Meal No. 4121: Bacon & Cheese Sandwiches

Dateline: Fri 05 June. It was a terrific three days up in Richmond the first week of June, conducting a Project CRISS training for another fine group of teachers at St. Christopher's School (plus one from Hanover County!). I always feel graciously and warmly welcomed and the group responded so positively to our collaborative endeavor. We wrapped up early enough Friday afternoon that I was able to get home, enjoy time sitting in the shade with the pups nearby, and still get a supper on the table before 6 pm. Simple menus help that, like the ease of throwing a pan of chile-rubbed bacon into the oven and then tackling the rest of the package in a skillet on the cooktop. A slice of sharp cheddar on the bottom half of brioche buns, and a Kraft Single on top, and the double-layers of bacon were almost quite enough.

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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.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Dateline: Mon 01 June. Coming in at just about the most perfect I've ever made it, the dessert at the start of the month was the glorious traditional creamy lemon meringue pie. The lemon filling was truly airy and excellent but there was something uniquely pleasing about the way the meringue turned out. While the four of us might have been desirous of larger or additional portions, we also were wise enough to recognize when enough was enough. Boy howdy, was it ever good.

The next day, before I headed out for a few days of work in Richmond, the Goodyear Blimp flew over downtown. Here's the photo to record that uneventful event.

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

Meal No. 4120: Pork Medallions with Ginger-Soy-Shiitake Cream Sauce

Dateline: Mon 01 June. The new month was welcomed on its first day with the happy return of Amy and Gern to the dinner table. And a long-time house favorite was served up to the delight of us all: pan-seared pork medallions with a ginger-soy-shiitake cream sauce. We had our much-loved company mashed potatoes alongside, and there was fresh-made creamy Caesar dressing for some crunchy green lettuced salad. We feasted with joy.

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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.

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

Meal No. 4119: Pork Chops and Two Sides

The final day of May occurred a week ago Sunday, and it was a standard meal of a meat and two sides. I took advantage of the sous vide immersion circulator to bring to perfect temp a trio of prepped pork chops from a Costco value-pak. I added in canned green beans and some stovetop stuffing, and I think the Holly Avenue Collective was happy enough with the results.

It was another lovely day in downtown Winston-Salem, with good yard time with the pups. Sumner was happy to soak up sun, as is his bent, and it also gave me a chance to spy the earliest blooms on the amazing astra blue balloon flowers that grow on either side of the front steps.

Vanilla Texas Sheet Cake & Chocolate Frosty Ice Cream

As May wrapped up, the Roediger House found itself in a celebratory mood with all of its favorite locals on hand for a movie-watching extravaganza that lasted all day, as noted in yesterday's blog post. We did also indulge in dessert later that evening, featuring a new and an old recipe. On its maiden voyage here was vanilla Texas sheet cake, inspired in part because of how much we all liked the recent lemon version I'd made. It also proved to be a winner, in a warmer vanilla bean-boosted way. And as revealed in the photo above, there was also ice cream, a return to the simple churning chest freezer version of a chocolate Wendy's Frosty ice cream (first made in 2012 and based on a long ago Southern Living blog post). Best served when it's got its icy features and mouthfeel, I thought it achieved a strong chocolate punch, perhaps helping it to be acceptable enough for the gang.

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"Vanilla Texas Sheet Cake," from Karli Bitner of Cooking with Karli. [Published 11 March 2026]

The recipe for a copycat Wendy's Chocolate Frosty was originally discovered in a discussion thread on the discontinued Southern Living blogs, posted by user Patricia Elizabeth (Pat) Martin (pbj1118), proud alumnus (Class of 1969) of Isaac Litton High School in Nashville, TN. (Recipe accessed September 2005.) Similar recipe is available at The House of Elyn Ryn: "Wendy's Chocolate Frosty: An Easy Copycat of a Classic Treat," from Rynn Hennings. [Published 11 August 2022]

Homemade Chocolate Milk based on guidance from "Homemade Chocolate Frosty," from Tieghan Girard of Half-Baked Harvest. [Updated 04 August 2025]

