Friday, 5/8/25

 Dinner with Jen and John. We attempted to make a version of noodles that John's mom used to make, using only the sketchiest of recipes. They weren't the same, but they were pretty good (maybe a little too thick and chewy?) Also had various sausages that John picked up from the local butcher and local asparagus, that only needed a quick roast with olive oil, salt and lemon. Dessert was the first rhubarb spoon cake of the season, with whipped cream. I added a little sour cream to the whipped cream to stabilize it and I think it was successful? Time will tell as I set some aside for Saturday.

John and I enjoying his hat

Thursday, 5/7/26

 Pizza night! One of my favorites of late: ricotta, a little mozzarella, roasted red peppers, kalamata olives and thinly sliced zucchini.  This was unexpectedly light, and allowed the texture of this puffier pizza dough to really shine. I really enjoyed this combo.

Wednesday, 5/6/26

 I don't remember why Jason wanted bread and cheese for dinner; maybe he wanted to make cranberry walnut bread because we have so many dried cranberries? Anyhow, we also had some Brie in the fridge so it was a good combo. I sliced up a cucumber and added it to the leftover pickled red onion brine for a quick side dish.

Tuesday, 5/5/26

 Aloo Gobi, in the Instant Pot (a recipe from the Ministry of Curry). Good flavors, although

a. I par-cooked the potatoes a little too much

b. I forgot to tell Jason to use basmati rice.

Also it could have used some chutney or pickled veg or something else to perk it up. Still, pretty quick and certainly not objectionable.

Monday, 5/4/26

 I did not do as much prep over the weekend as I would have liked (at least it was for fun reasons!), but I quickly marinated some chicken from the freezer before work and we had grilled chicken sandwiches. A hodgepodge of toppings: pickled red onion, cherry tomatoes, Calabrian chilis, spinach, avocado and roasted red peppers. Quick and good and used up a couple of orphan grinder rolls from the freezer.

Sunday, 5/3/26

 Repeat of roasted carrots with whipped feta (from Hettie Lui McKinnon; recipe in email). I think I made the exact changes I did last time: only one can of chickpeas, swapped out the harissa for Calabrian peppers, and left out parsley and cinnamon. Served with some pita bread. Super tasty.

Saturday, 5/2/26

 Happy Pride! Started the day with tasty brunch items (kudos to whomever brought that tater tot and sausage casserole), walked down to watch the parade, Jen ordered pizza for a late lunch, and then we stuck around to have dinner. 3 Blue Aprons! One didn't have its instructions, but "chili chicken verde" seemed pretty obvious and if I didn't do it as planned, I still made a damned tasty stew. Also a Moroccan chicken with carrots, couscous and dates, plus a Lebanese-ish ground beef situation on pita with yogurt and tomato-cucumber salad. all delicious as always. Tried to make it a fairly early night so we were home before 10. 

Friday, 5/1/26

 I was not excited to eat some frozen enchiladas from the freezer, since I hadn't really liked them the first time around. However, Jason and I were both pleasantly surprised that they had somehow improved? Soggy, yes, but far more flavorful. Maybe it was all the extra pepperjack I added? Anyway, it was actually a good dinner. We may or may not have eater a pint of ice cream after.

Thursday, 4/30/26

 We found a bag of barley at Deals & Steals for only 99 cents, and we had some sweet potatoes that were on death's door, so barley bowls for dinner. Roasted the sweet potatoes, and sauteed some zucchini with garlic and canned green chiles. Served with some cotija cheese and some quick pickled radish (also saved from a certain death), jalapenos, and red onions. Both satisfying and yet not too heavy.

Wednesday, 4/29/26

 Jason and Jodi had some project they were working on, so I cooked dinner from the cans of beans and tomatoes and a box of pasta that Jodi provided. I decided to go in a Mexican direction, so I sauteed up onion and garlic, added the black beans and tomatoes, and seasoned with lime juice, cumin, coriander and chile powder. I tossed the pasta in and it was a bit chili pasta thing? Served with hot sauce and grated cheese and it wasn't half bad. Jason brought over some farm lettuce but I couldn't be bothered to try it (Jodi never has good dressings) even though it looked nice.

Tuesday, 4/28/26

Tried out a new tofu recipe from the NYT: Za’atar Roasted Tofu With Chickpeas, Tomatoes and Lemony Tahini. Well, I didn't have chickpeas, but they weren't missed. I also found the directions overly complicated (maybe I was still tired from my trip?) so I streamlined it by marinating the tofu for a few hours and then roasting it along with the cherry tomatoes (note: use lots of tomatoes!). I used some of the marinade as a dressing for spinach, and then served everything over rice. So tasty, even if I did forget the garlic in the tahini (also thought the tahini would have benefited from a little yogurt or sour cream). A keeper.

Monday, 4/27/26

 Straggled home. I fell asleep watching TV in the afternoon, but then rallied enough for a quick trip to the grocery store. Jason  (bless him) made pizza for dinner: provolone, pepperoni and pepperoncinis, semi deep dish. The last one was a tiny bit doughy, but we let this one cook as long as we dared and the results were worth it. Nice and crunchy. Early bed.

I feel like we made some really good eating decisions on my vacation. No super fancy places, which was fine. A couple of really good meals (Copra, Kuma Sushi, Kinara) and ate a few really good things (pastry from Parachute, I will never forget you). One slight tactical error was planning such early dinners most days, as it meant that we felt like we didn't have as much time during the day (the siren song of getting home early and relaxing was hard to ignore). I was also let down by having my knee hurt so much. I would have liked to explore more, especially at the beach, but stairs were dreadful, I missed being able to take a walk in the afternoons while Jessica napped. But overall an excellent trip.

Sunday, 4/26/26

 Even though I didn't have to leave for the airport until 8pm, it still felt like not a real full day. We had breakfast at Le Marais, a French cafe not too far away (they used to have a spot in the Ferry Building that we tried last time I was in town). I had a sweet crepe with butter and sugar, plus a croissant type thing with asparagus and goat cheese; Jessica had le Complete, which is a buckwheat crepe with egg, ham and cheese. My only mistake was ordering just a drip coffee--it was weak and they served it with milk instead of half & half. I needed to find a hat for Carter; we assumed we could find one in one of the many souvenir shops at Fisherman's Wharf, but no. You can buy hats for the 49ers and the Golden State Warriors but not the Giants? That is how we found ourselves in a Lyft on the way to Giants Stadium. On a game day. Bedlam, as you would expect. But they sure had plenty of hats! Mission accomplished, we did a few little errands: stopped for a snack of chips and guacamole at the Ferry Building (meh), picked up a little more candy from See's, and went to the library to pick up Jessica's hold. For dinner we tried a neighborhood place called Gusto Pinsa Romana, a cute little place specializing in Roman style pizza (very puffy and light crust). We shared a margherita and one with spicy salami, ricotta and hot honey. They were both very good, but it was too much; if I could rewind we would have split one pizza and a salad. I can honestly say I had enough pizza and sushi this trip. Then off to SFO for the dreaded overnight flight home.

