Meal No. 3947: Bacon Egg & Cheese Sandwiches

Saturday a week ago was another phenomenal weather day in Winston-Salem, perfect for the Hispanic League's Fiesta! Festival that had downtown hopping and very much alive. The meal that day occurred early afternoon, with a breakfast theme: bacon egg and cheese sandwiches, served on brioche buns and well-cheesed by an abundance of Kraft Singles. The thick-cut cherrywood bacon was baked in the oven and finished with a chili rub, and the baked scrambled eggs were zazzed up with some shredded Swiss and Gruyère.

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"Chile-Rubbed Bacon," by Rick Martinez. In "D.I.Y. B.L.T. O.M.G.: Bake Better Bacon (Upgrade Idea No. 1)," Bon Appétit, July 2016, p. 44.

"Baked Scrambled Eggs," from Heather Johnson of TheFoodHussy.com. [Published 09 September 2019]

September's Wild Things

With cookies or cakes that require pecans or walnuts, the simple chopping endeavor provides quiet contemplation time but also requires careful sorting to eliminate the bad pieces. I figure there are some yard squirrels who might be tempted by them, perhaps enough so that to the wind is tossed their caution—and into the canine crosshairs might they then be placed. Loading up the kitchen sink window platform feeder with these seductors is thought of as “salting the mine” for yard quarry.

There was only one taker for that pile, though, and he let me know what he thought of being spied upon while his belly was filled.

The yard had some other wildlife of note during September, including this cicada (above) tightly gripping the door jamb and ready to give me an annoyed greeting when I emerged early one recent morning. I hope he knows that in our yard lurk terrible dangers, including the troubling tendency of the house pooches to snatch these rascals from their ground squats because it must be enticing to try to chew them. (Sweet Sumner has received a couple of haunch-swats as I have tried to break him of this instinctive insubordination.) But there are also those cicada killer wasps, previously chronicled. Here’s one I managed to capture and toss quickly into the freezer in hopes it can be a suitable specimen for my UNC chum Kelly to add to his collection:

Finally, after over two decades of calling the Roediger House home, while recognizing that this is very much a downtown patch of yard that will not draw in creatures that run freely amongst the flora in larger neighborhoods, the security camera caught the fast fleeing and first witnessing of a rabbit here:

I suspect the intimidating aggression of our ever-watchful pups will make any reappearance unlikely, but time may indeed tell.

Butterscotch Budino with Vanilla Bourbon Salted Caramel

A diversionary tactic with inclusionary goals has been to pay occasional attention to the “National Day of...” lists; playing along propels me to make dishes and desserts that I’d otherwise overlook or ignore. As variety is destined to spice up our lives, the gimmick asks little of me, but I’ve not been as invested in it lately. Ah, but Friday September 19 was National Butterscotch Pudding Day, and I was ready for it.

Mixed results over the years did not dissuade me from once again using the New York Times Cooking recommendation for the base pudding. This latest attempt lacked structural integrity—the pudding-like consistency was mysteriously absent—but the flavor was still there. I finally decided to just throw out that NYT recipe, though, so that I’m not tempted to try—and fail again with—it in the future.

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"Butterscotch Budino with Caramel Sauce," by Frank Bruni of New York Times Cooking; adapted from Dahlia Narvaez of Pizzeria Mozza, Los Angeles.

"Vanilla Bourbon Salted Caramel," from Jennifer and Trevor Debth. [Published 22 April 2015]

Useful guidance also found in "Stabilized Whipped Cream," from Alyssa Rivers of TheRecipeCritic.com. [Published 02 November 2023]

Meal No. 3946: A Platter of French Fries

Just because I wanted to make homemade french fries on Friday of last week, all my energy went into their simple creation and their outstanding result...and that was the totality of dinner. Well, let’s not overlook the exceptionally pleasing batch of homemade ketchup I also threw together to go with ‘em. French fries used to be a standard item, especially when I’d grill steaks, but back then I was almost always depending on the frozen bag from the grocery store. Not last Friday, man! I hand-sliced those potato sticks, I boiled ‘em in salted and vinegar’d water, and then I double-fried them that evening before serving them fresh and hot. They were excellent. The large ramekins of that homemade ketchup were abundant in their condimentary offering and the whole evening felt like a luxurious fast food indulgence.

