My Autumn Return: Orchids, weddings, cupcakes, and more

Dear friends, It has been a LONG time.  More than two months, in fact.  The Kitchen in the Yard has been on a rather extended vacation while I finished my degree and started new work this fall. 

So, yes!  That means I am a doctor now!  A research doctor - not the medical kind, mind you.

All the foodie-ness of this blog has been a saving grace for the past 10 1/2 months since I started posting, and perhaps especially during major crunch times with my dissertation since about April (e.g., when I was really tired, there were times I would tell myself: "As soon as you complete X part of this article, you can edit some photos and write a post!).  I did, in fact, finish the entire dissertation in that time and submitted the final version in early October.  Then all manner of life kicked in and it was time to start new work (more research training), buy a car (I haven't owned a car for almost 8 years!), and get used to many new routines.  

But now it's time for us to catch up.

In my memories of these very recent past few months, working on the dissertation definitely dominates.  However, other things happened, too.  Here are some of the highlights of the past few months since my last post.

Babysitting my friend Megan's orchids while she was between apartments early this past summer.  Having these around was so great, it tempted me to get some of my own.  But let's face it; my track record with plants is absolutely terrible, and that's why I no longer have any in my home - they have all gone to a better place.  Good thing Megan found a suitable home for herself and these, and took them back before too long.

Picking tomatoes in my aunt's garden in Lancaster, PA in August.  Gorgeous, aren't they?  These are all different types of tomatoes!

Stopping by random farm stands in Lancaster County, where lovely blooms, fresh vegetables, and home-baked treats were being sold by a rather eccentric city lady newly relocated to the country.  I love characters like these, and the tarts she'd baked were delicious!

Baking the wedding cupcakes for my dear friends Anna and Willie, who got married in August.

Letters from Maine on Independence Day Weekend (and Baking and Boiling, Etc.)

I went to Maine for my 4th of July vacation.  It was great.  It was a long-ish road from Cambridge to Port Clyde, but of course, it's all okay when the company's good.  Which it was.

Hurry up, traffic and traffic lights; we're trying to be on vacation here. 

When I saw the sky looking like this over the bridge on the edge of Wiscasset, I was pretty sure I was on the right road, heading in the right direction.  Away from the city, basically.  And especially - away from my office.  It was time for a change of scene.

 

Within about 15 minutes of arriving to the cottage in Maine - and that includes the time it took to unload our stuff from the car - I was browning butter for this banana-strawberry bread I read about on the Joy the Baker blog a few weeks ago.

Around the time I was mixing the browned butter with the yogurt and eggs and whatnot, I thought about adding a light crumb crust to the top before putting those sliced strawberries where they are and popping the whole thing into the oven.  And so that's what I did.  (3 Tbsp. cold butter, 1/4 c. four, 1/3 c. brown sugar, all crumbled up and sprinkled on top of the bread batter).  It made those strawberries deliciously sweet and crunchy.  I'd add even more strawberries and crumb crust next time.   

Then what?  Oh yes, then it was time to eat a lobster roll and fries on the dock at the Dip Net (restaurant)/Port Clyde General Store.  And also these delicious mashed potatoes with corn in them, which I sampled from Eliza's plate.  And to meet up with Jerome and Lindsay and baby Logan, who drove all the way from Montreal to spend the weekend with us.