Budget cooking: tasty thigh topping

You wanna get real? Let's get real. Life is a mix of good and bad, up and down, sweet, spicy, savory, and everything in between. There's pleasure and pain, sunshine and rain. Fuck, I sound like a country song.

Mushrooms, radishes, red bell pepper, green onion, and cherry tomatoes

Money's tight, not just for me, but for just about all of us. Interest rates are up, inflation is bending us all over the barrel. Gas, necessities, luxuries, fucking groceries all cost more than they seem like they should. It's not fun, it's not fair. It's just bullshit.

Chicken thighs, bones removed, with salt, pepper, and paprika

Beyond the financial concerns, building and maintaining relationships is some bullshit. I mean, it's always been a shitty situation if you're a middle-aged introvert, but tack on the realities of living in a post-Covid world and things get worse. Add in a few shots of anxiety and depression and you've got a cocktail of loneliness. Granted, my girlfriend and I have been getting to know each other better and have braved a few storms so far; if only I could see more of her, you know? At least then I'm able to be lonely with someone else.

Dumped in the mushroom, radish, and some green onion while the chicken finished

You know, I do miss sleep. I've had a hell of a time getting to sleep for a while anyway, but the waking up every 30-45 minutes all night fucking sucks. I spend all day fucking exhausted, then get to lie in bed most of the night wishing that exhaustion would lead to something beneficial. One day I'll sleep, though, right?

Confit garlic and red pepper flakes in the drippings/butter/oil

So what's the point of all this bitching?

Tomatoes and green onion; added some spinach, balsamic, honey, and capers later

Life's hard for most of us. Every single day we're given the choice of whether we're going to keep fighting or give it up. I'm proud of you for still being here, same as I'm proud of myself. We've seen some shit, haven't we? We've been through it, fought through it all. No matter how hard those demons are who are pushing us constantly to give up, we've persevered so far.

Chicken topped with tomato/spinach/onion, veggies on the side with parsley

So we find a way to stretch those dollars, we make the sparse moments we have together count as much as they can, we work when we have to and rest when we can. I'm keeping my chin up and face forward, and I know you are, too. We'll keep working, we'll keep loving, and we'll keep eating. In the words of Anthony Bourdain, "Fuck it. Let's do this." We got this shit.

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Restaurant week: My new Mexican restaurant

As I mentioned the other day, my Mexican restaurant closed down. Luckily, they opened up in a new space a couple of months later. Great new look, new name ("Lopez Grill"), they've got a bar, staff is expanded, and the place is always packed. Business seems to be going great. Now, this isn't just a rehash of my post about the 'Dolo. While the menu is largely the same, there have been a few changes, plus I'm going to share a few things I've learned eating there. On my first visit to the new location (which was opening day, right when the doors opened; yes, I was standing in line outside with the other faithful), Señor Lopez brought me a bowl of their new salsa. He called it "guacamole salsa," but it's a jalapeño-based sauce. It's got an almost creamy texture, but is dairy-free (I asked for my vegan friend). Being a jalapeño salsa, it's got some heat, but not nearly as overbearing as some capsaicin-phobes may fear. It is perfectly bala...

Restaurant week: Polish food truck tasting

Due to a strange combination of circumstances, I recently found myself at a menu tasting for a soon to open Polish food truck called Halinka's Polish Eatery . I'm about 99% sure I was the only person in attendance who wasn't already personally known to the owner/chef, Magda, but it was a good time. Got to meet some nice folks and eat free food, but then I had to give feedback in public in front of other people, so that kind of sucked. Like, really fucking sucked. Pretty sure my face my was red the entire time. This is the price we pay for food sometimes. Our first course was a cabbage and mushroom pierogi with a side of beets. Apparently when the food truck gets going, the pierogis will be steamed, then finished either on a grill or in a skillet with some butter. However, due to facility constraints where we were trying the dishes, Magda had to serve them just steamed. Anyway, to the food: the cabbage and mushroom pierogis were fucking amazing. There was a tremendous depth ...

Stream recap: pseudo-bougie dinner party

This past Sunday (1/18/2025) was my second cooking stream of the New Generation of ODG Cooking Streams. When I was trying to come up with a "theme" for the afternoon, I was thinking a lot about those fancy-ass restaurants where they serve you three bites of food on a fucking plate five or six times and, even though you're somehow full, it still doesn't seem to quite justify spending five million dollars just to eat there for two hours while everyone around you looks at you condescendingly because you didn't wear a goddamn tie. Fuck those people. Anyway, I decided I wanted to figure out a way to do that kind of fun, small plate, presentation-centric food at the house without having to break the bank. My first course, as a direct theft from The Bear , a show I absolutely love, was the mirepoix broth. I started the stream by starting a light stock, which means you don't roast the bones beforehand, using some pork and beef bones. For the mirepoix broth, I finely ...

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