"MARK TWAIN'S RAPTUROUS LIST OF HIS FAVORITE AMERICAN FOODS."

KITCHEN... BUSINESS TRIPS?: These don't really rise to the level of "adventures," but they were tasty, so here you go.

Socca with diced apple, herbs, and grated parmesan. The cheese melts a little and the whole thing is like an herby cheese danish kind of thing. I think it was a Fuji apple.

Veggie chili w/apple. I was super-dubious about this but I needed to get rid of the rest of the apple, so I threw it into my chili. It was great! Not too sweet, not an especially prominent flavor, but definitely unusual and fun. ...Oh, and I added some soy sauce to my chili for the first time, which was also a great move.

Savory oatmeal with mushrooms. Inspired by this, I think. I sliced or chopped up a mess of button mushrooms, minced some garlic and ginger, thinly sliced a medium-sized jalapeno, and chopped up some cilantro. Then sauteed all of that in a saucepot; added quick oats and milk; stirred, added salt, dried oregano, dried thyme, cumin, and garam masala; cooked until the oats were ready, about one to two minutes; decanted into bowl and ate. This was really satisfying, earthy and filling, although next time I will use a hit of soy sauce, maybe more salt, and probably some cayenne, since the jalapeno was milder than I expected.

14 SURPRISING USES FOR YOUR MICROWAVE. Some of these are deeply unsurprising (you can bake potatoes in the machine which comes with a "baked potato" button!) and others sound a bit sketch (I'm dubious about the garlic-roasting idea, though I do plan to give it a try), but I'm definitely going to use the sponge tip and probably some of the others.

KITCHEN ADVENTURES: BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS. Mostly my leftover adventures this post-Thanksgiving have been far from adventurous: turkey sandwich, toasted turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce and apple and munster, soup with leftover whatnot, macaroni and cheese with leftover whatnot. All tasty, none innovative. But! I had most of a can of cranberry sauce left over, and I pretty much never eat it except with turkey, so I had to get creative. And so yesterday and today I have had what might actually be the best breakfast food I have ever eaten anywhere, even England.

The recipe is stupidly simple. You need chickpea flour (yes, this is another socca recipe!), cayenne, salt, cinnamon, dried rosemary, butter, water, and cranberry sauce.

To make the batter, mix all the dry ingredients together and add water. Just guess how much if you've made socca before; if not, here's a recipe with quantities. While you're mixing...

Brown the butter very slightly in a pan. To do this, melt it... let it get foamy... then there will be a point where you can see that it is just starting to shimmer from golden into tan.

That's when you pour the batter in. Let the pancake cook until it starts to bubble on top and slides very easily along the buttered pan when pushed by a spatula. Flip it and brown the other side.

Plate with the sauce, say grace, and devour! Best accompanied by a glass of whole milk.

This is immensely tasty: sweet but not too sweet, spicy enough to play really well with the cranberry sauce, and filling. I've tried making savory socca with an egg and some milk replacing the water in the batter, and that was great; it would probably make this dish even better, assuming improvement is possible. I seriously loved this and am already wishing it were breakfast time again.

I DO NOT THINK I HAVE USED THESE TWO TAGS TOGETHER BEFORE. Also, I have learned a new term.

TENTACLE POT PIE!

WOW, I AM TRYING AT LEAST THREE OF THESE BEFORE MONDAY. And there are more suggestions in the comments.

A FORTUNATE FALL... SALAD: KITCHEN ADVENTURES. Now, with puns even worse than usual!

Anyway, dinner tonight has been delicious. I chopped some kind of farmer's market crisp red apple--not too sweet or lush. Added thinly-sliced onion, fresh oregano, chopped black pepper Bellavitano cheese, and roughly-torn toasted baguette. Topped with a vinaigrette of ex-vir olive oil, a splash of sesame-ginger bottled dressing, and some spicy brown mustard.

This was awesome. Best when I got a little of everything on the fork. The oregano had a stronger flavor than I'd anticipated, so keep that in mind.

Tomorrow's projects include spicy carrot soup and roasted-carrot macaroni and cheese. We'll see what happens.

MY DRUNK KITCHEN: VODKA/LATKE! You have no idea how happy this makes me.

KITCHEN ADVENTURES: I AM AWESOME TODAY. At least in the kitchenette!

For lunch I had soccas again. This time they were thin, fried brown and crispy in a thin slick of olive oil. I mixed the chickpea flour and water with a ginger-sesame vinaigrette thing; minced garlic; minced ginger; minced jalapeno; chopped button mushroom; cumin, salt, and garam masala. On the side I made a yogurt-cucumber-cilantro sauce. Then a big glass of whole milk, because why not.

