You Are What You Eat: December 1 through December 9
M and I went on a long road trip from Friday to Monday to attend my cousin Phil's wedding. As such, the covered time period was heavy on cooking early and heavy on eating out late.
Sunday, December 1 - I made the vegetarian Hoppin‘ John with Orange Bell Peppers from the November/December 2016 Eating Well for dinner. Somehow, that was the first time I had made it this year. I'm pleased to say that it's still pretty darn good. Of course, it would be better with a hambone in it, but that would defeat the vegetarian aspect.
Monday, December 2 - The November/December 2016 Eating Well was themed around various areas of the Middle East. One of the winners from that issue was the Circassian Chicken, which needs to sit overnight for the sauce to thicken. I made it for the second time this year on Sunday night and finished it Monday for dinner. Admittedly, finishing it was just adding herbs and pomegranate seeds to the top, but whatever.
True story: It's served cold. M took some and heated it up. Then she admitted it tasted better cold.
Tuesday, December 3 - The slow cooker offered up the Dal with Mango & Mustard Seeds for the second time this year. Living in a world where I can buy frozen mango with no special effort is pretty amazing.
Wednesday, December 4 - It was a week for "second time around"; this night was the second time we made the Chickpea Dumplings in Curried Tomato Sauce. This iteration still couldn't get the dumplings to stick together, but it also tasted great, so who's complaining?
Thursday, December 5 - The new recipe for this week came out of the current December 2019 Eating Well. M always like arepas when we hit up Barroco, so trying the Arepas with Spicy Black Beans was a no brainer. It tasted good, but pragmatically it was more like a thick corn bread then a thin tortilla. I'll make it again to use up the special ingredient (masarepa, fancy corn meal), but I'm not sure it'll happen again after that.
Friday, December 6 - The fridge was empty in preparation for our trip, and also arepas didn't make that much, so I got chinese food with my old team at work. My once a year General Tso was perfectly satisfactory, but I won't pretend that China House in Bay Village is particularly good.
After driving many hours, we stopped for the night in Clearfield, Pennsylvania. We had a late dinner in a townie bar called Legend's Sports Bar & Grill. We sat at the bar and had perfectly adequate bar food.
Saturday, December 7 - We work up in a Holiday Inn Express, and had our usual Holiday Inn Express breakfast. M even chanced the pancake robot. As per pattern, all chains are repeats, even when I go to different locations.
We arrived in Marlboro, NY and met up with my parents and sister and brother-in-law. Five of us (Mom stayed in) opted for a late afternoon light snack down the street from our B&B at Brix Gastropub, where we shared a big pretzel and a deep fried burrata, among other delicacies. The burrata more of less liquified and fell out of its breading.
For dinner, ten of us (M & I, my parents, tigerlily_blue and her husband, Jess and Ben, Denise & Donald) had a fancy dinner in the private dining room of the Culinary Institute of America's American Bounty restaurant. the student waitstaff and chefs were very earnest, and the food was pretty good. The overall experience fell solidly in the "I wouldn't rush back but would go again if someone suggested it" bucket. I will say that I had a fish soup as an opener that boasted a truly amazing broth.
Sunday, December 8 - All ten of us stayed at the Danskammer House. Our hosts were retired academic types who bought the house when it was foreclosed upon to protect their neighborhood, and ended up running a B&B. Our breakfast featured eggs and turkey sausage on a very rich corn polenta, with a very nice focacia plus sugared oranges and a wide assortment of drinks. We also had Portuguese pastries with tea on Saturday afternoon (not rising to meal level), which were nearly as good as the ones I had in Lisbon. It's a nice place B&B, especially if your family has booked every room!
We all made our separate ways to the wedding venue. On the way, M and I stopped in Woodstock, which has a very touristy downtown that evokes the legendary rock festival and the hippie vibe. It also has the Tinker Taco Lab, which had pretty much the best damn taco M had has in a very long time. For my part I had a very nice stew with chicken sausage which was probably my best meal of the trip. If you're ever in Woodstock, check them out. I'm not just saying that because of the friendly bar dogs that were hanging out in the window either, although that didn't hurt.
My cousin's wedding was at Full Moon Resort. I'm pretty sure the resort was the caterer, but I'm counting it as a family thing to avoid confusion. The salmon was actually upper end wedding food, and the chocolate pie was primo. It was a fun party.
Monday, December 9 - We work up and met many family members for a buffet breakfast, which I will also count as a family event even though it was in the cafe in the resort.
After a long drive home, M and I went to Buckeye Beer Engine for a late dinner and drink before collapsing. It was our fifth time at Buckeye this year. I had a venison burger, which I specifically stated as not being red meat. I was surprised and pleased to actually be able to take advantage of that loophole! Thus ended our trip.
Totals For This Post
Days Covered: 9
Meals / Dishes Cooked: 5 / 5
New Recipes: 1
Leftover Nights: 0
Eating Out / Take Out Meals: 8
Eating Out Drinks/Dessert Only: 0
New To Me Restaurants: 5
Repeated Restaurants in 2019: 2
Parties / Friends / Family Cooked: 2
Repeated Recipes: 3
Overall Totals 2019 (less January 1)
Days Covered: 342
Meals / Dishes Cooked: 204 / 272
New Recipes: 116
Leftover Nights: 16
Eating Out / Take Out Meals: 171
Eating Out Drinks/Dessert Only: 63
New To Me Restaurants: 106
Repeated Restaurants in 2019: 61
Parties / Friends / Family Cooked: 26
Repeated Recipes: 42
Sunday, December 1 - I made the vegetarian Hoppin‘ John with Orange Bell Peppers from the November/December 2016 Eating Well for dinner. Somehow, that was the first time I had made it this year. I'm pleased to say that it's still pretty darn good. Of course, it would be better with a hambone in it, but that would defeat the vegetarian aspect.
