March 8, 2025

WEEKLY MENU 03.09.25

We’re eyeing up the Ides of March during the Weekly Menu 03.09.25~

The Ides of March closes out the Weekly Menu 03.09.25 ~ but what does that mean, exactly?

The Ides of March (/aɪdz/; Latin: Idus Martiae, Medieval Latin: Idus Martii)^[1] is the day on the Roman calendar marked as the Idus, roughly the midpoint of a month, of Martius, corresponding to 15 March on the Gregorian calendar. It was marked by several major religious observances. In 44 BC, it became notorious as the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar, which made the Ides of March a turning point in Roman history.

Ides

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The Romans did not number each day of a month from the first to the last day. Instead, they counted back from three fixed points of the month: the Nones (the 5th or 7th, eight days before the Ides), the Ides (the 13th for most months, but the 15th in March, May, July, and October), and the Kalends (1st of the following month).

Originally the Ides were supposed to be determined by the full moon, reflecting the lunar origin of the Roman calendar. Martius (March) was the first month of the Roman year until as late as the mid-2nd century BC, an order reflected in the numerical names of the months of September (the seventh month) through December (the tenth month) not corresponding to their current position on the Gregorian calendar. In the earliest Roman calendar, the Ides of March would have been the first full moon of the new year.^[2] As a fixed point in the month, the Ides accumulated functions set to occur every month, and was the day when debt payments and rents were due.^[3]^[4]

Brittanica.com

Caesar’s death made the Ides of March notorious, and Shakespeare memorialized it in his tragedy, Julius Caesar. “In 44 bce, Julius Caesar was in the midst of a series of political and social reforms when he was assassinated by a group of nobles on the Ides of March. Led by senators Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus, a group of approximately 60 conspirators fatally stabbed Caesar in the Roman Senate.” (Brittanica.com)

According to Plutarch,^[20] a seer had warned that harm would come to Caesar on the Ides of March. On his way to the Theatre of Pompey, where he would be assassinated, Caesar passed the seer and joked, “Well, the Ides of March are come”, implying that the prophecy had not been fulfilled, to which the seer replied “Aye, they are come, but they are not gone.”^[20]

Wikipedia

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Weekly Menu 03.09.25

We’re commemorating Caesar on Saturday night when we are planning a Roasted Chicken (Julius) Caesar (ha!) Salad.

Of course, we have a full week to get to before that! On Sunday, we celebrate our ADIL’s (almost Daughter-in-law’s) birthday, which happens later in the week. Chicken Riggies are a combo of a super crispy chicken cutlet atop a batch of rigatoni with vodka sauce. The recipe (below) for the chicken uses Corn Flakes to bake up a crazy good piece of chicken. I’ll skip the sauce that’s part of the recipe (it’s wonderful too, but it doesn’t go with vodka sauce), and I’ll ixnay the smoked paprika.

We’re starting dinner with Baked Fontina. And, in case you were following along, dear reader, you would know that we just had it last week. It’s just so damn good that it made it to the menu again. The recipe has a little frugal secret: it’s called Baked Fontina, but it’s not just baked Fontina.

Half the cheese is mozzarella

So we have the fabulous taste of Fontina bumped up a bit with the stretchy cheesiness of the mozzarella. I serve it with toasted baguette slices and red peppers, and I honestly don’t know which I like better. The cake of choice for the birthday girl is a White Chocolate Raspberry-Filled Bundt cake. It’s crazy easy, but don’t tell anybody. The hardest part is making sure the cake comes out of the pan. I’ll use some baking spray to make sure it works.

We’re going to have an old-school diner dinner on Monday. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans make an appearance on the menu. It’s been too long! I bake the potatoes along with the meatloaf, scooping out the insides and mash them when they are tender. I add buttermilk and salt and dot a bit of butter on top to melt and look decadent. The buttermilk adds a great little tanginess along with its creaminess, which is perfect.

We’re incorporating ground turkey into the Taco Rice Bake on Tuesday. I honestly can’t taste the difference between beef and turkey with all the Mexican flavors.

Sheet pan for the win on Thursday. There is something about a one-pan, throw-it-together and walk-away meal that I just adore.