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What I ate last week. Ranked #182 in food podcasts in Mexico according to an email I just got.
NEWS & UPDATES
I look like a slightly blurry composite photo of what the most average woman looks like in a random European country where they have vanishing bangs but also look like every other bitch. Maybe France. I’m kind of blurry because I’m running away from my reflection in a poorly lit mirror in what is essentially a hallway.
Honey snacks cereal for scary bad kids is the cereal I’ve been trying to remember when eating beaver nuggets and other corn snacks like the dill pickle flamin hot Cheetos
https://www.npr.org/2022/08/26/1119353933/bison-blue-babe-preserved-eaten
Food memory: schmanagement; I think I’ll stay home and make an omelette
SCENTS
L’Eau Scandeleuse
Official description: https://www.anatolelebreton.com/en/index.php/parfum/leau-scandaleuse/?srsltid=AfmBOorHruliN266dLWJ0bx8NxZyo1u3UqYGso0P93cZmfUBvvXNHbxa
Blind review: 90s gift shop, hot leather, velcro, dandelion, Sport’s Authority, Dick’s Sporting Goods, new sneakers, hot rubber indoor running track, pencil eraser, permanent marker, corporate hallway, hot carpet, car dealership, pulling grass out of the ground
INTERNET
Television: Brian is really excited that there’s going to be a new season of the Pit. Another season of breaking peoples’ limbs off like they’re crabs
IG
Salt hank acquisition by ghost kitchen https://www.instagram.com/p/DcQ-Zoxn9Tj/?igsi=MTdpZ3VmcW8wZW9pOQ==
TIKTOK
Robot hot dog https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8WPD4Fe/
Piantadosi roll https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8WprfC8/
Gwen dinner https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8Wvj4Dh/
Honda coffee https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8WEG5Bc/
Insane breakfast https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8WE9gLh/
Pepperoncini rice https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP87NfMps/
Milkshake https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP87NLydV/
Fogo opening in the mall that Brian’s boss lives behind https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP87hMPKL/
I had that rainbow cake in jail amazing comment that makes me wonder what jail is like https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP87hahuS/
August 17, 2026 (Monday)
8am: Counter Culture coffee with half & half, made at home.
11am: Leftover Japanese curry over rice.
1pm: A bag of Andy Capps Hot Fries.
5pm: A chocolate chip cookie.
6:30pm: Rotini with sausage, arugula, and lemon, made at home.
7pm: A chocolate chip cookie.
Drinking coffee with Japanese curry makes it taste like chocolate
Baked off last five cookies from dough in the fridge; cooked 15 minutes and were pretty underdone in the middle which was a nice experience; fun to bake them off at different intervals and have different experiences from the same dough
Pasta: inspired by gnocchi with sausage and peas but also things that I had in my fridge:
1 piece of bacon
Half a pack of Neese’s extra sage
5 cloves sliced Garlic
Chili flakes
Mayocoba beans
Chicken stock
Rao’s rotini
Arugula
Lemon juice
Parmesan
Butter
Black pepper
August 18, 2026 (Tuesday)
8:30am: Counter Culture coffee with half & half, made at home.
10:30am: Leftover Japanese curry over rice.
1:30pm: A chocolate chip cookie.
5:30pm: Soy braised tofu with onions over basmati rice, made at home.
6:30pm: A scoop of Blue Bell chocolate lava cake ice cream.
Something in my house smelled like a raspberry jelly donut around 10:30am
Brian called and asked if we could go to cookout for dinner which would have been amazing but made tofu instead
Sometimes we sit in bed and read the cookout menu and try and figure out what the best tray would be. Brian usually wants a triple chicken tray
August 19, 2026 (Wednesday)
7am: Counter Culture coffee with half & half, made at home.
9am: Saltines at the office.
Cake room: NYT Cooking Page-a-Day calendar recipes for Chicken Alfredo, Southern Fried Corn, and Shrimp Scampi With Orzo.
11am: Leftover rotini and an iced coffee with half & half from Meantime in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
4pm: A bottle of Brew Dr mountain ginger kombucha and a small package of tropical flavored sour patch kids.
5:30pm: A turkey sandwich on toasted heritage grain sourdough with Edmond Fallot mustard, mayonnaise, arugula, Jeff’s Garden pickled mild banana pepper rings, and fresh mozzarella, made at home.
7pm: A scoop of Blue Bell chocolate lava cake ice cream and a glass of iced tea.
Tofu is now $2.79 at Whole Foods. Up a whole dollar in the last year.
Organic bran flakes are back and cheaper
My cart rolled away
Tropical sour patch kids were hard as hell and not sour
These banana pepper rings were not good. I like the cheap ones that are super tart. These were more pepper-forward.
