Some foods really make you work for it. Fava beans definitely fall into that category. Any food that you have to shell not once but twice very much runs the risk of being not worth the effort. Luckily, favas -- which the British call broad beans -- have a distinctive, nutty flavor and a buttery texture that endear them to sophisticated eaters ...
Farmers Market Find: Gooseberries
I freely admit that I am a sucker for the most unusual item at the market or on a menu. Sometimes my instinct to try that new-to-me food can backfire, such as the bitter and grassy corn shoots in my salad at the Zingerman's Roadhouse. (Some things are just not for eating, folks.) But nevertheless, I press on. So it was that I passed by all the ...
A Weekend in Ann Arbor
It had been just over twenty-four hours since we arrived in Ann Arbor and I simply could not eat or drink another thing. Clearly, I had failed as a professional eater. Bon Appétit has a feature called The Big Fat Weekend where one of the editors spends a weekend eating and drinking his or her way through a city and then writes an article filled ...
Grilled Vegetables with Balsamic-Lime Reduction
It's the lazy days of summer and I am feeling lazy too. I barely want to lift a finger, let alone make dinner. Luckily, it is also grilling season. That means that I can enlist my husband to make dinner. Thank heavens. Here is what we ate for dinner the past two nights. Saturday: grilled chicken sausage, grilled vegetables and tabbouleh. ...
Picnic Fare: Garlic & Herb Roast Beef Sandwiches and No-Mayo Potato Salad
JR is on the swim team this summer. That means that, in addition to daily practice after camp, he has weekly meets that start around 5 pm and end, well, end several hours later if we're lucky. Zuzu does the swim team during the school year. Those meets start at 6 am and end, well, end several hours later -- if we're lucky. Our mistake, plainly, was ...
Strawberry Balsamic Basil Ice Cream
It's high strawberry season in the Midwest. Farmers market tables display row upon row of ruby-red berries capped with jolly green stems. At my house, we've already indulged in strawberry shortcake, strawberry rhubarb pie and I've put up nine jars of a strawberry-rhubarb- jalapeño jam. While I am certain that my husband would not have objected to ...
Mariano’s Makes Summertime Living Easier
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. #MyMarianos #Collective Bias Summertime and the living is easy. Nowhere is that more true than Chicago. Winter is brutal and spring inevitably a wet, cold disappointment, but summer in Chicago is glorious. The days are warm and sunny; every weekend boasts a different ...
Summer Cooking: Spicy Caprese Pasta
I'm hot. You're hot. She's hot. We're hot! Sounds like a bad wedding band, right? As fond as I am of party hits from the 80's, today I am actually just talking about the weather. It went from cold and rainy to sweltering and humid overnight in Chicago. Yesterday was the first day of the year where I had absolutely no interest in eating hot food. ...
Elegant First Course: Cold Pea Soup with Mint
The appearance of shelling peas at the Oak Park Farmers Market on Saturday meant that I could make one of my all-time favorite recipes this weekend. A recipe that is only in play for a few weeks each year: cold pea soup with mint. Luckily, this recipe is also a favorite with my soup-loving husband, so when I put it on the menu for Father's Day, he ...
Macy’s Picks America’s Grilling Guru
I am a member of the Everywhere Society and Everywhere has provided me with compensation for this post about Macy’s Culinary Council. As always, all thoughts and opinions expressed herein are my own. Are you a Grilling Guru? I definitely am not. While I reign supreme in the kitchen, my husband is the Grill Master in our house. And he does ...
How to Make A Watermelon Basket
Turning whole watermelons into adorably shaped bowls for serving fruit salad is a Pinterest staple. Having once carved a round baby watermelon into a bloody brain for a second grade Halloween party, I felt like I needed to redeem myself by making one of these less macabre watermelon shapes. JR's first grade class Author's Tea was on the agenda for ...
How to Make a Chopped Vegetable Salad
Last week, sometime after the third night of repurposed leftover brisket, multiple bowls of matzo ball soup and the umpteenth plate of scrambled eggs, I longed to sink my teeth into some food that would resist. Give me something -- anything! -- with some crunch to it. I went to my fridge and pulled out all the raw vegetables I could find: ...
What to Do in Santa Fe with Kids
As I mentioned, my family recently returned from a week-long trip to Santa Fe with my mom. My husband loves the Southwest and even tried to convince me to move to Albuquerque after law school. I actually love New Mexico as well, but not quite enough to live there. I could never get used to living in such a dry, desert climate but I do love to visit ...
Coffee House Strawberry Scones
The coffee house in my town makes the best scones I have ever tasted. I am never one to waste calories on inferior pastry. For example, I make regular trips to Starbucks for a Chai Tea Latte, but I haven't eaten one of their baked goods in years. But the scones at Blue Max Coffee are worth the indulgence. Huge, flaky and studded with fruit, these ...