Snow Day (Spinach, Sausage and Shallot Quiche)

This is what a Sunday snow day looks like. This is what it tastes like too but never let it be said that I am cruel enough to ask you to imagine that. For the record, you're looking at a spinach, sausage (banger, if we're going to get specific) and shallot quiche, baked into my favorite pie crust.
To be even more specific, this is another view of the same snow day.

Sunday Snow Day from ToKissTheCook on Vimeo.

For those of you in warmer climates (cough *parents* ahem), this is what a snow day looks and sounds like. Please forgive the low-fi recording but I think you get the idea.


Yes, I think we all prefer the view from here a little better though it has to be said that from inside a cozy house, hot coffee in hand, looking at evergreens heavy with snow isn't the worst way to spend an afternooon. It's potentially the best way to spend an afternoon when it involves a long lunch with Miss Rebecca.

The coffee in this case is my latest little addiction- Tanzanian from Steaming Bean. A friend brought an extra pound back from a Colorado adventure and I'm officially hooked.

Incidentally, it washes this down really well and will properly defrost any toes that dare trudge through the snow toward quiche.
I love days like this. I was up early early early for no particular reason and just started making pie crusts. Then watched Hannah and Her Sisters followed by a snowmelt sweatfest and then the lunchy brunchy business above. Tonight is a turkey dinner with yet another neighborhood friend/family and I go bearing apple pie. A great day and it's just nice to write that down from time to time.

Spinach Sausage and Shallot Quiche
1 half pie crust recipe ( or just make a full one and save the other half for some other noble cause)
1 8 oz package frozen organic spinach (thawed and wrung of as much liquid as possible)
5 pork bangers (I love Spencer's- great quality, posh tasty)
2 shallots, minced
1 cup shredded or shaved Pecorino cheese
7 eggs
3/4 cup whole milk (2% would work fine)
Pinch of Nutmeg
Salt and Pepper (hooked on Maldon Smoked Salt)

1) Put your pie crust together, chill it for at least an hour, roll it out, put in your pie or quich dish and put it in the fridge till you're ready to fill it.
2) Preheat oven to 400 F.
3) Saute your bangers in a frying pan over medium heat, ensuring even browning on all sides. Bangers tell you they're done by splitting open. Once your little meats are split and browned, put them on a plate lined with paper towels and let them cool a bit.
4) Saute your shallots in the banger drippings. There are healthier ways to do this but I ran 5 miles this morning and was feeling a little cheeky/counterproductive. Sue me.
5) Scramble your eggs and use a basting brush to glaze the top of your quiche crust. You'll appreciate this later when your edges are all glossy. Once that's done, add your milk and continue to beat egg mixture till everything is incorporated and it's a uniform consistency.
6) Add spinach, bangers, cheese and sauteed shallots to egg mixture. Season but go a little heavier on the pepper than the salt- both the bangers and the cheese are giving you a little extra sel already.
7) Pour mixture into your pie crust, tent loosely with foil and bake for 1 hour at 400. Check it at 45 minutes and remove the foil if you need some extra browning on top.
8) Once the quiche is set in the middle (no more jiggling), pull it out and let it cool for 10-15 minutes before slicing. Know that sounds like torture because the house is going to smell really really good but it's worth it to have slices that actually come out of the pan in the way nature intended.

Cheezy Like (Cheddar & Onion) Biscuits

This poor blog is a sad state of affairs. You know you've been on hiatus when your significant other tells you it's time. I still presume him rather ambivalent to my corners of the internet for some reason. It's not that life has gotten dull or stale (HA) or that I've quit cooking (HAHA) or kissing (LMAO). It's just that I frequently find myself all tapped out. And I look at this lovely thing and I see a template that I've seen a dozen other places. I think my blog needs new shoes or something. Maybe a matching URL.

I often wonder if a new look to call my own wouldn't be just what the doctor ordered. Or if I simply need to try a little harder to be a morning person. I was a morning person on Saturday, the light on those damn biscuits as my witness.

