Journal

2023 - Week 24 Cooking Results

Sausage

Pepper skinless brats from Crooked Gap, good as always.

Pancakes

My two bigger burners vary in heat a bit, which is kind of annoying when trying to get that right temp for pancakes, so I usually end up with one or two pancakes that are a bit overdone, and this happened this time too. Remember one is medium low, the other is the notch below that.

Pasta with Garlic Scapes

I diced up the bundle of scapes and added them to the pan before the Italian sausage. This softened them up a bit and allowed them to combine with the spices in the sausage and the added herbs and spices, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and a bit of leftover pasta sauce that I had used previously used. This simmered for a bit while the water for the pasta came to a boil and cooked. I used a bit of leftover macaroni (4oz) and a box of penne and shredded some Parmigiano Reggiano and called Shannon up for dinner. Good things, mild garlic shown through.

Sausage and Egg on an English muffin

Crooked gap breakfast sausage, eggs and an english muffin. Good things.

Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas

This is a bit different than other items. It cooked the chicken first in whole parts, then the veggies, and then everything again. I think one could cut some time out of the veggie cook time to keep them with a bit firmer, but overall quite good. I liked the marinade for the chicken and the veggies.

Gochujang Glazed Pork Chops

I took some pork chops I had recently purchased from Crooked Gap from the freezer, and prepped them. Generally easy to do and a nice way to get it mostly done right. The chops were a bit thicker then what they called for, and because of that it took a bit longer in the oven to reach the temperature that was desired before broiling.

It turned out pretty well, and regardless of what my post hospital diet is supposed to be right now, I served it with peas.

2023 - Week 21 Cooking Results

Sausage

All Pork! All Good!

Sloppy Sammys

Good as almost always.

Skillet Broccoli Macaroni and Cheese

I would like to see a version of this that uses sodium citrate, but generally this was good.

Chickpea Salad Sandwiches

This was ok.

Then I added horseradish mustard, then it added a nice zing to it.

That with the mildly pickled onions, good things.

Chili Crunch Carbonara

While I know Dave Chang has often talked a lot about not going people exact measurements for this that and the other thing, and people should just know this. The problem is that even those of us who like cooking, think about cooking all the time. I may try this again, but looking at it, and think about what I should do, I just didn’t want to think that hard and just gave it a pass.

As part of the Burial of Chris, they had a get together after and brought in his favorite sandwich from the Miles Inn. This is just down the way from where Chris’s grandmother lived and where his aunt? lives now. Often times it’s hard to explain why someone likes a thing, if they grew up with it (ex: my semi-desire for a vegetable filled meat loaf), but this is clear why they are good. The Charlie Boys are a loose meat sandwich which are a thing in Sioux City. The delight of something that is so distinctively peppery, but also not so overwhelming that it over takes the other parts (mustard, catsup, pickles, cheese, bun), you can taste all the parts, but they all merge to be a wonderful thing.

2023 - Week 18 Cooking Results

The market started up again, and I got up and went and I was a bit, tired, but after I got a bit of cold brew in me, I was much happier to be there. There is a whole not of new people with a chance this year, some struggling to get things picked up. I got some ramps, some fresh salad greens, Bangers and some cheese. Certainly less than I would’ve normally done, but I was still generally happy by the end. I was reminded by my watch I had forgotten to take my medication, so I came home, took my medication and napped off and on for the next two hours.

Sausage

The rest of those Lucky George brats. Still good.

Grilled Blackened-Fish Sandwiches

I made this in the oven, there was a little smoke, but not too much. It generally worked out.

Teriyaki Chicken Burger

Normally I would make adaptations to make a larger burger, as that is what we are generally used to, however in this case I followed closer to the whole thing. It was challenging as we had someone in the house doing a bit of a repair, and they ran a bit behind. It was really nice with the sauce, cabbage and all that. Good things.

Shrimp and Red Pepper Quesadillas

I used a bit more shrimp, the spicy old bay (I could get a giant thing of old bay as they were all out of all other volumes, and was not interested in that much). This worked out pretty well, I finished up one jar of roasted red peppers and started the next one. I skipped the lime zest but added a bit more lime juice. Good things.

