Why We Cook At Home

Because that was pretty good. 

And even if I have to blast two chickens for a meal now, it doesn't cost much. 

And because, rice pudding.

 Because not only is even McDonalds ridiculously expensive in our house. 

That wasn't even the full order, which made me get back in the car and drive back for the next part of the meal. Making me wonder why I didn't just cook something at least quasi-healthful.

Vegetarian Mondays

Black Bean stuffed Peppers

All things cheesy, fruity, and stuffed with vegetables. 

But, then sometimes, you just need meatballs. 

 

School Brunch

Mesmerizing

Sometimes vegetarian

And stuffed hashbrowns from the waffle maker. 

We're going to perfect this one with some trial and error.

All because discussing actual school will take a dissertation.

 

The Nebraska Bun

Nick and I set up out make these from a public school lunch recipe from my childhood the other day. 

The Nebraska bun, if you're going out to grab one from a drive-through, you are getting a Runza.

All set after a little math to make sure we downsized the serves 90 recipe correctly.

And then we laughed so hard because we basically served everyone a loaf of bread for dinner.  

Apparently, rolling that dough incredibly thin is key...

Man, they tasted good though.

Strawberry Pie

Continuing the theme of summer dessert in the winter, we made strawberry pie the other day. 

It was gone within 12 hours.

Hunt Day

He seemed quite confident the day he traveled, even if he had to get a rapid Covid test that morning after finding out a co-worker he had been with the week before had tested positive. 

And now we get more deer meat.  

2020: School lunch food and venison.  The year of making ways for food to be edible. 

But, that happy mess is so worth it. 

Around the World

German spätzle; brussels sprouts (that's caramelized maple syrup, trust me--yum); schnitzel.

pretzels

Onigiri (Japanese rice balls)

Ramen

Pizza.

With stuffed crust!

Basil harvesting

All the spices. 

Whew, we're tired.  No more accepting the country-specific cooking challenge from my kids. Although, it tickles me when they show up to help. 

Eggs Up

Running out for breakfast on the weekend is so different now. 

Casual is surprisingly hard to pull off these days.

Baking

Despite the heat of summer, we learned a new bread for our dinner made of French-inspired dishes.  We have been traveling to all countries of the world for dinner as part of a challenge put forth by the kids. 

This is not an apple fritter. 

It is a potato from our garden.  

Hmmm. 

And kitchen time nearly needs a schedule these days, since the girls have decided to make dog biscuits and sell them. 

They better start selling them because this guy has become supremely spoiled in the test kitchen phase.

And their eyes were opened by the pricing lesson, which included learning that flour and peanut butter isn't free from the pantry. 

And we've taught ourselves regulations and labeling requirements over the last month or so. 

And I'll entertain all such endeavors because we could have spent all of 2020 like this, but we haven't.  And we won't.

Covid Must Stop Now

A 14-year-old boy's pizza selection. 

Afternoon snack: churros

Crème Brulee

On a Tuesday

Because we ran across the torch,

and thought that would be fun to use. 

A Difference of Opinion

Use all fingers and your face as a sauce reserve. 

Do not acknowledge that forks and knives exist. 

Carefully cut meat from the bone and never let a sauce touch your face. 

Elevated Foodies

We are running out of new things to try.  

Here we have tofu that I started before anyone could see what I was doing. 

Tofu is pretty easy to make into something delicious, as long as you don't add too much pepper. 

Avocado toast with soft boiled eggs. 

Shrimp with Kale. 

Because we had no idea how much kale we would wind up with...

But then sometimes, you just wind up with cheese all over your face from an evening of tossing cheeseballs at each other and trying to catch them in your mouth. 

Summer Camp Outing

We went out to eat in a real restaurant!

And man, it was the best chicken pimento cheese sandwich with fries ever made. 

The rest of the family were clearly not quite as excited as I was to be out in a restaurant. 

A day off for the cook was the best start to summer I could imagine though. 

Summer Camp Cafeteria Food

The cook at summer camp makes a mean make your own nachos bar. 

She's pretty great.