Personal notebook
Josh Cherwinski
Recipes, notes, cost breakdowns, podcast picks, and New England opinions.
A personal notebook for things I cook, test, overthink, price out, and occasionally rant about.
Featured post
NotesWhy You Should Only Buy Seltzer from Job Lot If You Live in New England
A regional economic argument disguised as grocery advice.
Latest posts
The newest entries across the whole site, from recipes to travel math.
Cheeseburger Rice Bowls
Cheesy seasoned ground beef over rice with crisp lettuce, tomato, dill pickles, and tangy homemade burger sauce.
Creamy Pesto Chicken Tortellini
Cheese tortellini and pan-seared chicken tossed in a creamy pesto sauce built with Parmesan, milk, and Greek yogurt.
Ancho Pickle Chicken Rice Bowl
A smoky ancho chicken rice bowl with warm brown rice, seasoned corn and black beans, cold dill pickles and onion, and a creamy pickle-lime sauce.
Turning Garmin Sleep Data Into a BedJet Climate Automation
I wired Garmin Connect, Home Assistant, and BedJet into a sleep-climate loop that cools the bed when the room starts getting too warm.
Crispy Beef Tacos with Cilantro Lime Sauce
Cheesy ground beef tacos crisped in a skillet and finished with a sharp cilantro lime sauce.
Sweet Potato Cheeseburger Pie
A cast-iron cheeseburger pie with a thick sweet potato crust, seasoned beef, melted cheese, and burger toppings added after baking.
Recipes
Things I actually cook and want to find again.
Recipe
Cheeseburger Rice Bowls
Cheesy seasoned ground beef over rice with crisp lettuce, tomato, dill pickles, and tangy homemade burger sauce.
Recipe
Creamy Pesto Chicken Tortellini
Cheese tortellini and pan-seared chicken tossed in a creamy pesto sauce built with Parmesan, milk, and Greek yogurt.
Recipe
Ancho Pickle Chicken Rice Bowl
A smoky ancho chicken rice bowl with warm brown rice, seasoned corn and black beans, cold dill pickles and onion, and a creamy pickle-lime sauce.
Money & Travel
Useful, practical, and occasionally a little too interested in the math.
What It Really Costs to Drive an EV in New England
Not financial advice. Just the math I use when someone asks whether the EV actually saved money.
The Best Way to Travel Using Credit Card Bonus Cycling
Not financial advice. Just the math and pacing I use to keep points useful instead of chaotic.
What the Carnival Drink Package Actually Costs
The sticker price is only the beginning. The useful number is the all-in cost per day and the break-even point against what you would have ordered anyway.
Podcast Episodes Worth Saving
Business mechanics, useful tech, markets, and mountain people doing unreasonable things.
Episode
FeaturedPhilip Carcia / Winter NH48
A very specific kind of New England madness: repeating the NH 48 in winter, over and over, with enough structure that it becomes less adventure story and more operating system.
Episode
FeaturedDirettissima / Andrew Drummond
The White Mountains as a route problem: peaks, logistics, pace, weather, and whether the whole thing holds together long enough to matter.
Episode
FeaturedLong Trail FKT / Tara Dower
A big Vermont trail effort with enough logistics, suffering, and Northeast specificity to earn a permanent spot on the shelf.
Episode
FeaturedRob Dyrdek / net worth, investments, health
Not saving this because of MTV. Saving it because Dyrdek talks like someone who turned his life into a dashboard: time tracking, business structure, investments, media economics, and health.
Show
highWaveform: The MKBHD Podcast
Useful when the conversation gets past gadget chatter and into products, platforms, Apple, Google, OpenAI, and what people may actually use.
Fun adventures
Hikes, rides, cruise stops, race weekends, and local outings worth remembering.
Adventure
Pemi Loop Notes
The sort of hike where logistics matter almost as much as fitness, especially if you want the day to feel hard but not stupid.
Adventure
Mambo Beach Without the Cruise Excursion
A practical way to do Mambo Beach from the cruise port without paying cruise-excursion prices.
Adventure
Rhode Island Beach / Cliff Jumping Ideas
A shortlist of warm-weather ideas that feel more local than formal, with enough context to avoid turning them into a dumb day.