Saturday, 4/25/26

 A somewhat lazy day...started out morning with the pastries from Arsicault (chocolate croissant for Jessica, kouign-amann for me, plus we shared a bacon scone), The were all very good but I should have taken the time to warm then up a bit. Finally headed out and over to North Beach for lunch at Flour+Water, a pizza place I had been hearing about for years. There were mozzarella sticks on the menu to of course I had to get that, plus a salad with snap peas, ricotta, salsa verde, pistachios and dill (lovely) and we shared a pizza with mortadella, crescenza, ricotta, spinach, green garlic, lemon oil and asparagus: great flavors, perfect crust, I didn't need the mortadella. Things were going great until we each ordered the salted caramel soft serve (like I was going to be able to say no to that). It was too filling but I couldn't stop....I got two ice cream headaches and was also cold for the next hour. We ducked back in to MoMA for a bit as I wanted to look at the Kara Walker exhibit more closely. I also demanded that we grab some cookies from Jane in case we wanted dessert later (spoiler: we didn't). It was too dank and chill to really walk around much so we just went home and relaxed for the evening. Dinner was Jessica's delayed birthday meal at Kuma Sushi. The good news is that it's only a couple of blocks away; the bad news was that we couldn't get a table until 8. Honestly, we still weren't even that hungry by then but it didn't stop us from hosting down a crazy amount of raw fish at dizzying speed, like little sushi trolls. For some reason, I insisted on having miso soup (still recovering from being cold, maybe? It was great) then we shared a bunch of stuff:

hamachi crudo with ponzu and jalapeno

hamachi belly sashimi

sweet potato roll

Fresca roll: Spicy tuna, pineapple, and avocado, topped with walu ceviche and spicy oroshi.  (my favorite of the rolls)

Hey Girl roll: Tempura shrimp, cucumber topped with layers of tuna and avocado, spicy mayo, and unagi sauce (good but if somethat had to go this would have been it)

Golden Boy roll: spicy hamachi, tuna, mango, pole sauce and yuzu tobiko

This was a ridiculous amount of food which is why I am ashamed to say we ate ate it all in under a half hour. It was all so good! Who knew I wanted pineapple with my fish?

terrible shot

Friday, 4/24/26

 Started our morning at a nearby breakfast place called Heist: eggs, toast, homefries, avocado, and a lavender latte. Quite good, but I suspect it is called Heist because it is so expensive you kind of feel robbed? Anyway, we then walked downtown to check out SFMoMA which I thought had some very cool exhibits. Then out to the Richmond to finally have lunch at Mandalay! The tea leaf salad was as wonderful and unusual as I remember; we also had a noodle dish with chicken but we know why I was there.

pre mixing

Stopped in at Arsicault, a somewhat nearby bakery, for some pastries for the morning. I impulsively picked up a chocolate chip cookie too and honestly it was one of the best ones I have ever had (thin, crispy/chewy, with big slabs of dark chocolate). We didn't have time for dinner (!) because we were going to an event that was part of the SF Cookbook Week; there were snacks there but the weren't exactly ample (bags of nuts, as various hand pies that were not helped by being served cold). We weren't sure what to expect, but it was a mixture of cookbook writers talking about themselves, some unexpected improv, a pretend game show (boring) and a little drag performance. How did Jessica and I not know that one of the chefs from Noodle Night was also a drag queen? I guess we did not do our research. I would say it was 75% very enjoyable which isn't bad. Then a long Lyft home from the Presidio and bed.

Thursday, 4/23/26

 The weather forecast revealed that this was going to be the nicest day of my visit, so after breakfast at Jane  (really good quinoa bowl with sweet potatoes, kale and black beans) I dragged Jessica down to ocean beach. I wish my knee hadn't been acting up because I would have liked to do more walking, but it was still great. We tried and failed (my fault!) to have lunch at Mandalay, and ended up at a Shake Shack instead (fine; I was sad that they were out of the Korean chicken tenders). Dinner was with Stephanie at a place called Copra that I had really been looking forward to and it did not disappoint. Buckle up:

Started with oysters with tamarind, fermented chilis and white soy

Heirloom beets salad with charred citrus, amarinth, honey vinaigrette

Chutney palette with poppadoms

Rassam poori with passion fruit, mint and sprouted chickpea (it's a good vacation when you get pani poori twice)

Chaat with Madras mixture, green grapes, cashews, date chutney (texture-wise not my favorite)

Dosa (by a large margin my favorite: gigantic, served with the potato mixture on the side to avoid sogginess, and sort of seasoned on the outside? SO good!)

Something called vegetable of the day that was sort of curried and really really good

We split two desserts: something called wattalapan, that reminded me of a tropical flan, and one called jigarthanda, which it hard to describe but a little bit like a Dove bar, with candied cashews. Tasty but tricky to eat.

The room was beautiful, the service very good and overall a delightful meal. The kind where I almost wished I was alone and didn't have to politely share anything.

Fancy dessert

Ruins of the Sutro baths

Cute cups at Jane

Wednesday, 4/22/26

 Since we had cleverly brought home empanadas, there was breakfast ready to go. We tried:chicken, asparagus-gouda, and banana dulce de leche. Delicious but the asparagus was my favorite. We had a fairly leisurely morning, then went out for manicures and conveyor belt sushi in Japantown. Just as fun as it looks, and the sushi was actually quite good. There was a mochi donut place nearby, so we had a few of those, too. Jessica had never tried one and it wasn't as gross as she feared. We headed back to the neighborhood, and fearing that we were frittering the day way with no Culture, stopped in at The Tenderloin Museum. Quire small but pretty interesting.

Dinner was "Noodle Night at Che Fico", one of a series of events put on during SF Cookbook Week. There was no menu provided beforehand, so we went into it completely blind, only knowing who the chefs would be. The space was so pretty, and the service was excellent; some dishes were better than others, but there were some standouts (more deviled eggs for me, please!). I was challenged right away by a salad with snow fungus (actually delightful) and braised pig ear (chewy and crunchy at the same time; not unpleasant but not really pleasant, either) The second course brought clams which I gamely ate, and one of the desserts had the texture of the bounciest damn jello you have ever had. But overall very fun and some tasty things in there, as well

the favorite dessert

The focaccia was amazing; had some kind of salty spicy delicious stuff on the outside

 

Tuesday, 4/21/26

 I woke up early and starving, so we left the house way too early for our ferry to Sausalito. We stopped for coffee and pastries at the Ferry Building at a place called Parachute Bakery. On a whim I picked a sort of croissant thing:

YUZU, OLIVE OIL + BLACK SUGAR:  Croissant pastry, olive oil cake, yuzu cremeux, blood orange marmalade and black sugar meringue.

Honestly one of the best pastries I have ever had. Better than a Cronut. Jessica's "Strawberry Cube" was good but couldn't compare.

So we strolled around Sausalito until it was time to meet Stephanie at Poggio. We shared a bunch of things: 

Sformatino: porcini custard, fontina fonduta, asparagus, brown butter, grana padano

Burrata: english pea purée, confit green garlic, arugula, fried shallots, crostini

Fegatini: chicken liver mousse crostini, strawberries, pistachios, aceto balsamico (Jessica and I were too polite to decline this suggestion, and both gamely tried it)

Tartare; raw yellowfin tuna, horseradish crème fraiche, capers, arugula, pine nuts, crostini

Gnudi: spinach ricotta pillows, beef ragù, parmigiano reggiano (the winner! The ragu was so delicious)

Plus some roasted asparagus that was honestly not very good, and quite fibrous.

Overall I would say the food was solid but not amazing. The garnishes didn't add anything? but we had a nice time! Then more dawdling around to catch the ferry home. Stopped to pick up empanadas for breakfast (plus an excellent if unnecessary alfajor for me).

