Saturday, 9/29/18

Dinner with Jennie and David. Jason's bread this week featured cheese and black pepper; I thought it was great. I made a lemon meringue pie, using a recipe from Martha Stewart. Very easy and good! Everyone seemed to really like it. The only trouble I had was rolling out the pie crust, but that is typical.

Friday, 9/28/18

A co-worker retired, so Jason and I went to her party at the High Horse. Nachos and a cocktail for dinner. I don't recommend it. Carter stayed home and had a frozen pizza (well, we cooked it, of course).

Thursday, 9/27/18

Some leftovers (macaroni and cheese), plus some Aldi sausage (maple-bourbon; I didn't like it, but luckily Jason did) and some sauteed cabbage. Nothing exciting.

Wednesday, 9/26/18

I had been wanting to make macaroni and cheese, and was casting about for a new version. Found one at Serious Eats that is pretty straightforward, but unbelievably cheesy. I didn't even use all the cheese the recipe called for (I ran out!) and it was so rich. I liked it (especially picking crusty end bits right from the pan), but wish I had had sharper cheddar. At least the mildness meant that Carter liked it. We also had some roasted squash (maybe buttercup? It looked a little like oversized acorn squash, but the end product was a little drier) and then I had to take a brisk walk.

Tuesday, 9/25/18

Jason night, but it was NOT pizza! Instead we had cheeseburgers and tater tots (another Jason classic). I made a salad because lord knows no one else would. I must admit that the cheeseburgers were great (even though, or perhaps because, he used up my good cheddar).

Monday, 9/24/18

This was a night for powering through some farm share vegetables. So I roasted new potatoes (with cayenne and paprika), made a salad, and also roasted some delicata squash (sliced and tossed with oil, maple syrup and sriracha). Plus we had grilled chicken that I sort of brined/marinated (brinated?) with more sriracha and lemon. Fine if not super exciting.

Sunday,9/23/18

I peeked into a new cookbook at work (Now & Again, by Julia Turshen) and was intrigued by a recipe for eggplant with pork and ginger. Very simple: roasted eggplant cubes, tossed into ground pork sauteed with ginger and soy sauce. I threw in some garlic and scallions as well, and served it all over noodles. This was easy and delicious, although it prompted Carter to say that he doesn't like eggplant. Oh well.

Saturday, 9/22/18

Dinner with Jennie and David. Onion bread from Jason, white cake with white frosting from me. Used a white cake recipe from King Arthur flour that I would call basically successful. still just a little dense. I used my same old cooked flour frosting and felt that both could have used a little more flavor. Bump up the almond extract, perhaps. Of use Jason's idea of a jam layer in the middle (although in this case, I just made a sheet cake. A very. ugly. sheetcake).

This is why I don't work in a bakery

Friday, 9/21/18

Corrina came over for dinner, which was nice. We had ricotta gnocchi, with Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce, plus a new recipe for zucchini fritters. A real keeper! They benefited from lots of cheddar cheese, and were oven baked, which was a real plus (I will NOT be bothering to fry them ever again). The first batch browned a little too much, but I was impressed with their crispiness. Actually better than pan frying. The gnocchi could have used a bit more flour, but tasted good.
Dessert was a pint of Ben & Jerry's that I am ashamed to say we demolished. I wish I could blame Corrina, but she only had a bite or two....

Thursday, 9/20/18

I had planned to make a kidney bean curry from Made In India, but realized I only had one can of kidney beans. oops. So instead it was chana masala, which turned out very well. I pureed the tomatoes (instead of just crushing them), so the texture was a little thicker, and substituted pakora masala for the garam masala. Throw in some peas, serve over rice, and done.

Wednesday, 9/19/18

I made a lovely looking batch of deviled eggs (thanks to my new pastry tip and eggs from my friend Jill), Jason made a loaf of bread---- all we needed was cheese, butter, some overly spicy pickles I made, and a plate of tomatoes. I am going to miss all these beautiful tomatoes when the farm share is over.

