a little bit of soul and a whole lot of climbing

Lately we have been addicted to the food network channel, and of course when any of the food shows go to the south they always showcase the champion of soul foods - waffles and fried chicken. So A few weeks ago when my friend Laurel told us about a soul food restaurant in Harlem that serves the best waffles and fried chicken, Jason just had to try it out for himself.

So last Saturday we made the trek to Harlem to try out the famous Amy Ruth's. It's a small place so luckily we timed it just right and missed the crowd. As we looked over the menu I started to second guess whether or not I was brave enough to try the Al Sharpton (the name of the waffles and fried chicken on the menu), and I made the mistake of mentioning to Jason that I might just get the waffles and he was VERY disappointed that I would come all that way and sell out. So, after a short lecture I decided he was right and I ordered the sweet and salty platter.

First I must mention that the biscuit they brought us while we waited for our meal was amazing. Typically biscuits are bitter but this was a sweet biscuit and a good indication of what was yet to come. Finally the Al Sharpton arrived as a large Belgium waffle that filled the entire plate topped with a crispy wing and breast. I wasn't quite sure where to start so I set the chicken aside and started in on the waffle. Jason was the brave one and took the first bite with both the waffle and chicken together and loved the combination, so I hesitantly took a bite of both and I will admit - it was incredible!! There was way too much food on my plate to finish, and I definitely won't be getting this on a regular basis, but I will admit I am a fan. For all those in doubt, you must give it a try.



After our adventure with soul food we headed back down to a rock climbing wall in the city for our YM/YW's activity. Well, it was more like a young men's/young woman activity. Thanks to good old Lisa the YW still have someone to represent us. With 1 girl and 8 young boys you can imagine how crazy it was, but we had so much fun seeing some of them race each other to the top and others as they tried out their strength on the harder walls. All of the kids were incredibly strong and I'm so glad I didn't try climbing because I really don't think I would have been able to get up one wall.





Sunday we went to an awesome superbowl party at the Granum's and had so much fun seeing our old friends Megan and Joe who were visiting for the weekend from Chicago and just chatting with the girls.