Home to rest, than a quick trip to the GIANT main branch of the library, followed by pizza at this place I wanted to try (Outta Sight Pizza). We split three slices and they were great:

Cheese, hot honey burrata, and pepperoni

TV and bed.

Monday, 4/20/26

 Spent most of the day on a plane (uneventful in a good way), staggered off in the rain and made our way to the apartment. Dinner was nearby Indian fusion place called Kinara. We started with samosas and pani Purina, and then split a spicy chicken kebab, and something called "fire fries", which were like thrilling Indian poutine? Masala sauce, paneer, french fries and crushed taki topping. Everything was really good, but that's the dish I will be dreaming about. Then home for TV and early bed.

green lantern chicken

Fire fries

cunning little cart of samosas

Sunday, 4/19/26

 Watched a cold wet, and losing Ultimate game in the morning:

And then just had leftover pizza and broccoli  for dinner.

Saturday, 4/18/26

 Ultimate tournament most of the day, early birthday dinner with Carter. All he wanted was pizza from Athena's and chocolate cookies. Easy enough. I thought my cookies (World Peace cookies from Dorie Greenspan) were too crunchy, and all my cookies have been spreading too much lately. Anyway, nice to see the boy.

Friday, 4/17/26

 I forgot to use our avocados when I made enchiladas the other night, so somehow that translated into nachos for dinner. Refried beans, cherry tomatoes, fresh jalapenos, flan for dessert. Felt very decadent.

Thursday, 4/16/26

 Home pizza night; took advantage of the rotisserie chicken to make BBQ chicken pizza. Two minor complaints: this pizza doesn't lend itself as well to Jason's recent quasi pan pizza style, and the smoked cheddar we used was not, in my opinion, smoky enough. I think it will reheat well, though.

Wednesday, 4/15/26

 Rice cakes with greens and peanut sauce, which I had completely forgotten ever making before, but guess what! Once again, I was the biggest fan, but Jason gamely ate them. I used (I think?) Chinese broccoli and could have used even more. I also think the flat rice cakes may work better than the cylinders that I used in this case.

Tuesday, 4/14/26

 Cauliflower piccata from the NYT, which hadn't realized I have made before. Apparently I only gave it 4 stars, but I must have upped my game (or more likely, the butter) because it was delicious. Tossed with pasta and topped with a little Parm blend.

Monday, 4/13/26

 I wasn't that excited about tofu, rice, and asparagus, but it was so good that I surprised myself. I am also surprised that I haven't memorized the recipe (from the NYT); it turns out so well every time..

Sunday, 4/12/26

 Dinner with Jodi....she came up with the idea of ersatz Reubens, with seitan in lieu of corned beef or pastrami or whatever you put in them. We also didn't have Russian dressing (OK by me) or Swiss, but we grilled up what we had in the panini press and they were pretty good (obviously I skipped the sauerkraut). Jason had made some pretzels which were both delicious and superflouous.

Saturday, 4/11/26

 We had picked up a chicken from BJ's and I used it to make chicken enchiladas, from "I Dream of Dinner".  They tasted OK, but weren't cheesy enough and were also a bit soggy. I may not actually like enchiladas that much---at least not how I make them. Served with some roasted mushrooms and zucchini.

After dinner, we were texting with Jen and John and the next thing we knew, we were over there, having a cocktail, eating popcorn and watching a crappy movie. A surprising and fun end to the day!

Friday, 4/10/26

 It was not a light day of eating....the Year of Pizza served up a flop this month (won't be going back to the Chicopee Pizza restaurant anytime soon) and dinner was chicken tenders and french fries, per Jason's request. The tenders (from Aldi and done in the air fryer) were only OK, and while I like french fries, deep frying them at home (even just the frozen crinkle cuts we use) just seems like a lot of bother. But it's only fair to let Jason pick every now and then. Oh, also there was salad. Whatever.

Thursday, 4/9/26

 I wanted to make the roasted pepper bread salad from "I Dream of Dinner" again, since I felt rushed the last time we had it. The only changes I made were to slice the stems off the peppers for easier eating, and to be a little more generous with the olive oil. Oh, and I added some roasted plum tomatoes. Excellent! A real keeper of a recipe.

Wednesday, 4/8/26

 The last time we were in Big Y, there was a sale of something ambiguously called "Chinese brand sausage", which looked suspiciously like Italian sausage. We decided to give it a try, although I had no clear idea what it tasted like (it wasn't real Chinese sausage, which is typically cured and kind of small and dry) or what to do with it. So I went with a very neutral giant sheet pan of cabbage, green beans, potatoes and onions, with the sausage nestled in, and roasted it in a hot oven. I made a chili crisp vinaigrette to go with it, and it wasn't bad! The sausage is a little sweet, with maybe a 5 Spice powder taste? Honestly my favorite part was the potatoes, especially the ones on the bottom that got crispy, but it was a easy and fairly quick meal.

Tuesday, 4/7/26

 OK, I wouldn't call lemony dumplings with peas (NYT) a total flop, but it wasn't my best work. I think I made the dumplings (more like a large spaetzle and honestly I should have just made spaetzle instead) too big, and even though I added extra salt, pepper and some parsley, they were still a tiny bit bland. The lemon butter sauce was good; Jason said there were too many peas. They just sort of flopped all around in the water....not appealing to look at. Probably won't go into rotation.

Monday, 4/6/26

 Grilled chicken with a coconut-chipotle marinade, from the NYT. After looking at the comments, I added some lime and a little fish sauce to the marinade; I skipped the step of basting and flipping the chicken, opting to instead reduce the leftover marinade in a skillet and then add the cooked chicken to the sauce. Served with rice and some roasted broccoli. I wasn't sure how this would be---the marinade wasn't super delicious on its own, but it was actually very tasty. The chicken was nice and moist, even though I subbed in breasts for thighs.

Sunday, 4/5/26

 Carter and his friend Jayme came for dinner; we kept it pretty simple with pepperoni pizza, salad and some of the lemon cookies. I think it went well, although she didn't eat a lot miss always makes me nervous.

Saturday, 4/4/26

 Celebrated the end of a heck of a week with dinner with Jen and John. Two Blue Aprons , both sort of rice and chicken bowls with slightly different toppings. Jason made a rye bread and Jen had some very nice cheese to go with it. Lemon cookies from "Dorie's Cookies"....I followed my own advice from last time and added extra lemon zest and could have added even more. Watched a dumb movie and got home late.

Friday, 4/3/26

 After a very stressful day (back to back appointments with the tax people and the dental surgeon, yay) we had a peaceful evening at home with tomato soup and Yorkshire pudding (a little undercooked but probably just as well what with the dental stuff).

Thursday, 4/2/26

 Dinner with Jodi....we made a quick pasta with tomatoes, beans, onions and basil, and Jason made a loaf of bread. Since the boys aren't around meals are much less exciting, but the company is good.

Wednesday, 4/1/26

 Somehow we have many different kinds of cornmeal hanging around, so we decided to make polenta for the first time in a while. I made it the night before, when I was in a big hurry, so it wasn't as lump-free as I might have hoped (I was very irritated with myself). Luckily, once it was pan-fried and covered with tomato sauce and fresh mozzarella you couldn't tell. Very tasty! Served with a spinach salad.

