue me. These were wonderful and missing nothing (except the sesame seeds) and I didn't notice the lack of meat, although another individual did (ahem). The vegetarian recipes from Half Baked Harvest: Super Simple have been nothing but wonderful - I'm remembering now that I made Tieghan's Saucy Coconut and Chickpea Curry for a vegan friend a couple of years ago and it was a hit. Seems like jalapeños might be a key ingredient in keeping things interesting. For these Spicy Poblano Tacos, the cilantro lime yogurt sauce turned out very watery, so I had to control myself to keep things non-soupy. Also, FINE, my grocery store didn't have halloumi so I used one of those skillet cheeses, jalapeño flavored. At this point in the grocery trip I was very stressed that these tacos would be uncontrollably spicy, but I've yet to truly make anything my household couldn't happily handle. Some of the very best kitchen gadgets that I was pum...

Made this Ginger-Coconut Chicken "Noodle" Bowl last night from the Whole30 Cookbook . It was healthy... but I suppose I brought outrageous expectations after the Asian Beef Zucchini Soup from last year. My husband is also not a fan of sweet potatoes in the healthy forms. He prefers them covered in candied nuts on Thanksgiving. Can't blame him, can't disagree. This recipe calls for the sweet potatoes to be roasted separately, alongside onion wedges and tossed in coconut oil, salt, and pepper. They aren't added to the dish until it's time to assemble. I will probably be making just the sweet potatoes and onions as a side for future dishes because that in itself was unique and delicious.   Miraculously found a ground turkey recipe that didn't give me the ick: this Crispy Spicy Turkey with Lemon Garlic Cauliflower Rice. The ick might be semi-permanent, though, because when I was a college sophomore and didn't know how to do anything, I under-cooked a turk...

 2022 was an amazing year in the kitchen. Here's what most frequently sat in my cookbook stand. Side Note: I highly recommend taking a moment in the morning to open up the recipe you're planning for that night so you can look forward to it every time you walk by. Or so that you multiply your chances of catching the fact that something is supposed to marinate for 6 hours, not that that has ever happened to me.