Since my brain is once again doing the thing where it refuses to acknowledge that I have ever eaten anything for dinner in my life, let’s start with the meals I did indeed make last week.

There is a contradiction inherent in the previous sentence, I realize. The thing is, I can often remember Things I Just Ate, some of which are fine but not desirable for a second week in a row, some of which will not make the repeats list. I just can’t remember other things, and sometimes even perusing my list of Reliably Delicious Dinners (which I need to update) fails to raise palatable options. No idea why I am the way that I am.

via GIPHY

Let’s see. Last week I made a version of my favorite fall salad, but something(s) went horribly wrong and it was nearly inedible. For one thing, I think I somehow overcooked the quinoa? It didn’t seem burnt, but it was incredibly bitter and so crunchy it felt like I’d taken a heaping mouthful of very fine gravel. An equally insurmountable problem was the dressing. I made an apple cider vinaigrette, and added a little bit of Dijon mustard to it for emulsifying and flavor purposes, and it was AWFUL. Much much too sour. But by the time I realized just how terrible it was, I’d doused the entire salad in it. Oh, and I bought a nice sharp cheddar for my husband’s salad, per his request, but I’d meant to get myself some goat cheese and forgot to do so. I just don’t care for sharp cheddar in a salad, and I missed the creamy goatiness from my preferred cheese. (It probably would have sopped up some of the intense sourness from the dressing.) Also, I saw some frozen tempura shrimp in the freezer section, and bought them for Carla, who recently tried a tempura shrimp when out to dinner with friends. Since I had failed to defrost myself some salmon for my salad (I’d roasted some chicken breasts for my husband), I air fried the shrimp and they were not a good complement to my fall salad. What a disappointment. Next time, I will stick to my own recipe and my husband can power through the sweetness.

A success last week was the One Pot Lemon, Basil, Corn & Ricotta Pasta. My grocery store still has corn on the cob, and it’s still a good price. The ears were a little smaller than they were in the height of summer, but they were still decent. My basil plant provided plenty of basil. And the melty cheese mixture – ricotta and brie – turned out to be delicious. I did have a moment of panic when I realized I’d only bought half the required ricotta, so I ended up tossing in half a brick of cream cheese on a whim. It worked beautifully. I wouldn’t hesitate to make this again, although I don’t expect it’s the kind of thing I’m going to want more than once or twice a season.

Those are the only Full Meals I made last week. Unless you count brunch, which was bagels and lox – such an easy meal it feels like cheating. As per usual when I serve a meal for houseguests, I found myself lamenting my dearth of tiny serving utensils. I have one pair of tiny gold tongs, but I think I’d rather have a whole selection of matching tiny spoons, forks, and tongs with which guests can sprinkle their bagels with capers and onions and fetch a lemon wedge. We got our bagels from one of those bagel places, and the bagels themselves were in fact much tastier than grocery store bagels. But they had not been cut completely through, which was frustrating. I can think of few things more harrowing than trying to slice a bagel in half. Carla suggested we get a bagel guillotine, but my experience with those is that they don’t work particularly well, either, and it’s not like we eat bagels so regularly we need a whole tool simply for dealing with them. Speaking of one-use kitchen tools: When I was looking for a bagel guillotine, I came across some, well, unique kitchen tools for presenting bagels and donuts. I really want to know the kind of people for whom these would be sensible purchases. Yes, yes, I could see how they would be quite fun for a donut-themed party or for, like, a post-wedding brunch. But I prefer to imagine my Bizarro World counterpart using them to host a weekly bagel bash.

I seem to have become distracted. Distraction is preferable to planning dinner. And yet, the humans in my house remain unamenable to trying cat food, which is so very very easy to prepare.

DINNERS FOR THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 5

• Chili Honey Chicken & Sweet Potatoes: This one’s going back on the list, baby! I bought the ingredients for this meal last week and I think I’ll have time to prep the “marinade” and the sauce today, so we’ll eat it tonight.
• Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff: This is the only other definite on my meal plan this week, because it was a special request from my husband. Well, not the slow cooker part. That was my own stipulation, considering it feels impossible to pick up my kiddo from sports and then come home and whip up a beef stroganoff.
• Korean Beef Sesame Noodles: Wow, this is beginning to look like a beef-heavy week. But it just so happens that I have a package labeled “Korean beef” in my freezer. Perhaps I could just toss the defrosted beef into this recipe, making the sauce, noodles, and some veg, and call it a day?
• Some Sort of Tacos: I know, I know. My husband is sick of tacos. But I really, really want an excuse to make this cilantro lime slaw. Plus, he is much more likely to accept a taco for dinner if it’s not the old ground-beef standby. Perhaps I could make some slow cooker honey chipotle chicken or some slow cooker carnitas. Both options would be excellent vehicles for the slaw.

That seems like enough ambition for this week. What are you hankering for?