Tuesday, 3/31/26

 Time to clean out the freezer! We didn't completely succeed, but made headway. Eggplant fries (from Aldi; tasty but they never get truly crispy), a few corn fritters, and what looked like crab rangoon but turned out to be a sort of dumpling/tiny calzone situation with sausage, peppers and ricotta. Served with the rest of the cucumber salad and a variety of dips.

Monday, 3/30/26

 Tofu, rice, peanut sauce, cucumber salad. It may not be novel. but it is easy and delicious. It's more fun if you call it a "tofu rice bowl". Our peanut sauce has been better since I just started following the recipe from the NYT dumpling salad.

Sunday, 3/29/26

 It was game night, so we were a bit rushed; luckily I had had time on Saturday to do a fair bit of prep, so  we didn't have to eat in the car or anything. Another recipe from my trusty favorite, "I Dream of Dinner": blistered peppers with chick peas, fresh mozzarella and croutons. Definitely giving panzanella. Super easy: I just roasted the peppers and chick peas in a bunch of olive oil  with whole garlic cloves, red pepper flakes and smoked paprika. I made croutons from Fridays bread, and tossed everything together (her plating was more layered and fancy but this worked great). I didn't bother to toast any nuts but did top with some chopped smoked almonds I found in the freezer. I loved this dish so much...the spicy crispy chick peas, the toasty croutons, the sweetness of the peppers. It was a meal unto itself and I will be sure to make it again. I really ought to buy that book.

Saturday, 3/28/26

 Chicken with asparagus, turmeric, honey and black pepper, from the NYT. I liked the asparagus a lot, but the overall effect was a little gloppy. Probably my fault...maybe I dredged the chicken with too much flour? We were getting tired of rice so we had angel hair instead. I basically liked these flavors but maybe wouldn't use flour at all if I made it again. My favorite part of dinner was a batch of oatmeal cookies (also from the Times). Even though I have similar recipes, I was helpless in the face of : chewy, glazed and cinnamon. Jason didn't want icing on his and as usual he is wrong. I thought they were great.

Friday, 3/27/26

 After a somewhat fruitless and irritating appointment of H & R Block, it was nice that dinner (bread and lentil soup) was already prepared. Just a usual recipe from the times. Jason accidentally overcooked his bread but it was fine.

Thursday, 3/26/26

 Farewell pizza dinner for Sam, who was headed back to college. We made 6 so I will be hard-pressed to say what was on all of them. One was definitely scallions, cream cheese and jalapenos; several had various sausages, some had mushrooms; there were peppers and onions and pineapple. All in various configurations. Jason's parents brought an angel cake since it was also Jodi's birthday. I made her her own jar of hot fudge (SK's "improved" recipe which I used because I had extra cream; I stand by the opinion that the older recipe is better).

Wednesday, 3/25/26

 I still had all the ingredients, so I made another batch of Japanese curry. The good: par-cooking the potatoes and carrots was the way to go (although I made too much of both). The bad: I accidentally added way too much black pepper. You never really think about how spicy black pepper is until you are hit with a blast of it.

Tuesday, 3/24/26

"Green rice with singed feta" from I Dream of Dinner. Mine wasn't particularly green since I used finely chopped broccoli instead of greens, and my feta was more lightly charred than singed, but still very good. I used basmati rice, the broccoli and some parsley and cilantro. Don't skip the lemony radishes on top. 

Monday, 3/23/26

 Creamy cauliflower pasta from the NYT. I changed a lot so it's a bit unfair: chopped up and roasted the cauliflower, used onion instead of shallots, and added peas and the remainders of cherry tomatoes (not really an asset) and sun-dried tomatoes (too few left in that little jar to notice in the end product). As I noted last time I made this, the breadcrumbs are key. Could also have used more lemon.

Sunday, 3/22/26

 Gimbap, but with marinated tofu instead of beef (plus carrots, egg, pickled radish and cucumber). These definitely  needed more oomph, but it was a workday and I was in a hurry. I should have: seasoned the rice, baked the tofu, and maybe used more radish? These were good but not our best. I am getting pretty good at rolling them, though.

Saturday, 3/21/26

 Baked ziti (well, campanelle) with hot Italian sausage, peppers and zucchini. I followed a recipe from SK just for some proportions, but you don't really need a recipe. But maybe you do since this turned out particularly well?

Friday, 3/20/26

 Had some of the leftover pupusas, with more roasted cabbage and a pineapple salsa that I was inspired to make after buying the sweetest pineapple I have ever encountered. This must be what life is like for Hawaiians.

Thursday, 3/19/26

 Dinner with Jodi, Sam (home for break) and Carter. Sam made a very nice curried tomato soup with chick peas and paneer, and Jason made pita and we brought some kind of cream cheese hot honey dip that we found at Aldi. I think that was Carter's favorite part.

Wednesday, 3/18/26

 Our pizza night got pushed ahead since we suddenly had Thursday plans. Jason tried some new crust method on a different pan that I didn't pay attention to all the details of, but it was very good. We hadn't really thought too hard about toppings, so it was just pepperoni, provolone and pepperoncinis. 

Tuesday, 3/17/26

 Did we have corned beef and cabbage? We did not. We had the last of the fried eggplant from the freezer, with pita, feta, various little vegetables and a not very good yogurt-tahini sauce (I don't know what went wrong but it was unpleasantly bitter).

Monday, 3/16/26

Still a LOT of cheese in the house, so it was another night of bread and cheese. I made a little cucumber-cherry tomato salad to at least get some vegetables in our diet. On a whim after dinner I took all the leftover rice in the fridge and made an ad hoc rice pudding (heavy cream, an egg, cardamon, cinnamon and vanilla). Surprisingly good in the day that something with that much heavy cream would be.

Sunday, 3/15/26

 Cheesy pinto beans and rice, with green chiles, red peppers, zucchini and cherry tomatoes. I cooked the beans in the Instant Pot for I think 40 minutes? They got a tiny bit too soft but that was my fault. We were out of salsa so I doused mine in taijin.

Saturday, 3/14/26

 I almost bailed on pupusas for dinner and made nachos instead, but with Jason's encouragement and help soldiered on and made them. I used some of the leftover rotisserie chicken, some cotija,  mozzarella and a healthy shake of taijin for the filling. Jason fried them up on the porch and honestly it was just as easy as nachos (but maybe not quite as cheesy and delicious?). Served with another fruit plate. I was feeling fancy this time:

why I didn't go into garde manger

Friday, 3/13/25

 Ramona day! We had lots of fun with the kid, and as a bonus picked up a rotisserie chicken in Chicopee while we were there dropping her off. I used it to make a quick ramen soup that wasn't really like ramen at all, but it was so good that  who cares. You make a quick stock with onions, garlic, soy sauce, and cilantro stems, then cook the noodles (angel hair in this case, because that's what we had) in the stock. Add some chicken to your bowl and you have a super cozy flavorful dinner. I thought the vibes were more like pho, so I served it with sriracha, lime, hoisin and scallions. Great use for the chicken. Fruit plate in lieu of vegetables.

Fun in Aldi

Thursday, 3/12/26

 I took the day off, so we took a little trip to the Mt. Holyoke bulb show in the morning and then had a leisurely afternoon with snacks, drinks and video games. Dinner was easy: bread and cheese (Aldi had some nice choices in stock) plus roasted cabbage with spicy fish sauce vinaigrette (the runaway hit of the meal). I just sliced the cabbage into thick slabs and roasted it on a pretty high heat (425) and it really was quite good.

