Journal

2024 - Week 7 Cooking Results

Hamburgers

Beef, a bit of simple seasoning and good to go.

Taco Salad

I used the last Guacachile on mine between that and the leftovers, it was a nice add. I may have to thing about making the salsa my own.

Egg & Sausage Muffins

Good as always.

Breakfast Egg Bake with Sausage and Potatoes

The nose tickling continues! Even so, this came together well. I threw in some of the leftover jalapeño and green peppers from, the taco salad. Everything else came together quite will. I also used the green onion sausage, which is not quite breakfast sausage, but it still worked.

Creamy Peanut Noodle Soup

Made quickly before heading off to area 515’s game night. It was quick, easy and pretty good. The game night was fine, meet some of the people there, got a tour.

2024 - Week 1 Cooking Results

Apparently I caught a stomach flu grocery shopping last week, and I passed it to Shannon later. It had about the same incubation time for each (a day or two or so) before it expresses itself. While I recovered faster, it did change out things quite a bit.

Turkey Lasagna (this is what the Matta’s had for dinner and it sounded quite good)

I substituted 1.5 pounds of turkey sausage, with 2 pounds of Crooked Gap Italian sausage, and I used smoked mozzarella, instead of sliced. I ended up using feta, since I hat forgotten to pick it up in my normal trip, and it did add a bit of fine goat cheese flavor to it. I had to short out that last 1/4th cup of parmesan since, I had to save some for the garlic bread I made, without parsley. It was quite tasty and made for a nice thing to do on New Year’s day.

Sausage

Brats, Good, like fire.

Burger

I dug around in the freezer for a bit, before shopping and couldn’t find anything, so I picked up some grass fed beef at the store. Added some herbs and spices and cooked them up.

I kept it down just fine, my dear wife, not so much.

Hot Honey Peanut Noodles

Delayed! I planned on making this on the night after the morning I emptied myself, but clearly did not.

Irish Stew and Soda Bread

Delayed!

2023 - Week 50 Cooking Results

Sausage

All pork hot dogs, cause that’s what I grabbed. All Good.

Taco Salad

Yep, good.

Hearty Beef Stew

I just felt like making a good beef stew. I started off fairly early in the afternoon to allow for the long simmering times and not having to eat to late. I even asked Shannon if it was ok if I make it, as she is not generally a fan of big hunks of meat. It’s the kind of slow cooking that feels good right now. I get to take a bit of time here and there and menu plan while things are cooking.

While I had doubts about the liquid level, it did work out and have enough to add the potatoes and carrots after the first simmer period in the oven. I added a bit more stock cause I had a bit more beef (hunks were under or over what I wanted). After adding some peas and corn, I brought the flavor profile up by added quite a bit of pepper and a bit of salt. Good meal, good use of a Saturday.

Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

So I was looking at what to make for the coming week and this one came to mind again, cause of the sweet potatoes. Here I am thinking I’ve had this recently, but little did I know. Quite good, good as leftovers too.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

While normally I would use elbow, I had an open bag of Ditalini, so I used that instead. I added a bit more mustard and smoked paprika, and it came out very well like it always does.

Buttermilk Pancakes

Always good. After taking a fairly long nap, as I have been doing this, recently, I got up and got going on this. Quite good.

I have been taking a lot of naps in the afternoon, even after getting, what counts for me, as a good night of sleep, I thought that perhaps I was anemic again. After a quick blood test (thanks doc!), this was proved to be not the case. I may have misread some of the early results. I’ve reached out to my mental health nurse practitioner, and am hoping for a bit of a bump here shortly.

2023 - Week 47 Cooking Results

Sausage

Good things.

Noodles with egg

Simple and good. made for quick work.

Egg Sandwiches

So I tried that waffle thing with dressing/stuffing and put eggs on it. It didn’t work that well. The idea of frying the stuffing to get a crispy edge is not a bad one and would probably work better in a pan, at least not be as messy. I put eggs on it.

Grilled Cheese

Added some ham, used some bread I bought at the Coop.

