A Girl's Gotta Eat!

So, to anyone who was reading this with any regularity, it seemed as though I fell off the face of the earth. Or quit cooking. Or quit eating. I can assure you none of these scenarios is true. Mike and I still cook together all the time, and now it's even better because we moved last summer, and our new kitchen is far and way better than our old one. We've also still been traveling quite a bit — most frequently to Asheville — where the most frequent question that comes up is, "Where are we eating tonight/in the morning/next?" Along those same lines, for our last several birthdays and anniversaries, we've opted to celebrate by dining out at a restaurant (preferably one we haven't tried yet) instead of exchanging gifts. So I figured to help me get back in the swing of things, I'd share our most recent celebration dinner: my birthday dinner earlier this month. If you're not from Nashville, you may not know, but the food scene here has EXPLODED...

If you're on any social media at all, you won't be surprised to know that after months of planning, building, and red tape, a locally owned steakhouse open in Nashville late last month. Woodfire MJ officially opened July 29. Tonight, Mike and I joined my parents to try it out and to belatedly celebrate my mom's birthday. I've been reading reviews all week to get an idea of what to expect. I'm happy to report that my experience was nothing but positive. A few concerns I had read: parking lot filled up quickly; dining room was too hot; dining room was too loud; tables were too close together/not enough privacy; sides were cold; steaks were fatty or not not cooked to requested temp; and service was slow. We had no such experience. We met Mom there, and neither of us had any problem parking in the paved area. The temperature was very comfortable inside (and I usually run hot, so this is saying something). I didn't find the dining room to be any louder or cr...

So, we were lounging about yesterday morning, thrilled at having no plans for the entire weekend (a rare occurrence indeed). We were enjoying some (deer) steak and eggs for breakfast and watching The Pioneer Women on the Food Network channel. We like Ree a lot. They seem to have a really cool family, and her recipes sound delicious and totally make-able. Anyway, while we were eating breakfast yesterday, Ree was making Rigatoni and Meatballs. The meatballs looked amazing, and the more we watched, the more we thought we needed meatballs for dinner last night. I've made meatballs plenty of times, but have always used either my mom's recipe or no recipe at all. We decided we needed Ree's meatballs. And so, as we ventured out in the rain and drizzle for a few Christmas things, we stopped by Kroger for meatballs fixin's. And nothing against rigatoni, but decided we really wanted spaghetti with our meatballs. Three things we did differently: We used 3/4 cup breadcrumbs...

Today was a triple threat in the Nash house: a Boston game was on TV, Titans are playing tonight, and Mike had his annual Fantasy Football draft. Even better, baseball started at 3pm, and Titans are playing a night game. (There was a brief disagreement about what to watch live and what to record when we thought they both played night games.) Anyway, after a very tasty breakfast of bacon and eggs, we decided to rock snacks/appetizers for dinner tonight. We had homemade salsa, homemade black bean hummus, and needed one more thing to round out the "meal." Once again, Food Network Magazine and one of their "50 things" booklets came through for us. Horseradish Kielbasa bites sounded perfect! The recipe is so easy, I'm not even going to list it all formally at the bottom like I usually do. Make a sauce with the following: 1/4 cup sour cream, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, 2 tablespoons whole grain mustard, and 2 teaspoons horseradish. I didn't meas...

Let me apologize in advance to any readers who don't live in the Nashville area. I'm about to make you very jealous. This posting isn't about a recipe, but about the Food Truck trend sweeping  Nashville. Several months ago, I had my first experience at the Grilled Cheeserie . I was not disappointed. (I had the Hunka Burning Love in honor of Valentine's Day and Elvis-whole wheat bread filled with homemade bacon peanut butter, brie, and caramelized bananas.) Since then, I have joined Twitter and taken to food stalking the trucks. They rarely come close to my office, so I want to be sure I don't miss it when they do. The above photo is from my lunch by Hoss' Loaded Burgers (hand-formed burgers stuffed with cheese and rosemary Parmesan fries) and Riff's Fine Street Food (rosemary lemonade and sorrel fruit punch). Everything was delicious, and I can't wait until I track down the next set of trucks in my area!

It’s that time of year again: Mike’s birthday! A few weeks ago, we were looking at German recipes to try in honor of Oktoberfest while we were renting a cabin in the Appalachian Mountains . We found Oktoberfest Strudel , a delightful savory pastry dish that called our names immediately. We decided it might be a bit much to transport all that we would need to make it there, so we opted to wait and try it as Mike’s birthday dinner. We invited Mike’s family over and decided to go ahead and double the recipe, making two strudels. I will admit, I was a little hesitant about using phyllo pastry, having tried it to make empanadas with disastrous results. Still, pastry stuffed with apples, sauerkraut, bratwurst, and mustard was too tempting not to take the chance. I had much better luck with the phyllo this time. Be sure you brush it well with butter as directed, and don’t forget a damp towel over the sheets you’re not working with. Also, a few of my sheets stuck together, so I left them toge...

While traveling in Europe, Mike and I discovered a delightful new "wurst" we had never tried before: Currywurst. After seeing it on several menus, we decided we had to try it. Oh my word, was it tasty or what. It was so tasty in fact, that we ordered it several more times before returning home. A few days before we came home, we were in a grocery store picking up some local wine and decided to check out the spice aisle to see if there was anything we needed to bring home. Imagine our delight when we saw Knorr's Currywurst sauce mix! Oh, the joy of now knowing we could re-create this yummy dish at home! We had only been home for a little over a week when we decided to bring Germany to the states. We found skinny fries in the frozen section (they always served currywurst "mit Pommes"), picked up some brats and scurried home. I must say...we hit the nail on the head. It's so easy to make. Order the mix from www.germandeli.com , being sure to check out all th...