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.