City Sunrise

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the upstairs porch early one morning and caught this shot of dawn breaking over our fair city:

Birdshot(s)

I brought out the telephoto lens recently when I was taking a break during yard work and captured a few shots of the birds in action:

Meal No. 1537: Deviled Chicken Thighs

Last night's scrumptious dinner was a return to deviled chicken thighs, which is so simple and so good. I did try yet another version of mac and cheese, though. This version was thick and cheesy and incorporated sautéed shallots and smoked gouda...and best of all, it's skillet-based. I failed to add a vegetable as a second side, and I still couldn't finish all of my dinner.

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

Skillet Mac & Cheese based on "BLT Mac & Cheese," in Cuisine at Home, Issue No. 117, May/June 2016, p. 60-61.

Peach Nehi Ice Cream

I mentioned in yesterday's blog post that the beef tacos on Navajo frybread were more than the crew could handle. What I didn't mention, though, is that we did manage to save a little room for the extra treat of Peach Nehi ice cream, which I made while out cutting the yard..

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"Peach Nehi Ice Cream," as detailed in the Southern Living Community Blogs online. Another version that incorporates pureed canned peaches and a little more sugar can be found here.

Meal No. 1536: Beef Tacos on Navajo Frybread

It's been not quite a month since I last made these, but it was a birthday dinner request, which I feel obliged to honor. For some reason, the tacos were just too huge for the whole crew of us, and no plates ended up clean.

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"Indian Frybread and Indian Tacos" and "Crispy Beef Tacos," by Hilah Johnson. From HilahCooking.com.

Meal No. 1535: Beef Tenderloin Steak Sandwich

It's about time I tried something creative with the delicious leftover beef tenderloin, and tonight I invented a sandwich that sounded good in my head...and that tasted good on my tongue. This was a slab of roasted beef tenderloin on an onion roll with Swiss cheese, caramelized Vidalia onions, roasted red pepper strips, and a Creole mustard garlic aioli. It was darned good.

Meal No. 1534: Slumber Party Breakfast

With nine folks sleeping over last night, I figured I'd better make two pots of coffee and also something we could all grub on. The French yogurt cake was a no-brainer:

But I'd also been wanting to try another one of Buzzfeed's Tasty Video recipes:

This was cinnamon roll french toast bake, and it was only sort of okay. I've tried it now, but it won't likely reappear here.  I make better french toast than that, and I definitely make better cinnamon rolls than that.

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"French Yogurt Cake," by Andrew Knowlton. In Bon Appétit, May 2012, p. 30.

"Cinnamon Roll French Toast Bake," from the snappy little recipe video folks at Buzzfeed's Tasty.

Meal No. 1533: The Grand Holiday Feast for a Tenth Anniversary

Clockwise, from left: sweet potato casserole,
green bean casserole, apple and bacon stuffing,
turkey with gravy, roasted beef tenderloin
with horseradish sauce

With ten folks around the table, and two others who had to come later in the evening, it was a great night of feasting celebration at the Roediger House. There was a 10th anniversary for a very special couple and I wanted to go all out for the dinner party. So I pulled up the standard holiday meal menu and went to town with it, leaving us all perhaps uncomfortably full by evening's end.

Roasted Beef Tenderloin

Herb-Roasted Turkey Breast

Apple and Bacon Stuffing

Green Bean Casserole

Mookie, in the lead

The sweet conclusion to the evening repast was an apple cake with caramel glaze, a testament to Garrett's baking prowess.

The evening became another grand slumber party, with pool and music and laughter and dancing, with only a limited few insisting that it was necessary to act one's age.

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"Oven-Roasted Turkey Breast," Betty Crocker: Holiday Entrées, Sides, Brunches, & More, November 2001, p. 22-23.

"Beef Tenderloin in Wine Sauce" (p. 296) and "Spicy Horseradish Sauce" (p. 295), from The All-New Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook. Compiled and Edited by Julie Fisher Gunter. Oxmoor Press (2006).

"Layered Green Bean Casserole," from my sister Allison in Rossville, Indiana.

"Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping," from Southern Living Slow-Cooker Cookbook,  (Oxmoor House, 2006), p. 234-235.

"Cornbread Stuffing with Apples and Bacon," from David Venable. From "In The Kitchen with David," on QVC.com.

Meal No. 1532: Not So Cajun Chicken

With a good full week of work all wrapped up, including three days of teaching and two days of observations with administrators, mixed in with several days of afternoon and evening yard work, I found myself ready for a break on this fine cool and rainy Friday night. The meals have been simple lately (or eaten out!), but the choice tonight was a long-time sentimental favorite: not so cajun chicken.

