Crawfish Omelet

When I was a kid, we often got together for large, family brunches, lunches, and dinners with my mom's side of the family. Sometimes we ate at my grandparents' house, but often we went out--there are tons of great restaurants in New Orleans, after all.

One of the places we used to go was Elmo's. I remember that there were two older gentlemen who often played music while you ate--one played clarinet, but I can't for the life of me remember what the other one played. Flute? Keyboard? It doesn't matter really... I can specifically remember them playing "Blueberry Hill" while we dined at a nearby table. It seemed like those guys were always there, no matter when we went.

The best part of Elmo's though was the food, of course. From what I can remember, their menu was pretty much only seafood dishes, and about half of that was crawfish. I'm sure all of it was good, but I wouldn't know. The only thing I can ever remember ordering was the crawfish omelet. My mouth waters just thinking about it. Unfortunately, Elmo's is closed now, so there's no getting an omelet no matter how badly I want one. The only solution is to make one myself.

Chicken & Mushroom-Stuffed Crepes with Mornay Sauce

These particular dinner crepes were inspired by Upland, a brewery/restaurant in Bloomington, IN. Before the first time we ate there, I checked out their menu online and became obsessed with their Frenchiladas. They stuffed crepes with roasted chicken and seared, local oyster mushrooms and then topped them off with a Gruyere cheese sauce. It sounded amazing! Of course, they didn't have that option on the menu anymore when we got there, and instead I had to settle for the equally amazing Wit Mac and Cheese, made with their wheat beer. (After dinner we also had the best ice cream we've ever had, bacon ice cream, made by another Bloomington institution, the Chocolate Moose.) I knew after that day that I would have to make my own Frenchiladas some day, and so when I decided to try my hand at making crepes, I knew that this was the first way I wanted to stuff them. That first time I made them exactly as described on Upland's menu, and they were every bit as good as I had hoped. I've tweaked the recipe a bit since then, and the result is what you see here.

Crepes

I'd always had the impression that crepes were difficult to make. I'm not sure where the idea came from, but it's what I thought nonetheless. While I was living alone in Indiana after Justin started his job out here in Virginia, I decided to give it a try and was amazed at how easy it is. Can you make pancakes? Then you can make crepes. It's basically the same process.

No-Bake Cookies

I can't recall ever having no-bake cookies before I moved to Indiana, but in Indiana, they're everywhere. Have a bake sale, and you're guaranteed to have at least one person bring a batch of no-bakes. They're as prevalent as chocolate chip cookies. They're by far not my favorite cookie, but Justin loves them, especially if he can get to them as they're coming out of the pot, before they've had time to actually set. They're warm and runny, all chocolate and oats and tastiness. If he has to eat it with a spoon, he's happy.

Cows in a Blanket

Sometimes Justin and I just get weird dinner ideas. They come to us out of nowhere. Sometimes they don't work out very well, and sometimes they do; you never really know until you try. This is one of those ideas.

When we were planning our meal list for our most recent grocery shopping trip, we started talking about pigs in a blanket but wanted to do something a little different. I'm not sure which of us decided that burgers would be a fun idea, but we ran with it. The result is quite tasty. The crescent rolls give you the flavor of a buttery, toasted bun. If that's your kind of thing, you'll like this idea.

Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake with Bourbon Caramel Sauce and Cinnamon Whipped Cream

Yesterday was Justin's birthday, and it's sort of become tradition for me to bake him a cheesecake. The other day I found a recipe for a what I thought would be a great autumn cheesecake, but when I told Justin about it, his eyes glazed over and he started to drool a bit. I knew then that this would have to be his birthday cheesecake. So much for waiting for fall!

I made very few adaptations to the original recipe, though I added the cinnamon whipped cream. I can't tell you from experience how good this cheesecake is because, well, I don't like pumpkin--even the smell grosses me out--but Justin's had three pieces today, so I think that speaks for itself.