For dinner I had two sandwiches: hot and cold. They were otherwise identical except that the hot sandwich also had thinly-sliced jalapeno, and the cold sandwich had sliced Persian cucumber.

Both sandwiches were on halves of a mealhada roll. I spread the bottoms of the roll halves with wasabi mayonnaise (left over from a visit to Black and Orange, the burger place on CT Ave which used to be Rogue States, and by the way that place is terrific) and layered tomato, onion, cilantro, roast beef, an awesome black-pepper cheese that was on sale at Whole Foods, and the top of the mealhada roll. The hot sandwich got wrapped in aluminum foil and baked at 375 for 15 minutes. I ate the cold sandwich while I was waiting for the hot one to be ready.

Everything I have just described to you was fantastic. Today I have eaten like a queen. I thought the sandwiches might have too many conflicting flavors, but I was wrong--everything worked perfectly. Each bite was great! They were both really messy, though, so have some napkins or paper towels on hand.

HOW TO MAKE ANY CHEESE MELT LIKE AMERICAN (ALMOST): I pretty much use munster and pepperjack on burgers, both of which melt like crazy no matter what you do. But if you prefer something else, this post will be relevant to your interests--and it's kind of awesome in a "...that's chemistry, right? Or physics? Crap, it's really physics, isn't it?" sense.

"I THINK THAT BAKING IS KIND OF LIKE... PARENTING." There's a new My Drunk Kitchen!

KITCHEN ADVENTURES: MONSTER MASH! ...Not quite, but still: a couple demi-successes.

Not garlic bread: First I did my standard roasting-garlic method. Everyone has one. Most involve roasting an entire head after getting the papery casing off but not the thicker casing around each individual clove. I find that approach messy and fiddly, plus it makes way too much for a single squid. Instead, I set the oven to 375 (as always, you should play around with times and temperatures before blaming me for your failures!) and put some foil on a tray. I set out another square of foil. I peeled a bunch of big cloves, sliced off the ends, halved them, and removed the green stemmy things. (I hate those guys!) Then I set the halved cloves on the top foil square, drizzled with olive oil, scrunched up the foil around them, and let 'em bake. I waited a time period which can be described as either "ten minutes" or, more relevantly, "when I could just begin to hear them sizzling and smell their delectable scent."

Then I took the pan out of the oven. I took about 1/4 of a baguette and sliced it lengthwise, and buttered it severely with this amazing sweet butter from the farmer's market. (So expensive, but so worth it. I'm gradually compiling a list of things where the flavors don't really improve enough to be worth it--milk [the Whole Foods whole milk is quite good and even cheaper than Safeway's, so I'm going for price here], onions, garlic, jalapenos--vs. things where the market makes a difference I'm willing to pay for, like tomatoes, mushrooms, cucumbers, peaches, and butter.) Then I chopped most of a tomato and half a large jalapeno (see prior parenthesis for the origin stories of these items, which I'm sure fascinated you!) and piled that on top of the buttered bread, with some salt. All of that went on the foil and into the oven, along with the garlic, which would finish cooking.

Another 10? 15? minutes passed, and the toasts came out of the oven and got a light topping of grated parmesan. The garlic--which varied from "divinely perfect" to "...burnt," unfortunately--also got shaken over the top. Once it had all cooled, I began to fill my face.

the verdict: tasty! Delicious, actually. My only regrets were a) no milk in the fridge to cut the intense heat--jalapenos vary a lot in amount of capsaicin, and this one was feisty--and b) that I didn't get roasted garlic in each bite, as I'd hoped. But this was a pretty easy version of spicy loaded garlic bread, and I'd definitely do it again.

Not a plantain mash: Okay, so I bought a plantain. I was all excited about doing this dish where you prick the peel with a fork, roast the thing until it's all soft and yummy, and then make it into a mashed fritter with various spices and veggies.

Then I got wary. By the time I actually approached the plantain to cook it, I was convinced this would be a disaster.

