Journal

2013 - Week 47 Cooking - working up to it...

I've been having trouble getting the motivation up to start prepping for Thanksgiving, but it's come to it where I don't have much of a choice left, so I got to get my ass in gear.  Luckily, most of my work needs to start after today, but today, we've got:

  • Make Pumpkin Bread (ever loving crap ton of it)
  • Clean out fridge
  • clean out freezer

After bringing the turkey home, and some extra meat bought from Crooked Gap (I did check to see if Larry Cleverley got his Jowl Bacon, before I bought the rest of it) my freezer didn't want to close.  We really need to implement the chest freezer, I think I'll add that to the list of items I want to buy with the tax return.

This week I work on Monday and Tuesday, then have the rest of the week off to work on the double thanksgivings and eat.  I thought about taking the following monday off, but forgot I have a new co-worker starting that day.

Spicy Chicken Soup

Ok I have a problem with this recipe.  What, in the holy hell, does 11" piece of ginger translate to?  Is that one piece of ginger, that has a inch circumference and eleven inches long?  What happens if you have a thicker or narrower piece.  How many ounces does this translate to.

I get that it's supposed to be spicy, but is supposed to be strong ginger candy spicy?  It was enough that there was no real point to add anything else to the soup, because other than textural changes, it doesn't make that much difference.

Seriously... get it defined.

That being said, the ginger does do good things to my insides, so I'll still eat it, but Shannon didn't even finish her first (and only) bowl.

Double Cheese Penne with Sausage  & Hot Cherry Peppers

this was pretty good.  I may have added more mozzarella then required, and after a point, I basically just stopped following it and did what I wanted, that being said, it turned out good.

Pizza (time to recover from the failure)

Delayed until today!

Falafel Sandwich with Tomato Cucumber Salad

Yummy!  I adjusted it a bit to make 'em a bit thicker, but they still worked out.  I forget how much I like these.   I should make falafel more often.  It's actually a good thing that Joseph went home to go to bed on Sunday when I made this, cause there wasn't near enough for him to have any.

Skillet Chicken Pot Pie with Butternut Squash

This, was fantastic.  Now I admit, the full pan and the serving picture look like kind of a mess, and perhaps I shouldn't have used that second layer of the puff pastry on the dish, but even so, good sauce, a good combination of healthful stuff (squash and kale) balanced with items that are probably not so good (sauce).  Definitely a make again.

Butternut Squash and Tomato Soup with grilled cheese

This soup turned out a bit thick (may be my fault) and the grilled cheese was ok, but less than my best effort.  But even so...pretty good.

Thanksgiving 2013 (My Family, my parents house)

Subject to Change.

Appetizers

  • Pickles (cornichons, etc) - Sam

  • Cheese, Meats and Cracker plate - Sam

  • Fruit with Pumpkin Dip - Mom

Bread

  • Honey Butter - Sam

  • Various Breads - Jed & Stephanie

  • Chocolate Chunk pumpkin bread - Sam

  • Lefse - Mom

Mains & Sides

  • Smoked Turkey - Joseph

  • Bacon Gravy - Joseph (or at his direction)

  • Rosemary Mashed Potatoes - Joseph (or at his direction)

  • Grandma Silver's Sage Dressing - Mom

  • Sweet Potato Dish - Alissa & Ryan

  • Challah Herb Dressing - Joseph (or at his direction)

  • Fresh Green Salad w/ Dressing - Alissa & Ryan

  • Blackberry & Spinach Salad - Mom

  • Cranberry Sauce - Mom

  • Corn - Mom

  • Green Bean Casserole (Thomas)

Desserts

  • Some Type - Jed & Stephanie

  • Pie(s) - Joseph

  • Dark Molasses Gingerbread Cake - Sam

  • Key Lime Pie - Alissa & Ryan

  • Pumpkin Pie (Maybe) - Alissa & Ryan

Thanksgiving 2013 (Shannon's Family)

Due to timing this will be on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, putting me on an off cycle.  Some items (bread) may not be what I want to go with, but I will find a suitable alternative.

Subject to Change.

Appetizers

  • Deviled Eggs (Shannon's Mom)

  • Veggie Tray (Aunt Donna)

  • Pickles (cornichons, etc)

  • Cheese, Meats and Cracker plate

  • Snacky Things? (Kim - My not work out due to travel)

  • Some Appetizer (Uncle Jan & Aunt Nancy)

Bread

  • Honey Butter

  • Bread (Purchased, due to timing, unsure as to where from)

  • Chocolate Chunk pumpkin bread

  • Lefse

Mains & Sides

Desserts

  • Pumpkin Bourbon Cheesecake (p397-398 Baking Illustrated)

  • Caramel Apple Pie (attempt or buy)

  • Bourbon Whipped Cream

  • Pie (Shannon's Mom)

  • Vanilla Ice Cream

Drinks

  • Wine (Uncle Jan & Aunt Nancy)

Updated with latest info on 11/24/2013 at 11:30 AM

2013 - Week 46 Cooking Results - Workity work work.

Work was crazy this week.  After a nice pressure release evening with Josh, it was followed by just a whole bunch of work related things including a up past 3:AM night.  Oh well, this coming Saturday is the first winter's market!  yay!

