vindicated!

Ok, so I know I’m a pretty adventurous eater. Not that I’m into anything weird and if traveling in an Asian country I would probably be pretty cautious, but I’m certainly not afraid to try new things.

Coconut on oatmeal? Sure! Ginger maple syrup? Definitely! Cranberry ketchup? Tasty!

Anyway, one of my favorite combos is a little peanut butter (or other but butter)on a waffle with a little maple syrup for breakfast. It’s fantastic–I almost feel a little guilty–and it’s a great way to get a little protein in while decreasing syrup intake.

Andrew never fails to give me the usual eye-roll about it. While he’s come a long way, he’s still not a very adventurous eater.

Anyway, (and to the point of this post) Andrew announced this week that he was sick of yogurt for breakfast (the same day as he spilled it in his truck–go figure). I told him in. I uncertain terms that he needed to have a protein, somehow, some way, in his breakfast.

I hesitantly asked if he’d be willing to try my peanut butter/waffle/syrup combo, fully expecting him to refuse, despite the fact that he does, indeed, like all of the ingredients.

Surprisingly, he agreed.

I prepared a waffle for him, slathered it with sunflower seed butter (it’s what I have open at the moment), and drizzled it with a generous helping of maple syrup (he isn’t counting HIS calories!). Then, I cut it up for him and sent him off to work with it.

Imagine my surprise when, mid-morning, I receive a phone call from Andrew, and I quote:

“It was… (pause for effect) …amazing. I just thought you’d want to know.”

Yes, yes it is. Which is why I’ve been enjoying it for years now. And yes, I did want to know. Thank you for telling me, and I WAS RIGHT!

the answer to everything is Pasquale’s

Well, the Elm Street Bakery turned out to be a bust last night. Not through any fault of their own; we didn’t arrive until after 8:15 due to Andrew’s basketball game and they had sold out of all their dinner items. So, in true Layer fashion, Andrew suggested Pasquale’s…

Let me just pause here for a minute. For the Layers, Pasquale’s really is the answer to everything. Get home late from being out of town? Order pizza. Abigail home from college for the weekend? Order pizza and wings. Bored around lunchtime on Saturday? Go to Pasquale’s. Seriously. We had it four times in three days once. Don’t get me wrong, I love their pizza and wings… I just try not to eat it all the time.

Anyway, back to last night. Normally, we don’t even go out to eat for Valentine’s Day because of the crowds; I usually make a nice dinner at home, but with my busy schedule lately, I didn’t plan anything. Elm Street was really only supposed to be dessert, but Andrew wanted real food.

So, we head over to Pasquale’s (after I bought a pink and purple M & M cookie at Elm Street, you know, in case Pasquale’s didn’t have any desserts I wanted.)

We exchanged gifts, and in true V-day tradition, Andrew got me an assortment of Fowler’s chocolates:

I was so incredibly proud of myself; I cut a piece of andrew’s pizza in half and did the same to my dessert and put it in to-go box and out of sight right away. I even had a glass of Lambrusco as well!

BTW, Andrew LOVED his bag of junk food. But you what he said when we got home? That he was glad I got the small bags of chips and things so he wouldn’t eat too much. Awww, music to my ears.

how we spent our saturday

There was baking. There was snow. And gym-going. And car-repairing. And cake-tasting. And, finally, a little ice skating.

Let’s start at the beginning.

Andrew’s truck had been on the fritz since Monday morning, and in the course of the week, Andrew and his friend Bart (featured here at Waldfest and here at the ‘beach’), diagnosed the problem as being the fuel pump. (Bart used to work on race cars in college–like, REAL race cars–and is an engineer at Moog and one of those super-brainy-but-cool types, so I felt like we were in good hands.)

So, after lots of research and You Tube “how to replace a fuel pump” video-watching, Andrew and Bart made plans to replace the part Saturday morning.

Company on Saturday morning = BIG BREAKFAST!

I decided to make pancakes AND waffles (waffles keep better in the freezer) and maple-roasted bacon.

Bart and I like chocolate-chip pancakes, so I added mini-chocolate chips to ours. I even had whipped cream on hand, too–SCORE!

