Hey there friends! I have some fun news from the Give Me Meatloaf headquarters…Sir Dave and I have a big move ahead of us as we are buying our very first home! 🙂 We’re so excited to have our own backyard, a kitchen with plenty of natural light and what I’m nerding out about most is being able to plant a vegetable and herb garden. Ah! One step closer to becoming Ina, right? I’ll have to get some hydrangeas planted stat, I’m hoping it’s like the Barefoot Contessa bat signal.

While our excitement is through the roof, as I’ve started to pack up our apartment that we’ve been in for six years, I’m starting to feel a little bummed to leave as we’ve made so many great memories here. I thought before we get moving I’d take you on a tour and pay a little tribute to my galley apartment kitchen that we’ve cooked hundreds of meals in. It’s small, but its been able to get the job done.

It’s hard to capture in one shot, but here is the kitchen where GMM was born!

On one side of the kitchen, we added this small butcher’s block that Dave had to put together. In fact he had to put it together several times because he kept putting pieces on backwards. 😉 Also, that bottom door has never closed because that’s where Dave keeps his giant meat slicer that we use once a year. Ahem. Dave.

This side of the kitchen is where most of the magic happens – nothing too snazzy but worked for me! And yes we have a lot of coffee and espresso thingies since coffee is the best thing ever, second only to meatloaf.

Since we didn’t have a lot of storage space (and have A LOT of cooking gadgets, gizmo’s, pots, pans and more) – Dave got creative with the space we did have and put up this super simple pipe to hang pots and pans. Isn’t he crafty?

I even had to expand into the back porch area to store my crock pot and dutch ovens. We should probably stop buying stuff. Maybe. Probably. But likely not.

While the space might be tiny, over the years this kitchen sure has been full of love, foodie-experiments and some good eats!

Here is Sir Dave making me some delicious dinner, and yes he’s pouring beer into the sauce.

I even tried to teach my friend Troy to cook a super easy, yummy dinner in this kitchen – I think it worked a little bit?

And let’s not forget that this is the kitchen that made the first Ina Garten day possible! Wearing flowing denim is a must, obviously.

And I have to do one last super awkward selfie of me saying peace out (yes, I actually have a peace sign up). Thanks for everything little kitchen that could! I’m going to miss you!

Alright, well I think I also promised some egg salad in this here post. While I’m looking back fondly, I’m certainly excited and looking forward to our future in the new place.

Since I think of nearly everything in food-related terms, I of course started thinking about what I could make for a housewarming party. Since I never serve anything I haven’t already tried, I thought I’d whip up an alternative to deviled eggs. I made this recipe for egg salad that has capers and herbs galore. Served on a warm toasted mini slice of rye bread, it’s delish and will make the cut for the housewarming soiree! Check it below!

Ingredients
5 eggs
1/4 cup mayo
2 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tbs yellow mustard
1 tbs minced capers
1 tbs minced chives
1/2 tbs chopped taragon
1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/8 tsp sea salt
12-15 slices of mini rye bread, toasted

Preaheat the oven to 350.

To cook eggs I stick pretty closely to the Queen’s recommendations, which is to add the eggs to a sauce pan, cover with cold water, bring to a boil, turn off heat and let sit for 15 minutes. Usually I do let the eggs boil for about 5 minutes, then I turn off the heat and let sit in the hot water for about 10 minutes. The eggs are cooked perfectly every time.

Once the eggs have cooled a bit, peel the shells off and rough chop. Add the eggs to a bowl and combine all of the other ingredients (except the rye bread of course, that’d be weird). Mix everything together well, and then place the egg salad in the fridge to cool completely, about 20-30 minutes.

Next up place the mini-slices of rye bread on a sheet pan and bake at 350 for about 6-8 minutes, flipping 1/2 way through.

Remove those little toasts from the oven and top with a heaping dollop of egg salad and serve!

Okay dudes, time to wrap up this extra long post. I can’t wait to do a little tour of the new space I’ll be cooking up a storm in, so stay tuned for that!

Cheers!