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"Perfect Thin and Crispy French Fries," from J. Kenji López-Alt, Culinary Consultant for SeriousEats.com. [Published 28 May 2010 / Updated 06 March 2025]

"Homemade Ketchup," from Laurie McNamara of Simply Scratch: Recipes for Life. [Published 29 May 2012]

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

A clear sign that I was slackening my temporary restraint came with a batch of chocolate sugar cookies Wednesday night a week ago. Portioned with a larger scoop, and knowing I’d upped the sugar content a bit, unsurprisingly large well-spread discs emerged from the oven following a supper of leftover soup, and I greedily consumed an unreported number.

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"Chocolate Sugar Cookies," by Lindsay Conchar of LifeLoveandSugar.com. [Published 25 November 2020]

Meal No. 3945: Deep Dish Skillet Pepperoni Pizza

By Tuesday of last week, I at long last was able to pull off pizza, with our faithful and easy deep dish skillet approach as cleverly conceived of by culinary guru J. Kenji Lopez-Alt. The dough turned out especially hearty in flavor and terrific in chew (as the pie gods ordain!), the saved homemade sauce had just enough zing, the melted cheese lay about in a well-managed balance, and the pepperoni occupied their proper population density stations. Its goodness called for eating two or seven more slices but my more disciplined appetite exerted a moderating maintenance of rash desires.

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

Sauce loosely drawn from "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]

Meal No. 3944: Taco Bacon Cheeseburger Soup

The call of easy comforting dishes remained strong last week, so I unearthed a small vacuum-sealed bag of long-ago prepped taco meat and let it stand in for regular browned ground beef in a hearty pot of bacon cheeseburger soup on that Monday. After the frozen bag-o-meat had heated via sous vide, and all other elements were correctly combined in the pot, the south-of-the-border style concoction sent me north of my happy line once the soup was ready to slurp up with joy.

Having a fantastic companionable dog always makes things a lot better, of course.

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Based on "Bacon Cheeseburger Soup," from Catalina Castravet and Holly Nilsson of SpendwithPennies.com. [Published 01 March 2018]

Meal No. 3943: Not So Cajun Chicken

Supper solutions continued to be sourced from the freezer when a work trip had to be postponed. On Sunday, that included a prepped and sealed bag of chicken breast morsels, well-spiced, that was cooked nearly to temperature in the sous vide. Into a skillet it went, with sauce and more spice, so that it could then thoroughly crown a bed of fresh-steamed rice. This long-time recipe rock of the Roediger House has marked many a special occasion and fed plenty of special visitors. That night it sure hit right.

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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. (Another version of the recipe can be found here.) A heap of thanks is due to Jimmy Randolph for tracking down the recipe for me.

Meal No. 3942: Beef Chili with Beans

I hadn’t expected to be home last week, but what a great excuse to dig into the freezer storehouse to unearth prepped and sealed foodstuffs for mealtime. Instead of a grand birthday feast last Saturday, the table boasted a soothing bowl of over-cheesed beef chili with beans, brought to supper standing via the sous vide, and perfectly simple and good.

CRISS Training of Trainers in Miami

The second week of September found me making the long drive down to Miami, where I spent the week conducting a Project CRISS Training of Trainers session for a network of charter schools. I had a terrific group to work with, and they made the week fly by. In fact, I'll get to see a number of them again over the next few weeks as they join in to observe a Level I CRISS training I'm facilitating in one of the network's elementary schools in Doral.

On my final night there, on September 11, right about the time I decided to just walk from my hotel across the mall parking lot to see what the food court offered, this menacing approaching storm caused me to quicken my steps.

My room was up on the fourth floor, with a giant window facing in just the right direction, and I managed to snag quite a few shots of the lighting from this very active storm. It ended up passing close but not right on top of where I was, and we ended up only with drizzly rain.

But it sure was a sight to behold and I'm delighted with how much of the bolted action I was able to capture.

With this last shot, my camera wasn't quite sure what to do with the visual information coming at it, given how striking (!) that bolt was. It lit up the sky, for sure.

