Thursday, 12/30/21

 Home again. Another Carter favorite for dinner, sushi rolls. Nothing fancy, just surimi, cucumber and pineapple in a few (weird but good).

Wednesday, 12/29/21

 Took an amazing hike through the dunes in the morning; only got a tiny bit lost so that was good! Did not see another soul. Why would anyone come here in the summer?

Anyway, dinner was nachos and we devoured them.

Tuesday, 12/27/21

 Lemony red lentil soup (NYT) and Jason bread. Lots of walking and exploring.

Monday, 12/27/21

 First night of our little Provincetown vacation. I made a lot of stuff at home to keep it simple; tonight was spaghetti with meat sauce (Carter's request) and garlic bread. The kitchen; indeed the whole cottage, is small but well-equipped.

Steps so steep that Carter had to take the upstairs bedroom

Sunday, 12/26/21

 Jason made another round of pizza cups. He gets really into an idea and keeps repeating it until we all want to scream. They were pretty good, though (not sure Carter would agree).

Saturday, 12/25/21

 A much merrier Christmas than last year, even though the weather was dreadful. snacks, games and a jigsaw puzzle, plus a Yankee Swap. Fairly low-key but very enjoyable. Jason made pizza cups that didn't turn out like he expected, but honestly I thought they were better. The only thing missing was chips and dip. Next year. No real dinner.

The puzzle-doers. Smart Corrina kept us to 500 pieces

Friday, 12/24/21

Christmas Eve dinner with the family at Goten. Fun and delicious and thank you dad for dinner!  The only downside is that you can't really talk to everyone at those long and noisy tables. But it is worth it to see Jason and Zac catching those shrimp.

(I just looked back and saw that I had the same exact comments two years ago!)

Thursday, 12/23/21

 I was not planning to get caught without a dinner idea again: ham (used up the last of the ham that has been lurking in the freezer; it tasted fine but the texture was really starting to suffer a bit), biscuits (Sally's Baking Addiction) with pepper jelly and a spinach salad. Finally a dinner I enjoyed! How could you not like a meal with biscuits?

Wednesday, 12/22/21

 I somehow had no plan for dinner, and in my moment of weakness Jason jumped and insisted that we make pancakes. I just wanted to order a pizza. I VERY VERY ungraciously made pancakes which were perfectly OK but honestly why can't a tired working woman just order a @#$%&^% pizza once in a while? At least we used up the pancake mix so I am off the hook for a while. 

Tuesday, 12/21/21

 Lentils (from Made in India; turmeric everywhere), rice, cabbage. We  got a ridiculous cabbage weeks ago, and finally used it all up. It felt like an accomplishment for sure. Again, not so exciting, but better than tofu I guess.

Monday, 12/20/21

 Tofu with broccoli and noodles. It was okay, but not my best work. A little soggy tasting to me. Eh, I couldn't get excited about tofu for dinner anyway.

Sunday, 12/19/21

 Went to Jay and Jodi's for a quick dinner. They made a (really excellent) lentil soup; we brought a loaf of bread and some of the Crap Day cookies. I was kind of tired, so we tapped out early, but it was still nice.

Saturday, 12/18/21

 Crap Day! Corrina and I made penuche and regular fudge; luckily I made the penuche  the day before, because cooking down such a large batch took literally hours. Worth all the stirring, though. Jason made grilled cheeses for lunch, and we stuck around for dinner (along with Laurie): a Blue Apron that was a lentil and cauliflower salad with soft-boiled eggs. We added extra eggs and cauliflower and it was really tasty. Long, long day.

Friday, 12/17/21

 Jason and I had quite a large lunch at Tom's, so we were not super hungry. I had made some turkey soup with the last bit of turkey scraps (and some nice rich stock); I threw in some egg noodles and that was pretty much dinner. I had also at some point during the day made a batch of cinnamon rolls (usual recipe from the NYT) so we had those, too.

Thursday, 12/16/21

 Jason night: bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon, plus some pineapple. I had a late, large lunch so I was only able to eat one, but it was good (and quick, which was good cause Carter and I were out getting his booster shot).

Wednesday, 12/15/21

 A Jason request: tots with cheese and gravy. Leftover green beans for health. We bought a nice big sheet pan a couple of weeks ago, and it worked perfectly in that the tots don't get crowded. Yes, we went to a restaurant supply store and bought a professional sheet pan to improve our tater tot game.

But hey, it worked!

Tuesday, 12 14/21

 Rice and bean bowls: black beans in the pressure cooker, rice with a little Goya seasoning, and taco-y condiments: avocado, jalapenos, cheese, salsa, etc...

Calling it a bowl makes it more fun.

Monday, 12/13/21

 Finally, a 100% successful dinner: ditalini (so cute and fun to eat!) with regular old meat sauce that for some reason was extra good. Garlicky green beans to go with. Carter hoovered it right up and I don't blame him.

Sunday, 12/12/21

 French toast, made with some of the challah from the freezer. Meh. I cut the slices too thick and maybe I should have soaked each one longer or maybe they were a little overcooked or maybe I just do not love breakfast for dinner? Anyway, we also had sausage links, which were good. And some pears, I think?

Saturday, 12/11/21

 Butter chicken in the Instant Pot, adapted from The Ministry of Curry recipe. I can't pinpoint what I did differently (more spices? less cream?) but it was particularly flavorful and tender. Served over basmati rice; unimaginative cauliflower on the side, and Jason made naan. Kind of. This was one of those times when I really wished he would deign to follow a recipe, but it was fine. I had meant to make samosas, too, but the day got away from me.

Friday, 12/10/21

 Leftover pizza and a pretty good antipasto-style salad. Surprisingly unambitious, considering that we spent the afternoon watching "Julie & Julia'.

Thursday, 12/9/21

 Grilled cheese (there was a loaf of Jason bread taking up a lot of real estate in the freezer) and some of our fancy pears. We mixed it up a bit, adding pesto to one and pepper jam to another. I do love a pepper jam and always look for an excuse to eat it.

Wednesday, 12/8/21

 It was a Jason pizza day. Four pies: plain cheese, spinach/feta, pepperoni/provolone, and taco. The crust was a particularly good texture, and he wasn't as manic as usual, so that was nice.

Tuesday, 12/7/21

 Half-assed turkey divan over rice. Mushrooms, peas, turkey....just a way to use up some of the giant batch of turkey stock. It was OK, but there is something in the taste of leftover roasted poultry that I don't love. I also wished I had used egg noodles instead of rice. The boys liked it well enough. Roasted brussels sprouts to go with it.

Monday, 12/6/21

 Jason's parents kindly sent us a gift tower for Hanukkah, so we busted that out and noshed for dinner. Luckily, there were cheese and crackers, mixed nuts and some excellent pears so it wasn't just candy for dinner. Actually, the candy was the least successful component. But a really ripe pear is a treat, for sure.

Good job, Costco!

Sunday, 12/5/21

 HCR in the morning meant late lunch at the Brewery which meant Jason and I weren't really hungry. So I gave Carter leftovers, I made myself a tiny turkey sandwich on a roll, and pecan pie all around. Then early bed.

Saturday, 12/4/21

 The return of Thanksgiving, my sort of annual tradition. Didn't mess with the menu much: green bean casserole (from SK, but French's onions all the way), sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, gravy, turkey (dry brined to limited success), canned cranberry sauce ,doctored up box stuffing (it is growing on me) and of course Jason's dinner rolls (always my favorite part). I had notes: the green beans were too mushy; I used too much milk in the mashed potatoes, and I thought the turkey was a bit dry. Carter and Jason were happy, though. Maybe letdown is inevitable after all the work?

Also a pecan pie (another SK recipe; as usual I used maple syrup instead of Golden Syrup or Karo) which was excellent.

That looks terrible

Friday, 12/3/21

 We had an exciting afternoon exploring Agawam and West Springfield, including a stop at a Russian grocery store. The prepared foods we picked up from there made up our dinner: a couple of blintzes (drier and sweeter than ours), a chicken burek (meh) and a eggplant-sweet pepper salad that was the surprise star. I could have eaten a giant bowl of it. Lots of other tempting looking salads there so I think we need to go back.

Thursday, 12/2/21

 Jason wanted to make churros for dinner for some reason. He is getting very pushy in his retirement. sadly, he had never seen or tasted one so they were like little strings of fried dough? He was VERY put out that I was unimpressed. I mean, whatever it was that he produced was fine, but it wasn't a churro. Anyway, I made a antipasto style salad to go with it, and we had some kielbasa. The good news was that he was also inspired to make yeast donuts, and those were quite good.

Wednesday, 12/1/21

 I glamorously went out for a drink after work, leaving Jason to make stovetop macaroni and cheese from my usual Serious Eats recipe. He couldn't resist tinkering, of course, adding some leftover ramen seasoning to part of it. It wasn't bad, and overall I think he succeeded! Leftover broccoli to go with it.

Tuesday, 11/30/21

 Family favorite sushi bowl. Surimi, cucumber, avocado, etc (didn't have any tuna but it was not a problem). Quick and delicious, if a little bowl intensive.

Monday, 11/29/21

 Smitten's baked chickpeas with pita chips, tahini-yogurt sauce and a little cucumber-tomato salad. I didn't actually bake the chickpeas; I just let them simmer on the stove while I prepped everything else. It was a little too cumin-y and salty, but the various condiments add a lot. carter ate it uncomplainingly even though he didn't love it last time (a fact I did not see fit to remind him of0.

