Tuesday, 11/28/17

A repeat of the butternut squash soup from Thanksgiving. The only difference is that I added some sriracha and strained it for extra smoothness (it worked). We also had a lovely loaf of onion-caraway bread and deviled eggs.

Monday, 11/27/17

Another Thanksgiving that couldn't be beat in Whately. Seriously, my mom makes the BEST Thanksgiving. Turkey, mashed potatoes (Carter said they were the best he had ever had and he is quite the mashed potato aficionado),  gravy, stuffing, squash...A real feast. I brought green bean casserole (recipe straight off the onion can; Corrina and I love it and we don't care what anyone says) and a squash pie that was needlessly complicated but delicious. It was from Bravetart and it starts with roasting your own butternut squash (OK, not actually hard), making your own sweetened condensed milk (again, really pretty easy) and her so called easy pie crust. The crust was good, very flaky, although it still shrunk a bit during the blind baking (note: my butter was colder than what she called for,so it may have been my fault). The filling was really spicy and good. Everyone liked it so I guess it was worth it. It's good to know that I could make condensed milk in an emergency.

Sunday, 11/26/17

Carter was hanging out with his sister; Jason and I just ate up some leftovers. Nothing exciting, but the flan is now gone.

Saturday, 11/25/17

No dinner! Well, Carter ate a hot dog. We had a late and filling lunch in Whately with the family (enchiladas, chili, guacamole and our contribution: TWO flans). I kind of can't believe we busted into the second flan, but Jason can really put it away. A treat to see the aunts and uncles again.

Friday, 11/24/17

Kristen, Mike and little Mercer came for dinner. We had ground pork with lettuce cups (AGAIN), from Cravings. As usual, the lettuce cups didn't work out and we just ate it over rice. Also had roasted cauliflower that I tossed with parsley and a little manchego cheese. Yum. For dessert I made Dream Bars that were a little underdone but still delicious. Mercer enjoyed everything which was gratifying. It isn't every day that a three year old eats my food with such gusto.
My only quibble was that I thought the pork could have been more flavorful. I probably would have added more sriracha if company wasn't coming.

Thursday, 11/23/17

Thanksgiving! We went to Jen and John's.  Jason made a couple of loaves of bread (that came out perfectly, BTW), I made cinnamon swirl cookies, Carter dj'ed. We had also been to their house the day before to help with making soup, cranberry sauce, and tomato-saffron jam (a condiment for the grilled flank steak, my favorite dish).  Al the usual suspects: mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, brussels sprouts, etc..And lots of pie and good company.

Butternut soup with spiced pecans

The table awaiting food

Wednesday, 11/22/17

Grilled chicken sandwiches (I marinated the chicken with lemon, garlic and rosemary) with provolone and red onion relish, plus coleslaw for Jason and roasted potatoes (from SE). The potatoes really did what they claimed they would do: they were crispy and flavorful outside, soft and fluffy inside. Go Kenji! I ate leftover green beans since I hate coleslaw, even if it is lovely to look at with purple cabbage.

Tuesday, 11/21/17

Marinated roasted tofu, green beans with ginger and garlic, plus rice noodle cake. I realized that I didn't have the actual recipe for the noodle cake, but I just recreated it from memory and it was good. I bet it would be good with regular old noodles, too.

Monday, 11/20/17

Beef stew and addictively good biscuits in Whately. Brought a a spice cake (from Stella Parks) with penuche frosting (from Food52). I thought the spice cake was a little dry but that frosting is always a winner. I subbed in sour cream for the buttermilk (that she was adamant about) so it could have been my fault.

Sunday, 11/19/17

Jason asked for french toast again, since we still have a whole challah in the freezer. So we had that with sausage links and (incongruous) broccoli. Must remember that the nonstick pan does a better job than the cast iron.

Saturday, 11/18/17

Dinner with Jennie and David. Bread from Jason, a coconut cream pie (from Classic American Home Desserts) with a Maria cookie crust. Nice but somehow I thought it needed a little more sugar. Maybe because I use unsweetened coconut?

Friday, 11/17/17

I guess Carter and Jason sat home and ate frozen pizza and french fries. I, however was off partying at a fabulous wedding, eating sliders, endless delicious appetizers, tilapia and ice cream sundaes.
And then a pretzel around midnight.

During a break from dancing

Thursday, 11/16/17

Jason was exam proctoring, so Carter and I ate leftovers and watched Youtube videos. Like heathens.

Wednesday, 11/15/17

I had originally intended to make gung bao chicken, but realized I didn't have the celery or red peppers. It probably wouldn't have mattered, but I went with black pepper chicken instead. I usually make black pepper tofu, but this was a delicious variation. I did cut back the butter a little (but not too much), and added a lot of raw spinach at the end. I also threw some peanuts on top. So, so good. It takes a fair amount of prep but comes together quickly.

Lots of tiny bowls

Tuesday, 11/14/17

I honestly did not know what to make for dinner. Unusual.
So, I asked Jason to make pizza and he kindly made two delicious pies, AND used up some of the sausage and tomato sauce. We also had some sweet potato that I dowsed with sriracha and something called Golden Mountain seasoning, which it a little like soy sauce and I think Thai?