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"Not So Cajun Chicken," a dish I regularly enjoyed at Crowley's Old Time Favorites restaurant and bar on Medlin Drive in Raleigh, NC. Credit to Jimmy Randolph for helping track it down. (Another version of the recipe can be found here.)

Meal No. 1531: Braised Chicken and Brussels Sprouts

Last night's dinner was a recipe shared by Donna Whitley-Smith and it was delicious as always with the chicken cooked spot-on: braised chicken over Brussels sprouts and shallots, with some of the remaining smashed sweet potatoes from a few days ago.

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"Braised Chicken and Brussels Sprouts," in Everyday Food, Issue 97, November 2012, p. 22.

Meal No. 1530: Eggs on Toast

It's landscaping season, and with my work schedule still full, I'm having to get out into the yard during the precious few hours after I get home and before dark sets in. So I'm not being all that active in the kitchen, which led to last night's quickly thrown-together dinner of scrambled eggs on toast with a couple of tall glasses of cold milk.

Tiller Stealer

Back in the spring of 2012, I bought a tiller since I was finally ready to start giving the landscaping around the Roediger House some serious attention:

I definitely put it to good use for those first few years of active yard management. Then, in August of 2015, in between my travels, I came across a strange pile of clay and dirt on the front steps coming up from the street:

Soon thereafter, I happened to give this area in my side yard a double-take:

It is noteworthy for what is absent: that's where the tiller had been sitting for months, under a cover. Guess whoever took it just went down the front steps with it! The day after discovering this, I went around to the two downtown pawn shops but had no luck in finding it again. I reckon it could have gone anywhere. And since it happened when I was on the road and therefore I didn't discover it immediately, my outdoor security cameras had already begun taping over the footage on the DVR that would have clued me in to what happened.

That tiller has joined a wheelbarrow, an extension ladder, and a basketball goal that folks have helped themselves to from my yard!

Cookies for a Project CRISS Training

I am starting out my week with a very fine group of coaches and mentors here in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. We are engaged in a Project CRISS training together, and they are responding really well to it.

For our second day of the training, I figured I'd take them a batch of goodies, and the choice for that was white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, which I made this evening. My sample from the first ones to come out of the oven led me to believe I might have overcooked them...they were a little dry. But the rest were more on target, thanks to a reduced cooking time adjustment.

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"Premier White Chocolate and Macadamia Pieces Cookies," from Hershey's Mauna Loa. Found online at http://www.maunaloa.com/recipes/cookies.asp.

Meal No. 1529: New Year's Day Meatballs

For the Sunday night meal this evening, I went with the Jones family favorites of New Year's Day meatballs and company mashed potatoes, along with seasoned green beans. I was pretty exhausted and, frankly, a bit hungover (since Jay Brown and I stayed up till 5:30 am and played nearly 30 games of pool last night!), so the dinner needed to be doable. It was delicious as well!

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"New Year's Day Meatballs," from Carol Fultz and shared with me by my sister Allison Jones Holden of Rossville, IN (2001).

"Company Mashed Potatoes," a Jones family favorite.

Meal No. 1528: Lamb and Mushroom Meat Loaf

On this fine Saturday night, it is a pleasure for the Roediger House to welcome back Jay Brown for an overnight visit. Jay is my oldest friend in the world; we grew up across the street from one another in Buies Creek, and we were roommates in a cool old downtown apartment in Raleigh back in my teaching days. He and his wife Tracy are headed to the mountains to celebrate their sixth wedding anniversary, and he came as far as Winston a day ahead so we could have some time to hang out.

On the dinner menu: the Tupelo Honey Cafe recipe for lamb and mushroom meat loaf, along with smashed sweet potatoes and green beans. It was a fine meal for us and really hit the spot before we headed upstairs for beer and pool.

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"Lamb and Multi-Mushroom Meat Loaf" (p. 150) and "Smashed Sweet Potatoes" (p. 128), in Tupelo Honey Cafe: Spirited Recipes from Asheville's New South Kitchen, by Elizabeth Sims with Chef Brian Sonoskus. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC, 2011.

Meal No. 1527: Breakfast for Dinner

Meal No. 1526: Chicken with Coronation Sauce

Taxes did not prove to be taxing this year, and while I'd cleared three days this week to get 'em done, I ended up being finished by mid-morning today. What a relief! So I was in a relaxed and casual mood late this afternoon when I looked up through the dirty window with the bird feeder at it, and I spied a goldfinch couple enjoying its meager remains. That's the first sighting of the season, and it always makes me a bit giddy.

