When I saw that the inventor of the Cronut had created a banana bread recipe, I expected that recipe to make the best banana bread I had ever tasted. I probably expected it to be fattening. (Not as fattening as it turned out to be.) I did not expect that recipe for banana bread to be even easier than the fairly straightforward recipe that I was ...
DIY Pokemon Cupcakes
As the deadline for my book manuscript approaches, I find more and more ways to procrastinate. This week, the project that was more compelling than my work was making cupcakes for JR's eighth birthday party. Confession: I do not usually bake for my children's birthday parties. Some years ago, I found a baker in my area who makes amazing custom ...
Apple & Gorgonzola-Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Today’s post is sponsored by Riveridge Produce, a Michigan grower and distributor of twenty-four delicious varieties of apples. Look for Jonagold Apples from Riveridge Produce at a special price of only $.68 per pound in Mariano's stores all over Chicago from February 19-25. Did you know that it is still apple season? It is! Many varieties ...
Chicken Pot Pie with Puff Pastry Crust
Chicken pot pie must be such a great way to use up leftover chicken and vegetables. How often do you have leftover chicken and vegetables though? It's not a common occurrence around here. If I waited until I was stuck on how to use all this leftover chicken to make chicken pot pie, I would be waiting a long time. And my family is not that ...
Valentine’s Day Cheesecake Brownies
In my view, the best reason to make brownies from scratch is so that you can add cheesecake to them. I’d turn down the chocolatiest, fudgiest brownie any day for a swirly, marbleized cream cheese brownie. The slight tanginess of the cream cheese is the perfect foil for the richness of the chocolate. Better than either cheesecake or a plain brownie, ...
Better than Take-Out Vegetable Biryani
Sometimes the tail wags the dog around here. I had a big batch of cucumber and mint raita sitting in the refrigerator -- a recipe that I had developed for my upcoming cookbook on food swapping -- and needed to come up with a way to use it. I have always enjoyed heaping cool, refreshing raita on biryani, the spicy South Asian mixed rice dish, when ...
Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas
Did you catch me on WCIU's "You & Me This Morning" talking about homemade Valentine's Day gift ideas from the Chicago Food Swap? What a fun segment that was! If you would like the recipes for the projects that I demonstrated, you will find them all on the Chicago Food Swap website. I am posting the recipe for the Valentine's Day ...
Cheddar Apple Pigs in a Blanket
Super Bowl Sunday is right around the corner. Are you hosting a party, attending one or just watching with your family? Whatever your plans are, you will need a killer game-time snack. Enter, my Cheddar Apple Chicken Sausage Bites. I originally posted this recipe last year at this time, but it is still a winner. So I am posting it again for all you ...
Weeknight Dinner: Turkey Sloppy Joes
A high school classmate of mine recently referred to family dinner as a "nightly condom commercial." That's pretty grim. My kids are older than his, so my feelings about family dinner may be slightly less bleak. But family dinner is not the most relaxing twenty minutes -- because that is how long my kids will sit at the table -- of my day. ...
Healthy Snack Idea: Homemade Plum Almond Granola Bars
It's okay to snack. Really. Snacks are part of a healthy diet. No one should be expected to go from lunch until dinner without some fuel. What do you think will happen when you sit down to dinner utterly famished? That's exactly how overeating happens. In fact, smart snacking may be the key to that new year's resolution to eat healthy that you made ...
Duck Fat Roasted Root Vegetables
When I was growing up, my mother typically made dinners that had a protein, a starch and a vegetable. Dinner was always followed by a green salad. I realized recently that I almost never cook like that. Most of my dinners tend to be one-pot meals, like soups, stews, braises and casseroles. Perhaps I will serve bread or salad on the side. But I ...
January 2015 Chicago Food Swap Recap
The Chicago Food Swap started its fourth year off with a bang at the January food swap. A few timely mentions in the local press, such as the Chicago Reader and the Check Please Planner, brought a wave of new swappers who mixed right in with the returning veterans. And there was plenty of delicious food all around. One of the highlights of ...
New Year's Resolution Dinner: Nicoise Salad
Salad for dinner? In the middle of January? I know that it is comfort food season, but it is also the time of year when we atone for our sins during the holiday season and eat healthier. The goal of this recipe is to show you that eating light and healthy can still satisfy your soul, even in the dead of winter. Packed with protein from BumbleBee ...
