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Saturday, November 17, 2012

WFU Class of 2007 Mini-Reunion

Photo: Monica R. Winter via Facebook
Today, former WFU grad student and Roediger House regular Bradley Phillis married the love of his life, Lauren Wilson. This happy occasion brought to town some of his close friends from his days at Wake Forest, and it made me very happy for the RoHo to be their gathering spot for part of the weekend.

All of them who were around this weekend have been to the house since the renovation and addition work was completed, but in their student days, our gatherings usually took place in the front of the house, in the North Parlour. The kitchen area was where we spent most of our time this weekend, though, except for a bit of basketball time and an evening out drinking at Rec Billiards.

Bradley and Lauren took off for their Shenandoah Valley honeymoon, but WFU social studies alums Julie, Tim, and Trevor were here for dinner tonight. We even did a partial recreation of the Class of 2007 picture we took as they finished up their programs five years ago, on the night of our Dessert & Decaf gathering:



Bradley's brother Ben stood in for Bradley (Ben graduated from Wake Forest's social studies education masters program this past summer).

Meal No. 628: Brendan's Moroccan Bistro Chicken.
Dinner was courtesy of a recipe shared by a student I taught a lot longer ago than this crew: Brendan Shanley, who was a 7th grade student of mine in 1995-1996. It's sort of an invented meal of his and so I gave it an invented name: Brendan's Moroccan Bistro Chicken. It was served over Israeli couscous with pine nuts and parsley, baby lima beans, and huge sweet potatoes.



It was a great night and a lot of fun. And the recycling clean-up the next morning attested to how we greased the skids with some liquid lubrication:


Friday, November 16, 2012

Meal No. 627: Spaghetti & Meat Sauce

The nearly 5-hour drive home from Winchester this evening put me back at home in time to change and unpack a couple of things, but then I headed over to the airport to pick up former grad student Tim Schwarz, who's coming to town for the Thanksgiving week. And for tomorrow's wedding of his fellow grad student from Wake Forest, Bradley Phillis.

To keep it simple and to save myself a trip to the grocery store, dinner was spaghetti and meat sauce at, oh, close to 11:30 pm, I'd say. It was good to our bellies.


Thursday, November 15, 2012

The Most Gorgeous November Sunday Ever

This past Sunday was glorious: temps in the low 70s, lots of bright sunshine, refreshing breezes.



Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Post-Halloween Monster Chip Cookies

A usual feature of the annual Roediger House Halloween Party is a large platter piled high with a delicious form of chocolate chip cookie: monster chip cookies. The prep was done (with thanks for busting up the pecans going to Jeremy Craft) but there was a pile of cinnamon chip oatmeal cookies that had already been made, so I didn't get around to making these until last week. They are an incredible cookie, though.






"Monster Chip Cookies," by Judy Mabry [Myrtle Beach, SC]. Published in Taste of Home, October/November 2001.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Meal No. 626: Malaysian Steak Skewers with Scallion Dipping Sauce

This was a helluva meal to make on the afternoon when I'm heading out of town, but it sure was worth it.







"Steak Skewers with Scallion Dipping Sauce," by Zakary Pelaccio. In Bon Appétit, July 2012, p. 90-91.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Meal No. 625: Mushroom Fantasy Chicken




"Mushroom Fantasy Chicken," from Hot Chicken by Hugh Carpenter and Teri Sandison. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press (1995), p. 90-91.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Veterans Day Parade 2012

Spring Street was closed off yesterday for a picture-perfect morning parade to honor our veterans. This was one of the staging areas for the vehicles and floats in the parade, which poured onto Fourth Street and continued down to Liberty. I snuck outside (and quickly shed my jacket, because it was sunny and warming up nicely) and took a few photos.



















Saturday, November 10, 2012

Meal No. 624: Beef Tacos on Indian (Navajo) Frybread

This is the second time I've made beef tacos on Indian frybread, using a recipe from Hilah Johnson's HilahCooking.com website. [See blog entry for Meal No. 552 for inaugural effort.] They were every bit as good this time, but I learned from the previous experience: one is more than enough to fill me up.





"Indian Frybread and Indian Tacos" and "Crispy Beef Tacos," by Hilah Johnson. From HilahCooking.com.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Meal No. 621: Pecan-Crusted Chicken with Bourbon Pan Sauce


Using a combination of recipes (one from the Winston-Salem Journal, and the other shared by Donna Whitley-Smith from the Harrisonburg Daily News-Herald), I made a remarkably fantastic set of pecan-crusted chicken breasts for a small gathering of Roediger House regulars. I experimented a bit and got the bourbon pan sauce ratcheted up a few notches and then served the meal with sides of broccoli crowns and mashed potatoes. It all turned out pretty awesome.




"Oven-Fried Chicken Breasts with Pecan Crust," by Virginia Willis. Published in the Winston-Salem Journal [online], April 21, 2010.

"Pecan-Crusted Chicken Breasts with Bourbon Pan Sauce," by Jim Romanoff. From the Associated Press and published in the Daily News-Herald [Harrisonburg, VA], December 29, 2010. Also found online.

Can also be found at the Seattle Times.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Monday, November 5, 2012

Meal No. 620: Arroz Con Pollo





Recipe from The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook, by Beth Hensperger & Julie Kaufmann, The Harvard Common Press (2002), p. 123-124.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Meal No. 618: Cajun Chicken Alfredo over Linguine


Not a brutal drive home on this Saturday afternoon, but I taught a UVA course this weekend and had to maintain some pretty high energy for those teachers in my class. I made a quick detour to the Kernersville Harris Teeter on my way back into town and grabbed fresh chicken breasts. After much indecision, I finally decided to try spicing up the chicken (cut into bite-sized morsels) with some Penzey's spice given to me by friend and colleague Peggy Clark from Jacksonville, FL. With some quick-made alfredo sauce and a pile of linguine, it was a reasonably decent thrown-together supper on this Saturday evening.

Friday, November 2, 2012

Recent Ice Cream Concoctions

Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream

Peach Nehi Ice Cream



"Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream," by David Lebovitz. In The Perfect Scoop. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press (2007), p. 35.

"Peach Nehi Ice Cream," as detailed in the Southern Living Community Blogs online. Another version that incorporates pureed canned peaches and a little more sugar can be found here.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Meal No. 617: 2 x 2 Soup

Cold weather has arrived this week, and to take the chill off, I made my cousin Betsy's recipe for 2 x 2 Soup:




Looks pretty good there in my Roediger House bowl from Sunset Hill Stoneware.



"2 x 2 Soup," from various sources.