Tuesday, 9/18/18

It was Jason night, so do I even have to mention that is was pizza? Again? Two with provolone, mushrooms, hot peppers and pepperoni, one plain cheese for Carter. Good, but I still think they could be thinner. And this time he erred on the side of undercooked (perhaps deliberately, since His Carterness complains bitterly about burnt spots). After dinner I made a batch of flapjacks, a British oat cookie bar. I have made these before, from a Bon Appetit recipe, but when I saw that Smitten Kitchen had a recipe up and that it called for only Golden Syrup, oats, brown sugar and butter, I decided to try her version. Maple syrup stood in nicely for the Golden Syrup, and since I had only old fashioned oats (not the quick that the recipe calls for) I threw them in the food processor for a moment as per the recipe suggestion. They came out a little too well; I couldn't stop stealing pieces from the pan.

Monday, 9/17/18

Good old fashioned American style tacos and burritos. Refried beans, hamburger, guacamole, cheese, etc. This is good to serve to your son when he has gamely eaten Korean tofu tacos.

Sunday, 9/16/18

A weird potpourri of leftovers: some noodles, topped with the chicken mixture; sauteed Swiss chard that had been languishing for a week in the crisper. Plus everyone had a slice of pizza. But mission accomplished! No more leftovers to speak of----just lots and lots of condiments.

Saturday, 9/15/18

Dinner with Jennie and David. Jason made bread (onion), and I made a chocolate pudding from a cookbook I brought home called "Baked Elements". The pudding was very chocolaty and flavored with bourbon, and it had a layer of spiced graham crackers and was supposed to be finished with a toasted marshmallow topping, but I was feeling uncharacteristically lazy (and pressed for time) and just made a bourbon laced whipped cream instead. This was perhaps the most intense chocolate pudding I have ever made. Almost too much; I think the chocolate in the recipe could be cut back a couple of ounces. And more graham crackers could be nice AND I would like to try the marshmallow next time. Also (rambling), it was very easy to make---just mix and heat everything. No tempering the egg yolks or anything.

Friday, 9/14/18

Jason was longing to make Yorkshire pudding again, so we planned a meal around that. I made, essentially, Chicken A la King (with mushrooms, leeks and broccoli). Secretly I am always wanting to eat chicken in a creamy sauce. I only hold back for the sake of the rest of the family. We also had a tomato-mozzarella salad (since the days for that are numbered) and of course the Yorkshire pudding. Dessert was a sour cream pound cake that I made from Serious Eats. Very good even if I did slightly overcook it. I like it plain, but a rum or lemon glaze would really put it over the top. Maybe I should channel Jason and just keep making them.

Thursday, 9/13/18

Leftovers (which means pizza). That is all.

Wednesday, 9/12/18

A new recipe from Serious Eats, Korean inspired crispy tofu tacos. When I looked at this recipe, I couldn't remember why I had saved it. It didn't actually sound that appealing; probably the words "crispy tofu" lured me. Anyway, it was cabbage and carrots, tossed with lemon, plus quick pickled cucumbers with sugar and rice vinegar, then crumpled tofu, sauteed with ginger and garlic. The tofu was then seasoned with brown sugar, soy sauce and gochujang. It was delicious! Surprisingly so. I was worried that Carter wouldn't like it, but he ate two, so success.

And it was pretty

Tuesday, 9/11/18

Jason night. He is still working on pizza on the grill. One with pepperoni, one with eggplant, peppers and onions. They came out really well, but Carter and I thought they were a little too thick. Jason says he will work on in. Expect more pizza soon, since when he is in this mindset he can't let go.

Monday, 9/10/18

We had waffles, sausage and watermelon for dinner. I use a yeasted waffle recipe from SK that I let sit and brood all day. They are thin, crispy and a little tangy, but it feels like a decadent dinner. I didn't like the breakfast sausage, but no one else complained.

