Of the Kitchen Variety

[bad picture, good recipe]

I'm really, really hungry right now. I have been very busy today and went for a run, and now my husband is apparently coming home late, so I can either wait for him to eat dinner, go snack, or I can write about food (because words just always satisfy an empty stomach).

The third option it is. Blogging about food instead of eating it is the new diet plan.

Recent Recipes Tried

Last week I somehow managed to try three new recipes, all good, and all options to bring the next day for lunch. The first was Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken, Broccoli, Wild Rice Soup, which I thought was delicious but was way too involved (and made way too much for my sized crock pot). I prefer crock pot recipes to have as few steps as possible, and this one required a bit of effort. Quinoa Taco Bowls with Tomatillo Avocado Salsa was delicious and easy. The salsa was definitely the best part and would be great on other things as well. And the final was Tomato Cream Pasta with Grilled Cheese Crumbs, which was a basic tomato sauce with mascarpone, plus tiny chunks of bread sauteed in olive oil and butter until crunchy and then mixed with some mozzarella (see picture above). How could you go wrong? 

Restaurant Lust

We used to attempt one new restaurant a month, but that's not a practical endeavor since having a kid. I recently read about Curtis Stone's LA place, Maude, which sounds super awesome, as it should be, considering it was LA Weekly's Best Restaurant of 2015. They only seat a super-limited number of people a night and the entire meal (it's a price fixe one) is centered around a certain ingredient, like "lime" or "truffles" for the month. Reservations on weekends are basically impossible, but a girl can dream. 

Kitchen Essentials I Need

The list of things to replace seems endless right now: 

- new cookies sheets

- a larger food processor 

- a better broiler pan 

- garlic press

- an 8x8 non-stick pan

- a springform pan 

- a coated flat-beater for my KitchenAid Mixer 

Kitchen Gadgets Tempting Me

- An Instapot

- A griddle that spans two burners

- New plates and bowls 

- A second Keurig for work (so indulgent, but it would make work that much better)

Recipes on Deck 

I'm hosting a small brunch on Saturday for some friends and their kids. There will be six adults and five kids (who may or may not eat at this weird time or day), so nothing too crazy, but still something to look forward to planning. Some things I'm considering:

- a frittata 

- our family's Honey Horns

- Some sort of potato hash

- French toast casserole