Fresh Ham Roast with fingerling potatoes

It was a hunk of pork from Big Big Meats on top of some fingerling potatoes from Cleverley Farms.  Thermometer in the roast for desired doneness, covered in a bit of sauce (Apple BBQ sauce) and potatoes tossed in olive oil and then just wait for the beeping of the desired temperature.  Took a bit of time, but the preparation wasn't that long.  Delicious.

Peas Porridge Hot (Oat Risotto with Peas)

So I had my doubts.  I liked my last go round with steel cut oats, but Shannon did not.  So this was basically a savory oatmeal.  This was really good.  We both liked it and I would totally make this again.

Easy Cream of Tomato Soup  with Grilled Cheese

I was  a little late getting home (again) on Wednesday, so I forgot to add the prosciutto that I intended to use on the grilled cheese.  Shannon only got to eat the grilled cheese before she ran off to her art class (*shakes fist at work*).  Sometimes due to powers beyond my control, this crap has to happen, but it doesn't make me happy.

The tomato soup?  Holy crap it was easy to put together and tasted really good.  And gave me an excuse to use my stick blender (yay).  So as I sat downstairs and had tomato soup and grilled cheese, feeling bad that I didn't get home in time to make a proper dinner for Shannon.

Falafel Sandwich with Tomato Cucumber Salad

Delayed until next week.

Smoky Meatball Subs

Not so smokey (thought I had smoked paprika, but didn't), but I added some other smoked pepper spices to make it.  This turned out to be quite enjoyable.  I really liked the topping, and if I spiced it up a bit more it'd be really good.

2013 - Week 45 Cooking Results - Not feeling it...

More than once this week I struggled to motivate myself to get the cooking done.  Once I get going, it is not so hard to finish, but I just wasn't feeling what I was making beyond feeding us.  It doesn't make it less delicious, but it still was kind of a downer.  Maybe it is because I have some extra stress right now (work, etc) or maybe it's because I'm going out of my comfort zone (or at least thinking about it) or maybe the change in seasons becoming more clear or maybe it's because I don't have my Saturday morning trip to the farmers market.  The first Winter Market is in a couple of weeks, and it will be good to see my favorite vendors (and because of a vacation bank sale and should have plenty of money to buy food).

Crisp Curried Chicken Fingers

I thought I had curry powder, but did not.  Apparently I should've checked.  So I used 5-spice powder, it still worked out pretty well.  This made for a quick meal between when I got home and Shannon headed off to her art class.  Being broiled instead of fried always makes me happy, because I'm never quite sure to what to do with used fry oil or the cost associated with using oil to fry in.  I'd make this again, maybe next time they'll have curry powder in them

Pork Burgers

nom

Stovetop Mac & Cheese (p 110 Food & Wine October 2013) with peas and tuna

So one of my favorite things to do while growing up was to make some box mac and cheese and since that really doesn't taste like much, add peas and tuna to it.  You have protein, some vegetables and etc.  So this was a combination of last weeks mac and cheese and a bit more.  It worked out great.  It reminded me of that childhood memory yet didn't totally suck.

Now this is a lesson that can be learned.  You may think you want that bland crap from your childhood, but in all likelihood, you don't.   What you really want is something that reminds you of it, but still tastes good with what you think tastes good now.  Perhaps your tastes haven't changed since childhood, but in all likelihood they have.  

Sometimes I'm glad I don't have some of the fond memories for things.  Marshmallow based cereals, for example.  Some people talk fondly of these things, but because they weren't allowed in the house, the first chance I really got to eat them was at the cereal bar at college and by that time, they were just gross, I didn't understand why anyone would want to eat that much sugar in that form in the morning (pastry is much better for the sugar injection).

Tuna Noodle Casserole with Leeks and fresh dill

Vaguely followed the recipe, added a bit more dill, and it ended up pretty good.   Instead of transferring it to a baking dish, I used the straight sided cooking pan and just used that to finish it off, to simplify it a bit.

Fresh Ham Roast with fingerling potatoes

delayed

2013 - Week 44 Cooking Results

Stovetop Mac & Cheese (p 110 Food & Wine October 2013)

This was pretty good.  It had a really good topping when I combined Parmigiano Reggiano with bread crumbs and the top was crispy and delicious.  It is really to bad we didn't eat it all, it wasn't the same reheated.

Quick Pickled Onions (with leftover tacos)

I had this twice (got home a little too late to make shannon dinner before her art class) .  The onions were not that pickled the first time around, and a bit more the second time around.

Crisp Curried Chicken Fingers

Delayed! 

French Fry Hash Browns with Eggs (per suggestion from Nathan, Zombie Burger fries)

So this actually worked out really well.  I did over spice them a bit, but beyond that it was a nice dish along side some eggs. 

Leftover Blue Cheese Chicken Salad Sandwich

A good combination, simple salad, tangy yogurt and a mild blue cheese to go with it.  Good Stuffs. 

Italian Sausage Grinder

Combined some peppers some onions a bit of italian sausage and made a mess while eating...oh well what can you do.  Made for a pretty good sunday dinner, even if it was messy.

2013 - Week 44 Cooking

Yesterday I had a curried lentil stuffed pastry from La Mie.  I really liked it, and it made for a great breakfast.  I kind of which I knew what it was called.  Last week I also put some Sambal Oelek with mayo on a simple cheese sandwich (in my bagged lunch).  It made it amazing.