Here we are entering the third year of roundups. The first year was weekly. Last year was monthly. I still haven’t finished December or September of 2024. I’m not quitting, though I am reducing the amount of detail and quantity of meals I share. I think we will all be better off for it. I’m also reducing to one picture a day, tops. This goes back to my early days on this blog when I used to do a thing called “picture to make you hungry.” Instead of giving you a lot, I’m giving you my best.
January 5
I’ve started a new food quest for the new year. I’m going to try one North Shore Roast Beef each month. There’s a small chance I do more, but really my waistline can’t handle that. Here is the first one, Tessi’s on Lowell-Tewksbury line. The thing is massive.
January 6
I haven’t cooked much so far this month. I did make a pot of chicken noodle soup which we ate for several days, but here is the first real dinner I made. It is fried tilapia with chili powder bread crumbs, topped with jalapeno-red pepper relish, lime crema, and cilantro, served over white rice. It was excellent.
January 7
A simple but lovely dinner of sliced steak, asparagus, and mashed potatoes.
January 8
Tonight we tried Nan’s Kitchen’s new location in Westford. While the food was good, the wait was just insane. It took forty-five minutes from when we ordered to get a cup of chowder, a Barn Burner (fried chicken sandwich with hot sauce, cheese, pickles), and a small chicken tenders. They were friendly and apologetic, but it was disappointing. The sandwich was nice and spicy and the tenders were good. If the wait wasn’t so extreme, we would go back often. You can read about the chowder here.
January 11
We had a Cambodian dinner for Chorvy’s birthday at Kao’s Kitchen in Lowell. It was my first time there and the food was exceptional.
January 13
My wife made me dinner tonight because work was a little rough today. She got some stuffed clams which were a little bready and some creamy pasta with garlic, tomato, and spinach.
January 14
I don’t know why I don’t go to Eva’s Little Kitchen more often because it is very good. We had an excellent breakfast sandwich and a very good cranberry-orange scone. I also had an iced chai latte which is quickly becoming my new drink of 2025.
January 15
I really enjoyed dinner tonight. I made pork chops seasoned with some smoked paprika from my favorite spice shop in Portland, ME. I topped them with sweet and sour clove-spiced apples. Along side that I made a simple salad and roasted carrots seasoned with garlic powder, Mexican oregano, and some Guatemalan pepper powder.
January 16
I cooked again tonight. Earlier this week my wife was kind enough to make dinner for me. I took her leftover ingredients and added a few extra things of my own to make a chicken pasta with garlic, tomato, shallot, and spinach. I also added just a pinch of the Guatemalan pepper powder which I love so much. I also had a sip of scotch to remember my grandmother who would have been 111 today.
January 17
We had a wine and cheese night. We opened a bottle of Ridge Rockpile. The three cheeses were Old Witch, Le Secret de Compostelle, and Grey Owl. We also had pork rillettes and Rosette de Lyon which I picked up at Formaggio Kitchen. I also opened two bottles of gin that I have been holding on to for five years, Noon Gun Gin (no. 039) and Summer GiNS (no. 040).
January 18
After a night of wine and cheese and gin, I just wanted some pizza today. I got a buffalo chicken pizza from New London. It hit the spot.
January 19
I picked up chorizo verde sausage at Formaggio Kitchen on Friday. I served them sliced over rice verde made with garlic, onion, poblano, jalapeno, and cilantro. Then I topped it with a fried egg.
January 21
Dinner tonight was at Ken’s. We had a cheeseburger club with onion rings and it was really good. We also had an apple-oatmeal-caramel cookie that was amazing.
January 23
Today for lunch I went to DeNo’s. It was actually my fifth visit there this month. Yes, I keep track. I had a small tuna salad sub with american cheese, toasted and then topped with lettuce. It was really, really good. But it wasn’t as good as my dinner. I coated tilapia in seasoned flour and pan seared it. Then I made tacos with leftover rice verde, the tilapia, lettuce dressed with sour cream and lime, and some Guatemalan hot sauce.
January 25
Marino and Jamie came over for dinner so I made carnitas, pinto beans, and rice. The beans turned out really great. Everything else was good too. But I post carnitas pictures all the time and plenty of taco pictures, so I’m going to share this special dessert my wife made, spotted dick. It wasn’t easy and the caramel was downright dangerous, but I really liked.
January 28
At my wife’s request and with the hope of getting my son to try a green bean, I made chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans. I couldn’t get him to try one but I did get him to put one in his mouth with the promise that after he counted to three he could spit it out. The work continues. I
I also published my gin post on Berkshire Mountain Distillers today which includes seven of their gins.
January 29
Happy Chinese New Year! We celebrated at Beijing Chinese in Lexington. Thomas had chicken wings and Kelly and I had pork belly buns with bok choy and green beans with ground pork. We also enjoyed their scorpion bowl.
January 31
Last night we ordered from New London and got the wrong order so we ended up with two dinners. I saved my roast beef sub and had that for lunch today. Then I had dinner with Michael. We started at 80 Thoreau where we had an excellent panisse and then I had a smoked fish chowder. Perhaps it was a little too salty, but it was enjoyable. After that we went to Woods Hill Table and got their french fries. If you remember when McDonald’s used beef fat to make make their fires, these will bring back wonderful memories.
I also had the chance to try five new gins: Junipero, which I think I have had before; Hardshore North Oak, which is the barrel aged version of gin no. 036; and three gins by Haymans.
Best of the month
3. Breakfast Sandwich and Chai Latte at Eva’s Little Kitchen
2. Tilapia with Pepper Relish
1. Cambodian at Kao’s Kitchen
hungrytommy links:
Tessi’s – Roast Beef (new)
Nan’s Kitchen – Chowder Quest (new)
Nan’s Kitchen – quick bite
Kao’s Kitchen – quick bite (new)
Le Secret de Compostelle – cheese
Noon Gun Gin – the collection
Summer GiNS – the collection (new)
New London Style Pizza – quick bite
Ken’s NY Deli – quick bite
carnitas – recipe
Berkshire Mountain Distillers – the collection (new)
Beijing Chinese – quick bite (new)
80 Thoreau – quick bite
Hardshore – the collection (new)
2025 Gin
Return to the Roundups
Concord Culinary Lyceum 
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