Eataly

 

I love kitchen gadgets!

All chocolate from Italy!

Today we traveled to Eataly. Not the country but to Eataly, which is fairly new to Chicago. We ended here by default; happily so. Crazy mis-communication took 30 minutes of drive time, so we missed church at 4th Presbyterian.

The plan was to attend church with RvH and CA and then celebrate their birthdays (4/1 and 4/2, respectively) at brunch. Instead we checked-out Eataly, enjoyed croissants and Lavazza coffee, shopped, and bought to-go Paninis--two Figuolas (or something close to that spelling) and a Caprese. They obviously change-up the names as their on-line menu referred to the Caprese as Giulietta.

We loved our experience and brought home some treats (including brown tomatoes!) CA and I later shared the Caprese and fig-gorgonzola-prosciutto Paninis. (RvH chose the fig Panini). Delicioso!

 

 

First photo and the following are not mine. Google "Eataly Chicago Images" for attributions.

Lidia Bastianich, Joe Bastianich, Mario Batali

 

 

Food Snobbery

I am a confessed food snob. I love good food, and automtically seek out the best brands, the best restaurants. I love to cook, and read cookbooks for pleasure.

That being said, much of the food I love isn't gourmet. I've begun compiling a list of favorite foods.

 

Kikkoman Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce

A very recent find. We love this--with eggs; mixed with sour cream as a condiment with Mexican food. With chicken wings... A gadzillion possibilities.

 

Haticot Verts: (Trader Joe's)

I like these much more than the fresh one's available at Costco.

 

Fettuccine Alfredo: (Trader Joe's)

This is a new find. A package serves 2 and microwaves in less than 7 minutes.

 

Ghiradelli Chocolate Chips

My current favorite is to combine milk chocolate and bittersweet when I make Tollhouse or my own recipe for Monster Cookies (which includes peanutbutter).

 

 

Birds Eye Steamables

These are my go-to vegetables to round out a meal when seasonal fresh vegetables are hard to come by. Cooking instructions result in tender-crisp vegetables. The Penne is the perfect size for lunch, but the red peppers are just too soggy, so pick them out.

 

LaTortilla Factory White Corn Tortillas

Ah-h-h... I scavenge for these. They're sometimes in our regular grocery stores, but I can always find them at Fresh Market. Once in awhile I've found the larger size available. Otherwise, you can overlap two to create a larger fillable surface. We lightly brown these in hot oil, and drain well.

 

Fage Greek Yogurt (2%)

I love both the cherry and the honey, but mostly have the plain with fresh red raspberries, and a sprinkle of brown sugar.

Post Great Grains: Raisins,Dates, and Pecans

My favorite cereal, and I also got my mother-in-law hooked. She once told me that she went to bed at night looking forward to her breakfast cereal. Enough said.

Dinner from the Farmers' Market

CA bought two lovely New York Strip Steaks at Fresh Market and we grilled our Farmers' Market bounty and steamed the green beans.

Just olive oil with a bit of Herbs de Provence. Baste, roast, turn, baste, roast. Until onions are caramelized.

 

Started with these...

 

Secret ingredient in the green beans: rendered bacon fat. Just one small teaspoon. Worth the calories!

 

 

 

Farmers' Market

I guess it should be no surprise that the local farmers' market gets better each week, until it slowly fades away until next May. CA asked for vegetables to grill--although we actually oven-roast most of the time.

 

 

The small round red tomatoes are (L to R) Black Krims, Bellas, Oxheart. The tiny blush yellow are Garden Peach. The reddish gourd-shaped little guy on the extreme right is a Turkish eggplant. I do so prefer the French word, Aubergine, to Eggplant.

 

 

 

 

Mix of early pear varieties. I usually bake pears in butter, sugar, and cream--using an early Martha Stewart recipe.

From one of my first Martha coobooks. An attractive idea for this (at the time) young working mom..

 

 

 

Since I'm starting the Whole 30, I'm planning on using this recipe.

 

 

-source-

 

The pears were purchased from this charming farmer. I've promised him a copy of Martha's pears in cream recipe.

 

I topped-off my market visit with lunch here. Repeated the cucumber and avocado soup I had a couple of weeks ago. Very refreshing. Especially love the dollop of coulis--basil, tomato, and maybe jalapeño.

Ladies who Lunch

 

Farmers Market

 

Tuesday and Saturday mornings our village has a small farmers market around the historic square. Today we had live music from the center gazebo. Everything is locally grown, so mostly now the vendors are offering organic meats and garden plants.

 

Today I was able to get some so-sweet strawberries. Small, but succulent. At first I was thinking pie, but then I did a throw-back thing and made strawberry jam instead. A treat for the upcoming Fun Kids Club Summer Sleepover.

 

Freezer jam. I'm thinking of making some cooked jam and making a comparison.

Couldn't resist a bouquet just for me.

 

 

 

Next Weekend

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Findlay Market from Soapboxmedia.com on Vimeo.

 

 

eMeals

MA had a part in this video. He sold the account. Love this concept. Great for working parents. A way to eat at home--better nutrition, save $$.

