Sweet Treats for the Chi Psi Meet

Dateline: Mon 31 Aug. I’ve gotten myself elected to the alumni advisory board for my college fraternity, and on the final day of August there was a gathering of board members together with a huge crew of the current active brotherhood. Another alum lives near The Lodge and was the exceptionally generous host for the affair. I figured I might as well show up with some goodies to go along with the other foodstuffs, so I made Ina Garten’s lemon bars on shortbread crust.

But wait: there’s more! As long as I was in the mode, I also baked a heaping pile of DoubleTree-style chocolate chip cookies, full of semisweet morsels and chopped walnuts. I had to have a hot one as they came out of the oven, of course, and the rest went with me to Chapel Hill.

---

"Lemon Bars," by Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa. Published in Barefoot Contessa Parties!, Clarkson Potter Publishers, 2001.

"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. 4191: Simple Beef Chili

Dateline: Mon 31 Aug. The final day of August had me tackling the happy obligation to run over to Chapel Hill to a meeting at my college fraternity, followed by a gathering at a nearby alum’s house of about 30 active undergraduate brothers and a number of alumni advisory board members. So the main meal of the day was at lunchtime, and took the form of a half recipe of simple beef chili...this time without the beans. It’s such a dependable recipe that I’ve been using for about 20 years now, and all it needs is the shredded cheddar on top for me to tackle the bowlful...and then some.

---

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

Meal No. 4190: Baked Chicken Thighs

Dateline: Sun 30 Aug. It’s been a little too easy to make baked chicken thighs that are too good, and on the final Sunday of August that was what made me happy, along with some pretty perfect roasted herbed broccoli florets. I was hoping it would be sufficient as a slightly lighter meal, especially since I knew I’d be back in the kitchen later that night working on some goodies for a road trip to Chapel Hill. More on that later.

Meal No. 4189: Spiced Roasted Salmon

Dateline: Sat 29 Aug. A concluding Saturday of the third “summer” month was a fine day for cutting the grass, weeding, digging out some crab grass, pulling some nasty invasive wire grass, and also mowing the lawn. Those concentrated thunderstorm systems that rolled through as August unwound brought plenty of rain for keeping the grass and lots of invasive growth stimulated and invigorated. Roasting spiced salmon, and roasting herbed broccoli florets, sure looked nearly perfect on the dinner plate that night.

Meal No. 4188: Skillet Beef Stroganoff

Dateline: Fri 28 Aug. After a brief excursion out of town for professional endeavors, ’twas a joyful return to my kitchen as we approached the end of August. Without having to make a grocery run, I realized I could bring out one of the house staples for supper: Emeril’s skillet beef stroganoff. Its advantage lies not only in the ease with which it can be assembled; it is also a most rewarding bowl of vittles when the late afternoon hunger comes a-knocking. (Also: I’m too ignorant to have known that “vittles” emerges from “victuals,” but that’s the price of taking French in high school instead of Latin.)

---

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

Meal No. 4187: Soy Sauce Ramen Noodles

Dateline: Thu 27 Aug. While I won’t call my summer vacation completely over, the schedule of work is beginning to slowly kick into gear. That had me on a wild ride down to Georgia for a day, and then immediately back up to Northern Virginia for two days. Once I returned home late on the final Thursday of August, a quick dinner was needed. Now that I’ve found Brian Gerwig’s viral ramen recipe, I’m happy if the occasion calls for its reappearance.

---

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

Meal No. 4186: Caesar Salads with Filet Mignon

Dateline: Sun 23 Aug. Once the stationary system finally moved out and took its storms with it, we were left with an amazing perfect late summer Sunday a couple of weeks ago. It was ideal for me to walk across town to grab a prescription at the CVS, which led to a hearty appetite best remedied by a hunk of beef that was carved into morsels for crowning Caesar-dressed Romaine. I’m not the one to ever believe there can be too much meat but this may have approached an outer limit.

Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

Dateline: Sat 22 Aug. It was a Saturday night special a couple of weeks ago to have Amy on hand, and I was ready to celebrate her return with a tempting dessert offering. This time around, I was nudged into nostalgia and reached for one of my Hershey’s cookbooks, wherein might be found a recipe for a hot fudge pudding cake. We’re pretty fond of pudding cakes around here, mind you. And it was all the better and a bit on the overwhelming side that I had homemade vanilla ice cream to go with it.

That probably spurred the delightful 4-mile stroll that night, around a very lively and happening downtown, outdoor music at a number of venues, and tons of people enjoying these last days of summer. And as if it sensed the need to let it all ride long enough, but then send people home to bed at a decent hour, in rolled a storm system of tight-packed intensity with quite a lightning show and a moderate amount of rain, in and out in a flash (or two or twelve), we might say.

---

Hershey's Hot Fudge Pudding Cake," from 100 Years of Hershey's Favorites. Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International, Ltd (1994), p. 8.

Meal No. 4185: Baked Chicken Thighs and Two Sides

Dateline: Sat 22 Aug. Poor dear Amy, the customary character who brightens us midweek each Wednesday: she got tackled by shingles and hadn’t been able to make her regular visits. We made up for that a couple of weeks ago, as that weekend afternoon turned sunny at last and people began gathering for the summer music series around the corner on Fourth Street. We were happy to stay within the Roediger House, sitting down to an early supper of baked chicken thighs, roasted herbed haricots verts, and simple stovetop stuffing. It’s an easy and comforting plate to serve up, and we had our happy fill of it.

Meal No. 4184: Simple Cheeseburgers

Dateline: Fri 21 Aug. You gotta love a Friday night in late summer, when most folks seem either to have tired of summer shenanigans or have simply decided to get serious again. It lays upon the start of the weekend a chill groove that makes the cicada song sweeter to listen to. And when suppertime rolled around a couple of Fridays ago, and we’d been either experiencing or were under threat of thunderstorms all day, we kept it simple and easy with prepped burgers from the freezer dropped into the sous vide and then pan-seared in a skillet. A slice of cheese on top and the last of my homemade burger sauce was all it took for a quick supper.

And then in rolled another set of storms!

Meal No. 4183: Chicken over Caesar-Dressed Spring Mix

Dateline: Thu 20 Aug. As local schools were heading back into their new academic year, with the different school systems cranking up at different times, I found myself in the delightful position of getting to talk with the faculty of Western Alamance High School a couple of weeks ago. I reckon that affair signals the true end of my summer, and it was a nice way to head back into work mode, because they were great to work with that morning. Since it’s only an hour away, I was home again just after 1 pm and that meant I could toss some frozen prepped chicken breasts into the sous vide and be ready for a healthy salad supper late afternoon. Homemade Caesar dressing and a bounteous pile of spring mix was all I needed that night.

Skillet Peach Cobbler and Sweet Milk Vanilla Ice Cream

Dateline: Tue 18 Aug. A terrific gathering of fellow Tar Heels back on August 18th was a fine evening all to itself, although I’d like to hope that the dessert contributed to the ambiance and good vibes of our fellowship. It seemed fitting to serve up skillet peach cobbler, since I had a nice batch of sweet milk vanilla ice cream to go with it. They might have thought the cobbler was passable but that ice cream was a definite hit.

---

"Old-Fashioned Peach Cobbler in an Iron Skillet," from Laura Scalone, who blogs at Elle Jay at Home. [Published 04 May 2020]

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