First, that herb harvest. I was puzzling over how I was going to dry them all quickly enough to get them moved somewhere -- there's just no way I can use all that up that quickly -- and it occurred to me I could probably do it in the oven. A little googling and 45 minutes later, and voila! Not only are they all perfectly dried, but they even kept more color then the traditional hang-dry - and my main floor is beyond fragrant with herbal aromas. Here's the deal: wash and fully dry the fresh herbs. Spread them out on a cookie sheet (or tin foil in my case, as the cookie sheets didn't fit and are now packed anyway). Heat the oven to as low as it will go, which was 170 degrees in my case, and slide those sheets in. KEEP THE OVEN DOOR OPEN A TINY BIT! I used the dough hook for my not-yet-packed KitchenAid so I wouldn't have to be paranoid about a wooden spoon or mitt (recommended on various sites) catching fire. The air movement seems to be key to the drying as opposed to scorching. If you have a convection oven, perhaps that will do the trick, but I don't know. Different herbs seem to take different times - seems to be based on the amount of oils in them - but start with 30 minutes. Mine were close at that point, so I turned them around and did another 15 minutes, and they are now cooling and ready to bag. Very exciting.
Second, which I haven't actually tried yet -- I packed up my toaster the other day (or it was packed, by my helpful friend). It didn't occur to me till hours later that this is something I use for breakfast every morning. (It's been a long week, okay?) I thought about oven toasting, but previous efforts have led to one large crouton. So back to the google and it dawned on me: I have a grill pan, one of two stovetop items that I set aside for leftover consumption use before packing. Tomorrow, I'm pan toasting bread. Cross your fingers!
Third: gratuitous product placement. Here's the backstory: I brew my own iced coffee. I love iced coffee, and during the summer absolutely cannot drink hot coffee. Paying $2.50 a cup is insanity to me when I can buy a bag of coffee for $8 and brew many pots' worth. So, I brew and cool it. However, again with the kitchen -- packing up both the coffee maker and the cold pitcher. I was bracing myself for a long expensive three weeks of iced coffee when I saw in the grocery: Starbucks iced coffee, now in a half gallon jug and completely unsweetened. Now, I'm not a fan of Sbux coffee -- iced tea and espresso, yes, but their drip is like burnt battery acid and I just can't handle it. But every other supermarket option is half sugar and gross, and this was only $5 for the jug (still high but lower than the retail option), so I figured I'd try it and see. Well. I don't know what goes so wrong in those Sbux stores but this iced coffee is DELICIOUS. It's completely different - no burnt flavor at all, just a smooth nuttiness. It's SO good. It's way better than what I brew at home, too. Which will be a quandary for another day, but for now...yum. Try it. You'll thank me. (although, as my head buzzes...word to the wise: it ain't weak.)
** 8/14/14: UPDATE: the pan grilling of the bread - or in this case a bagel - worked out remarkably well. Another small win!
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