You Are What You Eat: August 24 through August 31
I suppose I'm running a risk by posting this on August 31 before the day is complete, but I'm feeling pretty full, so here's all the detail on the many new recipes I made as we bring August to a close.
Saturday, August 24 - My folks were in town, so I made a nice shakshuka for breakfast. It appears I hadn't made one previously this year. For some reason, everyone else thought the eggs weren't quite done, but mine were fine and the microwave fixed theirs.
That evening M and I went to the backyard wedding of one of her college classmates, which featured a family-sourced buffet meal (or so I gathered). It also had some blue punch that didn't taste at all like alcohol but kicked like a mule. Very nice.
From there, we made a late appearance at the annual BBQ of darlox and gieves. We just missed my parents there. I mostly ate desserts; although I had stated I could eat red meat at this specific event, they were already out of beef by the time we got there.
Both of these events were counted as family.
Sunday, August 25 - For breakfast, we had lox and bagels. I realize this barely counts as booking (ooh, I had to toast a bagel), but whatever, it was delicious and apparently I hadn't had that yet this year.
For dinner, I met EmilyT at Tommy's in Coventry for my second visit of the year. We split a chocolate malt in addition to the various other foods eaten.
Everything after this meal was either a new recipe or a new restaurant!
Monday, August 26 - I generated an awful lot of leftovers by making the Cheesy Beef Enchilada Casserole from the September 2019 Eating Well. Of course, I used chicken instead, and I didn't make the coleslaw portion, but the rich cheese sauce on top of the meat, vegetables and tortillas made this an acceptably good casserole. I'm not sure it was better than the Chilaquiles Casseroles, but certainly neither of us was unhappy to meet more.
Tuesday, August 27 - I went back to the September 2019 Eating Well for the Homemade Chicken Tenders with Everything Bagel Seasoning over Salad, which was basically fancy chicken strips over greens. I improvised the everything bagel spice mix (M thought it too salty) and made the chicken in the air fryer. There's nothing wrong with chicken tenders, but it wasn't really anything that stood out.
Wednesday, August 28 - We went to see the Lion King, and we even had fancy dinner plans beforehand. Unfortunately, M had some car trouble, and by the time we resolved it those fancy plans were out the window. We ended up eating at Sung's House next to the theater mostly because it wasn't busy and they said they could turn our order around fast. They did; M had some tuna sushi and chicken yakadori, and I had a bibimbap. As Korean goes, it was fine but not amazing. As conveniently placed meals before the theater went, two thumbs up!
Thursday, August 29 - The Cauliflower Tikka Masala with Chickpeas from the September 2019 Eating Well used a store bought tikka masala sauce. The upshot was that it took 20 minutes to make and was more than good enough. Next time I'll remember to start the rice in time to have both, but this time around we just had it straight.
Friday, August 30 - It was a good week for the September 2019 Eating Well, as we closed out with the BBQ Shrimp with Garlicky Kale & Parmesan-Herb Couscous. I threw some spinach in with the kale, but otherwise this followed the recipe, which accurately predicted a 20 minute start to finish time. There were no leftovers.
Saturday, August 31 - We took the opportunity to go have outdoor adventures on the far east side. M suggested we try to repeat our earlier success with lakefront dining, and after a little searching we found the Sunset Harbor Bar & Grille in Fairport Harbor. We had some excellent lake views and decent food that was slightly overpriced for what it was. I wouldn't go out of my way to eat there, but if you want lake views with dinner it does the job.
On a side note, how come there aren't tons of lakeside restaurants along Lake Erie? It makes no sense. There are two in Lakewood (one of which isn't good and the other is very expensive) and only two or three in Cleveland depending on what you count as a restaurant. Sunset Harbor bills itself as the only lakeside dining in Lake County. Weird.
Anyway, on the way out of town we stopped and I got twist soft serve at Kurlee Kone. It was perfectly normal soft serve. The medium was gigantic.
Totals For This Post
Days Covered: 8
Meals / Dishes Cooked: 6 / 6
New Recipes: 4
Leftover Nights: 0
Eating Out / Take Out Meals: 3
Eating Out Drinks/Dessert Only: 1
New To Me Restaurants: 3
Repeated Restaurants in 2019: 1
Parties / Friends / Family Cooked: 2
Repeated Recipes: 0
Overall Totals 2019 (less January 1)
Days Covered: 242
Meals / Dishes Cooked: 147 / 202
New Recipes: 86
Leftover Nights: 8
Eating Out / Take Out Meals: 116
Eating Out Drinks/Dessert Only: 47
New To Me Restaurants: 60
Repeated Restaurants in 2019: 44
Parties / Friends / Family Cooked: 17
Repeated Recipes: 23
Saturday, August 24 - My folks were in town, so I made a nice shakshuka for breakfast. It appears I hadn't made one previously this year. For some reason, everyone else thought the eggs weren't quite done, but mine were fine and the microwave fixed theirs.
