Feasting With Friends

Yesterday two of our favorite people in the whole world came down to visit.  Kathy and Jill are on spring break this week so they came to Eugene for a night to hang out.  I lived with Kathy all four years of college so it is always nice when we get to have a sleep over.  It makes me feel like we are back at our apartment on 17 Cummings.  Ahhh....memories.

In honor of their visit we decided to make a home cooked Indian feast!  I got Cliff an Indian cookbook a few years ago for his birthday.  We were never able to find all of the spices we needed so we didn't really cook anything out of it...until recently.  Between the Market of Choice bulk spice section and the Asian grocery by our house we can finally crack into the book and try our hand at Indian fare.  Cliff has been making dahl recipes for the past two weeks.  I think we have tried all of them.  They are so tasty and filling.  Plus they make for a super economical meal which is a bonus.  Feeling good about all of his recent culinary successes Cliff was ready to take his game to the next level.  He decided to cook a feast for Kathy and Jill.

The menu included:

• Homemade chai tea
• Potato stuffed parathas
• Chana dahl with fresh ginger, green chiles, and cilantro 
• Ground beef with spinach and mint
• Cardamon basmati rice 
• Total Domination IPA and Renewal Porter from Ninkasi Brewing Co.
• Banana Chocolate Malt Milkshakes

It was a good night.  I always talk about all of our options for after dinner activities: drinks, dollar movies, etc.   We never make it out the door.  Last night wasn't any different.  We just hung out and laughed.  Rudy showed them all of his new tricks (he can now jump on command...impressive...we know) and snuggled with whomever was willing.  Cliff and I have been fighting off allergies or maybe a cold for the last few days so we were totally hoarse by the time we went to bed.  So good.

This morning we got up and went to Off the Waffle.  I know I have mentioned this spot a few times before but it's a fun place to take people when they visit.  Fun music, solid coffee, oddball atmosphere, and tasty Liege waffles.  You can't go wrong.   Cliff had five cups of coffee.  He really likes their coffee. 

We feasted again.  We each got our own savory waffle and then we split a sweet one for a breakfast dessert.  I got one with a fried egg, bacon, and maple syrup on top (the one in the photo ------>).  Jill got one with pear, smoked gouda, applesauce, walnuts, and coriander.  Cliff and Kathy got waffles with pear, gorgonzola, local honey, and cinnamon. Cliff added a fried egg.  Our dessert waffle was decked out with Belgian chocolate chips, sliced bananas, housemade dark chocolate sauce and fresh whipped cream.  It was oddly crowded in there for a Thursday morning.  After about 20 minutes I totally understood why.  Kids are on spring break and waffles are amazing.