I had wanted to try The Wafel Shop ever since I first saw their coming soon sign while the shop was still under construction. The Wafel Shop offers two types of traditional wafels, the liege and the Brussels. The liege wafel is denser and sweet and the Brussels wafel is lighter and crispy. Both Dave and I ordered a liege wafel. I had mine topped with Nutella and almonds and Dave tried bananas and caramel sauce. I really enjoyed mine and was very happy with my topping selection. Dave liked his as well, but wanted more caramel sauce. Dave also wished for more pre-made options, like the Lumberjack (bacon and maple syrup) or the Belgium Elvis (bananas, Biscoff, and bacon).

The Wafel Shop’s prices are a bit on the high side. The base wafel (either type) is $5 and toppings are either $1 to $2 each. They do offer a few free toppings, including butter, syrup, powdered sugar, and chocolate shavings. When you order a wafel at the Wafel Shop, you’re receiving a fresh, handmade item created with locally sourced ingredients and that makes them more expensive. Even knowing that, I wish they were cheaper!

I would return to the Wafel Shop, I’d love to try their Biscoff latte once it gets cold outside, but probably not as often as I would have given their prices. I would however, recommend that everyone try the Wafel Shop because they are still darn tasty despite the price!

Next time you’re in Greektown, save some room for a visit to Astoria Pastry Shop. So many desserts, so little time! Seriously, their menu is insanely huge. We had a really tough time deciding what to order. I ended up trying the “mini” versions of the tiramisu and carrot cake, as did Jacqui, but she tried the “mini” key lime pie as well. And Dave enjoyed the double chocolate cheesecake.

Biercamp is a local store that makes and sells artisan sausages and jerky. They’re located on State Street, right next door to the Produce Station. We’ve tried the Apple Wood Smoked Berkshire Belly Bacon, the Sriracha breakfast sausage patties (heart-shaped for Valentine’s Day!), the Hillbilly breakfast sausage with oatmeal and bacon, and the cheddar jalapeno all beef hot dogs. Everything has been fabulous! And there’s so much more we’re interested in trying. I have my eye on the duck bacon and the gyro hot dogs. They also offer pulled pork sandwiches for lunch during the week that we’d also like to try.

Follow Biercamp on Facebook to stay updated on their latest offerings.

A couple of weekends ago, Dave and I went on a long walk all over Ann Arbor. The 10 mile walk took us by the Frank Llyod Wright house off of Geddes and over to Burns Park, back downtown, over to Stadium, and back again. All that walking made us work up an appetite, so we headed over to Afternoon Delight for a late lunch. We’d been to Afternoon Delight several times before and while I love my usual cheese blintzes, I think this meal was my favorite.

I ordered the small fruit plate (I wanted something healthy!), a side of crispy bacon, and the muffin delight, a hot split cherry (they were out of blueberry) bran muffin filled with vanilla frozen yogurt. So good. The frozen yogurt slowly melted and coated the muffin with yummy goodness. The bacon was cooked to perfection, nice and crispy and not greasy at all. This was pretty much our lunch and dinner, it was a lot of food, but I only ate some popcorn for the rest of the day.

Dave ordered the veggie boule, which was a hollowed out French bread boule filled with an assortment of vegetables, scrambled eggs, cheddar, mozzarella and Swiss cheeses. It came with a side of hollandaise sauce. It was big, but it was good! I would consider ordering it in the future, but without the mushrooms and maybe with the addition of some bacon. Or maybe I’ll order the exact same thing I got this time…I have a habit of doing that.

This past weekend, Dave and I rented the yurt at the Green Lake campground at Waterlook Recreation Area. According to the Michigan DNR’s website: “A Yurt is a round self-supporting, tent-like structure that originated in central Asia and provides snug, weather tight, camping comfort. This Yurt overlooks Green Lake and sleeps up to 5. A propane camp stove is provided, but guests must bring their own propane canisters. The Yurt is open year round, but is hike-in only from December 1 through April.”

I want to stay in a yurt in Mongolia, in fact, it’s on my life list. I look at this as being a test drive for Mongolia.

We rented the yurt from Friday through Sunday. The yurt is equipped with two futons that fold down to double beds and a single bed on a loft over one of the futons. In addition to the beds, there was a rather large table, four folding chairs, a camp stove, electric lantern, and a propane heater. Propane is provided for the heater, but you need to bring a canister of propane for the camp stove. There was a nice deck that surrounded the yurt including a ramp for wheelchair accessibility. Pit toilets are a short walk away and are shared with the rest of the campsites.