That evening M and I went to the backyard wedding of one of her college classmates, which featured a family-sourced buffet meal (or so I gathered). It also had some blue punch that didn't taste at all like alcohol but kicked like a mule. Very nice.
From there, we made a late appearance at the annual BBQ of darlox and gieves. We just missed my parents there. I mostly ate desserts; although I had stated I could eat red meat at this specific event, they were already out of beef by the time we got there.
Both of these events were counted as family.
Sunday, August 25 - For breakfast, we had lox and bagels. I realize this barely counts as booking (ooh, I had to toast a bagel), but whatever, it was delicious and apparently I hadn't had that yet this year.
For dinner, I met EmilyT at Tommy's in Coventry for my second visit of the year. We split a chocolate malt in addition to the various other foods eaten.
Everything after this meal was either a new recipe or a new restaurant!
Monday, August 26 - I generated an awful lot of leftovers by making the Cheesy Beef Enchilada Casserole from the September 2019 Eating Well. Of course, I used chicken instead, and I didn't make the coleslaw portion, but the rich cheese sauce on top of the meat, vegetables and tortillas made this an acceptably good casserole. I'm not sure it was better than the Chilaquiles Casseroles, but certainly neither of us was unhappy to meet more.
Tuesday, August 27 - I went back to the September 2019 Eating Well for the Homemade Chicken Tenders with Everything Bagel Seasoning over Salad, which was basically fancy chicken strips over greens. I improvised the everything bagel spice mix (M thought it too salty) and made the chicken in the air fryer. There's nothing wrong with chicken tenders, but it wasn't really anything that stood out.
Wednesday, August 28 - We went to see the Lion King, and we even had fancy dinner plans beforehand. Unfortunately, M had some car trouble, and by the time we resolved it those fancy plans were out the window. We ended up eating at Sung's House next to the theater mostly because it wasn't busy and they said they could turn our order around fast. They did; M had some tuna sushi and chicken yakadori, and I had a bibimbap. As Korean goes, it was fine but not amazing. As conveniently placed meals before the theater went, two thumbs up!
Thursday, August 29 - The Cauliflower Tikka Masala with Chickpeas from the September 2019 Eating Well used a store bought tikka masala sauce. The upshot was that it took 20 minutes to make and was more than good enough. Next time I'll remember to start the rice in time to have both, but this time around we just had it straight.
Friday, August 30 - It was a good week for the September 2019 Eating Well, as we closed out with the BBQ Shrimp with Garlicky Kale & Parmesan-Herb Couscous. I threw some spinach in with the kale, but otherwise this followed the recipe, which accurately predicted a 20 minute start to finish time. There were no leftovers.
Saturday, August 31 - We took the opportunity to go have outdoor adventures on the far east side. M suggested we try to repeat our earlier success with lakefront dining, and after a little searching we found the Sunset Harbor Bar & Grille in Fairport Harbor. We had some excellent lake views and decent food that was slightly overpriced for what it was. I wouldn't go out of my way to eat there, but if you want lake views with dinner it does the job.
On a side note, how come there aren't tons of lakeside restaurants along Lake Erie? It makes no sense. There are two in Lakewood (one of which isn't good and the other is very expensive) and only two or three in Cleveland depending on what you count as a restaurant. Sunset Harbor bills itself as the only lakeside dining in Lake County. Weird.
Anyway, on the way out of town we stopped and I got twist soft serve at Kurlee Kone. It was perfectly normal soft serve. The medium was gigantic.
Totals For This Post
Days Covered: 8
Meals / Dishes Cooked: 6 / 6
New Recipes: 4
Leftover Nights: 0
Eating Out / Take Out Meals: 3
Eating Out Drinks/Dessert Only: 1
New To Me Restaurants: 3
Repeated Restaurants in 2019: 1
Parties / Friends / Family Cooked: 2
Repeated Recipes: 0
Overall Totals 2019 (less January 1)
Days Covered: 242
Meals / Dishes Cooked: 147 / 202
New Recipes: 86
Leftover Nights: 8
Eating Out / Take Out Meals: 116
Eating Out Drinks/Dessert Only: 47
New To Me Restaurants: 60
Repeated Restaurants in 2019: 44
Parties / Friends / Family Cooked: 17
Repeated Recipes: 23