 

Lots of tulip inspiration

Wednesday, 3/11/26

 Lentils diavolo (NYT), with orzo and roasted sweet potatoes. I didn't have much feta to garnish it with, so I made a little yogurt sauce with lime, cumin and chipotle pepper. This was great, except that the lentils took a long long time to cook (why didn't I remember to pre-soak them??). Jason was raving about them, having no memory I guess of the previous two times that I made this dish.

Tuesday, 3/10/26

 Yes, it was tofu, broccoli and rice again. But! It was still interesting! I braised the tofu in a skillet with a gochujaru sauce (thanks to Cook's Illustrated for the tip of not squishing the tofu for better sauce absorption) and served it as tofu bowls, with some lightly pickled cucumbers and pickled daikon. I didn't even resent cooking out on the porch since it was over 50 degrees and the whole Valley is losing their minds.

Monday, 3/9/25

 Smoked mozzarella ravioli (from Aldi) with tomato sauce from the freezer and a spinach salad (cherry tomatoes, roasted tomatoes, dried cranberries, feta, oil and Balsamic vinegar). Easy, quick and no leftovers.

Sunday, 3/8/26

 I had been wanting to try Japanese curry for a while; a recipe in the NYT that we had all the ingredients for (except for the curry bricks that I picked up at Mom's) sealed the deal. Super easy (sauté ground beef, onions, carrots, potatoes, ginger and garlic; add water and curry), except that next time I will par-cook the potatoes and carrots, as they took a long time to get done. had over rice and we both loved it. I used the "hot" variety of curry bricks and have no regrets.

Saturday, 3/7/26

 Dinner with Jodi; Jason made another round of soft pretzels (making them two days in a row resulted in a very nice looking batch since techniques were fresh in his mind), and we brought some hamantaschen that we made in the afternoon. My usual 1.5 Bon Appetit didn't yield as many as usual, probably because our new cookie cutters are a little bigger than the old ones. Half date, half dulche de leche. For dinner we scrounged around and found some pumpkin soup in the freezer; we ate that with roasted broccoli and feta cheese.

Friday, 3/6/26

 Super fun day! Took a trip to IKEA with Jen (Shake Shack for lunch...I can't get the crispy Korean chicken and caramel-gochujang shake out of my mind), then Blue Apron for dinner. Pork loin and roasted broccoli with fennel and apple, with a sort of spicy Calabrian chili, marmalade  and mayonnaise sauce. Pork tenderloin isn't my favorite, but it was fine. Jason started us off with some sot pretzels so we wouldn't starve to death.

Thursday, 3/5/26

 Dinner with Jennie and David. The usual cheese, read, olives, nuts. Jason and I came home and polished off the last of the banana cake from the weekend. I will add that Jason's bread turned out really well, with a particularly nice crust.

Wednesday, 3/4/26

 Pizza night (a day early since some plans shifted around). The leftover slow cooker chicken, oven roasted tomatoes, pepperjack and mozzarella. This totally redeemed the chicken; it may have been a little stringy but it made an excellent pizza. The oven roasted tomatoes added a ton of flavor and moisture, as well. No notes!

Tuesday, 3/3/26

 A reprisal of Taijin slow cooker chicken, with a couple of little changes. I used chipotle chilis instead of green chilis, and I skipped pinto beans altogether. We served it over rice (too lazy to make tortillas) and had roasted zucchini to go with it. The flavors were good but I used chicken breast instead of thigs and the result was a little stringy.

Monday, 3/2/26

 "Salt and pepper dumplings" from the NYT. I was too tired and busy over the weekend to do any prep, so I was dismayed to look at the recipe when I got home and realize that one of the key ingredients was 5 Spice powder (spoiler: we didn't have any). I had most of the components and just winged it, but I am sure it wasn't the same. I also didn't have green beans but roasted cabbage was fine instead. I liked these well enough, but I think for my taste there are better dumpling applications out there. served with rice and some chili crisp vinaigrette for a bit more kick.

Sunday, 3/1/26

 Dinner with Jen and John. Plain bread from Jason, a chocolate banana cake (SK) from me. The cake was pretty good, but would have been better had I not have to make it the day before, and if I had baked it for a couple of minutes less. It warms up well, at least. Dinner was two Blue Aprons: a tofu/cauliflower rice bowl and chorizo enchiladas (excellent). Always a delight.

Saturday, 2/28/26

 We didn't really have dinner, because we were out all day with Jen and John and Laurie; we stopped a somewhat lame "Winterfest" in Worthington that had really good french fries, at least. Then we went to Black Birch Vineyard and had pink champagne and pizza. Two bonus pizzas this month! These were Neapolitan style and very good! They were probably even better right when they came out of the oven but we didn't quite understand the pick-up system and they sat for 15 minutes. Oops. Anyhow, it was a beautiful, nearly warm, day and very fun.

Vineyard Cat

Up with the snowmobilers in Worthington

Thursday, 2/26/26

 Just leftovers; soup and bread, I think? 

Friday, 2/27/26

 Cheesy tots and gravy, plus I made myself a small spinach salad. Quick dinner because it was game night.

Wednesday, 2/25/26

 Last week Ramona said she wanted to "have pizza at my house with Grandma, Kiki, and Carter" and I was only too glad to make that happen. We picked up a couple from Frontier and had a very pleasant time.

Tuesday, 2/24/26

 Jason made us a loaf of fennel-onion bread, and I had made a pot of tomato-lentil soup from the NYT over the weekend. I also had Jason roast us some carrots....I didn't want to micromanage but I should have told him to cut them all into equal sized pieces. we got there eventually. The soup caught my eye for the inclusion of zaatar and goat cheese (even though I used feta) and that plus lemon zest added at the end were really what made it tasty. It had also somehow been a while since we had our own fresh bread so that was nice.

Monday, 2/23/26

 Snow day and I couldn't even do any cooking! Well, I did make a pan of basbousa from a mix that one of Jason's farm friends brought us from Egypt. It is kind of a funny mix since as far as I can tell it is just semolina flour and sugar and you have to add everything else (butter, yogurt, baking powder and a simple syrup). Dinner was pasta with spinach meatballs from the NYT (from my weekend cooking). Did I really need a meatball recipe? No, but they made a persuasive case for adding spinach to meatballs and they are quite good. Finished up the broccoli, too.

Sunday, 2/22/26

 It was with a sad glance at our utterly stuffed refrigerator that we headed to Jodi's for Bueno y Sano with Jason's parents. I inhaled my chicken burrito bowl. Even though it is pretty big, I always still feel a little bit hungry after.

Saturday, 2/21/26

 Over the course of Friday and Saturday, I made a LOT of food. So when we sat down to chana dal, samosas, cauliflower and both cilantro and date chutneys, I was dismayed with myself. Do I really need to cook enough for a family of 8? Anyway, I freestyled the filling for the samosas and used a recipe from The Ministry of Curry for the pastry. even though I made 1.5x the recipe, we still had way to much filling. They were also quite petite (not a problem) and had difficulty staying sealed. Luckily this wasn't a problem since we baked them, but still frustrating. so I would say double the pastry (or make less filling?) and pinch the hell out of them.

