Three Sweet Years

Three years ago today Jeff and I were driving back to Chicago following our Cincinnati wedding at Alms Park. The previous day we had said vows, danced, got sunburned (just me) and smiled for pictures. Now we were headed back home to hop on a plane to California. It was the start of a beautiful marriage. After we traveled all of San Francisco by foot, pedaled across the Golden Gate bridge, got drunk for 3 days straight on really awesome wine, and opted out of sleeping at a creepy horror movie house, I'd done a rough tally that we successfully evaded death about 12 times.

I'm not being dramatic. we almost died on our honeymoon. I'll save you some theatrics and just warn you never drive to Eureka no matter what the Chamber of Commerce website says; also, if you want to go to Mendocino, wait until you're 50 - you'll probably enjoy it more and definitely do NOT think it's a good idea to drive Highway 1 down the coastline back to San Francisco.

Please learn from our mistakes. There are portions of Highway 1 that have eroded away and the road just isn't there in one lane anymore. Your lane. They kindly warn you with a single orange cone, but if you miss the cone by chance, you and your lovely will be plummeting Thelma and Louise style into the Pacific. Also, it's not the best road to travel at night. It's dark. There aren't gas stations for miles - tens of miles... twenties of miles. Oh and no cell reception, so don't dare run out of gas. And there are deer. Lots of deer, flying out in front of your car on their way to the beach. Again - Thelma and Louise.

Thankfully, we survived Highway 1 along with a half dozen other flirtations with death and I took this as a great omen that our marriage was built to last.

So far we're doing pretty good. We've smoothly made it through buying an apartment in a Chicago seller's market and then selling it in a buyer's market. We made it through both of us finishing (almost finishing) our educations. We made it through a big move to a new city and a new life. We made it through pregnancy. Childbirth. And 10 months of Marlo.

Doesn't sound like much does it? It isn't. I know. But I have faith we could make it through tougher times if they arrive.

So to celebrate our greatness as a duo, we had our favorite fancy meal last night, Pesto Halibut Kebabs. I was absolutely shocked when I visited the butcher yesterday and saw that the halibut was running only $17.99/lb. Wha?! I'm used to paying about $4 more per pound for the fish. Apparently the recession has really done a number on the demand for fancy fish and the prices have plunged, well, at least at Joe's. So, I reccomend checking out the price of halibut where you live and feasting on it more often this summer. This is a really easy and quick way to prepare the fish. Turns out delicious every single time!

Pesto Halibut Kebabs
Adapted from Cooking Light



1 lb. Halibut skin removed and cut into 1-2 inch chunks
1 large red bell pepper cut into 1-2 inch squares
3 Tbsp. pesto
2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
salt & pepper

If using wooden skewers, soak in water for 10-20 minutes so they won't burn in the oven. Preheat broiler.
Combine pesto and vinegar in large bowl. Lightly season fish chunks with salt and pepper. Add fish and pepper squares to pesto mixture and toss to evenly coat. Let stand for 5 minutes.
Skewer fish and peppers, alternating so you begin and end with peppers. This amount makes about 4 kebabs with 4-5 pieces of fish per skewer.
Line kebabs in a baking dish coated with cooking spray and place under broiler for 8 minutes.

Serve to husband. See him smile.



See baby daughter look on with jealousy.



Jeff brought me home a bottle of Mumm Champagne (one of our favorite wineries from our honeymoon) and a bottle of Albarino - a wine we mutually love. Having a surprise dessert up my sleeve I opted to pop open the bubbly. I made these delicious Toffee Topped Brownies and dipped strawberries in the leftover ganache. It made for a lovely dessert with our Napa champagne.



Toffee Topped Brownie Bites
Adapted From Annie's Eats



For the brownies:
3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour

For the ganache:
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

For topping:
Toffee bits (or coarsely chopped Heath Bars)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 24-cup mini muffin pan. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine the unsweetened chocolate and butter. Cook and stir over medium-low heat just until melted and smooth. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt, and whisk until combined. Stir in the flour until just incorporated. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of batter into each mini muffin cup.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until completely set. Allow to cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes. Remove brownies from the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the ganache, heat the whipping cream in a small saucepan over medium heat just until it simmers; remove from the heat. Add the bittersweet chocolate to the heated cream, let stand for 30 seconds, then whisk until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is well blended.

Gently dip the top of each brownie in the ganache and then sprinkle with toffee bits. Allow the glaze to set completely before serving.

