Lemon Kick

I love waffles. They're so much better than pancakes, (unless said pancakes are made by my Grandpa and eaten with peanut butter and maple syrup.) A couple weeks ago, the hubby and I were perusing our local Hy Klas grocery store for goodies, and he "ooh"-ed over a lemon bundt cake.

Before I continue, I must include some back-story. My husband is very picky with two things: sweets and ties. For this reason, it took forever to pick out his wedding tie, and we had a small brownie at our wedding luncheon rather than a fancy cake. See, Charles prefers his sweets rather plain. A normal person, when presented with a heaping helping of cake, dives into the frosting on top, then the cake. Not Charles. He'd rather turn that cake upside-down and have nothing to do with the frosting. Truly, we make a good pair because he likes the dull inside parts, and I prefer the more flavorful bits.

So when we walked past the aforementioned bundt cake, I was shocked when he acted like it was the best thing ever. I happen to enjoy lemon treats, and he had never expressed any interest in anything like that before. I was tempted, but didn't feel like spending money that day. However, we picked it up a few days later when we were in the mood for something sweet again.

He proceeded to express his satisfaction audibly as he wolfed down the middle parts. I'll admit it was good, but not something I couldn't have whipped up myself if I actually owned a bundt pan. That got me thinking. If he liked it so much, what could I make which would be similarly-pleasing, but wouldn't break the budget?

I began by looking up lemon bundt cake recipes. I landed on this recipe from Chocolate, Chocolate and More. It sounded good, and all I needed was lemons! (Well, I didn't have cake flour either, but that wasn't difficult to substitute with some all-purpose flour and corn starch.)

Long story short, I used the recipe for some lemon muffins, and skipped the glaze. They were delicious and perfectly lemony. I'm sure I would have liked the glaze, but who really needs the extra calories? We ended up with over two dozen, and munched on them happily for several days.

But now I want more lemon. You see, when I find I like something, I must have it until I get utterly exhausted of it. Sometimes it's cheesy grits, other times it's cereal, occasionally it's something like pickles, shrimp, or fresh vegetables. Right now it's lemon.

Photo from here.

Mmm. Lemon.

Well, since I've decided I like lemon (drops, cake, frosting, cookies, muffins, in salsa...) I thought it might be fun to add lemon to one of my long-time favorite foods: waffles. People are always adding things to breads, cookies, and other treats, so why not waffles? I'm no culinary expert, though, so I searched Pinterest for some good recipes.

I've decided I want to try one of the following two: Crispy Lemon Waffles or this recipe for lemon pancakes (thrown into my waffle maker, of course.) I'm leaning toward the latter because it requires less ingredients, but we'll see. Maybe I'll throw together my own version. (Maybe not.)

Stay tuned.

What are some of your favorite uses for lemon?

Lora.

Piiiiiiizzzzzzaaa

It's a common misconception that you must be pregnant to crave something. Just the other day, I was sitting in my room and I caught a whiff of my Scentsy Buddy's scent pack. It made me want fruit loops, and I don't even like fruit loops. They scratch the roof of my mouth, and for the next day or so every other food I eat burns those darn scratches. For the last couple days I have been craving pizza, but I didn't have the ingredients or the money to purchase some. Ahh!! So, the question today is "How can I possibly get pizza???"

The first night, the hubby was being stubborn and was against me purchasing pizza ingredients even though I offered to take the cost from my grocery budget. He wanted Pizza Hut or nothing, so we ended up having alphabet soup. I made this with the dried noodles the next day: 

Anywho, the hubby called, as he usually does, when he was on his way home from work. He apologized for being stubborn the night before, then asked if I still wanted pizza. I said yes, and he asked me to send him the ingredient list for a recipe I'd seen a day or two before: Bubble-Up Pizza. He retrieved all the ingredients on his way home, and I cooked them up when he arrived. It was so good and super easy. Want a peek? I know you do!

YUM-O. It was so, so delicious, and it only requires biscuits, pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, and your favorite toppings. We added black olives and mushrooms. I was blessed to marry a man who has similar tastes in food, so I usually get what I want. Score! 

This recipe fills a 9x13 pan easily. As the name suggests, it will "bubble-up" some, so I wouldn't recommend doubling the recipe unless you intend to use a larger pan or two separate pans. I neglected to add the mozzarella to the top of the dish before putting it in the oven, so about ten minutes before it was supposed to be done, I added it. Since it wasn't crispy like I wanted by the time it was finished, I turned on the broiler for a couple minutes and voila! Perfect, delicious, gooey and crispy cheese on top of my delicious creation. Nom nom nom.

(You might notice I have aluminum foil in my pan. Don't do that. Especially don't do that if you haven't sprayed your pan or foil with cooking spray.)

Needless to say, we will be making this again sometime soon.

Lora.