Wine and Waffles; Shakshukah

The Pedant described what we ate in Belgium well. I had a breakfast of a poached egg and some toast pieces, which was perfect. Also, the cafe gave pieces of chocolate with the coffee. Any country that does that is a friend of mine.

For crepes, I had a buckwheat crepe with cheese (Gruyere I think) that was filled to deliciousness and then topped with scallions and a fried egg. It was a lot of eggs, but really wonderful.

For the Christmas market, we had a "regular waffle" (opposed to a waffle on a stick - it was just going to be too hard!) and then topped with a chocolate sauce. I also got a glass of their muled wine. The snack was perfect. The waffle was fluffy (and I'm sure since it was a food stall not even the best waffle we'll have in Belgium) and the chocolate was divine. Creamy and delicious. Since it was cold, the chocolate sauce hardened a bit on the waffle, which made it even better. (A little less messy!) The wine was also great. TP and I traveled a few years ago to Quebec City and had Caribou, plus we've had homemade Glorgg (by TP's mother, who is not Danish but learned from wonderful Danes) and this was different. It was, of course, much sweeter, as well as spicy. Not a clue what kind of wine they used, but it was excellent.

Then we got to Israel. We've had some great food so far. The first meal we had here was at a coffee shop/cafe near my aunt and uncle that served amazing shakshukah with this incredible whole grain bread. We ate it outside with cappuccinos and espressos. I hope shakshukah catches on in the US. That night for dinner we went to an Italian place in Tel Aviv that was amazing as well. This afternoon we are likely going to Samir's restaurant, which has the best humus in the world, and I'm not even joking a teeny bit.

Brunch 2: The Brunchening

Yesterday the Sherbs and I made brunch for about ten people. Our menu, revealed now that the guests are no longer surprised by our cooking ability:

1) Mini Fritatta from our super-difficult vegetarian cookbook. This recipe puts sauteed leeks and cubed sweet potato into an egg/feta mixture, then bakes them in muffin tins. They were crumbly, but delicious.

2) Shakshouka from the Sherbs's personal recipe.

3) Egg salad with caramelized onions, also from the Sherbs.

4) The corn, snap peas, pepper, and dill salad from the diet blog that had done so well for us in the past.

5) Home-made pita chips (whole wheat pita) coated with a little bit of olive oil and zatar, then baked. Served with store bought hummus and babaganouj, and home-made lima bean dip.

6) Fruity couscous from a Weight Watcher's cookbook. You can put in three times as much orange juice as the recipe requires and it will turn out OK.

7) Fruit salad.

Other people brought desserts, including some delectable lemon squares, and delicious fun was had by all. Today the Sherbs and I had Brunch 2, where we ate the leftovers; the mini fritatta went quite well with two strips of Morningstar fake bacon and slices of toasted blueberry breakfast bread spread with Smart Balance "spread."

Shakshuka, Parve Desserts

For dinner last week, The Pedant and I enjoyed some shakshuka, which is a vegetarian's dream come true. I had some of the leftovers for lunch, but this time added couscous to the bottom of my bowl and mixed. It was like a grainy middle eastern treat! Hooray!

TP and I were at the Flooz's wedding to her mister last night. The wedding was lovely, and the parve desserts were divine. As a sweet lover, I must say the "make your own crepe" station hit the spot. A vanilla crepe cooked with chocolate chips and chocolate syrup topped with whipped cream and cherries was AMAZING. (Well, real whipped topping would have been better, but I'll take what I can get.) Also, Stoner's Apple Cinnamon Pancakes were super tasty from pre-wedding brunch yesterday.