Meal No. 53: The Christmas Feast

According to my 2009 calendar, we had quite a feast on this occasion for friends to gather in celebration of the holiday. Included were herb-roasted turkey breasts, corn pudding, layered green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, turkey gravy, and heartland sunflower bread. Oh, dessert was devilish, too: lemon buttermilk pie and chocolate chess pie.

[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. 52: Oven-Fried Ranch Picnic Chicken

As we moved through the joyous holiday season, it was time to try a new recipe: oven-friend ranch picnic chicken. Not great, in the scheme of things, but at least I now know!

[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.]

Santa Wasn't the Only Thing Coming Down the Chimney

Faithful blog followers may remember that I discovered, with the strange early March 2009 snowfall, that there was a problem with water getting in and running down the chimney of the new fireplace in the kitchen area. At that time, Pete LaRoque (my general contractor) said it turned out the counter-flashing had never been installed. So he fixed it.

But then Winston-Salem had a lot of rain in early June 2009, and darned if that chimney wasn't leaking again (there's a picture with the blog entry found with this link). So repairs were done again, I suppose. In this case, Pete said the counter-flashing was installed but had not been sealed.

Then came the remnants of Hurricane Ida around Veteran's Day 2009, and here's what resulted:

I called Pete, who could not fix it in the rain, but he promised to do so the following Saturday. (I was working in Richmond so I wasn't home for his visit to once again repair the leaking roof.)


Ah, but guess what came down the chimney on Christmas Day 2009...Yes, the roof was leaking once again. So now I'm not sure why it continues to be a problem, but we'll certainly need to see about getting it fixed. At this point, I think you all can understand my worry and my concern. There is still discolored sheetrock where it meets the brick of the chimney, and the dousing it got in November made it very, very soaked. I haven't checked out the insulation around it in the attic but will certainly be looking into that as well.

Meal No. 51: Belgian Waffles for Christmas Day

The simple breakfast to start off Christmas Day 2009 was Belgian Waffles.

[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. 50: Chicken with Coronation Sauce

The Monday evening meal was thanks to a recipe in a book given to me by my father-in-law: chicken with coronation sauce. Not originally created to be a warm sauce, but it sure is a fine dish when served over rice.

[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.]

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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. Recipe is a variation on "Coronation Chicken," created by Constance Spry and Rosemary Hume for the 1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

First Snow of Winter 2009-2010

Unusual for us to have a winter weather event of any note in December. At best, it's going to be an inconvenient icing or perhaps a small accumulation of sleet. The snow system that dumped two feet of snow on my friends in Charlottesville, VA, managed to fall long and hard and look really pretty in downtown Winston-Salem, but I think officially we only got maybe four inches. Traces of it are still hanging around, mind you, over two weeks later (it's been too darned cold in this town so far this winter).

But hey: it was enough to gather up on a roasting pan placed on the upstairs balcony, and I definitely whipped up some snow cream (or, as some call it who were raised elsewhere: "snow ice cream"). Here's a picture of the adorable Amy Williamson enjoying a bowl of it while cuddled up in my Aunt Lee's afghan on the hearth of the fireplace.

With much the same crew on hand last night since Friday was when the snow was falling, we enjoyed 2 x 2 soup for our supper, which was Meal No. 49 in the kitchen addition that was completed back in the spring of this year.

Hailstorms and Gutters

OVERDUE FALL UPDATE / September & October 2009

One heckuva hailstorm suddenly blew up on downtown Winston-Salem at the end of September, before I'd had a chance to get the "movie screen" down from the outdoor theatre set-up. It played holy heck with the support poles, bending them back almost 90 degrees. This came into play later in the fall when the remnants of Hurricane Ida blew through, because it took the whole set-up and laid it down on the parking area. (I've got to do something about that, too.)




Here's an update on the update: an ambulance service has taken up tenancy in the building behind the house, and they've put up a bright new security lot where their ambulances park (with the tell-tale "beep-beep-beep" every morning at 7 am as they back into place). Ordinarily, I might be pleased to have the extra light on my vehicles, but there was also the unpleasant discovery with the October movie night that the light spills badly onto the movie screen. That's not so good.




At the end of October, the gutter installation crew finally came back to make some adjustments. There'd been problems with overflow, particularly coming off the valleys where the one-story kitchen addition and the new second story spaces converge. There had also been a seam that was not sealed.

Meal No. 48: Brunswick Stew & Biscuits

Befitting the weather at the time, as winter approached, the Tuesday evening meal was brunswick stew and buttermilk biscuits, with friend and colleague Bradley Phillis once more at table.

[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. 47: Beef Roast in Wine Sauce

The good meals continued in succession, and on this Monday night, the Roediger House enjoyed a feast of beef roast stewed in wine, along with Flying Biscuit biscuits. Oh, there was scrumptious dessert, as well: kahlua cake and eggnog ice cream, all homemade!

[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. 46: Pasta with Sausage, Basil, and Mustard

On a Sunday evening, with the bonus treat of a visit from dear UNC friend Al Calarco, the supper served up was pasta with Italian sausage, basil, and dijon mustard cream sauce. It's a straightforward dish that generally pleases the palates, although i guess it was a gamble to offer such a menu to a man of such refined Italian tastes! Ever gracious and good-natured, though, Al put on a good face about it.

[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.]

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"Pasta with Sausage, Basil, and Mustard," by Nigel Slater and published in Food & Wine, September 2002.

Meal No. 45: Taco Pie

On a fine Saturday night, with friend, colleague, and former student Bradley Phillis in attendance, it was a chance to try out a not-very-good recipe for taco pie, which I think came from the Bisquick box, frankly. That's all I got, but that's what we had.

[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.]