Meal No. 4111: 2 x 2 Soup in Bread Bowls

With the return of Chris (a UNC chum and fellow Argonaut of the Order of the Golden Fleece) back on September 23rd, the occasion fell alongside a fall-like rainy spell with temps no higher than the upper 50s. Soup was a natural fit for that nasty weather, and I thought Chris might like to shake it up a bit with something served in a bread bowl. I went with 2 x 2 soup, so named because its ingredient list dwells mostly in two-fers: 2 pounds of ground beef, 2 cans of minestrone, 2 cans of Rotel, and 2 cans of kidney beans. The outlier is the 1 pound of Velveeta that gets mixed in at the end of the cooking time until it melts into a creamy cheesy smoothness before ladling into the waiting bread bowls. We enjoyed ourselves while we enjoyed this dinner.

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"2 x 2 Soup," from various sources.

Soup Bread Bowls from "My Mother's Peasant Bread," by Alexandra Stafford of AlexandraCooks.com. [07 November 2012 / Updated 11 February 2026]

Meal No. 4110: Pa Arley's Tacos

In a rare move, I brought back Pa Arley's tacos Friday a week ago. It's how my father-in-law liked to make 'em: toss some oil into a skillet and then, one at a time, fry corn tortillas until they are nice and golden, adding near the end a Kraft Single to begin melting just as each shell is pulled out and set aside to drain. From recent meals, I had baked chicken thighs and grilled ribeye, so I taco'd them up in a different skillet using an approach I found that afternoon online, from Beth Sachs of EffortlessFoodie.com. I diced onion and tomato, pulled out some reserved lime crema, added some chopped lettuce and shredded cheese, and left an uncheesed fried tortilla for a top cover for thems what wanted it that way. For something I sort of threw together to use up the leftovers, it turned out to be pretty impressive overall.

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Adapted from "Easy Leftover Chicken Tacos," by Beth Sachs of EffortlessFoodie.com. [Updated 23 February 2026]

Meal No. 4109: Chicken Fried Rice

A recent gathering of the Holly Avenue collective on a stormy Thursday evening last week featured a necessary menu choice, thanks to the accumulation of leftover rice from a couple of meals earlier in the week. It proved judicious to whip up a wok of chicken fried rice, with its marvelous mix of flavors and its homage (and improvement upon) Chinese take-out. I always find the folks at Woks of Life to be dependable and accurate guides for these cooking exploits, and that evening was no different.

We did go for a spot of dessert afterwards: a milk chocolate puff pastry braid with a sweet vanilla glaze on top. The ease of a refrigerated dough and a well-stocked chocolate baking bar corner of the cabinet conspired to make this one a reality, and it turned out pretty pleasing to us.

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Based on "Classic Chicken Fried Rice" [Published 26 October 2015 / Updated 04 May 2023] and "How to Velvet Chicken for Stir-Fry" [Published 24 March 2020 / Updated 27 June 2022], from Bill Leung of TheWoksofLife.com.

Supplemental Stir-Fry Sauce inspired by "5 Easy Sauce Recipes that Will Make Everything You Eat Taste Way Better," by Sophia Roe on Well + Good. [Published 09 January 2019]

Milk Chocolate Bar Braid based on "Chocolate Almond Braid," from Buzzfeed's Tasty.

Meal No. 4108: Grilled Ribeye Steaks

The somewhat decent sale (relatively speaking) on a value-pak of ribeye steaks helped make the call for my supper plan on Wednesday evening of last week. It was the usual night for dear friend Amy to be here, and we are accustomed to all kinds of meals together, from simple and cheap to more involved or even a nudge pricey. But it was well worth it to serve up those generous portions of beef once the grill had done its justice to them. We also had baked potatoes with butter (and sour cream, if you're into that sort of thing), and a side salad topped with some homemade creamy Caesar dressing. It was definitely not the kind of meal that leaves you hungry afterwards!

And yes: Sumner took up his preferred position at the feet of our guest, comfortably tucked in close at hand and with his head resting across the iron frame of the kitchen table.

Meal No. 4107: General Tso's Chicken

I reckon I was feeling pretty adventurous on Tuesday of last week, because I decided it was high time to try to make General Tso's chicken. There was just enough boneless skinless chicken thighs, so I got busy making the sauce and marinade and dry coating and got the skillet set up with plenty of cooking oil. The fried morsels turned out pretty decent, if lacking a bit in flavor, but that's why you have a rich dark flavorful sauce to toss them in afterwards. I was pleased with the result and even thought the rice steamed up perfectly to provide a bed for the General Tso centerpiece.

