Tuesday, 7/30/24

 Nothing new: tofu, broccoli, rice. Sauce from Cravings. It turned out quite well, since I actually followed a reliable recipe for the sauce.

Monday, 7/29/24

 Burgers and the first corn of the season! It pretty good, but at a rather shocking $8 a dozen, I would have liked it to be a little sweeter and a little crisper. We'll try out a couple more farm stands and see how it goes.

Sunday, 7/28/24

 Jeff rented out a cute little movie theater for Sue's birthday, and showed her favorite movie (Nim's Island, for the record). So after eating an enormous breakfast at the hotel we headed over...popcorn and cake for lunch. We didn't stick around too long after, because I wanted to check out a Indian supermarket in Nashua (Patel Brothers. It did not disappoint). We had dinner plans with Jay and Jodi---we just brought some vegetables and guacamole to make quesadillas.

We have no idea what this is

Saturday, 7/27/24

 Jason and I took a mini vacation to glamorous Lawrence, MA (we had an event at 10am in Lowell Sunday morning). Jason's only requirements were that the hotel have a gym and offer free breakfast; the Holiday Inn Express fit the bill. For dinner we just picked up a pizza and ate in the room. For the record, King's Pizza is pretty good. We actually had a really fun time....I love almost any hotel.

Friday, 7/26/24

 Jason brought home some nice little eggplants, so I spent approximately 7 hours (well, that's what it felt like) breading it for eggplant Parm. Jason used the deep fryer to cook them all up and they were delicious and basically worth the work. Finished off the last of the garlic flatbreads but the giant wad of overcooked pasta abides.

Thursday, 7/25/24

 I am not sure how it came to pass that I had not planned anything for dinner??? So it was back to the leftover pasta and sauce (now mercifully gone).

Wednesday, 7/24/24

I had planned a pasta with pepperoni for Jason and I, but somehow we were out of one of the key ingredients (tomato paste). So instead I sauteed the intended mushrooms and spinach and we dumped that into the leftover tomato sauce. The only sad part was that I felt that Jason made too much pasta and overcooked it a bit. 

Tuesday, 7/23/24

 Quesadillas with some of the leftover pulled pork. The avocado gods were on my side so we also had some nice guacamole. I had envisioned making these in the oven, but the cast iron griddle out on the grill worked just fine.

Monday, 7/22/24

I made a tomato sauce with sweet and hot Italian sausage in the slow cooker (so retro!) over the weekend, and we had that with spaghetti and a kale salad (meh. despite vigorous kneading the kale was still fairly intractable) . Jason also made some of his garlic flatbreads. We are going to save so much money on meat when Carter moves out....

Sunday, 7/21/24

 Pulled pork sandwiches and two kind of slaw: regular for Jason and vaguely Asian style one for me, with a miso-soy dressing and mangoes. I made the pork in the Instant Pot: 80 minutes high pressure, 15 minutes natural release. I think you could even go a few minutes more but it was basically fine. Seasoned with onion, bourbon, a little liquid smoke and two kinds of paprika. While the pressure cooker is not as good as the oven for cooking pork shoulder, it's far more practical in the summer. I regret not picking up any corn but the season is just beginning.

Saturday, 7/20/24

 Dinner with Jay and Jodi; we brought a fair amount of farm produce and some pita and made vegetable skewers (bolstered with some sausage for us omnivores). I also made a SK strawberry cake which was gone before the night was over. Even Jodi ate some (and then Carter polished it off when he got home from work)! 

Friday, 7/19/24

 Lentils, rice, cauliflower. I made the lentils with (too much) ginger, garlic, onions and coconut milk in the Instant Pot and roasted the cauliflower on the grill.  The grill actually worked out pretty well. I thought the lentils weren't my best effort, but they are basically fine.

Thursday, 7/18/24

 Dinner with Jen and John on an unexpected Thursday! The Blue Apron du jour was steak and mashed potatoes with Brussels sprouts. We brought fresh new potatoes from the farm to supplement, and kale that we made into a kale salad. Jason made chocolate chip cookies but had trouble with cooking them in their toaster oven. Everyone ate them up anyway. For once it was a nice evening and we were able to sit outside and admire the moon.

