Rooftop HVAC Units for 751 W. Fourth

I continue to be entertained by the big construction project on the office building just north of the house. The fact that the bay windows of the eating nook in the kitchen look out at it keeps me distracted and, occasionally, mesmerized. I know I still haven't done an explanatory blog post yet on this sizable structure that will have a big impact on the immediate neighborhood, and I've tried to avoid posting much about it without having laid that groundwork first.

Nonetheless, one of my days at home during the third week of January started very early, and I took note of a large flatbed tractor-trailer vehicle idling on Fourth Street in the wee hours of the morning. Then, after sun-up, I noticed another one out the back door, up on the cleared lot above the house.

I kept looking out as the day progressed hoping to snag a shot or two of these rooftop HVAC units being lifted up onto the roof. Eh, my angle wasn't very good, though, from the house.

Later that same evening, I took note of this:

The leading local news station sure does enjoy setting up to report from the lot just above the house.

Turns out that they too were interested in some of the activity that day at the site and were using it for a story on doing construction in cold weather. I grabbed a couple of screen shots from the posted video of the story and also have a link to it below.

One of those screenshots gives us a better view of the crane lifting the HVAC unit up to the roof of the building:

The live report was posted later that evening to the WXII.com website:

Working high-rise construction in the cold http://t.co/MVo5D7uodD
— WXII 12 News (@WXII) January 23, 2014

Meal No. 914: Rotini Alfredo

I was going to make a really decent Sunday dinner, but then there was this:

Well, no. Not really. I didn't even watch the Super Bowl. Instead, my simple quick meal of rotini alfredo was what I reached for because I put the time and energy instead into a first attempt at a pink lemonade cake:

I did at least eat a bowl of the pasta before having that huge hunk of cake, though.

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"Fettucine Alfredo," from The Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker. New York: Scribner (2006), p. 327.

"Pink Lemonade Cake," from Better Homes & Gardens online.

Meal No. 913: Cindy Coulson's Famous Crusted Chicken

I've been on a kick of baked chicken thighs lately, and it's what felt comfortable to me on this Saturday night. I shook it up a bit, before I baked it, by applying my friend Cindy Coulson's spice and bread crumb coating to the chicken after dipping it in Dijon mustard. This has been great both on pork chops and on chicken. Tonight was no exception! I returned to homemade mashed potatoes and added peas to the side as well.

Meal No. 912: Hamburger Supreme

A weird week with the snow days and the cancellation in Virginia Beach that gave me a couple of unexpected days off...so it was a quick overnighter last night and today to Richmond to spend today with the leadership team at St. Christopher's. To get something decent on the table yet again meant going for a meal that I could throw together quickly and easily. In this case, the long-time Jones family favorite: hamburger supreme.

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"Hamburger Supreme," from the late Mrs. John T. (Glynn) Johnson of Buies Creek, North Carolina, via Janice Jones Bodenhamer.

Meal No. 911: Corn Chowder & Pipetizer Casserole

Last night was an impromptu big gathering of folks, and so with what I had on hand in the fridge, I threw together a meal for us. As I was escaping the winter snowstorm bearing down on Virginia Beach, I took time to grab the fixings for corn chowder. It helped to have the ingredients checklist with me when I made a snowy-slick-roaded stop at the Harris Teeter on my way into Winston-Salem.

It was a good time, and the corn chowder really was terrific.

This time, I think the Pipetizer casserole was only so-so, but still edible.

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"Indiana Corn and Potato Chowder," by Brannon Soileau from his restaurant Maize, An American Grill (formerly of Lafayette, IN). In Indiana Cooks!, by Christine Barbour and Scott Feickert with photographs by Tom Stio. Bloomington, IN: Quarry Books (2005), p. 64-65. You can find this, and quite a few other Indiana recipes, if you scroll to the bottom of this article: "Indiana Can Cook."

"Pipetizer Casserole" is an adaptation of "Tailgate Casserole," from The Big Book of Casseroles, by Maryana Vollstedt. San Francisco: Chronicle Books (2000), p. 120.

Finally, Some Snow

No Snow Event. Last week, a winter weather system moved through the area and, while much of the action was promised for east of here because of the moisture pattern, Winston-Salem was at least to get anywhere from a dusting up to an inch. We had a bit of rain but the forecast was for it to switch to a wintry mix and then into some snow.

Right at the time it was to begin, instead I began to see a completely clear sky and even the traces of a lovely golden sunset bouncing off the buildings across the street (now that I have a new view to the west).