Friday, 2/20/25

 Stovetop macaroni and cheese, from Serious Eats. I usually like this, but it wasn't my favorite batch. Probably because I forgot to buy cheese and had to scrounge around in the freezer for some and the mixture was only meh. Served with steamed broccoli and various spicy toppings. Cilantro chutney was my favorite.

Thursday, 2/19/26

Jason made another round of the crispy pizza from KAF, this time with our own sauce, some pepperoni and provolone. Good, but I don't think it needs to be our default dough. I enjoy the variety, though.

Wednesday, 2/18/26

 I was all excited to make a brown butter pasta from the NYT, until a little research revealed that I made it a few months ago and wasn't delighted. So I kind of mashed up a few pasta ideas: grated zucchini (a win because it was looking a bit tired), browned butter, onion, garlic, parmesan, sun-dried tomatoes and plenty of Calabrian chilis. The brown butter flavor doesn't really come through so may not be worth it; otherwise very good. Jason had some kielbasa with his but I didn't need it.

Tuesday, 2/17/26

 Tofu and broccoli (roasted together for simplicity), rice, peanut sauce. I used the peanut sauce recipe from the NYT that goes with the dumpling salad, with plenty of chili crisp. Delicious.

Monday, 2/16/26

 Pita, eggplant (the amazing never ending bag of fried eggplant from the freezer), cucumbers, roasted tomatoes, yogurt-tahini sauce. Our new favorite way to eat fried eggplant  (sorry, Parm).

Sunday, 2/15/26

 Priya for lunch=no dinner. Particularly tasty options there today, but Carter was sad because the chicken Tikka masala was a bit too spicy for him.

Saturday, 2/14/26

 Who doesn't want to spend Valentine's making kimbap with their sweetheart? Maybe not so romantic, but it was good. Usual ingredients.

Friday, 2/13/26

 Dinner with Jen and John. Jason made bread and I made a very subpar gingerbread from Sally's Baking. Dry as hell, even though I pulled it a good 10 minutes early. The comments were pretty mixed, but I forged on anyway....should have stuck to SK. Oh well, big dollops pf maple whipped cream helped. Dinner was two Blue Aprons: a beef and carrot thing served over a curried rice (looked blah, tasted great) and ravioli with a Bolognese (I forgot the spinach, oops). The sauce was really good----I would have just served it over regular pasta if it were me. Fire and Olympics watching.

Thursday, 2/12/26

 I was looking forward to this roasted carrot dish from a newsletter I get.  While the description waxed rhapsodic about lovely winter carrots from the farmer's market, guess what? A bag of baby carrots from Aldi (it's all they had) worked fine. I also didn't have harissa but Calabrian chilis worked perfectly. Oh, and I left out the cinnamon.  Obviously didn't use vegan feta, either. Despite my lowbrow ways, this was truly delicious. Jason made pita for us, and I also had some oven-dried tomatoes. I can't wait to make it again.

500g small carrots, washed, trimmed and halved lengthwise
extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Salt and pepper
2 15-ounces/425g cans chickpeas, drained
2 tablespoons harissa paste
2 tablespoons maple syrup (or honey)
1 block (170g to 200g) vegan or dairy feta
juice and zest of 1 lemon (4 tablespoons juice, 1 tablespoon zest)
bread, to serve (optional)

Preheat oven to 425˚F / 220˚C.

Place the carrots onto a baking sheet and drizzle generously with olive oil. Add the cumin, cinnamon and season well with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes.

Place the chickpeas into a bowl. Drizzle generously with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Toss to coat.

Remove the carrots from the oven and give the tray a shake. Add the chickpeas and return the baking sheet to the oven until the carrots are golden and tender.

To make the whipped feta, place the feta, lemon juice and 4 tablespoons of water into a small blender or food processor. Blend until smooth and airy. If it’s too thick, add a touch more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it is smooth and spreadable. Season with black pepper.

In a small bowl. Combine the harissa and maple syrup (or honey).

Remove the carrots and chickpeas from the oven and spoon over the harissa and maple mixture. Toss to coat the carrots and chickpeas.

Wednesday, 2/11/26

 I didn't actually make kielbasa-barley soup from the NYT; I just loosely used the idea. It did feature kielbasa, but we served it over egg noodles. This was fine, nothing special. Maybe the barley was actually the key.

Tuesday, 2/10/26

 Our planned Thursday dinner with Jodi got moved to tonight; she made burrito fillings and we brought chips and guacamole. The kielbasa soup will wait.

Monday, 2/9/26

 Even though it isn't complicated, the stupidly named Marry Me chicken (from the NYT) felt like too much for a week night. It did not help one tiny bit to be on the cold porch, possibly getting chilblains. There are just so many ingredients (tomato paste, cream, onions, garlic, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes plus my own additions of mushrooms and calabrian chilis) and it just needs some futzing to balance the flavors. I also made it with chicken thighs instead of breasts (as that is what we had) and I don't think it was an improvement. Anyhow, the end product was pretty good; served with regular rice.

Sunday, 2/8/26

 Tacos dorados, inspired by a recipe from the NYT. I see that I have actually made this twice before; I didn't like it the first time so I wonder why I tried again? Anyhow, we seem to have it down now, because they came together pretty quickly, despite all the steps. I had made the potato filling on Saturday, and chopped some sweet potatoes beforehand as well, to speed things along. Served with guacamole and some salsa that Jodi refused to eat and so gave to us.

Saturday, 2/7/25

 We finally got around to making a pizza recipe from King Arthur Flour (their recipe of the year, no less). It's basically a slapdash puff pastry crust (only one round of folding). I liked it, but I wasn't blown away. I think we should try again and let is rise for longer, and hydrate the dough a little more. I also used some  store bought sauce since we had it on hand and I think homemade is better on a pizza.

Friday, 2/6/26

 Sadly, we had to come home from the Porches (I almost convinced Jason to spend an extra night). To ease back in we just had Chex Mix (I made a giant batch on Tuesday) and ravioli with Aldi sauce from a jar, plus some leftover broccoli salad. I had read that the Aldi special sauce was the same as Rao's and TBH, it was pretty good.

Thursday, 2/5/26

 Ample breakfast at Porches made lunch unnecessary. We checked out Mass MoCA, took a little walk around town, and picked up some Big Y sushi for me (Jason was still working on the grinders). Fireplace, wine, Scrabble, hot tub. What else could I need?

Jason enjoying (or escaping?) art

Wednesday, 2/4/25

 A little mid-week getaway to North Adams! We stopped in Pittsfield on the way up for Year of Pizza (Crust....Jason was dubious but it was very good). A little visit to the Clark and then we were able to check in early. Dinner was Chex mix, grinders from home, and a broccoli salad with smoked almonds, dried cranberries and goat cheese (OK, not amazing). Chocolate chip welcome cookie for dessert. The room was a bit small but we made it work.

Tuesday, 2/3/26

 We just had leftovers for dinner....going away for a couple of nights so trying to get the fridge cleaned out somewhat.

Monday, 2/2/25

 "Lasagne Soup", from the NYT. Not a traditional red sauce type, but creamy, with Italian sausage and sage (skipped that). I liked this a lot, although  I would add even more cream next time (it was a bit thin, I though). I didn't use lasagne noodles (that felt like a dumb gimmick....cavatappi was fine) and followed the commentariat's suggestion of just adding the spinach at the time of stirring from keeping it from getting too wilty. 