August 20, 2026 (Thursday)
8am: Counter Culture coffee with half & half, made at home.
10:30am: Grilled American cheese on butter toasted heritage grain sourdough, made at home.
1pm: A bottle of Brew Dr mountain ginger kombucha and Back to Nature white cheddar cheezy crackers.
4:30pm: Panang curry with chicken thighs, broccoli, and Thai basil over basmati rice, made at home.
5:30pm: A slice of apple slab pie, made at home.
Organic Horizon american cheese singles were on sale
Revealed my plan to make slab pie to Brian and he started hollering and insisted I make make a trial version a few times first to make sure it tastes ok; I guess he likes pie
This is smart because I should try a smaller version first before I invest in a 10x15” jelly roll pan for this one recipe; also I want to know if Cosmic Crisp apples bake well
King Arthur recipe references a super old recipes without any real directions besides make a pie crust and put apples in it with cornflakes
https://www.framedcooks.com/apple-slab-pie/
Never chilled the dough
Cortland apples
https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/apple-slab-pie-maple-icing/
Green apples as decoration; how much money is she spending to throw green apples into the woods; $10 for a modest bag of apples at Whole Foods; the only time they get eaten is when Brian watches the dog and houses them all day
Sally’s Baking Addiction (Halved recipe for a 9x9 dish)
Crust
250g flour
3/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
200g unsalted butter, very cold and cubed
90ml or .375 cup very cold ice water
egg wash: 1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 Tablespoon milk
Filling
5 cups peeled and chopped apples (about 2lbs)
75g granulated sugar
15g all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Glaze
45g confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup
enough milk or heavy cream to thin (a teaspoon)
Used pastry flour: got home and cubed the butter with a little bit of flour and put in the freezer with the water. made the dough on Wednesday night, divided into 2 with a slightly bigger round for the bottom and let chill in the fridge overnight. Wrapped in plastic as disks.
Rolled out bottom dough per Kathleen Meisenger on a silpat and it stuck so that was a mess. Put in the freezer to try and harden the butter back up so I could peel the silpat off but got impatient because it wasn’t really working. I had to essentially reassemble the dough in the 9x9 metal pan. I didn’t use the full 90ml of water because it felt very wet but I should have because the dough was immediately cracking. Trying blind baking the bottom for 15 minutes contrary to Sally’s recipe. I think blind baking is always a good idea. I’ve only ever made apple pies at pies n thighs where we did not blind bake the bottom and connected the bottom and top crusts together into a crimp so it didn’t occur to me that I could blind bake the bottom and then just tuck the top piece into the bottom crust.
Blind baked the crust after freezing for about an hour for 12 mins at 425
Made the apples with a touch of ground allspice (which was on last chance at whole foods), dash of five spice for the clove aspect, and juice of a whole lemon and a dash of salt, and let macerate for per seriouseats, who also recommended chilling the whole pie before baking, which I did. Layer of corn flakes, then filling, then top piece, sliced vents, then chilled the whole pie for about 2 hours before egg washing and baking. Baked at 425 for 15, then lowered to 325 for a full 45. Baked on a baking steel per Kathleen’s recommendations. Egg wash was egg and cream. Looking for a dark tan.
The glaze was divine. Added some salt. The pie was good but I don’t like apple pie. Cornflakes were pretty much undetectable. The maple icing was so good it makes me want to make a maple flavored version of the Italian ricotta cookies. I have subjected myself to the whims of the market by appeasing my mother and Brian and making something seasonal and in the process have ultimately abandoned and disappointed myself. So yeah I’m not going to buy that jelly roll pan for an apple pie that I don’t even like. I could just adjust the recipe to fit a pan that I already own. It’s insane to develop a recipe for an oddly sized pan and then tell people that other pans won’t work.
THE NEXT DAY I realized that I had used whole wheat pastry flour by accident which kind of explains a lot and why the dough was dry.
Found some autumn colored sanding sugar for the maple cookies which is exactly what I was hoping for because I don’t love sprinkles; found a mix called “unpretentious, soft autumn sprinkles jimmies”. There was a time when we weren’t allowed to say jimmies because people thought it had racial origins but really the word jimmy is in reference to the shape. I feel like jimmies is a new england term. My mom and her sister and mother would always take us to the mall in massachusetts and get icecream or frozen yogurt at Brighams with chocolate jimmies.
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8Wvrveu/
Panang curry: chicken thighs, seared; panang curry paste and chili flakes, dash of aged soy sauce and sugar, thai basil, broccoli
August 21, 2026 (Friday)
9am: Counter Culture coffee with half & half, made at home.
11am: Leftover panang curry with broccoli over rice.
1pm: Food Lion spicy chicken tenders.
5pm: A cheeseburger and cheese curds from Cook Out in Oxford, North Carolina.
