The travels of six Bostonians in Chicago

A few months ago, over a few cocktails, a group of my friends and I thought we should take a long weekend trip to Chicago to scout out a city none of us had visited before.  Usually these brilliant ideas never take flight past the 2:00 am hour after the bar closes for the night, but we kicked ourselves into gear and booked the flights and we would soon be on our way to Chi-town.

I didn’t go into the trip knowing too much about the city, but I was pleasantly surprised.  It’s much larger than I ever thought, with skyscrapers aplenty.  The downtown area seemed to go on and on with great shops and restaurants.  I would describe it as a cleaner, less crowded version of NYC.

A trip to Chicago wouldn’t be worth it unless you savor the delight that is deep dish pizza.  We hit up Gino’s East and it was worth every single calorie.  The girls could only do one slice, that’s how thick and heavy the pizza is.

A couple of years ago when my fellow Wicked Domestic went to Chicago, she and Matt highly suggested we check out the architecture tours that take place on the Chicago River.  The tour was so interesting, even for people not particularly interested in architecture and to learn about all the different styles of architecture that Chicago has to offer.  All of the buildings are relatively new because of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, when all the citys’ buildings were burned to the ground.

The Chicago River was my favorite areas of the downtown area.  They have a great river walk, where you can stroll along the river and pop in and out of different restaurants and bars.  Here are me and Chris at Flatwater.

The city has a bunch of awesome roof top bars as well.  And surprise…we hit up a few of them!  With all the super tall buildings, it was the ultimate urban scene.

The Whit roof top bar

C-View roof top

We made our way over to Wrigleyville (which is basically like Fenway, but way bigger) and did and little sneaking into Wrigley Field.

The bars around Wrigley were just like Fenway, just more plentiful.  Here’s a group pic of us at our favorite spot, Casey Morans.

When you’re in a major city, you’ve got to check out an observatory on a tall building.  So, we took the elevator 96 stories up the Hancock Tower for a cocktail overlooking Lake Michigan and the city.  It was really breathtaking.

Haley, myself and Joan enjoying ourselves in the windy city

And the boys…Kevin, Chris and Matt

We also hit up the Chicago Institute of Art, Millenium Park, Oak Street Beach on Lake Michigan, Wicker Park for brunch and more.  Chicago has so much to offer, yet it wasn’t overwhelming at all.  The food was great, the drinks divine and the company superb.

And clearly, when you go to Chicago, you’ve got to jump on the Harry Carey cow with clown glasses…that’s just a given.

I do have one regret: I really wanted to sing and dance on a float to “Shake it a-baby” like Ferris Bueller, but I guess you can’t have it all.

- Jackie

Published in: on August 31, 2010 at 7:51 am  Comments (1)  

Food Rules

Ahhh…the first day of school.  As usual, the summer flew by.  And as sad as I am to say goodbye to sleeping in, lazy days at the beach, and lots of free time, I always do look forward to getting back into a routine.  Part of my yearly back-to-school routine is a return to healthy eating.  It can be so hard over the summer to not only eat healthy, but also to eat on a normal schedule.  Some summer days I skip lunch and have ice cream at three o’clock, or I go out to lunch and am too stuffed for dinner… I’m all over the place.   So I’m looking forward to getting back into a normal eating schedule, and since I pack lunch and snacks for work each day, I can make sure I eat [mostly] healthy.  Before I went to the grocery store on Sunday I skimmed my go-to healthy foods manual, Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual by Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma (which is basically a print version of the movie Food, Inc. – both will change the way you look at the meat industry forever!). 

In Food Rules, Michael Pollan’s introduction reminds us that humans have been eating and surviving on wildly different diets (the Inuit eating mostly seal blubber, Central American Indians surviving on mostly maize and beans) for thousands of years, indicating that human bodies are very adaptable.  The “Western” diet, however, despite our obsession with trans fats and antioxidants and organic and omega 3s, is the cause of a multitude of health problems, from high blood pressure to type 2 diabetes to morbid obesity.   The problem appears to be processed foods and portion sizes, and Michael Pollan tackles the question So what should we be eating??? and boils his advice down to seven simple words:  Eat food.   Not too much.  Mostly Plants. 

