On Becoming My Own Favorite Kind of Tourist

So I'm pretty sure we've established this but I am a food-ish blogger. Sometimes recipes, sometimes pictures, always things that come back to what makes me hungry to think about. I also work with mostly food clients at a large PR firm. My particular position allows for me to read and work with a lot of food bloggers. It's a dream scenario but also one that requires a bit of a thoughtful approach.

Like, for instance, telling you that the Mushroom Council is a client when I write about mushrooms even though my love for them predates most things, least of which being my tenure at Edelman. I will also tell you sometime soon that Velveeta was my first major project with the company and as it turns out it makes incredible fudge. I have no issues disclosing but I also don't tend to address those projects much around here because that's my work life, I'm proud of it but it's personal. Keeping it separate is simpler most of the time. I don't accept many pitches for the same reason.

Then Chicago Food Planet Food Tours contacted me about taking one of their neighborhood food tours. This one I took. With enthusiasm (squealing glee). A tour about food. Let me check the calendar and charge my camera.

I'm a big fan of Chicago, our eating scene in particular. To Kiss the Cook was lucky enough to get featured in Gaper's Block last week and you can read me going on and on about Chicago restaurants etc there (Be warned, the picture is cheesy and I do not babble less). That was awesome, by the way (thanks, Whitney!). This place is magic and while I may not always live here, I will remember why I did.

Wicker Park has been home for a few years and has won my heart many times over. When i saw that Bucktown/Wicker Park was an option for tours, I decided it would be a test to how well I knew the food in my own backyard. When I found out Brad and Kat (more on Kat later in the week) were coming in from New York for the weekend, I also figured this would be the perfect time to lure them away from Brooklyn in a more permanent sense with especially delicious bait.

This is our tour guide Ben. Ben is the single perkiest person I have ever met. Ever. And I work in PR. Seriously energetic and clearly crazy about his job. The "why" isn't exactly a mystery.

The bait for Brad and Kat began here...George's Hot Dog Stand. I've passed this place dozens of times (on my way to both the Map Room and Coast). Jaimeson was on a plane headed this way and I could hear his voice in my head going "Best restaurants in the city- owned by Greeks!" Hellenism for the win.

He brings people to this a few times a week. This being the classic Chicago dog. A bun with Vienna hot dog, a dill pickle, onion, sweet relish, tomatoes, peppers, celery salt, and mustard. I had not had one in a year. I ate it with gusto. Kat and Brad ate theirs with gusto as well once they established how to get a little bit of everything in each bite. This place has been around for north of 60 years because OPA! that is a hot dog.

Next on our tour was one of my favorite restaurants in Chicago, Hot Chocolate. I think Mindy and Mark are brilliant, find the food understated and their commitment to local ingredients admirable. We each had the "Medium" with molten milk chocolate and a homemade marshmallow. Brad just about wanted to bathe in it. I feel like Kat may not have objected.

Would you object to a significant other bathed in this? (pause for surely PG thoughts)
Didn't think so.

Next up was The Goddess and the Grocer. How you see it above is how I typically do. Delicious but so crowded with pricey strollers that I usually give up and go home to make my own fancy pasta salad.

That said? Their fancy pasta salad is better than I've gotten mine to be. And they have a small, fabulous wine selection. And a lot of very happy looking shelves of bright candies and other goodies. So what I'm really saying as that I'm motivated to try coming in off-peak hours, charm the staff and steal their pasta salad recipe while buying beautifully wrapped chocolates. Pre-gourmet grocer life, the owner was a caterer for touring bands. If they start a show called "Life Swap," I'll be at the open call.

Brad. Ben. Bros.
Off to Piece! New Yorkers. Eating and Enjoying pizza in Chicago. You saw it here first. (alright, maybe not first but notable none the less). We also got samples of the house-brewed beauty known as Golden Arm. The original by Nelson Algren was based in the neighborhood and I pass his house on the way to the farmer's market. Have I mentioned how much I love this neighborhood?
I have? OK, then just look at this pizza.The brewpizzeria is also owned by a member of Cheap Trick. Yes, that Cheap Trick. Surrender.

Now at this point I have members of my party who went from not having eaten anything for 12 odd hours that included cocktails to eating a Chicago dog, a molten chocolate bar, fancy pasta salad, pizza and beer. 1-400 mph in an hour and a half. You may be compelled to starve yourself ahead of your food tour but let this be a cautionary tale- you're better off having a light breakfast because otherwise you may not feel so grand. The last two stops were Sultan's Market and i Cream. We didn't make it. I'm giving my thoughts anyway:

I love Sultan's Market. It's tied for favorite falafel in the city for me (with Semiramis). I took serious advantage of their Groupon a while back and will continue to love them. I have promised Kat and Brad to take them back so they can use their awesome coupons. If I can find them an apartment in one of the gorgeous houses on Hoyne St, they'll be right down the street from hot falafel sandwiches and shwarma whenever they'd like it.

