Journal

2018 - Week 24 Cooking Results

So after reading some about elderflowers after Wabi Sabi Farm posted about it, then talking with them at market, I went down the road a bit with some experimenting with elderflowers.  After I made a cocktail / mocktail (3 small strawberries, 2 T strawberry puree, 2-3 T elderflower syrup, over ice, topped with sparkling water, and gin (2-3 shots) if you are so inclined).  I do think I need to version the elderflower syrup, I used a 1:3 ratio and the juice of one lime, as I don't need as much sugar in my life.  Looking at a cross section of elderflower syrup recipes, they tend to soak it for a lot longer.  I've seen time frames from 5 minutes to 48 hours, which seems like a range of flavors and tastes.  I'm tempted to buy a syrup, but I'm pretty sure I a. don't want to spend that much money and b. need another bought syrup in my fridge (still have a lot of tonic syrup left).  I steeped the flowers for about 20 minutes.  It does have a decent smell and a mild taste, but is oft lost in the strawberries and gin.  So more things to try. More tweaking to do.  I may try elderflower alcohol next week.

Chicken Salad (Chicken on Salad greens)

This turned into a sandwich.  Cause that's what was wanted.  I roasted the boneless skinless chicken thighs and chicken thighs for the other salad at the same time.  It was an effective use of the oven as the temperature kept increasing this week.

Chicken Salad (Chicken mixed with mayo and etc and put on a sandwich)

A simple combination of chicken, celery, some pickles, some other good things and put on bread or buns.  Quick and simple, as the cooking was done the day before.

Toppling Goliath Pseudo Sue Brats (Lucky George)

Served to me with the Pseudo Sue.  Good things.  This would make a good cook out combination.

Chopped Pork (leftover Cuban pork) Tacos

Combined with beans, tomatoes, and warmed up it made a good meat part for a taco salad.

Daeji Bulgogi (Adjusted)

I expected this to be a bit spicy, but not excessively so.  And for me, I could tell that it was building into an area that I enjoy, but my dear wife does not.  So I warned her, and her being the dutiful taster that she is, tried, but then couldn't take the heat.  I felt bad, and made her scrambled eggs (Blue Gate Farm) instead.  I baked the sauce, onions and pork in the oven at 375 for a bit until the pork was about the right temperature.  Some was a bit over (as I didn't consistently slice the tenderloin), but to much so.  I enjoyed it, but feel bad for my wife.

White Park Beef Burgers (Lucky George)

Salt, little buns, good stuff.

2018 - Week 24 Cooking

So per a discussion on my family's chat, we talked about the various versions of chicken salad.  My oldest sister (very health conscious) talking about the chicken on a salad, while an in-law was talking about chicken salad (as in mayo-based).  While I do not understand the use of canned chicken, I suppose I cannot comment to much about it since I haven't used it.  When I make mayo-based salad, I either pickup a rotisserie chicken or roast chicken thighs (the day before) and make the salad out of the pulled chicken from the thighs or rotisserie chicken.  I dunno.  Anyways, doing both!

  • Chicken Salad (Chicken on Salad greens)
  • Chicken Salad (Chicken mixed with mayo and etc and put on a sandwich)
  • Toppling Goliath Pseudo Sue Brats (Lucky George)
  • Chopped Pork (leftover Cuban pork) Tacos
  • Daeji Bulgogi (Adjusted)
  • White Park Beef Burgers (Lucky George)

2018 - Week 23 Cooking Results

Double Shot Mocha Chunks (Garlic Fest)

Little metly, a bit delicious and they disappeared really quickly at Garlic Fest.  I enjoy spending time on the Grade A Gardens land, relaxing afternoon.

Cuban-Style Oven-Roasted Pork (Start Saturday for Monday, Berkshire Pork)

So reading later, I realized this took around 6 hours of cooking to finish.  The bone came out fairly cleanly and the pork is really tender and juicy.  It did cool down the rest of the house as the oven was running for a good chunk of the day.  We put the pork on Tortas and ate to our hearts content.

Spiced Lamb Burger

I skipped the spices and just made mutton burgers in a pita.  This was an even older then normal sheep from Lucky George.  Good things.

Spicy Pork Tenderloin Bowl with Greens and Carrots

Shannon went to have fun with her co-workers, I picked up something at the cheese shop, so skipped.

Kimchi and Ham Torta

Simple, using those torta buns.

2018 - Week 22 Cooking Results

Cuban-Style Oven-Roasted Pork (Grade A Garlic Festival, Start Saturday for Sunday, Berkshire Pork)

Delayed.  Per conversation with Jordan, and a preference from my wife, I'll be making a dessert.  I'm still making this, but will start it today, and finish it monday.