For dinner, with three at the table, the bowls were filled high with delicious chicken with coronation sauce over basmati rice. We all had our fill, and there was even a portion to send home.

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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.

Chapel Hill Night Lights

Back before Christmas, with the incentive of some folks who were new to the Roediger House coming over for a dinner party, I got motivated to hang up three prints from my Chapel Hill days in the pool table area in the recently-renovated attic.

Two of those framed prints are "Chapel Hill Night Lights" posters, made by my friend and fraternity brother Walt Boyle. They feature (mostly) matchbooks from a whole host of restaurants, bars, and other Chapel Hill attractions. He very kindly invited me to work with him on the second edition of it (the one on the right), which was a very cool experience. Walt is incredibly talented and he has a particular eye for design and detail. These are awesome keepsakes and I'm glad they now adorn either side of the main gable window looking out the rear of the attic space.

Meal No. 1525: Grilled Porterhouse Steaks

Tonight the porterhouse steaks were grilled almost exactly right and the french fries were crispy compliments to the meal. I had saved a bit of cookie dough so there were even fresh-baked Doubletree-style cookies to finish it all off.

Sweets and Goodies of Early April

Some delightful new friends have moved in down the street from the Roediger House, and on Sunday night Deborah and Alaina fixed up a fine meal and were gracious and fun hosts. I figured I'd better make a contribution to the evening and took down a loaf of French yogurt cake.

Then, today and tomorrow, as I conduct a training in instructional leadership for assistant principals here in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, I got a hankering to make this fine crew a batch of Doubletree-style chocolate chip cookies. Once again, I'm enjoying teaching within sight of the house, in the Neill Board Room of the Winston-Salem Foundation.

Of course, I had to sample at least one the night that I made the first batch:

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"French Yogurt Cake," by Andrew Knowlton. In Bon Appétit, May 2012, p. 30.

"Doubletree Hotel's Chocolate Chip Cookies," by Ayşegül Sanford and her blog, Foolproof Living. Published December 29, 2013.

Meal No. 1524: Brazilian Chicken with Coconut Milk

Last night's supper at the Roediger House was a one-bowl meal over rice: Brazilian chicken in a savory coconut milk sauce, with lots of tomato and onion. I'd say it was just okay...reasonably filling with perhaps a lot of potential, but nothing particularly compelling.

On another note, even though spring had supposedly arrived here in Winston, with lots of sunny days and warm temps, yesterday and last night told a different story.

It got down to around 30°F (and not as cold as the 26 that was forecast) and yesterday was pretty blustery as a cold front moved through. I snuck out this morning in the bright sunshine and snapped a few shots of the blooming azaleas and iris, which did not seem much worse for that chilly wear.

Line of azaleas along driveway

Great to see so many blooms-in-waiting!

Dianthus in front of the porch

Nicely blooming iris beside the back door

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"Brazilian Chicken with Coconut Milk," from MLYIN. Published in AllRecipes Magazine, April/May 2016, p. 27.

Meal No. 1523: Hamburger Supreme

There was enough time on a gorgeous April Monday afternoon to fix myself a good late lunch prior to departing for the rest of the week to work in Virginia. The choice: our family favorite of hamburger supreme, along with the always-necessary buttered corn and my (if I may say so) amazing applesauce.

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"Hamburger Supreme," from the late Mrs. John T. (Glynn) Johnson of Buies Creek, North Carolina, via Janice Jones Bodenhamer.

The Stories We Can Let Go Of

Update on 05 May 2021: There once was a post in this slot about an incident that occurred adjacent to the house, which proved disconcerting and disturbing. But five years have passed, the person involved has since passed away, and there is no need for his story to be enshrined on the blog.

Meal No. 1522: Chicken Cordon Bleu

Oh, my, my, my. This past Sunday night, with the standard set of four of us at the table, and I think I managed to serve up quite a bounty: chicken cordon bleu, roasted Brussels sprouts and roasted asparagus, southern creamed corn, and an even better version of Gruyère sauce than the last time I tried out this main dish. I suppose I've roasted asparagus and Brussels sprouts before but this was definitely the first time I'd tried southern creamed corn, and it was amazing. That'll have to make repeat appearances on future Roediger House meal menus.

By the way, I left Monday for a few days of work in Virginia, and after the great weather I've enjoyed at home of late, I was not happy to see what was promised in Winchester the next two days:

Sure enough, when I awoke Tuesday morning and went out to the car to go to work, I had to brush the snow off of it!