The book is divided into three sections, each based on one of the simple sentences.  Pollan presents a total of 64 “rules”, based largely on conventional wisdom and common sense.  In devising these rules, he consulted “folklorists and anthropologists, doctors, nurses, nutritionists, and dieticians, as well as a large number of mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers”.   Most rules have a few follow-up sentences, but some stand alone, such as Rule #20: It’s not food if it arrived through the window of your car.  Here are a few of my favorites from each section.

What should I eat?  Eat Food.

Rule #2: Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.  Or in other words, if it didn’t exist prior to 1900, you probably shouldn’t eat it. 

Rule #5: Avoid foods that have some form of sugar (or sweetener) listed among the top 3 ingredients.

Rule #18: Don’t ingest foods made in places where everyone is required to wear a surgical cap. 

What kind of food should I eat?  Mostly Plants.

Rule #31: Eat wild foods whenever you can.  Last year I made the permanent switch to wild salmon instead of farm raised - it’s definitely way more expensive, but it’s so worth it!  Farm raised fish don’t contain nearly the nutrients that wild fish do, and I’ve even read that there can be nutritional negatives resulting from the way farm raised fish are fed and kept.

Rule #36: Don’t eat breakfast cereals that can the color of the milk.  I like Fruity Pebbles as much as the next kid-at-heart, but pink milk can’t be healthy!

Rule #37: “The whiter the bread, the sooner you’ll be dead.”  This pearl of conventional wisdom is attributed to Jewish and Italian grandmothers, and makes sense.  The case against white flour grows each year. 

How should I be eating? Not Too Much.

Rule #51: Spend as much time enjoying the meal as it took to prepare it.  This one rings especially true with me, since I often feel like I spend an hour cooking, only to scarf down my dinner in under 5 minutes.  I need to slow it down!

Rule #61: Leave something on your plate.  Also a hard one for me.  But it’s better for food to go to waste than to waist, right?

Rule #64: Break the rules once in a while.  My favorite rule!  No one can eat a perfect diet; everything in moderation, including moderation. 

I’m hoping that I can keep these “rules” in mind as I get back into the routine of another school year and try to regulate and improve my eating habits.  At least until it’s time for Halloween candy…

- Elizabeth

Published in: on August 30, 2010 at 6:37 am  Comments (1)  

Martha’s Tomato and Chevre Tart

The latest issue of Martha Stewart Everyday Food was a particularly good one.  Sometimes I flip through and don’t find much that I’d actually cook, but the September EDF had a ton of great recipes!  I gave Jackie the magazine after I was done… but not before I tore out everything I wanted to cook.  This recipe appealed to me because it’s a different version of a tomato tart than I’ve made before.  I was intrigued by the dijon and the leeks, and I can’t resist a recipe that includes puff pastry.   The only thing Martha added that I didn’t was the fresh basil or thyme - and I fully admit that I ommitted the herbs because I didn’t want to go outside to get them.  I had finally dried off and I was NOT going to get soaked again, even for fresh herbs!  Plus, I thought that the dijon, leeks, and tomatoes would add plenty of flavor.  

Ingredients:

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed

3 leeks

6 plum tomatoes

1 tbsp sour cream

1 tsp dijon mustard

salt and pepper

1 tbsp butter

flour for rolling dough

truffle salt (optional – I sprinkled on top after baking)

2 oz goat cheese

First, chop the tomatoes and set aside.  I sprinkled with a little salt to dry them out a bit.

Next, chop the leeks and set aside.  Then mix the dijon, sour cream, and some salt and pepper together. 

