Valentine's Day and Bonge's

(Pardon the almost two week late post on Valentine's Day. The flu invaded last week and blogging was just about the last thing on my mind...ok, maybe eating was right there, too.)

Jake and I spent a terribly romantic Valentine's Day at White Castle this year. No joke, this is the first year we've been able to get reservations! We noshed on a nacho and cheese appetizer, little burgers, and fries, all by the light of an electric candle. The fake roses and cupid cut-outs set the mood perfectly. :) So fun, though. Definitely a Heart Day we will always remember!

 

One of our winter traditions is dinner at Bonge's Tavern outside of Anderson. We made our annual trip last weekend. They always have the most interesting dishes, and you know it's going to be GOOD. I had goat cheese stuffed chicken and Jake had shark. Yep, SHARK! We always look forward to this dinner. It's such a cozy place with good memories. 

First anniversary: Louisville Restaurants

Well here's the thing...

The bulk of our Louisville trip completely revolved around food. Seriously. There are some wonderful, creative restaurants and coffee shops in Louisville, and we visited quite a few. 

Here's Jake and Kik's list of restaurants to visit in Louisville. Enjoy some instagram pictures from our trip as you read.

Harvest prides itself in only buying produce and meat from a 100-mile radius around Louisville. They even have portraits of their local farmers decorating their walls. We liked the squash hummus.

 Please and Thank You is a coffee shop whose slogan is "Coffee, Treats, Records." They even had records playing as we drank our coffee. This was our kind of place. Can you open one in Morristown, please and thank you? :)

 Oh, Hillbilly Tea. We loved you the most (we went back twice). Hillbilly Tea is a "tea cafe" serving southern comfort food. The decor was full of mason jars, wooden crates, old benches, and pieces of wood used as serving trays. I want to be friends with everyone who works here.

 

Last but not least, The Mayan Cafe serves authentic Mayan-inspired dishes. I had a black bean, egg, mole combo that reminded me of my trip to Guatemala a few year ago. Our favorite (and their specialty) were the lima beans. Weird, I know, but trust me. They are good.

Well now I'm hungry. Ready to head back!

Pumpkin Cookies

For months before my wedding, I looked forward to one thing...

But alas, we came back after our first dance to find NO PUMPKIN COOKIES left. This was the saddest part of my wedding day.

Luckily, our friend, Annette, heard about our cookie dilemma and whipped us up a batch of her very own pumpkin cookies. I'd like to think they were even better than the ones at our wedding. :)

Annette's Pumpkin Cookies

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 tsp vanilla

Sift: 2 Cups flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp salt

Cream butter and sugar. Add in egg, pumpkin, and vanilla. Then, add in sifted dry ingredients.

Drop by large teaspoonfuls on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until set.

For icing:

Mix together 4 tsp melted, cooled butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup heavy cream, and 2 cups confectioners sugar. Frost cookies once cool.

Enjoy!

Columbus Weekend

Jake and I took a little road trip over to Columbus, OH to visit with my very good friend Blair for the weekend. We hit up quite a few vintage-inspired shops and the huge local market in town. She knows me well. :) We had a wonderful time catching up with Blair and seeing the sights of Columbus. Every time I go I like the city a little more. I'd love to take another weekend trip there again soon!

We visited Bodega and Basil on Friday (yum!).

 

We browsed quite a few vintage shops.

We ate our weight in ice cream at Jeni's. Two of my favorite flavors were lavender and salted caramel.

We went to North Market and took in the Fiery Foods Festival (that's Jake tasting the winner of Houston's hottest hot sauce! From his reaction I think the prize was warranted).

...and we did quite a bit of walking on a brisk but nice Saturday afternoon.

 

Weekend well spent!

Bits and Pieces

 

Quality time with the sister/ Saturday morning/ amazing youth group talk on Captivating/ dinner at Lil' Charlie's/ friend date with Kels and Aud/ baking lots of zucchini bread

Dutch Oven Bread Success!

