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Sunday, December 31, 2023

Meal No. 3510: The Christmas Dinner

Oh, the Christmas Feast! Monday night felt like the right time to bring out a particularly special meal and, while I'm at it, why not throw in a couple of new recipes? A small standing rib roast, well-seasoned and slow-roasted, was the main attraction, and it was pretty stupendous. A very nice pan sauce emerged to go with it, thanks to a few extra steps once the skillet was released from its roasting role. I tried a new recipe for potatoes au gratin, whose roots are traced to Julia Child's Dauphinoise Potatoes, rich with Gruyère. They were also rather awesome. The third item should have also been outstanding but could hardly hold a candle to what else was on the plate, but then again, I'm unlikely to turn down roasted asparagus spears. A low-key easy-going Christmas Day found a suitable wrapping up as the small crew gathered at the dinner table.


"Standing Rib Roast (Prime Rib)," from Nagi Maehashi of RecipeTinEats.com. [Published 13 December 2021 / Updated 14 December 2023]

"Potatoes au Gratin (Dauphinoise)," from Nagi Maehashi of RecipeTinEats.com. [Published 20 December 2020 / Updated 12 December 2023]

Saturday, December 30, 2023

Meal No. 3509: Chicken Caesar Salad

With all the good food of the Christmas holidays, I needed one meal that felt at least a little healthy. That occurred this past Sunday evening, with sous vide garlic-spiced chicken breast, served over a power greens mix topped with homemade creamy Caesar dressing. That dressing is not one of the healthy elements.

One might argue that salad also proved well-aligned to the marvelous weather we enjoyed on that Christmas Eve afternoon, with sunshine and a high of 65°F. After the cold spell that had overtaken us while the downstairs heat was on the fritz, and with a multi-day rain event set to begin, I'm glad I could partake of some of that nice outside time as a most temporary and all-too-short reprieve.


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

Friday, December 29, 2023

Meal No. 3508: Skillet Beef Stroganoff

Saturday night's supper was another round of skillet beef stroganoff, a regular go-to for how easy it is to throw together and how dependable is the outcome. With fresh shredded sharp cheddar cheese and a sprinkle of parsley to finish it off, the three bowls were also finished off pretty quickly.


Based on "Beef Stroganoff Hamburger Dinner in a Skillet," by Emeril Lagasse. Found online at The Food Network and also on Emerils.com.

Thursday, December 28, 2023

Meal No. 3507: Tomato and Corn Pie

The evening meal on the Friday before Christmas is a testament to the appeal of a relatively new particular recipe: tomato and corn pie. I headed down this path during the summer abundance of cherry tomatoes, roasting those tomatoes and benefitting from the lush leaves of basil growing in the kitchen garden. When I came across an evolved recipe progression traced to a Gourmet magazine article, it proved to work just fine even with store-bought vine-ripened tomatoes and dried basil from the spice rack. So that's what we sat down to as last weekend commenced, together with salad and a creamy garlicky Caesar dressing. I stuck pretty directly to the instructions this time, even opting to make it a double-crust pie, even though that denied me the added pleasure of a roasting effect on the tomatoes. It was all quite good.

As we worked our way through a ninth morning without downstairs heat that day at the Roediger House, I was once again glad for the potent heat generated in the spacious fireplace in the kitchen, with an early morning lighting of Fire No. 89. I kept it fed till the middle of the afternoon, even as more prevalent sunshine helped push the downtown temps outside towards the low 50s. It was key to making my beloved kitchen hospitable enough for me to engage in a few joyous rituals of cooking and creations, even while I was wrestling with the frustration that the first floor HVAC system had been out of commission so long.

Ah, but then came the good news mid-day: a call from Webb Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc., letting me know the blower motor had at last arrived and a technician was dispatched here promptly. Cristina and Maria were already here cleaning but the tech and the ladies managed to work around one another, thank goodness. In the scheme of things, it didn't take him too very long to get the heat up and running again. By late afternoon it was feeling pretty warm...by contrast!

Finally, let's note the dessert from that evening, a much-loved family favorite for almost a half century: chocolate pecan pie. Retaining just enough pleasant lingering warmth once dinner was dispensed with and dishes all washed and downtown walk undertaken, this pie is one of my favorites. It's why I'm surprised I didn't make it for the first time in the new kitchen until 2013, and in the intervening decade, it's only shown up five times prior to this year. Thus far in 2023, this is its second appearance.