He also surprised me with a pretty cool new cookbook called Local Flavors. It's all about cooking with goods from farmer's markets, which is just in time for Carmel's Farmer's Market season. Both of us are interested in trying new ingredients. Neither of us have a whole lot of experience with different greens like chard and kale. This book gives a lot of ideas on how to prepare these veggies. I'll be sure to let you know when I stumble upon something fabulous!

Well, La Di Da.

Fancy cookie time!

After my impulse buy of lavender from the spice aisle at Meijer, I was determined to make a lemon and lavender something. Would it be pound cake? Biscotti? Then I stumbled across the recipe for these cookies.

I wasn't sure if I was worthy of them. Their simplicity ultimately is responsible for their almost obnoxious sophistication. Would I have to get dressed up to eat them, I thought. The answer is no, in case you were wondering the same thing. A cup of tea doesn't hurt though.



Now, you may be like me and may never have tried lavender anything before. Or maybe it's old news and I've been living in a cave the past 20 years. Either way, don't be afraid of it. These cookies are delightful, mild, lemony and addictive. Take my advice and portion yourself out two cookies because one's just plain not enough and three, well you might feel guilty and these aren't the cookies you want to use up that emotion on.

Lemon & Lavender Cookies
Adapted from When Harry Met Salad

¾ c. sugar
2 T. grated lemon zest + 2 T. juice from 1-2 lemons
2 t. dried lavender (optional, but then they’d just be lemon cookies)
1¾ c. flour
¼ t. baking powder
¼ t. salt
12 T. (1½ sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½” cubes
1 egg yolk
½ t. vanilla extract

1) In a food processor (Click here for instructions on how to make the cookies by hand or with a stand mixer), process the sugar, lemon zest and lavender until the sugar looks damp and the zest and lavender are fully incorporated, about 30 seconds. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt, then add to the sugar mixture; pulse to combine, about 10 1-second pulses.

2) Scatter the butter pieces over and pulse until the mixture resembles fine cornmeal, about 15 1-second pulses. In a measuring cup, beat together the lemon juice, egg yolk and vanilla. With the machine running, add the juice mixture in a slow stream (should take about 10 seconds) and continue processing until the dough forms into a ball, 10 to 15 seconds longer.

4) Turn the dough and any dry bits onto a clean work surface and gently gather into a ball. Working quickly, roll the dough into a cylinder about 12″ long and 1½” in diameter. Center the dough on a piece of parchment or plastic wrap and wrap tightly, twisting the ends together to seal. Chill the dough until firm and cold, about 45 minutes in the freezer or 2 hours in the refrigerator.

5) Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

6) Remove the dough log from its wrapper and use a sharp knife to slice the dough into 3/8″ thick rounds. Place the rounds on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them 1″ apart. Bake until the centers of the cookies just begin to color and the edges are golden brown, about 10-12 minutes (the recipe actually says 14-16 minutes, but 10 minutes was plenty for me and my wonky oven), rotating the baking sheet halfway through the baking time. Cool on sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sounds good right?

Almost any oatmeal cookie sounds good to me. Especially Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies. My favorite cookies in the whole world are Potbelly's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies. I might be willing to give my right arm for the recipe. You'd have to catch me on the right day (or wrong day - which is it?) I sent these to work with Jeff when I made them, and apparently they went over well. There was some positive feedback. Personally, I found the flavors really interesting. Nothing about the cookies really shouted "peanut butter!!" or "nutmeg!!" or even "cinnamon!!!" All the flavors just merge and played well together, and make you go "hmmmm" and then "mmmmmm.". Make these this weekend for your kids, or your sig other, or yourself. Everyone will be glad you did.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
As seen on Two Peas and Their Pod. Originally from Dorie Greenspan.

3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup (packed) light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chunks, or 1 1/2 cups store-bought chocolate chips or chunks

Getting Ready: Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Whisk together the oats, flour, baking soda, spices and salt. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition, then beat in the vanilla.
Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the dry ingredients, beating only until blended. Mix in the chips.

If you have the time, cover and chill the dough for about 2 hours or for up to one day. (Chilling the dough will give you more evenly shaped cookies.) If the dough is not chilled, drop rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto the baking sheets. If the dough is chilled, scoop up rounded tablespoons, roll the balls between your palms and place them 2 inches apart on the sheets. Press the chilled balls gently with the heel of your hand until they are about 1/2 inch thick.

Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back after 7 minutes. The cookies should be golden and just firm around the edges. Lift the cookies onto cooling racks with a wide metal spatula - they'll firm as they cool.

Makes a TON of cookies.

Oh Milk & Honey, How I Miss You...