And while I would like to have had the rare treat of some snow, this sunset did give me a nice gloaming reflection on the downtown skyline:

We weren't completely robbed, though, because apparently something fell overnight, according to the evidence left on my car windshield:

Firewood Replenishment. With the many cold days thus far this winter, I've really blazed through my firewood stack. I reordered from Chris's Tree Service because the previous load he brought me in November 2012 was flawless and awesome. He brought my resupply this past Saturday.

I'm afraid it's not as good a load, although there's plenty of it. It's not cut as uniformly but there are also some huge pieces, which I've gone to the trouble to split myself. It's also pretty darned green. I think Chris has definitely had a busy winter so I bet he's struggling to keep up with demand. That's likely to slow me down for fires the remainder of this winter but I'll hope it cures well for the ones that follow.

Today was good for a fire, for sure:

Fire No. 28

And Then, Snow. Because of all that oversized and green wood, I had to work hard to keep this fire going, which I did all day long. That's because overnight and this morning, we got snow at last in Winston-Salem:

And Cyprus loved it:

Meal No. 910: Herb-Roasted Salmon Fillet

It was only the last hour that began to get a bit treacherous this afternoon, when I made the five-hour drive home from Virginia Beach. My work there for Wednesday and Thursday was canceled because of the 6-12 inches of snow that was to begin mid-day. Schools were dismissed early and the assistant superintendent said: "Go home."

I stopped off at Kernersville at the Harris Teeter and there was a fine-looking piece of salmon in the fish market. While I just had it a few meals ago, it was too tempting not to go with it again. With a bit of quinoa and some sugar snap peas that looked worse for the wear, I had the treat of being home and of cooking up some grub for dinner.

This also means that my compulsion to blog every single day requires me to shift around some entries that I had scheduled for this week while I was to be away from home. If you didn't know it before, I construct the blog in part by contrivances.

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Based on "Herb-Roasted Salmon Fillets," by Luanne Asta of New York, NY. In Taste of Home, December 2013, p. 28.

Meal No. 909: Sausage, Egg, & Cheese Breakfast Casserole

I had some sausage to use up before hitting the road for this week's work in Virginia Beach, so I decided to whip up a Sunday morning breakfast casserole. Everybody has this in a recipe book somewhere...probably one of the most common breakfast dishes ever. I always liked my Mother's although I often thought we overdid the cheese in it. This may be only the second or third time I've ever made it, and I did pretty darned well.

Meal No. 908: Spicy Pork & Broccoli Stir-Fry

This was last night's new stir-fry recipe. It uses pork tenderloin, which is just not my preference when it comes to a good stir-fry. I think I'll stick with chicken, beef, and shrimp. It was good, but not quite to my liking.

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"Spicy Pork and Broccoli Stir-Fry," in Cook's Country, February/March 2012, centerfold recipe cards.

Meal No. 907: Chicken Marsala with Gorgonzola

This was a pretty straightforward meal to prepare although last night I had the frustration of half the chicken being underdone by the time I was plating the food. It got me rattled enough that I failed to snap a photo, which I'm sure breaks the hearts of my dear blog readers.

Never fear, though: this was identical to how I prepared it last time, for Meal No. 479, right down to the jasmine rice and the baby Brussels sprouts, so I'm posting the unchosen picture from that previous dinner. (Last night it was chicken thighs instead of breasts, though.)

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

Fire No. 27

It's proving to be a stupidly cold winter. But this Friday morning fire was perfect for a day off the road and a quiet morning with coffee and catching up on email.

Meal No. 906: Potato and Cheese Soup

This is a delicious recipe for potato and cheese soup, which I've only made once before (Meal No. 654). I shouldn't have waited so long to return to it.

By the way: there's a big difference between 3 cups of cubed potatoes and 3 pounds of cubed potatoes. Guess the direction in which I made tonight's cooking error.

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"Potato and Cheese Soup," from a cooking class at KitchenArt in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Meal No. 905: Peanut Butter Bacon Burgers

By special request by a Roediger House regular to celebrate his birthday, it's peanut butter bacon burgers for Mookie:

A review of key points about peanut butter bacon burgers:

• Inspired by Yo Mama's in the French Quarter of New Orleans
• First Made: Meal No. 180
• Last Made: Meal No. 886
• Homemade Peanut Butter
• Fresh-Ground Beef from boneless shortribs and top sirloin
• Homemade Classic Burger Sauce (recipe below)
• Labeled Finished Burger: Guide to Meal No. 234
• Some guidance, inspiration, and tips are based on Cook's Illustrated, No. 93 (July/August 2008), p. 10.

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Classic Burger Sauce

from Cook's Illustrated, July-August 2008, p. 11.

4 T mayonnaise
2 T ketchup
1 tsp sweet pickle relish
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl.