Wednesday, 12/30/20

 I was casting about for something new to do with tofu, and I came upon a recipe for "Pan-Fried Sesame Garlic Tofu" from some random blog, and since the picture was so pretty and I had all the ingredients, I gave it a try. Nothing really new: dust tofu with cornstarch, pan fry, make a sauce with soy sauce, ginger-garlic sauce, honey,  sesame oil, and little more cornstarch. I doubled the sauce, added Chinese broccoli, and served all over rice. I added the tofu to the sauce and let it simmer. to get that crispy-chewy texture I am always hoping for. It turned out really well! Even though upon reading through the recipe after dinner, I realized that when she called for ginger-garlic sauce, she meant sambal oelek (not really the same thing, lady!). I had used some Chinese sauce I had, confusingly also called ginger-garlic sauce. Oh well, still delicious. Even Carter, who has been quite the fussy young man lately, liked it.

Tuesday, 12/29/20

 Grilled cheese, plus a little beet salad for Jason and me and a tangerine for Carter (you would think we asked him to eat poison. So fussy sometimes). Anyway, Jason is still working on a new technique for a crustier loaf (I can't actually tell a difference, sadly. But he is enjoying himself, I think). He added rosemary this time, but it was a bit too subtle. The sandwiches had swiss and provolone; it was a good mix of sharp and melty.... Carter said it was smelly, but he admitted they tasted just fine (maybe it was the bacon on his?).  Finally, out of laziness, I let Jason talk me into making them on a sheet pan in the oven. I was very dubious, but it worked! They needed a little time under the broiler at the end, but the end results were good. I hate to say he was right, dammit.

Monday, 12/28/20

 just leftover macaroni and cheese, with leftover cabbage for the adults. I let Carter slide with just the peas that I threw in the mac. I could honestly eat homemade macaroni and cheese several times a week. Only Jason is holding us back.

Sunday, 12/27/20

 Baked fish sticks (from the NYT; no changes. I used cod), rice pilaf, and sautéed cabbage, Nepali-style (garlic, ginger and lots of spices). My pilaf was only meh, but otherwise a pretty good meal.

Saturday, 12/26/20

 Cheese stocks properly restored, I made a big batch of macaroni and cheese (Martha Stewart via Smitten Kitchen. No changes except I use whatever cheese I have around, and skip the nutmeg) and a Caesar salad. Overall success, although even the small amount of smoked cheddar I used really came through. Carter was too psyched to notice, luckily. Jason groused a little because I threw some peas in there. I don't know why; you barely notice them.

Friday, 12/25/20

 Well, I don't know why I had planned tofu for dinner on Christmas. I mean, it didn't feel like Christmas at all, but that is a bridge too far. So I thought maybe macaroni and cheese would be more festive, but I didn't have enough cheese (!). After a little more brainstorming, Jason made popovers and I made chicken in a Marsala cream sauce with broccoli. So I would still not call it festive, but at least it was delicious and a little luxurious.  Looking forward to next year!

Thursday, 12/24/20

 We decided to try at least a mini Christmas eve dinner, so everyone got to pick one thing: Carter went with shrimp cocktail, I picked cheese and crackers, and Jason made little pizza/taco cup things? It was pizza dough fitted into muffin tins, than filled (in this case) with beef, beans and cheese. Surprisingly tasty. For dessert Carter and I made white chocolate/pretzel haystacks. This was semi-disastrous, as I inadvertently heated up the white chocolate too fast, causing it too seize. I was able to fix it, but in doing so (shouldn't have added that heavy cream. It's counterintuitive that water is the answer, but there you have it) I changed the texture a bit, so they didn't firm up as much as they should have. Tasted fine, though! Maybe I'll try again on New Year's Eve.