Roll out the dough.  Martha did a 12×12 square, but not only was my cutting board not big enough, but I also couldn’t get close to straight lines.  But that just gives it a rustic look, right?  Spread the dijon/sour cream mixture over the dough.  It will be a very thin layer, and I was tempted to add more, but I have a bad habit of butchering recipes when I try to change them, so I was trying to stick to the instructions.   Then fold the sides in about 1/2 inch or so.  Put the dough into the refrigerator for about ten minutes.

In the meantime, sautee the leeks in butter for about 8 minutes (3 on high, 5 on low) until they’re very soft. 

Once the leeks are done, spread evenly over the puff pastry dough.   Top with tomatoes and salt and pepper. 

Bake for 25 minutes at 400 degrees. 

You don’t add the goat cheese until it comes out of the oven, but I ended up adding the chevre and then putting the tart back in the oven for a couple more minutes to melt it.  Note:  The half without the goat cheese is mine!  I think it’s gross. 

It was really delicious.  I don’t think I’d change anything if I made it again, except maybe adding a bit more grainy mustard.  I do love me some mustard.  It would also work well as an hors d’oeuvre in little puff pastry of phyllo dough shells.   Maybe next week I’ll try another of Martha’s latest recipes!   Have a great weekend!

- Elizabeth

Published in: on August 26, 2010 at 7:47 am  Leave a Comment  

Champagne and berry jello jigglers

What does Bill Cosby and champagne have in common?  This recipe for champagne jello jigglers!  Seriously these little guys are so much fun.  Okay, so the jello jigglers or shots don’t really have much to do with Bill Cosby other than he was the spokesman for Jello in the ’80s, but just go with it.  I got the recipe from a local food blog A Plum By Any Other Name and I fell in love with the idea of making a…how can I put this…classy jello shot.  I ended up making these for my friend Amy’s bachelorette party a few weeks ago and they were a hit.  Here’s what I did:

1 1/2 cups white grape juice
Pinch of salt
4 packages of gelatin
2 1/2cups sparkling wine, divided
1/2 cup raspberries
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 cup strawberries, sliced
 
First, empty the gelatin packets into half of the champagne (1 1/4 cups) in a bowl and give a little stir and let sit.  Then heat the grape juice in a pot until it’s almost boiling and add a pinch of salt.  Then you want to combine the hot grape juice with the champagne/gelatin mixture and stir to make sure the gelatin is dissolved.  Pour the remaining champagne in with the rest of the mixture.
I then transferred the mixture to a square baking pan that I sprayed with Pam.  Gather all of your berries together and drop them into the liquid jello.
 
Five hours later, you have jiggly classiness. 
 
 
These champagne jigglers have a great champagne taste and the fruit is such a nice complement.  We’re talkin’ class all the way here, folks.  Long lost are the days of jello shots and keg stands…or are they?  Happy bachelorette, Amy! :)
 
 
- Jackie
Published in: on August 25, 2010 at 8:50 am  Comments (1)  

Black Bean and Corn Pizza

As you all know, I’m a Mexican food maniac.  So when I decided to make pizza for dinner, I went south of the border and made a black bean and corn pizza.   It was very easy and soooo good.  I’ve got to make pizza more often!   Here’s what I did.

Ingredients:  (I took a picture… not sure where it went!)

pizza dough (I used the fresh bag from the refrigerated section)

taco sauce

1 can of refried beans

1 can of black beans

salsa

1 ear of corn or can of corn

shredded cheese

I had corn on the cob instead of canned corn, so I first had to take it off the cob and cook it.

I don’t really have a good pizza pan or stone, so I just used a baking sheet.  I sprinkled it with cornmeal (a throwback to the pizzas my mom used to make every Friday night when we were kids – we Wickeds come kindly by our domesticism!), then stretched out the dough as best I could.  It wasn’t perfect, but at least it was mostly consistent.   I topped it with a thin layer of refried beans, then some taco sauce and salsa.   Be careful here – you don’t want too much liquid or too much weight.  The crust needs to be able to stand up to the weight of the toppings.