As for i Cream, it's the lovechild of an ice cream man and a chemist. Jaimeson is the resident ice cream lover so it would have been a bummer to do this without him anyway. Now that he's home, we're walking over for a treat so we know what all the buzz is about (it's just up Milwaukee from us).

So the recap: I'm doing this every time I have visitors from now on. They were kind enough to comp me two tickets but we bought another one so we could all go and I would easily pay full price. Between restaurants (they change regularly), Ben stopped and told us about the history of the neighborhood, trends in architecture and pointed out other favorite eateries (have I mentioned how perky he was? That guy is high on life). Which means for around $45 you get three hours of hands of historic Chicago neighborhood touring, six restaurants, the best eating the neighborhood has to offer and a page of coupons for every spot you visit. You can book a Bucktown and Wicker Park Food Tour by clicking here, they are year round.

My friends were in town for a day and a half, we had dinner party plans that evening and I still got to show them four of my favorite restaurants and my neighborhood. Now I want to take Jaimeson next weekend. Then my parents and brother. Then Susie and Chels. And every other food blogger/eater that comes to visit. Also, I want to become a guest docent and help give tours on the weekends.

This is another reason I don't take too many pitches. When I do, I gush.

In Your Honor

In your honor, I made myself a cheese plate for lunch. As proof that I do have a modicum of self control (if we're being generous), this is what was left and then I even shared. The things I do...in your honor.

Are you wondering what you had to do with this? Confusion is, no doubt, the first symptom of cheese-deprivation which I don't find to be taken seriously enough by American society. You should really have some. The options in my current possession are comte` and leonora, a divine Spanish goat concoction, both courtesy of the comprehensive and charming cheese shop that is cruelly on my way to the train from work, Pastoral.

I have created this dejeuner tribute to you because when I asked about your favorite foods? Just about everyone said cheese. I've known cheese to turn vegan friends veggie. To turn frowns upside down. I've espoused my love of sharp cheddar and brie in the past but have I mentioned appenzeller? Gruyere? You would be hard-pressed to find a cheese not beloved by me.

Now that does not mean I run around eating it every day. No, much like lox, I save up my tastebuds for the good stuff and then I whittle away at it like the city/country mouse that I am. Today I do so while giving a little curtsy in your general direction while wearing a brightly patterned purple polyester dress.

And speaking of things done in honor, I have a favor. A favor that will likely mortify one or more persons but they are used to being in the spotlight so I'm going to just put this out there.

Jason/Jaimeson is going to be on Ellen on Monday, playing guitar alongside the incomparable Angel Taylor.

I used a period to end that sentence because my cheesemongering self did not feel professional punctuating a bolded sentence with "!!!!!!**?!!!!?!*." Lines in the sand.

Check your local listings and hit RECORD please. I hope he wears his Chucks and does a little dance with Ellen, whom I adore. He's done some pretty cool TV before but for whatever reason, this strikes me as especially fantastic. Also, if you click Angel's link, you can see their tour dates. And if they go to your city, I expect you to attend and attend enthusiastically. Also, please remember that he is a professional in the wild and he responds favorably to baked goods. Okay, girlfriend infomercial over. For now.

Also, I'll be having kale and quinoa for dinner. In my honor. Because moderation.

Behold the Beautiful Bagel

Question I hate: What's your favorite food?

Maybe hate is a strong word but unless we've just met (let's assume that's not the case), you know I can't answer that. I could go on and on in a vain attempt to narrow the list to ten but that's only if "orange food" can count as one.

That being said, I certainly recognize a favorite when I'm confronted with one. The Lox Bagel.


Growing up, they were called "Everything" bagels but I prefer my spot's "Mish Mosh" moniker. Toasted. Then schmeared with freshly made chive cream cheese. Not an insane amount, but I should see no trace of bagel through spread indentations. The spot I refer to was brough to me by way of a foodie New Yorker in residence so you might guess its good.

And I'm telling you that every time I have access to a mobile partner in crime (Jason, CVDJ, Molly) I bring them to a strip mall in Lincolnwood where you can see them making the bagels in the back and it is open 24 hours and is cash only. So now you KNOW it's good.