Wednesday, 7/17/24

 Grilled chicken thighs (with a miso-soy marinade), broccoli, rice, peanut sauce.This was a great meal with only one downer: I used broccoli from the farm and despite soaking it and inspecting it thoroughly, a tiny worm remained, which of course was on Carter's plate. I don't blame him for being traumatized. He is already slightly suspicious and this didn't help.

Tuesday, 7/16/24

 Grilled chicken thighs (marinated in a miso-soy dressing), rice, broccoli, peanut sauce. I thought this was all great, and I am now a total convert to boneless chicken thighs. So much more foolproof. The only sad part was that I used broccoli from the farm, and though I inspected it closely and rinsed it several times, Carter still found a tiny worm in his.  He is already a somewhat suspicious eater, and this didn't help. I can't blame him for being grossed out, though.

Monday, 7/15/24

 Italian grinders and kettle chips. I have never succeeded in getting my grinders as good as from a shop, but tasty enough, quick and no cooking (good since it was crazy hot AGAIN).

Sunday, 7/14/23

 Rice and beans (cooked pinto beans in the Instant Pot over the weekend), plus a salad. Fine if not totally inspired dinner. Missing using the stove...

Saturday, 7/13/24

 I did several hours of prep in the morning; it felt good to tinker around in the kitchen, making the rest of my week easier. I also went through the dreaded crisper drawer and used up a bunch of vegetables that were mocking me. So dinner was homefries with kale and mushrooms (knocking three of the languishing items out in one fell swoop) with bacon and cheese, as well. All we needed to round things out was a little salsa. TBH, it was a bit kale heavy but that's OK.  Still on an ice cream jag for dessert.

Friday, 7/12/24

 Jason's aunt and uncle were down from Vermont; it was both of their birthday's on Thursday, and Beverly's on Saturday, so Jodi hosted dinner for everyone. We brought a cake from BJ's (surprisingly good), a rotisserie chicken and some zucchini for grilling. We also grilled onions, peppers and Beyond burgers, plus Jodi made a pasta salad. I think everyone had fun! It's always nice to see Yoni and Stephen, and I think Beverly appreciated it, too. Thank goodness for Jay and Jodi's bigger house (and AC).

Thursday, 7/11/24

 I somehow prevailed on Jason to just let us order pizza for dinner. I was so tired of figuring out how to produce meals in the relentless heat. He wasn't totally gracious about it, but Carter and I were so psyched! We got a family size cheese from Athena's and devoured the whole thing. I can see why people like takeout....

Wednesday, 7/10/24

 One of Jason's farm friends brought us back some Syrian bread from Egypt. I remember my mom getting this kind of bread from somewhere in Springfield when I was a kid (who knows where, since we never went to Springfield). Anyway, it is enormous, round and slightly thinner that a tortilla. We had some with hummus, cucumbers and feta cheese for an easy no-cooking meal. Thanks, Iman!

Tuesday, 7/9/24

 A pasta salad from the NYT, which appealed because it uses a bunch of spinach AND green peas. You combine the spinach with basil, garlic and olive oil to make a sort of pesto. I added some cherry tomatoes, too, and honestly any vegetables you had hanging around would be good. I found some nice kielbasa in the freezer to make it more of a meal. Jason liked it (he loves pesto) and Carter didn't say much but ate everything. Ice cream and maple syrup for dessert (I gave Jodi the leftover hot fudge).

Monday, 7/8/24

 Dinner at home! I had made Ikea style meatballs on Sunday afternoon; we had them with leftover broccoli and egg noodles. I will say that Jason has really mastered cooking pasta in the Instant Pot. Too bad I can't convince him to adequately salt the water. Anyhow, this all turned out pretty well even though my cream gravy was a little on the thin side. It was too hot to be standing out on the porch over the lame little hot plate waiting for gravy to thicken.

