Thanksgiving 2009

Perhaps because I was pretty focused on the kitchen and cooking to be done, I somehow managed not to take pictures of this year's Thanksgiving gathering. The good news is that the last of the four dining room chairs did arrive (I was worried because Boyle's Furniture is undergoing bankruptcy proceedings!) and so it was possible to set up for the anticipated 14 guests. (Two people didn't show up and didn't call, and I guess we didn't need what they'd promised to bring!) Anyway, the 12 who were here made it an amazing evening and a delightful dinner. I think we ended up sitting at the table almost four hours, breaking up the time with a couple of rounds of Taboo! between the good food and the decadent desserts.

It was a glorious gathering of friends and loved ones, a chosen family affair, served that evening in abundance and with joy and laughter around a warm-gathered table. My menu has varied little over the years, so I suspect what could be found from the 2014 Thanksgiving likely mirrors what was served that evening...now fifteen years in my rear view mirror as I try to capture it here. This was Meal No. 44 in the new kitchen addition.

Here's a shot of the table, set up and ready for the good crew who shared the evening meal together.

Meal No. 43: Fragrant Curry Chicken over Basmati

As we approached the end of November, and there was still more time for Barnette Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc., of Mocksville, NC, to correct its many blunders with the new HVAC system here, I found time to craft a simple supper for a quiet Tuesday night: frangrant curry chicken over basmati. Likely clipped from Parade, from a feature on uses for rotisserie chickens, if memory serves, this recipe has gone on to have mixed results at the Roediger House.

[Editor's Note: There is a pretty good stretch of Roediger House meals in the early days of the new kitchen for which there are no pictures and no blog entries. I still wanted them to be recorded, as long as the blog serves that purpose so well, so I made haphazard and random efforts in 2011, early 2016, and mid-2024 to at least post what those meals were on the proper dates.]

Meal No. 42: Pan-Seared Salmon with Green Peppercorn Cream Sauce

This was probably the first major cooking/meal bust in the new kitchen, although up till now I've been pretty happy with the recipes coming from the source I used. Nonetheless, it ended up being better to scrape this nasty sauce off the salmon and eat it for the great slab of fish it was, without the unnecessary and disappointing adornment.

[Editor's Note: There is a pretty good stretch of Roediger House meals in the early days of the new kitchen for which there are no pictures and no blog entries. I still wanted them to be recorded, as long as the blog serves that purpose so well, so I made some efforts both in 2011 and in early 2016 to at least post what those meals were on the proper dates.]

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"Green Peppercorn Sauce," from 400 Sauces, by Catherine Atkinson, Christine France, and Maggie Mayhew. Hermes House (2006, 2008), p. 69.

Meal No. 41: Center Cut Pork Loin Chops with Ginger-Soy-Shiitake Cream Sauce

A delicious dinner of cream sauce-covered pork loin chops with Gruyere potatoes and asparagus: what a Sunday night!

[Editor's Note: There is a pretty good stretch of Roediger House meals in the early days of the new kitchen for which there are no pictures and no blog entries. I still wanted them to be recorded, as long as the blog serves that purpose so well, so I made some efforts both in 2011 and in early 2016 to at least post what those meals were on the proper dates.]

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Recipe based on "Pan-Seared Tuna with Ginger-Shiitake Cream Sauce," from The Bon Appétit Cookbook by Barbara Fairchild, 2006, p. 398-399.

Meal No. 40: Chicken with Coronation Sauce

Once again, just before leaving town, I reached for the ease and tastiness of chicken with coronation sauce. It always pleases me but it also comes out just a little different each time.

[Editor's Note: There is a pretty good stretch of Roediger House meals in the early days of the new kitchen for which there are no pictures and no blog entries. I still wanted them to be recorded, as long as the blog serves that purpose so well, so I made some efforts both in 2011 and in early 2016 to at least post what those meals were on the proper dates.]

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"Coronation Sauce for Chicken," from 400 Sauces, by Catherine Atkinson, Christine France, and Maggie Mayhew. Hermes House (2006, 2008), p. 155.

Meal No. 39: Chicken Breasts in Sour Cream

Using a recipe shared with me by my dear friend Cindy Coulson, the Sunday night meal was chicken breasts in sour cream, along with Brussels sprouts au gratin and sweet onion corn bake.

[Editor's Note: There is a pretty good stretch of Roediger House meals in the early days of the new kitchen for which there are no pictures and no blog entries. I still wanted them to be recorded, as long as the blog serves that purpose so well, so I made some efforts both in 2011 and in early 2016 to at least post what those meals were on the proper dates.]

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"Sweet Onion Corn Bake," by Jeanette Travis of Fort Worth, TX. Published in Taste of Home, April/May 2003, p. 37-38.

Welcome to the Unlicensed Welder's Shop

Mr. Bruce Bailiff, City Inspector
City of Winston-Salem

Mr. Bailiff,

I wonder if I might elicit your help in a problem that has cropped up next door to my property, in the gravel lot of rented parking spaces which I believe is Tax Lot 0096 Lot 143. (It is the property from which some removed graffiti had been visible, about which we communicated last month.)

I am attaching pictures of the problem. The gentlemen who owns the old white and red Chevrolet truck has, for all practical purposes, set up a welding and metal fabricating shop working out of the back of his vehicle. I am attaching some pictures for you to get a better idea of what I'm talking about.

While I am limited to the degree to which I can launch a credible complaint merely based on the junkiness of his set-up, what is more to the point is this: he appears to be using a rented parking space in order to set up an outdoor welding and metal-working shop. Might there be City code which limits where such shops may be established or how rented parking lot spaces might be used?

I realize I will need to contact the Winston-Salem Police now in order to complain about the banging on metal and racket of tossing things on and off his truck (as late as 1:30 am on a weeknight or as early as 8 am on Saturday morning). But I thought this situation was due at least a review by the Inspections division in hopes that it might warrant further attention.

Thanks much for looking into it and I'll await further word.

-Raymond Jones





UPDATE: The gentleman has relocated to another pay parking lot on the other side of 4th Street. I can still see him but at least I can't hear him.

Halloween Party - Resurrected

OVERDUE UPDATE / October 31, 2009


After a year's hiatus during the renovation and addition project, the Roediger House Annual Halloween Party was able to resume. And it was another great time. Admittedly, there was a deliberate attempt to scale back just a bit...in 2007, the party had nearly 70 people, and it makes me nervous when it includes too many people in my house that I don't even know. Our spirits (ha ha!) weren't even dampened by the night's dreary, dreary rain and cold.