Baked Mac and Cheese

I few weeks ago I had started having that craving of mac and cheese and peas and tuna. I thought it might go away, but it did not. I also was thinking of using the sodium citrate that I bought a bit ago for the splendid table partnership with Sierra Nevada that caught my fancy. So there we were, using a bit of the sodium citrate. Would it have been better with a bit of milk or cream instead of the water, even so, it fixed that need. I used about a pound of peas and a bit of tuna. Should I have used the powdered cheese in a normal mac and cheese box? Maybe, but if I can use wonderful cheese, I’ll do that. We both ate leftovers for days.

2023 - Week 14 Cooking Results

Sausage

Again with the bacon and cheddar, good things.

Sloppy Sammys

It’s been a bit or at least seems that way, since this was at some point on the semi-regular basis. I used mustard powder, tomato sauce, some leftover tomato paste, and some herbs and spices. I topped mine with some jalapeño peppers and cheese. So the cheese I bought on a whim, was a whiskey touched Irish cheddar (not at the place where I buy cheese normally). I don’t remember the exact phrase and it was, muddled. No real whiskey flavor, no real cheddar flavor, just a mess. I was disappointed.

Ham Loaf

Delayed until Sunday.

Kimchi Fried Rice

I planned to make this on Friday, but when the Cheese Bar posted about “Tuna & Anchovy Deviled Eggs” I was like I want those. So this got delayed until Saturday.

I made the rice earlier in the week and was using the rest of some spicy momofuku season, which was just to much (my bad). It made it to spicy for my wife, which was not my intention. I used spam instead of ham, and I prepped the items while the Bryan from Riftworks was working on the stairs. I got everything prepped and so when it was actually time to make dinner it went pretty quickly.

Overall, I liked it, it was a bit more spicy then even I expected. I guess I’ll be having fried rice this week for lunches, cause I got a lot more rice to go through.

Gochujang Chicken and Tortellini

Unlike the Sloppy Sammys, I felt like I had to check to make this again. It is so good, and so easy. I knew Shannon would take the leftovers so I let her take them. Again, so good.

Grilled Ham and Cheese

I used the leftover deli turkey, and some 3 year Shelburne cheddar, which was actually good. I got some ok bread and it worked out.

The stairs.

So a bit ago, coming down the stairs, I had step through the third stair from the bottom. A thing that did make me feel better, was that someone pointed out that it had three nails on one side, and one on the other. After many calls, searching for advice, failure through a popular find help for your home site, A no call no show after scheduling, I got a few people to come in. For Bryan, at Riftworks, it was a quick turn around from the form to scheduling. After an injury delay, he got to work, and completed the stair repair and reinforcement of all the stairs. It barely creaks now, I’m very happy with his work.

I did embarrass myself, as I (cough) messed up the check (number of amount didn’t match written out amount). So He’ll be picking up a real check today.

Between the time that it was broken and by the time it got fixed, I saw my therapist and coincidentally my nurse practitioner and one of the things that I am generally proud of is this is they type of thing that would’ve have sent me into a spiraling depression, meaning I’m in a decent place.

I took Friday off, over a couple of large projects go live dates this week where things were a bit busy and exhausting.

2023 - Week 8 Cooking

While the temperature just waggles about all over the place, with no design or pattern, we’ve had a few issues show up around the house. First, I stepped through the 3rd from the bottom step. It was not built to modern standards, and while the board is thicker then normal, it’s just barely supported on the sides and one side just came off. We are trying to get a general idea of costs, and had a few people think about it, but no bids yet (at least one no show, cause yay!).

Also, about half of the TVs backlight went out…or got dimmer. We debated and chatted and did some research and ended up going with an OLED model, which is quite an upgrade and much crisper then the old one, even though they are both 4k. It was a few hundred dollars off due to a sale, which was convenient.