Toppling Goliath Pseudo Sue Brats (Lucky George)

Good stuff.  I wanted to drink Pseudo Sue with this, but I ran out earlier in the day...

Open Faced Chicken, Bacon and Cheddar Melts (sans tomatoes, cause out of season, maybe tomato sauce?)

I believe my comment after describing this to my wife was, "this is not good for you".  They were pretty good though.

Smoky Quinoa and Bacon Salad

So this is relatively simple.  I made a couple of adjustments.  I cooked down the onion in the bacon fat.  I added a red pepper to it too.  All and all it was nice and filling and simple.

Ham & Guac Torta

Simple.  Layer of cheese, ham, baked a bit, then topped with guacamole.  I added some pickled jalapenos.

2018 - Week 21 Cooking Results

Quick Kimchi Pancakes

So my idea was to put the kimchi pancakes in with some pork in a flat bread.  I, however, didn't get home from work in a timely fashion so the timeline got messed up.

Kimchi Mac & Cheese

So uh...this was pretty good. Really good actually.  I am going to make this again, without a doubt.  I used some local kimchi (not as good as the Brinery, but not as expensive either).  I also added some chopped cooked chicken thighs.  Maybe the next step is to make it into a baked dish with a bread crumb top.

Italian Sausage, Ramps with mozzarella on English muffins

So my idea was to combine the tastes of ramps and Italian sausage in a delicious edible combination.  I don't think I had enough ramps and maybe it was missing something else, but the ramps have disappeared so I won't get to work on this again for a bit.

Brat Burgers (skinless brats sqaushed)

Good Things

2018 - Week 21 Cooking

After having to put it off last year, we were finally was able to get my the new car (I think everyone should buy a new car once, if they can afford it) for Shannon.  We searched for a while and going from "ok I think we can do it" to lets go in for a test drive was less then a week.  The time form test drive to buy was about 23 hours.  I'm pretty sure Shannon wanted to make sure I couldn't change my mind :-D

Other then that it was pretty uneventful.

2018 - Week 20 Cooking Results

Brats (Lucky George)

Om nom nom.  ESB for the win.

Goat Burgers

Goat, it's what's for dinner?  I like goat.  I need to make some stew in the fall.

Ramp and Sausage Risotto

I made this while a electrician was installing the ceiling fan and inspecting the electrical outlets and writing up a few estimates.  Always a good dinner.

Pork Chops (Lucky George)

Still practicing, getting better, but wonderful meat.

Quick Kimchi Pancakes

To Warm, skipped.

2018 - Week 20 Cooking

This past week I went out to Vaudeville Mews to see P.O.S.  It has been a while since I've gone out to see a concert on my own, and this was one that accidentally made me do so.  While the performance was strange as he had a bit (or a lot) of vertigo, it felt very connected and I'm glad I went.  I did spend the first part after the doors opened, reading a bit.  I suppose I could've attempted to socialize, but I'm not very good at starting that.  I'm glad I went, even alone, and enjoyed it.

Friday, I took the day off again.  I was tasked for finding a replacement ceiling fan.  After searching and research, I found one that I thought would work.  Then ordered it to pickup in a Lowes store.

Having other errands to run, I got ready to leave the house, then headed off to JC Penny's to find some work clothes (and spend the gift card from my mom-in-law).  I found a couple of deals, a couple of acceptable items, one super good deal (91% off).  Ended up getting 7 items for just under $100.  I headed out to the parking lot to check in on the pickup at the store item at Lowes.  I called, after bouncing around a bit, finally talked to someone, who said they'd call me back.

I headed to Whole Foods to pick up a couple of things.  The idea for me, was Pennys > Lowes > Whole Foods > home.  So as lowes was out of the loop, I made my way home.  After a bit of time, I finally tweeted about my frustration and after a bit of responsive twitter lowes, I finally got a call back.  Apparently the items shipped to the store had not survived the trip and were not removed form stock.  Which is fair enough, but still a frustrating experience.  Then I got offered a ceiling fan from a friend (thanks Keith!), and this sounds like the new plan.  I still thought about the fan, which would probably be more effective in the living room.  So the plan changed.  Then I remembered that I'd have to run electricity and create a new light socket, which to me sounds expensive, so I'll get quotes on that.  So I cancelled my fan in store pickup.  I often complain about inventory management.  I understand it's hard to get accurate information, but if you are going to display that, it's the responsibility of everyone to get the data as correct as possible.