Sunshine on Bare Toes

The field next to our house on an unseasonably warm day.
...Now, this is the sort of winter I can handle.

More Food...and more, and more...

For our Valentine's date last Monday, we knew we were going back to our first neighborhood for dinner, but we were having a hard time choosing between all the old favorite places. I was craving every one of them. So instead of choosing, we decided not to. We went to four of our old, scruffy stand-by's and shared some of our top dishes. It made me a little sentimental. It was so good to be back in Broad Ripple...we miss it.

Three Sisters: We had to go with the lemon raspberry cornmeal pancakes with lemon curd and fresh whipped cream. My favorite! And of course a mug of HOM (frothy steamed milk with lots of honey and cinnamon).

Naked Tchopstix (the original): Can't say no to the Playboy Roll...the one they wrap in foil and light on fire at your table until its toasted, smoky, and delicious. Bry's all-time favorite.

We took a break for a little of this...cutest boutique ever.

and a little of this. Our old seats at a much-loved coffee shop. (Many hours of reading, studying, and talking were passed here over the years).

Yats (also the original): Oops. We licked the plate clean before stopping for a picture. Not fancy, but the most wonderful cajun food ever. We chose the Drunken Chicken, and yes, it was as good as we remembered.

And finally, drinks and music at the Jazz Kitchen. So great, as always.

For dessert, we went to the best place in town...Luke and Ann's house.:) Ann tried out a chocolate cake recipe with chia seeds and a fruit tart. Too bad Bry was too full to eat any. Not me though, I had both! 

Sweet Valentine

So after dinner on Valentine's Day, Bry had a fun idea planned. He had secretly taken a trip to the grocery store earlier and picked out some choice ingredients that Kaitlin and I would have to use to make a creative dessert (no recipes allowed).

If you've seen the show "Chopped" then you get the idea. Except that Kait and I are not exactly professional chefs. Oh, and we decided to combine our powers and make one dessert instead of competing against each other, because Valentine's Day is about love, not winning. Bry also didn't pick out anything too challenging at the grocery store because, in his words, he wanted "a really good dessert." I think that means that he didn't have much faith in us.

Our required ingredient list:
-Bananas
-Mascarpone cheese
-Peanut Butter
-Pre-made vanilla pudding
-Chocolate gelato
-Whipped cream
-A giant block of sweetened dark chocolate

And here is our finished product:

For a base to build on, we made a vanilla cake (which wasn't easy without a recipe) and cut it into pretty circles with a biscuit cutter. The dark chocolate, we melted down with vanilla extract and mixed in chopped bananas and strawberries. The peanut butter and mascarpone cheese we whipped together with a bit of the pudding and some dark rum to make a fluffy mousse (yum!). We then proceeded to stack our layered tower of goodness, accompanied by a scoop of gelato and a hefty swirl of whipped cream on top.

It was actually very good and lots of fun. And I think I might make that peanut butter-mascarpone-rum mousse again sometime.

(Funny enough, my sister and her husband randomly happened to have a very similar idea for their Valentine's Day dessert. Check out their version of "Chopped" here.)

Not So Super

After changing our weekend plans a couple of times, we ended up with a free Friday night and decided that it would be a crime not to go see what all the Super Bowl fuss was about. Though neither of us care at all about the Super Bowl, it was one of those "once-in-a-lifetime" things that you, for some odd reason, feel obligated to do.

We decided to ride a bus to make the whole ordeal easier, but then ended up spending twice as much time waiting in line and riding back and forth than we did downtown. And once we did get downtown, it was complete madness. There was a lot of walking around with no idea where we were going. Then, whenever we were about to stumble onto something interesting, we would hit a solid wall of people and decide to turn around. And for some reason, there were sirens blaring almost constantly and policemen blowing annoying little whistles.

So basically, it was loud, insanely crowded, stinky, chaotic, obsessive, and overall anti-climactic. Our culture is ridiculous. But let's think of some of the positives...The weather was very nice, we shared a delicious chai while waiting for our bus, and the XLVI signs were pretty cool. Plus, the people-watching was interesting and so was being able to walk in the middle of a street that is usually bustling with cars.

Notice the creepy lady in the lower right-hand corner. I think she was posing for a picture...

Our seats on the bus ride home that we were lucky to snag 

Big Changes on the Horizon

No, I'm not pregnant. But I do have an announcement to make. In a couple of days, our blog address will be changing to: www.makingourstories.blogspot.com.

Reason being that I've been feeling a little guilty about brandishing our last name so blatantly for all to see. Not that I'm phobic, but, you know...safety first. And then I found out that you can change your address without losing your old posts.

So, after a bit of soul searching, I decided on "Making Our Stories." This is partly inspired by my dad, who has always told us that if we want meaning and purpose in our life then we have to "have our own story." Something powerful to love. To live for. To serve (because we're all serving something).

And plus, I like stories.

So there you have it. If you have us linked to your blog then go ahead and change the address now. I'd hate to lose any of our blog friends.

I'll probably be creating a new look too since our nice little family logo at the top of the blog will have to go as well (tear). So stay posted for that excitement.

Bad Hair Days

Mornings are a fun surprise. You never know what you might wake up to around here...

I love the little sleep wrinkles on her shoulder

Yikes. I guess that's what I get for going to bed with wet hair.