Thanksgiving

Every year we’re getting better at doing this. This year, however a few setbacks ended up annoying me. First, I was preparing the miso butter for the sweet potatoes and due to some various work related things, I lost track of the cooking time and my first batch got a bit overdone. Because of that I had to buy more white miso paste, but because the store didn’t have that, I ended up using yellow. It still turned out ok, but now I have a container of Miso Paste to use as opposed to finishing up the last one.

Second, the vacuum sealer didn’t actually find the pressure to take out the air, and apparently I can’t get next day when I actually needed it. I thought vaguely about going out to buy one, which I’m sure I could’ve, but chose not to. This lead to a cascade of failures. Since I ended up with a whole pork loin (8-9 pounds or so), it was a bit wider and thicker. Because I only had my practice to go on (3.5 or so pounds) and that was on sous-vide, ti was a bit challenging to get the timing right, to get the things done at the temperatures needed and to deliver at the right time. I was way off. I expected a bit of extra time from the recipe, but not so much more. Since that was the case, I had to make guesses on keeping the sweet potatoes warm, and the dressing warm. So I had things ready to go at 1, but the pork stopped cooperating. So an hour or so later, I was able to call it done, then finish the last steps. Generally, a success.

Highlights for me. Pork and leftover pork were quite nice, I could do other things, I suspect, but it’s a lot to do just for us. The Cinnamon Ice Cream from Pints by Beth, is simple, warming and clean and something quite special (this got a shared look at the table between Shannon and I). It paired well with the Pie Bird Pies. I’ve have been getting better at the general sizing estimates so things were not as crowded in the fridge. I’m generally happy but did feel the guilt of a late delivery. I used 5 pounds of Crooked Gap green onion sausage. I also used Ethan’s daughter’s honey wheat bread for both he stuffing for pork and on the table. Most of the vegetables came from Grade A Gardens.

2023 - Week 45 Cooking Results

Sausage

Cased brats for the first time in a bit. Good Things.

Egg Sandwich

More of that bacon, eggs, and English muffins.

Sheet Pan Roasted Chicken with Hot Honey Spiced Apples

I used granny smith apples, and boneless chicken thighs. Good, and pretty simple.

Skillet Goulash

It says, specifically in here to use sweet and not hot or smoked varietals. I used both (didn’t have enough hot). And frankly it was the paprika punch that I was looking for. Good things. I think I had a bit too much steak in there (I think I was a little heavy on each strip steak). Even so, good, good for leftovers. Enjoyable to make, enjoyable to eat.

Rush Creek Cacio e Pepe

This was excessive. Swiss (I was surprised myself, but it’s quite good.) pasta, Wisconsin Rush Creek, and Italian Pecorino Toscano. Butter? Anyways it was quite good, I need to add a bit more salt and pepper then I expected, but it was also a lot of food, normally I would make this in a half pound of pasta at a time.

Iðunn plays with lamby

It is hard to catch Iðunn with her favorite lamb toy, cause as soon as I start to pay attention to her, she just drops it like she can't be seen to care. Right before this she had tossed it down the stairs.

2023 - Week 44 Cooking Results

Sausage

All pork hot dogs, good things.

Taco Salad

Good as always.

Burgers

Beef, I got it in my mind to make some mini burgers, so I did so. Good meal.

Egg Sandwich (holy crap there was some lucky george bacon in the bottom of the freezer)

Bacon holds up well, happy with finding it at the bottom of the freezer.

Bangers and Mash with Guinness onion gravy

I think I’ll make this again, but, not use the Guinness to make the gravy, cause it’s a bit too bitter. When I was slicing the onion I was thinking about only using half of it, since it was a rather large onion, but ended up using the whole thing. Overall fairly tasty, but the gravy could use a bit of work. Crooked Gap Bangers, did work well, though.

Sweet Potato Ramen

I adjusted. I added a bit more broth, and boiled the sweet potatoes rather then baked some of them. Generally this worked out well, and the broth mixture was tasty and goes well over rice too.

Oak Park (DSM)

We went to the newly opened Oak Park on 11/4. This was the first reservation that we were able to get, that did not conflict with existing plans. We dressed up a little to go, and showed up just a little bit early. And after looking at the property from several sides, we headed in. So let’s talk about what’s important, the design.