I shouldn't use language like that with them, it wasn't their fault. Saturday was the one collegiate tradition I still uphold with friends and continues to resonate with me year after year. In preparation for what can be a rather colorful day (if by colorful, you mean green), and properly introduce it to Jaimeson, in town for a few days, our plan was to take Friday night off. Make dinner at home. Bake the biscuits. Watch a movie.

The appeal of two bottles of wine did not factor in for either of us until it was too late and there I am trying on the bridesmaid dress I'll don in several weeks with my big fur hat. Waltzing around the kitchen and living room to bayou music with my ever-so-amused paramour. (Shakes head)

So you can understand that in such a state, I may have over-handled some biscuit dough. May have dropped a step off the process. May have made English muffins rather than the flaky, buttery biscuits I'd envisioned.

Oh no. I could not show up at breakfast with these. And yet I was in no state to keep baking and at least able to recognize it fully.

Que 5am. I'm awake. I'm AWAKE and panicked. There are very few areas of my life in which I could qualify for OCD behavior. Not my desk. Not the dishes. Not the laundry. Not the hair.

Really just cooking and baking. And these "biscuits" by groggy, soggy, soupy morning light? Unacceptable. Good thing Jaimeson picked up that extra cheese because I shut HC in the bedroom to sleep with him and I got. to. work. I knew I was working with a great recipe, Rustic Kitchen/Janine have yet to steer me wrong, but dough of any kind requires a light touch and not a small amount of eccentricity in a baker. #1 mehhhh but #2 CHECK.

Second time's the charm. I pranced right back to bed just in time to rouse the troops with a triumphant piece of biscuit in hand (J is not said to like mornings but I usually go with food and sweetness and have never had a problem). And thus we took our offerings to Boo's and that is where my camera stayed. Probably for the best...you wouldn't believe the rest of the day if I told you. And I'm not entirely sure that I would have told you anyway.

Recipe can be found at Rustic Kitchen. It's delicious and may save lives.

Snowed In

This is not an obscene amount of snow in Chicago. It's a LOT but not unheard of. What is unheard of? That I've been looking for the house shovel since 5:15am. My landlord is amazing and is awesome about keeping the front walk shoveled but I need to dig my car out in the back. Something that strikes me as a workout in and of itself on the way to the gym.

Ugh. Guess I will be having a yoga morning. Not all bad...that extra 2 hours of sleep will put me at 10 hours. Now THAT'S obscene.

Butternuts: A Healthy Cooking Explosion

As promised, I've got a healthy recipe- Butternut Squash Soup. Yes, I done just had butternut squash last night but what can I say? I love orange food and don't need glasses yet for that reason (maybe some genes too).

Can't take all the credit on finding the recipe though ...that would be my blog buddies: Miss Scarlett of I'll Never Go Hungry Again and Susie/Chels of We Are Not Martha. My Boston counterpart and fellow orange foodie, the lovely Susie, and her partner-in-crime just started We Are Not Martha and even after just a few weeks, it is a very nice translation of all "good things" for the twentysomething. I'm loving it so far!! Miss Scarlett is just a revelation of health and had no small part in my getting back into the gym- no small deed after that much time away.

I used to make a version with Light Coconut Milk and curry and freeze it for the college boyfriend but this was even easier as a weeknight meal after a long workout and a long day. Abby was over (always game for a healthy night in) and while I didn't heed Sues' advice to get pre-cut and peeled squash, we chatted as I made a total mess in the 2.5 ft circumference of my trashcan and then nuked it for 5 min in the microwave.

I have a half moon scar on my left thumb from failing to do that second step in college and with a college-grade knife, no less. Vivid memories of blood in a dish towel, yelling up the Sugar Shack stairs to CVD(J), " CCCCC....Can you drive me to the hospital please?" Stitches by way of butternut squash. Sheesh. No such terror this time and I am officially coming back to my point. Recipe below with TKTC notes at the very bottom:

Butternut Squash Soup Ingredients Serves 4 to 6. 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 onion, coarsely chopped Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper 3 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch chunks 1 can (14 1/2 ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth 1 to 3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Directions In a large Dutch oven or pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion. Season with salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add squash, broth, and enough water (4 to 5 cups) to cover. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium, and simmer until squash is tender, about 20 minutes. Using a blender or an immersion blender, puree broth and vegetables until smooth. If using a blender, work in batches and fill only halfway, allowing heat to escape: Remove cap from hole in lid, cover lid firmly with a dish towel, and blend. Transfer to a clean pot as you work. Adjust soups consistency with a little water if necessary. Season with salt, pepper, and lemon juice.

