Mushroom Soup

We made this delicious soup a couple of weeks ago.  The splash of soy sauce gave it a nice bit of saltiness.  Mine did not seem to be as silky as the photo, it should possibly be strained before serving.  From Tasting Table. 

Easter Saturday

Hosted an early easter Brunch on Saturday, basically as an excuse to make fresh squeezed mimosas and eat deviled eggs all day. On the menu- gazpacho soup, greek salad, 3 kinds of sausage, mini grilled cheeses, mushroom fontina quiche, parmesan drizzled asparagus, deviled eggs (with bacon!), blueberry muffins, almond coffee cake, and cakeballs from Bleeding Heart Bakery.

Sunday supper

Sunday Suppers are back! We were enjoying a lazy, unseasonably warm Sunday in front of the TV with all of the windows open, getting caught up fresh air as well as our backlog of DVR recordings when we were suddenly inspired by a Micheal Symon episode on grilling: BLT Salad with heirloom tomatoes and grilled romaine, Pork Souvlaki with grilled citrus, and Grilled French Toast with strawberries and rosemary. Pretty simple and definitely delicious. We made a mad dash to Whole Foods at 5pm and had the whole thing done and food on our forks by 8:30. The pork receipe calls for a long period of marinating, but in the episode Symon said it could be done in an hour.

Weekend in Tennessee

Spent a beautiful/delicious weekend in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains outside Knoxville, Tennessee as a surprise birthday for my husband. I managed to keep the "surprise" until the day before we left, but unfortunately, it is really hard to surprise the person you live with! One errant airline webpage left open on the shared computer can bring down the whole operation. Will practice being sneakier for next time. Highlights were the food, more food and definitely seeing the seven week old truffle puppies! Did some hiking and exploring the farm to compensate for all of the time spent eating.

ad hoc brownies

Ad Hoc at Home brownies. I used a cookie cutter to make the hearts.

buvette

Drool. This spread on adorably french restaurant Buvette is in this month's Martha. Will definitely be checking this place out the next time I am in NYC. Besides the super cute Buvette bicycle, the article starts with tartines and ends with spoons of Nutella. Come on!

Cookiepalooza 2011

My kitchen was recently transformed into a cookie factory with the help of a few very enthusiastic and detail oriented friends. Already excited for next year!

Cake in a Jar

Since everything seems to come in a mason jar these days, why not CAKE?! Chocolate cake with whipped cream topping.

happy

If I could swan dive head first into this, I would. Vanilla scented sweet potato puree. Seen on the Voltaggios Take On: Thanksgiving on the Cooking channel. Michael lost me at "immersion circulator", but I was paying attention when he mentioned his potatoes are silky smooth because he uses a third of the potatoes weight of butter. Yuummmm.... Best Thanksgiving Wishes!!

apples and falling leaves

Its suddenly brisk outside and the trees are getting ready for another Chicago winter. Have been so inspired by the pretty, swirling red and gold leaves and the bushels and bushels of apples at the farmers market that I combined the two. Old-Fashioned Apple Pie recipe from this month's Food & Wine. Really simple, just dough and apples with cinnamon and nutmeg. I used leftover crust dough and a fun cutter to make the decorative leaves.
*Photos by my personal photographer/husband.

cultivate chicago

Cultivate Chicago held its first ever festival of food stars, artisanal eats, local beers, and music in Lincoln Park. Chefs like Richard Blais, winner of Top Chef All Stars, and local food hero Paul Virant, of Perennial Virant, did cooking demos with local food producers. The festival was free to enter and you could purchase tastes of everything from artisanal coffee to blueberry upside down cake to pork tostadas to Great Lakes Brewery beers. The festival had 16,000 people in attendance throughout the day and raised $50,000 for FamilyFarmed.org, a non-profit that works with farmers to build local food systems. It was run by Chipotle's Cultivate Foundation, who's mission is to help create a more sustainable and healthful food supply. Really fun!

chicago gourmet

Michelle, my friend in all things foodie, took me to Chicago Gourmet at Millennium Park on Sunday. This fabulous event had over 100 chef tastings, wine, beer, spirits, chef demos and silent auction. We started out hungry and slightly overwhelmed by the number of choices, but quickly got in line and into a groove (aided by the handy Chicago Gourmet I phone app!). With at least 3 chefs per tent presenting a nice variety of beautifully plated tastes, we were quickly on our way to being euphorically happy/stuffed, despite the rain.

Highlights- Braised shortrib and gruyere sandwich on extremely buttery brioche type bread from Socca, squid and tomato salad from MK, salmon sashimi from Giuseppe Trentori in the Buick tent, and our finale, the pot de creme from Sixteen (pictured above, shortly before being devoured).

*first photo by Huge Galdones for Grub Street Chicago.

yes

I have a confession- I cupcaked twice this week.

yum