Monday, December 2 - The November/December 2016 Eating Well was themed around various areas of the Middle East. One of the winners from that issue was the Circassian Chicken, which needs to sit overnight for the sauce to thicken. I made it for the second time this year on Sunday night and finished it Monday for dinner. Admittedly, finishing it was just adding herbs and pomegranate seeds to the top, but whatever.
True story: It's served cold. M took some and heated it up. Then she admitted it tasted better cold.
Tuesday, December 3 - The slow cooker offered up the Dal with Mango & Mustard Seeds for the second time this year. Living in a world where I can buy frozen mango with no special effort is pretty amazing.
Wednesday, December 4 - It was a week for "second time around"; this night was the second time we made the Chickpea Dumplings in Curried Tomato Sauce. This iteration still couldn't get the dumplings to stick together, but it also tasted great, so who's complaining?
Thursday, December 5 - The new recipe for this week came out of the current December 2019 Eating Well. M always like arepas when we hit up Barroco, so trying the Arepas with Spicy Black Beans was a no brainer. It tasted good, but pragmatically it was more like a thick corn bread then a thin tortilla. I'll make it again to use up the special ingredient (masarepa, fancy corn meal), but I'm not sure it'll happen again after that.
Friday, December 6 - The fridge was empty in preparation for our trip, and also arepas didn't make that much, so I got chinese food with my old team at work. My once a year General Tso was perfectly satisfactory, but I won't pretend that China House in Bay Village is particularly good.
After driving many hours, we stopped for the night in Clearfield, Pennsylvania. We had a late dinner in a townie bar called Legend's Sports Bar & Grill. We sat at the bar and had perfectly adequate bar food.
Saturday, December 7 - We work up in a Holiday Inn Express, and had our usual Holiday Inn Express breakfast. M even chanced the pancake robot. As per pattern, all chains are repeats, even when I go to different locations.
We arrived in Marlboro, NY and met up with my parents and sister and brother-in-law. Five of us (Mom stayed in) opted for a late afternoon light snack down the street from our B&B at Brix Gastropub, where we shared a big pretzel and a deep fried burrata, among other delicacies. The burrata more of less liquified and fell out of its breading.
For dinner, ten of us (M & I, my parents, tigerlily_blue and her husband, Jess and Ben, Denise & Donald) had a fancy dinner in the private dining room of the Culinary Institute of America's American Bounty restaurant. the student waitstaff and chefs were very earnest, and the food was pretty good. The overall experience fell solidly in the "I wouldn't rush back but would go again if someone suggested it" bucket. I will say that I had a fish soup as an opener that boasted a truly amazing broth.
Sunday, December 8 - All ten of us stayed at the Danskammer House. Our hosts were retired academic types who bought the house when it was foreclosed upon to protect their neighborhood, and ended up running a B&B. Our breakfast featured eggs and turkey sausage on a very rich corn polenta, with a very nice focacia plus sugared oranges and a wide assortment of drinks. We also had Portuguese pastries with tea on Saturday afternoon (not rising to meal level), which were nearly as good as the ones I had in Lisbon. It's a nice place B&B, especially if your family has booked every room!
We all made our separate ways to the wedding venue. On the way, M and I stopped in Woodstock, which has a very touristy downtown that evokes the legendary rock festival and the hippie vibe. It also has the Tinker Taco Lab, which had pretty much the best damn taco M had has in a very long time. For my part I had a very nice stew with chicken sausage which was probably my best meal of the trip. If you're ever in Woodstock, check them out. I'm not just saying that because of the friendly bar dogs that were hanging out in the window either, although that didn't hurt.
My cousin's wedding was at Full Moon Resort. I'm pretty sure the resort was the caterer, but I'm counting it as a family thing to avoid confusion. The salmon was actually upper end wedding food, and the chocolate pie was primo. It was a fun party.
Monday, December 9 - We work up and met many family members for a buffet breakfast, which I will also count as a family event even though it was in the cafe in the resort.
After a long drive home, M and I went to Buckeye Beer Engine for a late dinner and drink before collapsing. It was our fifth time at Buckeye this year. I had a venison burger, which I specifically stated as not being red meat. I was surprised and pleased to actually be able to take advantage of that loophole! Thus ended our trip.
Totals For This Post
Days Covered: 9
Meals / Dishes Cooked: 5 / 5
New Recipes: 1
Leftover Nights: 0
Eating Out / Take Out Meals: 8
Eating Out Drinks/Dessert Only: 0
New To Me Restaurants: 5
Repeated Restaurants in 2019: 2
Parties / Friends / Family Cooked: 2
Repeated Recipes: 3
Overall Totals 2019 (less January 1)
Days Covered: 342
Meals / Dishes Cooked: 204 / 272
New Recipes: 116
Leftover Nights: 16
Eating Out / Take Out Meals: 171
Eating Out Drinks/Dessert Only: 63
New To Me Restaurants: 106
Repeated Restaurants in 2019: 61
Parties / Friends / Family Cooked: 26
Repeated Recipes: 42