TKTC Notes: Original recipe is from Martha Stewart. You can watch the video version here.

• There is not a lot of salt in this. To add flavor without the sel, add about two shakes each of curry powder, ground cumin, cinnamon, nutmeg and one shake of cayenne. Top it off with fresh ground pepper.
• Makes a lot. Have tupperware ready.
• Ok, maybe an extra pinch of sea salt wont' kill you...
  

You can see in the top picture that we didn't JUST eat soup. We had a baby romaine salad with walnuts, low fat feta, craisins, sliced pork tenderloin and hard-boiled egg as well. Dressing? Well Paul Newman Light Balsamic of course. I love that dressing so much that I decided to wear and decorate my kitchen with it. False.

I forgot that I had already shaken the dressing and loosened the top before serving our soup. So when I went to shake-n-toss, it exploded all. over. everything. There was a lot of salad dressing scented laughter and I still have some crusted to my neck I think. Yum- fresh from the gym and covered in dressing. The picture doesn't even do it justice. Thank God Abs was there to witness the ridiculousness.

Bottom line? Delicious and easy Wednesday meal with all kinds of health going on.

Also, today (Wed) marked Day 1 of a 4 day training blitz. I've been going 3-4 times a week in January but this week I'm looking at 5 and I'm excited. Mostly I'm excited that it doesn't hurt to sit down to pee anymore (curse that extra X chromosone) but I'm also ecstatic that I feel like I've finally stopped spinning my wheels and can (just ever so barely) see a difference. This is a very important day because now I'm trying to see how far I can take this. After the early days of straight up dragging my sore, shaking legs out of bed, I'm starting to compete.

And I lost tonight.

CarrieAnne- 4-5 inches shorter than me and petite all-around- 100% burned me in wind sprints tonight. No gazelle stride was going to get me out of that. I bang out lunges at 6x her rate but she's still doing more work because I rely on my inseam to go the distance. Hence why her little legs are so good at getting around so damn fast. Matt was laughing at me because he could see it: I hate to lose. Not in a bad way but man alive. They say that playing a sport with someone a little better than you is the best thing you can do for yourself. You play up. This definitely applies outside of sports as well and I'm always looking for the challenge (and trying to be one).

I'll be in at 6am tomorrow to take another crack at it. For CarrieAnne's sake, of course ;)

Cold Night...Hot Chocolate

Goodnight, busy season has fully descended on the land of mischief and ice. Truth be told, there are some benefits. Namely that my weeks of chain gang between computers happens to correspond with a certain bitter chill possessing my second city. So I put my head down and by the time I'm looking around again, the days are getting long, the snow is melting and it smells like Easter lilies. Not a bad deal.

All this silver lining aside, the clouds are convening tonight and this weekend the high is going to hover around 7. Windchill? I can't even speak it. Let's just say, it's not a real number. I would say it's even an irrational number but Pop Pop would end up correcting me.

This leaves us with several options for staying warm (since I seem to have "staying busy" in spades).

1) Exercise- Some of you ski, some of you run, some of you snowboard and some of us need a big heated room with a straightaway to sprint and lunge on or many brightly colored mats. I have to say that after a couple months of just boring myself to tears, being back in action makes my soul smile. Plus I train with 2-3 other people in a circuit so there maaay be a place for that notorious competitive streak. I gotta wide stride and I am not afraid to use it. When I am not at the Loft, I am at Bikram. It is 105 degrees in that room, friends. Tell me that a little frost isn't going to feel damn good after 90 minutes of yoga in a Death Valley spring.

