Waffles, Sweet and Savory

My sweet parents got me a waffle maker for Christmas, knowing full well that we have a working waffle marker at our house. They knew that this waffle maker would be headed to live with Brian. Since Christmas we've enjoyed more than our fair of waffles on lazy, sleep-in mornings where kitchen rustlings don't start until at least 10 am.

Waffles, Sweet
Waffles: The classic, Bisquick
Topping: Strawberries: a bag of frozen TJ's strawberries, tossed into a pot and heated up. Since they're not fresh, they need a pinch of sugar, in my opinion.
Sausage: My friends at the farmers market make delicious Maple sausage links, with real Wisconsin maple syrup, and that's what we had with these sweet waffles.

Waffles, Savory
Waffles: Cornmeal and Chive Waffles, by Joy the Baker.
Topping: Sausage gravy, with my friend's Savory sausage links. I'd never made sausage gravy before and it turned out fantastic! Lots of black pepper is your friend, and don't be afraid to keep messing with it: a little milk, a little flour, a little pepper, a little taste...

The savory waffles were the perfect fuel for taking advantage of the winter sunshine with a walk through Lions' Den Gorge. (No Lions' Den. Yes Gorge.)

First Date Gumbo

For our first date, Brian asked me if I'd like to come over to try a gumbo recipe he found. Awesome, right?

But, if we back up a bit, you can see that I actually engineered this. The weekend before, I happened to have one of my favorite cookbooks in my purse at church, from cooking dinner with a friend the night before. While chatting with Brian after church, I happened to mention that this was one of the my favorite cookbooks and asked if he'd like to borrow it. While flipping through it, he casually said "oh this soup looks good," to which I responded "if you make it, you better invite me to dinner!" With a flip of my pretty, curled (on purpose, duh) hair, I then sauntered out of church, my devious plan having been set in motion. Two days later, ta-da, the gumbo email asking me to dinner!

(If he were writing this, I know he'd contend that he would have asked me out anyway. Whatever. It's my blog and I'm totally the brains behind this operation.)

The date itself was fantastic- the gumbo was delicious (a 30 minute roux. He made a 30 minute roux.) I whipped up some cornbread in the cast iron skillet I had tucked in my purse, Mary Poppins-style, and then pulled out blueberry cobbler. Neither of us stood much of a chance after that.

Last weekend we decided a repeat of the gumbo was in order. The cookbook that I lent Brian is Cooking Up a Storm, Recipes Lost and Found from the Times-Picayune of New Orleans, edited by Marcelle Bienvenu and Judy Walker. I love this book and think it would be a wonderful addition to anyone's kitchen, so I'm not going to post the recipe outright. However, here is a chicken and sausage gumbo recipe from the Times-Picayune website that is basically exactly the same. I don't use the file powder.

Trinity being stirred into the roux. 

Chicken rubbed down with salt and cayenne. Don't skimp on the cayenne. 

We didn't have a pot big enough!

Playing bananagrams while the gumbo cooks. (Brian wants me to tell you he won. I don't remember that part.) 

Pictured: Gumbo, hard cider, Carolina cup and 8 month cake. (Coming soon!) 

Hits & Misses, Early 2012

Hits
Pinterest has become, outside my google reader, my favorite spot to find new recipes. There are more than a few pinned to my Edible Inspiration board. A couple recent hits? A quick after-gym dinner of Veggie Laksa, a spin on these Orange-Ginger Margaritas, and these prep-heavy but so worth it, man-pleasing, new parents surprising Creamy Baked Chicken Taquitos.

Still to try: Key Lime Pie Ice Cream, Homemade Potato Chips with Avocado Ranch and Hot Fudge Bourbon Milkshakes.

Also tried & loved, this time from the ever expanding "Starred" folder in my google reader, Jennie's Toasted Vanilla Bean Muesli. I can attest that you can totally make this while tipsy on a Saturday night, with your boyfriend "helping" with some moral support. Whole vanilla beans are not in my grocery budget, so I put a little regular vanilla in the melted butter. I made this with oats & sliced almonds toasted and dried cherries & apricots. 

Things that are not food but are awesome anyway
I'm (happily!) not getting married anytime soon (probably), but I've been reading A Practical Wedding since nearly it's inception. This post neatly lays out what it's like to be in a happy not engaged relationship and watch 18 billion people get engaged on f*cebook over the holidays. Also, how it makes you a little annoyed when your relationship is so awesome people expect you to run off on your lunch hour and get hitched and then they feel the need to comment on it.

Ok, so a second thing about getting engaged, but whatever, it's got food and Legos. This is the sweetest video so far this year.

Misses
This Cream of Tomato Soup with Rice is incredibly delicious. I started making it when I was living in Chicago in my cute little single girl apartment. I urge you to not be stupid like me and make it with rock hard winter tomatoes, and sub whole torn pieces of basil for the thyme. The tomatoes will not roast and become all yummy, and the basil will blacken and become bitter. Pay up for tomatoes that feel ripe and smell good. Even if they're the overpriced "on the vine" tomatoes. Also? It's only one soup. Don't use half and half.

The Knicker Twist. I thought since B always has apricot jam in his fridge, this would be fun to make. It's not. It's just kinda weird.

Christmas in Carolina

Brian and I spent Christmas with our respective families, but on December 26th I flew to North Carolina to spend some time with him and his family. We had an awesome playing games at the kitchen table, eating delicious food and enjoying the glorious sunny 55 degree days.

Here are some of the trip highlights:

Seeing the cows at Brian's high school. We weren't sure they belong to the Ag club, or just lived next to the high school, but they were very pretty. This my favorite:

Going to Brian's grandparent's house on Lake Norman. It's beautiful out there.

 Halfway through the week Brian and I drove to Chapel Hill to take in my first Carolina basketball game.

 On our way back from Chapel Hill, we stopped at Maxie B's bakery in Greensboro, NC. I had the most divine vanilla cake with strawberry filling and Brian had vanilla cake with pineapple filling. If you're ever in with 50 miles, I highly recommend it. I may or not have lead Brian seriously off the beaten path for this bakery, but even he admitted it was worth it.

Another bakery recommendation? Scratch, in Durham. We attempted to eat at Allen & Sons for a second time (they continually elude us!) and ended up eating in Durham instead. I had just read a Southern Living article entitled "The South's Best Bakeries" (road trip, anyone?) and Scratch made the list. Forgot to get a picture, but had the Mexican Chocolate Pie: smooth, spicy, deeply chocolaty. Again, if you're within 50 miles or so...

Allen & Sons: Last time we tried to go, we found out they are closed on Sundays. This time they were closed for the week between Christmas and New Year's. 

The day we got back all the cousins on Brian's Mom's side got together to shoot guns.

Yup. 

Shoot guns. Cause that's what you do in the South. I've never touched a gun before, much less shot one, so this is a major improvement:

Firing Joe's rifle.

Brian with his Dad's shotgun. 

After everyone got their fill of shooting guns we settled in for a night of pizza, cupcakes and games around the kitchen table. 

A fantastic trip and I can't wait to go back!