February 2012
12 posts
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How to Make Homemade Thin Mints
I don’t really have words for these. Relieving the pure misery that is waiting for Girl Scout Cookies to arrive might be the best joy I could put out into the world (not that I’m the first one to make these or anything).
They taste just like the originals. I did a taste test (or 100) with a box of them. See the whole recipe here.
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5 Ways for Food Lovers to Prepare for Spring →
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Taco Joint
This falls under the category of “place I’ve seen a hundred times and never expected to be this good.” Taco Joint doesn’t seem to be super popular on food sites, it’s not the most authentic Mexican food you can get in Chicago, but I’m gonna be going back. I enjoyed every aspect of it.
I got the estilo baja (Victoria Beer battered tilapia garnished with a...
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La Creperie
Going into dinner here, I had a hope of recreating a restaurant I used to frequent in Champaign called Carmon’s. That place is now closed, and it was divine. La Creperie almost did for me what Carmon’s could, just not quite.
I tried a bit of the french onion soup and it sure seems they do that right. I think they got as much flavor into that little bowl as they possibly could.
All...
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How to Make Homemade Speculoos Cookie Butter
I’ve professed my love more than once before, and I’ll do it again. Shoutout to my friend Maggie for introducing me to this stuff after her semester in Belgium. I had to try making my own once Trader Joe’s stopped making their version during the holidays. Luckily, you can now find it at the new huge flagship Walgreens on State St. in Chicago. Woo!
See the recipe here.
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Easy Whole Wheat Pizza Crust
It’s easy to be afraid of yeast. You always hear people talking about how you need to make sure to do X so you don’t mess up the yeast. Well so far, I’ve had zero problems with it! Maybe that’s because this recipe almost entirely involves throwing the ingredients into a KitchenAid.
After sifting through a whole lot of recipes for whole wheat pizza crust, I decided to use...
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Autre Monde Cafe
I had the pleasure of eating brunch here after it had been on my list for months. I never knew when I’d make it all the way out to Berwyn, being car-less, but when an opportunity arose, I jumped at it!
Please tell me what’s better than walking away from a leisurely, late brunch on a Saturday morning. Anything? Answer is no. This brunch was incredible. We started out with some bloody...
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How to Make Homemade Cheez-Its →
So simple, so cheesy! See the recipe here.
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A Love Letter to Sriracha →
January 2012
13 posts
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5 Places to Get Solid Southern Food in Chicago
Big Jones, Wishbone, Chicago Q, The Southern and Lillie’s Q. Hit them all up as soon as you can, you won’t regret it.
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Fried eggs in pepper baskets
This is one of those things that I guess you can call a dish, that I reacted to with a “why haven’t I ever thought to do this before?”
It’s simple: cut any kind of bell pepper into slices. Place on pan w/ a bit of olive oil over medium heat. Crack 1 egg into each slice and cook until the white are firm and the yolks almost so. Sprinkle with salt and ground pepper.
Flip...
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What I Drank in LA: Hops
Some friends of mine took me to Blue Palms while in LA, and they had an awesome beer selection. I did a flight so I could taste a bunch. Left to right, I had: Pliny the Elder (a double IPA described to me as the quintessential California IPA), Blue Palms’ own Hefeweizen, Beachwood BBQ Belgian Black Ale, and He’Brew ReJewvenator (described as a belgian/german hybrid w/ concord...
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How to Make Homemade Wheat Thins
They’re super salty, and taste amazingly similar to the real thing. Oh and cheaper, less preservatives… highly recommend making these.
See the full recipe and photo set here.
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What I Ate in LA, Pt. 2: Animal Style
So eventually my taco streak had to come to an end. Sad, but it made way for 2 more awesome meals. I’m sure you can guess where the above giant burger is from.
But first I went to lunch with my bosses at a place called Farmstand in El Segundo. This place was real cute on the inside, decorated in a farm theme with leather cowprint seating. We got the Roasted Eggplant & Caramelized...