Flavor boosted with homemade chocolate syrup, from a batch based on "Hershey's Chocolate Syrup," from Stephanie Manley of CopyKat.com. [Published 25 August 2020 / Updated 15 September 2021]

Meal No. 4118: Sheet Pan Nachos for Movies Day

The final Saturday of May was an all-day movies event at the Roediger House. The afternoon was horror flicks and the evening selection was a light comedy. In between, we sat down to a dinner of sheet pan nachos, with a choice of either beef or Cuban pork. Both of those proteins had been previously prepared and stored away, and I used the sous vide to bring them back to life for helping build those nachos. I also made a fresh batch of garlicky lime crema, which was well-utilized by the seven of us at the table.

With folks hanging out all afternoon, a tub of southwestern dip struck me as a judicious appetizer. Definitely well-suited to tortilla chips, this long-time house favorite is hard to resist.

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Sheet Pan Nachos loosely inspired by "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 with Cilantro Lime Sauce," by Jeremy the Contrarian Money on Instagram. [Published 19 February 2026]

"Easy Lime Crema," from Lisa Bryan of DownShiftology.com. [Published 22 April 2020]

"Southwestern Dip," in Betty Crocker Monthly Recipes, December 2001.

Meal No. 4117: National Coq Au Vin Day

The final Friday of May was National Coq Au Vin Day, and at the Roediger House, we celebrated in style. Yep: reasonably authentic for a southern American kitchen helmed by an amateur cook...but incredibly delicious and well worth the extra effort to try to get it right. It was a symphony centered on the main feature of chicken leg quarters, seasoned and pan-seared; then came a host of other goodness, such as thin ribbons of crisped bacon; onion and carrot and shallots and garlic; a giddy Pinot Noir and hearty chicken stock; pearl onions in abundance; and the crowning touch of Madeira mushrooms to mix in at the end. A little thickening and a couple of magic ingredients made it closer to stew for serving over fresh-steamed white rice. This meal was pretty awesome.

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"Coq au Vin," from Cook's Illustrated, January/February 1999.

Meal No. 4116: Fried Chicken Fingers

With a mix of ideas in my head and not enough sense to follow somebody else's recipe, I made chicken fingers on the final Thursday evening of May. The weather had turned nice and I was in a picnic mindset, maybe, but I dipped and breaded and fried thin slices of chicken breast and also whipped up a quick batch of cabbage slaw to go with it. I also made both a honey-mustard sauce and a fast-food-style barbecue-enhanced version of the same. The dipping sauces were on point, the breading was not as pronounced as I'd hoped on the chicken, and the slaw was a faithful side ride.

Sumner took up his favorite spot beneath our guest's feet, as he is sweetly contented to do.

But his preference earlier in the day was to splay out on the driveway in order to soak up as much as he could of the welcome sunshine on a dazzling late spring day.

And that morning's appearance of the first daylily bloom at the back door seemed earlier than past years. But no less lovely!

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"5 Minute Honey Mustard Sauce," by Lindsay of PinchofYum.com. [Published 22 July 2015]

Meal No. 4115: Grilled Chicken & Bacon Spicy Ranch Sandwiches

When Amy was here for her final-Wednesday-of-May hang-time last week, I braved the suppertime sprinkles to grill seasoned chicken breasts, topped with Swiss cheese. I tossed thick-cut applewood-smoked bacon into the oven and finished it with my handy chile rub. I pulled some saved spicy ranch dressing from the fridge and some brioche buns from the cabinet. We made our respective chicken-bacon-spicy-ranch sandwiches to our liking that evening and were filled to satisfaction.

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Based loosely on "Chicken Bacon Ranch Baked Subs," from Brandi Skibinski of The Country Cook. [Published 09 March 2025]

"Spicy Ranch Dressing," from Alexa Blay of Key to My Lime. [Published 09 March 2021]

"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.