Sunday, 11/28/21

 Fried rice with tofu, zucchini and broccoli 9plus fresh eggs from Jason's farm. They were too enormous to use for baking). I did most of the chopping before work but it was still a surprisingly time consuming meal. All that separate stir-frying. In the end, it was pretty good but needed more soy sauce.

Saturday, 11/27/21

 Because we just had not had enough socializing yet, we went to Jen and john's for dinner. Bread from J. again; I made roasted potatoes (from Serious Eats) and a kale salad (orange, almonds, some sharp cheese and kale from the farm). The Blue Apron featured roasted squash and brussels sprouts and sautéed scallops(!). So fancy! They were delicious. The whole meal was great, actually. Good old Blue Apron.

For dessert I made a bread pudding (in a case of the tail wagging the dog, first I had to made a couple of loaves of challah) with bourbon caramel. Some complaints: I didn't strictly follow a recipe, and the end product wasn't as custardy as I would have liked; and I nearly burned my caramel so it was on the bitter side. Room for improvement but still a lovely evening.

Friday, 11/26/21

 Dinner at Jay and Jodi's again; this time with 3 enormous pizzas. Kristen made some cinnamon rolls (we topped them with leftover whiskey sauce). Nice to see everyone again.

Thursday, 11/25/21

 Thanksgiving at Jay and Jodi's. Jason made bread; I made a pumpkin pie (from David Lebovitz). It was fine. Some highlights: the turkey, a cherry-chocolate bread pudding with whiskey sauce, and eggs rolls (that we helped Kristen make), The lack of mashed potatoes continues to confound me (but I will make some next week!).

Nice day, although the shingles shot I got the previous evening did not do me any favors. Home and under the covers by 7:30.

Wednesday, 11/24/21

 Leftover pizza. That is all.

Tuesday, 11/23/21

 Waffles and breakfast sausage. Fine. We were just using up a box of pancake mix and while it makes perfectly adequate waffles, the raised yeasted ones I make sometimes are far superior.

Monday, 11/22/21

 Pizza from Jason. We debuted two new news pie: ricotta, spinach, olive feta & sun-dried tomatoes. Jason was scared of the ricotta base, but it worked perfectly; and kielbasa, onion and cheddar (using some fancy extra garlicky kielbasa from the BBA Market). There was also a pepperoni, provolone and pepperoncini and a fresh mozzarella. All were marked by a particularly crispy and airy crust. Good job, Jason.

Sunday, 11/21/21

 Noodles with beef, zucchini, spinach and Cravings sauce. A little greasy but good. I wasn't actually sure what kind of ground meat I was using until I started cooking; luckily it didn't make any difference.

Saturday, 11/20/21

 It had felt like a very high meat week, so I made lentils and rice to counterbalance. I actually followed a recipe (from Made in India) and I think it was tastier than normal. I also made roasted turmeric-lemon cauliflower from the same book. Basmati rice to go with. Excellent.

Friday, 11/19/21

 Fire chicken again, because I love it so and Carter wasn't home. I added a bunch of green beans to make it a complete meal (it also adds a nice contrast). Angel food cake for dessert, to use up some slightly sketchy egg whites.

Thursday, 11/18/21

 The last of freezer items, the meat pies (plus some leftover cabbage). Delicious again. I think I could improve the filling, but the smoky cheddar crust was beyond reproach.

Wednesday, 11/17/21

 Took a freezer break after an annoying trip to the dentist (why oh why did I pick a dentist in the far reaches of Florence?). Using a combination of in-app ordering and actual paper coupons, we picked up McDonald's. Would not have been  my first choice, but the boys enjoyed their Big Macs. My crispy chicken sandwich was fine, and the possibility of biting myself (novocaine) made it exciting.

Tuesday, 11/16/21

 The surprise sleeper hit of Freezer Week: bagels. Carter was dismissive when they were first on the table a month or so ago, but he devoured them tonight. Maybe it was my condiments (scallions, pickled jalapenos and cherry tomatoes)? Maybe it was the Target brand cream cheese? In any event, a success!

Monday, 11/15/21

 Fish sticks (in the air fryer; I still contend this is the air fryers absolute best use), plus what are called hash brown sticks, but look like tater tot logs. This was a fun combo because they could all be stacked like Jenga. I was only there for the salad, conceived on the walk home from work: spinach, cherry tomatoes, spiced & candied pecans, feta, and dried cranberries. All it needed was some sun-dried tomatoes and raspberry vinaigrette to be an 80's explosion! (I just used some olive oil and balsamic).

Sunday, 11/14/21

 Welcome to Freezer Week! First stop, pierogis. The usual, sautéed with onions. Lots (and lots) of cabbage on the side. Carter was mildly disappointed that there was no kielbasa, but he bravely carried on. There is still another meals worth of pierogi up there, but it was a good start.

Saturday, 11/13/21

 We were in the middle of social engagement #1 (pizza, cake and games at my dad's for his birthday. So fun!) when Jen asked if we wanted to come to dinner. So Jason threw together another batch of breadsticks and I fast-tracked the butternut squash soup I was making (from a Rachael Ray recipe; it's all about the spicy pecans). Jen had a Blue Apron and Jason made chocolate chip cookies on-site. Fun impromptu evening. I also made another batch of peanut butter bars, but left those at home as Jen doesn't like peanut butter desserts. More for us.

Friday, 11/12/21

 It was a long day with two (!) dental appointments, so I was glad dinner was mostly prepped when I got home. Just a sort-of baked ziti with sausage and spinach. Plus Jason made breadsticks, which was fun. Just like going to Olive Garden!

Thursday, 11/11/21

Pizza at Jason's parents. Brought some of the peanut butter bars (and then regretted leaving so many there).

Wednesday, 11/10/21

 Instant Pot alfredo, with a lot of (slightly mushy, I am sorry to report) broccoli on the side. Stupidly rich.

Tuesday, 11/9/21

 Just burritos and tacos (American style). The only thing of note was a particularly good batch of guacamole. No one noticed but me. Dessert was peanut butter bars (from the blog of Shauna Sever, the author of Midwest Made). I was afraid I have overcooked them, but if anything, I could have pulled them out a couple of minutes earlier.  I love a bar cookie, I love a peanut butter cookie, so these were an obvious win for me.

Monday, 11/8/21

 Chicken soup (with stock and chicken from last week's roasted chicken) with egg noodles, plus some bread that Jason baked at some point. Hurray for dinner that is already made (thank you, weekend Lace, for doing all that work).

Sunday, 11/7/21

 Another recipe from Midwest Made, prepped over the weekend. The words "smoky cheddar crust" were irresistible, so even though I have never particularly wanted to try pasties before, I decided to give it a go. I used my own favorite pate brisee recipe, to which you add sharp cheddar and smoked paprika (note: more paprika). The filling is pretty simple, with ground beef, ground pork, carrots, potatoes and rutabaga (which I didn't have but it would have been good. I just doubled the potato). Since they are pretty big, it isn't too labor intensive to fill them (here recipe made 6; I made 8 and didn't regret it).

Anyway, they are really quite good. The dough was very flaky and flavorful, and the filling wasn't super exciting but it was tasty enough. Froze a few for another meal.

Saturday, 11/6/21

 I made an actual dinner: butter chicken using up a bunch of leftover grilled (from Carter's lunch) and roasted chicken.  Added a head of cauliflower; Jason made basmati rice and voila: a complete meal. When asked how it was, Carter said it would have been better with fresh pita bread. Spoiled brat.

Friday, 11/5/2021

 Did a BUNCH of cooking projects during the day. Made a donut loaf cake (from Midwest Made, my new favorite cookbook), some salsa verde, the crust and filling for  pasties (also from Midwest Made), chicken soup, and the components for tiramisu. The tiramisu was from a Del Posto recipe, and almost failed, thanks to  

a. me leaving the mascarpone at room temperature for too long, causing the filling to break in a MAJOR way 

b. Not soaking the cake layers with ample espresso, so they are a little dry. 

Everything came together to an acceptable level (after so much tinkering; I am not throwing away a pound of mascarpone), but it wasn't my best work

Then at dinnertime, we hung out with Jodi again...Jason made bread, so we ate that. Then I just had some cheese for dinner, I think? And some of the cake? Disgraceful.

Thursday, 11/4/21

I prepped a whole chicken during my lunch hour, and left Jason with instructions on how to roast it (spoiler: he succeeded). I also made a batch of potato pancakes to go with it. For a veg, I roasted the chicken on top of some onions, carrots and a bunch of cabbage. It was a pretty good meal, but I regret not making gravy. Also, some of my latkes were a little too dark.

Wednesday, 11/3/21

 Went to Jodi's after work for a drink (to celebrate the library victory); Jason made a loaf of delicious sesame bread. Got home and didn't feel like cooking so we each made ourselves a plate of nachos.

Tuesday, 11/2/21

 I let Jason make rice and lentils, knowing that it wouldn't be the most thrilling meal (at least we used red lentils and basmati rice). I made some spicy roasted cauliflower to go with it. Pros: filling, cheap, healthy. Cons: a little blah. Nothing some condiments couldn't fix.

Monday, 11/1/21

 Cavatappi (what  a fun name for a fun shape) with tomato sauce with Italian sausage. I went old school with the Crock pot, to good effect (the Instant Pot likes to burn tomatoes). Jason made some garlic bread out of leftover hamburger buns, but that wasn't my scene. Leftover broccoli.

Sunday, 10/31/21

 Mozzarella sticks in the air fryer (just frozen ones from the store. Nothing special, but that kind of thing is one of the strengths of the air fryer) plus an arugula salad for me and Jason and broccoli for Carter. Leftover pie for dessert.

