BIRTHDAY WAFFLES WITH FRESH PEACHES

I had the best intentions of posting this recipe last year (or was it two years ago now?), but somehow just never hit publish. Birthdays have always been a big deal in my family, and though I married someone who isn't super keen on celebrating, I've been finding little ways to start up our own annual birthday traditions. It took a few tries, but we've settled on a go-to (although atypical) birthday cake, birthday dinner always seems to include something on the grill, and birthday breakfast had to take full advantage of prime Ontario peach season. These waffles demand a little more effort than my typical recipe, making them extra special for a birthday morning.

BLUEBERRY SCONES

Towards the end of January, we spent a wonderful weekend up in Prince Edward County at the Devonshire. Its a dreamy spot for a weekend away, and we took full advantage of the hotel slippers and bathrobes, self-serve coffee, the games room, and multiple fire places. We ate both our dinners at new local spots (here and here), but enjoyed breakfast at the hotel while soaking up the beautiful lake view from their dining room. Though we didn't order the blueberry scones, I've been dreaming of them since. A quiet weekend at home seemed like the perfect time to use up the last of the freezer blueberries and try a new scone recipe.

GINGERBREAD COOKIES

A few years back (2015), I got really into the idea of Christmas cookies. I scoured the web and settled on a few favourites. Since then, these gingerbread have become an annual treat in our house come December. There's something so comforting about the ginger + molasses combo, and something so relaxing about piping/decorating with royal icing and sprinkles. I figured it was finally time for my version of these cookies to live on the site. Happy Holidays!

SUGAR COOKIES

Chanukah came and went this year in a whirlwind of eight crazy nights. We hosted a little Chanukah party for our nieces where we played dreidel, decorated cookies (recipe below) and ate copious amounts of latkes; we hosted friends on night two for fried chicken and donuts; we missed one night to watch a leafs hockey game; missed another night for N's office holiday party; and spent the last two nights in Montreal en famille. My new festive cookie cutters were put to good use, as was the giant bag of russet potatoes that we bought. All in all, it was a great eight days.

NASHVILLE, TN

We love a good long weekend getaway, especially when accompanied by a flight deal. So when we found fairly affordable tickets to Nashville in November – the ‘quiet’ month between Thanksgiving and Christmas – we jumped on it.

We arrived late Friday night and headed straight to Honkey Tonk Road – the infamous street we had heard all about. We hopped from Robert’s to Tootsie’s, taking in the lights, energy of the strip, cheap beer and live music. On Saturday, we shared ribs, a brisket platter and sweet tea at Martin’s BBQ; walked the Gultch neighbourhood and Printer’s Alley; and popped into Yazoo for some local beer, followed by a GooGoo cluster desert. We had dinner in Germantown, followed by a live Grand Ol Opry show at the Ryman Theatre, where we saw Jim Lauderdale, Emily Ann Roberts and Birdtalker, amongst others. Sunday was filled with more exploring, eating and live music – lunch at Puckett’s grocery, gospel bluegrass at the Station Inn, and back to Germantown for more local beer and dinner. Monday morning we headed to Memphis for 24 hours, where we ate more BBQ, saw more live music, and scoped out the adorable ducks at the Peabody Hotel.

BUFFALO, NY

It’s wild how quickly a whole year of marriage can go. We knew we wanted to do something to celebrate, but couldn’t quite decide on what. When we finally landed a reservation at Pearl Morissette, on our anniversary no less, we treated its location as an excuse to get out of town for the weekend. Given Jordan, Ontario’s proximity to Buffalo, we decided why not spend the weekend eating chicken wings, drinking local beer, and seeing some good ol’ FLW.

We strolled the eerily quiet streets of Buffalo, taking in the grandeur of the historic building stock; we had bbq for lunch at Dinosaur BBQ, followed by mid-afternoon classic buffalo wings and beers at Big Ditch Brewing; once it got dark, we headed to Allen Street for a pre-dinner cocktail and burgers and an extensive beer menu at Allen Burger Venture. After a lazy Sunday morning at the hotel, we grabbed massive sandwiches for lunch at the Breadhive Bakery, then headed to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House for a tour, before a quick stop at Trader Joes before heading back over the boarder.

PUMPKIN PIE (LACTOSE FREE)

Happy Thanksgiving! This time last year, we were one week away from our wedding, hanging in the Eastern Townships with my family. I attempted my first pumpkin pie last year, and it turned out so well, that I was put in charge of dessert again this year. I relied heavily on my Oma's fool-proof shortbread tart crust, and adapted a basic filling recipe to my dairy-free needs. Simple and delicious. I hope you like it.