And I gotta say Diamond Crystal Kosher salt sucks. It was the only one my local grocery store had. I’m used to Morton’s. The friggin Diamond clumps up and is too small…grains?
It’s the choice of major kitchens everywhere, from my understanding. I’ve never seen it around here, though, so have never used it. It’s a smaller grain and has a different shape or something than Morton’s.
Yes, smaller grain, and it seems to react badly to being out of its carton. I put some in a shaker and it turns to a solid. My cooking salt shaker is what you see at pizza places for parm or red pepper flakes. Maybe I don’t use it fast enough? Regardless, I’m never buying Diamond again.
The sausage alfredo was meh. Ok, but we’re not doing that again.
Hm, let’s see … two days ago was meatloaf and potatoes au gratin to honor the changing of the seasons.
Yesterday was a pizza and some wine/beer at a local brewery that was doing a fundraiser for Western North Carolina.
Today was the remainder of the chili I’d made earlier, some TJ’s papas rellenas (good but not enough filling) and some salted slices from an immense cucumber I got from the grocery a few days ago.
More meatloaf on deck for tomorrow.
Last night I had a spectacular dinner of a bowl of greens, smoked trout, lentils, , vinaigrette, pickled asparagus, lemon, and other stuff I don’t remember. Tonight I’m just winging it.
Tonight was going to be a couple of items whose prep I’ve got down to an art form – Buffalo chicken wings in the air fryer, followed by 5-minute shoestring fries in the air fryer (which in fact turn out perfectly in just four minutes in a hot air fryer on top of chicken fat). With ranch dressing for dipping.
I may still do that but I have some rosemary and garlic roast potatoes with sauteed mushrooms that are nearing their refrigerated shelf life.
Oh, hell, I’ll just do wings and fries per my favourite method, and there’s enough roast potatoes to pass off as high-class hash browns for the next two breakfasts! 
Blackened salmon Caesar with black garlic Caesar dressing.
Last night I made a beef stew for the first time in ages, it was delicious.
Now that the weather is cooling down it seems like everything I want to make revolves around beef and stew - boeuf bourguignon, classic beef stew, pot roast, beef stroganoff, etc. So many dishes, so little time, lol.
Lasagna tonight, breakfast for dinner tomorrow, and then … beef something, probably.
Next up, you have to try jellied eels—basically chopped-up eels lounging in their own mucous slime bath, served cold, with a side of your mushy pees! It’s like a spa day for your taste buds, if your taste buds enjoy cold, jiggly fish. Bon appétit! 
Have to use up those delicious rosemary and garlic roast potatoes with garlic-fried mushrooms before they go bad, so tonight dinner will be breakfast of a sort. Baking up a batch of frozen breakfast sausage, a pot’o’beans with fried onion, bacon, and BBQ sauce, and the aforementioned roast potatoes and mushrooms in the air fryer. Sliced tomato on the side because we all need our veggies.
Yesterday, I cooked up a classic meal from my childhood: Kielbasa and macaroni and cheese.
To go with it, I made homemade biscuits for the very first time. I’ve made them with kits and Bisquick before, but never from scratch. In fact, my landlady taught me how to knead the dough.
Cheesy Garlic Pull-Apart Biscuits
INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
¾ cup milk
2 tablespoons melted butter
½ teaspoon garlic powder
STEPS
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Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). Grease two 9x9 inch baking dishes.
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In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
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Cut in the cold butter with a pastry cutter or fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
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Stir in the shredded cheddar cheese.
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Gradually add the milk, stirring just until the dough comes together.
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Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently a few times.
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Roll the dough into small balls, about the size of a golf ball.
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Arrange the dough balls in the prepared baking dish, slightly touching each other.
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In a small bowl, combine the melted butter and garlic powder. Brush the tops of the biscuits with the garlic butter.
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Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden brown and cooked through.
NOTES
FoodyDash on Facebook
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cooking Time: 18 minutes | Total Time: 33 minutes
Kcal: 190 kcal | Servings: 12 biscuits
Then today, I made quiche, an old favorite which was one of the first things I learned how to cook. For dessert, homemade rice pudding for the first time.
Creamy Rice Pudding
Adapted from Creamy Rice Pudding Recipe
INGREDIENTS
1 ½ cups cold water
¾ cup uncooked white rice
2 cups milk, divided
⅓ cup white sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 large egg, beaten
⅔ cup golden raisins
1 tablespoon butter
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
STEPS
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Gather all ingredients.
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Pour water into a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat; stir in rice. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until rice is tender and liquid has been absorbed, about 20 minutes.
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Combine cooked rice, 1 ½ cups milk, sugar, and salt in a clean saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until thick and creamy, about 15 minutes.
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NOTE: Don’t add raisins until saving some aside for Cherie. She doesn’t like cooked raisins.
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Stir in remaining 1/2 cup milk, beaten egg, and raisins; cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla until combined.
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Serve warm.
Last night I made lemon pepper salmon, broccoli, and a new dish to me: Stacked Potatoes.
It was on a Tik-tok video, so bear with my memory. Preheat oven to 375°. Mandolin slice some Yukon gold potatoes (on the smaller side) and bathe them in melted butter that you sautéed garlic in. Toss in some salt and pepper plus fresh herbs - I only had parsley. The recipe called for thyme as well. Then place the buttery slices in a muffin tin occasionally sprinkling in grated parmesan. Go to the top because the stacks will shrink. Cover in foil and bake for 25-30 minutes until tender. Crank up the heat to 425° and uncover the potatoes and cook for another 15 minutes or so to get them brown and crispy.
I forgot the parmesan and they were still awesome! I also used the broiler to make them super browned. My husband ate 4 stacks!
On this drizzly day I visited my favourite little deli again, the one with terrific prepared foods that compare favourably with those from the venerable Pusateri’s, and in some cases even better. They’re a little bit out of the way for me but still much closer than Pusateri’s.
The options for dinner tonight are beef cabbage rolls in tomato sauce (not everyone likes cabbage rolls, but absolutely I love them, and since I got a lot and they don’t freeze well they will figure prominently over the next week. Also a Buffalo chicken wrap which I’ll have with ranch dressing dip, and a tub each of their excellent tuna salad and egg salad, and their store-baked fresh onion buns. And a big tray of bacon and mushroom fettuccine carbonara which I presume will freeze well and so is in the freezer for some later date.
I regret that I didn’t also get potato latkes, which are excellent with sour cream and chopped green onion. Those would also freeze well. I’ve never had the ones from this particular deli, but considering the quality of everything else they make I’m sure they’re very good.
I don’t think I’ve ever had any that weren’t frozen (Stouffer’s).
My guess is that the commercial ones are made with the specific intent of being frozen. These are certainly edible after being frozen, but they tend to lose their firmness – the texture tends to get goopy. In an ideal cabbage roll, the cabbage wrap will be soft and delicate but the roll itself will be firm enough to slice cleanly through the cabbage wrap and the beef and rice filling with a sharp or serrated steak knife.
I would freeze these only as a last resort. The best-by date is October 31 so no need to freeze this batch. I’ve already had two for dinner tonight (they’re pretty big – and delicious as always!).
Tonight was cascatelli with pork ragu, garlic bread and kiwi fruit. Montepulciano to drink. That was the last of the ragu, so I’ll need to either make more of that or do a bolognese. Decisions, decisions …
Tonight was leftover fish filets from lunch with a teaching buddy. 5 minutes in the Ninja and they were crispier than they were at the restaurant. Some paste salad and a cocktail and call it good.
I stopped eating that for lunch in 4th grade.
It was Taco Tuesday here! Though we had a Portuguese red wine as the chaser.