Meal No. 3834: Sheet Pan Beef Nachos

Given the chores I'd assigned to myself last Sunday, and with an evening visit by UNC-Chapel Hill colleague Chris Faison that evening, I opted for a doable simplicity at suppertime: sheet pan beef nachos. These are always rewarding, full of great flavors, seductively inviting of huge dollops of sour cream, and offering the bonus of decent enough leftovers. It was a marvelous visit with Chris, and he seemed to approve of the menu.

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Sheet Pan Nachos seriously modified from "Loaded Sweet Pork Sheet Pan Nachos," from Elyse of Six Sisters Stuff. [Published 14 March 2018]

Taco-Style meat depended partly on "Crispy Beef Tacos," by Hilah Johnson. From HilahCooking.com.

"Homemade Chili and Taco Seasoning," from Jamie Lothridge of MyBakingAddiction.com. [Published 03 February 2011]

The Sunday Sweep of Chores

The first mowing of the season finally took place last Sunday afternoon. I’ve not gotten to spread seed nor fertilizer so it was spottily overgrown and I’ve got too many weeds trying to get a foothold. Ah, but I do like it when it is freshly shorn.

A second chore that day was blowing all the spring tree detritus off the driveway and into a scoopable pile for disposal. It’s not hard work but it does take time.

There was one other major chore but here comes the backstory. A bit down on his luck, held back by a drinking problem that might be marked more by surrender than battle, a former neighbor’s need of water for his problem-plagued station wagon was instrumental in leaving the outside faucet running after he filled up his jug. That is why I also got to spend Sunday afternoon running the shop vac to get rid of the flooding in the cellar during our short record-breaking April heatwave. Hey: at least my pumping situation still worked like a charm because otherwise that would have been a lot of buckets to tote sloshily up the stairs and out the back!

Water in the cellar: not guaranteed with every rain or snow system, but a recurring issue nonetheless: see 2010, 2013, 2020, and 2024. The dilemma usually is not manmade, though!

Caramel Popcorn Cinnamon Cap'n Crunch Cookies

On the very last day with the very last cohort within the larger 2024-2025 High Point University Leadership Academy group, when we were practicing coaching conversations at Jamestown Middle School, I also wanted us to have cookies to enjoy. When I arrived there last Thursday morning I had a bag filled with jumbo Cap'n Crunch cookies, boosted with caramel popcorn flavoring, and sweet and rewarding. The group seemed to think they turned out all right. And I was quite sad for us to reach the end of our very good extended time together over the last 15 months.

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"Cap'n Crunch Cookies," found online at The Capitol Baker, with credit going to The Sugar Plum Blog for inspiration and the source of the adapted recipe.

Meal No. 3833: Roasted Salmon and Broccoli

Wednesday's suppertime rolled around and I was so glad it could be another session of salmon, better with broccoli, everything roasted just the way I like it.

Partaking of such a rewarding dinner seemed called for, as it was my final day with a subgroup of aspiring administrators in the High Point University Leadership Academy's latest active cohort. They are such terrific educators, and pretty darned marvelous people, and I am not fond of seeing our work come to an end. But they made it another fantastic day and it's always better to feel like we finish up on a high note. I see great things ahead for them and cannot wait to watch it all play out.

Meal No. 3832: Smashburgers!

As the first day of April came around last Tuesday, and with all the good feels of better weather upon me, I was ready to head outside to the grill and whip up some smashburgers. The buns were buttered and toasted, I had burger sauce at the ready, those patties spread out nicely and got a decent enough sear (but I'm still learning and refining my technique!), and the cheese was plenty oozy. It can be a two-handed affair to consume but it is always a smashing success.

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"Simple Smashburgers," from the Roediger House. [Published 04 September 2024] I make no claim that these are the right steps for you, but as long as I've recorded them for myself, I thought I'd make a recipe sheet available should anyone like it.

Carolyn's Banana Bread

With ripe bananas at the ready and a day with principal interns on the agenda last Tuesday, I started early and managed to whip up a couple of pretty decent loaves of banana bread. I realize there are a million recipes with all these small variations, but I do believe this is the right approach for me. The crew I was with seemed to think their slices were tasty!

Meal No. 3831: Baked Penne Casserole

Dear friend Beth Childers passed through Winston-Salem Monday night and it was a pleasure to have her at the dinner table. Riffing on a baked ziti recipe so that I could use brown rice penne, we enjoyed hearty portions along with a smattering of over-dressed Caesar salad. The focus was on the delight of her all-too-short visit, while the supper was perhaps good enough to go along with it.

