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New Year's Eve! After much deliberation and phone-calling, we decided to head over to Luxe in Lakewood. 8 of us spent the night at a beautifully decorated table eating corn dogs, fries, fried brussel sprouts, and arugula pizza. I had the shrimp and grits, which were tasty, but the grits weren't very creamy. The shrimp, however, were cooked well and the accompanying vegetables were very satisfying in taste and texture.

Juewon's review: "I've had better meals at Luxe in the past. The corn dogs were good but nothing spectacular, and the arugula pizza focused on the olive topping rather than the arugula itself. More arugula and some type of dressing would have elevated the dish. Beignets were not airy enough. With that said, I've had spectacular meals in the past at Luxe and would definitely want to go again. I was sad they were out of the quail. I do think they did a wonderful job decorating and the service was top notch."

For New Year's Day, I was craving pastries and pancakes and was sad there were no gluten-free options in any restaurants in Cleveland. Thankfully, Whole Foods was open today so we headed over to get ingredients! Here are New Years Day Pancakes made Two Ways!

1. Dry ingredients: Mix 1 cup buckwheat flour, 1 cup gluten-free (or regular) all-purpose flour, 1.5 tsp baking powder, .5 tsp baking soda, 2 tbsp sugar, and a dash of cinnamon.

2. Wet ingredients: Beat two eggs, add 2 cups milk, 2 tbsp melted butter, and 1 tbsp water.

3. Combine ingredients, whisk for as long as you can to aerate, and scoop 1/2 cup batter to buttered pan to cook.

4. To dress up, add chocolate chips to batter (left photo) or strawberry topping (right photo). "Strawberry topping made by slicing fresh strawberries and heated gently with a few drops of vanilla extract and a 1 smidgeon of brown sugar." - J1 does not go by tablespoons.

Happy New Year!

- Jane