Drunken Shepherd’s Pie with Potato-Parsnip Crust
Lamb is an underused ingredient in America. In Europe, in the Middle East and even in the Antipodes, lamb is extremely popular. But here it's an afterthought. Why is that? I know many people claim not to like the taste of lamb, and it does have a distinctive taste. But my belief is that Americans do not like the taste of lamb because they are so ...
Earl Grey Shortbread with Truvia and Bigelow Tea
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SweetWarmUp #CollectiveBias Have you tried baking with the natural sweetener Truvia? I enjoy Truvia as a sweetener in my morning Bigelow tea but had not tried baking with it until recently. Truvia Baking Blend bakes like sugar but with ...
Healthy Snacking with Pistachios
Are you looking to eat healthier in the new year? I certainly am. With several weeks of holiday parties and meals behind me, I am resolving to cut back on treats and start the new year off right with healthy, nutritious foods that satisfy. I have recently discovered a new ally in the fight to eat right: in-shell pistachios. Pistachios, a top food ...
Cocoa Chicken Chili
We returned from almost two weeks in Florida to find snow on the ground in Chicago. Our spirits sank as we contemplated the return to school and work and the several months of winter ahead. The only thing to do was to hole up in the warm house and cook some serious comfort food while the blizzard came down outside. For my family, comfort food ...
Meyer Lemon Meringue Tart
Brace yourself for more citrus recipes. Today it is a show-stopping tart filled with Meyer lemon curd and topped with clouds of meringue. Looking for your next dinner party dessert? I have it right here. Why is lemon meringue a thing? Beyond the tastiness of the combination, there is a wonderful symmetry to the combination of lemon curd and ...
What to Do with Rangpur Limes
Winter is peak citrus fruit season and I could not be more excited. I absolutely love to cook and bake with lemons, limes, oranges and their exotic cousins, pomelos and kumquats. Right now, of course, I am in Florida, which is citrus country. One of my best finds at the Saturday farmers market in downtown Naples was Rangpur limes. This unusual ...
Winter at the Naples Farmers Market
My family is in Naples, Florida for our annual vacation. Over the decade that we have been coming to this part of the country, we have identified a number of enjoyable activities and sights beyond just the beach and the pool. One of my favorite activities, to no one's surprise, is the Saturday morning trip to the Third Street South Farmers Market ...
Holiday Baking: Cardamom Sugar Cookies
Sometimes you just have to bake a batch of old-fashioned cut-out sugar cookies, don't you? It was a busy Saturday around here, as they all are: an indoor soccer game, a guitar lesson, errands, play dates, oh, and getting ready for the holidays. But somehow, in the afternoon, I found the time to bake and decorate these, my favorite sugar cookies ...
Brisket for Hanukkah
Tonight at sundown, Jewish families around the world will gather together to celebrate Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights. Hanukkah commemorates the victory of a small group of Jews, the Maccabees, over the army of the Syrian-Greek King Antiochus in the second century BCE. After the Jews drove the Greeks out of Judea, they attempted to restore ...
Holiday Entertaining with Gougeres
With Hanukkah starting this week and Christmas only two weeks away, many of you have entertaining on your mind. Let me take this moment to remind you of my favorite make-ahead hors d'oeuvres: gougères. One of the most classic French pre-dinner bites, gougères are small cheese puffs made with pâté à choux, which is the same dough that is used to ...
Meyer Lemon Bars to Brighten Your Day
When I was in law school, I was always the one baking for parties and student group meetings. (I was also the one who hosted elaborate dinner parties and brought homemade soup to sick friends, one of whom later became my husband.) I had two go-to recipes, my grandmother's famous Halfway Cookies and lemon bars. If he weren't going to marry me for ...
Holiday Dessert: Maple Buttermilk Pie
Did you happen to catch me on Fox 32's morning show "Good Day Chicago" talking about edible gift ideas from the Chicago Food Swap? If not, be sure to watch the clip here! When your hobby becomes your profession, it is a bit of an adjustment. For years, it was my dream to cook and write about food professionally. Now that I am in the midst of ...