2) Mischief- According to an episode of "Boy Meets World" I saw at some point, it is easier for two people to capitalize on shared body warmth sans parkas. And sans socks, long unders, boots etc. I think Eric was stuck in the mountains with a snow bunny from the ski shop. Anyone? Anyhow, traditional exercise isn't the only thing producing endorphins so those of you in a "position" to stay warm and get your heart rates up this way should really be out there for all of us.

3) Plans- Namely, the kind of plans you can put on your calendar a bit in advance. This way, you not only get the anticipation factor, but you can alert your friend the Zamboni man to get you to the bar on time when you're under 36" of ice and marked up drafts.
* Bonus: Dinner parties. The local chapter of Shady Creek subdivision alums are coming over for dinner on Saturday so we won't even have to leave the house. And yes, recipes will be linked.

4) Books- The writers are still on strike but this leaves all kinds of primetime open for good reads that you kept pushing off. Get Zamboni to drive you to Barnes & Noble, pick up something good and toasty and settle into a sizable chair. Aided and Abetted by #5 and Bookslut.

5) Critters- It's cold. If you don't have someone to keep your lap/toes warm, you should look into heading to PAWS or the Anti-Cruelty Society. HoneyCat has already saved me a small fortune in heating costs and there are a lot of other little (and large) ones out there who could be doing the same for you. Although, look at the pictures and tell me that bringing one home could ever really be just a business decision.

Tonight I was kept warm by #3. Tina was back in town and we managed to avoid a bar fight this time. Lady was in Evanston all day re-living her collegiate aspirations and met Cam and I at Hot Chocolate for dinner. Mindy Segal is pretty spectacular. I had what appeared to be a fishbowl of Edmunds St. John Rocks & Gravel Grenache, Mourvèdre and Syrah blend.

Dinner was pumpkin pappardelle pasta with braised bay scallops, walnut pesto and sauteed winter greens (so many favorite things in one place). Cam and Tina had the mussels in a light curry sauce. I got through about half of mine before remembering rumor that dessert is what Mindy has been known for since her days with Mr. Trotter. Where there's smoke...there is apparently hot chocolate:
Cam went with Chocolate #2 The Cake & Shake. Four Layer Chocolate Buttercream Cake with a Milk Chocolate shot.
Tina went with Banana: Banana Cream Pie in a pool of homemade toffee sauce and Banana Bread Pudding with toffee and dark chocolate woven in and whipped cream on top. And carmelized bananas for garnish.
I went with the acclaimed Chocolate #1 for those of us who like a little salt with our sweet. A dark chocolate souffle with salted caramel ice cream and two homemade pretzels then drizzled with toffee. We each had two bites of our own picks and of course tried the others.

I'm not one for regrets in general but knowing I'd be back at the loft tomorrow morning at 6am certainly made me feel better about the decadence. Ugh. Better start thinking about bed...

And not that this should come as a sidenote but everyone from the hostess to the waitress and waiters were really cool. Nice, prompt and full of both good suggestions and baked goods.
Poor Tina. Her flight is delayed 4 hours out of OHare due to the ice so she is bundled in my living room watching whatever I have on the DVR. Planet Earth, The Office...that's about all.

Anita Mann

Saturday marks my day of major detail disposal. As in, time to finish the shopping. My biggest project will be finding 10 colognes that I think my Dad would like. I'm also just excited to see how that one comes together. Truthfully, I'm excited about some others too but they are readers:)

Guys, what do you like? Girls, what do you love? Even if it's a classic, even if it's off the beaten path- I will look at it. The man has worn everything from classic Polo to Woods by Abercrombie & Fitch. Be nice though- no Tommy. Olafactory overdrive.

Scentsational Gift Idea

Boyfriends/Husbands/ Partners/Daughters/Sisters/Brothers/Sons, take a mental note.