Lox should be placed on the bagel in a triangle, allowing each bite to have a meaty portion. I don't mess with grocery store lox in its air-stripped packages. I'm sure it can be useful for dips or decor but keep it away from my bagel. I want Nova, I want it fresh and I want it from someone that knows the difference. I'd rather be patient with the few times a year I get it and just savor its perfection.


On top of the lox is one generous slice of tomato per half. Now would also be a good time for a light sprinkle of kosher salt and not a small amount of freshly ground pepper. If you have regular lox, skip the sprinkled kosher. I only add it to balance the tomato and onion in the upper layers and Nova comes from a milder brine.


Wow. Just wow. That is incredible. This tastes like Saturday lunches with my Dad. Dad's side of the family (inclusive of Pop Pop) seems to be wear I get my taste for the Jewish delicacies in general (that's their heritage) but this bagel rises straight to the top.


Seven layers of texture and flavor securing a perennial spot in my top ten list.

Lo and behold I'm compelled to break the Golden Rule and ask...what's in the running for your edible top 10 list?

Two Years of TKTC and an Extra Credit Opportunity

Oh goodnight. I just about ran right through my two year blogiversary. I feel like Internet years work a little like dog years because so much has changed since then. Mostly me and mostly as a direct result of this little site's existence (career, romance, friends, travel, pastry skillz).

I don't much know what to say on such a momentous occasion. I had something and then forgot it. It was going to be profound and moving yet levitous. Blame the Mucinex.

I'm fighting off a flick of sick but tonight, in honor of cell phone pictures and not-quite-boyfriends and concerts and first-real-jobs and health kicks and butter kicks and Mary Tyler Moore moments and HoneyCat and pies that spring eternal and dinner parties that go well into the morning, I will cook. In honor of the beginning.

I am making matzoh ball soup and a mushroom spinach quiche. I will toast to you with warm apple cider spiked with Emergen-C and cat hair on my apron. Maybe I'll put on some lipstick.

Extra Credit: If you're at all interested...I've been cataloging food photos on Flickr. I'm thinking about changing the look up around here and that will require me to choose a few for a new banner. If you find one you like...one that looks like what you've come to know as the tasty, flighty, zippy, messy pile of frizzy affection at To Kiss the Cook...would you leave a link to it in the comments?

V Log: Late But Loved

Lots to Love from ToKissTheCook on Vimeo.

A few days late on Vlog Day but I kept going back and forth on posting this. I set out to make a cooking video of Jaimeson at work because the man really does do a perfect omelet. But, as Mols put it, it was a cooking video fail. You didn't even get to see the finished product of "scrambling shit up" but I assure you it was awesome and it came with toast smothered in raspberry jam.

INSTEAD it's just a lot of things I love in one place...a more organic spin on the Favorite Things videos from the LAST Vlog Day.

So here we have morning, pajamas, cooking, veggies, kisses and the star of our show with very mild bedhead as seen on set in West Hollywood, California. Bon Appetit!

Black Opps Scallops

I know I've mentioned my Monday dinners before but the most recent one went over particularly well and was particularly easy so I figured I'd share. We're calling this recipe...Black Opps Scallop Salad in honor of a particularly amazing line uttered by Blair Waldorf in last week's Gossip Girl (the reason we gather).

And actually, while we're on the topic, I've decided to stop apologizing for watching it. I don't know why I'm so compelled to do so but goodNIGHT it is light and the clothes are pretty and it's kinda funny and on a Monday with my girlfriends with a long week ahead? Not bad. Plus the music's pretty good. And I need my girlfriends. All of them. At every opportunity and especially on Mondays.

*Did you know I don't have cable? I'm not alone in that either, I think I have three other friends who looked at their cable bills sometime in the last year and said "$50 a month for BASIC cable?" No thanks. I miss Check, Please but I can watch everything else online when so compelled.

What this means for Gossip Girl though is that when it's my turn to host/cook, I either need to take a re-run week or take over someone else's kitchen. This week, my thanks to Gina who's kitchen is just as stocked with "the good olive oil" and cheeses and great knives as mine is. So since Monday was a holiday I actually had time to cook all day (we'll get to my banana bread fail another time).

I brought the entire dinner, all ingredients and even some servingware, to Gina's place in Gold Coast and got to work while the ladies got started munching on David Leibowitz's Baba Ganoush with homemade pita chips (spiced with salt, pepper and paprika). That was another big hit as it is really quite healthy with just 3 roasted eggplants and I used two full heads of roasted garlic, some olive oil and lemon juice. I'd show you a picture but to be frank, the stuff tastes fabulous but doesn't photograph terrible well.

