Tuesday, 6/27/23

 I made an absolutely enormous batch of macaroni and cheese, with the idea that Carter would be able to eat the leftovers through the week. Used proportion from Pioneer Woman, but basically just pretty straightforward. Served with peas.

Monday, 6/26/23

 Green rice with feta, from "I Dream of Dinner". I was feeling rushed, so I don't think it turned out as well as the first time. I didn't have any radishes, but a salsa verde that I made over the weekend was a good accompaniment. Carter ate it, but it didn't look like he was enjoying it.

Sunday, 6/25/23

 Huge lunch at Priya (thanks to Jason's parents) meant that we were still too full for dinner. We did manage to rouse ourselves from stupor to go to Maple Scoops at the Silo, since they were offering free ice cream for people named Jason (a nice coincidence on his birthday).

Saturday, 6/24/23

We had some leftover gravy....the only natural thing to have with it was tater tots and cheese. Fear not: I also made a salad with the last of the early summer lettuce from the farm. Carter even got home from work early enough to have some, so that was nice. 

Friday, 6/23/23

 A new variety of pizza! Jason came up with the starting point of ricotta and scallions (we have a LOT of scallions), and I proposed sauteed ground pork to go with it. It sounds a bit odd but was surprisingly successful. I think ground pork is so much tastier than beef. Anyway, a good dinner with the last of the lemon spice cake with raspberries from our yard.

Thursday, 6/22/23

 Dinner at Laurie's with Jen. Jason made both garlic flatbreads and pita, to go with Laurie's various dips and whatnot. Jen brought the makings for strawberry shortcake; I was glad to get some this summer (even if homemade might have been a little better {snob}). It was a lovely evening to sit out on the porch, snacking and admiring the kittens.

Wednesday, 6/21/23

 Tortilla soup, using up the leftover rotisserie chicken. I more or less followed a recipe from Smitten Kitchen, but added a little chiles in adobo for smoke & heat, and a small can of green chiles because why not?

Tasty and customizable with avocado, lime, cotija and cilantro.

Tuesday, 6/20/23

 Leftover pizza (Jason was in charge of re-heating) , plus a treat from one of Jason's farm friends: zangzi. These are a bit like tamales...sticky rice with a sweet or savory filling (pork in this case) steamed in bamboo leaves. Apparently you make them for the Dragon Boat festival. In any case, they were a nice side dish, and not something we had tried before.

I also made another lemon spice cake for dessert.

Monday, 6/19/23

 Day off meant we had time for dinner with Jen and John. We started off with a cocktail from SK that I had been wanting to try that featured black pepper syrup and muddled strawberries. John tinkered with it a bit and the results were nice! He also picked up steaks (!) for dinner; I just seared them in a hot pan with salt and pepper and then sliced them up. Chunky mashed potatoes and sauteed snap peas rounded things out (and of course bread from Jason). Dessert was a lemon spice cake from the NYT. It called for a loaf pan but I used a square cake pan (faster cooking FTW) and think it was a good call. I cooked it for 40 minutes but could probably have stopped at 35. Anyway, people liked it, especially with some of the leftover strawberries.

Sunday, 6/18/23

 Lots of errands in the morning, then watching Carter in a local tournament:

Before the sunburn

We picked up a rotisserie chicken on our travels, and had that for dinner along with a salad, a rosemary bread that Jason made, and a quick gravy. 

ps: that was one tired boy

Saturday, 6/17/23

 Long day going to a bar mitzvah in Lawrence. Aside from the rainy drive, it was pretty good: Will did a good job, there was ample food (Italian buffet; I wish I could have filled a doggie bag with all that leftover salumi), seeing Jeff and Sue, open bar. Plus we were right next to the New Balance outlet and had time to stock up before coming home.

 

Friday, 6/16/23

 Back on the pepperoni/mushroom pizza. Nothing to see here, folks.

Thursday, 6/15/23

 Panjeon, from a recipe from the Times. I omitted the kimchi and used a lot more scallions. This (plus the slightly too sesame-oily sauce) made up dinner. I wish they had been crispier (more oil is always the answer), but they were pretty good. Carter came home tired and sweaty from Ultimate and ate his without comment so I have no idea what he thought.

Wednesday, 6/14/23

 Pasta with pepperoni from the NYT (I have made it a couple of times before). A lot of flavor from not many ingredients. The only change I made was adding rosemary and cutting back on the fennel seeds (which can take over the dish). The recipe calls for 6 ounces of pepperoni and I never use that much but I can see how it would be good. I also made a salad with nice farm lettuce.

Tuesday, 6/13/23

 Jason made some corn tortillas, and we used some of the leftover pork to make tacos. This was a more fun use for the pork (and disguised it's shortcomings), thanks to all the condiments: pickled onions, feta cheese, avocado and tomatoes. Messy but delicious.

