Creamy No-Bake Cheesecake

Saturday night's supper did a number on all three of us so I'm sort of glad that the dessert I'd prepped was a light one. Or at least conducted itself with the appearance of such. Brought back for the first time in about two-and-a-half years was the creamy no-bake cheesecake perfected by the former Pastry Wizard of SeriousEats.com, Stella Parks. Plenty of tasty treats have made their way to the Roediger House table thanks to Stella, who is remarkable at avoiding our disappointment or displeasure. If this James Beard award-winning cookbook author, New York Times bestseller, and excellent recipe developer is willing to tell me a thing or two, I'll sure listen.

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"Easy No-Bake Cheesecake," by Stella Parks, BraveTart and pastry wizard, and now an Editor Emeritus of SeriousEats.com. [Recipe Updated 30 October 2019 and 21 September 2025]

Meal No. 4057: Bacon Egg & Cheese Buttermilk Biscuits

Saturday was the final full day of Eastern Standard Time for the outgoing winter months, and it was another Holly Avenue crew at the dinner table, which gave me the chance to use up some buttermilk and some bacon and to give in to a hankering for biscuits. The central feature: bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits, all from scratch. The biscuits were a bit malformed but still darned delicious, and it had been a while since I'd made chile-rubbed bacon in the oven. The baked scrambled eggs were light and fluffy and enhanced with a Swiss-and-Gruyère cheeses-to-pleases. It proved to be an unexpectedly filling meal, though, and we were all sort of miserable in a good way afterwards.

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"The Food Lab's Buttermilk Biscuit Recipe," from J. Kenji López-Alt, Culinary Consultant for SeriousEats.com. [Published 07 August 2015 / Updated 19 December 2025]

"Chile-Rubbed Bacon," by Rick Martinez. In "D.I.Y. B.L.T. O.M.G.: Bake Better Bacon (Upgrade Idea No. 1)," Bon Appétit, July 2016, p. 44.

"Baked Scrambled Eggs," from Heather Johnson of TheFoodHussy.com. [Published 09 September 2019 / Updated 08 February 2026]

Meal No. 4056: Grilled Pork Kebabs with BBQ Glaze

After an almost-full week of work down in southeast Georgia, it was pretty nice to be back in place at home this past Friday. Friend and neighbor Jonathan was back on hand for supper and hanging out, and it was a perfect evening for grilling. So we had pork kebabs with a sweet barbecue glaze, a pot of roasted garlic quinoa gave good grains, and an abundance of herbed roasted asparagus rounded out the plate.

We reveled in a high temp in record territory that fine Friday in Winston-Salem, hitting 83°F at the local weather station and 84°F on the Roediger House Tempest.

Lots of sunshine (but gentle breezes to moderate the sun's bake) meant plenty of good time on the driveway with the pups and with our dinner guest when he arrived.

And the next sign of spring was emerging on the Bradford pear tree, with a few early blossoms and plenty of ready-to-burst buds. I am so glad that the end of winter is nearly here, and I welcomed the time change over the weekend that lets me indulge these pleasant evenings even longer!

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"Grilled Pork Kebabs with Barbecue Glaze," by Andrea Geary. Recipe was an online extra from Cook's Illustrated and based on "The Best Way to Grill Pork Tenderloin," Issue No. 134, May & June 2015, p. 6.

Meal No. 4055: Spiced Pecan & Blue Cheese Salad with Chicken

February exited the scene on a Saturday this year, and it turned into a lovely late winter day. I'd hoped to work out an evening for a special salad offering, based on the signature version at a local favorite special occasion restaurant. With herbed sous vide chicken as its centerpiece, on a bed of spring mixed greens, the bowl was a tribute to the iconic spiced pecan and blue cheese salad from Ryan's Steaks, Chops, and Seafood. I offered myself an abundance of sliced cucumber and not quite enough grape tomatoes, and the sweet and sour vinaigrette was generously splashed all over.

