Monday, 6/2/25

 Leftover jjajangmyeon (still not great; gochujang helped) and leftover kimbap which would have been terrific if we had remember to take it out of the refrigerator earlier; the rice was unpleasantly cold and hard (careful microwaving helped a bit).

Sunday. 6/1/25

 We were finally home long enough to make kimbap, which Jason has been wanting to do for a while. We used: seasoned ground beef, carrots, some leftover cucumbers, egg, and pickled radish from Mom's. Our rolling technique wasn't the best, but. the taste was great! It really is surprisingly different from sushi. The flavor profile is decidedly Korean.  We will definitely make this again soon.

Jason told me to take a picture so here is a sucky picture

Saturday, 5/31/25

 Long day going down to Bridgeport to see my dad in the hospital, then potluck farm dinner (Jason jumped on bread before I could even open my mouth to propose anything). Fun evening with the farm folk and some tasty dishes.  My only regret is not eating more dessert (a creme caramel and a chiffon cake).

Friday, 5/30/25

 Dinner with Jay and Jodi. Zack was home and made hot pot for everyone which was both very fun and delicious. We used a couple of types of tofu/soy products, taro, napa cabbage,  baby bok choy and some surimi, and each added our own condiments (soy sauce, hoisin, cilantro, garlic, chili crisp, etc).  We all really enjoyed it and I am impressed with Zack's cooking skills.  Jason made some of his garlicky flatbread; I was working so didn't have time to make anything.

Thursday, 5/29/25

 Pizza night with a repeat of the most excellent spinach and feta. For home I really like a no red sauce pizza; it really brings out the best in Jason's crust.

Wednesday, 5/28/25

 We had been wanting to make this noodle dish we are always seeing on our Korean shows, jjajangmyeon, and finally (sort of) got around to it. I was not happy with the execution at all: most recipes call for pork belly, but we inexplicably used tofu instead. Big mistake as it doesn't add any flavor at all. I knew Jason was wrong about this but he wouldn't budge. We also used spaghetti instead of real Korean wheat noodles (another battle I lost). The final straw was my own fault; I didn't let it simmer and reduce long enough. Since neither of us had ever actually tried this before (although I may have at UMass) I felt it wasn't fair make so many substitutions. ANYWAY, it was a little bland and a little sweet. Some chili crisp and more black bean paste helped, but I wasn't impressed. I think we should try again but following the recipe more closely (I used a combination from the NYT and from Maangchi). More rhubarb spoon cake for dessert so at least that was good.

Tuesday, 5/27/25

 Jason and I made a big batch of lasagne together on Monday afternoon, so that was dinner. We added mushrooms, spinach and spicy Italian sausage, plus used up a half jar of Rao's tomato sauce we had leftover (don't want to waste it at that price). I experimented with soaking the noodles for about a half hour instead of cooking them and it seemed to work fine. My only complaint was that I felt the whole thing wasn't saucy enough, and that I should have also added one more sausage. But Jason really liked it and it provided plenty of leftovers.