Black Opps Scallop Salad
Serves 6

Scallops
2 pounds bay scallops (on sale for $8 at Dominicks!)
3/4 cup of flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons butter (unsalted)

1. Rinse scallops in a colander under cool water then dry them in a bowl lined with paper towels.
2. Combine dry ingredients (everything left other than the butter) in a small tupperware container and shake shake shake (with the lid on) to make sure it's well-combined.
3. In batches, toss scallops in the flour mixture, shaking excess flour of each scallop before adding to a frying pan with 2 TB butter melted of medium heat.
4. Scallops should be left for about a minute and a half without turning then tossed until golden brown on all sides. Repeat process till all scallops are fried. Replenish butter when necessary to prevent burning.
   

Salad
Large box of spring mix or 1/2 spring and 1/2 baby spinach
1 large grapefruit, halved and then supremed
1 avocado, halved, pitted and sliced into fifths on each half
3/4 cup walnut pieces
1/2 cup dried cherries
Loads of goat cheese

Toss it all together with dressing (recipe follows), adding scallops only at the very end of the toss process to evenly distribute.

Dressing
Juice of 1 whole grapefruit
1TB champagne vinegar
1/3 cup good extra virgin olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Shake Shake Shake or Whisk Whisk Whisk then toss with salad and scallops above.

It's a great girls night because it takes no time to put it together and there are opportunities for helping hands when it comes to the avocado, grapefruit and scallop prep. Also- it's good filling, not I-wish-I'd-brought-sweatpants filling.

A Moment in the Edible Career Corner

Served on the side, I made stuffed mushrooms. This is a very special recipe because it's one that I finally perfected thanks to worklife. I never talk about the office but we're all foodies here so if you make the jump to check out the Stuffed Mushroom recipe, you may find a very familiar voice on The Mushroom Channel. And @MushroomChannel for that matter. Yes, I really do read food blogs, write food blogs and Twitter for a living. It's not bad work if you can get it:)

Let Them Eat (Lemon Layer) Cake!

Happy Birthday Yia Yia!

Jaimeson frequently refers to his grandmother as a unique soulmate of sorts. As someone who's privileged to know the feeling, I consider us both very very lucky to have had such fabulous grandparents in our lives and to consider them friends and confidantes rather than removed, or God forbid, old. Yia Yia is 97. Pop turns 90 in May. Both are healthy and feisty as all hell (you may have picked up on that). Clearly these are occasions that deserve cake. Cake made with a dozen eggs because why-the-hell-not?

Smitten Kitchen's Layer Cake with Lemon Curd and 7-Minute Frosting

Now, I can't take full credit for the glory. Work has been rather intense lately (projects I really like but are rather demanding). So while I have the same desire to make things from scratch and go all out that I always do, sometimes it's just not possible. That's where it comes in handy to not be the only cook in the house:) I made the cakes the night before, J made the curd that afternoon and it took both of us and two old school KitchenAid mixers (one didn't make it, RIP) to get the frosting done right.

Hilariously enough, that night I found a GEM in the bookshelf- a 1968 Betty Crocker Cookbook with J's grandmother's newspaper tear-outs still tucked inside. J's mom and I were flipping through it and what did I turn right to? THIS EXACT FROSTING RECIPE.

And I have to say, I was pretty skeptical when I saw the work required on this "7 Minute Frosting" but I've never seen a more beautiful finished product. As you see the cake cut open, please just humor me and notice the way the frosting sits atop the cake. Buttercream, much as though I do LOVE LOVE LOVE it, does not do that in it's purest form (room temperature).

Egg whites and sugar have to be heated in the mixing bowl sitting in warm water while being mixed with an electric mixer or whisked vigorously (alternated between J and I with the whisk so we could take turns with champagne). THEN put in the bowl of a stand mixer while warm and allowed to turn into billowy white magic.
Yia Yia's "golden boy" presented her with her cake and then we all joined in a rousing Happy Birthday after talking about all the tables Yia Yia has danced on over the years. And how much she and Pop love "Chicago." And how Jaimeson used to go over to her house when he was eight or nine and watch Porky's. Explains so much.
So to Yia Yia- a big, beautiful cake and a couple Seven and 7's doth a proper birthday make and here's to many more!

MoRockin' Night

Jaimeson's MoRockin Chicken

Goodnight do I love a dinner party. I love them in all shapes and sizes and to all palates. Mostly I just love the comfort that comes with going to someone's real live home and eating food prepared by friends for each other. Add in a large stockpile of wine (or creative booze if the wine runs out) and you have a cost effective and colorful evening to rival any restaurant- even in a fabulous restaurant town like Chicago.

