Journal

2024 - Week 41 Cooking Results

Squash Lasagna

Not the one I have made previously, but certainly a good recipe. I made have added a bit of extra cream cheese, as paying attention can be hard. Worked out well. I did have to microwave the pumpkin a bit, as it wasn’t quite done in the oven. I may have burned myself a little but in the rush to get the pumpkin off. I also added some La Quercia prosciutto, and some coppa I think. quite good.

Sausage

All pork hot dogs, quite nice.

Grilled Cheese

Mortadella, and some lightly smoked cheddar. I’m getting pretty good (knocks wood) at getting a nice buttery golden brown on the bread.

Green Onion Sausage Pasta

Used some leftover pasta and some other pasta. and made a nice fridge emptier. Good things.

At some point, you just give up on the rules

For the boys, we eventually got them trained enough to know that they were doing wrong when they were on hard flat surfaces that are not next to a window. Iðunn on the other hand, refuses to take a hint, and just does what she wants.

2024 - Week 39 Cooking Results

Sausage

Good as always.

Chicken Alfredo

This was asked for by Shannon and so I made it happen. While I used spaghetti, cause I had it, and this came together quite easily and was quite nice.

Turkey and Bean Chili

Can It be fall already? I can’t see myself making this when it is 80F+ outside. I put the turkey in the freezer, I’ll use the peppers and onions for something else.

Thai Chicken Soup

Same thing here. just didn’t want to make it when it was that warm out.

Skillet Gnocchi with Broccoli and Pancetta

I started taking pictures where I thought I’d follow along, but then didn’t follow up. So I have a picture of diced pancetta, and not much else. This came together nicely and was a nice Saturday night dinner. Creamy and delicious and a great use of some of the last pancetta that I had in the freezer from a now dead company (sigh).

Pancetta about to start frying in a pan.

Socks in the Frying Pan - Temple Theater - 9/22/2024

Since Monday is never really a great night to go out to eat, we celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary. No porcelain gifts to be had. We had a nice dinner at Centro and walked upstairs to see a band that we kind of decided on a whim, after Shannon reminded me that she had taken the 23rd off.

Temple theater had a few empty seats, but not to many, but we had a delightful time.

A mix of songs of both upbeat and slow and just a nice pace with conversation along the way. Clapping, hooting and hollering and just a good time.

Modified 9/29/2024: Date updated on event to be accurate.

2024 - Week 35 Cooking Results

Sausage

Good as always.

BATs (bacon arugula and tomato)

I oven baked some bacon, per the Cooks Illustrated instructions.and then we built our own sandwiches. Good Things. (Blue Gate Tomatoes)

Sloppy Sammys

I added some leftover kimchi from Basic Bird, which I should have chopped up, but it gave it a distinct flavor that has been growing on me as I have eaten leftovers. But still pretty good over all.

Skillet Tortellini with Sausage and Cherry Tomatoes

Blue Gate tomatoes and crooked gap sausage and and easy meal to put together.

Tangy Chili Pork Noodles

These are always good, the pork was still a bit frozen as I made it, but I adapted it to what I needed. I just reordered some momofuku seasoning and instead of using what it called for, I double dosed the last one from the last batch.

Ham and Jack Frittata

In an effort to use the ham in the freezer, before I get a coupon for another one, this was done. It was pretty good, I ended up making some minor adjustments, but nothing to major. I thought about taking a picture of the yolks, which ranged in size quite a bit. This came together pretty easy, baked off, and we ate well.

Moulin Rouge - Des Moines Civic Center - 8/25/2024

This was well done. I’m not sure if I’ve seen it on the stage before, and perhaps my only experience was the movie. But this was enjoyable, the parts were well played, emotion conveyed, songs were good. I assume this was an update in the music used. We did, or me, noticed some difference in the costumes and had a discussion on that decision (personal of the player or on purpose in the costume design).

2024 - Week 33 Cooking Results

Sausage

Last of the large diameter hot dogs in this batch. Good Things.

Pork Burgers

I intended to make these earlier in the week but due to a change in work location for Shannon it wasn’t convent for her to pick up things on the way home from work, until later in the week.