Pulled together and based on the following evolving recipe history:

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

"Chocolate Pecan Pie," a Jones Family favorite since at least 1980, if not before. Also known as "Blender Pie," the recipe came from the late Lib Keith, whose hair-cutting business at her house was where our hairs got clipped for quite a few years.

"All-Butter Pie Crust," from King Arthur Test Kitchen of King Arthur Baking. See also "Butter vs. Shortening: The Great Pie Crust Bake-Off," by PJ Hamel of King Arthur Baking. [Published 23 November 2013]

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Bojangles-Style Cinnamon Biscuits with Eggnog Vanilla Icing

Another new treat has found its way to the Roediger House: tender sweet cinnamon biscuits adorned with an eggnog vanilla glaze. Inspired by what was once a much-loved offering from Bojangle's before they opted instead for the quite-inferior "Cinnamon Twists," these amazing sweet somethings had to be enjoyed as pairs...there was no stopping at just one. This was the evening sweet treat last Thursday, on a day when I had a lunch meeting and did not cook dinner.

Within the endeavor was good advice for biscuit-making that the recipe author credited to my own faithful guides and mentors from Cook's Illustrated. I suspect I'll have to dig that back out and use it for some future batch to go with a tasty breakfast or perhaps dinner sometime.

Late that Thursday afternoon, as the kitchen area remained in the mid-50s, I struck a match to the season's first fire, perhaps a fitting tribute to the Winter Solstice. This was Fire No. 88 since the kitchen addition was built. By 8:30 pm, it was a more endurable 64°F in that space, helped quite likely by the hot oven that baked up those amazing treats. I do love a wood-burning fire, but I prefer for it to be an added delight instead of a fundamental and basic need (as in: 8 days without heat downstairs). Still, to be able to work and function freely, fully focused on the joys of a new kitchen creation, was a salve for the stresses of the moment!


Bojangle's Copycat "Cinnamon Biscuits with Vanilla Icing," by Whitney Reist of SweetCayenne.com. [Published 03 November 2021 / Updated 11 March 2023]

Tuesday, December 26, 2023

Meal No. 3506: Biscuits 'N Sausage Gravy

Last Wednesday, while the house remained well-chilled downstairs (thanks to the problem-plagued heating system originally installed by Barnette Heating and A/C, Inc., of Mocksville, NC), a one-bowl comfort meal was called for: biscuits and sausage gravy, that basic southern specialty that once featured prominently on Roediger House menus. Although the store-bought frozen biscuits were pretty disappointing, I'm glad I'd not lost my touch with the gravy itself, which was pretty terrific.

Monday, December 25, 2023

Merry Christmas 2023

At the risk of getting the timeline all misconstrued on this here obsessively-reported blog, and putting out the warning that I've got a small backlog of almost a week for the latest entries, which means tomorrow's blog post will be about last Wednesday's supper, I'm pausing the process long enough to say it's a marvelous Christmas Day in the grey quiet of downtown Winston-Salem. The pups don't know it's a holiday but they begin every day excited about getting things underway, and regularly stare impatiently at any laggard owners taking too long with their coffee as we start upstairs:

Another special element of the day: opening up a wonderful new salt cellar from the dear compadre Amy, beautifully wrapped and thoughtfully chosen to perfectly align with my kitchen wants and needs:

I've just returned from a 4.1-mile stroll, passing two different postings of Jehovah's Witnesses plus a few other strollers and exercisers, and for me sped along a bit so I could get it done before the rains roll in later. But I also needed to walk off the celebratory sustenance that appeared magically at mid-day:

Fresh and hot, straight out of the oven, these are overnight brioche eggnog cinnamon rolls, bubbling beautifully—just before I poured an overabundance of eggnog-white chocolate icing over them:

The one on my plate barely had a chance to settle in against the ceramic surface because I impolitely scarfed it down in record time. I mean, cinnamon rolls are awesome. Homemade cinnamon rolls are glorious (this was Batch No. 22 of some kind of these). But when we roll up into this season of joy, the extra touches of rich egginess, full butter, and indulgent topping: my gosh, it was a tremendous gift to self.


"Easiest Overnight Eggnog Brioche Cinnamon Rolls" [Published 21 December 2018], plus frosting based on "Easy Fluffy Eggnog Cinnamon Rolls" [Published 24 November 2020]. Both recipes from Tieghan Girard of Half-Baked Harvest.