Best Bacon

In my ongoing plan to buy/eat only food that tastes great, I've rediscovered Nueske's Applewood Smoked Bacon. Mama Mia! This one is so worth the calories. And, I grabbed an idea from David Lebowitz's appearance on Andrew Zimmern's 2008 series and sprinkled brown sugar on the four slices I prepared for CA's Valentine's breakfast.

(Just be careful and drain the excess fat on something other than paper towels, as we had a sticking problem that distracted from the presentation. :))

The Way to a Man's Heart

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/dutch_baby/

Uncharacteristically, I am up before the sun and prepare a special breakfast for my Valentine: his own personal-sized Dutch Baby and brown sugar bacon; along with fresh orange juice and espresso.

By all measures CA should be extremely overweight. God bless his fantastic metabolism. Actually, he takes great care of himself and eats far less than ever in the years I've know him, but the man cannot resist good food. And, today is all about food.

Soon, my great friend LL and I head to Chicago for another of our food adventures. First stop is Jarosch in Elk Grove Village for butter cookies and brownies. We've plans to redistribute the wealth--sharing the edible goodies with friends and family. Jarosch Bakery's been a northwest Chicago suburban mainstay for over 50 years. Hope it never goes away.

Speaking of going away--in past years these edible adventures have typically included Ana, Ida and Me, Ricci's and Company, and Garrett Popcorn Shops, which have (sadly) gone out of business.

So today, we're mapping new destinations beginning with Jarosch, which LL has never visited.

After touring LL's sister DV's beautiful 4-story West Loop townhouse, we drive to the newish French Market for a long-awaited experience. FYI: The first hour of parking at the Metra Parking lot is complimentary when you spend $20 and present the required punch card.

This is an European market experience (extremely small Naschmarkt) and an immediate delight. I quickly find some rose-colored sea salt from Bolivia, our favorite tortillas, baguettes, Niçoise olives, and fresh ginger. LL opts for French-style macarons and croissants, while DV finds some gorgeous veal chops.

Miraculously, we pounce upon on-street parking just outside Club Lago for a fun Italian lunch. DV's delightful daughter works just across Superior and joins us. We laugh, tell stories, gossip, and relax into the experience. Lovely.

LL and DV conspire to shock me with a visit to Peoria Packing Butcher Shop--my first ever visit and I love it. The variety and freshness of the meat is unprecedented. I'll come back with CA someday with a cooler and ice.

A fine adventure--a day filled with wonderful food and fun friends.

(I decided not to share the photos I took as I realize they will be offensive to some. Although, I was dazzled by the details and overall experience. I'll just say that no single part of any critter raised for consumption was overlooked. Fantastic.)

MONDAY, MONDAY: Omaha Version

Jones Brothers for lunch.

The Trifecta

an odd angle, I know...

JA and LE need an outing, so JA and I decide we'll go to Mangelsen's--a local version of Michael's or Hobby Lobby.

This is a big deal because they have free popcorn and balloons. We spend a bit of time deciding on what color of balloons--JA, of course needs blue and LE wants pink. But, there are decisions to make-- green for daddy, undecided on mommy's.

Halloween is big at Magelsen's. Very big and very scary. LE shrinks back from the flying bat, but wants to go into the monster room--admiring the Linda Blair Exorcist-like spinning head girl.

There are no free balloons because there's a shortage of helium. That's right, a shortage and hospitals get the current supply. We don't mind buying the balloons. Blue for JA, pink for LE, green for MA, purple for JE, and we remember baby LC needs one,too, so JA decides to get him a blue one, too. Just a darker shade than his own.

I negotiate with LE-- if she goes potty, I'll take them into the monster room. However, we're a bit too late for success, so we do some adjustments and head for the reward. Right inside the monster room door there's a red monster with blood dripping from his mouth eating life-sized rubber babies. We quickly departed before the two little ones saw.

It's time for lunch and I'm ready to take the kids home, but JL still wants to shop so I'll come back for her in about an hour.

Eventually we drive to Jones Brothers for lunch and cupcakes. The free cupcake today is pink and with a hint we're able to name it, bubble gum, so we each get a free one--which I eat immediately! Really good! Really. Better than you can imagine, it being bubble gum and all.

We have a wonderful lunch; JL has the trifecta--1/2 BLT, cup of soup, and a mini red velvet cupcake. I'm captivated by the Cobb salad. I'm craving veggies, and this is a great salad.

After a short spin through Wolner's (gourmet grocery goodies) for some cheeses and sour dough bread, we go across the street to check movie times for tonight and decide to stay for the 1:50pm viewing of I Don't Know How She Does It with Sarah Jessica Parker and Greg Kinnear. Far better than the critics claim. We really enjoy it. Predictable, but cute and entertaining. You gotta love SJP.

One more stop for groceries at HyVee--we're making salsa with D+HS's garden tomatoes. Nothing better! After cheese, bread, salsa, and chips we all decide we'll save the bacon-sirloin sliders for tomorrow. JL and I won't be around so there'll be more for the Smiths.

A very good day with the fun kids and the cuddly little guy. We need to hit the road first thing tomorrow as GJ is expecting JL for supper and my mother-in-law will be watching for me.