Sephora has had an aHA! moment(courtesy of Ben at We Love Beauty) and come up with an idea that has me going "Why didn't I think of that?" It's a scent sampler. Samples of their 10 best selling perfumes with a free atomizer and a voucher for the "chosen one" once she decides which is her favorite. For 50 bones. Brilliant.Are you puzzled as to why this is such a profound accomplishment in the realm of good ideas? Let's get personal. (all photos are linked)

Generally speaking, I, like many of you, like to smell good. As I am in my own company more than with anyone in particular, it's frequently for my own benefit although I do so love when you notice. I've never been able to wear a perfume that a) "Everyone" is wearing and downright refuse to even consider it when b) it is the signature scent of a good friend or colleague.
For the last eight years I've been wearing Flower by Kenzo almost daily, which I do still love and remain the only one I know of wearing it. I've worked in Kate Spade for ladies lunches and Nanadebary Pink, which I bought solely for the fabulous bottle but have since taken to wearing seasonally. I am now gunning for something fresh for the new year.
But who has the time? And how do you determine which one smells like "you" when you're in migraine mode from the zillion spritzes happening on all sides at the department store or apothecary? And THIS is how those of you looking for a creative, personal gift can add your own twist. Instead of going for the top 10, do your homework and find 10 unique scents you like for ________. Look at the descriptions online (Lucky does a nice round-up), a good guess would be to find something with one similar basenote to what they currently wear so there is something familiar in the mix but done differently(i.e. gardenia, jasmine, sandalwood, citrus).
Make a voucher for their favorite once chosen or have a Sephora/Nordstrom/Barneys gift certificate on hand. This not only allows for a gift that is very "From ME to YOU" but it keeps on giving as they try a new one every day and really get to make the choice on their own time, in the context of their own life/pheramones. It is also something that can smell so very rich and still be reasonable for the $$$ and can be worn daily.
This is now a consideration for my Dad, who is also the world's hardest person to shop for. He wears scents I love- Polo Blue, Sandalwood by the Art of Shaving (my favorite: I picked it for Brother one year and it caught on family-style) etc. But Dad is always looking for a change (insert cliche about apples falling from trees and whatnot) and this year he will have all kinds.I think I'm going to run around and grab some favorite ideas, then let him choose while we're in Mexico over Christmas. This just keeps getting better (welcome to my realtime stream of consciousness everyone): I'm going to go to a thrift store and find a cute, cheap tie. I'm going to lay my choice amulets out on top of the tie and sew them into little loops one at a time. Fold the tie as one normally would in a tie box and VOILA! Presentation. And this is how Christmas shopping starts to get very very fun...

Good Things- Gift Ideas and Eye-Catchers

Recycled Aluminum Vase by VivaTerra.com- I like anything with kind've rough edges, particularly modeled after nature. And these sound pretty good for nature to boot! At $19 more than the original (by favored designer Michael Aram), they come with a cause. Check. Runner up.

Porcelain Peony by Vivre.com- I just want to see these intermixed with skipping rocks on a rich wood bookshelf. Color-coordinated book jackets are optional. For $25, not a bad way to posh up the pad. Runner Up is for the Guys, since they probably don't need porcelain peonies but DEFINITELY need cashmere/croc slippers.Exotic Truffle Collection by Vosges- There's always chocolate and this is, in my humble opinion, the very best. And I kinda want to be the founder of this company, Katrina Markoff.
Alexis Bittar Cerulean Deco Pendant Why do I still want to paint a wall of my "home office" this color? With gold accents and thin frames with thick white mats? Still no? Fine, I will try to make due with this gorgeous Art Deco style necklace that reminds me of the kind of New Year's Eve dinner I want to give one year. Actually this site has a lot of very chic, affordable options. Tough to pick a runner-up but if you insist. "Secret" by the Pierces just came on my playlist which sounds somehow appropriate.

Either Or Rose Flats- Anthropologie. These remind me of my first pair of ballet flats. Black, leater ballet flats with a flower on the outside toe. I literally wore them into the ground in college and since then have let the pavement eat 1 pair of Delmans, 1 pair of Bananas and 1 pair of Marc Jacobs (on sale, still in college). These on the other hand, while not really snow appropriate, are a happy color and have just the right amount of whimsy that I think they'd hold up against most of my black. And my, I do have quite a bit. My runner-up for cute Anthro shoe is here.Art is a tricky thing to buy for someone else but I know a few guy friends that could use a few things on their walls. Or I want them to take some things off their walls that I think they've grown out of. They disagree but maybe when presented with a Spike Press poster, framed and matted at FourSided, there will be real room for improvement.