2023 - Week 6 Cooking Results

It has been a bit of a strange week. After being convinced that the previous week was when the new dishwasher it turned out it was this week. After getting it installed on Tuesday, we noticed that that about half (right side) of the TV was darker, so we started plannong on getting a new TV. However, I then stepped through, yes through, the 3rd to the last step. It appears as if the support, on the right side, had lost its grip. Instead of being built like normal steps, it only had supports on the side, not through the wood or in the center like it should. So the TV replacement is on hold, because it’s annoying but not desperate. I’ve made some calls out, used some apps and etc, but here I am waiting on a quote, had one guy stand me up, and have another person coming in a few days.

Meatloaf and Smoked Gouda and Scallion Mashed potatoes

I really love this meatloaf. While I swapped out the meat with ground beef, ground pork and a bit of bacon ends blitzed together to make a nice meatloaf. If I’m honest, I was looking forward more to the sandwiches I’d have for lunch than the meatloaf itself.

The Scallion Mashed potatoes, a bit under seasoned. Maybe I’m used to more of mine. Anyways, I added more cheese, more butter, and it was eventually pretty good.

Sausage

Hot Dogs, cause that’s what the top of the pile was. I am making good progress on cleaning out that freezer, not so much on the big one. Anyways, All Pork, Crooked Gap, deliciousness.

Buttermilk Pancakes

I didn’t get to give it the full ten minutes to rest as I was delayed a bit by work and needed to get dinner on the table so we could participate in Action Movie Saturday (not actually on Saturday). The pancakes were a bit less fluffy than they should have been, but still quite good.

Chicken Karahi

So I made this as a way to use the Kashmiri chile powder that I bought for the other dish. This came together pretty well. It used quite a bit of spice. I added a bit of extra time as I used diced tomatoes, , so it need a bit more time reducing. The spice added at the end added a bit of a kick of cinnamon. Quite good. I went to get flat bread earlier in the day, when the food coop didn’t receive the delivery from the bakery. Still happy to have it.

Penne alla Vodka

Quick to make, a bit of vodka, a nice meal. I’m pretty sure I’ve made this before, but it’s been a bit.

Burger (veggie)

I think it was an impossible burger. It was fine.

2023 - Week 5 Cooking Results

Coconut Curry Chicken Noodle Soup

I added the 3 packs of noddles (recommends 2 or 3) so this was more noodles with a lot of liquid than actual soup. Even so, quite enjoyable. As the noodles absorbed more liquid the next day or two, it got even better. I used some of the lamb bone broth, that was leftover from making the lamb stew, since I was almost out of chicken stock.

Meatloaf and Smoked Gouda and Scallion Mashed potatoes

We ended up going out with Dave and Jo and went to Tulipa, Everything went well, until about the end when they had trouble finding money Dave’s change. Food was enjoyable and had a lot of nice flavors. I had a Pisco Sour, which I heard on some travel show, probably, and it was enjoyable. I could have a few of them.

We went to see Everything, Everywhere, All at once, for the second time, at the Varsity. I think I caught more this time around, still funny, serious and heart wrenching.

Delayed!

Turkey Sheet pan fajitas vaguely based on this

I ignored the avocado creama, I added my own spices to the turkey, bell peppers and onion. It turned out pretty well, enjoyable over all.

Had I not been distracted by problems with the Audio Return Channel from the TV to Sonos bar, I would’ve gotten dinner on the table much quicker. The TV speakers on their own sound like trash (also for some reason, the volume kept going up on the tv. I retrained the apple tv remote, rebooted the apple tv, but until I powered off both the Sonos and the TV, the TV wasn’t even recognizing the Sonos (Even if the weird display screen was there). Anyways, power cycling is annoying since all the power is tucked and packed away, so I just unplugged everything on that wall, waited a bit, and plugged it back in. The ARC was a choice again.

Egg and Ham Sandwich

One of the free hams, cut off a thinner ham steak, cut that up then topped with fried eggs and cheese on english muffins.

Ground Lamb Burger

lamb, salt and pepper, seared, a bit of cheese and a good dinner.

Bratwurst

Hot dogs! Pork! Good!