This has been the longest, craziest two weeks of getting back to work in this new normal. A part of me is glad to be back at work to see all my friends and even my favorite players at the casino. Then of course there’s a part of me that wasn’t ready to go back, its like when you were a kid, summer break going good and then the next thing you know it’s back to school. So yeah I felt like that, to readjust to a new schedule and of course my schedule is not what I want, so my managers and I will be reworking that.

It’s good to be back at work though, it just feels weird to have to wear a mask all day and we can’t hug or hi-five each other anymore. How long will this last we don’t know, but we are all happy to be back.

Along with working my regular job full-time, I need to also focus on building up my blog on here, and somehow I will get it done.

I was supposed to be headed to sunny Tampa for a short vacation but things changed up so not doing Tampa but still doing a little trip right here in Missouri, heading to St. Joe and to Hannibal to see an Ice cream shaped stand and to check out Mark Twain’s boyhood home. But just like I had plan on doing in Florida I will post lots of pictures and places that we stop at along the way.

During all this time I did try a new recipe that I have to share before I hit the road and it’s from Darius Williams and his recipe for fried salmon which I never knew you could fry outside of frying canned salmon. I didn’t have the seasonings he had and his directions made no sense so I made it like I fry my fish. It came out really good and I’m not a big salmon fan at all, unless my cooks at the casino fix it or of course salmon patties from the can.

I will try this dish again, if only for the fact that its different but when I get back I’m going to try his fresh Salmon Burger. See you guys when I get back and keep an eye out for my road trip pictures.

A few weeks ago, Nick was telling me how all the guys at his job were bringing in homemade bread and other homemade pastries that their wives and girlfriends have been making for them, and I think he was feeling a little left out. So of course being the great girlfriend I am even though I don’t like baking but hey I couldn’t let him be the only one that didn’t have anything to show off. Just like a mother hen.

I started doing some research to see if I could find any bread recipes that didn’t have a million steps and something that a newbie like myself could pull off.  So I found one by brooklyn farm girl that looked really easy to mix up and you cooked it in a slow cooker so yep that was my kind of recipe.

I actually made this bread twice, and even though it didn’t look too pretty the taste was pretty darn good, and now my mom is like she wants me to be in charge of bringing rolls to the family dinner, does she not understand that I am not a baker and I only did this to earn girlfriend points from the boyfriend.

Like I said I did make it twice and though the second batch came out looking a lot better, I just forgot to get a photo of it. So next time I make it I will take better pictures.

I like this recipe and I will throw it together again at some point, it made up some nice rolls which reminded me of my Aunt Kitty’s rolls when I was a little girl, maybe now I can I ask my sister for the recipe and just maybe I’ll make those we shall see. I really liked that it didn’t have a bunch of fancy ingredients, I just needed to get some yeast and because everyone is baking that was one of the hardest ingredients for me to finally track down.

Now I don’t have a warm spot in my apartment to get bread to rise so what the heck was I supposed to do, well I found a trick and it works great. I turned my oven into a proof box all compliments of Cook’s Illustrated  and I couldn’t be happier with this little trick.

Enjoy the bread, it’s great with butter and strawberry jam slathered all over them especially when its fresh out the slow cooker.

Saturday nights is usually reserved for our date nights when we  either go out to our favorite spot, try a new spot, or if I have time cook up something special for us. Since the quarantine I’ve been doing a lot more cooking for our date nights  and Nick has become my official taste tester for everything that I  make.

I’ve made this man pasta, cookies, and even a lasagna and now he want’s bread because all his coworkers are bringing bread from home that their wives or girlfriends are making so of course I do have a recipe I’ve been wanting to try so he will get his bread for work to.

This date night I decided to cook since we were going to do a movie in, I had found a recipe by Chef Gordon Ramsay on his Instagram page for a 10 minute curry and a fried bread to top it off. So of course I had to try this recipe because we both love curry and it looked easy, so why not.

Now to make your own you will have to do like me and follow along in the video: @gordongram 

I just used a little too much spinach and I added shrimp instead of peas (he hates peas, go figure). Both dishes came out really good and this will be going on the menu again.

For dessert I threw on a Betty Crocker Apple Crisp  since I had some apples left over and sometimes he is a big ole kid that loves things that reminds him of his childhood. 

I hope you guys have as much fun making this with your special someone as much as we had fun doing this one together.