When I moved to Chicago in 2004, I scored a pretty awesome job. A new hip Marriott hotel just off Michigan Ave. hired me as their Executive Assistant. I got all the hotel employee perks like free rooms all over the world, free Starbucks coffees, and parties in the Hancock building, but none of the hotel employee crappy hours like nights, weekends, and holidays. I got to dress-up everyday and take the train to work often walking through Nordstrom on my way to and from, it felt pretty glamorous.

However, after a promotion to management almost a year later, I had had enough. I was working often 50 hour weeks on a dreadful salary (dreadful for Chicago, dreadful for Indiana, dreadful for just about anywhere) and trying to manage my full time school on the side. After coming home night after night crying to Jeff, he looked at me and said - why don't you just quit? So I did. Now, any other time in my life that wouldn't have been a catastrophe. Ever since I was 15 I've juggled at least 2 jobs at once. Quitting one was never a big deal, I always had the other. But this resignation would have left me unemployed which was a scary scenario for me.

I think I went 7 days without employment. After eating breakfast at a neighborhood cafe, Milk & Honey, I asked the manager about a help wanted sign in the window, filled out an application, and was hired on the spot. Now, Milk & Honey is pretty special. The next time you go to Chicago, find them and go there for breakfast (and order French Toast) and then again for lunch (and order the Ham Sandwich). Their menu is simple, inexpensive but sophisticated and delectable, and if I was working that day, you'd be munching to Radiohead, the Shins and Camera Obscura.


The work was hard. Very hard. A complete 180 from the hotel though. I wore my crap clothes and lawn-mowing shoes to work. You were on your feet for often 9 hours straight with a wee 15 minute break while you inhaled your delicious free lunch of your choice. But there was just something about working there that I will always miss. I'm not sure but it's probably a combination of the totally rockin' girls I worked with, the fact that I could blast whatever music I wanted to in the cafe, the fact that I learned how to barista, or maybe it's that I made tons of cash and met a lot of really neat and notable neighborhood people who were regulars (like Liam from Plush and the piano player in Wilco).

Anyway, one of the better things about Milk & Honey is their bakery selection. Everyday there were homemade muffins and scones with interesting combinations like blueberry almond and peach cranberry, as well as cookies, cupcakes, tarts, brownies and my all-time favorite - banana bread. Now, I love bananas but I don't really like banana flavored things. I'll eat the banana Runts outta the box, but don't you dare make me eat a banana pancake. However, Milk & Honey's banana bread made all my dreams come true with each bite. I would die for the recipe. I've never asked for fearing straight out laugh-in-my-face rejection. My mom makes a pretty good banana bread, but it's just not the same as M&H's (sorry mom). I stumbled across this recipe on Food Network this past summer after I was sick of staring at rotting bananas on my counter-top. I made some changes and what I came up with is pretty darn close (but still no cigar) to M&H's. I've made this now several times and it is now my go-to recipe for banana bread. Again, simple ingredients...enjoy!

Banana Walnut Bread

1 cup sugar
8 Tbsp. butter softened
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 ripe bananas
1 Tbsp. milk
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups of flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup (8 oz.) chopped walnuts

Start by preheating the oven to 325 degrees. Butter a loaf pan. Here's a trick that you may not know about. Use the butter wrapper to butter the pan.



Next, in the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, whisk or sift together the flour, baking soda and powder, and the salt. In another bowl, mash the bananas to your desired texture. I hate banana lumps so I pretty much liquified them. You can mash using a fork, but I found this step goes by so much faster with a potato masher. Also, you want to be sure you're using ripe bananas. Some say the browner the better, but I personally have an affliction against rotting fruit, so I just use spotty ones and it works out just fine.


Stir in the milk and the cinnamon to the bananas and set aside. Add the eggs one at a time to the butter mixture. My mom always taught me to crack your eggs in a separate bowl and not directly into your mixture, just incase one's rotten so you won't ruin all your other ingredients. Then add the vanilla. Next add the banana mixture to the mixing bowl and blend until completely incorporated. Finally, in 2 batches with the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix just until the flour disappears. I've been told time and time again from Giada, Ina and the likes that if you over mix, your bread will be "tough", whatever that means. So don't over mix. Finally add the chopped walnuts and mix for just a few seconds.

Pour the batter into the buttered loaf pan. I sprinkle coarse sugar on top of the batter to sweeten up the "crust". Bake for 1 hour and 5 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. This is important: leave the bread to cool in the loaf pan for 10-20 minutes before removing it to cool completely on a wire rack. I got impatient the first time I made this and waited just about 5 minutes before popping it out of the pan and I got crumbly broken pieces - still delicious though! I store my loaf in a gallon size ziplock bag and keep for a maximum of 3 days.