Just give me water
+ Steak and Rice Bowls, Crispy Cabbage Salad, and a Simple Vanilla Loaf Cake
Welcome to Let’s Get Lost! I’m Rebecca, a recipe developer, food photographer, passionate people watcher, and chaser of new experiences. You might know me from my recipe websites, Of Batter and Dough and A Little and A Lot.
My husband and I are nomads without a home base but with many modes of transportation, namely an RV, a motorcycle, and a sailboat. I write recipes and stories for curious people who believe experiences are more important than things and who want more adventure.
Get every issue and recipe directly on rebeccablackwell.com.
Are you a fellow food writer? Come see what’s happening over in Mastermind for Food Writers and in the Food Writers Business Lab!
Just give me water
The first time we were in Muskegon, Michigan was in June of 2022. It was the beginning of a long, enchanting journey around Lake Michigan, starting where the tip of Indiana touches the Lake and moving slowly, every few weeks, up Michigan’s coast, through the Upper Peninsula, and down the Wisconsin side. That summer was when we fell in love with Lake Michigan and every single coastal town on its shoreline.
Having lived in Colorado for the first 45 years of our lives, we didn’t know that if given the chance, we really just wanted to live next to the water. We thought we were mountain people.
And, I suppose we were. There’s a time and a season for everything, and all that. But, after settling into a life where we could move our home anywhere, all we wanted to do was park it next to water. Lakes, streams, rivers, the ocean, a babbling brook. I didn’t care. Just let me see water out my window.
Sometimes, we pushed the boundaries for how close is too close…
And there were those epic 7 weeks parked right on the beach, the ocean out our front door. We still have the rust to prove it and we still think it was worth it.
And then last year, we decided being close to the water wasn’t close enough. We needed to be ON the water. So we bought a sailboat.
After its long winter spent in dry dock, the boatyard lowered our sailboat into the water on Monday and delivered it to our slip, which we can almost see from our campground.
We (well… Steve) spent the evenings organizing the lines and putting on the sails. The deck and the cabin need a good scrubbing. I’ve ordered a new mattress for the berth and new cushions for the seating in the cabin. I’ve started stocking the galley with essential snack and beverage options.
This weekend, we’ll be ready to sail.
Small luxuries
Some of my favorite things.
The hardest working pans in my kitchen.
There are a few pans in my kitchen that get used more than any others:
my 9x13 rectangular baking pan
my 9-inch square baking pan
and my nonstick ceramic saute pan.
All of them made by Caraway and all in marigold, the color I am obsessed with. These pans show up often in recipe photos because I use them all the time.
And here’s the thing… it’s wonderful if you have a lot of cupboard space in which to keep a large collection of pots and pans. But if you have a small kitchen like me, I can tell you that even when you make a living creating recipes, you really only need a few.
The pans I just mentioned plus a 3-quart saucepan and a large stock pot, and you’ll be set.
I’m a late-ish convert to Caraway products, having been devoted to Cuisinart for many years. And, I’ll be honest, it’s the color that got me. But, after using them for quite some time now, the nonstick finish is still pristine. They conduct heat well, are sturdy enough to get knocked around inside my cupboards while we haul our home across the country and still look new, and have shown no signs of warping even though I do things you really shouldn’t do to your pans like rinse them with cold water when they are still smoking hot.
And no, Caraway isn’t paying me to say any of this. I just really like their pans. :-)
Here’s where you’ll find these pans and a few more of the hardest working pans in my kitchen.
This week’s menu
Steak and Rice Bowls with Garlic Aioli and Chimichurri, Crunchy Cabbage Salad with Toasted Bread Crumbs and Parmesan, and simple vanilla loaf cake.
Steak and Rice Bowls with Garlic Aioli and Chimichurri
These colorful high-protein bowls start with thin slices of perfectly cooked reverse-seared steak piled over bowls of fluffy rice and oven-roasted veggies. Then we kick it up a notch with smoky garlic aioli, a bright, flavor-packed punch of chimichurri sauce, and fresh cherry tomatoes.
The combination is hearty, fresh, creamy, and herby all at once, kind of like a steakhouse dinner... but honestly, maybe even better. It’s the kind of meal that’s perfect for your basic weeknight, but impressive enough for your next dinner party.
Crunchy Cabbage Salad with Toasted Bread Crumbs and Parmesan
The concept for this salad is so simple and adaptable to any kind of veggies you like, with or without the cabbage. And, it’s an excellent way to use up leftover bread. Here’s what we’ve got going on here:
Cabbage and veggies cooked at very high heat until charred (you could also do this on a Blackstone griddle or a grill).
Drizzle the veggies with a basic vinaigrette.
Top with crispy garlic bread crumbs and some parmesan cheese.
The result is a very satisfying salad with so much flavor and plenty of crunch. It’s delicious served with almost anything but is also hearty enough to serve all on its own. How much you make is up to you, but be sure to make enough bread crumbs to include a generous proportion of crispy crumbs to veggies.
Basic Vanilla Loaf Cake
This moist and tender Vanilla Loaf Cake makes the perfect quick and easy dessert, afternoon snack, or breakfast.
Follow the basic loaf cake recipe to bake a simple, flavorful vanilla cake that’s covered in vanilla icing. Or, use this recipe to create 4 other delicious loaf cake varieties: cinnamon, chocolate chip, blueberry, or raspberry swirl.
Links you might like
Really good reads:
Nicki Sizemore shares a sentiment I relate to and a recipe for no cook hemp-sunflower high-protein bites that looks like a great snack for long afternoons spent sailing. “Probably because my nature is to turn away from anything that smells of fad. It’s not always a positive attribute, this distrust of the popular.”
The incomparable Mira Dessy just launched a new series called “The Nourished Shelfie” (such a great name!) where she asks food and nutrition folks about their books. I got to be the first person she talked to for this new series which has me positively bursting with pride! A feature on Mira’s Substack AND a conversation about cookbooks???? How could it get any better than that?
I’ve been reading The Moon Tavern by Stephanie Hansen and Kurt Johnson and it’s so good!!! It’s a delightful story about a chef born in Croatia, raised in America, who takes off on a journey to trace her family roots back through generations. The descriptions of the food she cooks makes my mouth water and I love the addition of actual recipes after every chapter!
Really good listens:
If you’re the kind of person who is interested in hearing the stories behind your favorite food writers, recipe developers, food bloggers, and cookbook authors, the Betty Eatz Podcast from Betty Williams is just so, so good. (Psst! I was her first guest when she launched the podcast in January of last year!)
This week’s episode of This American Life is both infuriating and heartwarming, and 100% worth the listen.
If you’re a food writer:
Please join us over on Mastermind for Food Writers where you’ll find a ton of education, connection, and resources for food writers by food writers.
Check out the line up of free classes and in-depth workshops in The Food Writers Business Lab, an online learning hub created specifically for food writers who want practical, affordable support for growing their businesses and expanding their reach.
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