Monday, 6/12/23

 Leftover pizza. Jason was visibly shaken that I used what he considered to be a too thick baking sheet. He would NOT let it go. Sadly, he was right: in my attempt to keep the bottom from burning, it was a bit floppy.

How hard can it be to heat up pizza? Maybe I shouldn't be in charge of it anymore. I am like a failed Goldilocks.

Sunday, 6/11/23

 Pulled pork sandwiches; I did the pork shoulder in the Instant Pot (85 minutes, 10 minutes  natural release----I think 5 more minutes would have been an improvement) and while it was basically fine, I still think the slow cooker or oven is better. Stop trying to make it happen, Lace!

We also made another giant batch of hamantaschen....used up the prune, tried out rhubarb (from the SK cookbook) and more dulce de leche. For a recipe that makes 81 cookies we sure do blow through them quickly. Especially since Carter doesn't seem to be eating them.

Saturday, 6/10/23

 Dinner with Jen, John, Laurie and the new kittens:

Unnamed cutie

Laurie made a baked brie, and Jason made bread. And then we (I) scrounged uo dinner: hamburgers, asparagus, and a pasta with garlic, Asiago and cherry tomatoes. I made a cake from Food52 that was SO highly rated that it could never live up to its advance hype. Kind of like a chiffon cake with lots of cardamom seeds. I liked it, but it was almost too cardamom-y for me. I would maybe make it again with some of the other suggested flavorings (like maybe an orange-blossom syrup?). I do love a cake that doesn't need softened butter though. Anyway, super fun evening.

Friday, 6/9/23

 Pizza night, debuting a new topping: sausage, pepper and onion. Well, we have probably had that at some point in the past, but nonetheless it was a change of pace. Jason was all tuckered out from a day of babysitting, but he rallied.

Having a fine time at Maple Farms

Thursday, 6/8/23

 I keep planning rice and beans and then not making it. So we just had nachos for dinner (although I did use a can of black beans so that's something).

We have eaten a disturbing number of the hamantaschen.

Wednesday, 6/7/23

Jason won't stop bringing home lettuce from the farm, so I used some of the  leftover gochujang chicken, avocados and cherry tomatoes to make salads for us, using the sauce as a dressing. Pretty good! We also had a loaf of bread to round out the meal.

Tuesday, 6/6/23

Saag tofu (from Indian-ish) which I made over the weekend and we just heated up and made some basmati rice. I personally found the tofu too chewy and the sauce too rich (note: both of these things are my own fault) but it was OK. Oddly, I think a little cream (instead of the buttery tarka that you serve with it) would have been an improvement. And more spices. Anyway, we certainly ate a lot of spinach. 

Monday, 6/5/23

 Cold cut grinders, which it feels like we haven't had in a long time. Nothing exciting: turkey, cheese, lettuce, tomato etc. Potato chips on the side (which I didn't have because they taste weird to me. No one else noticed so I think it was just me). Still so many hamantaschen although we are going through them at quite a clip.

Sunday, 6/4/23

 I had been eyeing this recipe from Food52 for gochujang-marinated chicken for a while, and finally had time to make it. Of course, I changed a couple of things: I used breasts instead of thighs, and did them on the grill instead of under the broiler. For the sauce (some of the marinade mixed with mayo and lemon) I swapped in sour cream for the mayo. The chicken is served with "garlic-butter rice" (essentially rice pilaf) which was nice but ultimately unnecessary. It was good enough with the lettuce and tomato and sauce, salad style. I will make it again (the flavor was excellent) but skip the rice. Lots of hamantaschen for dessert.

Saturday, 6/3/23

 Jason was wanting to cook something together, so we made a shit ton of hamantaschen in the afternoon. I used the usual BA recipe, times 1.5. We made dulce de leche, prune and some dried fruit mixture that Jason concocted. One small batched burned which was totally my fault for trying to fit two cookie sheets into our over knowing that one would burn. Anyway....I also made a flan to go with dinner, which was pupusas (NYT) and sauteed cabbage. Once again skipped the traditional curtido accompaniment and served them with salsa. May not be as authentic but we liked it. 

Friday, 6/2/23

 Summer schedule pizza night, and back to the pepperoni-provolone-mushroom-pepperoncini. Good, but somehow a little floppy even though the bottom looked dark enough. That made Jason grumpy but it will reheat well.

Thursday, 6/1/23

 I was planning rice and beans but

a. I didn't feel like it and

b. We just had rice yesterday.

So I made pasta with bacon, onions, mushrooms, spinach, peas and cream. Obviously, this is delicious. The parm blend didn't hurt, and as a bonus I used up some various remnants from the fridge.

Wednesday, 5/31/23

I was happily making a Deb Perlman recipe (via Bon Appetit, not the SK blog) for ground pork and asparagus when I realized we were out of chili crisp! And, while I think it really would have been best with the chili crisp, sriracha stood in just fine. Served with rice and a soupcon of regret. Ground pork really leaves ground beef in the dust.