Meal No. 3941: Huge Juicy Cheeseburgers

Back on Sunday September 7, it was my final full day at home before making the long drive down to Miami for the rest of the week, and it helped me get everything together by keeping the meal simple and straightforward. The day before, while putting together the baked spaghetti meal, I went ahead and used the surplus ground beef to mix up burger patties and tucked 'em away in the fridge overnight. Late morning Sunday, out they came while the grill preheated. They cooked up juicy and perfect, got the customary mixed crowns of cheddar and American cheeses, and were slathered with homemade special sauce before sliding between two brioche buns. With reasonable expectation that my busy work week would keep my calorie consumption in check, I went ahead and overdid it with that cheeseburger. YOLO.

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Adapted from "Grilled Juicy Burgers," originally from Pillsbury Classic Cookbooks recipe magazine, July 2003, p. 52-53.

White Chocolate Walnut Blondies with Maple Cream Sauce and Sweet Milk Ice Cream

Saturday a week ago had a sweet finisher for our supper for three: white chocolate walnut blondies with maple cream sauce. This is reminiscent of a dessert that was long featured at Applebee's. And might still be, for all I know, given that I cannot remember how long it's been since I might have ventured into that chain. These marvelous squares of combined sweet glory are just the right size for a big scoop of homemade ice cream...in this case, a sweet milk vanilla ice cream that I'd whipped up the day before. But then, once you let a gooey dollop of maple cream sauce ooze all over the whole kit and caboodle, well, now you know you've probably shaken hands with the devil and two of his henchmen.

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"White Chocolate Walnut Blondies with Maple Cream Sauce," from Jillian Hatsumi of ABajillianRecipes.com. [Published 23 July 2018]

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

Meal No. 3940: Baked Spaghetti

As we slid into the first full weekend of September, my Saturday shenanigans allowed for preparation of a massive casserole dish of baked spaghetti. This much-loved household favorite, which I've been making for almost 30 years, is not so hard to put together but it really can put a strain on a cinched belt—let me tell you! Once more our good neighbor Jon was willing to pop in for a visit centered around fellowship and food. We had a mess of salad with Thousand Island dressing to go with it, and then we had to figure out where to put our crazy dessert later that evening. (More on that in tomorrow's blog post!)

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"Baked Spaghetti," by Margaret Coalson via Stick Coulson, 13 July 1997.

Based loosely on "Thousand Island Dressing," which itself was based on a version from Graybert on GeniusKitchen.com.

Homemade Chocolate Pudding

After putting together a pretty rewarding supper on the first Friday of September, there was time for a quickly-whipped-up dessert: chocolate pudding. With a recipe I'd only tried once before, it was a bountiful potfull and I slurped up my serving while it was still hot. Between the household and some neighbors, the portions were quickly distributed. I really should've undertaken another walk in penance.

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Adapted from "Homemade Chocolate Pudding," by Carrina Cooper [McAlpin, FL], from TasteofHome.com. Tested and approved by the Taste of Home Kitchen. [Updated 23 May 2024]

Meal No. 3939: Grilled Barbecued Chicken

It's been just barely shy of seven years since I grilled barbecued chicken (all the way back to Meal No. 2216!), and I definitely felt out of practice. But I celebrated the first Friday night of September by loading up the Weber's grates with a whole mess of prepped blackened-spiced bone-in chicken thighs, which got glazed with a homemade barbecue sauce (ingredients in photo below!).

The finished product wasn't quite deeply flavored, but those thighs were still pretty darned good. Of course, when I also make a batch of mac and cheese, there's going to be some gallant noshing of the grateful kind.

We'd warmed up again that day, bringing back the feeling of summer with a spike in humidity. I knew I needed to undertake a vigorous walk but was surprised that I pulled off the rare six-miler and even kept the pace at about 14 minutes per mile. I ran some of it, badly, in short little bursts, but otherwise it was just maintaining a jaunty rhythm with the help of a well-chosen Pandora station pumping tunes into my earholes. Since our pooches can be so sensitive to how we ourselves are feeling, perhaps they took on my pooped persona on my unwitting behalf.

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From Bon Appétit, July 2013:

• "The Definitive Guide to Grilling Crisp, Juicy Chicken," by Meryl Rothstein, p. 64ff.
• "Barbecued Chicken," by Alison Roman, p. 70.

