Meal No. 2079: Simple Easter Breakfast

My excitement could barely be contained when Sumner and I emerged early Easter Sunday morning (also, fittingly, April Fool's Day) and there, at the bluebird house, was a bluebird couple, checking things out.

It's been almost two years since I'd seen any sign of bluebirds here, and before that I'd never seen them at all. I'm sure downtown, in the midst of all this hustle and bustle, isn't the ideal location for them.

Even in the sanctuary of my quarter-acre plot, it's still too busy, with a dog and all those other birds and people all too close...so I fear my birdhouse rental will remain uninhabited. After their two visits that Sunday morning, I did see the male near the house again a few days later...and then nothing.

Before Cameron and Shirley departed Easter Sunday morning for their long, long drive back to Orlando, I put together a simple breakfast for us. It included sausage balls, butterscotch bundt cake, and creamy Southern grits:

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"Sausage Balls," from my mother's recipe book. A slightly enhanced recipe can be found on BettyCrocker.com.

Guidance for making the creamy grits: Luquire Family Stone Ground Grits, milled in Greenwood, SC.

Meal No. 2078: Lamb & Mushroom Meatloaf

On the final night of March, with a second blue moon of the year stunningly full in the sky, it was a Saturday night dinner for four at the Roediger House. Our plates boasted slabs of lamb and mushroom meatloaf, tasty smashed sweet potatoes, and hot buttered peas. And the photograph of that evening's meal looks weirdly matched to Meal No. 1957, when I operated with an identical menu.

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"Lamb and Multi-Mushroom Meat Loaf" (p. 150) and "Smashed Sweet Potatoes" (p. 128), in Tupelo Honey Cafe: Spirited Recipes from Asheville's New South Kitchen, by Elizabeth Sims with Chef Brian Sonoskus. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing (2011).

Meal No. 2077: Buttermilk Pancakes

For the four of us at the table late morning last Saturday, fluffy buttermilk pancakes seemed like the perfect choice on a gorgeous spring day...

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"Best Tips for Making Pancakes: Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes," by Joanne on the Pioneer Woman website.

Meal No. 2076: World's Best Lasagna

With six at the table on Saturday night, I figured a big ol' pan of lasagna and homemade garlic bread ought to do the trick. It did.

Friday was also when I got 2018's first grass-cutting in, with the cherry tree blossoms looming over my head and with a bright blue sky above as well.

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"World's Best Lasagna," by John Chandler (Dallas, TX). Found online at AllRecipes.com.

"Easy Homemade Garlic Bread," by Jocelyn Delk Adams of Grandbaby Cakes.

Meal No. 2075: Beef Bulgogi Bowls

It was time to try out an new recipe for beef bulgogi bowls when Friday night rolled around (after I'd put in a good afternoon in beautiful weather doing some much-needed yardwork). The consensus around the table was that this was a delicious and much improved version!

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"Beef Bulgogi Bowls, A Korean Favorite," by Kaitlin of The Woks of Life blog. [Published 23 January 2016]

Meal No. 2074: Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy

A while back, dear neighbors Deborah and Alaina gave me a signed copy of The Southern Living Community Cookbook. I finally got around to looking through it and stumbled almost immediately on a recipe for Salisbury steak and mushroom gravy that I knew I wanted to try. That happened this past Wednesday night, with four at the table, and we all thought it was amazing. With it, I had seasoned green beans and mashed potatoes. You might count on seeing this dish on the blog again in the future!

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"Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy," by Vivian Waters [Thomasville, GA]. From The Southern Living Community Cookbook by Sheri Castle. New York: Time Home Entertainment/Oxmoor House (2014), p. 65.

Meal No. 2073: French Toast at Dinnertime

I went through a couple of days last week where I just couldn't quite get myself into proper kitchen mode, and as I tried to emerge from that lack of initiative, I made it easier by prepping a simple supper of French toast last Monday night. It's pretty darned good, so I ain't complaining, mind you.

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"French Toast," from King Arthur Flour online.

