Meal No. 4060: Chicken Bacon Ranch Subs

Last Friday's meal for three was partially experimental, although the overall central feature had appeared here before in other forms. So that evening we sat down to chicken bacon spicy ranch subs, along with an abundance of aged cheddar and peppercorn kettle chips. An unscheduled chilly but full-sunshined afternoon bestowed a feeling of freedom and offered time for making a batch of bahn mi rolls, and they were imperfectly formed and a bit well-browned but perfectly tasty. I made a fresh batch of spicy ranch dressing and cooked up some more chile-rubbed bacon. So as not to overlook anything essential, I converted some remaining cherry tomatoes into tomato dice in hopes it might perch well enough in the smooshed sandwich as to help us look past the absence of beefsteak tomato slices, as it seemed essential to get this right in nearly every respect. (They ended up on the side, though.)

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Based loosely on "Chicken Bacon Ranch Baked Subs," from Brandi Skibinski of The Country Cook. [Published 09 March 2025]

"Bahn Mi Roll," from Natasha Syanova of Natasha's Baking. [Published 07 August 2023]

"Spicy Ranch Dressing," from Alexa Blay of Key to My Lime. [Published 09 March 2021]

"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.

Meal No. 4059: Chicken Katsu (A Japanese Fried Chicken Street Food)

It's been almost a decade since I made a much-loved recipe for chicken katsu, also known as Japanese fried chicken and often thought of as "street food." In the middle of the 2010s, it showed up here quite a few times, regularly accompanied by vinegar sushi rice and a soy-mirin-onion sauce. That was the direction I went this past Thursday night, much to the delight of the three of us in the Holly Avenue collective. Well-satisfied and happy to have time to bask in dinner's afterglow with ongoing conversation at the table, the testament to simple pleasure in good company was pronounced and convincing.

That warmth of fellowship seemed all the more fitting given how winter so pointedly reasserted itself that morning. After an exceptionally warm multi-day teaser of springtime, in rolled a bold front of cold and a turbulent upheaval of conflicted air masses, and then a protracted deluge of downpours followed the choppy winds of change. Ominous rolls of thunder came on forcefully enough that morning to rumble the sturdy timbers of this grand old manse, but still and steady was my most excellent Sumner as he cozied close and comfy along and across my outstretched legs.

Safely sequestered inside, the morning coffee was consumed and a decent start on my next Allende novel was achieved, but by late morning I had to switch over to PowerPoint presentation preparation thanks to an impending session in Richmond that I had high hopes for. Given the 20-degree tumble of temps from wake-up to yogurt snack, a little slideshow distraction was a useful occupation to avoid discomfiting awareness of meteorological misery.

Once the clouds moved out, we were graced with stunning sunshine and fully blue skies, and cruel harsh winds to counteract what might otherwise have been a glorious Winston-Salem afternoon. Still: the brilliant blooms on the lone surviving cherry tree were stunning against the fully blue heavens later that afternoon.

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"Japanese Fried Chicken," from Cuisine at Home, Issue 98, March/April 2013, p. 44-45.

"Vinegar Sushi Rice," from Cuisine at Home, Issue 98, March/April 2013, p. 45.

Meal No. 4058: Grilled Ribeyes

A three-item value-pak of nicely-priced beef steaks formed the heart of last Wednesday's plan for dinner: grilled ribeyes, seasoned only with salt and pepper, but cooked to a pretty solid medium-medium rare in spite of their thinner cut. Red-skinned potatoes were transformed into scallion-and-sour-cream mashed potatoes, and I made a red wine demiglace cream sauce to ride over top. It was a triumphant weeknight dinner, if I may say so, given how much I love warm weather and steak and the joy of good people around the table.

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This take on mashed red potatoes was inspired by "Sour Cream and Onion Smashed Potatoes," by María del Mar Sacasa. In Cook's Country, February/March 2009, p. 9.

Creamy Peppercorn Sauce loosely adapted from “Steak au Poivre," by Dawn Yanagihara. In Cook's Illustrated, September & October 2001, p. 8-9.

A Record-Breaking False Spring

The false spring that's played out over the last week was record-breaking on a couple of days, and as it came to its triumphant end on Wednesday before temps plunged down closer to normal, it at least tied the 1967 record of 86°F, at Piedmont Triad International Airport.

Sumner and Scarlett found it to be exceptionally pleasing for some front yard hang time, which means a couchant perch to watch for Sumner, and plenty of sniff and startle for Scarlett.

Here at the Roediger House, I only saw it get to 85°F, and the breezes were strong and it was delightful. The Bradford pear's short-lived blossoms are already being pushed aside by the emerging green leafing, and the lone surviving nearby cherry tree is in full strut.

A couple of the camellia bushes are also busting out in bloom, out behind the house, so I snagged a couple of photos to memorialize this stage of our seasonal progress.

Because I planted a staggered row of these bushes between two evergreen trees, I am once more testifying to poor landscape planning, and they will either have to be moved or I'll just have to dig 'em up and do away with them.

But for now, I appreciate their earnest coloring and gorgeous display as I peer out the kitchen window when I'm working at the sink.

Quanto Basta and Unneighborlyness

Oh, Quanto Basta: our longtime across-the-street Italian restaurant! Over the years, we have gotten to know not only the fine folks who work there but also plenty of the regular customers who park in front of the house and are warmly greeted by the pooches.

Last year, on a summer afternoon, while we were enjoying a pleasant sit under the huge Bradford pear tree in the side yard, I saw a couple walking past your back kitchen door where the washpit is. The gentleman liked the look of your mop left drying there from the weekend cleanup and decided to take it with him.

Just as I thought I might step out and confront him, I remembered when the amazing film students from the UNC School of the Arts asked to use your empty parking lot across from the house, while they were filming here on a Sunday and Monday. You know: days that the restaurant is closed. And you hard-heartedly said: “Nope!”

You were the only nearby property owners who were unwilling to help these film students out. So I thought to myself, as the gentleman with your mop exchanged glances with me: “Enjoy your fine new mop, sir!”

It’s a neighborhood. Either we are in this together, Quanto Basta...or we are not.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Toffee Cookies

'Tis true I was once a much more frequent baker of cookies, and it was regularly to the joy of the household and often to the benefit of educators with whom I might be working the next day. It's the latter consideration that got me busy with a batch of white chocoloate macadamia nut toffee cookies last Sunday morning, before I hit the road for a couple of days in Virginia in two different schools. Not exactly suitable for breakfast but that didn't stop me from the unrivaled delight of sampling the goods straight off the sheet pan on which they'd just been transformed by 13 minutes at the right temp. After so many, many years of thinking I could be content with the recipe from the package, I'm so glad Christina Marsigliese of Scientifically Sweet actually figured out what really could make these cookies perfect.

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Adapted from "THE BEST White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies," from Christina Marsigliese of ScientificallySweet.com. [Published 19 February 2025]

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]