Shannon had to listen to a lot of this already. So the normal ceilings are fairly tall, but in comparison to the center of the dining area, where the bar is, the space is compressed. This was something that was noticed a lot in the FLW houses where the entrances and other areas had a confining feeling then you get into the main shared area and it opens up with a much higher ceiling, but in this case you went from a normal, perhaps tall ceiling, to a very tall probably two story ceiling. We were led into our dining location, near the front windows, through the bar, so we had that opening up experience, but then got the feeling of compression as we headed out of the bar area. So my general thought was that it might be better to lead people through the windowed dining areas on the side, rather than to get that mild feeling of compression.

After we sat down, one of the first things I noticed was the inconsistency of the brick. About 5 feet from the floor the pattern of the brick changed a bit, which is fine, but that line didn’t continue with the serving stations, nor the line of the windows. And the serving station didn’t match with the windows. I kind of want that line at the base of the windows to go all the way around the space, to only be broken by the doors.

The brick, which may not have been actual brick, didn’t have the deep cut, and almost full line to reinforce the lines around it (re: Meyer May house, etc).

The on table candle was held in a container that had a sort of feel of the place with lines and patterns and I liked it. However the sconces at even placement around the area, seemed more Victorian-esque, then mid-century, so they seemed a bit out of place. Not that they’re not pretty, but it doesn’t quite fit in my mind.

The Champagne bucket stands, seem like they should have had a built in place for them to hide. While at hand for staff to retrieve for customers, it really seems like they should have had a nook to rest.

I noticed that the flatware had the line break up on most pieces, which was a continuation of that theme.

In watching the staff work, I notice more then once that someone would have to get pretty low to get something out of the bottom cupboard, so perhaps if it was a bit higher, they wouldn’t have to bend so low.

My complaints are just me being picky for the most part, mainly because this is a style that makes me feel almost immediately relaxed, in most places, even when it is outside my general comfort zone.

Generally, we were very pleased with the food and the excellent service. This will certainly worth a second visit. The food was presented well, interesting, flavorful. Cocktails were made well and other Sam is quite knowledgeable (we’ve met a few time and Grade A and Cheese Shop events).

My biggest note was that I chose a vegetable focused dish (Carrot Wellington), and was pleased with the decision over a more meat focused dish.

2023 - Week 43 Cooking Results

Sausage (Pigs in a blanket?)

Per suggestion I got a thing of crescent rolls and wrapped two dough pieces around each hot dog. This was vaguely wasteful as it only used half of the container. I did use the rest to make the rolls. I suppose if it was an actually fluffy flakey croissant dough, then yes, this would’ve been wonderful, but the dough itself was just ok. Was it interesting and a nice change of pace. Sure. Fond memories from childhood? perhaps. It was fun, but a lower quality product combined when those all pork hot dogs.

Pasta e Fagioli

The full one, as opposed to the weeknight one is still quite good and worth the effort. God as leftovers, though the noodles soak up the soup, which kind of makes me wonder about canned soup.

Grilled Cheese with Mortadella

I got to stuff a bit in my face, and loaded up on some mild sourdough with some Alp Blossom. I, fortunately, got a golden brown to just barely toasted on the outside with butter. I am a big fan of mortadella.

Pork Burgers

Made these, good things and a bit leftover pork. Which came in handy, as the next day was truly challenging, and I ended up eating pork patties with mustard just to get some food in my belly.

Bacon, Egg, & Cheese Breakfast Potatoes with Chili Crunch

I keep thinking about making this better, and perhaps using some prepared potatoes (pre-fried) or something. But throw back, not a lot of work and still quite good.

Red beans and Rice

I think I never make this quite right. Don’t get me wrong, every time it’s delicious, but either the beans are to hard, or the liquid doesn’t reduce enough. This was one the liquid doesn’t reduce enough. Still combined with the rice to soak up the liquid, quite good. I added some of Lola’s Fine Host Sauce, which added a nice kick. I used some Andouille sausage from Crooked Gap, which was an excellent choice. Used timers a lot while making this so I would spend 20-30 minutes working on my study notes, stir the beans, and come back down to add more notes. Still love this and feeds a part of me.