Things are just ducky. And a little cheesy.

It's not that I haven't been cooking.  And it's not that I haven't liked what I've made.  It's more that I haven't been inspired to take pictures and write about it, I guess.

Oh yeah, and there was basically the entire month of October that I spent anxiously thinking about, dreaming about, watching and pacing back and forth in various living rooms, waiting for THE SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS TO WIN A WORLD SERIES!  During that time, my attempts in the kitchen were mostly of this type:

I did manage a few things that were both challenging (for me, which may not be saying much to some) and that turned out pretty well.  

For instance, I made some duck which, at least in my house, isn't a frequent thing.  The big thing about this, really, is that it was TK's recipe.  And, not surprisingly, it was beautiful and delectable, if perhaps a tad overcooked since I managed (it's an easy thing to do) to slightly cut into the meat whilst scoring the fat so that it would render and create a crispy skin in the pan-roasting process. Nonetheless, with a short list of seven readily available but-for-the-special-type-of-duck ingredients, plus S&P, and only a preferred seasoning time of 12 hours that was shortened to about 3 for mine,  it was a snap!   Sadly, there are no photos of the finished product, only the preparation:

I served it with a cheese souffle that looked like this when I took it out of the oven:

It was gorgeous and also delicious, though I probably should have used a parchment sleeve to help it rise more uniformly (the recipe did not call for this).  I can't currently find the recipe I used, though I'm fairly certain it was this one.  I know that souffles have this reputation of being difficult to make.  They're touchy: don't over mix when folding in the egg whites or they'll stubbornly refuse to give you pillowy lightness and give you savory cake batter instead.  They're moody: once in the oven no banging around in frustration or raising your voice too loudly or they'll suddenly go from being your crowning pièce de résistance, to a puddle of gloppy savory cake batter instead.  Thankfully, that was not my experience.      

I think the vegetable side for this meal was Martha's Lemony Kale Salad, which we've always made without the nuts since the version in my cookbook doesn't mention them, but which now I will try.  This salad has become, shockingly, a FAVORITE for my kids. We use the Dino(suar) kale (aka Tuscan, aka cavolo nero nero, aka lacinata) because it's a little more tender and the flavor milder than your standard full grown grocery store kale.