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Adapted from "Baked Ziti," Nagi Maehashi of RecipeTinEats.com. [Published 07 March 2020 / Updated 10 January 2023]

Meal No. 3830: Salmon Caesar Salads

Winston-Salem had a pretty pleasant final Saturday of March, and after a pretty full week that ended with a late night in Chapel Hill, it was great to be chillin' the day away. For supper, I had to be tame: roasted salmon atop spring mix with homemade creamy Caesar dressing. This was the ideal call, and once more was I a happy salmon supperer.

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

DoubleTree-Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last Friday found me back in Sampson County for a final time this school year, a wrap-up session with the administrators from the Targeted Support and Instruction initiative that brought me there to begin with. Our focus was on Instructional Design, and I was dedicated to the challenge of challenging them. To soften my many blows, though, I also brought along a pretty sizable collection of DoubleTree-style chocolate chip cookies that I'd made the night before. With high hopes that a few hours' age on them wouldn't impair the good flavors, I offered those delicious cookies in individual baggies given that our caution for germs and sickness has remained strong in these years since the Covid pandemic. I think they were well-received and perhaps even appreciated!

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"DoubleTree Hotel's Chocolate Chip Cookies," by Ayşegül Sanford and her blog, Foolproof Living. [Published December 29, 2013 / Updated 07 December 2020] Official DoubleTree recipe from Hilton.com was released to the public on 09 April 2020.

Meal No. 3829: Hot Sausage Hash

There was a lot going on last week, and Thursday evening needed to be an easy dinner. That ended up being sausage, onion, and potato hash, something I could throw together in about an hour with a very satisfying result. Once more, perhaps I was a little too generous with the spice level, and I had to draw on a couple of large tumblers of ice water...but I was a contented homedweller once the supper was concluded.

Puff Pastry Cinnamon Twists

A little sweet treat was called for last Wednesday night, and I thought I'd try a fun new twist on dessert. I do mean that literally, because it was puff pastry cinnamon twists, with a vanilla glaze. I didn't know what the heck I was doing and I thought it was going to be a bit of a disaster...alas: apparently it's hard to mess up. Simple and delicious, not so very difficult, rewarding: all that adds up to success.

Meal No. 3828: Steak Caesar Salads

In the ongoing chronicle of meals at the Roediger House, the latest round of salad was topped with seasoned filet as well as homemade creamy Caesar dressing. That's what was served up on the final Tuesday of March, all filling and tasty.

This is the time of tulips here, and the week offered up these samples (above and below).

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies, Part Deux!

As a pretty clear sign of how much I enjoyed their trial run the previous week, I was quick to have another go at the new recipe for white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. And their emergence from the oven Saturday a week ago in the early evening was a most enticing distraction from my preparatory work on a powerpoint show I needed to finish up.

Although he might have convinced us all that he was such a good boy as to deserve to try one of those cookies as well, Sumner knows better, and we do too. So we'll just have to let him give us all his sweetness instead of the other way around.

Finally, March 23rd brought the first couple of blooms from the next stage of daffodils. It was another picture-perfect spring day, sunny and glorious, and we enjoyed our snatches of outside time. Unfortunately, that presentation I mentioned in the first paragraph had to be ready for delivery that Sunday evening, and now I'm just glad to have it behind me!

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"THE BEST White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies," from Christina Marsigliese of ScientificallySweet.com. [Published 19 February 2025]

Meal No. 3827: Chicken Tenders on Caesar-Dressed Spring Mix

I'm back to problematic weigh-ins and so last Saturday night I was determined to make it a salad supper. This featured a healthy pile of spring mix, well-dressed with fresh-made creamy Caesar, adorned with a scattering of roasted sunflower seeds, and topped with spiced chicken tenders. It met the need and left me pleased.

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

Meal No. 3826: Ultimate Cream of Tomato Soup

Since my last meal report, spring officially arrived, as of Thursday a week ago. But it came in on such a chilly note that it put me in the mind of soup for last Friday, with ultimate cream of tomato being the selection that satisfied. Ah, but I also do love to have a tasty grilled cheese sandwich with it, which is always better when I can use slices of homemade peasant bread. This was a terrific supper that night.

