Susie’s Diner will soon be relocating (physically, not virtually) up the road (to a place with a fabulous kitchen) and I’m going to use that as an excuse for the lack of blog posts lately… That, and my husband constantly monopolizes our lone computer.  He’s out hunting for ptarmigan today, so I’m hoping to finish a blog post between the chores and taking care of a toddler version of Kramer.

Nothing spectacular has been on the menu at the diner lately (i.e., lots of burger nights) simply because its a pain in the arse to clean up between house showings. However, this weekend I was back at it, with Mom’s stuffed shells for a potluck, a huge vat of a new version of Susie’s BBQ sauce, ciabatta bread (the jury is still out), grouse tortilla soup, and a sheep roast is marinating.

Although winter is technically over, some might say 40 degrees with still 2 feet of snow on the ground is considered winter in most parts of the country. Regardless, I wanted to provide a glimpse at the more successful winter weeknight specials from the last couple months…

Chicken Pot Pie

I tried to duplicate the chicken pot pie that my friend Patty’s husband made for us right after our daughter was born. Maybe it was the hormones, but that chicken pot pie was so incredible, I don’t think I can come close. I made a valiant attempt, using all full-fat ingredients (and there are lots them). It turned out pretty tasty, but still fell short. Even a year and a half later, I still dream of Dave’s chicken pot pie. It was THAT good.

The Ultimate Baked Beans

Its true, everything is better with bacon. This recipe came from Tyler’s Ultimate cookbook. Tyler is my man simply because he makes real food, real meals that your mom used to make, but better and with ingredients that don’t require shopping at a specialty food store (usually). I highly recommend Tyler. My only failure here is that the beans were a bit too runny, but perhaps i didn’t cook them long enough.

Grouse Stew with Dumplings

Grouse Stew has become a regular entree at Susie’s Diner. Its fairly quick and easy and Andy shot A LOT of grouse last fall. But to mix things up one night, I added some dumplings, which I had never made before. Turns out, dumplings are really just balls of dough on top. For some reason, I thought there was more to it.

Shepherd’s Pie

It’s becoming a theme of sorts where I try to recreate or relive a memorable meal. A brew pub in Maine, called Gritty’s, makes some darn good shepherd’s pie. Stop by if you are in the area. As usual at Susie’s Diner, I substitute in some game meat and in this case, moose burger. It’s essentially a stacked  version of meatloaf, mashed, and gravy (which is another staple menu item) with some veggies tossed in.

Mac n’ Cheese

Caribou sausage. Lots of cheese. You can’t go wrong. Well, actually I did once, where there wasn’t enough cheese to my mac. But I fixed that the second time around.