Sunday, December 24, 2023

Meal No. 3505: Moroccan Bistro Chicken

With an eye to easy and mostly-hands-off preparation last Tuesday while the downstairs was a super-chill 54°F, the dinner was what I've come to call Moroccan bistro chicken. Nicely spiced, long-simmered in chicken broth along with diced onion, served over quinoa, joined with roasted broccoli florets: the warm plate of goodness offered comfort while the premature wintry chill ruled an otherwise sunny day.

In the earnest spirit of giving credit where it's due, the source of last Tuesday's simple supper is friend and former student Brendan, who will probably not be reading this anytime soon because he and his marvelous wife are quite busy right about now with their newborn down in New Zealand. What an incredible early Christmas present for them! It made eating that meal that he once served to me all those years ago all the more special.

Saturday, December 23, 2023

Meal No. 3504: Smothered Pork Chops with Onion-Thyme Gravy

Had to reach pretty far back into the archives for the Monday night dinner, featuring smothered pork chops with onion-thyme gravy. It was first made in 2011, for Meal No. 237. Over the years, I had enough missteps when I made it that I'd sort of left it behind for a while. It was nice to give it another go, especially because of the also-rare appearance of soft polenta with goat cheese and parmesan, and the recurring presence of some roasted broccoli florets. It really did turn out as a pretty stupendous meal for a simple weeknight offering.


"Braised Smothered Pork Chops with Onion-Thyme Gravy," from Cook's Country [April/May 2011], p. 22-23.

"Soft Polenta with Mascarpone," from Michael Symon's Live to Cook [2009], p. 160.

Friday, December 22, 2023

Eggnog Scones

Mid-day this past Monday seemed just about right for a scone endeavor, especially because what resulted was eggnog scones, a new recipe I'd just come across on a social news media feed. I do believe I rather liked these, enough to scarf down three of 'em, in spite of my big plans for that night's dinner. I'm all about some eggnog creations, and I'm glad to add this novel one to the collection of recipes for this time of the year.


"Eggnog Scones," from GoodPort on Post.News. [Published 17 December 2023]

Thursday, December 21, 2023

Meal No. 3503: Mexican Chicken and Rice

As the house continued in its half-chilled state, while the downstairs heating system was on the fritz, my ideas about meals gravitated towards simple, relatively quick, and unfussy. And yet: it still needed to be good! So Saturday's choice was Mexican chicken and rice, also known as arroz con pollo, with a straightforward dependable recipe that's been enjoyed here ever since its source recipe magazine arrived in the mail. While it's got great flavor all on its own, adorning it with a tasty batch of white chile cheese dip is just the crowning touch it needed. That was a terrific end to a day that started out looking like this:

Given that this post captures events from last Saturday, it is publishing on the day of the Winter Solstice. I've always got a duality of feeling operating on this day: a bit of dread that we now will head into the depths of true winter, and gladness that the days will begin, slowly, to get longer, allowing me to anticipate all those marvelous joys of the advent of springtime. Ah, but this specific morning is still very much about winter's early arrival, especially to the downstairs while we awake to—and endure—Day 8 without heat.


"Mexican Chicken & Rice," in Cuisine at Home, Issue No. 115 (January/February 2016), p. 10-11.

"The Best Mexican White Cheese Dip," from eatingonadime.com.

Wednesday, December 20, 2023

Meal No. 3502: Simple Beef Chili with Beans

Last Friday night’s gathering of five centered on a dinner of beef chili and sweet southern cornbread, served at the bar in the 3rd-floor man cave and eaten while balanced on laps in the tv sitting area. That’s what’s required if the downstairs HVAC system is once again on the blink. But it's a forgiving and accommodating crew that regularly gathers here at the house and everyone made it yet another great night to be together.

Last Wednesday, about midday, the downstairs filled with an acrid smell, and a quick sniff at a couple of HVAC registers confirmed that once again the blower motor was blowing up. Although the tech from my dependable folks at Webb Heating & Air Conditioning found it was still functioning, and could not source the odor to any mechanical issue, we awoke the next morning to zero heat and 61°F in the front of the house. The next tech to come Thursday confirmed another blown motor and a replacement timeline of 3-5 days.

By Friday, it was 56°F inside. (Activities and where they occurred adjusted accordingly!) For the record: The latest trio of blower motor issues started with a blow-out in July 2020; the second was in June 2022; and now 18 months later, it's come around a third time. It is proving to be not just inconvenient but awfully expensive for my friends from Webb to continue not figuring out the issue.