Sunday, 2/1/26

 We had dinner with Jodi; she gamely tried the sweet potato and tofu curry that I made, but I wouldn't say she was a fan. It was from the NYT, and I thought it was really good what with the coconut and peanut butter. Would definitely make it again, especially as it seems pretty versatile (for example, I added the last of some mini peppers and a partial bag of green beans). Jason made a batch of pretzels that were better received. He used the King Arthur Flour and I would say they were a step up from when he wings it.

Saturday, 1/31/26

 Dinner with Jen and John and Laurie...an interesting Blue Apron of a sort of pierogi soup with spinach and dill. We let it sit a bit too long while gabbing and drinking, so the pierogis got a little mushy and the spinach lost its joie de vivre, but the flavors were good, especially with a little sour cream swirled in. Laurie brought some parm, olive oil and Balsamic from her recent tip to Italy---really nice with Jason's bread. I wanted to make something easy and comforting, so I did a boxed yellow cake with chocolate frosting (American buttercream from Sally's Baking Addiction; the cocoa powder tamps the sweetness). Turns out everyone was in the mood for a nostalgic cake. Home late again, bit at least it was a shorter drive!

Friday, 1/30/26

 Our Game Night friends invited us up to Stockbridge to check out their new condo, so that was an adventure. We all met for dinner in Lenox at a pizza place called Boema. I liked it, Jason was predictably underwhelmed. We shared some meatballs and a cheese pizza. Too late, I remembered that they offered  free hot honey as an add-on; I think it would have been an excellent addition. it was my turn to make dessert and I made Mexican hot chocolate cookies from the NYT. I think they went over well, especially with Scott. Games were fun, but we got home LATE. Maybe we should have taken them up on the offer to sleep over?

Thursday, 1/29/26

 Killed a small bag of wedge fries from the freezer, plus the last of an elderly loaf of cranberry-walnut bread. Turned out we also had three kinds of cheddar opened? I roasted some broccoli to tie it all together.

Wednesday, 1/28/26

 Sometimes I don't know what draws me to a recipe....what was it about  "One-Pot Cheesy Orecchiette With Cabbage and Paprika" that made me think it would be delicious? The word cheesy? I have no idea. It was fine, but the sour cream you add at the end (or in my case, yogurt) made it unpleasantly soupy. I might make it again with no yogurt and more cabbage and something to brighten it up a bit. Oddly enough, Jason loved it. You never know what will grab him

ps the leftovers, having soaked up the sauce, were better

pps didn't have orecchiette and used cavatappi

Tuesday, 1/27/26

 Beans and rice, but make it complicated. I had cooked the pinto beans in the Instant pot on Sunday, so that was easy, but then I decided that we needed guacamole, some pickled red onion, and zucchini that I roasted in a hot oven with cherry tomatoes and mini bell peppers. So it wasn't as quick as it could be. Doused the whole thing with my new obsession, taijin seasoning.

Monday, 1/26/26

 Another snow day! I was planning on beans and rice, but Liz invited us over for pizza so we postponed. The roads were still pretty dicey, so we made in an early night.

Sunday, 1/25/26

 Snow Day! I made a big pan of SK's cauliflower gratin ; I added some pasta and some green beans and we called that a whole meal. The other changes I make are so minor (omit nutmeg, panko instead of regular breadcrumbs) that they hardly count. This batch was a little light on sauce, but it baked up so crunchy and tasty that I didn't mind.

Saturday, 1/24/26

 Jen and John were throwing a little surprise party for Gus, who is headed to Spain for the semester. We were invited as a cover story; Jason made bread again (pretty good for a rush job) and I helped John make a couple of pots of chili. So many teenage boys. They ate a whole sheet cake.

Friday, 1/23/26

 Dinner with Jodi, Jason made a loaf of bread, and we made a pasta dish on the spot with onions, garlic, white beans and cherry tomatoes. Dessert was just some peppermint Oreos that we brought over....Jason was being extra bossy and wouldn't let me make any dessert. Jodi did like the cookies, though.

Thursday, 1/22/26

 I didn't care about the haters in the NYT comment section; taijan slow cooker chicken sounded great and it was. And so easy! I just rough chopped some bell peppers and garlic, opened a couple of cans of green chilis and a pack of chicken thighs and literally just threw them in the slow cooker with a couple of tablespoons of tajin seasoning. I did also add a small can of chopped tomatoes w/green chilis, and used a big can of hominy instead of pinto beans; I stand by both of those decisions. We had it with tortilla chips, radishes, cherry tomatoes and avocados; would also make a nice taco filling.

Wednesday, 1/21/26

 Yeasted waffles from the Smitten Kitchen version of this recipe. I started it in the morning and we had them with some sausage links (I meant to also have bananas but we just didn't feel like it). These waffles are so good: crispy and light and very flavorful. Sure, the batter smells a bit funky after sitting out all day, but it hasn't killed me yet.

Tuesday, 1/20/26

 A recipe from the NYT for a stew that was like minestrone meets curry. Pinto beans, kale, onion, ditalini, and curry spices. I found it a bit salty the night we ate it, but the leftovers were much better; I think the addition of spicy chili oil did the job.

Monday, 1/19/26

 Jason convinced me that we should have leftovers for dinner, and he was right. Even a modest Thanksgiving and sending food home with the kid makes a lot of food.

Sunday, 1/18/26

 The long weekend meant I finally got around to making Thanksgiving Part II:

-gravy

-mashed potatoes

-sweet potatoes with mini marshmallows (Jason's request)

-rotisserie chicken (honestly didn't reheat super well and was eclipsed by side dishes anyway0

-green bean casserole: SK sauce (minus garlic, plus minced onion), frozen green beans, French's onions. I didn't mix any of the fried onions into the beans but put them all on top. This was the correct move

-dinner rolls: Thank you Jason for your service

-stuffing: doctored up box from Aldi with lots of vegetables

-canned cranberry sauce (Carter will stand for nothing less)

-apple crisp from Sally's Baking addiction.  Alas, I was too lazy to make a pie. Honestly, I should have made a half batch. We were all too full to do it any justice. 

I think it was a success! It's pretty easy to make if you are only cooking for three.

Saturday, 1/17/26

 Yes, I am very susceptible to certain food words, like "buttery gochujang glazed". No regrets; this tofu and broccoli was a little spicy, a little sweet and nicely rich from a healthy bit of butter added to the sauce. To simplify, I roasted the tofu and steamed the broccoli rather than trying to stir-fry everything in batches. For dessert I finally got around to making hotteok,  a Korean pancake with a brown sugar and walnut filling. The yeasted dough was a surprising flavor; Jason compared them to Pop-Tarts (he is wrong), but I thought they were great. And quick if you think to plan ahead and start the dough.

Friday, 1/16/26

 We had a fun day with Ramona and then a surprise invitation to dinner with Jen and John. Jason quickly made some pita bread (not his best; he used the wrong flour) and hummus. We made a baked potato bar for dinner which was super fun. Cozy fire, a glass of red wine and a little TV to round out the evening.

Unexpected car nap

Thursday, 1/15/26

 Dumpling salad with smashed cucumbers and peanut sauce, from the NYT. We had a bag of homemade potstickers in the freezer, so I used those; good taste, but true to their name they did indeed stick a bit. I also added cherry tomatoes and avocado because I didn't have as much cucumber as I thought. Very tasty and a nice winter alternative to the summer version with tomatoes and chili crisp vinaigrette. We served it over rice which wasn't strictly necessary but it did make a good vehicle for sauce. Bonus: yet another thing out of the freezer.