Despite the third mile we had to haul our stuff to the yurt (the road was still closed for the season), we had a great time. On Friday night, we roasted hot dogs from Biercamp (more on that later!) with homemade baked beans and played a couple of board games. We had checked out a telescope from the Ann Arbor District Library (we’ve been on the waiting list since September!) and got a look at Saturn, definitely a highlight of the weekend. Dave also say Jupiter and three of its moons. On Saturday, we took an eight mile hike and played more board games in the evening. We left Sunday after breakfast and managed to get all of our stuff to the car before it really started raining.

If you’re interested in renting one of Michigan DNR’s yurts, they can be found at the following parks. Reservations can be made via their website.

• Craig Lake Yurt
• Glenbrook Yurt at Pinckney Recreation Area
• Green Lake Yurt at Waterloo Recreation Area
• Muskegon State Park Yurt
• Porcupine Mountains Yurts

While my friend, Jacqui, was in town we went on a tour of the Ann Arbor’s Urban Fairy Doors. These small doors appear on many local businesses. We visited doors at:

• The Michigan Theater
• Ann Arbor District Library
• Selo-Shevel Gallery
• The Ark
• Red Shoes
• Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea
• Peaceable Kingdom
• Found Gallery
• Nicola’s Books

We didn’t make the hike over to Mott Children’s Hospital, but I might pop-in one day to check it out. Months before I had discovered the unnamed location of the goblin door, so we visited that on our tour as well. My favorite doors were at the Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor District Library, Red Shoes, and Peaceable Kingdom. During open hours at the Michigan Theater, a small screen plays cartoons behind the door, we saw it later that evening. If you peek in the door at Peaceable Kingdom, you can see an entire miniature store. Several of the doors had small “offerings” left behind including coins, trinkets, and even a small restaurant container of jelly!

If you’d like a nice walk around downtown, I highly recommend a fairy door hike. There’s a map available on the website.

Dave and I checked out Ann Arbor’s newest bookstore, Literati Bookstore. It’s small, but nice. Dave and I each found something we wanted to buy and were glad to show our support for a local business. We were a bit disappointed with the size of the science fiction and fantasy, but understand that they have limited space (and I hear they’re working on expanding it!). I’m looking forward to checking out their upcoming events. It’s two doors down from Arbor Brewing, so it’s a nice place to pop in to before or after dinner.

We are no strangers to Arbor Brewing Brewpub, but we had not tried their relatively new boozy brunch (Sundays 11am-3pm). However, that is no longer the case! Recently, Dave and I checked it out and really, really enjoyed it. The menu is somewhat small, but there are many excellent choices. For one price, you pick an entree, a side dish, and a dessert (muffin). For a little bit more, you can add two beers, and for a little bit more, you can add two cocktails.

I ordered the breakfast enchiladas, black beans and eggs scrambled with lots of jalapenos and bacon, wrapped in soft corn tortillas and topped with enchilada sauce and melted cheddar cheese. Served with salsa verde and sour cream. For my side, I went with the sweet potato bites which were a little like waffle fries but tossed in cinnamon-sugar (Cajun seasoning was also an option). And for dessert, I picked the vanilla blueberry muffin, to go. Everything was so delicious! The enchiladas were flavorful and the sweet potato bites were outstanding, so, so good! The muffin was tasty, though a bit on the dry side. I stuck with coffee, which was included in the price.

Surprise! Dave ordered huevos rancheros! Their huevos rancheros included fried eggs (poached was not available) topped with jalapenos, fiesta corn and cheddar cheese. Served with soft corn tortillas, black beans, salsa roja and sour cream. Dave went with traditional hash brown potatoes and the vegan walnut carrot muffin, also to go. Dave really enjoyed his huevos rancheros and hash browns and felt the same about the muffin.

Dave went with the cocktail option and tried the morning cocktail martini, which was Three Olives Espresso Vodka and ABC’s Michael Faricy Stout, and a cider mimosa, made with orange juice and Northville Winery’s Hard Cider. Dave really liked both drinks, he was quite surprised how well the morning cocktail martini was and I agreed. I took a taste and it wasn’t too beery/bitter for me. The cider mimosa was also nice.

As always, Dave and I are looking forward to our next meal at Arbor Brewing Brewpub, but their boozy brunch gives us another reason and opportunity to visit again.

The Ann Arbor Art Center is offering a once a month evening of art called Creative Social Club. They are being offered the first Friday of each month and run from 7:00pm to 9:00pm. Each month there is a different type of art project as the focus. Dave and I attended Jackson Pollack Painting aka spatter painting session.

I have mixed feelings about how it went. First was the price, $35, which included instruction, materials and two beverages.

The instruction, which was very minimal. There were books about Jackson Pollack circulating around, but I expected at least a little bit of information on the artist and his techniques. The rest of the instruction was almost non-existent as well, with a very quick overview of color theory and possible techniques.

The materials included two small canvases, which worked out fine, and communal tubes of acrylic paint in black, white, red, yellow, and blue. The blue was not what I would call a true primary color blue so it was difficult to mix colors as they did not turn out as expected.