Waffles staying warm in the oven… Side note: I’ve been doing this for awhile now (using the oven to keep waiting waffles crisp and warm) and in just this past issue of Cuisine At Home, someone wrote in and offered this EXACT TECHNIQUE in the reader advice section, and got $100 for it!! Note to self: wrack brain for something to suggest.

I set the table with three kinds of nut butters, Kefir, plain yogurt, orange segments, pineapple, butter, maple syrup, ginger maple syrup, orange juice and bananas. And that’s not including the main courses…

We all enjoyed breakfast before the boys headed outside–did I mention it finally snowed–to start the car project while I tackled clean-up.

Look! They’re twins! Bart brought over some extra work clothes and gloves (he does this kind of thing a lot), which was nice since the cold weather necessitated multiple layers.

…and multiple trips inside to warm-up and read directions. (Not sure why Andrew looks pregnant here, but since it’s him and not me, I’m happy!)

Bart, complete with knee-pads…

…Andrew, who was probably wishing it were just a bit warmer. After our mild week, they certainly did not luck-out on weather for the project.

After I took a snow-filled walk with the dog and went to the gym for a run, I rushed home to shower and get lunch ready for everyone. Thankfully, I had a great assortment of leftovers (I felt a little guilty serving guests leftovers, but by now, I feel like Bart is almost family, and Andrew’s dad–who had come over to watch the snowy repair job–IS family, and the leftovers WERE pretty special) like homemade coleslaw and roasted potatoes, along with homemade rye bread and sandwich stuff.

I dashed out the door after my last bit to meet Abigail, Carolyn and Andrew’s mom at Butterwood’s, a local bakery for some wedding cake-tasting! This, of course, would have been a perfect opportunity to take some photos for the blog with all the beautiful cakes and desserts, but, alas, I did not. I really waver between wanting to be a hard-core food blogger and photo-ing EVERYTHING, and on the other hand, trying to not let it take over my life. So, no pretty cupcake photos here.

We stayed afterward and got desserts and drinks–I chose a red velvet cupcake that was just gorgeous and tasted completely divine–thankfully, I still have half to enjoy another time 🙂

With the sourdough starter that I left out from making the pancakes and wafflers earlier, I made this focaccia.

We didn’t end up eating any that night, because Bart talked us into going out with him to ice skate! I so tried to stay behind to do the myriad things on my to-do list (you know, like take a chem quiz, finish two labs, write an article, write two blogs, not to mention a million other things), but at the last minute I couldn’t say no. I threw on some long underwear and ran out the door with Andrew!

We headed downtown for some ice skating (there is a free rink on the main thoroughfare in the city) and to check out some of the snowboarding at WinterFest.

Don’t you just love my scarf? Andrew got it for me to go with my coat for Christmas–beautiful! I’m LOVING the J.Crew Stadium Jacket we scored on Black Friday… It cinches at the waist and is SO FLATTERING. And it has a hood. I have never wanted a hood more than I have since moving here.

After skating, we headed to Pearl Street for dinner, and to warm up! My fingers were just about frozen, despite the awesome glove liners I got recently. I enjoyed their Cherry Wheat beer, some onion rings (really hit the spot), a roasted veggie sandwich and their completely splurge-worthy fries. Seriously, I could really just have their fries for dinner and be happy.

Bart recently discovered a new bar downtown that has a trivia night, so he brought us to check it out. It’s called Founding Fathers and IT IS AWESOME. I mean, the proprietor was wearing a tie–is that my kind of place, or what?!

There are flags and U.S. presidential history everywhere–it’s a smart-people bar (I may be a little rusty on my history, but Andrew and Bart aren’t!). Andrew and I have never really felt “at home” (well, who does, really?) at a bar since we choose not to drink all that much, but we (well, really just me, probably) have always wanted to be a “regular” somewhere, and this is the kind of place I could see us going to often. I’m not saying we’re going to go every Friday, but we’d like to give their trivia a try (it’s the first Tuesday of the month), and it just felt like somewhere we’d fit in.

It’s pushing 10 p.m. and I still haven’t taken that Chem quiz…