Blog for you to check out

Everyone is probably wondering why I am not in the kitchen right now and whipping up some new recipe. Also, where is the post from last night's dinner? Well, I am sorry to disappoint, but we ate a pretty boring dinner of leftovers last night to clean out the fridge. But never fear because I just found a new recipe for tonight's dinner.



I have been reading multiple posts on a blog that I found through two other blogs that I read (it sounds like I really have no life, huh?) called The Pioneer Woman. I can kind of relate to her, she was a city girl transformed to a country girl. Wait a second! Never mind, I am not living in the country (like some of CA friends might think). Ok, I can relate to her because she seems to love food and has some kick ass recipes on her blog. I suggest that you check it out.



http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/



I am planning on trying my hand on baking some bread next week. I found a no-knead recipe and hoping that it turns out good. I'll keep you posted. I am also going to be a nice mommy (but according to him not cool because I like to sing 80's music at the top of my lungs- I love my funny teenager!) and bake a cake and/or cookies with Nathaniel, which has become a favorite thing for him to do lately because he eats most of it (growing boy--5'8"!). Since Gooey Bars aren't being made in my kitchen anymore, we are going to have to find another favorite for Nathaniel.



Chris will be leaving for a work trip in NH on Sunday, so I'll be trying to figure out kid-friendly recipes that don't make a ton of food (since I am not a big fan of leftovers) or maybe someone wants to come over and be my guinea pig?



P.S. Since I have started on my cooking kick about a month ago, we have not eaten out in Lawrence at all (we did eat out a lot on our trip and will continue to when traveling since it's our favorite part of traveling!). I have really noticed a difference in how much better we eat at home (no fries all the time, huge meals, soda for Nathaniel--I stopped drinking it before summer started). We are planning on continuing our trend of not eating out in town (although, I do miss fries with homemade mayo at Free State Brewery) for as long as we can, but we are going to splurge for a dinner at Krause's in the near future. It's pretty pricey for Lawrence ($80+ per person. Funny how people wouldn't think twice in LA or NYC at this price, but Lawrence, KS...come on.), but the restaurant has gotten rave reviews from everyone that we know that has eaten there. The fact that the owners run the restaurant in a Rockhill designed addition to their house is big bonus points for me (I am a big modern-architecture lover...I know, I know it's not for everyone). It's also the kind of set-up that I have dreamed about (we can talk about my old culinary dreams in future posts). Chris also noted that we are willing to go eat at the greatest restaurants that we can afford on our trips, so why not go to the restaurant where we live that is supposedly the greatest too??? Smart man. The only thing that worries me is that we'll fall in love and never be able to eat anywhere else in Lawrence again (kind of like eating Mexican food in Mexico City, it's not the same in the U.S!). NOTE--This will be the restaurant that I take my parents to when/if they come visit us finally (we really, really, really like visiting them, so they never come out) because after all the trips that they have made out to KS, they think that the restaurants really suck. Of course, when you have great restaurants within 15 minutes, I would think Kansas dining sucks too (unless you want a steak...yummy).



http://www.krausedining.com/



http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/international-food-scene (Krause was featured in Jan 08's Food & Wine issue on some Top 100 list. I tried to get a copy of the magazine, but they were sold out in town everywhere. The link online isn't the full issue.)



P.S.S. I told Chris that I wouldn't be able to cook like this all the time if I had a job (or going back to school when I figure out what I want to be when I grow up besides a Toys 'R Us kid). He knows that and isn't really hinting at it anymore....haha.