The final day of winter was a glorious and sunny and warm Wednesday, with temps approaching 80°F. But then in rolled a cold front, and it's almost as if the final day of winter and the first day of spring got mixed up about their time slots.

The skies around Winston-Salem got pretty menacing.

My joy at spring's arrival was necessarily tempered with this unwelcome chill. It seemed to be just fine with Sumner to hang out upstairs as that Friday got started:

A lazy day proved inviting to both pups:

And it was also an inviting day for the first of my struggling tulips to appear, another step into the better weather after our unkind winter.

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"Ultimate Cream of Tomato Soup," from Cook's Illustrated, November 1999. Recipe can also be found online at Cookography.com.

"Easy No-Knead Peasant Bread," by Melanie Gunnell of Mel's Kitchen Cafe. [Published 01 November 2021]

Meal No. 3825: Salmon Croquettes with Chili-Garlic-Lime Aioli

After buying a slab of salmon last week, and cooking it whole to help with one night's dinner, the leftover portions were perfect for the following night's Hump Day fare: fresh-patted salmon croquettes. The incredible garlic-chili-lime aioli was spot-on yet again, with such a simple recipe. Herbed asparagus spears were ideal to complete the menu. Our supper threesome seemed well sated by meal's end.

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Adapted from "Salmon Burgers" (p. 396) and "Herb Sauce" (p. 395), from Denise Austin, Shrink Your Female Fat Zones, Rodale Books (2003).

"Chili-Lime Aïoli," from David Wald of Princeton, NJ, May 2009.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Back on Tuesday of last week, following the salmon supper, I thought we ought to try out a new recipe for white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. And I'm sure glad we did, because it was a pretty awesome recipe for 'em. For the dinner crew, it was especially nice to enjoy them warm from the oven. But, the next day, when I had another fine experience working with interns from the High Point University ed leadership masters program at a middle school in Greensboro, they seemed to think they were still pretty tasty.

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"THE BEST White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies," from Christina Marsigliese of ScientificallySweet.com. [Published 19 February 2025]

Meal No. 3824: Roasted Salmon & Broccoli

A quiet evening gathering of three offered a chance to exploit a salmon sale at Sam's Club, so I brought home a whole fillet and spiced and roasted it to then serve jagged slices from at suppertime. My faithful ridealong of roasted herbed broccoli completed the plates.

Copycat Starbucks Lemon Loaf

As we headed into the conclusion of a delightful latest visit with one another, my UNC buddy Kelly and I partook of a simple dessert offering: lemon loaf cake, in the style of what one might get at Starbucks. Freshly baked, properly lemoned, and sufficiently tamed so as not to be cloyingly sweet, this was a suitable palate pleaser to wrap up this latest terrific evening together.

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"The Best Lemon Loaf (Better-Than-Starbucks Copycat)," from Averie Sunshine of AverieCooks.com. [Published 15 March 2019 / Updated 16 May 2023]

Meal No. 3823: Spicy Beef & Broccoli Strudel

Last Monday night was St. Patrick's Day, but the celebration at the Roediger House was focused primarily on St. Kelly, a fellow alumnus of the University of North Carolina and a long-standing friend of fine stature. He was making his third visit to the Roediger House over the last several months, since we reconnected after too long a separation, and it was another marvelous evening. On this occasion, I made the house favorite of beef and broccoli strudel. To go with it I had roasted cumin-coriander cauliflower, and a healthy dollop of homemade garlic-herb cooking creme sauce abated the extra heat I'd built into the main fare.

It was a lovely day, albeit a bit cool and breezy. I was glad for where I'd positioned a collective of camelia bushes, visible when I worked at the kitchen sink. Here are a couple of shots as their full blooms were adorning the small strip of back yard.

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Adapted to puff pastry from "Savory Garlic Beef & Broccoli Turnovers," by Kirsten Renee Shabaz of Minneapolis, MN. Taste of Home, November 2011, p. 31. (Go to food.com for a copy of the original recipe.)

Strudel version inspired by "Chicken Mushroom Strudel," from Chef John Mitzewich of FoodWishes.com and AllRecipes.com. [Published 28 October 2022[

Adapted from "Make Your Own Cooking Creme," from CKolden and once available on epicurious.com. [Published 24 September 2015]. Other versions can be found at:

• Philadelphia Cream Cheese on Tumblr
• Finding Joy in My Kitchen
• Cook the Story

Chocolate Meringue Pie

On March 14, because it was 3.14, I not only made an espresso chocolate pecan pie for our birthday dinner gathering that Friday evening, but I made a second pie for the following night: chocolate meringue pie. A sentimental favorite that has always been entirely too tempting for me, richly chocolated and quickly consumed, I was just glad to not screw up the par-baked crust this time around. The meringue could have fluffed up a bit more but it's certainly not going to be denied its entry onto the playing fields of my tastebuds once dessert time has commenced.

