Fun fact: Bobby and I watched all 10 seasons of Friends our sophomore year of college. I miss that show because even on the most stressful days it never failed to make me laugh!
Hello again! I am really excited right now because tonight I get to meet not one, not two, but THREE fellow bloggers for dinner! I’ll be sure to do a fun post and reveal who they are tomorrow!
Yesterday was tough upon waking up – I think it was the wine/margarita combination on New Year’s Eve that did me in! I took it easy for the first hour or so and made myself a mug of Coffee Cocoa.
Around 11:00 am, my mom volunteered to make her Light ‘n’ Crisp Belgian Waffles. These are one of her special breakfasts that always bring back fond memories.
Clearly, I wasn’t joking around when it came to whipped cream. I was trying to make it pretty for the blog but I think I went a little overboard 😉 Don’t worry, I still ate it all!
I also topped the waffle with 1 tbsp. of mini chocolate chips and 1/4 cup or so of blueberries. The combination of blueberry and chocolate was nice! I’ll have to remember that.
This breakfast was more like brunch because of the timing and the enormity of it, so I wasn’t hungry for a while. Eventually, we decided to go to the gym, so I snagged one of my JamFrakas bars for a snack.
This time I tried the Strawberry Crispiscrumptious (the names are hilarious, no?). I thought it was good, but not great. The peanut butter one is still my favorite.
At the gym, I didn’t get too creative – I did the Elliptical Intervals workout for 40 minutes and some ab work with my brother that included side and front planks, sit-ups and oblique twists. When we came back, I whipped up a gigantic bowl of cereal: 2 cups of Kashi Go Lean and 3/4 cup of a new love…PEANUT BUTTER PUFFINS!!
This was my first time trying the Puffins, and I have to agree with most of you and say that they are insanely delicious! I had no idea how big they were, either, because the Cinnamon and Plain are much smaller. As VeggieGirl would say, “Holy yum!”
For our first dinner of 2009, Papa Bender decided to go super fancy on us and bought lobster tails for dinner. He seasoned them with mesquite flavor and grilled them to perfection.
Then he made a Newburg Sauce out of eggs, light cream, shallots and marsala cooking wine. It was sinfully delicious and I proceeded to top my entire lobster with it.
On the side, we had caprese salad: tomatoes and mozzarella topped with red onions, balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil.
And another, smaller corn on the cob.
After dinner, I had a chocolate covered pretzel to end the evening right.
The first day of 2009 was a good one! And now, the second day is going to be even better. I can’t wait to meet my blogging friends!
Random Question
Would you rather take the picture or be in the picture?
This one is tough! There’s something to be said about being in the pictures because it helps me remember the entire experience – what I felt like, what I said/did, etc. But as I’ve learned with food blogging, sometimes taking the picture is the best part! I’d have to say it’s a tie 🙂
I love ‘Friends’!! Don’t really get tired of watching it, which is characteristic of only a few shows.
HELL YES FOR THE PB PUFFINS!!!!! And thank you for the shout-out, haha 😀
Great Papa Bender meal!!
That IS a tough question – I like both as well 🙂
Be in the picture!
I agree about friends – it makes problems disappearing for a while!
Mmmm Puffins are great – I’ve been eating them since I was little.
I’d rather take the photo. I’m very picky about what I look like in pictures, so it’s just easier for everyone if I am the one behind the camera.
I’m all about taking the pictures, mostly because I just like taking pictures. Sometimes I then regret that I didn’t get many pictures of myself on certain trips, etc, but I’d still rather be taking the pictures.
Oh I love “Friends” too! I got 2 seasons of it on DVD for Christmas, so now I’m only 3 seasons away from the whole series! Your waffle looks yummy. I’d rather be in the picture than take it! Who ever remembers what person took the picture?! 🙂
Friends is one of the best shows ever! Your moms waffle looks INCREDIBLE! Love the fruit and chocolate combo! We had lobster tail on Christmas and it was so good! Nothing beats New England lobster though! Thats one of the things I miss most about Boston! Ummm I like both taking pictures and being in them. Its great to have memories captured on film!
I love Friends! It’s one of my all-time favorite shows!
Mmm, that waffle and cereal combo look amazing!!! And I have yet to try that flavor JamFrakas but I do like the PB one best.
I would say be in the picture…just because I’m a ham like that =)
awww, i love friends 🙂 and i have quite a few of the seasons… that quote especially!
take the picture 🙂
Holy Mother, that is one gorgeous day of food!
Okay, best Friends episode EVAH is the one where they play the game show hosted by Ross to see who knows each other better and who gets the apartment. I bought that season on DVD just for that episode. You know, where Rachel guesses that Chandler is a “Oooh, oooh….a transponster!”
Have a great day!
Love,
Ms. Chanandler Bong
Oooh, the anticipation of who the bloggers are! The suspense! And the tasty foods! 🙂
I think I’d rather be the taker. hehe.
How exciting to meet fellow bloggers!
That is my favorite line from Friends!
The caprese salad looks yummy.
oooooh i’m SOO EXCITED for you that you get a blogger meet-up tonight, I can’t wait to hear all about it!!
beware of those PB puffins, they have some magical skill in which the box disappears in like 2 days and you have no idea how! haha.
with pictures it totally depends on my mood—sometimes i love being in them and other times i’m just not feeling it.