Next I added the corn and beans, then the cheese.  Very easy to put together!

The pizza took about 20-25 minutes in a 425 oven.  This was longer than the package directions indicated, but my crust was pretty thick.

It was so good!  I’m embarassed to say we polished off the whole thing.  Yikes.  I’d definitely make this exact same pizza again, but I’ll also experiment a bit with different toppings (Mexican and otherwise).  And maybe next time I’ll be able to hold myself back from eating too much.  Maybe.

- Elizabeth

Published in: on August 24, 2010 at 7:55 am  Leave a Comment  

Farmers Market Week blogathon

This week is Farmers Market Week presented by Loving Local: Celebrating the Flavors of Massachusetts.  Tinky from In Our Grandmothers’ Kitchen asked Wicked Domestic to participate in the Farmers Market Week blogathon to raise awareness of our local farming culture.  I feel like everyday I see in the newspaper that another farm has fallen victim to the current recession and is forced to close its (barn) doors.  Local agriculture is so important to the way we eat locally and to the local economy.  It seems that in the last decade there has been a huge resurgence of eating and supporting locally grown entities, which is such a huge step in the right direction.  Raising awareness is key in this process, so I hope all of you reading this will go out and support your local farmers markets and purchase some of the outstanding harvest that Massachusetts farms have to offer.  In addition, if you’re feeling extra charitable, please visit the donation page on the Mass Farmers Market page.

Elizabeth and I were so excited to be participating in the blogathon and be involved in Farmers Market Week, we hoofed it over to Boston’s City Hall Plaza on Friday to check out Greenfest 2010.  As the website explains, Boston’s Greenfest is “the region’s largest multicultural environmental festival that celebrates the many ways we can create a better world by greening our lives and our communities”.  The festival was chock full of local vendors, performances, speakers and presentations, green fashions shows, tips on healthy living and exercise.  Here are a few things we saw…

Greenfest 2010

Me posing with me new favorite eco friendly snack, Popchips!

Eliz was swooning over these green house cleaners

"So Berry Clean" berries for your laundry...an alternative to harsh detergents. Interesting...

All the different vendors

Elizabeth posing her some "green" information handouts

While we were at City Hall Plaza, we walked through Haymarket to see some of the fresh fruits and veggies

More fruits and veggies at Haymarket

Elizabeth and I had such a good time walking through all the different Greenfest vendors and checking out all there is to offer out there.  Thanks again to Tinky from In Our Grandmothers’ Kitchen , we hope this blogathon is eye opening for everyone to start turning to our local farmers for fruits and vegetables and other local companies.

- Jackie

Published in: on August 23, 2010 at 8:09 am  Comments (1)  

Bridal shower favor: mason jar cupcakes!

When you get to a certain point in your twenties, I feel like you hit a period of time where all you do is go to weddings, bridal showers and bachelorette parties.  All of these events are super fun, but when you are involved in the creative process, you’ve got to try and step it up a notch and make everything memorable.  One of my oldest friends, Amy, is getting married in Newport in mid October and just this past weekend, we had her bachelorette party and bridal shower.  Since my friend Joan and I are bridemaids in the wedding, we were in charge of the shower favors - a job we were thrilled to have.  I don’t know about you, but I hate cheap, useless favors that I throw away the second I get home.  I’d rather get no favor than something that’s silly or useless.  So, Joan and I thought it would be fun to do something edible, yet super adorable…mason jar cupcakes!  We made a lot of these little cuties since it was a large shower of 50 or so guests, but you can make these for a small number as well.

The favor turned out to be quite cost-effective at around $2 each to make.  We got the mason jars at the supermarket and the pretty paper and raffia at A.C. Moore.  To make things easy on ourselves, we used boxed cake mix and cans of frosting, but you can of course feel free to do everything homemade.  For the number of cupcakes we needed, we ended up using 4 boxes of cake mix and 7 jars of frosting.  We could have used even more frosting too.  So…now that you know the facts, here’s what we did:

Mixed up the cake mix as the directions indicated.

