New recipe week

Last week I kept telling everyone it was my week of new recipes. These are the attempts...

Spicey Honey-Brushed Chicken Thighs - First time I cooked anything under the broiler. It was easy! These would be also easy to grill and a great alternative to wings.

Senegalese Peanut Stew with Spinach and Sweet Potatoes - blah

Shrimp Creole - Our Fat Tuesday dinner was spicy and good over a little rice. No leftovers.

Pumpkin Spice Syrup - this was a mess. I had trouble straining it through the cheesecloth (maybe impatience?) and ended up with about an inch in the bottom of a canning jar. Next time I'll try using the cinnamon sticks and might forget the straining all together. Most of the other recipes I looked at didn't suggest straining. Determined to figure this out. Should be easy!

My turn to cook dinner for my Supper Club is exactly 1 month away. Need to plan menu a.s.a.p and have a practice run at it. All I know is that BEEF will be the main course.

Szechuan Green Beans with Pork

The boys and I went to the market yesterday - it's been way too long since our last visit. I dragged them, about 20lbs of meat and their pizza bagels back to the car. Ian will be sad, but I didn't purchase any red meat. Mostly chicken - sausages, thighs and the dreaded boneless, skinless breasts - and 1 pound of ground pork for the recipe below. I also got a few spices and bags of legumes. Putting the spices away I realized my white pepper is from 2009. I try to write the purchase dates on the containers. Does pepper go bad? Obviously need to dust and restock the spice cabinet soon.

Yesterday I made Szechuan Green Beans with Pork for lunch. I am starting to take note of the authenticity of the serving sizes stated in recipes. I followed the recipe exactly and it was correct. Four 1 cup servings. I liked the dish for lunch but don't think I would double it. Not sure how it would freeze and I figure we would get sick of it before going through 8 servings. I froze the other 1/2 lb of ground pork and plan on making it again.