Meal No. 2072: Steelhead Trout with Maple Glaze

The weekend flew by but at least the sun and something that might have hinted at warmth returned by Sunday afternoon. That night I thought I'd try making steelhead trout for the first time, which meant seeking out a recipe to help me know what the heck I was supposed to do. The version on the plates that night involved a maple-soy-garlic glaze and it was pretty darned good.

I regularly hanker for some sweet sticky coconut rice with a slab of fish like this, so I tried yet another recipe for that (I've had poor results on just about every previous attempt). I think I finally got it right that night, though!

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"Steelhead Trout Baked with Honey or Maple Glaze," by Heather and Submitted by JBisenberg on Epircurious.com. [Originally Published 13 September 2010; Updated 25 February 2018]

"Jamaican Coconut Sweet Rice," by Michaela of An Affair from the Heart.

Meal No. 2071: Sunday Brunch for Six

Last Sunday, it was six at the table and I couldn't imagine a better meal than a quick repeat of the brunch from earlier in the month. The big casserole dish of savory breakfast bread pudding and French yogurt cake generally promised pleased palates. They did not disappoint.

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"Savory Bread Pudding," from King Arthur Flour. [recipe clipping]

"French Yogurt Cake," by Andrew Knowlton. In Bon Appétit, May 2012, p. 30.

Meal No. 2070: Pipetizer Casserole

Before heading out for a snowy/rainy night on the town with a crew of bachelor's party fellas, I served us all up some supper this past Saturday night: Pipetizer Casserole, along with homemade garlic-parmesan bread. While the evening's possibilities were certainly dampened by the very winter-like weather, it was still a good time...till the groom-to-be ended up with his head in a trashcan.

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

"Easy Homemade Garlic Bread," by Jocelyn Delk Adams of Grandbaby Cakes.

Meal No. 2069: Chicken Salad Melts

This past Saturday was awesome, because it marked the one-year anniversary of the arrival of rescue pup Sumner to the Roediger House. And it was weird because it rained a lot and snowed some too. It was a fine day to be inside, once I'd run early morning shopping errands. At lunchtime, I put the previous evening's chicken legs to good use in a homemade chicken salad which I then used to create chicken salad melts on buttered toasted brioche buns. I'd never made those before and those sammiches were awesome.

Meal No. 2068: Seasoned Chicken Leg Quarters

When Friday night rolled around, following a terrific final day with a talented group of teachers at Hunter Elementary School, and with three at the table, I pulled out the Instant Pot and tried a new recipe for seasoned chicken leg quarters. I also made a newer Roediger House favorite side dish of creamed corn. Some stuffing seemed to be the right final piece of the dinner puzzle.

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"Pressure Cooker Chicken Legs with Herb Rub," by Mike Vrobel of Dad Cooks Dinner.

"Southern Creamed Corn," by Patrick and Gina Neely of the Food Network.

Caramel Crunch Cookies

This spring has allowed me a chance to work with another fantastic group of teachers from Hunter Elementary School in Greensboro, and on my last day with them last Friday, I wanted to take a special batch of cookies to them. The Caramel Popcorn Cap'n Crunch version is such a hit whenever I make them, and I made them extra big. The teachers were most kind in their compliments!

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"Cap'n Crunch Cookies," found online at The Capitol Baker, with credit going to The Sugar Plum Blog for inspiration and the source of the adapted recipe.

Meal No. 2067: Panko-Crusted Tilapia

Last Thursday night, the Roediger House menu included panko-crusted tilapia and some steamed broccoli florets. I didn't quite get them to come out simultaneously but it still turned out to be a fine weeknight dinner.

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"Panko-Crusted Tilapia," from Lacey of The Sweet Pea Chef.

Meal No. 2066: Creamy Tuscan Garlic Chicken

It was, of course, an unexpected turn of events to be living in North Carolina and to have the day off this late in March because of snow. The "found" time at home that day let me do a few house things and also to get a much-needed haircut. It didn't inspire me to go down a fancy or involved dinner prep route, though, and I fell back on a new recipe that came together pretty easily: creamy Tuscan garlic chicken over angel hair pasta. I'm not a fan of sun-dried tomatoes and I added some diced asparagus to it, and it turned out pretty nice for a cozy mid-week meal.

