Kitchen Successes and Disasters

Thursday night I made a great dinner. I can't really take any credit for it because I stole the recipe, but whatever, it was fast and easy and delicious and Steve and I both enjoyed it greatly. It was Whole Wheat Penne with Cauliflower Sauce. I'm not going to post the recipe because I didn't modify it at all, but you can find it online here.

Steve and I both agreed that the texture combination of the pasta with the mashed-up cauliflower was great and much more interesting than just putting pasta sauce on penne. Steve said he might have liked it better if I had added chicken, so that's something to try if you're interested in making the recipe. I personally thought it was great even sans protein.


For dessert I threw together, last-minute, a yummy plate of fresh Black Mission figs with Herrell's vanilla bean ice cream and honey. Steve's not crazy about figs (I am), but even he licked the plate clean because I managed to disguise them under the sweet goodness of the ice cream and honey.


This morning, however, my brunch was not so successful. I tried to make whole grain waffles according to a South Beach recipe, and my first batch was an unmitigated disaster. I think it was because I substituted buttermilk mix for fresh buttermilk, and the recipe ended up way too watery. Here's what my waffle iron looked like after that first "test batch" (Steve picked at, and ate, the messy pieces anyway):


However, I managed to save the day by adding more flour and another egg to the batter. Steve and I greatly enjoyed the waffles topped with syrup and whipped cream while lounging around in bed.