Saturday, 10/30/21

 Jen made her squash/wild rice/pecan casserole (delicious), Jason made a loaf of rye-ish bread and I made a chocolate cream pie. I used the filling from my usual Cook's Illustrated recipe, but with a pastry crust instead of the Oreo crust they used.  Fun dinner and company.

Friday, 10/29/21

 Jason was in the mood for ramen, so I had a nasi goreng pack (with a ton of spinach) and he had regular old ramen with cabbage and fried egg. At least I had a made a nice dessert: snickerdoodle bars from "Midwest Made". I was leafing through the book in the morning and had to stop and maker a batch the minute I came across the recipe. Everyone else says they are more like a dense cake, but I am stubbornly insisting that they are bars. Tasty either way.

Thursday, 10/28/21

 Just leftovers.

Wednesday, 10/27/21

Tomato soup (with cheddar on the side) and a batch of dinner rolls. I honestly just wanted dinner rolls (thanks, Jason!) and looked for some entrée that would justify it. Worth it.

Tuesday, 10/26/21

 Quinoa and black bean bowls, with avocado, pineapple salsa and roasted delicata squash. I used the IP for the beans; they turned out so well. Carter said with surprise, "this is actually good". Thanks, kid.

Monday, 10/25/21

 Chicken curry, from a big batch I made Saturday. Turned out more like a soup ( I should have used a little roux) but it tasted pretty good. Used up some sweet potatoes and cauliflower from Jason's farm, which was nice. Served with basmati rice, and, unexpectedly, popovers. Jason is still working on that. They keep sticking, yet he continues to ignore my advice. Oh well, they taste fine and Carter loves them.

Sunday, 10/24/21

 A broccoli and cheddar quiche (no real recipe. I kind of used the proportions from a SK recipe, except I swapped in some leftover ricotta for the called for cream cheese. Pate brisee recipe from Martha Stewart). Jason and I also had an arugula salad. In a shocking twist, Carter complimented my pie crust! I will say, it was perfectly flaky for once. 

Saturday, 10/23/21

 We had some leftover gravy in the fridge, so Jason requested cheesy fries with gravy. I mean, of course that was tasty, but...

If we had a vegetable, I don't remember what it was. Maybe some cauliflower?

Friday, 10/22/21

 Corrina and Zac came for dinner, which was a real treat. And not just because they brought Frontier pizza. Jason made some pretzels that he wasn't too thrilled with (once again I find myself thinking: if only I could do this myself!), and I made a serviceable pumpkin pie with a graham cracker crust. As much as I love a graham cracker crust, I think it would have been better served by a standard pastry. Oh well.

Thursday, 10/21/21

 I had Jason make a loaf of raisin walnut bread, and so we had that with cheese, mostly. I think we also had some cauliflower but I can't remember for sure. Maybe some apple, too? Apparently a very forgettable meal.

Wednesday, 10/20/21

 Made a Deb Perlman recipe that called for ground pork and asparagus over rice; I used ground beef, green beans and noodles. And omitted the Chinese rice wine. And added cilantro and peanuts. So it was a pretty broad adaptation to be sure.  A little greasy, but good flavors, especially with extra chili crisp at the table.

Tuesday, 10/19/21

 Fish sticks (I had intended to make my own but Aldi was out of all white fish so...meh), rice, roasted cauliflower. Finally found the perfect use for our borrowed air fryer! They came out perfectly. Say what you will about frozen fish sticks; when they are nice and crunchy and you have a spicy cocktail sauce to go with them, they make an excellent meal. 

Monday, 10/18/21

I was not inspired to do anything with tofu until I came across a recipe in the Times for a sheetpan tofu with ramen noodles and baby bok choy. I was low on hoisin sauce (one of the main ingredients for the tofu marinade) but I just added some mirin and a little bit of brown sugar and that worked out fine.  Using ramen in that way was fun: parts developed a little crunch and they got a lot of flavor from the marinade. I didn't have bok choy but Jason brought me some kale from the farm and that worked well (blanched ahead of time).

Sunday, 10/17/21

 Popovers with a creamy chicken-broccoli filling (that I made Saturday). The popovers stuck like crazy, and weren't quite as crispy as I might like. Since they are a bread item, they fall under Jason's realm, which leaves me chafing (I secretly believe I could do better but I never have the chance!). A good dinner nonetheless. Even slightly soggy popovers are great.

Saturday, 10/16/21

 I did actually do a lot of cooking, but it was all for the week ahead (a spinach-sweet potato pasta bake for my lunches from SK; I stuffed the remaining peppers, made a salsa verde, threw together another batch of Instant pot rice pudding, made a chicken-broccoli for popovers, cooked a head of cabbage with some leeks,  AND made another apple crumb cake).

After all that what did we have? Leftover pizza.

Friday, 10/15/21

 No real dinner; we went to Jay and Jodi's for snacks and drinks (Jason made pretzels) and just ate some ice cream when we got home. For someone who had the whole day off to cook, that is very unimpressive.

Thursday, 10/14/21

 Pizzas from Jason (cheese, goat cheese & onion, mushroom & pepperoni and peppers, onion and more pepperoni). Good, especially because I wasn't the one cooking.

Wednesday, 10/13/21

Pancakes and sausage. Not my favorite dinner, I confess. If there is to be breakfast at night, I prefer homefries. But it was fine.

Tuesday, 10/12/21

 I knew I would be tired after work (still worth it for the 4 day weekend!) so dinner was just peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (from a loaf of bread that Jason had made and frozen); chips and salsa. 

It felt a bit like defeat, but it certainly was quick. So there is that.

Monday, 10/11/21

 For some reason, Jason brought home a lot of green peppers from his farm (even though he knows I don't really like them). we were casting about for what to do with them and I agreed to try stuffing them. Found a recipe from the NYT that seemed reasonable. Here are my notes:

Used red wine instead of white; mixture of celery and cabbage instead of fennel; skipped oregano. Surprisingly good!

I have never wanted to try stuffed peppers, but we all liked them pretty well. Ground beef and rice are pretty inoffensive, after all. And the peppers got soft enough to be pretty mellow. I would actually make this again!

Sunday, 10/10/21

 Jason got our borrowed air fryer to work, so we tested it out on french fries. It worked well, but not markedly better than oven baking. But covering them in cheese and a quick mushroom gravy was an excellent idea. Made a very plain romaine salad to go with it for a semblance of balance.

Saturday, 10/9/21

 Jen's birthday dinner. She requested chocolate cake with raspberry sauce; I made a nearly flourless cake from our recipe files (Old school! It used to be in regular rotation until Jason and I got tired of it). Easy enough as long as you beat the hell out the eggs and don't overbake it. For the sauce I just used a bag of frozen raspberries, cooked with a little sugar and some Grand Marnier. Big success!

Laurie made meatballs and polenta, and I also made an appetizer of fried goat cheese balls with an arugula salad. Plus some lackluster brussels sprouts (I overcrowded the pan so they were more steamed than fried). Overall a tasty and very fun meal!

Friday, 10/8/21

 No dinner to speak of. Just some Cheez-Its. Don't ask how this happened.

I did do a little baking earlier in the day: an apple crumb cake from SK that was very good. LOTS of crumb topping.

Thursday, 10/7/21

 Seared tuna steaks, and noodles sauteed with ginger, garlic, soy sauce and spinach. No leftovers! The fridge is nearly manageable again.

Tuesday, 10/5/21

  Another meal from the weekend's cooking: chicken pozole. I was glad to use up some tomatillos from Jason's farm that were on the verge. I didn't have quite enough, so the soup could have been a little more flavorful, but it was still pretty good. The chicken was nice and tender and I love the corn-y flavor from hominy. Some leftover pita to go with it (and MORE sundaes for dessert).

https://www.mamalatinatips.com/2012/09/green-pozole-with-chicken-recipe.html

Wednesday, 10/6/21

Leftover. I guess I did too much cooking over the weekend. Last of the sundaes (Jason gained two pounds).

Monday, 10/4/21

 Jason made a sort-of rye bread, and we had grilled Swiss on rye, plus finally the last of the cauliflower. The bread turned out perfectly, and made for good sandwiches, even if Aldi's Swiss isn't as sharp as I would like.

Sunday, 10/3/21

 The second of my prepared meals, spaghetti and meatballs. I didn't have quite as much sauce as I thought I did, but no one minded. The meatballs were so filling, I could hardly eat any cauliflower. More ice cream sundaes for dessert.

Oddly, I was using a different brand of pasta and Carter noticed! Maybe he is a food prodigy?

Saturday 10/2/21

 Return of the tater tot casserole. I had prepped the filling on Friday, so all that was needed was to pre-cook the tots and throw the whole shebang into the oven. I don't care what anyone says, it's delicious. And no cans of creamed soup were involved! I always forget where I got the recipe so here it is:

7 tablespoons [100 grams] unsalted butter

1 medium yellow onion, diced

1 medium carrot, peeled and diced

1 celery stalk, diced

Kosher salt

2 garlic cloves, minced

6 tablespoons [55 grams] all-purpose flour

2 cups [480 ml] whole milk

2 teaspoons chicken or beef bouillon base, or 1 bouillon cube

1 pound [455 grams] 80 or 85% ground beef

2 cups [240 to 280 grams] frozen corn, peas, or a combination of the two

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/3 cup [80 grams] sour cream

One 2 pound [910 grams] bag frozen tater tots

8 ounces [230 grams] sharp Cheddar cheese, coarsely grated (2 cups)

1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Butter or oil a 9 by 13 inch [23 by 33 cm] baking dish.

