Fruitful New Hobbies
Plus what I'm eating, reading, and planting this month.
Hi Bakers!
It’s a new month and I’m jumping back into our monthly newsletter chats. This is always a great way to connect and give you a glimpse of what it is behind all of your favorite Bake Club recipes.
We also just passed 10,000 subscribers so let me say thanks to longtime readers and introduce myself to those who just signed up.
I’m originally from California, but now write, eat, and explore from the coastal mountains of North Vancouver, BC. I have three kids, two cookbooks, and one serious new obsession with gardening.
In the kitchen, I like learning French pastry techniques, using Asian flavors, and eating pizza and/or pasta weekly (see the Pizza Friday series). My family has Hawaiian roots, so I’ll often use tropical ingredients mixed with my west coast upbringing to inspire a lot of my dishes. In fact, May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, and we’ll be exploring more fusion bakes in the coming weeks.
I get so excited about food every day, and I want to share that with you all. Anyone can cook and anyone can bake - you just gotta go for it! I promise you can make great food at home, and I can’t wait to show you how.
What I’m Planting:
It is currently raining, but we had a shockingly sunny April. This was the perfect time for me to fully immerse myself into creating a new kitchen garden. One might say “obsessed” like it’s a bad thing, but I am fully committed to growing my own lettuces and cool climate vegetables this year. My seed collection is a bit out of control, but only after I made the promise not to spend another $6 per clamshell of limp greens this summer.
Here’s what I planted in April:
From Seeds:
Lettuce (Loose leaf, Buttercrunch)
French Breakfast Radishes
Spinach
English Peas
Snap Peas
Golden Beets
Zinnias
From Starters:
Kale
Red Leaf, Romaine
Cosmos
Marigolds
Herbs: Chives, Mint, Sage, Parsley, Thyme, Oregano, Rosemary
What didn’t work: indoor seeds for onion, chives, and cosmos
What I’m Eating:
Sourdough - In addition to my new garden hobby, I started baking sourdough again. After struggling with my own from scratch, Jill of Feed the Swimmers shipped me some of hers from NYC. Its origin is The Jorgenson House in Juneau, Alaska from the Klondike Gold Rush era. After a cross-country journey and a couple feeds, it is THRIVING in my kitchen and I’ve had a few great bakes already.
Blender Pasta Sauce - Nutrient-dense blender pasta sauce has been my go-to secret move for combating dinnertime woes. Last week we made a roasted pepper and tofu sauce and a creamy ricotta pea sauce. Blend to smooth and combine with warm pasta. You can add other vegetables or white beans and top with parm.
Eggs - My brother was in town last month and eggs are his specialty. Truly a pro at the 7-minute jammy egg. The kids call his olive oil scramble “Uncle’s Special Eggs.” I paired them with the aforementioned sourdough.
What I’m Reading:
Kitchen Garden Revival - I fell hard down the Gardenary rabbit hole. I am using a lot of Nicole’s advice for growing our kitchen garden as well as her book, Kitchen Garden Revival.
The Book of Sandwiches - I didn’t even know I needed a sandwich book until now. The flavors are so creative and the photography is stunning. Paired with the aforementioned sourdough (again), I am excited to try the grilled banana peanut butter sandwich and open-faced broccoli, fennel and cheese.
Funny Story - I don’t think I’ve ever pre-ordered a novel before, but I’m a basic, Emily Henry fan and could not wait for this one. I’m only about 25 pages in but already hooked.
What I’m Listening To:
CD’s from the 90’s - Earlier this year, we bought my eldest a boombox for his birthday. We wanted to give him more independence in listening to music without being connected to an app or another screen. Sometimes the answer is so obvious and simple. We’ve been helping him build his music library, starting with Oasis and the Foo Fighters’ Greatest Hits.
NewDad - I’ll admit that I am not up-to-date on a lot of music (hence my kid listening to the same records as when I was nearly his age), but thankfully our editor here always supplies me with new tunes. The latest is NewDad - an Irish indie band that’s been vibing through my headphones in the garden and in the kitchen.
The next installment of Birthday Cake Club goes out tomorrow so keep an eye out for that and always feel free to leave a comment to keep the conversation going!
I love that you are sharing your cooking and baking journey with us as well as a look into your day to day. Keep us updated. I love it.