Roasted Tomato Pasta

With the tomatoes I got and roasted late last week, I did a rough puree in the food processor, added these, some Italian sausage a bit of onion and a can of tomato sauce to loosen it up a bit, herbs and spices and a good meal fro all. Leftovers were good.

Pittsburgh-Style Haluski

Blue Gate had cabbages, and this was left from the last time I searched for cabbaged forward recipes. In this case this used the whole cabbage, but after the cabbage and onions cooked down I cooked some Kielbasa sausage over them as they and the noodles finished. I cut up the sausages and stirred them in with the noodles and the sour cream. Good meal lots of cabbage for good and just tasty over all.

Bok Choy Lo Mein (Modified)

I was going to replace the mushrooms with chicken, but when it came to the day, I decided I didn’t really want that. So I quick seared off the chicken, boiled the thick spaghetti noodles I picked up and ta-da chicken Alfredo (used some CostCo bought Alfredo sauce). Went over well, came together in the time it took me to boil water and then cook the noodles.

Something has been causing my mind to just spin a bit, which is the first time in a bit. Worrying about my brother’s upcoming surgery, or who knows what else, but I got garbage sleep for several days in a row leading to further darkness in my mood. The ability to recognize it is a good thing, but it is still hard to deal with. I finally got a spectacular night of sleep on Thursday night and felt much better on Friday.

Ben Folds Paper Airplane Request Tour with Lindsey Kraft - Hoyt Sherman - 8/11/2024

Not my first, second or even third time seeing Ben Folds. I expected a good show and wasn’t disappointed. We showed up a bit close to the end, since we were running a bit late from the restaurant. So I sent, Dave, Jo and Shannon off to sit while I ran and got water for everyone.

I wasn’t expecting Lindsey Kraft. I enjoyed the playing, song and banter, and was surprised when I found out that she was also on Grace & Frankie but then disappointed when I couldn’t find her music in the normal places, though it does look like she has a couple of things around. I’m curious to see how this develops, assuming I can remember without being periodically reminded by things that come up on my music shuffle.

Ben Folds started with a set of things that he wanted to play, which reminded met that I needed to add some music from his library to my to rate list. Then, after a break, he did the airplane portion. I missed the barrage of airplanes as I ran off to go to the bathroom (initially I was fine, then I didn’t think I would make it to the show). One can see how many requests were made. It looked like a good selection and I certainly enjoyed what was chosen. Near the end of the show he picked several up in a row for the purpose of closing out the show, making sure the last songs weren’t a downer, which is certainly possible.

Good dinner, fun show and fun was had.

2024 - Week 32 Cooking Results

Broccoli Cheddar and Wild Rice Casserole

While I ended up liking this, there were some minor complaints on how I made it. I admit the broccoli could’ve been smaller and it’s a fair note. I wasn’t closely following the recipe, so I ended up using all the cheese to make the sauce, but even so, it still turned out pretty good.

Sausage

All pork, large diameter hot dogs. Good things.

Tuna Steaks

I went in wanting bigger cuts, but when it came to it, there were these little ones that were on mega sale, so I got those and cooked them a bit above what they should have been. Assuming that they were a bit older. Seared with a bit of cajun seasoning. Good meal.

Pork Burgers

Preformed pork and bacon patties from Crooked Gap. good and easy to do.

Penne Alla Vodka

I was originally going to make this Saturday, but as I was picking up my food coop order they had some nice bread that I thought would work well with it, so we had it Friday instead. Quite good, pretty easy to make and over all just a nice dinner.

Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas

I got about 4 pounds of Roma tomatoes from Blue Gate, and got those going, and then started the marinade for the chicken. The tomatoes are roasted, and waiting for me to decide what to do with them next week.

I made the marinade for the chicken and forgot to reserve some of it. So in that I left the chicken a bit more damp after the 3 hour marinade and when I cooked them with the vegetables it came out easy. I got a new salsa that just looked good at the food coop yesterday. I used it on the tacos and they came together quite well. We were happy with the dinner and that is a good thing.