That final day of February had a particularly enticing event late morning: a Bobby Boy Bake Shop meetup with Ericka and Jesse Morgan and their family. Ericka was one of the graduate students in my social studies education program at Wake Forest University, graduating in 2004. I hadn't seen her in about 20 years, though, and now with five kids and an incredibly busy daily life, this reunion was an understandable long time in coming. It was terrific, of course, and her kids are just marvelous.

And it was pretty nice to then come home to my own superstars:

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"Spiced Pecan and Blue Cheese Salad," inspired by the signature salad at Ryan's Steaks, Chops, & Seafood (an excellent Winston-Salem restaurant). "Sweet and Sour Vinaigrette" from The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook, compiled and edited by Julie Fisher Gunter. Birmingham, AL: Oxmoor House (1999), p. 373. "Cinnamon Vanilla Glazed Walnuts" recipe from McCormick & Company. Thanks as always to Jimmy Randolph for helping me track down those recipes.

Meal No. 4054: Baked Herbed Chicken Thighs

When Friday night rolled around a week ago, it was the end of a busy stretch of days. But hunger struck early that evening and so I went ahead and put together a dish of herbed baked chicken thighs, using an approach that helps them come out tender and so very juicy and also well-seasoned. Roasted cumin-coriander cauliflower was its own mound of temptation on the plate, and some herbed-garlicked whole green beans found their way to the small bit of open territory off to the side.

Copycat J. Alexander's Carrot Cake

It seems to me that the only J. Alexander’s Restaurant I’ve ever encountered was up in Winchester, VA, and I might have eaten there two or three times. But I do not recall getting to try its featured carrot cake, so having a copycat recipe for it is due not to compulsion but to coincidence. Might I nonetheless be glad for how well it served to guide my dessert-making for four of us last Thursday night? Absolutely. While I’ve no plans to abandon the much-loved three-layer version that dear friends (who at the time lived in Winchester!) recommended years and years ago, this sheet cake take will be perfect for a re-make.

Bradley took some back home to Boone to share with his family, and apparently his younger son Russell thinks Daddy needs to visit Dr. Ray-Ray again soon and come home with more of that carrot cake.

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Based on "Copycat J. Alexander's Carrot Cake," from Jamie Lothridge of MyBakingAddiction.com. [Updated 19 April 2019 / 28 March 2024]

Meal No. 4053: Penne alla Vodka

A dinner gathering of four on Thursday of last week featured penne alla vodka and homemade garlic breadsticks. A bit oversauced on the penne and overproofed where the breadsticks were concerned, the gents at the table were still gracious as they dispatched the viddles.

That Thursday proved to be quite the busy day. The North Carolina Council for the Social Studies has brought its annual conference to Winston-Salem, and friend and former grad student Bradley Phillis kindly invited me to co-present a session with him. We walked in the rain that morning from the house to the Benton Convention Center and enjoyed a warm reception from our audience, leaving us both pleased and also inspired for future collaborations.

Late that afternoon, just before dinnertime, a team of students from the UNC School of the Arts were here to plot, plan, and review various areas and rooms of the house as they anticipate filming here Easter weekend. A few of them are returners and it was good to see them; others are new faces and I can only hope future projects bring them back as well.

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Based on "Penne alla Vodka," from Daniel Gritzer, Senior Culinary Director of SeriousEats.com. [Updated 21 September 2025]

Meal No. 4052: Skillet Beef Stroganoff

The comfort of the latest Amy convergence last Wednesday was a chance to see if she’d be pleased at the reappearance of skillet beef stroganoff, a rewarding go-to menu item when there are mushrooms and ground beef and a short window of prep time. She responded in the affirmative.

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Based on "Beef Stroganoff Hamburger Dinner in a Skillet," by Emeril Lagasse. Found online at The Food Network and also on Emerils.com.