And finally, the beverages. I know my expectations were high in this arena, but all they had was a bottle of red wine and a bottle of white wine (not even chilled) and that’s it. I was expecting a cocktail or more variety, especially for $35.

I’m glad we went, but I wouldn’t sign up again. I’m happy with how my paintings turned out, but the evening certainly did not meet my expectations at all.

Dave and I enjoyed dinner at the Old Town Tavern recently. Dave used to go to Old Town back in the day when he worked in town, I had never been before. Old Town has a nice casual atmosphere and reminds me of two of my other favorite Ann Arbor restaurants, Casey’s Tavern and Red Hawk.

Dave ordered a burrito with house made beans, topped with melted cheese, shredded lettuce, tomato, and corn chips, sour cream, salsa. He skipped the meat and went vegetarian. I on the other hand ordered a burger and boy was it a good one (sorry for the dark photo, I only had my phone!). The burger was perfectly cooked and super juicy. I had it with cheddar cheese, tomato, and guacamole. It was perfect, definitely in my top burgers ever! It came with steak fries which were darn tasty too.

We hosted Easter dinner this year, a first for us! Our old house was a bit on the small side for hosting 13 (including us), but the new house worked perfectly. We moved the furniture that we usually have in the dining space (dining table and chairs, coffee table, arm chairs, and rug) and set-up two 8 foot tables next to each other and placed chairs all around it. We had room for everyone, including Henry in his high chair and room for the buffet on our kitchen counter peninsula.

Since we were hosting and making dinner, we didn’t bake any deserts this year, but Dave did bake bread and I tried a couple of new side dish recipes. I made twice baked mashed potato casserole from Tracey’s Culinary Adventures and green chile corn pudding from Scarletta Bakes. Both were excellent, if I do say so myself, and are definitely keepers.

Dave baked Italian Easter cheese bread from King Arthur Flour and Hawaiian sweet bread from Barbara Bakes, both were new recipes as well. And they both turned out great too! The Italian Easter cheese bread was a nice and simple substitute for our usual, labor intense Stud Muffin. It had great cheese flavor and a nice texture. The Hawaiian sweet bread was also an easy recipe, so easy that Dave made it the day of and it turned out delicious. I especially liked the leftovers as toast, great texture and a subtle sweetness.

I’ve mentioned Wil Wheaton’s web series TableTop on the YouTube channel, Geek & Sundry before, but I’m going to talk about it again. Why? Because it’s awesome. And to celebrate it’s awesomeness and the awesomeness of board and card games, Saturday, March 30, 2013 is International TableTop Day!

There are events being held all over the world. We’re planning on checking out the Vault of Midnight event, which will be from noon until 10:00pm. They’re be providing games, snacks, and great discounts. Check out the International TableTop Day website for the nearest event and get your game on. the only hard part is deciding what to play!

After reading about the Juicy Kitchen in this month’s Ann Arbor Observer, Dave and I decided to try it for breakfast last weekend. It’s located near the intersection of Miller and Maple and it’s very tiny inside with enough seats for maybe 18 people, but probably less. We heard their baked donuts were particularly good so we each ordered one to enjoy with our coffee, Dave went with chocolate and I went with coconut. In addition to being baked as opposed to fried, the donuts at Juicy Kitchen are made with spelt flour. They were dense and moist and delicious. I thought the coconut added great flavor.

Dave ordered a simple egg and cheese slider, sliders with the veggies of the day or bacon are also available. The sandwich was simple, but it was very good. The bread had a nice texture, the egg cooked well, and the cheese added nice flavor. In addition to the cheese was a mystery sauce that was very tasty. I’m guessing it had Frank’s Red Hot in it, but I could be wrong. Either way it was delicious!

I ordered the French toast which was made out of Avalon organic soft whole wheat bread layered with cream cheese, maple syrup caramelized apples, cinnamon, and raisins. It was topped with toasted walnuts and served with warm maple syrup. The toasted walnuts were a particularly nice touch. Both items came with fruit.

We actually shared both entrees so we could try both a sweet and savory option. Their menu is small (they also serve lunch), but I think I would find plenty to order next time, which there will definitely be even if it’s just for a donut.

Last weekend, we attended our first class at Ann Arbor Cooks, Basic Knife Skills which we signed up for through the Washtenaw Community College LifeLong Learning program. We’re also signed up for The Art of Souffle in the next couple of weeks, I can’t wait.

Taking a Basic Knife Skills class is another thing crossed off my life list! I’m planning on crossing off several more items off my life list this year as well, including learning to letterpress, hiking the entire Potawatomi Trail in one day, dying my hair a crazy color, and make my own cheese. Sounds like a fun upcoming year, huh?