Yay for Puffins. Love those light pockets of PB crunch, and that waffle…loved the whipped cream moat. 🙂
Have fun at dinner tonight…now, who are you meeting up with? Can’t wait to find out…
I got meet melissa today too so fun! I love that waffle yummy:)
I love taking the pics but its always fun to be in them too…hmmm I am with you its a tie!
I’m way jeal of your blogger meet up! I wish there were some bloggies in MI 🙁
No joke – your breakfast is the cutest looking thing I’ve seen all day. Love the ring ‘o whip!
Mmmm caprese salad!
I’m a total ham so I like to be in the pics but I feel bad so I end up taking just as many pictures for other people in the end!
Definitely would rather take the picture, but I also enjoy being in pictures with friends. It’s fun to have those memories
What an amazing meal to start off ’09! It looks incredible. Bill Cosby, who is an alum of UMass Amherst purchases lobsters for Halloween for EVERY student who uses the dining hall every year! That’s where I get my lobster fix =]
I love PB Puffins so much, they taste so good I almost feel guilty eating them! hahah
Can’t wait to read about the blogger dinner! Have fun!
haha on NYE my friends and I were dying b/c we were referencing the Hanukkah Armadillo!! “What are you doing here…weird..turtle man??” 😀 I can’t wait to hear about your bloggie meet up! As for the picture..I mean, you could take the myspace style pic and hold your arm out, that’s both haha! But ya I definitely appreciate photography so much more now, I’m so proud when a picture comes out really nicely..have a great night!
Mmm, lobster looks fantastic!
Have a fun nice out!
Oh lala Papa Bender did decide to go all out for dinner. It looks delish.. especially with the decadent sauce.
I just bought a Peanut butter Jamfraka today at Tj’s – I can’t wait to taste it. And speaking of PB, I love PB puffins!! YUM!
I think I like being in the picture when it’s of people, but I like taking scenic pictures or pictures of FOOD- haha!
yay for puffinsssssssssss!
haha oh my gosh! does your food ever cease to make my mouth water? lobster tails!???? what?! so jealous! and I adore the tomato and motz combo!! I always order caprese salads when I see them on the menu! delicious.
have a great evening Jenn Jenn!
That is one of my favorite Phoebe moments from Friends!
I love your waffle! It looks delicious. Yay Mama Bender.
I think I’d rather take the picture and then be in the picture.
Have fun at the blog dinner!
I’d have to say, vainly: it depends on how I look in the picture. Hahaha.
I stayed up until after 7 this mornin reading Twilight, then finished it today and started New Moon.
And I’m just at the part when, well, the BAD PART happens *cry*. I’m skipping to the end. I’ll go back later.
(For shame, I know.)
By the way, are you taking these books to the gym with you? They are time sucks! I barely noticed I had gotten on by the time I was supposed to leave. Hahaha. 🙂
The mini chocolate chips are so cute on the waffles!
I actually don’t know about what I would do. I guess it depends on what I am feeling in terms of if I would like to be photograph. Sometimes, I have that “bad hair day”…
Friends was such an awesome show, and I love that quote!
Hope you had fun at dinner!
Haha good Friends quote! I miss that show too–my sister an I collaboratively have all the seasons on DVD.
Ya know, lobster is one of the foods that I never tried before going vegetarian; I never had crab either. Maybe someday I will explore the world of shellfish.
Hmm, I like both taking the pics and being in them, but my photography skills are really sub-par, so people usually prefer that I NOT take them!
Friends ALWAYS manages to make me laugh too. I haven’t watched it in ages, I miss it!
You can never go overboard with whipped cream. Never. 😛
That’s a wonderful (albeit slightly scary, I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a lobster tail like that haha) first 2009 dinner! Once again, Papa Bender awes with his culinary savoir!
I’m totally with you on being in AND taking pictures. I love both! Although I think I’m slightly more comfortable taking them. I like being in them but sometiems I feel awkward posing with a plastered smile on my face, especially at things such as family events! haha
I just finally managed to catch up with all of your posts I’ve missed out on. I hate falling so behind! Looks like you had a lovely New Years though, and a great beginning to 2009! I’m still pretty darn excited that we’re now Facebook friends too haha 🙂
I <3 PB Puffins! I actually prefer them dry because the milk tends to wash away the PB for me. And you’re right, they are huge!
Loving the lobster tails. Totally has me wanting seafood for dinner tonight. 😀
I think I would vote for be in the picture… as long as my hair looks ok. 🙂 Lobster looks cool!
zesty
oh my – tomato & mozarella! it’s been too long since ive had that 🙂
watching friends was definitely a part of my college experience! we watched the season finale my sophomore year of college all crowded in one tiny dorm room – ill never forget it haha
i think i like being int he picture & taking it… thats why i use a tripod – the best of both worlds lol 🙂
trying not to be all pc here and take the middle of the road, but you gotta have both. when you take the pics, you have them. it seems like asking my girlfriends to email me pics is like asking heidi and spencer to stop taking posed pictures of themselves… not gonna happen. but then if you take them all, you don’t exist bc you’re not in any of the fun stuff. so i gotta go with both. that or hire a hot man servant to follow you around and photograph you.
ten seasons, wow. I thought I was bad with one season of Carnivale in a weekend!
Kelly Turner
http://www.everygymsnightmare.com
I think it’s debatable whether or not that’s going overboard with the whipped cream.. I think it looks just right 😀
What a fabulous breakfast! I usually end up taking the picture, but I wouldnt mind being in it either!!