Kitchen Vision Punch Guy Might Be an Idiot

In early August, I started having a bump and jump in the center island drawer when I opened and closed it.

Once I took a look at it, I discovered that the track rail had become detached inside the cabinet:

I got up under there, aligned the drawer track again, and retightened the screw used to install it.

At the end of November, the problem re-emerged:

To have the problem repeat did not leave me happy, so I decided I'd better take another look at the screw used to mount the drawer. Here it is, with a dime as a comparison so you can see what a tiny and ridiculous little screw it is:

Who does this? Who installs a major drawer in a cabinet and uses something hardly bigger than a watch or eyeglass screw to secure it?

I have replaced it with a more worthy and dependable screw now, and I am saving this munchkin screw to mail to the president of Kitchen Vision, along with a few thoughts about the overall lack of care his punch guy seems to exercise in the several things they had to come back and fix or correct.

I suppose my irritation and frustration are coming through just a bit?

Meal No. 702: Braised Chicken over Brussels Sprouts

Sunday night's meal was yet another return to the braised chicken over Brussels sprouts that's been an awesome addition to the regular Roediger House menu rotation.

A nice bright green for St. Patrick's Day, eh?

There is so much flavor in this simple one-pot meal.

Did I really just have this two or three weeks ago?
Yep.

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"Braised Chicken and Brussels Sprouts," in Everyday Food, Issue 97, November 2012, p. 22.

Meal No. 701: Pan-Seared Filet Mignon

On Saturday, when the temps were in the upper 70s and the sunshine was gracious and warm, and the breezes were soothing, it seemed to me that a grilled supper was called for. I've gotten to do my fair share of good grilling but, to my way of thinking, it's hard to beat a good ol' steak and some french fries.

I even finally got around to doing a partial (and much-overdue) cleaning of the grill, while the weather was so nice. But it was just as I was finishing up the bulk of that that the rains came. This was not helpful, not only because I now have my grill out in the open instead of on the front porch, but also because I'd already set the deep fat fryer outside and it was well on its way to hot hot oil.

It took me a while to find it, but I shifted gears to a set of directions for pan-searing filets and finishing them off by roasting them briefly in the oven. The steaks were perfect and the french fries were tasty, although not a particularly healthy choice.

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"Pan-Seared Filet Mignon," from Cook's Illustrated. Published May 2001. Accessed online.

Meal No. 700: Chicken Caesar Salad

Friday night, after coming in off the road, I chose the simple meal route again. I used some key lime pepper blend to season my sautéed chicken breast, and I served it over a pseudo-Caesar salad. It hit the spot and let me avoid heavy lifting in the kitchen after a full week of work.

Phenomenally Gorgeous Saturday in Winston-Salem

My work schedule had me spend most of this past week in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where it stayed mostly cool. And even on the days where the temps approached 50, the winds were icy cold and would cut right through you. Once the sun went behind the clouds, or down for the day, those of us who seek out the warmth were out of luck.

I would say the fates were on my side by letting the one clearly gorgeous North Carolina day this week occur on Saturday, when I was home and free to enjoy it. As shown by the screen image from my cell phone late Saturday afternoon, our temperature got up pretty high...even higher than forecast.

It was a bit breezy but it was wonderful and pleasant. By afternoon, there was much more sun than cloudiness. Cyprus and I spent a lot of time just enjoying the sunshine and being in the yard. I should have taken her for a big walk around downtown, but I never did get around to it.

Weather like this can put one's mind to the spring yardwork tasks. I could have gotten some stuff done but my desire was not matched by any corresponding efforts in this regard.

Instead, I switched back and forth between getting business-related paperwork done, some bills paid, and a bit of kitchen clean-up...and getting outside to take advantage of this glorious almost-spring day.

New Office Building Is Coming

Looks like the view out the kitchen bay windows will change in the coming year or two: the parking lot across Fourth Street (shown below) will be developed into a multi-story office building.

These two shots are what that property looks like as viewed from the house. The first is from the kitchen eating nook/bay; the second is from the upstairs window of the Van Gogh guest bedroom.