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"Creamy Tuscan Garlic Chicken," from Alyssa Rivers at The Recipe Critic.

Spring Begins with Snow

The much-anticipated Spring season officially arrived Tuesday, and then Wednesday I was at home because it was a snow day! That's not the usual way of Winston-Salem, but hey: I sure was glad to be able to go and get that much-needed haircut.

Meal No. 2065: Bacon & Onion Bistro Pizza

I spent this past Tuesday with some fine aspiring administrators in Vance County, NC, which is a good two-hour drive from Winston. So that evening I made a simple and quick and also really tasty dinner: a bistro-style pizza topped with homemade barbecue sauce, crumbled bacon, caramelized onion, goat and blue cheeses, and a mozzarella-provolone mix of cheese. It baked up crisp and toasty on the pizza stone and hit the spot that night.

Meal No. 2064: Baked Pork Chops

Every once in a while, I break out my friend Cindy's recommended approach to baking boneless pork chops. It brings back fine memories of my many, many visits with her and her husband Harley back when they lived in Winchester, VA. For three of us at the table Monday night, the chops were accompanied by a rice-vermicelli mix and hot buttered corn.

Meal No. 2063: Mushroom & Swiss Burgers

Last Sunday night, I made Madeira mushrooms and used them on top of burger patties along with Swiss cheese and buttered toasted brioche buns...and those were some fantastic mushroom and Swiss burgers!

Meal No. 2062: Bacon Grilled Cheese

Although my cast iron skillet got too hot too fast and gave a good dark sear to my bacon grilled cheese sandwich at lunchtime on Sunday....it was still a bacon grilled cheese and it earned no argument from me.

DoubleTree-Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

On the desserts front, I've certainly been under-productive since Christmas. It occurs to me that I am very nearly reaching the point of cheating Cohort II from the High Point University Leadership Academy this spring: I've not been regularly bringing goodies from the home kitchen to them and we're halfway through the semester. So I busted out the stand mixer Sunday afternoon and put together a few batches of the DoubleTree-style chocolate chip cookies that are usually mighty good. I'm taking them with me today when we meet at a local middle school to begin our coaching rounds and post-observation conferencing rotations.

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"Doubletree Hotel's Chocolate Chip Cookies," by Ayşegül Sanford and her blog, Foolproof Living. Published December 29, 2013.

Meal No. 2061: Grilled Porterhouse and Fries

For those who celebrate St. Patrick's Day, it turned out to be a pretty ideal Saturday for bar-hopping, with gorgeous mostly sunny skies and a pretty warm day for March. The purple crocus are still doing their thing but there was also a really happy gaggle of daffodil strutting its stuff along the front wall, as shown above. And as the Bradford pear's blossoms fade, it's now time for the stunted cherry trees to bring out the bells that toll spring:

I spent a good bit of time outside with Sumner but wish that had included getting an early start on spring yard work. He is an avid hunter of small birds that like to perch on the tires and chassis of the Tundra, so he did some underbelly sleuthing:

At dinner time, I had to give in to the grilling compulsion, and while the porterhouse steaks were a lot thinner than I'd like, it was all good with crispy golden french fries.

Meal No. 2060: Light & Fluffy Waffles

It was nice to be back at home following a couple of days working up in Virginia. After a shower or two passed through this morning, keeping a bit of late-winter chill in the air, the sun busted out and the temps slowly got up towards 60°F, and that meant lots of time outside with Sumner. But at mid-day, my focus turned to waffles, and they were just right.

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"Light and Fluffy Waffles," by James Schend, Food Editor of Taste of Home, September/October 2017, p. 26.

Meal No. 2059: Chicken Cordon Bleu

Tuesday night six of us came together to celebrate Amy Williamson's birthday, and her requested menu was for chicken cordon bleu. I like adding to it a Mornay sauce, and we also had squash casserole and Brussels sprouts gratin. It was some fine eating!

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"Chicken Cordon Bleu," by Tyler Florence from the Food Network.