We had us a bit of a mid-May heatwave, with several days of temps in the 90s. By last Thursday, though, a wet weather pattern with light storms rolled in. Temps dropped way down and gave us a break from the unexpected summer-styled bake.

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"The Best General Tso's Chicken," from J. Kenji López-Alt, Culinary Consultant for SeriousEats.com. [Published 14 April 2014 / Updated 19 September 2026]

Key Lime Pie Bars

Monday night's fine supper for the Shenandoah superintendents was not really complete until dessert was served. On that evening, I brought out the terrific key lime pie bars that are always so gladly received by guests, and that night offered no deviation from the norm. The Biscoff crust serves as a counterpunch to the tart-sweet lime filling, and the creamy stabilized sweetened whipped cream on top helps smooth it all out. The bar sizes were generous, perhaps, but that generated no discontent amongst the partakers.

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Adapted from "Key Lime Pie Bars," from Christina Marsigliese of ScientificallySweet.com. [Published 17 July 2023 / Modified 28 May 2024]

"Stabilized Whipped Cream," from Alyssa Rivers of TheRecipeCritic.com. [Published 02 November 2023]

Meal No. 4106: Baked Chicken Thighs & Two Sides

After I'd started down a particular prepping path, I pulled out my packages of chicken and discovered they were bone-in skin-on chicken thighs, rather than the boneless skinless breasts I had thought were in the meat drawer. So I reset my machinations and turned our menu into something ordinary and yet still delicious: baked seasoned chicken thighs along with herbed roasted whole green beans, plus fresh-steamed white rice with a savory gravy to cover it with. It certainly wasn't fancy but it suited the four of us at the dinner table last Monday night.

Groundhog Vanquishing No. 1

Oh, gentle readers: this post comes with a warning if you are on the more skittish side of the natural world's cruelty line. But the RoHo blog favors full documentation of all things Roediger House, and last Monday offered up a new encounter with wildlife for the resident pooches.

It proved distracting, while sitting at the kitchen table in deep conversation with visiting friends and colleagues Donna and Ebbie, to see a groundhog traipsing across the neighboring gravel lot. But when it came back over to the backyard here, it brought back to mind the trouble caused by the one that took up residence in the crawl space right beneath us. Initially all I could do was corner it under my Camry.

I summoned for backup in the form of two eager household hunters and they were more than equal to the task. As that potentially pesky invader and destructive digger tried to bolt from under the car, Sumner was on him in a flash, and Scarlett was close behind. And yes: I was a proud papa punching up the camera app on his phone to document the battle royale. The rascal put up a good fight but he was not equal to the double-teaming of our yard guards. I will spare you the final photo of him but you may depend on the fact that he is now a 6-feet-under-ground-hog.

Groundhog sightings ain't the most regular part of life on this cozy quarter acre, but they have occurred from time to time (in 2022 and 2024). With the tag-team duo to dominate him, this particular groundhog will not be making camp under my house like one of his relations.

No Doubt: Thomases Hit the RoHo!

You'd have to harken back to those halcyon glory days of college life at Carolina to trace the roots of my friendship with Tim Thomas. We next found ourselves laboring a decade later towards our respective PhDs at the University of Virginia, and we enjoyed many a visit once he had the generous foresight to invite me to offer training when he was an administrator in Shenandoah County. He and his wife Laura and their younger daughter CeCe stopped here last Saturday morning on their way to the North Carolina mountains, and the timing could not have been better, given that Ebbie and Donna were here for their regular Camel City pilgimage.

Such a terrific visit for the whole crew of us, which had to be captured in the usual picture-taking spot in the front foyer. And it seemed like we ought to have a breakfast-y sweet treat to support our gathering at the table for visiting and conversation (even though Donna and Ebbie had already brought great goodies!) but then too did the Thomases arrive with additional treats from their stop at Camino Bakery just up the street. From my own oven I brought out a lemon loaf with a sweet lemon glaze, which generally has proven to be a hit here when I've been smart enough to do exactly what the recipe tells me. As Mondays go, this one was for the record books, all around.

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

Meal No. 4105: Caesar-Dressed Spring Mix with Roasted Salmon

Sunday evening was the start of the latest visit from the marvelous Shenandoah Valley superintendents I worked with and then also befriended over the last quarter century. Donna and Ebbie have brought joy, delight, and tasty goodies with them on their journeys down to Winston-Salem these last few years, and I'm so very grateful to have them in my life. Their arrival meal was a reasonable hit, methinks: roasted spiced salmon atop spring mix along with creamy Caesar dressing. Dinnertime was the beginning of our non-stop talk and chat session, but we did pause to enjoy some red velvet-cream cheese swirl ice cream after supper!