PAWS Chicago has a new facility in Lincoln Park. Word on the balcony is that the company Christmas activity may involve a visit to said new facility. It may also involve bringing two kittens back with us. After Muffet's passing in October, I think the boss is ready for new friends. Donating to worthwhile organization would make a great gift.
I also have a Christmas cookie party to go to this weekend in Gold Coast. I've been weighing my options but have decided to go with Wolfgang Puck's Chocolate-Covered Almond Toffee Bars recipe from Tuesday's Tribune. I may also spice it up with the Addison's (my fabulous, crazy Cajun neighbors in Memphis) peppermint bark recipe. Speaking of the Addisons, Wayne is one of the main sources of my passion for cooking. He's good. I was making Bananas Foster in their kitchen when I was twelve- he's that good (I will need to share that recipe soon-good reminder). And he gave me my first really nice cookbook (above) for my high school graduation. My other favorites for now (in case you're related to a Cook) are Super Natural Cooking, Barefoot Contessa (original from Lo) and Julie & Julia.

And at the end of the day, think about the person. Dad likes to give the gifts he'd like to get- generous but to mixed results when your better half is technologically apathetic and you run an internet-based company (i.e. looove tech toys). We all do that to an extent but I think it's treatable. This year I'm thinking really hard about each person in order to do something that I can a) afford that is b) ecstatically relevant. I have a couple ideas but this is not a secure setting:)

Winter in Wicker Park- Act 1

I decided to make this Act 1 because my opinion on winter will inevitably change as the season progresses. I say this because right now I am a little giddy. The holidays are here and so is the first snow. Once the snow is crusty and frozen to my windshield, I will have other choice words for it but for now- gorgeous. As someone raised in the South, I chose winter. I chose snow and I chose the contrast in seasons- I feel like it mirrors who I am better than someplace that's kinda the same all year (not requiring both a bathing suit AND an ice pick). Chicago is beautiful in every season but different every time. I spent the afternoon with CVDJ out for lunch, life-translating and shopping/slipping gracelessly in chi-chi boutiques in my new Christmas boots. Lunch was at the Earwax Cafe- a Bucktown/WP staple near the tri-corner and Flat Iron building(we sat in that left corner booth). This is the kind of place that drew me to the neighborhood- eclectic, a little too cool for school (ie highly entertaining for people watching) and good food. C went with a short stack while I branched for the "Messy Burger" which was really quite delicious. A black bean burger= good eating. Who knew??
After we were done feeling broke, we decided to check Kmart for my mini-Christmas tree. I keep going back and forth on the feasability of a real one vs something that is less sustainable in the long run and doesn't smell as good. But HC is an eater and this concerns me. I'll come back to that. What we DID find were some adorable Martha Stewart "Woodland Berry" garlands which, for a 10 spot , neither of us could pass up. The Kmart part of this is that the color on the berries comes off when in contact with liquid. I know this because HoneyCat's licking her lips with annoyance right now and her tongue is maraschino cherry red....the same color as the mysterious spots now in residence on the window sill. Damn cat.I have this vision of my apartment from the outside with little red berries framing the window with a lit-up tree sitting back from it. I have gorgeous evergreens sweeping over the front yard which, I have to say, wear snow beautifully and all in all make for quite the winterscape.Speaking of the holidays...I think this rug is going to be my Christmas gift to my apartment. Saw it featured on Apartment Therapy and it is a steal!

Lastly- a little shout-out to Jamie at Oh! How Lovely because she introduced me to one of my new favorite songs with her Music meme the other day- listening to Sweet Avenue by Jets to Brazil. Time for a cup of Tetley and a good read. In no way do I need to go out in this nastiness tonight:)