When I undertook my first major renovation and addition project on the house in 2008, the HVAC subcontractor who designed and installed the entirely new system for the whole house was Barnette Heating & A/C, Inc. from Mocksville, NC, and it has been a 15-year problem-plagued journey, and the issues have not been small ones. I just realized that the first blower motor that had to be replaced was less than two years after the original installation.


"Simple Beef Chili with Kidney Beans," from Cook's Illustrated, Number Sixty-One [March-April 2003], p. 10-11.

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

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Cookie Dough Ice Cream with Bourbon Caramel and Fudge Sauce

It's been hard to shake the obsession with a recent addition to the ice cream collection here at the Roediger House, so last week it got brought into the dessert rotation following Thursday's dinner: edible cookie dough, bourbon coffee caramel, homemade fudge sauce, all mixed into my latest batch of sweet milk ice cream. Gracious and glory, mercy and it's mine...the restraint about serving size was among the day's noteworthy challenges.


"Sweet Milk Ice Cream," published in the King Arthur Flour catalogue some years ago, but no longer available on their website.

"Edible Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough," from Amy Nash of House of Nash Eats. [Published 20 June 2020 / Modified 18 September 2023]

"Bourbon Caramel Sauce," from Ali Martin of GimmeSomeOven.com. [Published 31 August 2019]

"Homemade Brownie Batter Hot Fudge Sauce," from Kristin Porter of IowaGirlEats.com.

Monday, December 18, 2023

Meal No. 3501: Hamburger Supreme

Thursday's vittles were a chance to find out if frozen pre-prepped filling, brought back to life in the sous vide immersion circulator, would turn out well for the latest pan of the very long time house favorite: hamburger supreme. And it did, although with a nudge toward soupiness that was well-handled with spoons instead of forks.


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

Sunday, December 17, 2023

Lemon Sugar Cookies

Making a quick return to the sweet treats offerings at the Roediger House last Wednesday was lemon sugar cookies, made a little extra big and a little extra good. I appreciate the dependable consistent recipes, especially for the most tasty of tempters.

Lest I leave regular readers with too stilted an impression of the fuller household's happiness and harmony, please know that the leashed urchins nonetheless bring great joy. Still cool enough for me to be glad for my sweatshirt but bright and sunny enough to help my disposition, we have pushed the distance for our daily walks and enjoyed exploring new paths together. And then we even enjoyed a short crate party to close out a recent evening:


"Lemon Sugar Cookies," from Melissa Stadler of ModernHoney.com. [Published 21 March 2016]

Saturday, December 16, 2023

Lemon Pudding Cake

Last Sunday evening concluded with a favorite dessert that did not favor me with a wholly successful result...but it was still tasty and tangy and served enough of its purpose to help wrap up a delightful evening with Amy and Gern. Since pizza was our dinner feature, a lighter concluder was chosen: lemon pudding cake. I worked to get a lot of it prepped ahead of time, to be ready to mix together and get into the oven in a timely fashion, and perhaps I got something out of order or overlooked an ingredient...or maybe it doesn't lend itself to too much advance work. Anyway: we were already full and made more room for it nonetheless.

"Lemon Pudding Cake," from Julia Moskin of NYT Cooking. Featured in "Straight from the Home Coop" from 04 April 2012 (original link: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/04/dining/hatching-your-own-batch-of-eggs.html). Recipe was adapted from The Farm, by Ian Knauer. [Accessed online 03 July 2016]

Friday, December 15, 2023

Meal No. 3500: Skillet Pan Pizzas

When Amy and Gern are willing to come over for supper and socializing, it’s wise to clear that calendar and plan a decent menu. The canine caretaking kept me from a grocery run but I had an alternative that could work last Sunday night for what was on hand: deep dish skillet pizzas in two variations.

The easy prep of the pizza dough the night before, the long simmer of New York-style pizza sauce, the sous vide cook of prepped barbecue-spiced chicken thighs…I think we enjoyed both the barbecue chicken pizza (with bacon and sautéed shallots) and the standard pepperoni with that homemade sauce.

We retreated upstairs after supper, for a bit of pool-playing. As seen in this shot, Amy made it quite the competitive match with Gern, although in the end he emerged triumphant.

The next day, I decided I did not feel too bad for selfishly reserving the two leftover slices, as they made for a fine quiet lunch.