Italian ricotta cookies but maple
Half batch because it’s huge
Sub half baking soda with baking powder per NYT comments
Like most commenters I also accidentally added all the vanilla to the cookie; the recipe should separate amounts based on cookie and icing.
Cookie
1 stick of butter
215g or 1c sugar (sub 175 sugar, 40 maple syrup)
215g or 1c ricotta
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg
240g flour (180 AP, 60 whole wheat pastry to absorb extra moisture from maple syrup)
5g or 1tsp baking soda (sub half baking powder)
2g salt
Icing
½ tablespoon melted butter
225g 10x
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 tablespoons to 1/4c milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Half half:
80g 10x
30g maple
Salt
.5 tsp vanilla
3 tb Cream
.5 tb butter
Baked off around 5pm after 4 hours of chilling; probably could have chilled more and been shaped better. Just spooned tablespoons rather than rolled into balls because dough was sticky. 350 for 14 minutes, rotated halfway through. Internal temp of 205 with browned bottoms.
Tasted kind of raw and nasty first day. They were better the next morning as they typically are but still felt a little too wet and slightly underdone. Felt like I could still taste baking powder and raw flour. They were singing too much when I pulled them from the oven indicating too much moisture still remaining.
August 22, 2026 (Saturday)
7:30am: Counter Culture coffee with half & half, made at home.
10:30am: A cold brew with half & half at Foster Street in Durham, North Carolina.
12:30pm: Garlic and onion potato chips, half of a roast beef sandwich with roasted shishito relish, nuoc cham mayonnaise, and pickled red onions on a sesame torpedo roll, and half of a turkey sandwich on a torpedo roll from Ideal’s in Durham, North Carolina.
7pm: A spicy chicken tender from Food Lion.
As we sat there in the horrible contemporary coffee shop with black and white photos of celebrities all over the walls Brian told me about how the area Used to be a drive in theater / empty lot heroine zone according to Brian. Now it’s full of fake punks and new parents
IDEALS
https://www.instagram.com/p/DcRIffjyn7y/?igsh=MTBuaXdidjd5dmtrZg==
Great uncle worked at a corner store in boston where he would give my mom roast beef with butter and salt
Decided to bake off another portion of the cookie dough. Was so much firmer after an overnight chill and I could actually roll them into balls after wetting my hands. So much puffier and rounder. 350 at 16 mins or until sides started to turn golden and singing slowed down.
Icing
.5 tb melted butter
33g maple
33g 10x
Splash of cream
These were ok?? Tasted around 3pm after baking off at 9am. I think the whole wheat pastry flour and maple syrup substitutions may be altering the chemistry of the cookie too much. I need to just make the original cookie and do a maple glaze.
Icing 3:
1 tb melted butter
30g maple
44g 10x
Salt
Nice and thick like the photo; didn’t drip as much. This is the winning maple icing.
August 23, 2026 (Sunday)
10am: Counter Culture coffee with half & half, made at home.
11:30am: Scrambled eggs with American cheese and Texas Pete garlic hot sauce on a butter toasted Ideal’s English muffin, made at home.
3pm: Phra ram long song with rice, a steamed dumpling, duck curry, and half of a fresh roll from Cham Thai in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, a cup of coffee with half & half, and chocolate cake with pecans and ice cream at Brian’s parents’ house.
Egg sandwich was great. English muffin was nice and soft but the crumb was extremely dense.
4 orders of pad Thai
Tilamook ice cream is garbage. Tastes like cool whip.
Honorable Mentions (diabetes summer)
Pizza
Green goddess https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8WY8TXF/
Dave’s pizza oven 24 hour dough; yield 1x 12” pizza
117 g bread flour
50 g all-purpose flour
4.3 g salt
0.1 g instant dry yeast
103 g cold water (use crushed ice to get temperature around 45°)
3.3 g olive oil
3.3 g sugar
you are using a stand mixer, here’s my recommendation:
add you water, flour, yeast and sugar
mix on low for about ten minutes, or until the dough reaches 60°
cover and rest for 30 minutes
add the salt and mix for 3 minutes on low
add half the oil and mix on medium until absorbed. Then add the other half
once all the oil is absorbed, drop the speed back down to low until the temperature is roughly 70°
cover and rest for 30 minutes.
do at least one series of stretch and folds and check the window pane test.
Store on the counter for 20 hours, or 12 hours and then chill until ready to use.
Updated version that does a 1-2 day cold ferment.
Eclair cake https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8WpJYC7/
NYT black & white cookies
NYT crumb cake
Wacky cake with mayonnaise
Iambaker / cupcake project vanilla cake
Chocolate chip cookies
https://www.afamilyfeast.com/copycat-entenmanns-chocolate-chip-cookies/