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

Meal No. 4104: Wildly Ambiguous Chicken Philly Cheesesteaks

Very little about Saturday evening's supper for four would be recognizable as a traditional Philly cheesesteak, even though it attempted to take varying inspirations from that iconic sandwich. For instance: the protein was chicken, a combination of grilled spiced chicken (leftover from the previous evening) and some freshly pan-seared thin-cut breast strips. I mixed red and Vidalia onions as well as two strongly-flavored red bell peppers in seasonings and flavorings. The obscene cheese sauce was a combination of Velveeta and cheddar. We tried to manage it all on brioche hamburger buns. And we all seemed to enjoy them just fine.

Speaking of enjoying, this is certainly Sumner's time of the year. What I get from him throughout the day is a plaintive stare that says: "The sun is shining outside, not in the kitchen." And that beautiful blonde boy is always ready to use that gorgeous coat of his to soak up as fully as possible all the warm rays as they tumble down upon this great green earth.

But it's more than that: it's just being outside. After dinner and clean-up, when I thought we'd head upstairs to finish out the evening, he made clear he had other ideas. There just might be people coming back to their cars after a dinner at nearby Quanto Basta, or maybe he just needs to stretch out and feel the evening breeze and the spring grass grazing his belly.

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Philly Cheesesteaks based on a combination of ideas from:

• "Chicken Philly Cheese Steak," by Brandi Burgess of Aunt Bee's Recipes. Posted 11 September 2014.
• "Philly Chicken Cheesesteak Sandwich," from the Creole Contessa. Posted 30 July 2013.
• "Homemade Chicken Cheesesteaks," by Jessica Merchant of How Sweet It Is. Posted 05 September 2012.

Gerry's Multi-Berry Cobbler

The sweet finisher last Friday night for the four of us at dinner was a fresh warm batch of Gerry's berry cobbler, this time with a mix of blackberries and raspberries. I'd not gotten an appropriate ice cream made so we had to muddle through it with an abundant dose of sweet vanilla glaze. That worked out in our favor.

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Adapted from "Gerry's Blackberry Cobbler," by Baritone Bob. In allrecipes, Summer 2024, p. 43. Also found online at AllRecipes.com. [Updated 14 January 2022]

Meal No. 4103: Grilled Chicken Salads with White Balsamic Dressing

Having found it so acceptable last week when I made it for the first time, I had to make up a fresh batch of creamy white balsamic dressing this past Friday. Along with it, I grilled a mess of seasoned chicken breasts in the glorious late afternoon sunshine (another picture-perfect spring day!), which were then diced to go atop our greens. It seemed a fine time to take the extra step of finely slicing strips of carrots along with thin discs of cucumber. It proved a hearty offering that was not heart-offending. That suggests victory all 'round.

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Adapted from "Creamy Balsamic Dressing,” from Ann Fulton of Fountain Avenue Kitchen. [Published 11 May 2016]

Meal No. 4102: Filet Mignon

The rare extravagance of a lovely slab of filet mignon graced the dinner table Thursday night, cooked after seasoning to a perfect temp in the sous vide immersion circulator and then pan-seared to finish it. With some of the previous evening's remaining roasted sweet potatoes, that huge chunk of beef did not require any further accompaniment. And I suppose I'll be frank about choosing this pricey move in the current economic uncertainty: this year's Costco rewards certificate for last year's expenditures put me in a bit of a compensatory celebratory mood and I decided to treat it like a pot of free money. When I made that over-the-top shopping run where it was mostly about essentials to stock up on, I let a package of beef tenderloin steaks be the cherry on top.

Maybe there was another reason that celebration felt in order: recent UNCSA grad Hoffman West was in town for the premier of his final School of Filmmaking project, titled "Sick & Twisted." An incredibly special and personal project made in tribute to and in memory of a schoolmate and fellow filmmaker, it was a fantastic production in all respects. Hoffman (who directed it) and his co-producer Syd mastered the art of honoring an inspiring trailblazer who left so many of his fellow sojourners with the blessing of having known him, but even more so for having witnessed how vision and passion co-conspire when gifted hands give fully over to them.

Meal No. 4101: Boneless Pork Chops

Wednesday was even more special than usual this week. Not only was it the mid-week supper reunion with dear friend Amy, but it also was enhanced by the welcome arrival of Hank West, UNC School of the Arts School of Filmmaking Class of 2025, who was willing to take us up on our offer of a place to stay when he was in town. Hank and his team were the first UNCSA students to spot and then film at the Roediger House, November a year ago. At dinner time, we loaded our plates with pan-seared boneless pork chops (cooked to a perfect temp in the sous vide), roasted spiced sweet potatoes,roasted hoisin green beans, and roasted spiced broccoli. Fortunately, we still had red velvet cream cheese swirl homemade ice cream for dessert, so we were all pretty full by the time Hank and I tackled multiple rounds of pool.

