Journal

2021 - Week 25 Cooking Results

I did not feel that inspired to cook anything this week, at least planning wise, so a bunch of easy things on the docket, completed without much effort or thought. I have still be beating myself and dwelling on Freyja. I am not spiraling, like I sometimes do. But it it is not great. Today, Saturday, I still talked about her in the present tense, but I also talked about her in the past tense.

I started a new batch of elderflower syrup, though it’ll be much weaker in the floral notes as I’m using 30 grams of flowers, as opposed to last year where I used ~90 grams.

~30 grams of elderflowers

Ham, egg and English muffin

Fried ham (gift from work), eggs (I kind of messed these up, didn’t use enough oil in the regular pan), cheese and a toasted English muffin. Good things.

Salad with chicken

Baked off some chicken thighs, put them in the fridge to cool them down a bit then chopped them up for some local greens, topped with some not so local things.

Brats

Good to eat.

Tuna with soy sauce

Yellowfin tuna, marinated for about 5 minutes in some soy sauce, seared, and served with salad.

Veggie Pot Pies

These are from Domestic Bones, they were quite good. It looks like they have some other things, both at the coop and apparently for end of the month delivery at Peace Tree, with some other flavors of hand pies. I do still love me some hand pies form Tami’s tarts, though.

2021 - Week 24 Cooking Results

Brats

Lamb ones again, good things.

Charred Red Pepper and White Bean Salad

The only cooking, really, was in the pan. The rest of this came off with a certain amount of ease. The prosciutto and pecorino added quite a bit salty and savoriness to the whole dish. It was quite nice.

Turkey burgers with smoked Gouda

I added a bit of the Momofuku spicy salt to the turkey, though. I should’ve also added the smoked paprika like I had originally planned, but apparently forgot about. It did combine well with the smoked Gouda. A nice simple meal.

Scallion and Coconut Rice with Pork

This was an interesting way to get a creamy risotto like texture. I don’t think it was risotto-y enough that I my wife took it to work, but I enjoyed it the next day with some soy sauce, which I think really added to it.

Jalapeño Chicken Salad

I vaguely followed the recipe. I really do like pickled jalapeños, they add heat but also acid as well. Easy recipe for a hot day. I was running out of bread, but was able to scrap enough out of the freezer to make these.

2021 - Week 23 Cooking Results

Penne with Arrabbiata Sauce

So I had a delicate balance here. I wasn’t sure where to start, and I wanted to avoid getting the heat to be too much for Shannon. So without guidance, I had to guess. And it really wasn’t as spicy as I wanted (that gentle space on the edge of Shannon’s tolerance. 


Also, Fresh Iowa strawberries and whipped cream.

Lamb Brats

Option presented by Ethan, at Crooked Gap, it has the spices of a brat and the taste of lamb. Quite good.

Charred Red Pepper and White Bean Salad

I assumed this would require me to turn the oven on, and on a particular, perhaps the broiler, so when it was quite hot out, I said, nah. But apparently, it did not. So I guess I’ll try again next week.

Spiced Beef Pitas

So I trimmed this down a bit, Pretty much just did the spiced beef. I served it with naan, instead of pita, cause that’s what I had. We were in a rush, cause, for some reason, we were running late. Combo of me picking up Shannon a bit late, find out out to pick up our CSA share, and Shannon working until 5. We did get Shannon’s car detailed that day, and they did a fantastic job. It’s really to bad we live close to very large trees that drop pollen all the time.

Slow-Cooker Citrus-Braised Chicken Tacos

I started getting things ready after running downtown to pick up from Blue Gate, stopping at Daisy Chain Coffee to get a bit of a pick me up. It was pretty easy to prep the parts ready for cooking in the crock pot. I wanted to add a bit of heat, so I added a bit of Momofuku spicy salt, and some chipotle powder. I set it for 5 hours on low, then ran off to the store to get some cream, and sour cream.

I then spent a good chunk of that time working with Shannon to hang some window treatments. some black out curtains for our bedroom and a translucent set for the new windows in the living room. I used my handy drill and followed the directions. I even had Shannon do one because my left hand is dumb. I watched a quick video on hanging stuff on plaster. Things are looking pretty good.

After taking a break, listening to a bit of music, medicating the cats, I got to work finishing off dinner. I cooked off a lot of the liquid, while prepping a lot of the other things, spilled a bit, added a bit of salt.

All and all, a pretty good meal, without a ton of effort.

I did, however, use the last of the Cheese Bar Batch 1 Hot Sauce, which is sad, but now I’ll get to head into batch 2.

Also, Iowa strawberries and whipped cream, cause ‘tis the short season for it.

2021 - Week 22 Cooking Results

Brats & Burgers

We went to Cheese Bar’s Lua Luau Sunday, and I may have over ate / drank, it was no longer reasonable for me to make one of these, but instead, Shannon picked up something on the way home. Due to the lack of plans on Memorial Day, I made Brats for lunch and burgers for dinner. Good meals.

Gochujang noodle bowl

I ended up doubling this recipe, except the pork. I also skipped the sesame seeds. It was pretty good. Maybe a bit more sauce? I did get through most of my toasted sesame oil, so I can swap to the Momofuku version.

Cumin Scented Chicken

Shannon came home wanting pizza, but I wanted to use the chicken so I tossed this recipe, took the chicken tenderloins tossed them when a bit of salt and savory seasoning and baked them off. We had sandwiches.

Penne with Arrabbiata Sauce

Delayed!

Tuna melts

I had been watching a presentation for most of the day, while people were installing windows in the living room and our main better. Shannon came downstairs to feed the kids after getting home from work, and we were just waiting for them to finish. I wasn’t sure I had bread in the freezer, but I did so I quickly mixed up some tuna salad and got the tuna melts going. Not my best work, as the tuna salad was a bit more liquid then it should be.

2021 - Week 21 Cooking Results

This was a particularly unproductive week, as far as cooking goes.

Brats

Good things.

Pasta

Italian sausage, penne rigate, tomatoes, tomato sauce, herbs and spices. Good things.

Gochujang noodle bowl

Delayed!

Cumin Scented Chicken

Delayed!

Breakfast Burrito With Scrambled Egg, Chorizo, and Refried Beans Recipe

Pretty easy to put together and I used the leftover beans to have burritos a number of the days then I transitioned into wraps (Cheese and turkeys). Good quick meal overall.