Overall I made 30 things in July.

July 1

Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower (Side)

July 2

Sauteed Mushrooms (Side)

July 3

Pasta & Pomarola (Dinner)

July 4

Scrambled Eggs (Breakfast)

We've been doing simple breakfast, so this was nice. Today's was almost an omelette, except that I had too many eggs so the top wasn't cooked enough - so I messed it up into a late scramble, and put a bunch of cheese on top.

Apricot Jam

We bought a flat of kitchen grade apricots. My wife made the jam, and I canned them. The recipe says you can leave them in the fridge for a year, but who has the space?

Note for next year - you really have to cook it until it's chunky, and the apricots have started to break down. See the little video below if that's helpful, and just keep measuring until you hit 220º (it takes a while).

Reverse Seared Steak (Dinner)

With corn

After the steak came out of the skillet, I put sliced onion in there for maybe 20 minutes until it caramelized in the oil and butter and steak grease. These were great - I had a few onion sandwiches after everyone was done eating.

July 5

Crispy Tofu with Cashews and Blistered Snap Peas (Dinner)

Dry Sauteed String Beans (Side)

I tossed a bit of oil and salt on the string beans after I threw them in the pan - I think this was an improvement, it helped the salt stick to the beans, but still had the dry sautee crunch and char.

July 6

Apricot Jam

Second batch, same as the first. One of the lids didn't set properly, and the lid popped off when we tested it a few days later.

Zov's Hummus (Side)

July 12

Grilled Cheese (Kid's Lunch)

Grilled the insides first is really upping my grilled cheese game.

July 13

Panko Pork Chops (Dinner)

With roasted cauliflower

I don't think I've written the steps I follow for the panko pork chops down:

• preheat the oven to 400° with a large pan in it
• dredge bone-in chops in beaten egg and panko
• take the pan out, put it on the stove on high heat, add olive oil to cover the bottom
• when the oil is hot (shimmering?) add the chops
• when they're browned on the bottom (a few minutes), flip and put them in the oven
• roast until they reach 145°, then remove from the oven and let them rest for 5 minutes

July 14

Panko Pork Chops (Dinner)

Leftover

The Best Crispy Roast Potatoes Ever (Side)

Cooked the potatoes too long, they burned a bit. Especially disappointing because they take forever.

July 16

Beef Fajitas (Dinner)

With - Corn

• Crostini & Cheese
• Hot Dogs

I cooked this for the first time having folks come over for dinner in a while. Everything turned out OK, but was staggered a bit. I cooked the beef on grill (my second thing on there!), which turned out well but meant a lot more trips into the kitchen, out to the grill, and back again. Next time, make something with less walking.

July 19

Ratatouille (Dinner)

Alice Water's Simple Food pg 322

My first time making eggplant! This turned out pretty well.

July 20

Sheet-Pan Kielbasa With Cabbage and Beans (Dinner)

With Mini Hasselback Potatoes

The beans dressing on the side didn't turn out well today. I halved the oil and vinegar (the full recipe is too oily), and three vinegar I had was too strong. Next time start with the oil and add vinegar to taste I think.

July 22

Perfect Buttermilk Pancakes (Breakfast)

Bo Ssam Quesadillas (Lunch)

Skillet Chicken With Black Beans, Rice and Chiles (Dinner)

I feel like the cinnamon is too strong. Maybe half it next time?

July 25

Detroit-Style Pan Pizza Recipe (Dinner)

With roasted corn

Great as always - my first time making their sauce, which is maybe even better than the jar I've been using. Took ~4 hours (mostly resting the dough).

July 26

Greek-Style Chicken Kebabs with Lemon and Oregano (Dinner)

With grilled zucchini and red onion

Second time on the grill, these turned out way better (maybe because I'd replaced my grate with a GrillGrate which seemed to make the grill much hotter).

The grilled veggies were also good, especially the red onion.

July 27

Scrambled Eggs (Breakfast)

I was watching a Kenji López-Alt video on scrambled eggs, and I tried a few things from that video - not the fancy starch and butter cubes, but the technique of moving the pan and the eggs around. They turned out great!

Beans

Cooked in the Rancho Gordo Style, beans from the Rancho Gordo Bean Club.

Specifically Mantequilla beans.

July 28

Scrambled Eggs (Breakfast)

I tried scrambling the eggs as yesterday, and it didn't go as well. I think my pan wasn't hot enough (the butter didn't start sizzling immediately), so it ended up taking way longer to cook, stuck to the pan more and wasn't as delicious.

Pancetta Corn and Bean Soup (Lunch)

Turned out great, definitely a recipe to repeat.

Bruschetta (Side)

July 29

Chicken Adobo (Dinner)

Kids ate a bunch of it, and I dressed it with the sauce (over the chicken and rice) when I served it. I think last time I'd asked them how they wanted it and they said plain. Lesson: don't ask, just make it right.

Bread

The first loaf didn't get great oven spring - and then neither did the second. Disappointing.

It may have been a lack of turns during the bulk rise, so while the dough ended up soft and springy it didn't have the structure. More like pizza dough than dough to rise.

July 30

Bulgogi (Dinner)

With cucumbers (dressed with rice wine vinegar and salt), grilled yellow & green onions

Skirt Steak Bulgogi from NYT.

This wasn't as flavorful as the last bulgogi I made, it feels in search of a sauce. My BBQ started running out of gas halfway through, so I stumbled across the finish line, and that may have dried everything out.

Everyone's really into grilled onions, so keep doing that!