Audrey and Jon

Tom Kha Gai

Audrey — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 00:19:34 +0000

On a cold and snowy day, we made a soup we first learned to cook in Thailand over a decade ago. We took inspiration from this recipe, along with the recipe booklet we received from The Chiang Mai Thai Farm Cooking School all those years ago. It turned out pretty well!

Black-Eyed Peas

Jon — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 02:26:25 +0000

½ lb. dried black-eyed peas
1 Tbsp. olive oil
3 large garlic cloves, crushed
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 cups unsalted chicken stock
2 bay leaves
2 large thyme sprigs
1 smoked ham hocks (about 1 lb.)
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Directions

Soak black-eyed peas, covered to 3 inches above peas for 4 hours or overnight. Drain.
Saute onion in the olive oil until soft, then add garlic.
Stir in chicken stock, bay leaves, thyme sprigs, ham hocks, and drained peas. Add water as needed.

December 2025 Menus

Jon — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 14:56:39 +0000

Menu for the week of Dec 1: Post-Thanksgiving

Mon: Turkey noodle soup?
Tue: [J out?] leftovers / turkey sammies / N pizza
Wed: [A out] leftovers / turkey sammies / N pizza
Thus: [J out] NYC Bagels for dinner
Fri: [To Cabin – Not] Denny's
Sat: Thanksgiving Leftovers (last stop)
Sun: Maxton party

Menu for the week of Dec 8: too tired to cook

Mon: Order in Indian
Tue: [A out] Pizza
Wed: [A out] leftovers for all
Thus: WF party

November 2025 Menus

Jon — Sun, 30 Nov 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Menu for the week of Nov 3

Sat: Soy Sauce Garlic Butter Noodles with Salmon and green veg
Sun: Huli huli chicken w Mac Salad
Mon: Spicy Tamarind Hanger Steak w/ Mango and Cucumber Chow and rice
Tue: Shrimp tempura sushi

October 2025 Menus

Jon — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Menu for the week of Oct 6

Fri: Fish tacos
Sat: [baseball game] 5:30 The Duck and the Peach
Sun: [mini golf + batting cages, Henry Sims B-day] L: Ruthies, D: Order pizza
Mon: [M\&D out to Jaleo for lunch] Shrimp Scampi
Tue: [AJ out to Chai Pani] Egg night
Wed: [A out] Salad and baked potato
Thus: [dentist, Children’s museum, baseball practice, J out] Leftover pizza

September 2025 Menus

Jon — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Menu for the week of Sep 2: turns out it’s leftovers again

Tue: Corn, Halloumi, and Grain Salad w/ leftover salmon
Wed: BLTs
Thus: [A dinner; CHLL] Pick up something?? Or leftover carne and nugs?
Fri: [J leaves for IFF] Pizza / movie night

Menu for the week of Sept 9

Sat: Mom’s mac n cheese and baked beans

August 2025 Menus

Jon — Sat, 30 Aug 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Menu for the week of August 11: Leaving for Yellowstone (flavor town?)

Sun: Eat at Pupatella
Mon: [A out] Leftovers w/green beans
Tue: Eat all the leftovers
Wed: Migas w/green beans
Thus: Jalapeno Rangoon and shrimp tempura w/ edamame
Fri: [Leave for Yellowstone]

Menu for the week of Aug 25 / Back to School

Sun: Hamburgers, corn - bun, meat, cheese, lettuce, tom, onion, pickles + corn
Mon: Dad’s Pizza w arugula salad

July 2025 Menus

Jon — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Menu for the week of June 30 / 4th of July

Sat: [Huey B-Day, iGen] Daru / Indian
Sun: Easy Hanger Steak, asparagus, corn, hamburger for Noah
Mon: Sushi [Fish sticks for N]
Tue: Thai Beef Salad w/ leftover hanger steak [nugs for Noah]
Wed: Order in pizza
Thus: [cabin] Tuna steak sammies and patty pan [hamburger for Noah]