2. In a large saucepan or pot, melt 6 tablespoons [85 g] of the butter over medium heat. Add half of the onion, the carrot, celery, and a pinch of salt and cook until the vegetables soften and the onion turns translucent, 7 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Add the flour and stir to incorporate it into the vegetables—they will clump into one dry mass. Cook for 2 minutes. Slowly begin to stir in the milk a little bit at a time, waiting until the vegetable-flour mixture absorbs the liquid before pouring in more. Stir in the chicken bouillon base. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and set aside.

3. In a large skillet, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add the remaining onion and a pinch of salt and cook for 3 to 4 minutes to soften. Increase the heat to medium-high, add the beef, and cook until browned, another 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the corn (and/or peas, if using) and cook for 1 minute more to warm through. Remove from the heat and season with the Worcestershire sauce and salt. Add the beef-corn mixture to the pan with the creamed soup base. Add the sour cream and mix to combine. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Cooled and covered, the hot dish can be refrigerated for up to 2 days in advance. 

4. Top with even rows of tater tots (feel free to play around with the design) and bake for 50 minutes, or until the tater tots are browned and crispy. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with the cheese, and continue baking until the cheese melts, another 10 minutes. Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

---

Friday, 10/1/21

 Jason and I went over to Jay and Jodi's for snacks, drinks and games. We brought pita and hummus (homemade pita, store-bought hummus) and Jay sauteed some zucchini and between that and the drinks, we didn't really need dinner when we got home. I had made hot fudge and caramel sauce earlier in the day, so Jason and I had ice cream sundaes and called it a day. Carter got dinner at work.

Thursday, 9/30/21

 This was a truly lackluster meal that shouldn't have been: cheese and spinach ravioli and garlic bread. OK, the garlic bread was good (made from a couple of leftover rolls that Jason made), but the ravioli was just bleh. I thought I had tried that Aldi brand before, but maybe the recipe changed or maybe it was a different variety, but in any event, Carter and I were not fans. disappointing. Jason also made himself a box of Flamin' Hot Cheetoh mac and cheese (it was on sale!) just for fun. It was such an unpleasant color that I couldn't even bring myself to taste it.

Oh well, every night can't be a winner.

Wednesday, 9/29/21

 Weird eggplant grinders; Jason made the rolls (which were pretty good), and the filling was some pan-fried eggplant that I had made over the weekend. I didn't even try that on Carter (he likes eggplant parm, but he isn't really a big fan of eggplant in other forms) and gave him macaroni and cheese. Filling, but not my favorite way to eat eggplant either.

Tuesday, 9/28/21

 Once again I was facing down a meal that I don't know why I chose: tofu burritos. Meal Planning Lace is apparently a lot more optimistic than Cooking Dinner Lace. Anyway, I sauteed up crumbled firm tofu with garlic, onions and taco seasoning, and then proceeded as usual with regular taco/burrito stuff. Carter was unimpressed, to say the least. It isn't that he doesn't like tofu, but it is not really a substitute for ground beef. But honestly, it was fine (and he ate it).

Monday, 9/27/21

 I should have known that I would be the only one truly excited to eat a dish called lemony ricotta pasta. Carter ate it uncomplainingly; Jason had notes. In truth, I wouldn't bother to make it again. Ricotta is never as delicious as I want it to be, and I didn't even eat the kielbasa that I served with it. For that matter, I didn't even eat any of the lackluster salad I made. I do feel a bit guilty about that but I just wasn't in the mood.

Sunday, 9/26/21

 Tried a chicken recipe from "Simply Julia" called sticky chicken, which was not unlike a recipe from the NYT featuring stir-fried chicken pieced with a ketchup based sauce that I made many years ago (and didn't love so why make it again??). I used tomato paste instead of ketchup, and punched up the sauce a bit. It wasn't my favorite, but it was fine. Carter liked it even though it was a little too spicy for him (me and my heavy hand with sriracha. Sorry, kid). Cabbage with leeks and rice to go with.

Then Jason and I went to his parents again to finish the cake and yawn our way through some card games.

Saturday, 9/25/21

 I had an ill-conceived plan to make a chopped salad for dinner (ill-conceived because I neglected to buy several of the ingredients and because I knew Carter wouldn't like it). Luckily, by the time  Jason and I got home from our beer/cider crawl through Florence and Northampton, we weren't hungry for dinner (we got hefty snacks at the last couple of stops). So we picked up some McDonalds for Carter, drank a bunch of water and called it a day.

Friday, 9/24/21

 I was glancing through Food52 and the words "halloumi", "eggplant" and "pasta" caught my eye (of course). Stir fry with eggplant, garlic and ginger, with a soy based sauce. The halloumi was my favorite part; overall I found the dish very heavy and a bit gloppy. The good news is that it magically transformed itself overnight and made an excellent lunch the next day. The bad news it that it made a mess of the kitchen.

Thursday, 9/23/21

 Pizza and a Costco cake at Jason's parents. Nothing to object to there, especially since it was the end of my work week. That Costco tuxedo cake is shockingly good.

Wednesday, 9/22/21

 I had a cauliflower soup with turmeric croutons on the docket. But I just had a feeling that since I couldn't get enthused about it, the rest of the family was going to be even less excited. So instead I made a kind of cauliflower chana masala, served with basmati rice. This was only marginally more popular, but it was quick and easy in the IP, and it produced enough leftovers for a week of fast lunches for me.

Tuesday, 9/21/21

 Quesadillas with pepperjack and some leftover grilled chicken. Jason and I also had sautéed spinach on ours (funny how a whole bag of spinach can be gone in an instant). So at least it felt healthier? Nice and quick, so that's good.

Monday, 9/20/21

 I had Jason make bagels, I made some cream cheese, and then I splurged on some smoked salmon from Trader Joe's. This ended up being a surprising treat of a meal: also had red onion, capers, and tomatoes. Who knew bagels could be such a fancy dinner?

Sunday, 9/19/21

 Quinoa bowls with sweet potato, grilled chicken and a tahini vinaigrette. Carter was NOT a fan of the sweet potatoes, tolerated the quinoa, was vaguely dissatisfied with the dressing...but he liked the chicken! Jason and I liked it fine and it certainly sounds healthy.

The vinaigrette from  Julia Turshen is a real keeper: equal parts olive oil, cider vinegar, tahini and soy sauce. Couldn't be easier. 

Saturday, 9/18/21

 We had a busy day, and I was tired, but I mustered up the energy to make a potato-leek soup with a little ham that was pretty good. Jason had made some bread so we had that with it (and then went to bed early).

Friday, 9/17/21

 Donna and Walter came up, and so we had a big get together. Donna brought an enormous spread of cheese, salami, dips, etc... Then we ordered pizza and BBQ (that honestly felt extraneous at that point). I made a spice cake with penuche frosting (from Food52. Fine). The best part was seeing everyone again.

Thursday, 9/16/21

 I was going to make coconut rice with greens, but I just didn't feel like it. I do feel slightly bad about having tater tot nachos with leftover chili instead. But only slightly.

Wednesday, 9/15/21

 Sushi bowl, with all the usual players (tuna, surimi, avocado, cucumber, wasabi...). No leftovers and very appreciated by the boy.

Tuesday, 9/14/21

 Just leftovers (mostly macaroni and cheese).

Monday, 9/13/21

 Tofu, sauteed with the usual suspects (ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sriracha). I briefly marinated the tofu in sraracha, soy sauce and brown sugar, and Carter actually complimented it! He could taste the sweetness and felt it was a good addition. Easy enough, little guy. Laso had cabbage sauteed with leeks and was surprised at the subtle differences between leeks and regular onions.

Sunday, 9/12/21

 First Sunday back at work in 18 months! Celebrated with Korean rice cakes (my latest obsession, obviously) cooked with ground pork and some broccoli. Only Korean-ish but still so good. Didn't deviate much from the recipe, and since broccoli was in it, that was all I served.

Saturday, 9/11/21

 Made the green-chili chicken macaroni and cheese, from serious Eats. And for the first time in a while, I basically completely followed the recipe. True, I swapped in cotija cheese instead of American, and added more pasta than the recipe calls for (12 ounces instead of 8), but otherwise had all the ingredients! as good as I remembered. I guiltily steamed up some broccoli at the last minute. Don't want the boys getting scurvy on my watch.

Friday, 9/10/21

 I had vague plans of cooking something more elaborate since it was my first Friday off in 18 months, but it just didn't pan out. Jason made some pita to try and use up all the baba ghanoush I made, and I made...Mozzarella sticks. I had a hunch that Aldi string cheese sticks would work well, and they really did. Messy and so worth it.

I did bake something! I made a couple of loaves of apple-swirl bread (from Sally's Baking Addiction). Nice sweet bread in the vein of banana bread.

Thursday, 9/9/21

 One of my cooking projects over the weekend was ersatz pierogies. Jason thought we should try using dumpling wrappers instead of making the dough. It worked fine, although I still prefer the thicker wrapper you get from making it yourself. I didn't have time to shop for farmers cheese, so I used cottage cheese which was a so-so alternative. Even after draining for a couple of hours, it was still a bit wet. But...sauteed with onions and butter, there were no complaints. Roasted cauliflower to go with it.

Wednesday, 9/8/21

 Jason made us a few pizzas: cheese, mushroom/salami, pepper/onion, and goat cheese. I was starving so they were extra delicious to me.

