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