Good news: It wasn't a disaster!

procedure: prick very ripe unpeeled plantain with a fork. Place on parchment paper and bake in oven at 425 for... ten minutes-ish-ish. Slice a medium yellow onion, chop a whole mess of garlic and the other half of that intense jalapeno, and when your plantain is ready, let it cool and then scoop out the flesh with a fork. Avoid the weird yellow jammy bit right up against the peel. (I still don't know what that was all about, and I don't think I want to.) Mash the plantain with the chopped veg and saute with garam masala, cinnamon, cumin, and some salt. Eat with Greek yogurt to cut the heat.

verdict: Interesting! I really didn't like the task of prepping the plantain, I used too much olive oil in the saute pan, and some cilantro would definitely have helped here. But overall this was a good mix of sweet and spicy and vegetal, and my expectations were low so I was pleasantly surprised. I suspect many of you could make this dish better than I did.

KITCHEN ADVENTURES: SO CUTE! I had a wee little stuffed potato for lunch, and another for dinner. The basic how-to is here, and I didn't deviate from that, but of course you can make the filling from whatever you like. The new potatoes I used were about half the size of your basic russet, and the filling was tomato, jalapeno, basil, Greek yogurt, "authentic Mexican" Sargento shredded cheese blend (though I prefer their inauthentic Mexican blend), salt, a bit of cayenne for the second batch since I was low on jalapeno, dried oregano, garlic, and the innards of the potatoes. All of that got piled high on the cut and scooped-out potato halves. The result was delicious: tangy from the yogurt, comforting from the golden crispy-fluffy potato, and spicy. This took slightly more effort and noticeably more time than most of my meals, but it was much easier than I'd expected it to be.

KITCHEN ADVENTURES: SOCCA STAR. Socca (soccas? socci?) are fried chickpea pancakes, stupidly easy and tasty. I posted about them here and here.

Tonight, for dinner, I had THE BEST SOCCAS SO FAR. They came in three batches, which I will detail from least-awesome to stellar.

1. Thin soccas flavored only with minced jalapeno and a bit of salt, topped with habanero jack cheese and fresh tomato slices. I loved the thin crispiness--these were almost like quesadillas, really--and they were really tasty but not outstanding.

2. Slightly thicker socci, basically like slightly-too-large versions of silver dollar pancakes, flavored with "Moroccan mustard" (I still don't know what makes it Moroccan, but okay), minced jalapeno, salt, and some juice from a can of tomatoes. I let these cook in a very hot pan and was afraid I'd burnt them when I saw their very dark patches. Fortunately, they weren't burnt at all. The tangy mustard worked really well, although I was glad that these were the smallest batch as the flavor is strong. You don't need a lot of these to get the point.

3. THE BEST SOCCA. These were thicker than the "quesadilla" socca, and flavored with tomato-can juice, minced jalapeno and ginger, cumin, a tiny hit of cinnamon, garam masala, curry powder, a sesame-ginger dressing-type thing, and a bit of salt. These were ridiculously good, slightly exotic and spicy but not too hot (the chickpea flour is good at gentling the hot peppers) and just irresistible.

Once I'd minced the minced things, each batch took about 5 - 7 minutes I think, making socca a terrific choice for a quick, refreshing meal. Just be aware that the pancakes are a bit denser than you'd expect: Even small ones will fill you up fast.

KITCHEN ADVENTURES: FAST AND FEAST! Two successful experiments.

First, the last meal I had during Lent: pasta with faked-up peanut sauce. I cooked spaghetti. While it was cooking I heated some olive oil in a pot. Chopped garlic and ginger and sliced onion went into the pot and got golden with browned bits. Then I added maybe two tbsps? of creamy peanut butter, some milk, and some bottled ginger-sesame sauce, and hit everything with the immersion blender. Added cumin, a bit of cinnamon, cayenne, and dried rosemary, and fresh basil, then buttered the pasta and topped it with the sauce.

This was really delicious, although I had the pasta-to-sauce ratio off (I'd intended to make this a very small bowl of food) so I had a bunch of leftover spaghetti. But I had been simultaneously intrigued by and fearful of this idea, and I was very pleased with how it turned out. I'll definitely make this again.

Second, the salad I had for dinner tonight: a random salad. The base of the salad was some thinly-sliced yellow onion, a little more than half of a round red farmer's-market apple (I don't remember the exact breed of apple, but it was described at the market as "good for lunchboxes"), two chopped cevapi sausages (pork and beef) leftover from dinner at Slaviya with Camassia, some shredded French sorrel, some shredded fresh basil, chunks and crumbles of chopped parmesan, and a toasted sourdough roll torn into roughly croutonish things. Then I whisked "Moroccan mustard" and olive oil with a fork until it emulsified and poured that as a dressing over the salad.