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What I Ate in LA, Pt. 1: 24 Hours of Tacos
I didn’t plan to eat almost solely tacos fro 24 hours while on this trip, but I did. And I’m so glad I did!
For lunch one day, a coworker took me to what’s supposed to be one of the best food trucks in the city, Komodo. This is one that started out truck, and turned into a brick-and-mortar restaurant as well, which is always impressive to me.
You can order their stuff as tacos...
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Tortas Frontera
On my way out of town on a trip to LA, I was almost as excited to eat at Tortas Frontera as I was to go on the trip. I loved Xoco and especially loved the Mexican food I had when Rick Bayless helped out with Taco Hell at Lula Cafe, so I felt pretty sure I’d be having a good meal. And I was right.
I got the chipotle chicken torta, with a side of chips, guacamole and salsa. The torta...
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Peanut Butter, Dulce de Leche Cheerios →
So these exist. I’ll need them immediately, and to make some Rice Krispie treats with the PB ones as the cereal base. I wonder how widely available they are? I’ll be on the lookout.
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Chicken Tikka Masala
I’ve posted this recipe before, and it held up to its reputation. It’s very simple, it just takes a bit because of the multiple steps. If you invest in the right spices, it’s great to make a lot of and have in the fridge for future meals. I think it might even get better as it sits. I always crave Indian food but I think this time of year more than ever.
When I adapted this...
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The Muffaletta Sandwich
Muffaletta, Local Option, Chicago.
This Creole-yet-Italian sandwich is huge, heavy and can be found all over Chicago. Find out more about it here.
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December 2011
19 posts
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Homemade Nutella
As if I hadn’t already expressed my love for it enough, I decided to make my own. It’s awesome, it’s more hazelnuty than the real stuff, and I highly recommend making it.
A simple 6 ingredients is all you need. Find the recipe here.
Here’s a progression of it in the food processor.
After 1 minute:
After 2 minutes:
After 3 minutes:
After 4 minutes:
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Speculoos spread cookies
So I finally did something with the speculoos cookie butter OTHER than eating spoonfuls out of the jar. I made cookies out of spread made out of cookies, so I put a cookie in a cookie?
I used the same recipe as when I made simple Nutella cookies, and just replaced the Nutella for Speculoos. I think this verified that that recipe can be used for any type of spread, whether one of these, or any...
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Italian Deli: Vinnie's Sub Shop
I’m on a mission to eat every traditional Italian sub in the city. Read more about it here.
Vinnie’s was ok, but my overall advice? Skip it, go to Bari if you’re in the area.
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10 Chicago Treats to Bring Home for the Holidays →
Every year I always bring home some Garrett Popcorn for my family (and for myself, clearly). There’s a whole lot of other local Chicago treats that are good to bring home to your family or whoever you may be visiting this year though, including candy, BBQ sauce, pies, coffee, truffles and gin. Even if you don’t get them now, it would prove for a pretty good checklist of local foods...
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Spritz Cookies
I am in a Christmas cookie-filled, mulled wine-drinking, holiday event-going state of mind currently. Call it holiday spirit, call it the winter crazies, it’s here. And involves a whole lot of baking.
These are the simplest, best holiday cookies in my opinion. They’re better than plain ol’ sugar cookies because they’re loaded with butter and almond extract.
See the full...
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RT @evernote: New Evernote app: Remember all of food and meals you love with Evernote Food http://t.co/WHnjZyz5
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Angostura bitters defined →
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Turkey Wrap-Ups
This is one of my favorite recipes from growing up. It’s what I usually request on visits home. Everyone I’ve made this for has liked it, and it’s so simple. I’ve also had the urge to put green onions on/in everything lately, so this is sounding especially good at the moment.
This would be perfect for turkey leftovers if it’s not too late, perhaps if you froze some...
November 2011
21 posts
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