Wednesday, 1/14/26

 A barley and sweet potato bowl situation that I wasn't delighted with. The barley is fun, and my gochuchang sauce was pretty good, but it needed something else. I think pickled radish instead of the cucumbers.

Tuesday, 1/13/26

 Cauliflower shawarma (NYT) to use up the last of the pita. I improvise toppings with what is on hand (tonight was cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, radishes, feta, pepperoncini, and oven roasted tomatoes). There is a quick yogurt-tahini sauce but to me the real key is a drizzle of pomegranate syrup. It adds a perfect bit of tartness and sweetness. Altogether much tastier than you would imagine.

Monday, 1/12/26

 I can barely believe this myself but we went back to Jodi's to help eat up the leftover pizza from Friday. Officially the last last last visit with Zack. the pizza was only ok reheated, but Jason's parents brought some Atkin's donuts so that was a treat.

Sunday, 1/11/26

 I spent all of Saturday roasting a pork shoulder only to discover that while tasty, it wasn't exactly falling off the bone. Oh well...chopped it up and added BBQ sauce and it's still a pretty good pulled pork sandwich. I also made a broccoli salad from the NYT that had good flavors (pepperoncini, provolone, olives) although I slightly overcooked the broccoli. Caramel popcorn for dessert; we  remembered to increase the popcorn while keeping the caramel the same for a still delicious but slightly less sweet end result.

Saturday, 1/10/26

 It was good to have a night at home, since Jason was still feeling a bit peaked and I wasn't up to talking to people. I made fish cakes from the NYT (left out the potatoes but otherwise mostly as written), plus some rice with Goya seasoning and a black bean and mango salad. we also made another batch of caramel popcorn, remembering to add extra popcorn this time---it makes for a still delicious but slightly less sweet end product.

Friday, 1/9/26

 Another pizza night at Jodi's house, this time with 12 giant pizzas (they were from Primo's II and not bad) and many many strapping young men who kept arriving like the dwarves in The Hobbit, but with beer. We left around 8 but according to Jodi those boys were up late late late. Getting all the Zack time in before he leaves for Nepal.

Thursday, 1/8/26

 Dinner at Jason's parents: we made 5 pizzas and Zack's girlfriend Ina made a chocolate cream pie (excellent). Dinner at their house isn't always the most fun (Jason had a cold and Carter was grouchy) but they seem to like it, so I guess that's good. 

Wednesday, 1/7/26

 I brought home a silly book called "Your Pasta Sucks", and I knew immediately that I needed to make pasta al limone. I had some the last time I was in New York, and since that set me back $24 if I could make my own, so much the better. Could not be simpler: a little butter, cream, lots of lemon juice and zet, parm and pasta water. I loved it (Jason liked it well enough but it is more my stye). The only thing I would do differently is add some peas. Served with a salad.

Tuesday, 1/6/26

 Beef biryani from the NYT. Had I had time to do some prep this would have been a quick dinner, but it was still doable for a week night. Basmati is cooked with whole spices in the Dutch oven (glad I followed a reader suggestion to put the spices in a tea ball. Much easier than trying to fish out 7 cloves from a big pot of rice!). Cook onions and ground beef with lots of spices in a separate pan with a bit of yogurt at the end, then add them together to finish cooking. Really flavorful! Served with a cumin raita which really added a lot. I thought I had cauliflower in the fridge, but it turned out it was a cabbage. Roasted that instead which was fine.

Monday, 1/5/26

In a case of the tail wagging the dog, we had pita with fried eggplant slices (from the freezer) ,feta and various vegetables in order to use up some yogurt-tahini sauce. Only to find that the sauce had gone off and I had to make some more. Oh well, it's a quick and delicious dinner anyway (and I made a much smaller amount of sauce this time so we wouldn't make the same mistake again).

Sunday, 1/4/26

 Dinner with Jen and John. started with one of the tastiest cocktails I have had in a while (called "Juliet and Romeo"; gin, lime, simple syrup, cucumber, mint and a little rosewater). two Blue Aprons: a chicken in a peanut sauce and salmon with a sweet chili pan sauce. Roasted broccoli and rice. I am not sure if it was my best work (I find their pans annoying to work with) but everyone was happy. Caramel popcorn for dessert, which would have been better if I had remembered to increase the plain popcorn in the recipe. Good but very very sweet.

Saturday, 1/3/26

 Another dinner from "Beans, Grains and Greens". This one looked far more complicated than it was. You just heat up pinto beans and kale with jarred salsa (I also added a lone zucchini) and serve that over mini corn waffles that were super quick to put together. I didn't have soy milk but regular milk worked fine. Topped with some cotija cheese, avocado and radishes. This book is batting 1000 so far (even with me un-veganing everything).

Friday, 1/2/26

 I brought home a book called "Greens, Beans and Grains" that had some promising looking combos. It wasn't til I was reading it more thoroughly that I realized it was vegan, but it is easy enough to sub dairy back in from soy cheese or whatnot. You never hear people in the comment section asking how to make something un-vegan, after all. Anyway, the first dish I tried was a riff on tagine that I went even more off-book on, since I had neither preserved lemons not couscous, which honestly felt like the real sine qua nons of the dish. But tiny Italian pasta and plenty of fresh lemon worked quite well. Basically a stew with potatoes, zucchini, peas, chickpeas, carrots and onions. It took some tweaking of the spices and salt to get it really tasty, but the end product was good. Plus there will be plenty of leftovers for my lunch.

Thursday, 1/1/26

 New Years Day dinner with Jodi, the boys, and Jason's parents. Zack orchestrated a giant bibimbap feast; we contributed mainly by providing some ingredients, an extra rice cooker, and our chopping skills. Jason did make some superfluous flatbread as an appetizer. Everything was so delicious (although I meant to bring some kimchi and forgot to), especially the dessert of sticky rice with mango and coconut (reminiscent of a dessert we had at a Laotian restaurant in Lowell). Jason's parents brought some soju, so it was a festive evening, and probably the last night that all three boys will be around for a while.

Carter looking as jolly as ever (his stomach hurt)

Wednesday, 12/31/25

 Quick dinner of leftover fried rice before heading to Diane and Ellen's for game night/NYE party. I ate way too many cookies and Lisa made an amazing cake with whipped cream and raspberries. Fancy! Jason made oatmeal cookies that I confess I did not try. Home before midnight but not by much.

Tuesday, 12/30/25

 I used leftover rice, quinoa and fried rice to make a Frankenrice with roasted broccoli and tofu. Yes, I was on the porch swearing and yes it was maybe 10 degrees?? But the rice was good with our fancy new chili crisp that is VERY spicy and garlicky.

Monday, 12/29/25

 Tacos with corn tortillas, with black beans, sweet potato, radishes and guacamole; there was also a crispy cheese layer that through my own error never really achieved crispiness. But melty cheese is never a bad thing and these were delicious anyway.

Sunday, 12/28/25

 I made a batch of ersatz minestrone over the weekend, with tiny tiny meatballs, kidney beans, zucchini, carrot and celery. I was going to add ditalini, but decided we could add leftover quinoa instead; this wasn't terrible but really didn't add anything but a slightly odd texture. Nice and cozy with plenty of leftovers for lunches.