December 2009
21 posts
Have we already talked about how obsessed I am with vegtables? I know we’ve talked about both my new found love for asparagus, and grape tomatoes, but it doesn’t stop there. Oh no! If it’s a vegtable, I love it.
Now I know this is not earth shattering or anything new for that matter. But I think we should all take a time out in our days and recognize how delicious and...
It’s the holiday season, it’s okay to indugle yourself a little more often. Or atleast that is what I’m trying to convice myself. That, and with finals overtaking my life, I deserve a snack every now and then (more now, than then).
Baking also helps destress me, therefore giving me the best excuse ever to whip up some orea truffles the other night. And not just one batch, two...
I hate chocolate cake. I like chocolate, but in small doses. A whole cake of it? Consider me uninterested.
So one day last spring when my friend Laura told me about a chocolate cake her mom made for all family birthdays, I shrugged it off assuming that it couldn’t possibly be that good. And when she disclosed that the secret ingredient was none other than mayonnaise, I will admit I was a...
ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT
I have BIG news!
I have located another precious item to add to the list of mango flavored things that I adore.
Simply Orange juice with Mango
I am convinced that this is the nectar of the gods. Since finding this a little over a week ago, I may have consumed over two bottles full of the stuff. Delicious! Run, don’t walk to your nearest neighborhood grocery store...
One thing I always miss about home is the food. And not just mom’s cooking either, the restaurants as well. One of my favorites, Sonic just opened up a location not far from downtown Chicago. I have already been there two or three times to get my slushie fix. However, one restaurant that is noticeably missing from the fast food scene up here is Chik-fil-a.
Chik-fil-a is not like any other...
I’m always impressed when people make homemade soup. Is it just me, or does that seem particularly hard to master? Except for my one semi-failed attempt at baked potato soup, I have yet to really give it a go.
My mom made me a delicious Italian soup while I was home. She had found the recipe on the internet and gave it a try in order to find something new for dinner one night. What a...
My top adult beverages:
BEER Any kind, any where. I love beer. It’s not a secret. I would prefer beer over almost any other alcoholic beverage. It’s cheap [for the most part] and tasty. Can’t go wrong with that.
Cider My friend introduced me to cider, and I have a lot to thank her for. This sweet drink is a version of ale and beer that gets my taste buds all excited. ...
Over the colder months there is nothing more delicious to me than pumpkin flavored foods and even drinks. Now, I’m not much of a pumpkin pie eater (strange, I know) but there are few other things flavored pumpkin that I don’t like. The obsession isn’t quite full blown mango style, but it’s getting there.
When I was home for Thanksgiving I stopped by Williams Sonoma to...
Once upon a time I was the least adventurous eater in the world. I knew what I liked, and I knew that I hated trying new things. I think it comes from years and years of eating at the same restaurants, and eating the same food that my mother made. It was all so good, why did I need to try new things?
Well in my final years of high school, I got my first job at a restaurant. Prior to...
Do you remember how exciting it was as a kid to have your birthday and bring in treats for you class to celebrate? Even though I was born in June, I got to bring in treats on my half birthday and it was always an ordeal deciding what I wanted to bring.
Now this was the days before it had to be prepackaged food. My mom would always make the best cupcakes or cookies or cake from scratch and I was...
Raise your hand if you actually know how to cut asparagus….
Well if you raised your hand, consider yourself smarter than I. Because aparently I’ve been living under a rock. Or maybe I’ve just never cut aspargus before? Either way, the other day I was dying for some. That was about the time I decided to get adventurous with my grilled chicken, and so I decided to sautee some...
For the two years that I’ve been living by myself and subsequently cooking for myself, I’ve always been super intimidated by cooking meat. There doesn’t seem like much you can do without a grill to me, unless you want to make a casserole of some sort, and even then I don’t really know many recipes for that. However, I love chicken and steak and all sort of meats, that...
I love fried rice. I always assumed it would be easy to make, but I probably couldn’t master it as well as I would like. After all, usually nothing tastes as good as your favorite restaurant’s fried rice. And well my favorite restaurant’s fried rice is so delicious, I didn’t even want to try and compete. The restaurant is called Shogun and is a Japanese steakhouse where...
November 2009
6 posts
One of my favorite meals growing up was when my mom would let us each make our own little pizzas. They were the simplest things for her to make, considering we did the majority of the work actually adding the toppings and such. Plus they are quick and delicious!
Remembering this a few weeks ago, I decided to have some friends over to make some with me. Everyone brought a topping, ranging from...
I love anything mango. It is true. If it is flavored mango, I will try it and most likely I will love it. Here is a list of things that I love that just happened to be flavored mango:
Mango Black Tea: Perfect way to wind down my day. I love tea, and I love mango.