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"Roasted Sweet Potatoes," from Chelsea Lords of ChelseasMessyApron.com. [Published 04 March 2019]

Meal No. 4100: Chicken Salad Melts

Two big ol' split chicken breasts looked tempting enough at the grocery that I brought 'em home, seasoned them, and then tucked them into vacuum-sealed bags along with fresh sprigs of rosemary and thyme and sliced lemon. The sous vide took it from there and, just before dinner, I deboned and diced them to go into a chicken salad. That's all necessary if one has decided it's an evening to take old hamburger buns and create baked chicken salad melts for supper.

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Chicken was prepped and cooked based on "The Food Lab's Complete Guide to Sous Vide Chicken Breast," by J. Kenji López-Alt, former culinary director of SeriousEats.com. [Updated 28 May 2020]

Meal No. 4099: Creamy White Balsamic on Salad with Chicken

Monday’s meal was the final resting place for the remaining chicken shawarma from the evening before: atop salads with a tasty new dressing. Over the weekend, I made a creamy white balsamic version that took its cues from a salad I’ve enjoyed on my two trips to Chopt to meet up with a former colleague. This homemade version is a keeper.

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Adapted from "Creamy Balsamic Dressing,” from Ann Fulton of Fountain Avenue Kitchen. [Published 11 May 2016]

Red Velvet Ice Cream with Cream Cheese Swirl

When I get a little carried away, it sometimes creates the kind fortune of more of a good thing. With heavy cream needing to be used up, I ignored my recent problematic morning weigh-ins and put together a double batch of red velvet cream cheese swirl ice cream, first served last Sunday night. Just sweet enough, a welcome hint of chocolate, the tang of the buttermilk, the richness of the egg-and-cream base, all in the vibrant alternating red-and-white color scheme of a glorious scoop (or three) of ice cream to die for. (Or of. I overdid it yet again.)

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"Red Velvet Ice Cream with Cream Cheese Frosting Swirl," from Jocelyn Delk Adams of GrandbabyCakes.com. [Published 19 July 2022 / Updated 12 August 2024]

Cream Cheese Swirl based on "Red Velvet Ice Cream with Cream Cheese Frosting Swirl," from Annie Marshall of Annie's Eats, a food blog. Accessed May 2015. [Published 08 February 2013]

Meal No. 4098: Chicken Shawarma Wraps with Hot Honey Ranch

Mother's Day was pretty gorgeous in Winston-Salem, and maybe I ought to have planned on grilling out to take advantage of the perfect afternoon. But instead Sunday night’s supper for the Holly Avenue Collective was built around a recipe for chicken shawarma shared by my UNC chum Kelly. I stuck with the sheet pan, after a suitable marination, for its initial cooking. I sautéed diced onions and peppers and added bacon and baby spinach leaves. All of this got rolled, inexpertly, into a wrap for an especially messy tackle. A hot honey ranch gave it a luscious lubrication and made more likely the oozing trails that slipped down our forearms.

That night, there was a small portion of the homemade dog food left after I scooped out Sumner's portion, and it went into Scarlett's bowl with a supplement of her regular dry food. She dug into it like it was catnip. All I could catch was a mouthy blur of motion as she attacked it.

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"Oven-Roasted Chicken Shawarma," by Sam Sifton of New York Times Cooking. [Updated 23 January 2024]

Adapted from "Chicken Bacon Hot Honey Ranch Quesadillas," by Nick Nesgoda of Burnt Pellet BBQ. [Posted 10 October 2025]

Meal No. 4097: Sheet Pan Balsamic Chicken Thighs

Last Friday found me starting my day with an early morning trek over to Chapel Hill for the annual Commencement Breakfast of the Order of the Golden Fleece. Then, I dashed over to Raleigh to pop in for a series of classroom observations with a former graduate student from my days on faculty at Wake Forest University. By my late afternoon return, the dinner prep window was somewhat narrow, and neighbor Jonathan was going to be joining in. Ah, but a new recipe for sheet pan balsamic chicken thighs was a speedy choice that still proved itself worthy of our plates. We also had roasted broccoli florets and a somewhat botched pan of roasted garlic quinoa.

