Comfort Foods and Indulgences

I have to say, I love something a little sweet after my meal. Especially lunch. I feel it's time to revive the "after lunch dessert" movement. Wait, is that actually a movement?

Anyway, this was our after lunch dessert and let me just say, its lemony-goodness hit the spot.

If I didn't have to finish making lunch for my family, getting everyone a different drink, cleaning up spilled milk and washing the dishes...I could have taken a picture right away and you would have seen that this dessert comes out of the oven all puffed up and beautiful. If you serve them right away, they will look that way.  My food blog fantasy is to have a team of people ready to take pics as soon as things emerge from the oven....prolly' not gonna happen.

This sweet little dessert (that by the way is low-cal), has a delicate sauce on the bottom....a nice little surprise. It's perfection. Make it soon, you will love it too.

Who doesn't love crispy fried shrimp?  It's such a quick and easy meal to throw together.  I always keep a bag of frozen shrimp in my freezer, which makes serving this that much simpler. 

We are definitely shrimp lovers in our household, I know I've said that before.  What I like about using cornmeal is the coating doesn't become too thick and you can actually taste the shrimp and the seasoning as opposed to a mouthful of breading.  My kids really appreciate this.

Dining out is one of the best favorite forms of culinary inspiration. Last weekend I went out for brunch at Eats on Clement Street and ordered the Waffle Bacon which was described as bacon pressed in a waffle, cheddar, Hungarian peppers and a sunny up egg. It was a wonderful combination of gooey, chewy and crisp and had many classic flavors associated with breakfast. It was definitely the sauteed peppers that tied the bacon, egg, cheese and waffle together and took the dish to the next level. I knew this was something I had to order again or better yet, try to duplicate at home.

Instead of using Hungarian peppers I took the easy route and used diced green chiles from a can. The result? Oh my. It was delicious! The truth is, a bacon waffle topped with chiles and cheese is actually quite good without the egg as well, though you can imagine how the yolk forms a lovely sauce for the bacon waffle. Sometimes more is better, and it's the excess of this recipe that makes it so satisfying. Who doesn't love bacon, cheddar or green chiles? They are my go to ingredients for making everything from eggs to soups or stews taste better.

Seattle is a dream city for a coffee-lover like me. If you type “coffee” on your smart phone’s Google Maps while standing in the city, it will explode.

On a three-day trip to Seattle, I decided I’d hit every coffeehouse that showed up on my map. I made it to nine before collapsing in a petit-mal seizure. By the time I walked into number nine, my hands were shaking so bad that I couldn’t swipe my credit card, so I had to just dump my cash on the counter for the barista to sort through.

Even in Seattle, you can’t survive on coffee alone; fortunately, there is no shortage of croissants, scones, macarons, and other assorted carbohydrates to keep you alive. My favorite were the bundt cakes, of which there were countless varieties in the coffeehouses I visited.  Bundt cakes are homey, comforting treats, perfect to pair with a strong mug of coffee. Or two. Or nine.