Tuesday, 9/7/21

 I made a batch of chili over the weekend, anticipating that my first day back after vacation would be tiring (spoiler: it was). No recipe, just 10 minutes in the IP. Jason made a Jiffy cornbread, because you almost can't make it better from scratch. we also had a pie that I had been eyeing in the NYT for a while: honey custard with a cornflake crust. There were some issues: too many cornflakes: the mix didn't hold together, even with the copious amounts of butter, plus it would have overflowed my pie pan. The custard was fine, but the honey didn't really stand out, flavor-wise. Plus the crust got unpleasantly soggy. Not sure i would repeat, but if I did I would cut the cornflakes back by a cup and make sure I had enough people to eat the whole thing. The recipe also called for sliced nectarines, but I think bananas would have been good.

Monday, 9/6/21

 I basically forced Corrina to invite us over for leftovers. I regret nothing!

Sunday, 9/5/21

 Simple dinner: off-the-cuff minestrone, plus a loaf of rye-ish bread from Jason. Comforting and good (I noticed that Carter carefully avoided the zucchini).

Saturday, 9/4/21

 Corrina's wedding! I must say, the food was great. Steak tips, really good dinner rolls, tasty green beans... The sad thing is always of course that the bride and groom spend all this time planning and then hardly eat anything.  The cake (lemon, from Atkins) was also delicious.

Tiny bridal party

Friday, 9/3/21

 Jen was kind enough to offer her house for Corrina's out-of-town guest dinner (there was no rehearsal, so not technically a rehearsal party). Just chips & dip, pizza and drinks, but it was a beautiful evening in a beautiful setting. I made SK cocoa brownies (excellent) and Fanny Farmer blondies (dry, through no fault of their own)

Thursday, 9/2/21

 Half batch of macaroni and cheese (Martha Stewart via SK); I didn't quite half the pasta and it was still plenty saucy. Used a mixture of cheeses (whatever I had). This recipe never fails, and since Jason wasn't paying attention to the amount of cheese and butter that went into, he was perfectly happy. Just some almost the-end-of-the-season sliced tomatoes to go with it.

Wednesday, 9/1/21

 Marinated grilled chicken,  pita bread from Jason, baba ghanoush, tomatoes.  The yogurt marinade (from the Times) ensured nice, not too dry chicken (for once). The baba ghanoush recipe also came from the Times, and it is quite tasty, but I made SO much. I wonder if you can freeze it?

Tuesday. 8/31/21

Instant Pot Chana masala, from the Ministry of Curry website. I accidentally made it a little too spicy (why can't I learn how hot our cayenne is??)  and a bit too salty (new brand of salt is throwing me off) but overall is was good, even with the canned chickpeas. Threw in spinach for a vegetable and over basmati rice. I made a salsa verde that doubled as cilantro chutney, and a cucumber raita (https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/raita-recipes-biryani-pulao-kababs/#Cucumber_Raita) that I made just to use up some yogurt and cucumbers, but ended up really liking.

Monday, 8/30/21

 Burgers, corn, tomato-mozz salad. I was in charge of burgers (for once!) so I doctored up the beef with onions, soy sauce, egg, bread crumbs, sriracha. Carter said they tasted a bit like meatloaf and he wasn't wrong. The corn was only fine, but the tomatoes Jason brought home from the farm were A+.

Sunday, 8/29/21

 Simple birthday dinner request: bowls from Joy Poke Bowl that we just ate at home. They were so delicious, but since everyone was busy (Carter starts school tomorrow) is wasn't what you would call a pleasant family dinner. Still, that is some damn good poke.

Saturday, 8/28/21

For a combined birthday treat, Corrina and I went to Great Wolf Lodge and rode ALL the waterslides.  We knew better than to rely on the food options onsite, so stopped at store beforehand and picked up goat cheese, crackers, hummus, grapes and fancy cookies. Super fun day with my best girl.

Hard cider and HGTV...what more do I need?

Friday, 8/27/21

 Our plans for dinner with Jennie and David were cancelled, so Jason and I sat around, watched TV, had a drink and a lot of Cheez-Its and just had leftover grinders for dinner. Since this is what we secretly wanted to do all along, it was great.

Thursday, 8/26/21

 Grinders (rolls courtesy of Jason) with turkey, provolone, tomatoes, and Calabrian chili paste.  Aside from me underestimating the spice level, these were quite good. Even Carter complimented the rolls, probably not realizing that his dad had made them. Also chips.

Wednesday, 8/25/21

 Half-assed Salade Nicoise: hard-boiled eggs, tuna, tomatoes, green beans, boiled potatoes, served with green goddess dressing (I just bought it at Trader Joe's). I thought it was a good choice for a super-hot day (I cooked the potatoes and eggs the night before); Carter wasn't impressed.

Tuesday, 8/24/21

 Tofu rice bowls from "Simply Julia", a cookbook I brought home. Quick cucumber pickles, a very easy peanut sauce, rice with sesame seeds/oil, and tofu crumbles sautéed until crispy, with soy sauce, sambal oelek and a little fish sauce. I thought this was great---my love of assemble to order meals has been documented. It also made terrific lunch leftovers.

Monday, 8/23/21

 The deferred ricotta gnocchi! I decided to try an actual recipe this time (from Missy Robbins via TASTE). Well, it turned out to be too cheffy; semolina flour? 00 flour? Basket-hung ricotta? The nail in the coffin was "chill for an hour".

None of that happened. But it was still pretty good! I don't know if they were any lighter than usual, but they tasted fine, even if dinner took forever. Just served from fresh tomatoes alongside.

Sunday, 8/21/21

 Another dinner at the Watson-Stevens', another deferred dinner (ricotta gnocchi). We just mooched completely off their excellent dinner of veggie burritos. I really owe them a decent meal.

Saturday, 8/20/21

Dinner with Jennie and David: cheddar-jalapeno bread (delicious) from Jason; apple crisp from me. We picked the apples from UMass; I used the crisp recipe from the NYT rhubarb crisp recipe and the apple filling from Sally's Baking Addiction. The crisp was perfect, the apples were a tiny bit too sweet and mushy. I 'll make another batch this week and  adjust accordingly.

Friday, 8/20/21

 Jason and I had planned a quiet night in, but an invitation from Jodi meant that we ended up going over there, with our homemade bread and some peanut butter. Yes, we were planning PB & J for dinner. I had a craving, but I just don't love store-bought sandwich bread. So Jason was kind enough to make a couple of loaves. This resulted in an excellent PB & J, for sure. It was fun seeing Jason's siblings, but I secretly wanted to be home watching TV.

Thursday, 8/19/21

 Dinner at Jay and Jodi's with the whole family. Lots of pizza; nothing else. Sheesh. I would have made some brownies or something had I known. Not even any pineapple! Still fun, though.

Wednesday, 8/18/21

 Mike was up visiting and came for dinner. I knew if there was anyone in our circle who could handle chicken buldak, it would be him. I think he liked it? Served just with rice and kimchi. I didn't have time to prepare anything else, so it's lucky that Mike brought some Ben and Jerry's that we polished off for dessert.

Tuesday, 8/17/21

 Tried out a new recipe from the NYT for a pork and rice noodle salad with a lime dressing. The salad part didn't appeal, so I left out the lettuce and bean sprouts (which I don't like anyway), so it was really just noodles. I didn't have any orange juice, so skipped that, too. Otherwise more or less as written: ground pork sautéed with ginger and garlic, plus wide rice noodles tossed with lots of scallions, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes. It lacked a little something, but a bit of soy sauce and some sriracha did the trick. A lot of fresh herbs meant a lot of chopping, but I think it was worth it.

Monday, 8/16/21

 I was tired from a weekend of socializing, plus working all day. So I was happy enough to come home and have frozen pizza from Aldi. Plus some tomatoes for balance.

Sunday, 8/15/21

Super fun day with Jen and John: picnic lunch at the river (tom-mozz, Jason bread, prosciutto, the leftover blondies, chips). Then Art in the Orchard, then burgers and corn for dinner. Perfect summer day. Carter even biked over to join us for dinner.

Appreciating Art

Saturday, 8/14/21

 Dinner with Jennie and David: bread from Jason, blondies (David Lebowitz butterscotch-caramel) from me. I thought they turned out really well; I was out of regular milk chocolate, but I had a small bar of chocolate with Nutella that I chopped up and put in, along with a handful of butterscotch chips that I am trying to use up.

Friday, 8/13/21

 Apparently the farm where Jason volunteers has a weekly potluck dinner, so we walked over with our loaf of bread. More fun than I expected (and good food); the wine no doubt helped. Don't know if we will go every week but it was pretty nice.

Thursday, 8/12/21

 Tomato-mozzarella salad ('tis the season), kielbasa, and orzo with a creamy sauce with leeks and parmesan. I was there for the orzo: it was like a super rich macaroni and cheese, honestly. And the boy loved it. Always a plus.

Wednesday, 8/11/21

 Carter was at SULA in the hot hot sun, so Jason and I ate our solitary nachos. Nothing revolutionary but I was looking forward to them all day.

Tuesday, 8/10/21

 Open face sandwiches with griddled provolone and beautiful fresh tomatoes. it's the kind of thing you can only make when the tomatoes are at their peak, so thanks to Jason for bringing some home from the farm. Jason and I had the rest of the grilled eggplant; Carter had some corn off the cob. How summery is that? 

Monday, 8/9/21

 Just spaghetti and meatballs (I made the meatballs and sauce on Sunday). Jason and I had grilled eggplant with ours; Carter had boring broccoli. The meatballs were a touch salty but no complaints.

Sunday, 8/9/21

 Chicken korma, cabbage sautéed with onions, rice, leftover pita. Nice to have the time to cook a slightly more complex dinner (and we all like it, which is a plus).