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"Chocolate Meringue Pie," based on a classic and common recipe.

Meal No. 3822: Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes

Saturday afternoon's rushed hunger-tackle for mealtime was satisfied with fluffy buttermilk pancakes, as good as they've ever been, overwhelmed with almost enough maple syrup, washed down with cold water, and easily cleaned up so that the quiet day could proceed as not planned.

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"Best Tips for Making Pancakes: Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes," by Joanne Ozug on the Pioneer Woman website. [Published 10 May 2017]

Espresso Chocolate Pecan Pie

Last Friday was March 14, and also the night we celebrated dear friend Amy's birthday. And since it was 3.14, there was pie: espresso chocolate pecan pie, to be specific. I'd made this once before and it was quite a hit. This time I did it in more of a tart dish, and I was pleasantly surprised when the pie crust cooperated a little better. The end result: it might have been a bit overcooked but also still very tasty.

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Adapted from "Espresso Chocolate Pecan Pie," from Christina Marsigliese of ScientificallySweet.com. [Published 02 November 2023 / Modified 08 November 2024]

Meal No. 3821: Pork Medallions with Ginger-Soy-Shiitake Cream Sauce

It has been a long-standing joyful tradition to celebrate another trip round the sun for Roediger House favorite Amy. The six-strong crew of regulars was here last Friday night and we sat down to a dinner of pork medallions with a ginger-soy-shiitake cream sauce. The much-loved and entirely suitable starch to go with it was company mashed potatoes; I also returned again to Brussels sprouts gratin, just because they always seem to be good—and a touch special. We had a delightful time around the table, and then the gang headed upstairs for a movie night. As the film played, I brought up our dessert, which will be chronicled in tomorrow's blog post.

There was a mishap: I'd nudged my marvelous kosher salt cellar too close, and turned just the right way, to the retractable downdraft exhaust fan at the back of the cooktop. It descended and then tried to take it with it, and what a mess right before guests arrived! But hey: the gorgeous and adorable Scarlett was too precious not to photograph that morning:

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

"Company Mashed Potatoes," a Jones Family favorite.

"Brussels Sprouts Gratin," by Alison Roman. From Cooking on newyorktimes.com.

Meal No. 3820: Roasted Salmon & Broccoli

I cannot believe it has been over two months since I last made roasted spiced salmon, but early in January was the last occasion. This drought was ended last Thursday evening, and it turned out just stupendous. The accompanying roasted broccoli florets also came out as good as they've ever been. The only problem? It was all gone all too soon.

Meal No. 3819: Homemade Hamburger Helper

It was three at the table last Wednesday evening, when a postponed trip to DC allowed me to be home instead of back on the road. I thought I'd try a fun new recipe: homemade hamburger helper, with beef and macaroni in a flavor-filled cheesy sauce. It was really pretty good, and just a tad nostalgic. A small side salad with homemade Thousand Island dressing and fresh-toasted croutons completed the plates.

It was close to 80°F that day, under sunny skies and with bare breezes. The pups loved the outside time, and so did I. Some of it was spent sitting out on the driveway, but I also managed to do a lot of early springtime weeding. That evening, the not-yet-full moon was pretty glorious as it rose in the waning light of the adjusted evening, now that daylight saving time has begun.

This week started with a full day down in Sampson County, followed by the drive straight up I-95 to Richmond, where I spent Tuesday in another middle school, initiating new work with the administrative team there. It was fortuitously scheduled: I got to Richmond in time to head to First Baptist Church to hear a talk by Robert P. Jones, author of White Too Long. I'd read that book last year, appreciating its insights, sobered by what it revealed, and all the more certain that our nation is unlikely to ever discover its better angels while it works so hard to hide from and ignore all its many kept devils.

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"Hamburger Helper," by Holly Erickson & Natalie Mortimer of The Modern Proper. [Updated 02 October 2024]

Thousand Island Dressing was an adaptation of "Beef & Cheddar Melts Sauce," a Roediger House creation.

"Croutons," by Marg CaymanDesigns on GeniusKitchen.com.