"Homemade BBQ Sauce," from Alison Ebright "Ali" Martin of GimmeSomeOven.com. [Published 03 July 2014 / Updated 17 April 2020]

"Willie Mae's Mac and Cheese," shared by Willie Mae's Scotch House of New Orleans via Good Morning America. [Published 19 May 2020]

Storms Break Up the Dry Spell

We had us a fine run of fantastic (and sometimes almost cool!) weather as August finished out and we enjoyed the Labor Day weekend and September started humanely. But then came September 4th and the storms whipped up and the rains fell heavily. But I'll be darned if it didn't provide the cutest shot of Sumner and Scarlett watching it all from the huge window in the pool table area that looks out toward Broad Street!

Meal No. 3938: Savory Beef & Broccoli Strudel

It was a mid-day feast at the Roediger House back on the opening Thursday of the month, and the featured player was savory garlic beef and broccoli strudel...with roasted broccoli on the side. And let's not forget the savory garlic cooking crème copycat sauce. This latest Holly Avenue crew to-do was a reasonable success for the three of us.

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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

What I Did for a Homemade Klondike Bar

As we tipped over from August into September, I decided the latest small batch of leftover egg whites did not need to be tossed aside. As I enjoyed my late summer break and some extra time at home before the start of the fall travel season, the inspiration for an ambitious dessert endeavor took hold: homemade Klondike bars. Between 2019 and 2021, I made these a handful of times, always to delightfully satisfying result, but after a four-year hiatus since the last round of 'em, these rascals seemed to be plenty overdue for a revival. That first serving of the bunch followed our chicken and soy sauce ramen supper Wednesday a week ago, and I must say: it's pretty cool to know these came out of my very own kitchen endeavors!

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"Homemade Klondike Bars," by Stella Parks, editor emeritus and former Pastry Wizard at SeriousEats.com, and the current reigning monarch of Bravetart. [Published 06 September 2018 / Updated 14 February 2025]

Meal No. 3937: Soy Sauce Ramen Noodles with Chicken

Because it was such a pleasing introduction to this dish a couple of weeks ago, I had to bring it back quickly, so Wednesday a week ago soy sauce ramen noodles returned to the dinner bowls. This time I bulked it up with chicken that first got a nice velveted prep, which then set it up to sear pretty perfectly and quickly in the skillet. Once it was all assembled, our three hearty appetites tackled it all with gustatory gusto. And we still left room for the special dessert to follow...!

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Based on "Viral Ramen Noodles," from Brian Gerwig [NC]. Instagram Profile: g_bque. [Posted 15 May 2024]

"How to Velvet Chicken for Stir-Fry," from Bill Leung of TheWoksofLife.com. [Published 24 March 2020 / Updated 20 June 2025]

Meal No. 3936: Baked Chicken Thighs & Two Sides

The standard meat-and-two-sides meal has mostly been missing here lately, but that was more than made up for back on the first Tuesday of September. Properly prepped and herbed bone-in chicken thighs got perfectly baked late afternoon. I herbed and seasoned the last of my whole green beans and let them roast down to a near-crispness. And I finished up with the simple goodness of a stovetop stuffing. Everything came out kind of amazing, frankly, giving the tablemates a small thrill that seems understandable when the simplicity is stupendous.

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Based on "Oven Baked Chicken Thighs," from Joanna Cismaru of JoCooks.com.

An Overlooked Texas Sheet Cake

A discussion of recent desserts in the casual outdoor conversation space under the Bradford pear tree caused me to realize a rare failure to properly document, and this post is a belated catch-up so as not to miss a single culinary endeavor from the Roediger House kitchen. When friend and colleague and UNC chum Chris was here back on August 19, the dinner was followed by the longtime family favorite of Texas sheet cake (which in the Winston-Salem area is also called Scotch Chocolate Cake). But I didn't commit it to the blog, so here I shall rectify that oversight. This was something my mother used to make pretty regularly, and I particularly remember her generously sending me back to college at UNC after a home visit with a whole pan of it to enjoy (and share, if I were so inclined). That's what the first bite of it that night transported me back to immediately: imagining the desk cubby where I kept my foodstuffs in Avery Dorm, and digging into the luscious chocolatey sweet marvels of this faithful standby.

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"Scotch Chocolate Cake," [in my world, also known as Texas sheet cake]. Credited to Susie Timmons. From "Popular: Cake Request Gets 22 Responses," by Michael Hastings, Food Editor of the Winston-Salem Journal. [Published 06 October 6 2010 / Updated 16 April 2021]