Saturday, 8/7/21

 Jennie and David: Jason is still working on his corn/dill bread. I just made SK's chocolate pudding because we were out fruitlessly shopping for new glasses all day. A good dessert to have in your back pocket.

Friday, 8/6/21

 I used Carter's absence as an excuse to make a  dish I knew he wouldn't like: a zucchini-butter pasta from Smitten. So easy, since it is just grated zucchini sautéed in a lot of butter with garlic, crushed red pepper and Parm. Deliciously rich. Probably could have used some kind of side dish but I was too lazy since it was a Friday evening.

Thursday, 8/5/21

 I tried out a salad from the NYT because it had the words "grilled halloumi" in it (and we have been buying up all the available stock from Aldi). The components were good: the halloumi, corn (which they wanted you to roast in this complicated fashion but I just used raw), mango and a smoky vinaigrette. However, I found it a touch bland---I think the dressing needed more oomph. Also grilled some kielbasa and Jason made pita bread. Might make the salad again with something other than mango....maybe fresh peaches and/or avocados. I also made another rhubarb cobbler but didn't sweeten the rhubarb enough. The resulting product was VERY tart and too runny. Sad since there was so much of it.

Wednesday, 8/4/21

 Dinner in Whately! Two Blue Aprons (spicy oriechette with pork sausage, cherry tomatoes,& corn; chicken with rice, green beans and a creamy cilantro sauce), both delicious. Jason brought a loaf of bread, Corrina picked up an angel cake from Atkins, and dad had ice cream (of course). Nice to see everyone (except Carter who was at Ultimate. He just had leftover rice and beans).

Tuesday, 8/3/21

 Picked up a pizza from Big Y, and I made a beet salad to go with it. The pizza is only meh, but it was on sale....

Monday, 8/2/21

 Carter was at the movies, so Jason and I just ate tofu, broccoli and noodles all by ourselves. I also threw in a head of chard that had been languishing in the fridge. The tofu I marinated in soy sauce/maple syrup/sriracha all day. Pretty good, although it didn't hold it's shape

Sunday, 8/1/21

 Simple dinner of  "smoky, cheesy black beans" (from the NYT), plus yellow rice from a box and some roasted sweet potato wedges. Can't resist the word cheesy in a recipe....I only made a half batch cause our fridge was so stuffed; I also added some minced chilis in adobo.

Saturday, 7/31/21

 Jennie and David: Jason made an experimental loaf with corn and dill (odd but not bad), I made a rhubarb crisp from the NYT. A couple of changes: the amount of rhubarb called for needed double the sugar they used (and a larger pan), plus I took the suggestion of a couple of commenters and melted the butter for the crisp topping instead of trying to mix the ingredients in a food processor (ridiculous). Also made half again as much topping as directed, and doubled the oats and omitted the nuts. It was still pretty tart (nothing some whipped cream couldn't tame), but the crisp was excellent. I'll make it again as long as Jason's farm keeps producing rhubarb. It's a nice change from cobbler.

Friday, 7/30/21

 The good news about all that frying last night was that tonight we had leftovers: just as good (maybe even a little better in the case of the zucchini), none of the work. Frying night redeemed.

Thursday, 7/29/21

 Another ill-considered dinner, time-wise. Making popcorn chicken, corn fritters, and onion rings plus fried zucchini all in one night after work was too ambitious. The rationale behind it was that once you have the fryer out, you might as well make good use of it; but in practical terms it is slow going and everything is ready at a different time. I think we could have been happy with just the corn fritters; I use a recipe from Paula Dean that I adapt by adding some baking powder (self-rising cornmeal....sure, Paula), using fresh corn instead of canned and a lot more of it. They really turn out beautifully. The zucchini and onions were fine, but the chicken I found disappointing. I wish I had breaded it in flour rather than using a batter. Wasn't bad, just a little soggy and blah. 

All in all, not worth the giant mess and late dinner.

Wednesday, 7/28/21

 Dinner with Carter in mind. Then he went off to play Ultimate and ended up not getting home until after 10. Luckily, he was perfectly happy to eat warmed up Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, onion gravy and broccoli. The beef and gravy were my favorite parts; the mashed potatoes were a tad lumpy. It was my first time cooking them in the Instant Pot and while I don't think they were undercooked, maybe they were. No one but me complained.

Take that, Swanson

Tuesday, 7/27/21

 Bread (Jason), cheese, deviled eggs, and a salad I made up with shaved fennel, cherries, parmesan, lemon and olive oil. I am always casting around for things to do with fennel, and this was pretty good. The cherries were a weird but delicious addition.

Monday, 7/26/21

 Impromptu dinner in town with my dad and our old friend Ellen. Turns out a lot of places are closed on Monday (duh). We ended up at Fresh Side Cafe, which was super crowded since it was nearly the only game in town. This did not improve their already slow service. For some reason, poor Jason's dinner took something like 15 minutes longer than everyone else's. Plus we were sitting outside, and while I was comfortable, I could see that he was getting hot. So even though the food was actually pretty good, I would give the experience a C at best. Lesson learned: don't try to take Jason out two days in a row.

Sunday, 7/25/21

 Late lunch at the BBQ place in Millers meant that Jason and I weren't hungry for dinner. I made Carter some pasta with butter, parm, and broccoli, and he seemed grateful to get any home cooking at all. Poor kid.

Saturday, 7/24/21

 Dinner with Jennie and David. Used up the last of the mini marshmallows on one final S'More Pie. Jason debuted his lemon-rosemary bread.

Friday, 7/24/21

 I was planning to take cheesy Korean rice cakes and vegetable pancakes, but got lazy and skipped the pancakes. The good news: used up al the rice cakes. The bad: even with some kimchi, it's not a particularly balanced dinner (for all it's tastiness).

Thursday, 7/22/21

 I made (apparently for the third time) an orzo/spinach cauliflower salad from Cravings. Carter declined to try it, even though according to my notes, he had eaten it willingly enough a couple of years ago. His loss. I didn't have any dried cherries, but fresh cherries made a nice alternative. I also wish I had consulted my notes, because the first time I made it I thought the vinaigrette was a little too sweet and a little too bland. That once again proved true, but a little sriracha and a pinch of MSG took care of it. I should just write that right into the cookbook. Nice quick summer dinner.

Wednesday, 7/21/21

 Leftovers,. Then I made a rhubarb snacking cake (from SK), since Jason brought me home some late-season rhubarb from his volunteer farming gig. Tastier than I remembered.

Tuesday, 7/20/21

 The second of the meals I prepped over the weekend: Persian celery and chicken stew, from "Bottom of the Pot". I also made a cucumber-tomato-feta salad to go with it (and basmati rice). Carter looked at his and asked; have we had this before? I assured him that we had, and that he liked it. He ate a bite (surprised voice) "This is really good!". Duh. It is really good, though. Who knew an entire bunch of celery was just what chicken needed?

Monday, 7/19/21

 Ate the corn chowder I made on Sunday. I just used a random recipe I found online since I was mostly just checking for Instant Pot timing. I put the cobs in there while is was pressure cooking and I think it really added to the corn-y flavor. A loaf of Jason's raisin-walnut bread to round out the meal.

Sunday, 7/18/21

 Pizza at Jason's parents. Way too much pizza. I made another S'More pie from the NYT.  I took my own advice and used a little less graham crackers in the crust and it was perfect. Everyone (even Carter!) liked it, but who wouldn't? Graham cracker crust, toasty marshmallows, creamy chocolate? 

I spent most of the morning cooking: prepping for my lunches, making a soup and a stew for later in the week, and helping Jason make a batch of kimchi. Won't know how any of it turned out for a few days!

Saturday, 7/17/21

 Dinner at Jennie and David's and absolutely nothing exciting from us: bread and flan.

Friday, 716/21

 Instant Pot chili that I had made the night before; unbeknownst to Jason and Carter, I used turkey instead of ground beef. They never noticed. It was too hot/we couldn't be bothered to make cornbread (even though it was just a box of Jiffy!), so we just toasted up some of the leftover bread from our endless supply. Somehow I convinced myself that the onions and celery in the chili counted as sufficient vegetables.

Thursday, 7/15/21

 It was hot and muggy, and we had coupons, so we picked up McDonald's for dinner. Not my first (or second, third or fourth) choice,  but I thought the boys would like it. Tried the spicy chicken sandwich and it wasn't bad, but the fries did not benefit from the trip home.

Wednesday, 7/14/21

 Stovetop macaroni and cheese, from Serious Eats, plus a salad for Jason and me. Carter was out playing Ultimate til all hours, so it wasn't looking as appetizing by the time he got home; luckily he was too hungry to care.  I also made a batch of rice pudding in the Instant Pot for dessert.

Tuesday, 7/13/21

 It was one of those rare days when I came home and really didn't feel like cooking. But the tofu was already sitting here, so cook I did. I roasted the tofu with soy sauce, sriracha and maple (Carter's favorite), and made soba noodles with peanut sauce, plus sauteed cabbage. We hadn't had peanut sauce in a while, so that was nice.

Monday, 7/12/21

 Leftover quiche. And wine. It was a long day of work.

Sunday, 7/11/21

 Jeff and Sue were able to come visit, somewhat last-minute. I had planned on making broccoli quiche; fortunately I had made an extra crust and just made two. Jason made bread, we picked up some corn, and I made a blueberry crisp (from Martha Stewart; I was looking for a recipe that used oats). Dinner was good, but Jason gets awfully agitated at having people over. He practically starts vacuuming under their feet. Not exactly relaxing.