Meal No. 4114: Seasoned Chicken Breasts on Salads

Unpleasant weigh-ins at the end of May caused small bursts of restraint to govern some kitchen activity. On the final Tuesday of the month, that led to seasoned sous vide chicken breasts to go atop salad, with a choice either of homemade creamy Caesar dressing or homemade white balsamic dressing. Both of those options were nearing the end of their shelf lives but they were still good for supper that night.

Sumner & Scarlett Get Down with Homemade Dog Food

The Harris Teeter at which I regularly shop had an oversupply of boneless skinless chicken breasts on Memorial Day and they were marked down to 0.98 a pound. Not only was that perfect for dinner Monday a week ago, but it proved to be a bonus for the house pooches. Brown rice, carrots, butternut squash, and green beans all went into the slow cooker with three breasts on top, which meant their breakfast Tuesday a week ago (and several succeeding meals) was a glorious feast voraciously consumed by two really happy pups.

Perhaps being so very satisfied is also why they looked so wiped out mid-day in the south parlour?

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Based on "DIY Homemade Dog Food," by Chungah Rhee of the Damn Delicious blog. [Published 27 April 2015 /Updated 19 September 2025]

Based on "Easy Crockpot Dog Food," by Chungah Rhee of the Damn Delicious blog. [Published 13 May 2015 / Updated 08 July 2024]

Meal No. 4113: Chicken Souvlaki on Homemade Flatbread

I'm kind of proud of the dinner served up to the Holly Avenue Collective on Memorial Day last week: grilled chicken souvlaki skewers on homemade flatbread with homemade tzatziki. The marinade for the chicken was so very spot on, and then those morsels grilled perfectly on the Weber. The tzatziki was really excellent, too, just the right garlic kick and plenty of amalgamated deliciousness with the rest of the ingredients.

But boy howdy: that flatbread! Tasty on its own but elevated by the melted ghee that sizzled in the griddle, this second recorded attempt at these Mediterranean specialties proved to be more than worthy of our platters that night.

Mind you: they are not hard to make but it is an involved process and consumes more time than I was planning for. I'm pretty sure when I make them again, I should break out the Blackstone griddle.

Between rolling them out individually, brushing them with melted ghee, but then doing five minutes per side in a single skillet...let's just say dinner was about 45 minutes late.

But let's contrast late with early, because in the quiet of that evening, as I ventured out for a sit on the driveway, I also got to hear the first cicada of the season. He sounded mighty lonely, with no answering replies that I could hear, but I guess somebody's got to be the first to emerge at the call of coming summer.

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"Greek Chicken Souvlaki Recipe with Tzatziki" [Published 11 June 2018 / Updated 16 October 2020] and "Authentic (Easy) Tzatziki Sauce" [Published 03 June 2016 / Updated 27 September 2023] from Suzy Karedsheh of The Mediterranean Dish.

"Layered Yogurt Flatbreads," from Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen. [Published 30 April 2020]

Meal No. 4112: Creamy Chicken Marsala

A long overdue evening with Amy and Gern occurred on the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend, and we sat right down to a dinner of delicious creamy chicken marsala over spaghetti. Roasted herbed whole green beans gave us something green on the scene and I was happy that Gern returned for seconds. I managed to overcook a few of the pieces of chicken in the hot skillet but the sauce and sautéed mushrooms were a reasonable compensation for my shortcomings.

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Based on "Chicken Marsala with Gorgonzola," by Jill Anderson (Sleepy Eye, MN). In Taste of Home, February/March 2012, p. 34-35.

Copycat J. Alexander's Carrot Cake

When UNC buddy Chris was here for an evening visit on Saturday a week ago, dessert was included to help make the reunion complete. On that occasion, I tackled the sheetcake version of carrot cake that's proven to be pretty exceptional: a copycat of J. Alexander's. I've made this several times now and it almost always gets rave reviews. Its sugar content certainly does not hurt its popularity but overall it's also a really delicious, warmly-spiced, fluffy and moist concoction. And cream cheese frosting never hurts, eh?

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Based on "Copycat J. Alexander's Carrot Cake," from Jamie Lothridge of MyBakingAddiction.com. [Updated 19 April 2019 / 20 April 2026]