Then we filled up the jars (sprayed with Pam) about 1/3 of the way up the jar.  Note: the batter doubles in size, and you still want room left for frosting, so 1/3 of the way is just about right.

Once the cupcakes are done baking, we put the jars in front of a fan, which was super important because they would have taken a lifetime to cool otherwise.

Once they were completely cool, we filled up a large zip lock bag with the frosting and piped it in.  We then smoothed the frosting so it looked pretty from the outside.

While the cupcakes were baking and cooling, we traced and cut decorative paper for the tops of the jars.  Joan found these wicked cute pads of paper at A.C. Moore (they were postcard sized and a ton of different patterns).

We then put the top of the jar on, slipped on the fitted paper and screwed on the lid.  Super cute, right?! We couldn’t get over how perfect they were turning out.

Look at all the different patterns!

Once we topped all the cupcakes, Joan cut lengths of raffia that we could tie around the lid.  She ended up being allergic to the raffia, but seriously, what else is new?  Joan is allergic to everything.

Finally, we took our little homemade label, hole punched it, and strung the raffia through and tied it up!

The favors were a big hit at the shower.  They looked great on the table and everyone was excited to take home something that they could savor later on!  It was definitely worth taking the extra time and effort to make the cupcakes, than to buy something online.  It means much more and is a fun thing to do with a friend!

Congratulations, Amy!  We can’t wait for the wedding!

- Jackie

Published in: on August 19, 2010 at 6:28 am  Comments (7)  

Summer of [Organizing] Fun

Teaching is the best job ever.  I may sing a different tune once school’s actually in session, but right now I love my job!   My goal each summer is to reach a happy medium between relaxing and working on projects that I don’t have time for during the school year.  I think I’ve done a pretty good job this year – I’ve read a ton of books, spent plenty of time at the beach, slept in, watched HGTV ’til my eyeballs bled…. and balanced it with a series of projects around the house.   I put together photo albums, decorated the living room and guest room, and spent a lot of time organizing closets, cabinets, and drawers.  Much of this organizing involved baskets.  Matt said that every time he turns around he sees another basket.  It’s true.  But they’re perfect for keeping items contained and if not neat, then less messy than if they weren’t in a basket.  Here are some highlights from my summer of organizing fun!

Coat Closet

I’m not someone who packs away winter clothes during the summer and vice versa.  Maybe I will be once I live in the Father of the Bride house.  Or just any house that has an attic, basement, and/or garage.  But city living is low on storage space, so I just don’t have the luxury of packing away seasonal clothing.  The best I can do with coats is keep some off-season coats in a blue bucket.  Far from ideal, but it’s functional.  Last year I had the brilliant idea to keep gloves, mittens, scarves, and hats in a hanging shoe organizer.  I hung this from the side wall in the closet.  It takes up a fair bit of room, but it keeps winter items so nice and tidy!  On the other wall I have a series of plastic stick-on hooks for stuff like umbrellas, bike helmets, and plastic bags.  Check out my super cute rain boots!

Under the Kitchen Sink

This cabinet can get messy so quickly!  But I took steps to try to make sure it stays neat.  I have a plastic tub for recyclables (hooray for single stream recycling!  everything in one bin!), extra sponges, dishwashing liquid and detergent, and a neat little basket of cat food and medicine.  Once everything has its own place and is not too squished, it’s not too bad to keep it organized.  I find that when I overstuff a cabinet is when things get messy.

Under the Bathroom Sink

I have a lot of hair.  Therefore, I have a lot of hair paraphernalia.  Extra shampoo and conditioner, a variety of rarely used products, elastics, headbands, curling irons, straighteners, and so forth.  There was no possible way to keep everything neat, so I turned to baskets to at least keep it all contained.