Meal No. 4051: Cheddar-Crust Chicken Pot Pie

As we approach the almost exact 40-year mark of knowing one another, my good friend and fellow UNC alum Kelly found his way back over to the house for a dinner visit last Tuesday night. Bearing a couple of fine gifts, the absolute best of which was his presence, Kelly joined us at the table for a supper of cheddar crust chicken pot pie and roasted herbed whole green beans. We were on the second of a couple of frigid-feeling days after the previous week's welcome warm-up, and I was absolutely committed to something that would be fully comforting. In this, there was success.

Tuesday morning brought welcome signs of our crocus resurrection, and I shall giddily celebrate Spring’s arrival especially after a January of winter’s enduring onslaught and about a thousand dollars sent to Duke Energy and Piedmont Natural Gas to cover it.

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"Chicken Potpie with Cheddar Crust," from Food Network Magazine, Vol. 4, No. 8 (October 2011), p. 132-133.

Meal No. 4050: Meatloaf Minis

Last Monday's dinner for three of our Holly Avenue crew was pretty scrumptious: mini meatloafs, roasted spiced potatoes, and roasted herbed broccoli florets. A hearty bottle of rioja alongside, a few chai spice cinnamon oatmeal cookies, and a comfortable casual evening hang: that was a fine way to start the week.

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"Mini Meatloaf," from Lauren Allen of Tastes Better from Scratch. [Published 20 February 2023]

Cinnamon-Chai Oatmeal Cookies

After having been jovially admonished the previous Saturday, when I conducted my final all-day seminar with this final cohort of aspiring administrators in an Educational Leadership masters program at High Point University, for not having brought a batch of cookies for class, I knew I'd have to rectify the error before seeing a portion of them for our instructional coaching rounds the following Monday. So I extended my kitchen time last Sunday night past dinner clean-up to make a fresh batch of cinnamon-chai oatmeal cookies. These are such rewarding cookies to make, and I had a couple hot out of the oven that night. Then, I bagged up most of the rest to take with me Monday to Vance County, about two hours away from Winston-Salem. They were reasonably well received by the crew.

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Based on: "Caramel-Chai Oatmeal Cookies," in Cuisine at Home, September/October 2013, p. 47.

Meal No. 4049: Egg Drop Soup

Rather recently, but for only the second time, I made egg drop soup. It was good that night earlier in the month, but I was anxious to try again soon. That occurred last Sunday evening, as our temps took another massive dip into below-freezing territory, and harsh brutal gusts shook and jangled even the things that appeared nailed down. Soup felt right, and it was enhanced with the recent addition of wide chow mein noodles to mix in for a bit of crunch.

But let me tell you how glorious to me were the earliest manifestations of the approaching spring season, as that morning I spied the emerging shoots of tulips having suddenly made generous progress out of their bulbed dormancy.

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"Egg Drop Soup," by Bill Leung of The Woks of Life: A Culinary Genealogy. [Published November 2015 / Updated 16 April 2025]

Meal No. 4048: Sheet Pan Beef Nachos

Last Saturday was a full workday for me, spent with the incredible group of people in the latest—and final— cohort of masters students in Educational Leadership at High Point University. Its funding got wiped out by Elon Musk, and it is a loss of criminal proportions that we will no longer have this excellent pipeline for preparing incredible leaders to take on principalships in high-need schools. Once the day had wrapped and I came home both energized and also ready for downtime, I fell back on an easy solution to the dinner question: tucked-away frozen taco beef, the remainder of a red onion, some black beans, and plenty of Mexican cheese, all to settle atop tortilla chips spread across a sheet pan for a simple take on nachos. I am usually guilty of overindulging when this shows up on the plates, and that night was no different.

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Sheet Pan Nachos seriously modified from "Loaded Sweet Pork Sheet Pan Nachos," from Elyse of Six Sisters Stuff. [Published 14 March 2018]

Taco-Style meat depended partly on "Crispy Beef Tacos," by Hilah Johnson. From HilahCooking.com.

