I’m off for a few days to visit my granddaughter and will be cooking in that familiar yet strange kitchen that is not my own, so I’m taking a few things to make it more mine and will just adapt to the rest.

I made some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, adapted from the Quaker^© “Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies” that everyone knows from their oatmeal boxes (I used an old-fashioned oat, not the quick oats). I just traded the cinnamon and raisins for some chocolate chips, mostly to keep me from eating them. Using a 2 teaspoon scoop, I got about six dozen cookies, so I could leave three dozen for my husband. Those are about half gone already!

I’m going to make some white bean chicken stew while there using two rotisserie chickens. I’m going to pick those up now and pull off the meat to store in the freezer so when I leave in the morning, they will stay cold in a cooler during the 8-hour drive. The great northern beans I’ll cook there, and take some pre-packaged chicken stock and baby spinach and carrots. I better take some garlic, just in case.

I don’t know what else I might make, but I’ll get some good cheeses—Parmesan and Gruyere and Fontina and cheddar. Might as well do a macaroni and cheese, but we’ll see.

It’s always nice to make a kitchen gift for your hostess, so I whipped up an apron this weekend. Since the hostess is just shy of three years old, it’s in an appropriately tiny size.