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”Baked Boneless Chicken Thighs,” from Chelsea Lords of Chelsea’s Messy Apron. [Updated 22 December 2025]

Meal No. 4096: Linton Hopkins's Bucatini Carbonara

Last Thursday's supper was a happy reliance on a faithful stand-by recipe: bucatini carbonara, which I've been making here for just shy of 15 years. I thickened the cream more than I realized and wish I had taken a moment to smooth it out with some more of the pasta water, but I was in a bit of a hurry with getting supper to the table because a happy event was going to pull me out of the house after mealtime.

That's because Thursday night was the fifth and final night over the last week for the UNC School of the Arts to screen their year-end student films. Oh my, the incredible quality of their projects really just astound me, and yet it's a level of quality I've just come to expect. I had a chance to meet the Dean of the School of Filmmaking and then she kindly gave me a lovely shout-out as she started to welcome folks and introduce the films once we got to showtime.

As we let out just past 8:30 that evening, and I headed to my car, I spied a pretty gorgeous dusk view of the city skyline and took a moment to snap a couple of shots. Timing can be everything.

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Adapted from "Bucatini Carbonara," by Linton Hopkins. In Food & Wine, July 2009.

Homemade Dog Food for the Ailing Sumner

Last Wednesday night, Sumner was up about every two hours thanks to some diarrhea, so that meant I needed to get into the kitchen on Thursday to make him a healing batch of healthy homemade dog food. The crock pot makes this a lot easier but I did have to run to the grocery to stock up on the fresh key ingredients that make it so good to him. And did that ailing rascal scarf it down like there was no tomorrow? Heck yeah. My boy loves him some homemade dog food, which is a rare and special treat...and also just what the doctor ordered to help him get back to rights.

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Based on "DIY Homemade Dog Food," by Chungah Rhee of the Damn Delicious blog. [Published 27 April 2015 /Updated 19 September 2025]

Based on "Easy Crockpot Dog Food," by Chungah Rhee of the Damn Delicious blog. [Published 13 May 2015 / Updated 08 July 2024]

Meal No. 4095: 2 x 2 Soup

This past Wednesday was cool and drizzly for much of the day, and that's all it takes for me to zero in on a soup selection for supper. A package of ground beef in the fridge spoke loudest at the moment of decision, and I thought it might not be a terrible idea to resurrect the more rare 2 x 2 soup that used to be in regular rotation here. It's not hard to throw together, depends heavily on canned goods from the cabinet, and includes the indulgence of a pound of Velveeta. It was Amy's mid-week visit, and having enough to send home to her hubby felt like a favored option.

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"2 x 2 Soup," from various sources.

Lemon Texas Sheet Cake

After supper last Tuesday night, I had a dessert ready to be served: lemon Texas sheet cake. I'd never made this before and feel like I stumbled onto the perfect recipe for it, given how wonderfully it turned out. But man! This is better when there's a crowd, because it is a full cookie sheet pan of deliciousness. Moist and tender, fully lemoned, and a delight to consume, the Roediger House is pleased for this new recipe to join its treasured stable of goodies.

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"Lemon Texas Sheet Cake," by Brooke Homec of The Salted Sweets. [Published 18 March 2024 / Updated 05 February 2025]

Meal No. 4094: Cinco de Mayo Tacos

I keep having to dig into the pantry stores for supper because I've not been making my usual grocery runs. And since Tuesday was Cinco de Mayo, it seemed reasonable to try to get into the spirit of things. This led me to try sheet pan tacos, with a choice either of grilled spiced chicken and black beans, or Cuban pulled pork. A fresh batch of lime crema made it all come together.

It turned into a gorgeous spring day, with plenty of time outside with the pups. But that proved to be exceptionally upsetting to a pair of mockingbirds, who were flitting and hollering and occasionally even swooping down at the dogs. Eventually, it dawned on me as to why, and when I finally spotted their bedraggled and flightless offspring along the driveway wall, I braved their disdain to snag a shot or two.

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"Easy Lime Crema," from Lisa Bryan of DownShiftology.com. [Published 22 April 2020]

Meal No. 4093: Grilled Chicken Caesar Salads

Monday's meal was built on the back of Sunday's, when I was left with plenty of extra seasoned grilled chicken, the last of my hearts of Romaine, and enough creamy Caesar dressing to douse it all. Grilled chicken Caesar salad suited the supper-takers, on a late gorgeous spring afternoon.

Meal No. 4092: Grilled Chicken Caesar Wraps

It seems sort of quick to return to grilled chicken Caesar wraps, based on meal numbering. But with my school-year-ending work travel to finish out the month of April, I’ve not been home to cook. The good memory of that first trial was tainted by a fear that beginner’s luck was key to that previous success, and Sunday night was my test. I passed, once again with weak technique but also with flying colors.

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