There be culinary challenges here, especially for holiday meals. A cooking girl’s gotta think outside the box that is her living quarters — and the even smaller box within that contains her kitchen — to make it all go down.
This year, my folks are cooking the bird and a few side dishes at their house, which is where we’ll gather this afternoon with our younger son, my brother, his wife and my niece and nephew. More cooking, serving and seating space for the win!
My assignments: two vegetables, rolls, and a pie.
To appreciate how small my refrigerator is, go stand in front of yours. I’ll wait. You there? Good. Now open the door. Note shelves that appear between your knees and your chin. That’s all the vertical space I’ve got.
We’re talking 8 cubic feet. By comparison, a typical household refrigerator provides 18-26 cubic feet of storage space.
But wait. It gets better. Now reach your arm in there and touch the back wall. Gotta lean in a little to make your fingers touch, yes? When I do that? My elbow rests just outside the front edge. That’s all the depth I’ve got.
But here’s how I made this half-meal happen, using only a 3-burner cooktop, a microwave/convection oven, and a fridge that isn’t even deep enough to hold a serving bowl.
It’s what you bake when you can’t make a dessert that requires fridge space
I used this recipe, with a few tweaks: omit white sugar; increase flour to 2 TBSP; increase pecans to 1.5 cups and lightly toast them first; flour both sides of crust to prevent sogginess.
I managed to toss all the veggie shreds — cabbage, carrots, cilantro, green onions, and radishes — in the largest mixing bowl I’ve got in here. But there is not enough room to stir in the dressing without making a huge mess, so…
That’s cooperation on an international level right there. Two empty serving bowls — one for slaw, one for sprouts — are packed and ready to take to Mom’s house!
This is my challah dough recipe, and I used to make the traditional long braided loaf for our holiday gatherings, but neither my gas oven nor my convection oven are big enough to hold a standard cookie sheet, so now we get rolls. And yes, these too will go in a zippit bag for transport.
Bonus: perfect size and heft for throwing across the table at cousins.
Just… don’t ask me how I’m gonna store our leftovers. That’s tomorrow’s challenge.
Happy Thanksgiving to all, whether your space is large or small!