Mango Bubble Tea: Delicious. With tapioca and fresh mango on top.
Mango Iced Tea: Made by Lipton, a great sweet drink.
Mango...
I’m in college, so I’m going to be real with you. Cheap is always good. And when the food is good, it is even better.
As is the case with Bar Louie on Tuesday nights. Dollar burger night as it is known on and around campus. You can go to Bar Louie, get a drink and your burger is only a dollor. Of course they charge you extra for any toppings or fries, but even then, it’s...
October 2009
18 posts
Sometimes, I sit in my apartment craving anything that contains sugar. Sometimes it gets so bad that I devise desserts and sweets in my head that I can make with the ingredients I already have in my cabinet, which is never much. Sometimes, I actually make those recipes. And then I eat the whole batch in an entire sitting.
So what if this entire scenario played itself out the other night? And...
I challenge anyone to find a better snack than grape tomatoes. Okay, okay, I know people are very opinionated about tomatoes. You either love them, or hate them. And I personally, although not the biggest fan of tomato on sandwiches and the like, love tiny little grape tomatoes. In fact, just last week I bought a whole package of them with the intention of putting them in some salads, or...
Last week was I was craving my mom’s food. I wasn’t looking forward to cooking for myself, and more than anything I wanted her to come make me her famous chicken pot pie. Unfortunately she lives roughly 10 hours from me and that wasn’t going to happen. So after calling her one night and begging her to come make it for me, she did the next best thing and sent me the recipe. It...
I experienced Bucca di Beppo for the first time this past week. What an experience that was. Although I personally didn’t eat anything there other than a bowl of Italian Wedding Soup, which was delicious, the experience was a great one.
Some reasons why I’ll go back to actually eat next time:
The restaurant gives kitchen tours to all new guests. How cool is that? I got to see the...
My Favorite Places to get Sushi in Chicago
I have become somewhat of a sushi connoisseur. I eat far too much of it, but could keep eating it forever. My favorite two rolls are spicy tuna maki and shrimp tempura. These are my favorite places to frequent:
Tamarind 614 S. Wabash Ave.
My favorite place by far. It helps that it is only about two blocks away from my house. But I eat here entirely too often. They have more than just...
Peanut butter & chocolate. There is no better combination in the world. Am I right?
Well, when I was craving both of those one night I remembered these deserts the lunch ladies at my elementary school used to make for us called Buckeyes. Immediately I knew I had to make them.
Probably the best decision I’ve made in a while. I made them a week ago, and I’ve been rationing them...
I often need inspiration for what I’m going to make for dinner. Sometimes I talk to my mom and suggests something, but most of the time I depend on the trusty internet. There really is a wealth of information out there to help anyone. Here are my top sites for inspiration and meal ideas.
Tasty Kitchen (http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/)
Developed in conjunction with one of my...
Ice cream is my weakness. I will eat any kind, any where. You think I’m kidding, but I’m not. It is an inherited trait, as both my parents are the same way. I go through phases of the kind of ice cream I prefer. Sometimes it is mint chocolate chip, sometimes chocolate chip cookie dough. But right now, it is simple…. vanilla. But not just vanilla. Vanilla with chocolate...
Baked Potato Soup
Sundays are made for lounging. And eating. Growing up, that was always the day of the week that my family had to be at family dinner. Not that we wanted to be anywhere else, simply because my mom always made the most delicious meals on Sundays. Slaving all day in the kitchen always paid off. Thank God this only happens once a week, right? Because I would not be able to do this 6 more times a...
At the beginning of the year I spent almost two weeks in France. Paris to be more specific. There are a few things everyone should know about the French before trekking across the world to visit them. There are as follows:
They are more fashionable than you will ever be.
They love their Eiffel Tower. And they love to sell any sort of merchandise with the Tower prominently placed on it.
...
September 2009
8 posts
Everyone should have a go-to snack that they can’t live without. Something that their body craves at midnight. Something they always have stocked in their kitchen, no matter what.
For me, my absolute, all time favorite snack is frozen blueberries. There is absolutely nothing in the world like sitting down on the couch with a bowl full of frozen berries. They are refreshing and tasty. ...
Molly's Cupcakes
No Saturday is complete without gorging yourself on too much sugar. To celebrate a beautiful day in the Windy City, a few friends and I trekked up to Lincoln Park to acquire what some may call the best cupcakes Chicago has to offer.
I had never been to Molly’s Cupcakes, but as soon as I stepped in the door, I knew I was hooked. One sniff of the sweet bakery air is all I needed. Choosing...