Saturday, 7/10/21

 Dinner with Jen and John: Jason made pretzels, I made a S'Mores Pie (from the NYT). I used the graham cracker crust recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction but feel it needs more butter, or less crumbs. I also skipped making my own marshmallow topping and used mini marshmallows instead (which worked fine was so much easier).  We made a couple of Blue Aprons: one chicken with farro and the other one with chicken and rice, more Vietnamese-style. Both delicious.

Friday, 7/9/21

 Dinner with Jennie and David: Jason made a bread (of course), and I made a vanilla "custard" from Smitten Kitchen, served with some leftover caramel sauce. I disagree with her definition of custard; this was really just pastry cream. Oh well, I didn't have time to bake custard anyway and this was OK. Not amazing.

Thursday, 7/8/21

 Just leftovers of pita, hummus, etc. I did made Carter some World Peace cookies, though.

Wednesday, 7/7/21

 Jason made pita, we had some store-bought hummus, and I made curried chicken salad with the leftover chicken (from Monday's soup). More zucchini for the adults, applesauce for Carter. Carter's dislike of zucchini runs deep and wide, although if you make it into a fritter he will begrudgingly eat it. I don't remember my mother ever cooking it, so I guess I was at least neutral?

Tuesday, 7/5/21

 Ravioli and sauce, as a favor for Carter. Although I love ravioli; it's no hardship. Jason and I had the marinated, grilled zucchini with ours.

Monday, 7/5/21

 Spend a lot of the day on little cooking projects: grilled some zucchini for a marinated zucchini dish, made a couple of pie crusts, made a chicken soup (in the IP; worked very well. Just chicken, vegetables and 25 minutes high pressure), cooked up sweet potatoes and beets for my lunch, made a chicken stock and started a cold brew coffee for workday treats. And maybe a few other things, who knows.

The chicken soup was pretty good; I made a batch of noodles to go with it, from a recipe that came to us from our friend John's mother. They remind me a bit of the dumplings my MIL used to make, but mine suffered from being rolled out a little too thick, so they were quite chewy (but in sort of a pleasant way?) There is a LOT of soup leftover which is a problem since Jason will not eat soup left to his own devices.

Sunday, 7/4/21

 I celebrated the 4th in the best possible way: by going to the re-opened buffet at Priya! Indian buffet is perhaps one of the things I missed most during the pandemic. So of course, we stuffed ourselves and didn't need any dinner. So I made Carter a grilled cheese, and cooked up the fresh corn that we picked up in Whately. Jason didn't believe that it was really local corn, but the corn field right next to the farm stand convinced him. It was sweet and crispy but not super-flavorful. It was all the dinner we needed.

Saturday, 7/3/21

 Dinner with Jennie and David. Raisin-walnut bread from Jason, a giant banana pudding from me. The pudding recipe is from Ina Garten and it is really more like a trifle. I should have started it the day before, because I ran into some problems. Part of the base really needed a lot of chilling (time which I did not have), and so when I added it to the whipped cream it refused to whip and deflated. I did not have the time or ingredients to re-group, so I just carried on. She called for regular gingersnaps, but I went with the superior Trader Joe's triple gingersnaps. Also, 6 bananas? I used four. She is definitely a "more is more" kind of cook (I also skipped the additional whipped cream on top, and substituted bourbon for rum). The overnight rest did not happen. Luckily, the final product was delicious! Kind of like a banana tiramisu? I would make it again, for sure. Starting on the previous day.

Friday, 7/2/21

 Black beans in the Instant Pot, a box of some kind of yellow rice from Aldi, very plain nachos, and condiments. So kind of like a rice bowl with nachos on the side? We may have also had vanilla-caramel milkshakes, but it might also have been Thursday. Neither Jason nor I can remember.

Made way too many black beans.

Thursday, 7/1/21

 Jason made burgers on the grill (sliders on Hawaiian buns for Jason and Carter, just a patty for me. Those Hawaiian buns are too sweet). Fine. Served with chips and dip, coleslaw for Jason, peas for me and Carter.

Wednesday, 6/30/21

 Grilled tuna steaks, rice, and sushi bowl style condiments. I missed the surimi and mango that I usually have, but it was still quick and popular.

Tuesday, 6/29/21

 I asked Jason to make his Instant Pot fettucini alfredo, but then I commandeered the whole project. Looking back through my notes, I saw that he had doubled the pasta and that I had felt it was too dry and too clumpy. So I used 1 1/2 the amount of pasta called for, and switched it to shells, which I thought would cook up more nicely. Perfection! It was really creamy and flavorful, as you would expect something with a full cup each of cream and grated parmesan to be. Lots of broccoli on the side, which really provides a necessary counterpoint to the richness.

No leftovers.

Monday, 6/28/21

 Another hot day, so I did some grilling: smoked bratwurst (I am not a fan but the boys seemed to like it), halloumi (Aldi did have more!) and bread. Jason was very suspicious of the grilled bread but it was great and he was forced to admit it. We also had a salad (peas for Carter). Loving that halloumi.

Sunday, 6/27/21

 We had a busy afternoon in Whately (lunch at Tom's, helping my dad with some household chores), and it was damn hot, so I made cold cut grinders, chips and dip for dinner.  Nothing special.

Saturday, 6/26/21

 Dinner with Jennie and David (third night out in a row yikes): bread from Jason, Smitten strawberry cake from me. I want to make it again with local strawberries and more of them, but it was still pretty good. I was glad no one asked the provenance of the berries, since it would have been deeply embarrassing to admit that they were from Aldi.

Friday, 6/25/21

 Jason's parents had us over (presumably for Jason's birthday) ; they ordered from Omi Omy, a little Vietnamese restaurant. I tried the pho, Carter had a bahn mi and Jason had a noodle bowl; we were all underwhelmed. We tried to suggest somewhere else, but to no avail. They also bought a Costco chocolate cake (as we suspected they would), so we didn't even bring a dessert.

Thursday, 6/24/21

 Went to Laurie's for cocktails and snacks that served as dinner. Jason made a loaf of bread, and Laurie had a ton of treats from Trader Joe's (the best of which were little buffalo chicken triangle things that were genuinely spicy. I picked up a box for home). Beautiful evening to sit out on Laurie's porch with drinks and friends.

Wednesday, 6/23/21

 Jason kindly made us a few pizzas, and since he never reads this, I have some issues:  the plain cheese stuck to the pan something fierce and was quite a mess; the onions on the goat cheese/onion were not cooked long enough to be considered caramelized (and tasted a little onion-y); I don't love the thick pepperoni that was on the eggplant, and the taco was delicious but the crust should be thicker to accommodate that heavy topping. If you are reading this: love you Jason! Thanks for cooking!

Tuesday, 6/22/21

 For some reason I thought it was going to be another hot day, so I planned all grilled foods which I had to stand out in the drizzle tending to. Oops. So: kielbasa, halloumi, zucchini with lemon-garlic-mint butter, and another round of pita bread. The halloumi was tricky since it wanted to drip down through the grate, but I scooped it all up in time. I was thrilled to see halloumi at Aldi, since it is usually so damn expensive. If they still have it I am buying all the rest. Salty cheese that you can grill so it gets warm and squeaky? Heaven!

Monday, 6/21/21

 Butter chicken (from Ministry of Curry; didn't have garam masala, so improvised that; was out of coconut milk so used a little heavy cream; added spinach for a veg), plus Jason made pita bread. It's a good thing he did, since we forgot to make rice. I had also intended some roasted cauliflower, but Jason deemed it too hot to turn on the oven. So it's a good thing we have a grill and an Instant Pot, I guess.

Sunday, 6/20/21

 Unexpected dinner at Jay & Jodi's: pizza and cheesecake. We didn't bring anything except Carter, but I guess that's something?

Saturday, 6/19/21

 Dinner with J & D: bread from Jason, rhubarb galette from me (from SK). I was worried that the filling would be too tart, but it was fine. The real problem was Jason's raisin walnut bread: it was so delicious with the sharp cheddar they had that I ate way too much and felt gross.

Friday, 6/18/21

 Reprise of salt and pepper pork with rice cakes. Added broccoli for vegetable, probably tinkered with the sauce a bit (adding a bit of brown sugar and gochujang). Excellent! Love those chewy rice cakes.

Thursday, 6/15/21

Grilled chicken (dry), potatoes (bland) and pineapple (bright spot!). I resolved to use the grill for everything (although I did par-cook the potatoes). It's nice standing out there on a summer evening. The pineapples were the best part---a substandard specimen transformed with heat and a quick brown sugar-soy sauce-sriracha glaze. I don't know if the chicken was overcooked or if the marinade was at fault, but it was only OK.  On a whim after dinner I made an angel food cake. Something I learned: you really need to let an angel cake get good and cool. The texture suffers and it tastes overly eggy when you are impatient and eat it a little warm.

Wednesday, 6/15/21

 Tofu, broccoli, rice. Made a quick version of good old Cravings sauce and used some to marinate the tofu all day, so that helped a bit, flavorwise. I also put in some mushrooms, chopped so fine that Carter failed to notice them. Ordinary old kind of meal for 3 Charles. 

Tuesday, 6/15/21

 A lovely salad for dinner, with some of Jason's cheddar jalapeno bread. Tuna, hard boiled eggs, olives, feta, cherry tomatoes, chick peas....I thought it was excellent. Carter was NOT impressed. It's all stuff he likes, so I don't know why he doesn't like salad. Oh well, I won't serve it to the poor little child again.

