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.