Sunday, 9/9/18

A co-worker has been recommending another recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks (Cravings), drunken noodles, so I gave it a shot. Only a couple of little changes: I used pork instead of chicken (and wouldn't next time), and hoisin instead of oyster sauce (because I didn't have any), and wheat noodles instead of rice (just because I screwed up). OK, that sounds like a lot of changes. It is very tasty: sweet and salty, and the wide fresh noodles were pleasantly slippery. We all liked it and I would make it again (but using less chicken stock, which was also my mistake because i just wanted to use up an awkward amount I had in the fridge).

Saturday, 9/8/18

Dinner with Jennie and David. Jason made bread, and I made an angel food cake, with caramel whipped cream on the side, using up a bunch of egg whites and some leftover caramel in one fell swoop. Sadly, there was no leftover cake, but those egg whiles build up pretty quickly.

Friday, 9/7/18

I had only a vague plan, to do something Indian inspired with chickpeas. I completely forgot to soak the chickpeas, however. Luckily we have plenty of cans. So I made chickpea korma, plus a cauliflower dish from Made in India (roasted with cumin seed, cayenne and turmeric, then tossed with lemon juice. Very nice, but the recipe called for blanching the cauliflower, which I overdid a bit. I would skip it altogether) and rice. Jason and I liked it a lot, but Carter prefers the chicken version. Fair enough (but this is easier and cheaper!)

Thursday, 9/6/18

Jason made us a loaf of bread, and I made an ersatz shakshuka, to use up some eggs and a glut of cherry tomatoes.  I sauteed them, along with some onions, garlic, and the leftover grilled vegetables from Wednesday. Carter was only meh on the vegetables, but even he liked dipping the bread into the sauce. My only regret was that I didn't have any feta to add.

Wednesday, 9/5/17

Grilled chicken breast that I had marinated/brined before going to work (with garlic, sambal oelek and lemon), grilled vegetables (zucchini, onions, peppers) and an attempt at cacio e pepe. Well, the chicken was good---flavorful and not dry, the vegetables were nice (I dressed them with garlic, olive oil and red wine vinegar), but the pasta....It wasn't my first stab at cacio e pepe, and if memory serves, the last time had the same result: clumpy, stringy bits of cheese that in no way resembled a sauce. I thought that if anyone could make it work for me, it was Smitten Kitchen! I will have to assume that it was my technique. I was so mad I threw a towel on the floor. I want to try again, but used up all the parmesan. Oh well, it didn't taste too bad.

Tuesday, 9/4/18

Jason night: cheeseburgers with tater tots (OK, actually little tater crowns. even crunchier!). Plus I quickly threw together another tomato-mozzarella salad. Strike while the iron is hot.The new version of burgers is a big hit.

Monday, 9/3/18

We had a big lunch in Whately, so dinner was just bread, cheese, and a tomato mozzarella salad. I don't think the refrigerator will ever be even partly empty.

Sunday, 9/2/18

Leftovers again. That was a lot of pizza for three people.

Saturday. 9/1/18

Dinner with Jennie and David: Jason made raisin/walnut bread (I basically forced him to, but it was excellent and everyone liked it), and I made an old standby, chocolate cream pie from Cook's Illustrated. It came out perfect, if I do say so myself. I don't deviate from the recipe one bit.

The sprinkles are my own touch

Friday, 8/31/18

Jason made us 3 pizzas---he was in a an experimental frame of mind. One had stuffed crust (nice, but it certainly didn't look like a Pizza Hut pizza. Probably just as well), one had leftover fried eggplant and red peppers (my favorite), and one had just cheese, but he tried cooking it on the grill. Mixed success: the dough stuck as he was putting it one the grill, so it was wonky looking and uneven, but it did end up with a nice crust. He is determined to try again, but he'll have to wait since there is even MORE food in the fridge now.
Also, we had  a salad.

Thursday, 8/30/18

We had to eat leftovers. Barely made a dent.