Monday, 6/14/21

 Eggplant parm, which for some reason we hadn't had in a while (maybe because all that breading is annoying?), plus I sauteed the leftover polenta. Doing both at once was actually  good because it meant I was too busy to rush the polenta and it developed a nice crunch. So dinner was late, messy and delicious.

Sunday, 6/13/21

 In the morning we had a graduation brunch at Jay and Jodi's for their oldest, Zack. I made a coffee cake (usual recipe from Richard Sax that never fails). Then later in the afternoon we went to Whately to hang out with my dad and Corrina. We made nachos for an early dinner/late lunch and played a little cribbage. Jason and I came home and polished off the two custards that I had stowed in the fridge.

Saturday, 6/12/21

 Dinner with Jennie and David: Jason made bread (sesame/fennel) and I made caramel pots de creme (from Classic American Home Desserts). I had intended to make chocolate pudding only to discover that I was out of dark chocolate. It was kind of fortuitous because these were more delicious, and since today was my Mom's birthday, it was kind of bittersweet to make one of her favorite desserts.  I could have taken the caramel even a little darker, but I didn't want to scare anyone. Another lesson is that custards are nearly always better than puddings.

Friday, 6/11/21

 After a full day of work followed by grocery shopping, I was too tired for anything but a glass of wine, some potato chips and leftovers.

Thursday, 6/10/21

 I had intended to recreate the asparagus tart that Jen and I made at Laurie's last weekend. My asparagus was prepped, the filling mixed, and I had remembered to pull my puff pastry out of the freezer the day before when tragedy struck! Who knew that frozen puff pastry could go off? I mean, it had been up there for a while, but...I guess time got away from me. So instead I turned it into a pasta by sauteeing the asparagus (and throwing in some mushrooms for good measure) and adding the ricotta/gruyere mixture to it. I missed the buttery crunch of the puff pastry, but I think Jason was just as happy with this version. I guess the lesson is don't hoard your puff pastry.

Wednesday, 6/9/21

 Jason threw some lentils and rice into the rice cooker, which was good as it didn't heat up the kitchen, but didn't know he was not going to season it AT ALL. It was aggressively bland. I threw on a bunch of salsa verde, which helped. He claims that by keeping it neutral people can flavor them however they want, but come on, no salt? What are we, sad hippies? Also in the interest of keeping it cool, I grilled cauliflower. It wasn't terrible, but it didn't add much to the dish either, even with the  additions of lime juice, za'atar and sriracha. So: a meal that was serviceable

Tuesday, 6/8/21

 Chicken , mushrooms and broccoli in a creamy sauce, served over polenta. I really should have started the polenta sooner (how was I to remember it takes nearly an hour?), and Carter would barely touch it, but overall still good. Since I was out of marsala, I kept tinkering with the sauce to get the flavor I wanted (some lemon, maybe a little fish sauce? more black pepper. A few drops of soy sauce. How about a squirt of sriracha?) and was finally happy with the results.

Monday, 6/7/21

 At Jason's request, I made sausage & egg sandwiches on English muffins. I don't know why I dislike this meal so much, but at least there were homefries to go with it. Honestly, I should just have had the homefries. Then I made another batch of rhubarb cobbler, but I wasn't super happy with the results. Maybe I usually macerate the rhubarb longer, or maybe it didn't bake long enough, but the rhubarb was still a little too crunchy and tart. Oh well, hard sauce covers a lot of defects.

Sunday, 6/6/21

 Nice to get home and just have leftover pizza that Jason made. It was a treat to get away, especially on such a hot weekend, but of course it's always good to get home, too.

Saturday, 6/5/21

 After a day doing things I don't normally do (going to tag sales and sitting around on a dock, for instance), we had a lovely dinner of grilled chicken and pineapple, a sort of Asian inspired cabbage salad with uncooked ramen noodles, and a chocolate birthday cake (from me). My favorite thing was the asparagus tart that Jen and I made for an appetizer. From Smitten and absolutely delicious. We used a store bought puff pastry instead of making a pie crust, and I have no regrets. It was wonderful and I am making it for home later in the week.

The cake was just a mix, with chocolate frosting from Smitten. I tried to frost it nicely and it didn't look too bad!

Friday, 6/4/21

 Weekend at the lake house commenced with margaritas, Mexican take-out (chili rellenos for me, of course) and games. It was a beautiful night to be sitting out on the porch.

Thursday, 6/3/21

 Burrito bowls, with Mexican rice (which did not turn out so well. Kind of mushy and the bottom burned a bit. I think the next time I will start it on the stove and then throw the whole shebang into the rice cooker), black beans, roasted sweet potatoes, avocado, etc

Jason and I thought they were delicious, but Carter said that the sweet potatoes "ruined the whole dish". He bravely managed to eat it anyway.

Wednesday, 6/2/21

 Went to Jennie and David's for our first inside dinner! Back to my old tricks of eating too much bread, cheese and garlic. Jason brought bread, I made another rhubarb cobbler, which is fitting since the rhubarb came from their garden. The Pioneer Woman recipe serves me well, but I think I should add more rhubarb next time.

Tuesday, 6/1/21

 We had a LOT of pizza left over from lunch in Whately (we got a family size from Big Y. Not great but there is plenty of it). So pizza and watermelon for dinner. We doctored up the pizza with onions and peppers, plus salami. It helped but that is not an awesome pizza.

Monday, 5/31/21

Dinner with Jen and John: Jason made two(!) loaves of bread, so we made grilled cheese. Jen made a salad with goat cheese and strawberries, and I made a batch of rhubarb cobbler.  Nice spring dinner. 

Sunday, 5/30/21

 Pan Bagnat (or...sandwiches) loosely adapted from a Smitten Kitchen recipe. Ciabatta rolls, smashed chickpeas (with olive oil, lemon and mint), condiments: cucumber, tomato, capers, olives, hard boiled eggs. More olive oil. You are supposed to wrap these up tightly and let them meld for a while, but I didn't bother. Very tasty; I bet they will be even better when summer tomatoes roll around. They felt relatively wholesome after all the pizza and brownies* we had at lunch in Whately. I also roasted some asparagus to go with it; trying to make the most of the season.

*Cocoa powder brownies from SK that were better than I remembered. This batch was a little underbaked, so definitely on the fudgy side.

Saturday, 5/29/21

 I tried a recipe from Bon Appetit for "Salt and Pepper Pork with Rice Cakes". While it didn't scream Authentically Korean, it did look good (and easy) and I do love Korean rice cakes, so we gave it a shot. Couldn't be easier: soak the rice cakes while you saute pork, ginger, garlic and scallions; season with a little soy sauce and sesame oil, add the rice cakes and that's it. I did add some broccoli to make it a full meal (spinach or asparagus would also have been good). I also added a little sriracha and a tiny bit of brown sugar. This was so good! Even Carter (begrudgingly) said "that was actually good, Mom". Coming from a surly teen boy, that's a five star review. The rice cakes were perfectly chewy and I don't know if it makes a difference that we grind the pork ourselves, but I like to think that it does.

Friday, 5/28/21

 Simple dinner, simple dessert: burritos and tacos, plus a coffee cake (from Classic Home Desserts). It doesn't matter how crappy a job you do mixing it,; that coffee cake is always delicious. Maybe it's all the sour cream and brown sugar.

Thursday, 5/27/21

 We went to Jennie and David's after work (with bread from Jason); enough snacking happened that no other dinner was required.

Wednesday, 5/26/21

 Sushi bowl, with all the regular stuff:  tuna, surimi, cucumbers, avocados, etc. I forgot to pull some mango from the freezer, and the fresh mangoes at the store didn't look great, so i diced up some pineapple very small and tried that instead. Success! It helped that this was an especially delicious fancy pineapple.

Tuesday, 5/25/21

 Jason made a loaf of bread; we had a nice Gruyere, a mango-chile goat cheese, deviled eggs and salad, plus watermelon. a nice summer-y dinner. I was reading up on deviled eggs (trying to improve my recipe) and saw the idea of adding butter. Tried it but didn't really notice any positive effects. I think adding olive oil works better. Maybe I just wasn't heavy-handed enough but since all the eggs got eaten I am not too worried.

Monday, 5/24/21

 The fridge was positively groaning with leftovers. So leftovers it was.

Sunday, 5/23/21

 The good news: Goten-style noodles that didn't exactly taste like Goten but were tasty nonetheless. The meh: tofu and Chinese broccoli. Two (dumb) mistakes: I should have marinated the tofu as it was super bland, and I should have blanched the greens from the broccoli and squeezed them out, to cut down on the overall wateriness (which also contributed to the blandness). Jason doesn't care, and Carter and I dutifully ate ours, as it was at least inoffensive. It never fails to surprise me that I can make such errors, after all these years!

Saturday, 5/22/21

 Jason has been toying with this idea of a pizza made with a french fry crust, and while we didn't do that precisely, we basically had french fries for dinner. Jason fired up the deep fryer, and then layered the fries in a skillet with mozzarella cheese and threw that whole thing into the grill to get nice and melty. I had a little bit of gravy hanging out in the back of the fridge so that went on there, too. Not quite poutine but obviously delicious! I made a cherry salad that is more like a salsa: fresh cherries, jalapeno, lime, cilantro and olive oil. I loved it, but next time I go blithely throwing a couple of pounds of cherries into the old shopping cart I will be more careful: this was a nearly $10 salad! Why are cherries so spendy??

Dessert (I made dessert!) was a Boston Cream Pie, from David Lebovitz. I followed the recipe exactly and have no regrets. As Jason pointed out, it has the flavor profile of an éclair, but much easier. This one is a keeper!