This was absolutely at its best when I got some of all of the ingredients in one forkful. The sausage and apple balanced one another perfectly. This is a tangy salad (apple + mustard + sorrel) so the parmesan and toasted bread really help create balance as well. I know the ingredients do sound a bit kitchen-sinky but I loved this.

KITCHEN ADVENTURES: SPREAD THE LOVE. I had a ridiculously tasty lunch the other day.

Anyway, ingredients (use the amount that seems right to you): sourdough bread, garlic, fresh ginger, crimini mushrooms (button and shiitake would also work), cream cheese, olive oil, and a bottled sesame-ginger sauce I bought at the Whole Foods corporate-charity sale.

What I did: Finely chopped the garlic, peeled and finely chopped the ginger, and finely chopped the mushrooms. Heated olive oil in a pot. Put a big thick slab of sourdough in the toaster oven. When the oil was very hot, dumped in the garlic, ginger, and mushrooms.

When they were deliciously fragrant, I threw in a mess of cream cheese and some of the bottled sauce. This all got hit with the immersion blender until it was smooth and creamy with a few bits of mushroom still visible.

At this point the sourdough was nicely toasted, so I put it on a plate and topped it with the cream cheese mixture.

the taste: Incredible! Lush, with that ginger-mushroom medley I adore. I didn't need extra salt (although you might), given how many of the ingredients were premade, and I usually throw extra salt on everything. The only slight issue was that I found it very hard to judge how much cream cheese to use, so I ended up with at least 1 1/2 times the amount I really needed to thickly coat the toast. That's okay though--I really did not mind basically eating some of the spread with my fingers. It is that good.

STILLTASTY. Very useful website for letting you know how far past the sell-by date you can keep all manner of foodstuffs. Via YumSugar.

KITCHENETTE ADVENTURETTES: Two quick snacks.

Chocolate-covered pears. Procedure: Chocolate-covered strawberries, only a) with sliced (but not peeled) Bosc pears instead of strawberries and b) you don't have to refrigerate them for more than the time it takes to cool to get best results.

results: THE OM NOM NOMMIEST. I scarfed these down.

Spinach chips. Procedure: This recipe, only a) I covered my baking tray with parchment paper, and I suggest you do the same; b) it took me longer because I didn't lay my spinach leaves out properly and I don't have a very good oven--some leaves crisped up nicely while others were still clingy and flexible; and c) the seasonings I used were, in about this order, cumin, salt, and cayenne.

results: really yummy! Again, I devoured these. (I ate them in two batches, since I had to put about half back in the oven for more baking after the first half were already done.) However, I'll be honest and say that I'm not sure how often I'll make these given that they take noticeably more time than just sauteing spinach with butter and garlic and whatever.

IF YOU HAVE CHRISTMAS DINNER ON CHRISTMAS EVE, as my family did this year, you may have leftovers already! Here's what I had for lunch.

ingredients: sixteen wonton wrappers (that's how many fit on my baking tray), cooked turkey (I used white meat because I like it less in sandwiches than dark), cranberry sauce, peeled and minced ginger, cream cheese, half a button mushroom chopped into fairly small pieces, fresh thyme, fresh rosemary, fresh sage, olive oil, and salt. You'll also want parchment paper, a baking tray, and a little bowl or cup of water.

how-to: Cover the tray with the paper. Set oven to desired temperature--I baked these at 375 for nine minutes, but as I always warn you, my oven runs very hot, so you should play around a little since you might need higher temperatures (425?) and/or a longer baking time.

Lay the wonton wrappers on the paper. Fill with all the other ingredients except for the oil and salt. You'll want to use the strongest ingredients sparingly (ginger and rosemary) and put in more of the mildest ingredients (turkey and cream cheese).

Dip your fingers in the water and start folding up the wontons. If you're awesome you can probably crimp the edges in some pretty pattern or something. I just kind of folded the edges in over the middle and then lightly compressed the bundles between my palms. Keep dipping as you go. If the wrappers tear and you can't smooth them over with a couple drops of water, you can tear off a bit of a spare wrapper and essentially make a bandage, but try not to use too much or you'll throw off the wrapper-to-filling balance.

Rub olive oil over the wontons and stick them in the oven. Bake them until they're cooked through and the bottoms are browned in spots and crispy. Salt to taste.

You're done! Let these cool a little--like Christmas in general, this dish requires a bit of patience. And I know this sounds a bit fiddly. But it is so delicious. Seriously, I can't even tell you how balanced and fantastic this is, herby and creamy, with several kinds of sweetness cut by the ginger and the tart cranberries. Just so, so tasty.