Happy Birthday to ME!

It's my birthday! I won't tell you how old I am but I will tell you that I got really great presents! First of all, fantasies do come true sometimes! I've had the All Clad Belgian waffle maker on my fantasy wishlist to the the right for a long time and guess what....I got it! Score! I had put a different waffler on my actual birthday list but my husband decided to up the ante and get the All Clad one instead. I was NOT expecting that! It's beautiful....just like everything All Clad! I actually opened the present a few days early, mostly because the packages arrived while I was home and I am VERY impatient but he made me wait until today, my actual birthday, to try it out. I couldn't freaking wait to make waffles. Now I won't have to spend $10 for a Belgian waffle at The Original Pancake House, I can try making my own until I get it right!




The other present I opened on the same day was a pizza stone that actually was on my birthday list. I love to bake bread and using a stone produced much better results than baking on a cookie sheet. I had tried cheaper options, like using unglazed quarry tiles but they cracked during the first use and were a royal pain to assemble and take apart. I'm so glad he got me the stone, it will make my life much easier and the bread much better!

But that wasn't all! Another package arrived at the house in Thursday and I wasn't allowed to open it. I was the only one home when it got here and I tried to figure out what it was by looking at where it was coming from but I had no luck whatsoever. It was very nondescript. I actually forgot all about it until the next day when Matt asked me "so, have you figured out what the other package is?" Damn him! I had not even thought about it until then but he gave me the bug. I bugged him for a while to let me open it until he finally gave in.

It wasn't anything that was on my list but it was something I had wanted for a really long time. We are both Good Eats fans and love basically anything Alton Brown. What do you know, the box contained 3 cute little salt pigs/cellars and two plungers! Woot! The plungers are great for ingredients like honey, mayo, shortening, etc and although I haven't tried them yet, I love them! I was not expecting that either but he thought it would be a geeky, in a kitchen kinda way, to get them. I very much appreciate that!



So, I find myself with a new booty but a year older...I guess you gotta trade SOMETHING! LOL

Above and below photos courtesy of my husband.

I couldn't wait to make the waffles so today was the day. Because Belgian waffles are yeast raised, they take some time to make. I didn't make them overnight but I wish I had. I was hungry when I started making them and it'd still have to wait over an hour to eat. Live and learn. The recipe came from the community forums of Taste Of Home and to be honest, they are just a base on which to pile up other things and make them tasty. Unfortunately, the only syrup we had at home was Aunt Jemima which makes everything taste likes Eggos. We have concluded that we need to make a trip to Whole Foods and buy some real maple syrup, find another recipe and try again! However, I MUST post pictures of the virgin run :D