I'm not entirely sure where the theme for this on came from. Jaimeson and I have both always loved Moroccan-inspired interiors with all the color and the flair and there were parts of They Shall Know Our Velocity that brought me straight back to North Africa over Christmas. In addition to the allure of all those gorgeous spices sitting rather mysteriously at the back of my shelf and smelling like the exact opposite of slushy snow in the Midwest.
So we rounded up a few of the usual suspects and ended up with a completely unique smattering of friends, bearing their own flavors (and blogs for that matter). Elle Michelle, EpiChem, Homemaker's Habitat , her JiT, Bob & C (my friends from college), Brother D and your two cooks amounted for a crowd about as colorful as the $10 multi-pack of roses I picked up at Dominick's for "ambiance."

Given that my work week didn't quite come to a close until 3:30 on Saturday, there wasn't a whole lot of time for ornate decor. Instead, we moved the coffee table flush against the armoire, moved the flokati (white shag rug) into the opened space.Everyone sat on the couches anyway but HoneyCat sat herself right in the middle of everything for the full night. We lit a mismatch of candles with varying vases and jars of roses all over the place. And maps. And stacks of books. And I pinned a scarf around my waist and wore my massive earrings. Ta-Da.

The star appetizer was homemade lemon herb hummus and pita crisps from our very favorite Homemaker. Lord knows I love anything involveing lemon and herbs, Amen. We offered a couple easy noshes in kalamata olives and still more pita triangles with goat cheese that'd been rolled in sweet paprika, a new easy favorite.

Welcome to the dinner spread! We pulled the mezze up to the table and sat it along side other accoutrements like yogurt sauce (ok less Moracco, more tzatziki...sue us), tabouli straight from Sultan's Market and my contribution...my favorite couscous pilaf.

CousCous Pilaf (doubled for our purposes)

1 1/2 cups chicken broth (I used my homemade turkey broth)
1 cup whole wheat couscous
1/3 cup of good extra virgin olive oil
1 TB butter (unsalted)
1/3 cup toasted, slivered almonds (we toasted them quickly in a dry frying pan)
1/4 cup dried cherries
1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
zest and juice of half a lemon
Sea Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Bring broth to a boil. Remove from heat. Add couscous and cover. After 5 minutes, fluff the couscous with a fork and add everything else. OMG YOU'RE DONE.

So good...so easy.

Now Jaimeson's chicken on the other hand... I'm afraid I can't give you the recipe for. I can tell you 90% of what's in it but he's magic and operates in secret and rebels against recipes because that's just the kind of guy he is. Seriously, it is hard to be a girl with a cooking blog dating a guy who is a fabulous cook but does it so naturally that it is impossible to share. I will videotape him next time...promise.

As for what's in it:
various chicken pieces (thighs, breasts, legs)
various spices (cumin, tumeric, paprika, allspice, cloves)
olives, dates, golden raisins, thin slices of lemon, whole cloves of garlic

J marinated it for 4 hours before cooking it for almost two. I know he has adjustments he'd like to make for next time (a little brown sugar, some butter over the top, a little madeira, etc.) but we ate like CHAMPS. That's why it's the title picture. It's pretty so as to draw in business. Like hookers in Amsterdam but significantly more savory.

Dave/EpiChem RAN the dessert plate. I'm going to need to grab the recipes from him because right now we're calling them "date balls" and almond spice cookies but I know they have official names and you're going to want to try them. The "date balls" are even vegan! The stuff in wrappers are from a Greek grocery store in Bucktown and were bought for the simple fact that you should never grocery shop while hungry. Or with a big hungry Greek man in tow, for that matter.
Like this one, for instance. He and HoneyCat have this side act going where he can pretty much hold her however he wants and she'll just sit there. It's a little like Lamb Chop, only without The Song That Never Ends. Instead there's the wine supply that DOES end and people end up making whiskey cocktails out of mint tea and shooting Jameson.

MoROCKIN' Night!!

Stay tuned for upcoming theme nights involving Chili Cook-Offs, Indian Food and a Crawfish boil. And maybe breakfast for dinner where everyone wears their jams. I love dinner parties...in fact, it's Monday and I'm off to one now!

Food Pr0n Photo Blitz

Instead of going into yet another personal flagellation session over the upkeep of this petite corner of the universe, I will simply say that I have missed you and I do think of you often. It's true. I think about it every single day. Alas, words are not actions and if you were to refuse doing what I said, choosing instead what I've done, you might be as deliciously exhausted as I am.