"Homemade Chili and Taco Seasoning," from Jamie Lothridge of MyBakingAddiction.com. [Published 03 February 2011]

Meal No. 4047: Soy Sauce Ramen Noodles

Although I'd spent the final two days of last week in Virginia for work, I was glad to return home last Friday night in time to make supper for three of us. But it had to be quick and still good. That's why soy sauce ramen noodles ended up in our bowls: easy, quick, delicious, filling, and interesting. That's a winning combination.

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Based on "Viral Ramen Noodles," from Brian Gerwig [NC]. Instagram Profile: g_bque. [Posted 15 May 2024]

Meal No. 4046: Deviled Chicken Thighs

Has it really been almost four years since I made the house standard affectionately known as deviled chicken thighs? That's what the blog tells me, and so when I brought it back on Tuesday of last week, my heart had indeed grown fonder. It's not exactly fancy but it does sport a neat outfit, and once one digs into those tender bits of chicken barely still clinging to the bone, mixed with the spices and panko and dijon mustard coating, it proves itself a worthy member of the meal team on any given dinner plate. Regular readers might know of my fondness for roasted broccoli florets, also present in abundance, and I felt like a portion of easy stovetop stuffing could be easily admitted to this party. While outside the limited confines of a half-filled dinner table that seats six, in a cozy bay-windowed nook, as late winter's still-early dark had settled upon the city, the light sounds of day-ending traffic sometimes were reaching us from Fourth Street, and three dogs frolicked about a bit, and time was well-spent in this marvelous homey manse called the Roediger House. We ought to freely celebrate the seduction of these simple pleasures.

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Based on "Deviled Chicken Drumsticks," by Ian Knauer. In Gourmet, August 2008.

Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Last week's Monday evening dinner of burgers still allowed for a fun little dessert to be served, and that night I went with an old-fashioned sour cream coffee cake. With strudel both as a middle layer and as a topping, and with thin but soft moist layers of sweet cake between, this breakfast cross-over proved pleasing and worthy of extras before the night was done.

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"Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Coffee Cake," from Marzia Aziz of the Little Spice Jar blog. [Published 11 April 2019 / Updated 26 January 2026]

Meal No. 4045: Mushroom & Swiss Burgers

Our Holly Avenue collective gathered once more last Monday night, and after a lovely sunny February day, I felt like grilling. The go-to in such a case is juicy burgers, with their extra spices and bolstering ingredients, and all the better to go with the last of the homemade burger buns from the previous evening. I made Madeira mushrooms in the skillet and they were ready to go atop the cheesy burgers on grilled buttered bun halves, and there were some out-of-date barbecue chips for thems what could stand 'em. Messy and squishy but worth every last tit and bother, a mushroom and Swiss burger is pretty much always gonna be a winner with me.

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Adapted from "Grilled Juicy Burgers," originally from Pillsbury Classic Cookbooks recipe magazine, July 2003 [Updated Online 03 February 2011], p. 52-53.

Meal No. 4044: Cuban Lechón Asado

Those 99-cent Boston butt pork roasts are hard to walk past when I spy them on sale at my local Harris Teeter, and then I cannot ignore the draw of Cuban pulled pork, based on a recipe for Cuban lechón asado. Cooked low and slow overnight in the crockpot, shredded and re-sauced early afternoon, adjusted as need be with seasonings and stirring, the tender succulent strands and morsels are a mounded marvel by the time they sit upon homemade burger buns. There was plenty of homemade Mexican chipotle street taco BBQ sauce with which to adorn it all. That's how we did dinner last Sunday evening with six good friends sharing time together.

I'd gotten a jump on our usual creamy avocado lime sauce by making a version of it the previous evening to go with salads. Still, I thought it needed a bit of a boost in flavor, so a bit more garlic, a splash more of fresh lime juice, a couple more scallions, plus a dreamer's wish all went into it before it became the dressing for our fresh-baked buns.

All the messy winter weather we'd had in January and early February had kept our happy crew of RoHo regulars from getting together, and it was—as always—a delightful reunion that Sunday night.