Sunday, 7/7/24

Dinner at Jay and Jodi's again; this time Jason's parents brought take-out from Miss Saigon. Jason and I both got #60 (stir-fry egg noodles with chicken) and it was good, but now I am rethinking and wondering if I should go back to the rice noodle bowl. Tough questions. 

Saturday, 7/6/25

 Dinner with Jay and Jodi. We brought pita and hummus, plus hot fudge (which I know Jodi loves) and ice cream. Then we all grilled up a bunch of vegetables and Beyond Burgers. I was concerned that the beets wouldn't cook up on the grill, but they turned out just fine. I can't believe the four of us polished off all those veg but there you have it.

Friday, 7/5/24

 Dinner with Jen and John. A Blue Apron with rice, spinach and chicken thighs all cooked in a casserole. It took a while (you start with raw rice) but turned out pretty well. Jason made his usual garlic flatbread for a snack ( in my opinion he needs to branch out a bit, although they are undoubtedly tasty) and I tried a new dessert from Cook's Country for an "Creamy Chocolate Eclair Cake" . I felt that it was semi-disastrous, partly from user error and partly just being kind of icky. My two mistakes were not cooking the pudding long enough, so it didn't set up well, and forgetting the top layer of graham crackers. But I still felt that the recipe was lacking: too much overly sweet plain vanilla pudding and ganache with chocolate chips was blah. Honestly I don't know why I made it. Jason and Jen liked it, John and I were underwhelmed. Personally I think pastry cream and twice the graham crackers would be the way to go.

Thursday, 7/4/24

 Quiet 4th of July for us. Too hot for Jason to want to do much. I marinated chicken thighs in a yogurt based situation for a kind of shawarma. Jason made pita and we had the usual accompaniments (cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, pickled peppers, etc). The thighs certainly cook up nicely, without drying out, but that damn yogurt marinade sticks to the grill like crazy so DON"T DO IT AGAIN!

Wednesday, 7/3/24

 Finally made the tofu and broccoli, so I can clear that from my conscience. I had Jason make rice during the day, and just made fried rice in my trusty electric skillet. I wasn't entirely happy with my seasoning choices, but nothing that a little sambal oelek couldn't fix. I only marinated one container of tofu so the leftovers weren't too onerous.

Tuesday, 7/2/24

 I am putting off making tofu and broccoli, so it was just DIY nachos with leftover black beans. I will have to reckon with the tofu at some point, I guess.

Monday, 7/1/24

 A new recipe from Ali Slagle, via the NYT. A sort of rice salad with coconut, herbs, cherry tomatoes and a peanutty dressing. I added green peas because why not. I think I am the only one who really loved this, but Carter ate it cheerfully enough and Jason will eat anything. To round things out I had Jason grill some bratwurst that I found in the back of the freezer. I don't know if I don't like bratwurst, don't like this brand, or what but I didn't care for it all and neither did Carter. Jason liked it (see: will eat anything) so more for him? I would definitely make this again, especially for my weekday lunches. Maybe add some black beans to make it more filling, and a NYT commenter added mango which also seemed like a good idea.

Sunday, 6/30/24

 Got home in the late afternoon, so I just made frozen ravioli for dinner, with some leftover sauce.  I'm sure Jason was glad to be home.

Saturday, 6/29/24

 Vacation day in New London with Jason's whole family (except Carter, who had to work and I don't think he minded). We spent the afternoon at the beach, despite the only so-so weather. Jason made a couple of loaves of bread, I made peanut butter cookies (SK, minus chocolate chips which I think are a distraction) and Michael grilled chicken and vegetables. It was a fun and rowdy evening. I'm glad Jason agreed to spend at least one night.

Sam in the sand

Friday, 6/28/24

 Black beans and rice, plus corn tortillas that Jason made, so you could have a rice bowl or tacos. Served with tomatoes, cheese and salsa. Sounds boring, tastes good.

Thursday, 6/27/24

 Pancakes and scrambled eggs, at Jason's request. Twice in two weeks or so is a bit much for me, so I hope he doesn't request it again anytime soon.