I tracked down the documents that were submitted to the City Council when they were asked to approve this project; I wanted very much to see what it is planned to look like. Here are those extracted images of the architect's rendering (some of which are followed by shots of what it looks like as of January 2013:

"New Office Building Planned for Fourth and Broad Streets," in the Winston-Salem Journal, November 22, 2012.

Crane Your Neck, Winston Tower

Here are some shots of what was happening a few weeks ago downtown, which I got to look at up-close when I was walking Cyprus.

I reckon there was some HVAC equipment to be replaced at the top of the 29-story Winston Tower, which is one of the landmark buildings of the downtown Winston-Salem skyline that I regularly look out at from my house. This building also has a connection to the Roediger House because George Roediger once owned a part of the city block that this building now occupies.

Chocolate Pecan Pie (a/k/a Blender Pie)

A recipe that's been a Jones family favorite for a very long time is this one, which we got from Lib Keith. In my recipe book, it's simply called Chocolate Blender Pie, because it's pretty easily whipped up in (you guessed it!) the blender.

That doesn't quite give you enough explanation, so you might as well think of it as a chocolate pecan pie: the cocoa-rich chocolate-y sweet filling is poured over a cup of pecan halves in an unbaked pie shell. Out comes this delicious goodness.

This served as the dessert on both Sunday and Monday nights. On Monday night, a couple of dinner guests decided to combine the two dessert options, as follows:

Weekend Banana Pudding

Over the weekend, I managed to make this for dessert:

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"Murray's Old Fashioned Nana Puddin'," from the Murray Vanilla Wafers package. Also found online at http://www.murray-cookies.com/cgi-bin/brandpages/recipe/recipe.pl?id=6042;skin=murray.

Meal No. 699: Beef Tenderloin

Last night's dinner for Amy Williamson was one of two special birthday gatherings this weekend. The other was this evening, to celebrate Jen Watson's birthday. On the menu: roasted beef tenderloin in wine sauce, another batch of layered green bean casserole (which seems to be somewhat popular around here), and the good old standby of company mashed potatoes.

Mmm, mmm, good. As always.

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"Beef Tenderloin in Wine Sauce" (p. 296) and "Spicy Horseradish Sauce" (p. 295) from The All-New Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook. Compiled and Edited by Julie Fisher Gunter. Oxmoor Press (2006).

"Company Mashed Potatoes," a Jones family favorite.

"Layered Green Bean Casserole," a Jones family favorite (received December 2001).

Meal No. 698: Grilled Lamb Chops

It's almost Amy Williamson's birthday, and she said she wanted a Roediger House dinner. The folks who were here to celebrate her special occasion decided to watch Avatar using the 3D of the plasma TV upstairs. I did my duties down in the kitchen, promising to put dinner on the table around 9 pm when they finished that good but very long movie.

Unfortunately, I never did change the time on the clocks in the kitchen (since daylight saving time started this morning). I'd promised dinner at 9 pm. My failure to change the clocks means we ate at 10 pm. But we ate good: grilled lamb chops with layered green bean casserole and sweet potato casserole.

Now I understand why I seemed to have all this extra time to also make desserts (which I'll post about later this coming week): I was an hour off!

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"Pan-Grilled Lamb Shoulder Chops," from the FoodNetwork.com.

"Grilled Lamb Shoulder Chops with Herb Aioli," by Martha Stewart. Found online.

"Layered Green Bean Casserole," a long-time Jones family favorite (received December 2001).

"Sweet Potato Casserole," based in part on Wanda Byerly's recipe, found in Cooking with Grace, by the Women's Fellowship of Grace Moravian Church, Mount Airy, NC (2001), p. 39.

Meal No. 697: Japanese Fried Chicken

Cuisine at Home again does me right with its recipes. This evening, I tried one that they adapted based on a Japanese fast food dish called katsudon, one of a variety of donburi rice bowl meals. I made the accompanying sidebar recipe for vinegar sushi rice, along with a mirin and soy onion sauce to pour on top of it all. It was delicious and filling.

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"Japanese Fried Chicken," from Cuisine at Home, Issue 98, March/April 2013, p. 44-45.

