Meal No. 3635: Chicken Tenders on Power Greens

As we rolled up into the final Monday of June, the mid-afternoon fare was simple and a much-needed dose of healthy: power greens topped with spiced chicken tenders, and more of that lemony Sunshine Dressing I'd made for the first time just a few days before.

After the preceding weekend’s oppressive heat, with the vibrant festivities and teeming streets on Saturday and the sequestered siesta’d quiet on Sunday, the strong dancing breezes of a more moderate Monday morning started off the week in a fashion worth reveling in. Both cups of fresh coffee and a long sit for reading Aldous Huxley that Monday morning felt like an unearned indulgence. The grand forgiving shade cast by the resilient Bradford pear tree carved an arc of sanctuary for these mild-mannered restful pursuits. As the day moved forward, though, the heavy heady heat was once more in control, and I was all the more glad not to have blown the start of day's better opportunities.

National Chocolate Eclair Day

Making only their fourth appearance during the 16-year run of the Roediger House blog comes the worst failing batch of chocolate éclairs I've ever had the displeasure of trying to make. Every element of it was a bust weekend before last, even though I carried it through to the end. The pastry cream was soupy; the choux pastry baked to a decent texture...but puffed up zilch and was a tad fragile; and even the straightforward chocolate shell topping was off. It sure was a lot of work to try to fall in line with National Chocolate Éclair Day, and what a huge let-down when it was all said and done with.

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"Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream," from Chef John Mitzewich of FoodWishes.com. Published on AllRecipes.com. [Updated 26 November 2022]

"Classic Eclair Recipe," from Natasha Kravchuk of Natasha's Kitchen. [Updated 15 May 2020]

Meal No. 3634: National Detroit-Style Pizza Day

If it takes a calendar reminder to get me to finally try out Detroit-style pizza, then it's confirming the reason for the date notation: Sunday June 23rd was National Detroit-Style Pizza Day.

I have been wanting to try this out for quite sometime—one recipe was long ago marked in a 2017 issue of Cook's Country—but the undertaking finally occurred because I'm playing along with these popular-on-social-media gimmicks like this. So: super-duper pizza on a sultry partly-sunny Sunday. The Roediger House is a good time of just that sort.

I'll go ahead and state the obvious: I'm working from a backlog of posts at the moment, a dilemma I run into from time to time. It's because the blog is how I remember and record, especially to check myself on frequency, rarity, inaugural appearance, or over-reliance on some recipes, but also so that I can look back to find recipes I want to repeat. It's an easy reference for various house or area events, too: a mention in the blog can be found quickly with the search feature. This particular entry is posting on July 1st but it refers to things from Sunday, June 23, when we were in a long dry heatwave. Here at the house that morning, our external temp read 77°F before 6 am (downtowns hold onto their heat!), while officially it was still a balmy 75°F. All these food and dessert entries may help make understandable why that had been a week of wild weight swings, too.

Interesting how on other weeks I'm remarkably steady with the morning weigh-ins.

I mention these because I'm just past the six-year mark since I took action after my doctor gave me a fat-shaming talk, and I remain glad and fortunate and determined and lucky that maintenance has been a remarkably do-able undertaking, in spite of how much I love cooking and entertaining and especially desserts. Also: before anyone comes at me about weighing every day: the admonition NOT to do that generally applies to the weight-loss process itself, doesn't it? To keep people from being discouraged and to better represent the larger (smaller?) trend? That's why they say weigh weekly or somesuch. Part of my maintenance discipline is that the morning weigh-in gives me permission, or it restricts me, on what I might make or do or eat that day. Can I have a grand dessert? Is this a day for a longer walk? Should I change the dinner menu? Is there room for a rare beer? The tight window within which I've stayed for six years gives me confidence that this might just be the okay way for Ray.

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"King Arthur's Detroit-Style Pizza," from King Arthur Baking and inspired by SeriousEats.com. See also the accompanying blog post, "A Pair of Pan Pizza Recipes," by PJ Hamel. [Published 18 June 2019]