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Adapted from "Slow Cooker Cuban Lechón Asado," from Cory Fernandez of TheKitchn.com. [Published 10 December 2022]

"Beautiful Burger Buns," from Ellen "Moomie" Dorsey of King Arthur Baking. See also the accompanying blog post, "Burger Buns with a Beautiful Backstory," by PJ Hamel. [Published 28 June 2021]

"Mexican Chipotle Street Taco BBQ Sauce," a Roediger House original recipe. [First Made 08 May 2023]

Mexican Coleslaw assembled using:

• Base Recipe: "Mexican Coleslaw," from Christin Mahrlig of SpicySouthernKitchen.com. [Published 08 August 2017]
• Add-In Ideas: "Mexican Coleslaw with Spicy Lime Vinaigrette," from princessmommie on Food.com. [Printed 10 August 2018 from GeniusKitchen.com]
• Seasoning Mix: "Homemade Chili and Taco Seasoning," from Jamie Lothridge of MyBakingAddiction.com. [Published 03 February 2011]

Valentine's Day Red Velvet Cake

It's been over two years since I made the rock-solid RockRecipes.com version of red velvet layer cake, and this past Valentine's Day seemed like just the right incentive to bring it out of the archives. Barry Parsons has a deft touch with velvet cake recipes, and I've tried and loved several from his blog over the years. But there really is something special about a good red velvet cake, and I'm always happy if the occasion calls for it and I step up with the right response. For the four of us hanging out that evening, there was a resounding delight to know second pieces were on people's minds.

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"The Best Red Velvet Cake," from Barry C. Parsons of RockRecipes.com. [Originally Published June 2012 / Updated 17 April 2025]

Meal No. 4043: Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole

Under the sunny skies and welcome warmth of this most recent Valentine's Day—quite conveniently falling on a Saturday—it was four at the table for dinner, and out of the piping hot baking dish we partook of poppy seed chicken casserole. Oh, this ladle-full of comfort and good taste hardly had time to slowly spread out across the plate, as it was swiftly gobbled up/down. The joyous monotony of deliberately disappearing that main feature could be sidelined in short snatches by a stab or two at roasted hoisin whole green beans, and the salad was politely noticed by the free-swinging tines of otherwise focused forks. While a bit of creamy Caesar was available if that seemed the safer choice, I did make that afternoon a fresh batch of creamy avocado lime ranch dressing, ready to be abundantly drizzled as one might desire.

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"Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole," by Ashley Moore in Cook's Country, February/March 2015, p. 20.

Dressing was based on "Creamy Avocado Lime Ranch Dressing," by Michele Peterson of A Taste for Travel blog.

Meal No. 4042: Tomato & Corn Pie

After a good full week of work in southern Georgia and after belatedly letting it catch my eye that this past Friday the 13th was also National Cheddar Day, I satisfied a menu craving and honored that occasion with tomato and corn pie for supper. Because I'm bringing ideas from several recipes together, the result always seems to vary just a bit but I'm also almost always pleased. With the exception of how the pieces absolutely fell apart as I tried to serve each slice, making for an unsightly presentation, it was still all really tasty. My beloved roasted broccoli florets were there as well, plus a smattering of Caesar-topped spring mix.

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Pulled together and based on the following evolving recipe history:

• "Tomato Pie," from the Swamp Rabbit Café in Greenville, SC.
• "Tomato and Corn Pie," from Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen. [Published 27 August 2009]
• "Tomato and Corn Pie," by Maggie Ruggiero in Gourmet, August 2009, p. 42-43. [Published Online 15 July 2009]
• "Quick Roasted Tomatoes with Garlic and Thyme," from Suzy Karadsheh of The Mediterranean Dish. [First Published in 2015 / Updated 11 September 2020]

Meal No. 4041: Baked Chicken Thighs and Two Sides

As a mid-day meal before I tossed my bags into the car and headed down to southeast Georgia on Sunday a week ago, I put oil-rubbed and herbed chicken thighs into an old Pyrex dish from my mother and baked 'em up good and juicy and tender. I also roasted broccoli florets and prepped a simple stovetop stuffing. These made for ample piles on my plate, for sure, and it was all more than satisfying. Did it make me a little sleepy during the easy first hour of the drive? Maybe. But I made it safely to the warmer reaches of the Golden Isles and was glad to leave behind all the snow and ice that's lingered in Winston-Salem.

