An Oldie but a Goodie

I love my Dad.  He's super smart (fo serious) and occasionally makes a good joke.  However, to say that he is a creature of habit would be a huge understatement.  So, it came as no surprise when he asked me to make him veghead chili for Father's Day (ever since I introduced him to it a couple years ago, he makes it nearly every week for himself and Mama Rhino).

I cannot say that I love the chili as much as Papa Rhino, but it's a solid dish and really easy to make.  I first made it back in my Hyde Park days as a rookie cook and continued to fix it up at solid intervals because of the aforementioned reasons and its innate cheapness.  In the last couple of years, Rhino concentrated more on trying out new recipes and less on revisiting old favorites, and the veghead chili fell by the wayside.  Together with some of Cat Cora's Southern cornbread, it made for a simple and tasty Father's Day dinner and for many many leftovers.  And hey, with inflation all over the place, it might be wise to start making this more again (I told you that my Dad was a smartie).

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Rachel's Birthday TND= Springtime Pasta and Brown Velvet Cake

Rhino's friend Rachel tends to be pretty opinionated (a pretty kick-ass quality).  So, it came as a little bit of a surprise when she did not give any suggestions for her birthday dinner.  Luckily, Rhino likes recipe foraging and, after much searching through blogs, websites, and other foodie forums, she found a winner. Spinach-ricotta pesto pasta with crisp proscuitto and asparagus.  Seasonally-appropriate and Rachel-approved!!

To ease game day TND work, I prepped the spinach-ricotta pesto sauce ahead of time.  It turned out perfectly.  I cannot say the same for the Rachel-requested red velvet cake.  Coming off my tres leches failure, I really wanted the cake to be a rousing success.  My red velvet comeback started out well....up until the red part.  Only at that juncture did I realize that a tablespoon of red food coloring is A LOT of food coloring.  After emptying my red vial, my yellow vial, and my blue vial (purple velvet cake anyone?), the batter turned an ugly swamp green.  Wondering how to remedy the situation, I peered into my cupboard and saw more red food coloring.  D'OH!!

Thankfully, my friends accept cake of all colors.  They also make AH-MAZING white wine sangria and bring delicious bread and spicy pimento cheese dip for TND feasts.  They're pretty good conversationalists too.

In the end, Rhino succeeded in her first asparagus attempt in cooking and in making a cream cheese frosted brown velvet cake.  More importantly, she succeeded in making a Rachel-worthy TND.  I'll call that a success even if I cannot say the same thing about my cake.