My new favorite "unusual" flavor combination

It's no secret that I love unexpected flavor combinations:

Maple bacon ice cream
Granny smith apples dipped in cheese fondue
Chicago mix popcorn (cheddar and caramel)

But my new favorite "unusual" flavor combination?

Chicken and waffles.

Now many of you reading this might be saying, "Chicken and waffles? That's not unusual. That's as common as turkey with stuffing."

Well you might be right, but I've still told enough people about my love for chicken and waffles the past couple of months who have turned to me and said, "Chicken and waffles? Really? That's actually good?"

And do you know what my response is? "OMG! IT'S DELICIOUS!!!! It's even better than chicken and mashed potatoes!"

So here's the skinny on chicken and waffles. This past summer my husband and I visited New York City. While there, I wanted to go to Harlem and visit a real soul food restaurant. We stumbled upon Amy Ruth's on 116th St. and our taste buds have been thanking us ever since. Upon perusing the menu, the first thing you notice is that all of the dishes are named after distinguished African Americans, the most famous dish being the Rev. Al Sharpton which is, of course, chicken and waffles.

My new favorite flavor combination. Thank you Amy Ruth's!

Now the chicken and waffles were absolutely brilliant and delicious separately (it was probably the best fried chicken I've ever had!), but something happens when you pair the crisp, juicy chicken with the light, airy waffles. Michael Symon always talks about the need for balance in a dish and so the reason I am asserting that waffles are a better pairing for fried chicken than mashed potatoes is because both fried chicken and mashed potatoes are rich and heavy, whereas the lightness of the waffles and sweetness of the maple syrup help balance out the heavy, savory fried chicken.

So ever since that moment at Amy Ruth's back in July, I have been craving chicken and waffles. Luckily, Zingerman's Roadhouse in Ann Arbor will indulge my craving, even when they're not on the menu (when we're there for breakfast anyway. I haven't tried asking them to make it for me during dinner service). I mean they have the chicken. They have the waffles. Why can't they do both on one dish? They do and they will! So now whenever I have a hankering for chicken and waffles, I only have to drive 20 minutes down I-94 instead of flying back to Harlem or somewhere down south.

And if you've never tried chicken and waffles before, I implore you to give it a try. Your taste buds will be thanking you just like mine did.

Starry Night: A Near Ten Year Odyssey

I've never been an artistic person, in the visual arts sense. I can't draw to save my life. So I always dreaded art class in school. During my sophomore year of high school, I had to take an art credit so I took a basic intro to art class. All my friends were taking cool classes like pottery, but I was stuck in remedial art.

That semester I was introduced to the works of Vincent Van Gogh and I was immediately captivated. His Starry Night painting was so expressive and full of swirling emotion that when given the opportunity to complete a post-impressionism crayon-resist painting, I chose Starry Night as my muse.

Now to say my version was good would be to laugh in the face of a brilliant artist like Van Gogh, and yet, I was very proud of how "not terrible" it turned out because, up until that point, my artistic endeavors often left me feeling like I wanted to cry due to my absolute lack of talent. So Starry Night has always had a special place in my heart for that reason.

I am not an artist. So I was very proud of my attempt at Van Gogh's Starry Night my sophomore year of high school

Back in 2004 when my husband and I were living in Germany we had the opportunity to travel to Amsterdam and I was excited about getting the chance to visit the Van Gogh Museum to actually see Starry Night in person. So as we're walking around the museum, I'm just waiting any second to turn a corner and have it appear to me, choir of angels and a dreamlike vision where everything is blurred out except for the beautiful painting I've been waiting to see come into focus. Except it never did. We walked through the entire museum and never saw Starry Night. So my husband and I walked up to a docent and were like, "So yeah, where's Starry Night?" 

He looked at us as if to say, "Don't you know anything?" But instead just said. "It's not here."

Ummm... Okay. "So where is it then?"

"The Museum of Modern Art in New York."

You mean to tell me that Van Gogh's most famous painting isn't even in his own museum? Oh the injustice. But fear not! Four years later, my husband and I were going to New York City, so of course a visit to MoMA was a must on the list.

Except for one problem. Starry Night wasn't there.

Guess where it was?

On loan to the freakin' Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam!!!!

Seriously? The universe just didn't want me to see that painting for whatever reason.

But finally, finally this summer after almost ten years of trying to see it, we returned to MoMA and happened upon this thing of wonder and beauty, replete with angel choir and dreamlike tunnel-vision:

Some things are just worth waiting for.

Big Gay Ice Cream: My new favorite food destination in New York City

I remember watching one of those Food Network/Cooking Channel shows a few years ago that talks about really cool places to eat across the country - something like The Best Thing I Ever Ate or Unique Eats, one of those two, I can't remember which. What I DO remember is that they featured a food truck called Big Gay Ice Cream that served grown-up soft serve. There was one cone that they featured that sounded so delicious AND seditious that I knew my next trip to NYC would include a cone at the Big Gay Ice Cream truck.

A few years have passed however, and Big Gay Ice Cream has had such a cult following and has been so popular that they ended up opening two brick-and-mortar shops around New York City.

From food truck to brick-and-mortar. This is their West Village location.

That is a fabulous unicorn

Big Gay Ice Cream has many comically named menu items such as the Monday Sundae, the Mexican Affo'gay'to, and the Bea Aruthr. But I was there for one thing: The Salty Pimp. Because really, it isn't very often that you get to go up to a food counter and say, "Two Salty Pimps please." That was quite awkward to say the least. But in the most awesome way possible. In fact, we'll have to say that it was awksome, a word coined by Carrie Harris's husband Andy at her Bad Hair Day event at Nicola's back in November. Because really, it's moments like ordering an ice cream cone called the Salty Pimp that are both awkward and awesome, therefore, awksome.

Big Gay menu

I'm here for one thing: The Salty Pimp

But despite the awkward name, the cone lived up to its cult following. That first bite was heaven. Vanilla soft-serve topped with dulce de leche, sea salt and then dipped in chocolate. I'm not generally a fan of soft-serve ice cream, but that's only because it's not usually coated in dulce de leche, sprinkled with sea salt and then dipped in chocolate. The sea salt balanced out the sweet of the chocolate and dulce de leche making this perfection in the form of soft-serve.

Behold: The Salty Pimp

Me enjoying my Salty Pimp - wow was that ever awkward to say ;)

So if you ever find yourself in New York City and have a hankering for ice cream, look no further than Big Gay Ice Cream. You'll be glad you did. And probably want to visit multiple times. In fact, maybe you should just look for a hotel nearby, just to be safe.

How to get to Hogwarts

So I'm sitting here on my couch catching up on my blog reading, when I come across this awesome picture on The Flying Scribble.


Who'da thunk you could get to Hogwarts via the New York City subway? :o)