Mornay Sauce based on "Le Chicken Cordon Bleu with Parmesan Dijon Sauce," by Ben Rayl from ComfortableFood.com.

"Squash Casserole," recipe from Margaret Holmes southern canned vegetables.

"Brussels Sprouts Gratin," by Alison Roman. From Cooking on newyorktimes.com.

Meal No. 2058: Pulled Pork Barbecue Sandwiches

On my last work trip to Virginia Beach, on one of my dinners out, I had a pretty delicious standard pulled pork sandwich but what stood out for me was the nice sweet-and-tangy sauce. I've been wanting to replicate it, to an extent, and gave that a trial run this past Monday night with a recipe for pulled pork in the Instant Pot. It turned out great.

I also piloted a new barbecue sauce recipe that was also really awesome.

And, for the first time that I can remember, I made coleslaw using my mother's recipe.

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"Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Pork" and "Homemade BBQ Sauce," from Ali of Gimme Some Oven.

Homemade Coleslaw was based on my mother's recipe.

A Mid-March Snowfall

I'll be darned if we didn't get quite the late winter snowfall this past Monday, on what would have been my father's 95th birthday.

The forecast originally called for a chance of a wintry mix, but by mid- to late morning, it was all snow all day until late afternoon. It's been too warm for it to pile up all that much, in spite of how constantly it came down.

Rather strange to have a fully-blossomed Bradford pear tree and all that snow!

You can see that the daffodils and purple crocus were reduced to complete submission.

I still had a list of errands to run so I hit the road in the truck that morning. Oh, the things I won't do to make sure I have heavy cream on hand...

Meal No. 2057: Kung Pao Chicken

The Roediger House has a new next-door neighbor who came over for dinner on Sunday night. Because I knew Ryan liked Asian restaurants, I thought I'd bring back the house version of kung pao chicken over Basmati rice. It had just the right amount of heat and the flavors really came through in a terrific combination. It was a tasty meal!

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"Kung Pao [Chicken]" (p. 80) with Szechwan Marinade (p. 28) and Spicy Peanut Stir-Fry Sauce (p. 27). In Wok Fast, by Hugh Carpenter and Teri Sandison. Ten Speed Press (Berkeley/Toronto), 2002.

Meal No. 2056: Special Brunch with Greensboro Colleagues

It's taken far too long to achieve, but Sunday at mid-day I finally got to enjoy a visit from and brunch with delightful friends from Greensboro, one of whom I've had the pleasure to work with through Guilford County Schools over the last several years. Although we were faced with yucky cold rainy weather, it was cozy inside the Roediger House. I'd asked Amy to look at the blog and see if there were any dishes in particular that she'd like me to go for, and so we had savory breakfast bread pudding; French yogurt cake; fresh fruit; and, for dessert, a slice of homemade Atlantic Beach pie.

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"Savory Bread Pudding," from King Arthur Flour. [recipe clipping]

"French Yogurt Cake," by Andrew Knowlton. In Bon Appétit, May 2012, p. 30.

"One Phenomenal Pie: Atlantic Beach Pie," from Chef Bill Smith. Published in Our State Magazine, May 2014. Also featured in "Found Recipes" on All Things Considered from National Public Radio, broadcast April 13, 2013.

Meal No. 2055: Indoor Barbecued Chicken

When Kristen and Mookie were back over for dinner last night, I thought I'd pilot a new recipe: indoor barbecued chicken. We are in a crazy cold-snap here in Winston even though it's almost the middle of March, and we were actually under threat of a wintry mix late night and into today. So I wasn't going to be grilling!

In order to be more free to spend time up on the third floor and to get some pool playing in, though, I repeated the sides that we'd only had about 10 meals ago because I could toss them in the oven instead of having to tend to them: company mashed potatoes and traditional green bean casserole.

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"Indoor Barbecued Chicken," by Matthew Fairman. In Cook's Country, October/November 2017, p. 18.

"Company Mashed Potatoes," a Jones family favorite.

"Campbell's Classic Green Bean Casserole," from Campbell's Kitchen. Recipe available online.