Meal No. 4040: Spaghetti with Homemade Beef Sauce

Just before leaving town to work a stretch of days in southeast Georgia, I needed to knock out some items from the fridge, and that helped set the course for dinner on the first Saturday of February. I used ground beef in a homemade spaghetti sauce recipe, which enjoyed a slow simmer on the cooktop before being served abundantly over fresh-cooked spaghetti. With a side salad of power greens topped with the last of some homemade Thousand Island dressing, it was a fine weekend supper.

But with some sour cream that was nearing its use-by date, I sought out a quick dessert I might throw together after dinner, and this time around it was the Starbucks-inspired lemon loaf with a sweet glaze. It wasn't needed but what's that got to do with anything?

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"Our Favorite Homemade Spaghetti Meat Sauce," from Joanne Gallagher of InspiredTaste.net. [Published 16 January 2020]

"The Best Lemon Loaf (Better-Than-Starbucks Copycat)," from Averie Sunshine of AverieCooks.com. [Published 15 March 2019 / Updated 16 May 2023]

Meal No. 4039: Deviled Beef Short Ribs

On Friday a week ago, the homestead enjoyed a shifted timing for the regular visit of Amy for dinner and hanging out. My grocery trek earlier in the week after all our winter weather manifested some exuberance—likely caused by pent-up demand in me—and I'd really stocked up on good foods to make. For us that evening back on February 6th, we had marvelous deviled beef short ribs with a tangy mustard sauce and a panko coating. The faithful side dishes of roasted spiced potatoes and herbed roasted whole green beans went along nicely. I was the eager beaver making a nearly-full plate of seconds, throwing all caution to the wind, and gorging on all that deliciousness.

In spite of all that and disregarding good sense, I still dug out the last of some sweet milk vanilla ice cream and dressed it up with some stored-away homemade hot fudge sauce for our dessert. It might have been just enough, so that we could peer at but not tumble over the proverbial food top.

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"Deviled Beef Short Ribs," by Jeremy Sauer. In Cook's Country, April/May 2014, p. 12-13.

Roasted Russet Potatoes majorly adapted from but dependent on "Roasted Sweet Potatoes," from Chelsea Lords of ChelseasMessyApron.com. [Published 04 March 2019]

Adapted from "Hot Fudge Sauce," a recipe shared with me by former neighbor Jessica Atkinson.

Made the previous weekend and stored away, but the ice cream recipe comes from "Sweet Milk Ice Cream," published in the King Arthur Flour catalogue some years ago; it is no longer available on their website.

Meal No. 4038: Bacon, Gruyère, & Caramelized Onion Quiche

Thursday a week ago was a chance for the beloved breakfast for dinner, when neighbor Jonathan came to join us. I've become pretty fond of caramelizing onions, adding in finely chopped bacon, and building up the heartiness with a pretty good pile of shredded Gruyère. Once the egg and cream mixture gets poured over the top, this lovely quiche heads into the oven to cook to a creamy texture in just under 40 minutes. I also made a half-batch of blueberry muffins and had a heaping pile of fresh fruit, too.

Overnight and continuing into that morning, we got more snow. Not a ton: just a good dusting that measured maybe half and inch.

This has been quite a winter for us: an all-day sleet storm which left us with a one- to two-inch ice slab laid over every open surface; then a rare 8-inch snowfall a week later; and then even more snow a few days after that. The extended period of below-normal temps and even quite a bit of time in the teens is also not how it usually goes around here. But what's normal anymore? It's harder to predict when it's still unclear how climate change is going to increase the severity and wild swings of weather events.

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Recipe based on "Bacon and Caramelized Onion Quiche," from Mountain Mama Cooks.