So indeed, Bonne Annee et Bienvenue a` 2009! Since we last spoke I've run off to California, had California's warm physicality all about move into Wicked Park for a few weeks, I've run off to chase gators in Florida and then gone on many many adventures back in Chicago. And you know that when I start in with adventures, they are almost always edible so I think you will be happiest to see them for yourself. Click the photostrips to see them enlarged, if you so desire to to catch the glint of butter or a trace of stubble.

December kicked off in the style of my choosing...with the ones that do Christmas best. Dyl and Max braved snow and candy cane-loving Bernese Mountain Dogs to visit Santa and we came home to construct what would be my first gingerbread house. Perhaps my last gingerbread house (messy!) if it weren't so cute. Nice face, Max.
The following week was a blur of holiday parties. Some with friends, some for work but one particular Christmas brunch loomed in a very distant California. I left on my maiden voyage to LA less than 36 hours after purchasing my ticket and was back in Chicago about 36 hours after that. 110% worth the trip. Photostrip #1 is the first stop after LAX- Venice Beach. That's what December looks like out there, peeps. Crazy.

Stop #2 at In-N-Out in Hollywood. Just as good as everyone says and Animal-Style Fries? Thank God I don't have actual access to those. Bejeez.
SO, it's true, I had NO time in LA and no notice to give anyone (most of my friends didn't know until I came home. Our own SO@24 was the exception because I came home tipsy two nights in a row to have him talk me out of my proposed field trip over Gchat. Funny thing is, he did not. Instead, he drove out to Hollywood's Cat & Fiddle where he, Jaimeson and I had beers and sat next to Jason Segel and talked about wrestling and girls and acted completely normal despite totally surreal surroundings. If you ever wondered, he's fantastic. You were pretty sure about that already though.

Saturday nights in LA. I could tell you that we spent the night looking bored, straddling velvet ropes into Hyde or somesuch nonsense but you wouldn't buy it and I would have the very strange sensation of incoming vomit at the prospect.
As it turns out, there's much more to LA. The first half of our night was spent above. We went food shopping, bought wine from Jaimeson's "dealer" at Greenblatts, came home and I made Raspberry cream cheese stuffed French toast for the following day while J kept wine glasses full and filled that adorable bungalow with a lot of music. We do okay.

We did eventually have an amazing dinner at The Village Idiot on Melrose (the beets! the Brussels sprouts! nom nom nom) and then on to the Hotel Cafe and finally Piano Bar but by the time we went to bed I'd been up 24 hours and was ready for a nap.
I say nap because I only had 36 hours damn it and UP WITH THE SUN. By some miracle of persuasion and the innate spirit of a tour guide, Jaimeson totally humored me by taking me on his Runyon Canyon circuit, up up up up to wear I could see the Hollywood sign (and everything else) and pre-pay a debt against my soul for the sins of the brunch to come.

Putting the Rock back in Rockwell. CB and Jansen had the original idea for a holiday brunch at the house and then I showed up after J and Jansen were getting super festive with the decor. 50-60 people rolled through open house style, each bearing champagne and more food. Scones, grits, coffee cakes, salmon, day old Dominoes stolen from a studio mid-recording session...an amazing and motley crew. 20 bottles of champagne lost their lives that day and based on my nap later, they did not die in vain. So much fun and I'm thrilled that I now know why I get to be so excited to return!

On of the tour highlights in Santa Monica was the British Imports store. J would later not remember why exactly he pointed it out other than a passing knowledge of his girlfriend as a fellow anglophile. What he could not have known was that I had spent the week previous looking for two remaining ingredients for Sticky Toffee Pudding, ones that could only be found at an import store (black treacle and golden syrup). I kept my promise when J showed up with the ingredients in tow about 4 days after I returned to Chicago. Momma Jaimeson and D (Brother Jaimeson) came over and for a sticky first attempt, it turned out quite well. Still not Randall & Aubin but I've got time:)

A day or two later it was cold in Chicago. I mean REALLY MEGA FRIGID. Even with heat, I still

don’t know how I would have survived without two personal heaters, one both furry and devoted to TKTC proximity.

Of course it was on the coldest of those days that the wait needed to end. I needed a pilgrimage to Hot Doug’s in Avondale and it was decided that the brothers would act as encased meat escorts (ha) to see it through. Look at that spread. Everyone ordered two and I, per my usual, took FoodMomiac’s advice with a spinach/feta Loukaniko with olives and halumi then a classic Chicago dog. The boys got Catalonians and something with blue cheese and almonds and we all shared DUCK FAT FRIES.