Meal No. 696: Miso-Glazed Salmon Caesar Salad

Drove in from West Virginia tonight and grabbed some Atlantic salmon at Lowe's Foods in Walkertown on my way in. Simple and healthier dinner tonight: broiled miso-glazed salmon over Caesar salad.

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"Miso-Glazed Salmon Steaks," in Bon Appétit, May 2011, p. 58.

Film at 11. Or at 10.

You can get the news large and small here, as it relates to the Roediger House. And this blog post relates to the news itself.

After dinner last night, while relaxing in my old man chair by the fireside, I was alerted by Cyprus to unusual late evening activity up on the parking lot behind the house. Turns out WGHP Fox 8 was doing a live shot for their 10 o'clock news, so I snagged a pic of it from the porch rooftop.

I didn't want you to miss anything.

Meal No. 695: Pork Chops & Roasted Butternut Squash

Glad to be home unexpectedly in mid-week, thanks to Virginia/West Virginia snow days today and tomorrow. This gave me a chance to try out another new recipe, which involved pan-searing thick-cut pork chops and serving them with roasted butternut squash tossed in a pumpkin seed garlic-lime vinaigrette. (That part of the meal was, shall we say, a bit different.) The ever-delightful baby Brussels sprouts assumed the role of a green thing on the plate.

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"Pork Chops and Squash with Pumpkin Seed Vinaigrette," in Bon Appétit, March 2013, p. 28.

Lovely Moon to Finish Out February

Butter Toffee Cookies

Here's the cookie I decided to make to take on the road with me this week: King Arthur Flour's butter toffee cookies. They're an unusual combination of tastes and flavors and they almost always seem to be a hit. They're one of my favorites, but I'm pleased to have a pretty good stand-by collection of cookie recipes that stand me in good stead.

Meal No. 694: Brendan's Moroccan Bistro Chicken

It's not the name he gave to it, but I decided to honor Brendan Shanley with the naming of this dish since he's the one that served it to me a few Christmases ago. Brendan was in the last group of 7th graders I taught in Raleigh before I headed off to the University of Virginia for my PhD program. It's a regular holiday event that I still get together (most years) with him and his folks. And while I've had some fine meals in the Wood-Shanley household, I think this one ranks at the top.

Tonight's rendering of it was probably the Roediger House's best version of it, I might add.

Chicken Thighs, after browning

Browning the Onions in the Spices and Chicken Renderings

Chicken Cooking in the Chicken Stock and Spices

Moroccan Bistro Chicken, Pan-Roasted Broccoli, Quinoa

Pan-Roasted Broccoli

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"Better Pan-Roasted Broccoli," by Sandra Wu. In Cook's Illustrated, Number Sixty-Nine, March & April 2006, p. 20.

Meal No. 693: Vierling Saloon Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

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"Vierling Saloon Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice Soup," formerly offered at the Vierling Saloon in Marquette, Michigan. Another online version of the recipe can be found at Miss Mary's Blog.

Meal No. 692: Maple-Glazed Pork Roast

An impromptu dinner party that just came together nicely, with seven folks around the table, and I tried this new recipe. Folks seemed to like it a lot. The gathering was in part because of the monthly Gallery Hop over in the Arts District, which we'd decided we would all go to. Tasty accompaniments included green peas and company mashed potatoes.

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"Maple-Glazed Pork Roast," by Adam Ried, in Cook's Illustrated, Number Sixty-One, March & April 2003, p. 6-7.

"Company Mashed Potatoes," a Jones family favorite.

Meal No. 691: Braised Chicken and Brussels Sprouts

I have plenty more reasons than just this to be grateful for Donna Whitley-Smith, but she definitely did me a solid when sharing the recipe magazine that tonight's recipe came out of. This meal is making a repeat appearance already because it's incredibly delicious but it's also pretty straightforward to make.

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"Braised Chicken and Brussels Sprouts," in Everyday Food, Issue 97, November 2012, p. 22.

Meal No. 690: Biscuits-N-Gravy

Out of town since Sunday and two presentations to do tomorrow at the North Carolina Council for the Social Studies Conference...for which I am not yet comfortably prepared.

Dinner had to be easy: biscuits-n-gravy.