With a weighty oppression and unforgiving persistence, that Sunday morning felt undawned under full gathered storm clouds, sporadic flashes of lightning and muted rolls of thunder less audible for the steady drumming of fat raindrops. Here in downtown Winston-Salem, it set the course for an all-day affair in the key of blah *and* humbug. For a guy who is constitutionally incapable of taming his distaste for being in the rain, it proved inconvenient to be a two-dog household.

While a limited set of sporadic breaks did occur, it was nonetheless a steady rainfall for very nearly 24 hours, with those bands forming and reforming from the south.

That mucks with my otherwise even-keeled state of being, but add a dog to tend to and then also add a new puppy who is not yet well-trained, and it stretched me pretty thin. There was an ugly breakdown at day’s end that I am glad had no witnesses, and then I had to spend time trying to make it up to the precious pups.

I can love the pooches and loathe the precipitation, and with the bright spot of warm fellowship with that companionable couple of Amy and Gern for our dinnertime hang, a most reprieving cure was achieved for my sour disposition, at least for a few hours. Our sequestered day in began, as shown above, with the old men’s chairs occupied by one of each, and me on the hearth with a hearty warm cup of coffee. When it reached nearly bedtime, our day ended very much as it had begun: with each in a fireside chair and me on the hearth, looking at them both.


Pizza Crust based on "Fool-Proof Pan Pizza," by J. Kenji López-Alt, culinary consultant for SeriousEats.com. [Updated 30 March 2023]

"Homemade NY-Style Pizza Sauce," by J. Kenji López-Alt, culinary consultant for SeriousEats.com. [Updated 17 February 2023]

Thursday, December 14, 2023

The Doggie Downsides

Even though it is still late fall, the advancing winter has not hesitated to send early signals, made more prickly in its intrusion with chilling breezes that belie the sunshine of any given day. The photo above, from back on Tuesday, December 5, catches driveway chill time for me and the dogs as viewed from the security camera. It all seems calm and content enough, no?

Ah, but in this picture of the new pup Scarlett, it’s rather telling that you can’t really discern whether she is up to something good or bad, as she lay in the back hallway recently. My final day of work for the fall semester occurred that next day. This was a long day for the pooches to be crated and, when the marvelous dear Amy swung by the house to check on them and serve up lunch bowls, she found a trail of destructive chicanery perpetrated by that she-imp.

She had batted and scratched enough at the front wall of her crate that she got it to disengage from its hooks, allowing the door panel to fall inward and bestow upon her the sweet paradise of freedom. That little jailbreaker proceeded to rip out the stuffing from Sumner’s dog bed, with balls of it all scattered around the bedroom.

She also managed to completely chew through both her own collar and Sumner’s, which we remove when they are crated and which I’d left on the floor in front of the crates to make it easy for Amy when she came to let them out.

I mean: completely severing them to a permanent state of uselessness! We can count some blessings about what didn’t happen or what she didn’t do, though: she didn’t pee or poop, she didn’t scratch the finish off the bedroom door, she didn’t tear apart the bedspread or dig into the closet and chew all my dress and tennis shoes, she didn’t chew any electrical cords. There was evidence nonetheless that she’d jumped on the bed and maybe even nestled in for a brief rest from all her wild abandon.

But it took its toll on the entrapped Sumner, who probably remained at an elevated state of internal panic and fear as he watched her be such a bad bad girl, knowing it would not end well for our normally happy family. He has such a potent internal moral compass and shame reflex, it mortifies him to be in trouble or to earn rebuke. He takes on the emotional burden even if it’s Scarlett and not he receiving the sharp commands or corrective gestures. By the time I’d gotten out of my suit, and bent down to pet him a bit, he curled up into a ball in my awkwardly-splayed lap and just stayed there for a while. The rest of the evening, my lap was the only place he wanted to be; the photo above from that night shows that everybody just needed time to recover from the events of the day.

Trouper that he is, you can see Sumner did his best to grin and bear it.

Last Thursday offered up a lovely stark dawning as viewed from the third floor center dormer window.

It warmed up enough as the day proceeded that a jacket wasn’t required when the dogs and I did a 2.6-mile circuit around downtown. Since Scarlett ripped up Sumner’s crate pad, I had temporarily replaced it with his window seat pallet from upstairs. So of course Scarlett heads there instead of her own crate at bedtime!

I don’t know, my friends: I think Sumner has been traumatized lately. His endless need for lap time anytime I sit either upstairs or down leads me to believe that his bearing it is as big a struggle as his grinning. We both find ourselves sometimes misty-eyed in longing for bygone days.