Monday, 11/13/17

Dinner in Whately---it was my dad's birthday (well, almost); we brought lots of chinese food and had some cheesecake for dessert. Happy Birthday, Dad!

Sunday, 11/12/17

I made a big batch of tomato sauce with Italian sausage in the slow cooker before work. We had that with spaghetti and kale that I sauteed with spaghetti squash (I I had already baked it) and broiled with some provolone.
The sauce was good but the sausage was quite spicy.

Saturday, 11/11/17

Dinner with Jennie and David: bread (with poppyseeds AND onions), plus a repeat of the pretzel cookies and the brownies.

Friday, 11/10/17

Dinner at Jen and John's. Jen made a rice, butternut squash and parmesan dish with spiced pecans (delicious), Laurie brought a baked brie, and I made some cookies: brownies (from Bravetart) with mint frosting (the cooked flour kind) and Pretzel Linzers with Salted Caramel from the new Smitten Kitchen book. Amazing. They would be great plain, with the caramel or with ganache. I will be putting these into my regular cookie rotation. The brownies are nice, as are most brownies.
Also, Jason made a big loaf of bread. It was a group effort.

Thursday, 11/9/17

I had the day off, and Jason and I had a big lunch at Bombay Royale, so I just fixed Carter a couple of burritos for dinner. Then I proceeded to cook all the vegetables that were languishing in our fridge:

Oh, and some brownies. Spoilers

I roasted the cauliflower and the spaghetti squash, boiled the beets, sauteed finely chopped brussels sprouts with onions, bacon fat and pepitas, sauteed spinach with garlic and hot peppers, and baked a couple of sweet potatoes. Then I didn't even have dinner. Considering another trip to our farm share is in the offing, it was good to get it all done.

Wednesday, 11/8/17

I tried a recipe from the Milk Street cookbook for Japanese style fried chicken. Seemed harmless enough: marinate boneless chicken thighs with ginger, soy, etc..., dredge with corn starch and fry. For some reason, Carter and I really didn't like it. I think it was partly the texture of the chicken thighs. I like them in other uses, but for fried chicken I prefer boneless breasts. I don't care what people say. We also had some of the leftover cauliflower puree and pork buns (from Mom's House freezer). They were my favorite part of dinner, frankly.
I think I am just biased against all things Christopher Kimball.

Tuesday, 11/7/17

When asked what he wanted for dinner this week, Carter requested "regular old burritos", meaning store bought flour tortillas, beans, beef and cheese. I let him down a little by using whole pinto beans instead of refried, but he said it was still good. My favorite part was "guacamole" that I made by mixing the avocados in the food processor with cilantro, a little sour cream and sriracha. I love the chunky texture of guacamole, but this was smooth and creamy, and a pleasant change.

Monday, 11/6/17

Dinner in Whately! We brought bread and a pumpkin pie (I used the David Liebowitz version, sans the marshmallow topping. I kind of wish I had made the topping. Next time). The pie was good except for a stupid shrinking pie shell. My mom made a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat. It was all there: turkey, stuffing, gravy, potatoes, squash. Just no green bean casserole, now that I think about it. I'll have to make my own.

Sunday, 11/5/17

Jason had been wanting french toast, and since we all woke up extra early (thanks, time change), there was time to make a couple of loaves of challah before work. Added some bacon for protein and this very colorful salad (with a lemon-tahini dressing) to round out all the sugar/fat richness:

That purple daikon is SPICY

Saturday, 11/4/17

Dinner with Jennie and David. Bread, the leftover cookies, and a chocolate pudding. I tried a new recipe from Saveur that was very rich and dense. Not sure why I didn't use my usual recipe from Smitten Kitchen. I think I wanted something darker to offset the sweet cookies. I'll stick to the easier standard recipe.

Friday, 11/3/17

Jason claimed there were too many leftovers and that I shouldn't make dinner. I agreed with the condition that I could make a dessert, at least. After much poring through cookbooks and blogs, I decided to just go with sugar cookies with frosting. Comfort food? I used the same Martha Stewart recipe I always used, but they are only meh. Didn't stop me from eating several. I think they turn out better if the dough has more time to sit and chill.

Thursday, 11/2/17

Regular old chili, done in the slow cooker. Plus some roasted spaghetti squash, and corn chip, queso fresco, lime and hot peppers for garnish.
It sounds boring, but it was a good end-of-the week dinner.

Wednesday, 11/1/17

Another recipe from the new SK cookbook: Meatballs marsala with buttered egg noodles. I changed only a few things: added mushrooms, and used ground turkey instead of chicken. Plus I didn't have any chives so I chopped up scallions extra small. We had roasted spaghetti squash on the side. The meatballs were a nice change from chicken breasts, which can sometimes dry out. I would make these again, but maybe omit the cream and add butter? In any event, universally liked.

Tuesday, 10/31/17

Dinner with my mom and dad. Chicken in a nice sauce, a wild rice blend, broccoli and carrot. For some reason the carrots were especially delicious. Lots of butter? Anyway, it was all great. I brought  coconut/oat/chocolate chunk bars from the new Smitten Kitchen cookbook. Easy to put together, easy to eat; a shortbread layer, done in the food processor, then a filling with melted butter, brown sugar, oats and coconut The filling is quite adaptable and I could have added nuts, chopped candy bars, etc.