Holy moly…do NOT get more than one order of these because your heart may explode. And it would be a happy heart in nirvana at the moment of combustion but still. A few fries are enough to get tantric over. All in all, even though I was sick and it took my fingers and toes 25 minutes to thaw (there is ALWAYS a line), it was worth it. I may get crazy and do it again. After a juice fast or something:)

That night the celebration continued with a joint house party between the apartments of two of my best girls- Caro (the technical hostess) and Mols. The brothers and I had continued our Saturday weaving around Ravenswood Manor, shopping in Andersonville, stopping for homemade glug and books at Book Cellar in Lincoln Square.

The glug in particular (seasonal Swedish mulled wine with an extra kick in the pants included, served warm) helped my ill-disposition and suddenly I was feeling a little too good. Good enough to power through Christmas punch too. A LOT of Christmas punch. The photo is hazy and it is not the camera’s fault. Yikes. One holiday party a year must get a little fuzzy I suppose and this one was in especially good company with my best girls and the post-Bulls game brothers. I was very merry till morning (5-ish) at which point I briefly died and was put to bed. (Shakes head)

Let's just say I was less than chipper the next morning. The silver lining to waking up with an empty tummy (urgh) is that it justified a first day of Hanukkah feast. Cooking does make me feel better and soon there was challah French toast afoot with latkes and homemade applesauce. And because I’m only half Jewish, we had maple bacon too (Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes or to desired crispness). The whole thing was completely delicious and we ate heartily before taking to the couch for the remainder of the day.

Now you will notice a bit of a blank spot. I’m sorry for this because we really did have a nice family Christmas in Florida. Downtown Sarasota is very cute, the weather was beautiful and Santa was very generous. It is my own fault that I slept and read the bulk of the time. We saw Slumdog Millionaire (EXCELLENT) and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (really good). I finished Corelli’s Mandolin and picked up They Shall Know Our Velocity! I was rarely near the computer and rarely stayed up past 11. I came home warmed and rested and just in time for New Year’s.

New Year’s Eve is a beast I hate dealing with. Everyone gets all persnickety and hedonism take a backseat for awhile. And I’m not a bar party girl 99% of the time. I’d like to be but I just end up guzzling champagne and making up reasons to “go outside for a bit” to get a way from the crowds. Luckily, I’m not dating a New Haircut. Quite the opposite actually.

So what did we do for New Year’s? We went down to the meat-packing district and picked up 25 oysters for $12 at Rubino’s, a beautiful leg of lamb and several bottles of wine and champagne. Then we went over to D’s and cooked. And drank. And listened to Bollywood tunes and shucked those little suckers for just over an hour (how vulgar!). They tasted all the better because we broke a sweat in the process and managed to get all but a couple open. Lemon and heavily horseradished cocktail sauce and wow. WOW. Put me back on Cape Cod.

While D and I were charged with the manhandling of mollusks, Jaimeson took on the meat. The man is a machine and I get a little embarrassed of my own incongruous chopping patterns when I watch him dice. Look at that. GORGEOUS. Three hours in the oven, bathing some potatoes in its juices at the end there, and it was falling off the bone.

Per New Year’s Day, I should probably be ashamed of myself. After making breakfast and espresso (in J’s new cup from Santa), we all but rejected society until 3pm. It was the perfect start to 2009, in my humble opinion. Eventually I tied on my new lime green apron and set to work making key lime pie. Which I don’t even have a photo of. It was SO COMPLETELY EASY that I was done before I remembered to pull the camera out. Nellie and Joe’s key lime juice is the best I’ve encountered (great rec from Mom) and it was their recipe I used. I’m not the first food-blogger to sing their praises either!

I’m embarrassed because many times there’s a difficulty to deliciousness ratio that must be maintained with pie. A ready-made graham crust + three ingredients (14oz sweetened condensed milk, 3 egg yolks, ½ cup key lime juice)? I had to make whipped cream in the 15 minutes it took to bake because I felt guilty at how easy it was.

We jetted off to the north north lovely suburbs to J’s hometown for dinner with his mom and dessert with his dad. This was actually my first time to meet Baba and it turns out key lime pie is his favorite. He had two pieces. Assuming that’s where Jaimeson’s sweet tooth comes from, many pies could qualify for favorite status but I was pleased nonetheless and it was fun to look from one to the other as they told stories. Charming, the both of them!

Somewhere in the course of our afternoon, I noticed a little tweet from FoodMomiac about an 8 mile commute for bagels. I worked it out in my head and figured she must be heading north and wondered what little treasure she’d discovered. I had no idea.