June 2025 menus

Jon — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Menu for the week of June 2

Sat: Spicy Shrimp Roll / Fish stick roll for Noah
Sun: BBQ
Mon: BBQ Leftovers
Tue: Savory Summer Salad / N smash burger
Wed: Creamy Corn Pasta
Thu: Turkey w/ leftover Mom’s Mac N Cheese
Fri: To cabin https://www.stonebranchartscenter.com/community-events

Frozen Paper Airplane

Jon — Sat, 14 Jun 2025 19:26:41 +0000

Equal parts:

bourbon
amaro nonino
Aperol
lemon juice

Mix everything and freeze overnight (or longer)

To serve, stir mixture so it’s an even slushy texture and pour into coupe glasses without ice, or over ice in tumblers

Via https://smittenkitchen.com/2025/06/slushy-paper-plane/">Smitten Kitchen

May 2025 Menus

Jon — Fri, 30 May 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Menu for the week of 5inco de Mayo

Fri: [to cabin early] tuna steak / N hamburger
Sat: Carne Asada tacos w/ rajas, beans, queso fresco, avocado, salsa, sour cream [hanger steak]
Sun: Spelunker’s
Mon: Fish stick tacos w mango salsa
Tue: Taco Tuesday - ground beef, shredduce, tomato, beans cheese, sour cream, salsa
Wed: Huevos Rancheros - corn tortillas, beans, eggs, ranchero sauce, sour cream, avocado

April 2025 Menus

Jon — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Menu for the week of Apr 7 (A in Colorado)

Sat: circus food / out to Eleni's Greek Taverna Menu - Springfield

March 2025 Menus

Jon — Sun, 30 Mar 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Menu for the week of March 1: Jon returns and Audrey is gone again

Sat: Rotisserie chicken w/ tater tots, green beans; Gumbo w/ rice, green beans
Sun: [Howard birthday - N\&A out] Leftovers
Mon: [A out] Hoagies / N grilled cheese (use TJs bread)
Tue: [A out] Leftover gumbo (n fish sticks rice )
Wed: [A out] Order in pizza
Thus: Fried shrimp po’boys (w/ frozen shrimp)
Fri: [to cabin]

February 2025 Menus

Jon — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Menu for the week of: Feb 2: Jon in MPK

Sat: [cabin] Lasagna, Arugula Salad
Sun: [cabin] Field & Main @ 5:30pm
Mon: Taiwanese chicken w Mango and Cucumber Chow and rice
Tue: [J in MPK / N Swim Lesson] Out for Pizza (Della Barba coupons??)
Wed: [J in MPK] Leftovers
Thus: [J in MPK] Bagels for dinner
Fri: [J makes] Leftovers

Menu for the week of Feb 8 // Taco week

Sat: Order in pizza [defrost frijoles]

January 2025 Menus

Jon — Thu, 30 Jan 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Menu for the week of Jan 4: post-NY

Sat: Lemon Chicken Breasts with latkes and broccolini on the side
Sun: Tah Chin (Persian Rice Casserole) using leftover chicken w/ green beans
Mon: [snow day] Kofta and ½ recipe Parsley, Red Onion and Pomegranate Salad pita pockets (w/ tzatziki)

Hawaiian Mac Salad

Audrey — Sun, 14 Jul 2024 00:50:38 +0000

This Hawaiian mac salad is different from your typical macaroni salad and makes an excellent accompaniment to sweeter grilled chicken like Huli Huli chicken. The original recipes swear by the necessity of using regular Hellman's/Best Food's mayo.

Serves 4

2 large hard-boiled eggs, cubed with egg slicer or grated on large holes of box grater
8 oz elbow macaroni

Huli Huli Chicken

Audrey — Sun, 14 Jul 2024 00:40:15 +0000

A tasty and easy New York Times recipe using pantry staples. Serve with Hawaiian-style macaroni salad.