Last week I talked about one of my goals of making Dutch Oven Bread. I had Monday off for MLK Jr. Day, so I finally had the time to attempt the recipe. This bread takes a lot of time, but it's mostly just waiting for the dough to rise. I was super happy with how it turned out, and Jake and I had it for dinner last night and tonight. Success! I plan on making this again soon.

No-Knead Dutch Oven Bread

1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting. You may use white, whole wheat or a combination of the two.
1 1/2 tsp salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran for dusting

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the flour and salt, stirring until blended. The dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest at least 8 hours, preferably 12 to 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
2. The dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it. Sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it rest for about 15 minutes.
3. Using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to the work surface or to your fingers, gently shape it into a ball. Generously coat a clean dish towel with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal. Put the seam side of the dough down on the towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another towel and let rise for about 1 to 2 hours. When it’s ready, the dough will have doubled in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
4. At least 20 minutes before the dough is ready, heat oven to 475 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in the oven as it heats. When the dough is ready, carefully remove the pot from the oven and lift off the lid. Slide your hand under the towel and turn the dough over into the pot, seam side up. The dough will lose its shape a bit in the process, but that’s OK. Give the pan a firm shake or two to help distribute the dough evenly, but don’t worry if it’s not perfect; it will straighten out as it bakes.
5. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake another 15 to 20 minutes, until the loaf is beautifully browned. Remove the bread from the Dutch oven and let it cool on a rack for at least 1 hour before slicing.

Operation: Dutch Oven Bread

For some reason, I've had the biggest urge to make my own bread- not out of a bread maker, but actually do the kneading and baking myself. From my research, I now know that this is a super long process that requires an entire day at home. You know what? I'm ok with that. Hopefully this day will come to me sooner rather than later!

I think this video from Kinfolk shows the process quite nicely. I guess I need to get a good, long book to pass the time...

Dutch Oven Bread from Kinfolk on Vimeo.

My day, in pictures

Today, I...

...wrapped presents and watched Christmas movies with the husband.

  

...visited Indy CD and Vinyl on an impromptu trip to Broad Ripple.  

...ate at Ripple Bagel and Deli during said trip to Broad Ripple (you must do this SOON).

..busted out the uke for the first time in months for Christmas songs.

 ...made Christmas cookies using my new, glorious mixer. I am in love.

All of these are reasons why I wish it was Christmas all year round. I even ate dinner with mom, dad, and Miss Tessie to top it all off. Today was festive and awesome.

Speaking of festive and awesome, it's a very special two-post day on Misters and Misses! Make sure to check out husband's Christmas Music Post below.

My weekend, in photos

Late lunch at Lil Charlies, a very Christmas outfit, best breakfast ever, huge IU win, wedding thank yous

Go Pack Go!

Jake and I kicked off the new NFL season by having a junk food party during the first Packers game on Thursday. Quite a few jalapeño poppers, chimichangas, cheese sticks, and buffalo chicken dips later, I realized why I don't have junk food parties that often. Poor, full tummy.

Surprise of the evening? Getting my very own Clay Matthews jersey! Best. fiancé. ever.

Best dish of the evening goes to our buffalo chicken dip

Here's the recipe:
1 package cream cheese
1/2 cup Frank's Red Hot Sauce
1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles
1/2 cup blue cheese or ranch dressing
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded

Mix ingredients in a 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Serve with crackers or tortilla chips.

Mr. Jake enjoying said dip

Jungle Jim's

Jake and I made a pilgrimage to Jungle Jim's today. It's an international food market that usually takes us around three hours to get through (we take our time, but it is HUGE).  It's one of our favorite day trips to make. Every time I go there I find something crazy interesting. Here's our trip, in stages:

Stage 1: Cheese

(Yes, that second picture is of packaged cheeses!)

Stage 2: fruit

 Dragonfruit

Tiny bananas that look like fat fingers

 Starfruit. Pretty, no?

Stage 3: Around the world food

Peppers

Red Bean and Green Tea ice cream. Yum?

Crap ton of rice!

And finally, our purchases!

 

Crazy cheeses, salted caramel chocolate, cranberry bread, 

mango-habañero marinade, and pumpkin butter.

Success!