New York Bagel & Bialy in Skokie/Lincolnwood is open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, cash only. It is one of the top 3 bagels of my life. Maybe the best. For about $20 we walked away with 6 mishmosh/Everything bagels, 2 tubs of homemade chive cream cheese (omygoodness), two Dr. Brown’s sodas (Diet Black Cherry ftw), ½ lb Nova Lox, a red onion, a tomato and a piece of raspberry cheese rugalach because it just looked so good. Amazing. We dropped bounty off at D’s and ate like royalty for the next two mornings.

This brings us into the last two nights- the end is in site! By Sunday, my ability to suppress office thought was getting impaired. After a predictably delicious/entertaining brunch at Milk + Honey with EpiChem & Elle Michelle, I was compelled to open my laptop again and start prepping for the full week to come. It was during this little Google Reader session that I came across a MattBites post on citrus. It was beautiful (seriously, make the jump) and had all sorts of delicious ideas for the citric bounty bestowed on us by J’s mother (6 grapefruits, 10 oranges).

The two main takeaways were a roast chicken stuffed with lemons, rosemary and garlic and an Avocado Grapefruit salad on Boston lettuce. So we made both- my first whole roasted chicken!- paired with mashed potatoes with steamed rainbow chard. Glorious from every angle.

And then last night. Monday night. I actually wrote the vast majority of this post last night, leaving this one for tonight so I would have some distance and perhaps a little less bias from my Monday night dinner with my ladies of the lis. Every Monday we get together. Every single Monday that Gossip Girl is on and even some that aren't (try not to judge, I don't even have cable but I do enjoy the repartee and particularly the opportunity to dish internally). We hustle between houses and there have been many documentable meals shared, even the semi-homemade ones are delicious (Home Pizza Co. WHOA) and the laughter is abundant.

Last night was Giada’s Gina’s turn to cook and friends, I would recommend enlarging that photo. Fried oysters with a spicy tomato sauce, Grapefruit and Fennel salad on Spring Mix and the main dish....Champagne Risotto with Asparagus. Girlfriend was completely inspired with the menu and it was delicious along with the company.


And in conclusion...


1) Please see the Emily Leonard painting I was presented with for Christmas. I was a little blown away as she's been a favorite artist for a few years now and it's my first real piece of art. I still can't believe he did that. Truth be told, watching him be so excited watching me be so excited was really most of the present and I'm excited to be able to hang a beautiful reminder of that on my wall.

We found a creative framer and I'm now counting down the days till I can pick it up at Four-Sided. I look at it and I kind feel like I'm out-punting my coverage to have something that gorgeous in my apartment. Going to try to play up, as it were. That's the only sports metaphor I know how to use appropriately, don't get used to it. But do get used to glassy stares and dumb grinning. LOTS of that going around.

2) Hometown Adventure Series- Jaimeson is a Chicago boy. I am adopted. We are moving through this city one neighborhood at a time and falling in love with it a little deeper. This was taken in Lincoln Square just outside the Chopping Block. Photo #4 was taken of the Brothers in the Seminary building at the University of Chicago (just above a fantastic bookstore). We ate in Chinatown, we shopped the Sweden Shop (RAD) and we drank like Scottsmen. I'm having a ball and it's helping with the wanderlust.

3) Of course Jaimeson got me an incredible painting and my prize under his tree was a lamp. But in my defense I still love the lamp and thought of him as soon as I saw it. It's rad and has a lovely spot in my kitchen before following J back to California in a couple weeks. We had a very artistic Christmas:)

4) Damon and Momma J are from the same "spoil the girl rotten" school of thought that J is. Squealing commenced within the millisecond of me figuring out what was in the box. A 7" hollow edge Pro S Santoku from Henckels. With a matching paring knife. I've never owned a knife that cuts bagels like room temperature butter. And the new game is to see how thin I can slice any. given. thing. Obsessed.

You will see it peppered throughout this post because it rarely leaves my hand, something that is somehow endearing to J rather than disconcerting. "First girl I've dated where there's a minimal chance she'll use it on me" was the direct quote, I believe.

As appropriate a sentiment as any to end on. It's hard to avoid the Januaryism of thinking back this time last year but maybe I don't want to. I like to think about it. I like to think about it a lot and I giggle at the thought of a wine date with my January 2008 self and catching her up on what's ahead. Love, food, bold moves, international intrigue...

Dear Universe,
Yes, I'll have another round of that but make 9 a double.
Love, (so much that it draws the blood clean out of my toes sometimes and makes them tingle)
TKTC