½ cup ketchup
½ cup soy sauce
½cup packed light or dark brown sugar
¼cup rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated (substitute 3 cubes frozen crushed ginger)
2 to 3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely grated (substitute 2-3 cubes frozen crushed garlic)

Hot Cocoa Cookies

Jon — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 01:31:31 +0000

Makes 20-24 cookies

1½ cups AP flour
½ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground cayenne (optional)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (optional)
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1½ cups light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Mini marshmallows, frozen, ~100
¼cup granulated sugar and 1 t cinnamon for cinnamon sugar step at baking

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and optionally cayenne and 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon.

Chicken and Dumplings

Jon — Mon, 11 Dec 2023 02:23:13 +0000

Broth

8 cups chicken broth
1 chicken cut into pieces
1 onion
3 large carrots cut into thirds
3 stalks celery cut into thirds
salt & pepper to taste
bay leaf or a pinch of poultry seasoning optional

Dumplings

1 ¾ cups flour plus extra for dusting
⅓ cup shortening
½ teaspoon baking powder
¾ cup milk
½ teaspoon salt

Broth Instructions

Combine chicken, onion, carrots and celery in a large pot. Season to taste.

Peanut Brittle

Jon — Mon, 11 Dec 2023 02:12:20 +0000

1 cup white sugar
½ cup light corn syrup
¼ cup water
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup peanuts (ideally raw peanuts with the skins, but roasted is ok, and if salted, omit the salt)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preparation:

Have all ingredients measured out before starting.

Grease a large rimmed baking sheet. Set aside.

Instructions

Combine sugar, corn syrup, water, and salt in a heavy, 2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved and the mixture comes to a boil, about 5 minutes.

Chicken Curry

Jon — Sun, 24 Sep 2023 02:42:00 +0000

This was a spontaneous hack of a curry, after not quite finding a recipe I liked online. It turned out great, and is very scalable, in that you make a batch of curry sauce first, and can then use that in a variety of ways.

For the sauce:

(This makes ~ 4 cups of curry sauce)

3 T coconut oil
1 large white onion, diced
5+ cloves garlic, whole
2" ginger, chopped
½ cup carrots, shredded, optional
1 bell pepper, chopped
4 T of curry masala
2 t of cayenne
2 t curry powder
salt to taste
1 14oz can tomatoes
1.5 cups broth
4 tbsp cashew butter

Summer Pizza

Audrey — Mon, 07 Aug 2023 00:51:08 +0000

This Kitchn recipe was a nice way to use up some leftover summer produce, and tasty to boot. We don't usually grill our pizzas, and this turned out just fine using our standard Neapolitan pizza cooking process.

Ingredients
1 ball pizza dough (about 1 pound), store-bought or homemade
2 to 3 tablespoons tomato sauce, store-bought or homemade
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, or to taste

Chilaquiles

Jon — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 18:36:52 +0000

Loosely based on guidance from https://www.muydelish.com/chilaquiles-rojos/ ;

Thick corn tortilla chips (or fry stale corn tortillas)
Salsa rojo or verde
Protein (optional, could include chicken, chorizo, fried eggs, or a combination)
shredded mild cheese (chihuahua, monterrey jack)
Refried beans, avocado, crema, and more for serving.

Ratatouille

Jon — Fri, 14 Jul 2023 01:08:20 +0000

Adapted from Alice Waters's recipe (https://food52.com/recipes/14155-alice-waters-ratatouille)

Serves 3

1 medium eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch dice
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided, plus more to taste
1 medium onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice
4 to 6 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 bunch basil, tied in a bouquet with kitchen twine + 6 basil leaves, chopped
1 pinch dried chile flakes
1 sweet peppers, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 medium summer squash, cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 ripe medium tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch dice
Salt to taste

Paper Plane

Jon — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 00:41:54 +0000

Equal parts Amaro Nonino, Aperol, Bourbon, and fresh lemon juice.

Shake with ice, strain into a coupe glass.

(Recent history: https://www.themixer.com/en-us/recipes/paper-plane-cocktail/)