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"Chicken Cordon Bleu," by Tyler Florence from the Food Network.

Gruyère Sauce based on "Le Chicken Cordon Bleu with Parmesan Dijon Sauce," by Ben Rayl from ComfortableFood.com.

"Southern Creamed Corn," by Patrick and Gina Neely of the Food Network.

"Roasted Brussels Sprouts," by Ina Garten of the Food Network.

Ideas and Guidance on Parmesan-Garlic Roasted Asparagus from:

• "Roasted Asparagus," from Ina Garten of the Food Network.
• "Oven-Roasted Asparagus," from swedishmilk on AllRecipes.com.

Meal No. 1521: Vegetable Plate and Southern Cornbread

After picking up the check for a dinner down at local favorite Mozelle's on Friday night, the Lloyds (the special weekend guests of the Roediger House) consented to my cooking some dinner this past Saturday night. My most typical meals almost always include meat, which John eschews, or seafood, which is not Pat's thing. But I'd also (for years!) wanted some night just to fix up a mess of side dishes and bake up some sweet Southern cornbread to go with it, and make it a vegetable plate night. This was perfect.

I scaled back my initial list and brought it down to five reasonably manageable items, doable in the 90 minutes I had once John and I completed our grocery run late Saturday afternoon. On the plate: sweet onion bake, zesty roasted broccoli, carrot ginger fondant, feta-stuffed sweet peppers, and golden sweet cornbread.

Forgotten in the fridge was a big batch of homemade applesauce I prepared late Saturday afternoon, though!

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"Sweet Onion Bake," from Andrea Scott Hurst, in Southern Living, April 2006, NC18.

"Zesty Roasted Broccoli," from Amie the Day-Dreamin' Optimist.

"Carrot Ginger Fondant," by Chef Monique Jamet Hooker. From KitchenArt: The Store for Cooks (West Lafayette, IN). ["Fondant" seems an interesting word choice, although maybe I just have a misunderstanding of its range of use as a cooking term.]

Feta-Stuffed Peppers, first made for me by Sheryl Cohen of Los Angeles, CA.

Guidance for Homemade Applesauce from:

• "Spiced Country Applesauce," from Finding Joy in My Kitchen. Published 11 September 2009.
• "Homemade Applesauce," from Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman. Published 16 October 2013.
• "Sarah's Applesauce," from PHATCAT on AllRecipes.com.

"Golden Sweet Cornbread," from bluegirl on AllRecipes.com.

Praise the Lloyds!

The final weekend of spring break was particularly awesome, because dear longtime friends John and Pat Lloyd journeyed down to Winston-Salem from Charlottesville and spent a couple of days here at the Roediger House. John was very much my ed tech mentor when I was working on my PhD at UVA's Curry School of Education, and they have both been wonderful and gracious hosts to me on a kazillion trips back to the world of Wahoos.

One of our big chores was for Pat to survey the landscaping and point me in some better directions than those I had employed as a novice yardman. And she had lots of great ideas, which also come with the added benefit of lots of things she can share from their own beautiful yard in Charlottesville.

I figured there'd better be some eats and munchables on hand, although Pat also brought with her a tasty collection of all kinds of good snackables that were delicious. Here's a sampling of some of what I put together for us through the weekend:

Palmetto-Style Pimento Cheese

Iced Lemon Cake

Zucchini Bread

Pat and John brought delicious goodies, too, including fruit and whipped yogurt cream, which went nicely with Saturday morning's fresh-baked zucchini bread:

Pat put together some more of their good Virginia bounty to make for a full plate on Sunday morning, too:

We piled them high with fresh English muffins from The Bread Basket bakery in Howardsville, VA; bananas and oranges; homemade strawberry-lemon zest jelly; goat cheese; a smidge of cheese grits from the Mozelle's Friday night doggy bag; and some of Saturday night's forgotten applesauce. And after his morning jog, John upped the enthusiasm ante when it came to creating his own breakfast plate(s):

This was a fine morning feast for us while we enjoyed the leisurely final hours of their delightful visit to Winston-Salem.

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"South Carolina-Style Pimento Cheese." Recipe worked out by me, based on Sharon's Palmetto Pimento Cheese.

"Zucchini Bread," a recipe shared with me by Laura Thomas on August 23, 2000, in Woodstock, Virginia.

"Lemon Iced Pound Cake," by Kevin Anthony on JustAPinch.com.