Back to the class. Ann Arbor Cooks is a local cooking school only five minutes away from our house. They offer a number of courses both directly through themselves as well as WCC, they also offer private events. Their space is really nice with plenty of room for everyone to work. The instructor and owner, Natalie Marble was great. She explained everything very clearly and provided constructive criticism during our practice time. She was super helpful and knowledgeable. Natalie demonstrated each skill and then we had time to practice. We cut celery into fine dice, carrots into thin discs, baby spinach into chiffonade, and more including potatoes, parsley, and the grand finale was breaking down a whole, raw chicken.

I learned a lot and Dave really enjoyed it as well even though he has more experience. I bought him a book with DVD on knife skills a couple of years ago for Christmas.

I highly recommend checking out Ann Arbor Cooks, they have a lot of great looking classes coming up on the schedule!

For Valentine’s Day this year we had planned on doing another (1 and 2) progressive dinner in Ann Arbor, but I was sick. We finally got around to making it up this past weekend. We parked in a nearby neighborhood and took the bus downtown and then caught a cab home and picked the car up the next day. A little more involved, but way cheaper than staying at a hotel like we had previously.

We started the evening at Isalita, which is located next door to its sister restaurant, Mani Osteria. We had gotten there early, so happy hour was still in full swing. I ordered the Coyoacan, Del Moguey Vida Mezcal, BarSol Pisco, pineapple, lime, ginger beer, and Dave ordered the house margarita which was on special for $5. My drink was refreshing, not too sweet, and had a smokey aroma.

Isalita like Small Plates is a tapas-style restaurant where everything is in small portions, meant to be shared. We started with the queso fundido, also a happy hour special. It’s melted cheese topped with queso fundido. It was topped with pickled onions and jalapenos and severed with the cutest tiny tortillas. It was very tasty, if on the greasy side.

Next we ordered the duck confit flautas topped with poblano avocado sauce, radish, lettuce, crema. These were fabulous. The shell of the flautas was crisp and not greasy at all. The finely shredded lettuce on top was dressed with some sort of citrus and was light and refreshing, a nice contrast to the rich duck.

The last item we ordered were the enchilada roja which were stuffed with chicken, coconut, and poblano peppers. It was topped with a richly flavored mole-style sauce that was very flavorful. This item was Dave’s favorite. The enchiladas and flautas tied for my favorite. I would order everything we had tried this time again.

Our next stop was at The Bar at 327 Braun Court. Which they describe as “Your neighborhood bar. Upscale dive-bar. Artisan public house. A place without TV to drink in the dark with your friends.” It’s located near Kerrytown, across from the Aut Bar. I ordered the strawberry champagne punch, which they make in small batches and once it’s gone, it’s gone and Dave ordered the Mr. Michigan, a bourbon-based drink. Since we ate a lot at our first stop, we ordered a plate of pimento cheese and crackers to accompany our drinks. We both really liked this bar. They had a nice selection of craft drinks in a nice quiet atmosphere. We even played a couple of rounds of Lost Cities since it wasn’t crowded (we were there a bit early). I’m looking forward to trying The Bar at 327 Braun Court again.

We checked out the latest board games at Vault of Midnight before heading over to La Dolce Vita (inside The Chop House) for dessert. I ordered an espresso martini, which was made with espresso, vodka, and Kaluha, but no cream. I’ve tried several espresso martinis and they’ve always had cream. This was a nice twist. It was lighter and had bolder flavor. Dave had a bourbon sour. We decided to order two things for dessert and share, but in hindsight we would have been fine with one especially since the Fall Winter Trio was bigger than we expected. We ordered the caramel cake which was served with caramel sauce and a scoop of chocolate malt gelato. All parts of this were delicious, but the caramel sauce was divine. I would have been happy with a bowl of that with a spoon it was so good.

The Fall Winter Trio funnily enough had three desserts on it! The first was a peanut butter bomb coated with chocolate and topped with candied bacon. The candied bacon really made this dessert, it would have been too sweet with out it and the bacon provided a nice salty, smokey bite. The second was described at a homemade Twix bar with shortbread on the bottom, then thick caramel on top of that and then the whole thing was covered with unsweetened whipped cream. Even with the whipped cream being unsweetened this dessert was too sweet for me or perhaps had I just reached my limit for sweets. Dave liked this one too, but both of us thought the peanut butter bomb was the best. The final dessert was a fancy s’more with a graham cracker crust, a thick chocolate mousse and toasted marshmallow fluff on top.

After we ate our fill, we headed around the block to Bab’s Underground Lounge. The pool tables were occupied, but we ordered drinks and just sat and talked and people watched. I had a margarita and Dave had a bloody martini to start and we finished up with a almond joy martini and a melon ball martini, respectively. We had a fabulous night and I can’t wait for our next progressive dinner!