"Perfect Blueberry Muffins," from Sue Moran of The View from Great Island. [Published 13 July 2021]

Meal No. 4037: Egg Drop Soup & Japanese Coleslaw

As National Homemade Soup Day arrived Wednesday a week ago, I was ready for something lighter than my usual thick or hearty or cheesy soups. That's when I thought it might be fun to bring back a recipe I'd made only once before, almost exactly 10 years ago: egg drop soup. I reviewed my printed recipe for it, tucked away in the Soups binder, but I also took another look at Bill Leung's Youtube video for it. I certainly don't have his technique but it was a pleasing bowl of delicious soup nonetheless. And alongside I had a ginger-dressed Japanese coleslaw. As temps dropped outside and some more winter mix of weather moved in, I was more than happy to indulge in an evening of Asian Soup and Salad!

As a tasty treat at evening's end, I thought I'd try to be clever and fell far short. There was a fair portion of speculoos mousse remaining from the previous evening's carrot cake shells, so I made two small round Biscoff crusts and then topped them with all that remained of that mousse. It worked, but it was also unglorious.

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"Egg Drop Soup," by Bill Leung of The Woks of Life: A Culinary Genealogy. [Published November 2015 / Updated 16 April 2025]

Based on "Japanese Coleslaw," by Dan Coombs of The Curry Guy. [Published 24 August 2023]

"Japanese Mayonnaise (Kewpie Mayo)," by Namiko Hirasawa Chen of Just One Cookbook. [Published 01 April 2025]

Speculoos Mousse in Carrot Cake Shells

When National Carrot Cake Day rolled around Tuesday a week ago, I knew I didn't need to make a whole layer cake...even though we do enjoy a perfect recipe for it around here, from time to time. Instead, with three at dinner that night, I reached way back into the pandemic era for something I'd made just once before: carrot cake shells filled with speculoos cookie butter mousse. I'll blame my lack of practice with dessert shells of this sort for the unfortunate structural complications of the finished shells: my special pan does not come with a set of recipes or enough guidance. So I was experimenting. Still: that mousse is sort of addictive, and once one begins to dig into this, the well-formed shellscape is quickly compromised anyway, right? Plus: sugar.

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"Speculoos Cookie Butter Mousse," from Erin Vasicek of TheSpiffyCookie.com. [Published 23 February 2015]

Based on "Copycat J. Alexander's Carrot Cake," from Jamie Lothridge of MyBakingAddiction.com. [Updated 19 April 2019 / 28 March 2024]

Meal No. 4036: Roasted Salmon on Caesar'd Power Greens

February 3rd was supposed to be a work day in Virginia, and while I’d told that school division we were unlikely to be able to proceed after all the snow days, it was a belated cancellation. And it cost me a night's charge in the hotel. But was I glad for extra time at home? Of course, and I celebrated with salmon Caesars for three of us at dinner. Served atop power greens, with some roasted sunflower seeds, and adorned with homemade creamy Caesar dressing, the salmon was tender and tasty, roasted to a perfect temp and adorned with its spice coating.

That Tuesday was almost pleasant, with better sunshine than predicted and temps approaching the mid-40s. I was back at it on the parking area, trying to clear away more of the dual winter storms' ice and snow pack.

The ice sheet from the January 25th sleet storm was still present but much more manageable. Don't misunderstand: easier, but still labor intensive. Each piece, slab, portion, chunk, or sliver: I was chipping away with a flatblade shovel or scooping with the well-worn snow shovel and walking the debris to the various piles either along the driveway or down on the street.

[Editor's Note: We managed to get another light snow covering overnight and through the morning on Thursday of last week, which diminished some of my progress on the parking lot, at least until the temps moderated.]

It's certainly no small compensation when the sun shines warmly and the precious pooch Sumner is willing to hang out with me when I take a break on the pavement.

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Based on "Easy Lemon Caesar Salad Dressing," by Kim Hardesty of lowcarbmaven.com.