Under the Other Bathroom Sink

I love to have a well stocked house.  As August comes to a close each year, I behave as if once school starts I’ll never be able to go to a store again.  I stock up on paper towels, tissues, hand soap, etc.  I do the same with food – I make sure I have a full freezer and lots of go-to meals at the ready.  It’s all totally unnecessary, since I can easily stop at Target or Stop and Shop after school and/or on weekends.  But being stocked and prepared makes me feel good.  And we like it when I feel good, right?

It’s been a great summer – fun, relaxing, and productive!  Back to school soon, but at least I’m prepared.  If you want to get crazy with baskets, you can find cheap ones at Christmas Tree, Target, and Bed, Bath, and Beyond.   Good luck!

- Elizabeth

Published in: on August 18, 2010 at 9:02 am  Comments (1)  

Basil-lime gimlet

Last week while I was having lunch at the Clover Food Lab truck at South Station, I had one of the most delicious and refreshing drinks ever: basil limeade.  The flavor was complex,  but totally delicious.  I was going try to recreate it at home, but then I decided that since I’ll be watching the latest episode of Mad Men on my DVR tonight, I’d need this little concoction to be of the alcoholic nature.  I mean seriously folks, you can’t watch Mad Men without a cocktail.  Don Draper with his rye cocktails would think less of you.

Gimlets are a classic, old-fashioned cocktail that  I have a particular fondness of since my grandparents drank them.  When my grandmother (Peppy as she was known to us grandkids) grew older she had some memory problems, she would forget that she ever had a gimlet before and order it as if it were this new invention.  I believe her exact words were “A gimlet? No, I’ve never had one of those before…what is it?”.  We’d all just giggle and explain what it was.  And surprise, she liked it! :) So, I make this in honor of you, Peppy.

So here’s what I did for 1 drink:

In a cocktail shaker, muddle 3 basil leaves, add a few good glugs of vodka, a 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (or few dashes of Rose’s lime juice) and ice.  Shake up the cocktail and pour into a martini glass.  Garnish with a basil leaf.

Now we’re in cocktail heaven, people.  This cocktail was light and refreshing and I’m loving the hint of basil.  Give this classic cocktail with a twist a try!

- Jackie

Published in: on August 17, 2010 at 6:26 am  Comments (3)  

Summer Vegetable Chili

During the fall and winter I really like to make hearty soups, stews, and chilis.  As much as I love summer grilling and eating a little more lightly during the warmer months, I do kind of miss my hearty meals.  I had some ground turkey in the freezer that needed to be used, so I decided to combine my love of winter cooking and summer fare in a summer vegetable chili.  Now, this did not go as planned because I accidentally bought a cucumber instead of a zucchini.  Gah!  I hate cucumbers!  And I must have been very distracted in the produce section to not notice my error.  So my chili was less summer vegetabley than I had planned (and the dreaded cucumber sits uneaten in my vegetable crisper).  But it was still light and healthy and really tasty.

Ingredients

1 lb lean ground turkey

red, green, and yellow peppers

onion

garlic

large can pinto beans

summer squash

zucchini

tomatoes

cumin and chili powder OR packet of taco seasoning

Apparently I didn’t do a good job taking pictures as I cooked.   What on earth was on my mind that day?!

First, I chopped my vegetables to have them ready to go.  Then I sauteed the turkey meat in a tiny bit of olive oil with the minced garlic and onions. 

When the turkey was just about cooked through, I added the peppers. 

Then I added the squash, tomatoes, beans, and seasonings. 

Steam on the camera lens!

I let the chili simmer for about half an hour, then served it over brown rice.  I did this partly to add some healthy complex carbs and partly to make the chili go further.  We had it for dinner one night and lunch the next, then I was able to put 6 individual servings in the freezer.  Whoo hoo! 

- Elizabeth

Published in: on August 16, 2010 at 8:30 am  Leave a Comment  
« Older Entries
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.