What a great weekend!

I had a super fun weekend full of football and good food. Justin and I met some of our very best friends, Jason and Molly Carter, in Atlanta to watch Alabama play Virginia Tech. We love hanging out with the Carters for a multitude of reasons, but we especially love that they enjoy eating good food. We ate at two of my favorite restaurants, Two Urban Licks (www.twourbanlicks.com) and The Buckhead Diner (www.buckheadrestaurants.com).

All four of us love to try new things, so we generally all order something different and share our meal with each other. This makes for an amazing dinner! At Two Urban  Licks, Justin ordered bacon for an appetizer....yes, bacon! It was a crowd favorite!

For my entree, I decided to try the brisket. It was fabulous, however, they served me quite a portion of food! 

I had plenty to share! The next morning, we had brunch at The Buckhead Diner. As always, it was amazing! I tried a grilled chicken on pretzel bread sandwich that was delightful! Justin had shrimp and grits, while Molly tried the cobb salad and Jason ordered the chicken and biscuit. Dessert is always my most favorite part of any meal, so I ordered the white chocolate banana cream pie that is the most famous dish at The Buckhead Diner. Molly and Jason ordered a cookies and cream milkshake that was truly the best milkshake I have ever sampled! What a wonderful weekend! 

Molly is quite the cook and always inspires me to try new things in the kitchen. She is has a marvelous blog called, "The Duchess of Fork," where she shares all kinds of amazing dishes and cooking tips (www.duchessoffork.com). Her recipes never disappoint! 

After our food-filled weekend, I spent Labor Day writing lesson plans and looking for new recipes to try in my own kitchen. I try my best not to keep cooking the same 10 dishes over and over again. I tend to get very comfortable with cooking chicken dishes, but I am married to a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy! Also, I am always looking for something that I can freeze and use again at a later date. I love to plan ahead! While I was searching for ideas on Pinterest, the Pioneer Woman's show came on tv. I just love watching her cook! She was serving up an amazing meat/pasta dish that I am definitely trying this week. I have posted her recipe below: 

Happy cooking and Roll Tide!