Chicago Flower and Garden Show

With the winter seeming to drag on forever in Chicago, I decided to take a break from the cold and visit the Chicago Flower and Garden show at Navy Pier.  I guess a lot of other people had the same idea because it was packed.  Spring can't come soon enough!

My favorite displays were the tablescapes and victory gardens.  But everything was really well done and really got me excited for spring gardening.  One entire end of the exhibit hall was for vendors.  I didn't spend too much time there since I only had a limited time, but I did get my boots shined for free by a very nice man.  So I'd call that a win.

Panettone French Toast

Since I've been in a new relationship this year, I've gone out to breakfast more in the past year than probably all the previous years put together.  One of my favorite things to order is french toast.  I've become particularly obsessed with french toast made with unusual types of bread.  I've had french toast made with banana bread, blueberry muffins, zucchini bread and cinnamon rolls.  In honor of the Christmas season, I decided to make my own french toast using Italian panettone.

Panettone is a sweet bread that's usually around at Christmas time.  There are lots of different variations, but they usually include some sort of candied citrus peel and raisins.  

For my french toast I used the whole panettone and that made enough for 4-6 people.

Slice the bread into 3/4 inch thick slices.  Then prepare the french toast batter.  You can use your favorite or I used 6 eggs, about 3/4 cup milk, 1 tsp vanilla and a heavy pinch of salt.

Butter or grease a griddle and cook the slices until golden brown on the outside.  I like to pull my french toast slices off the heat before they are fully set and keep them warm in a 200 degree oven until ready to serve.  Since the batter is basically a custard it will continue to set up even after it is removed from the pan.  

Serve with powdered sugar, maple syrup or like my family does it with lots of butter and white sugar.

Its the little things in life

Okay, so this post has absolutely nothing to do with gardening, but I just had to share.  This is life changing people!

See this storage bin?

 Well it isn't just a regular storage bin...

Its a cat box!

The best cat box in the world in fact.  I got this idea from a friend of mine at work who got it from her friend.  And now I'm sharing it with you.  So its kind of like Pay it Forward, but for cat litter.  

The reason this litter box is so awesome if that it keeps the litter (and the smell) much more contained than a regular cat box.  The cats jump in through the hole in the top and all the excess litter collects in the lid where you can just brush it back in.  

And its super easy to make.  Just buy a regular storage bin and cut a hole in the lid.  I used a utility knife.  Make sure the bin is deep enough for the height of your cat plus a few inches of litter.  I splurged and bought a slightly nicer bin with the locking handles just to be extra secure.

I've seen fancy cat boxes like this online for $100 or more, but mine just cost $13.99!

And yes, the cats really do go in the hole to use the box.  When I told my family and boyfriend about this idea they were extremely skeptical and might have teased me far more than was warranted.  But I persevered and now I'm sure they will all be jealous of the awesomeness.  

Blender Soup

Last Christmas I received the Cuisinart Blend and Cook blender, but I had yet to make soup in it.  Last night I was in a soup mood so I decided to finally try it out.  I couldn't find the recipe booklet so I improvised with what I had on hand.  And voila...Spicy Tomato Soup!

Spicy Tomato Soup
This is a very tomato-y tasting soup.  It would be awesome with garden tomatoes, but all I had was canned. Still tasted great though.

Add about 2 tablespoons olive oil, a clove of garlic and about half a chopped onion to the blender.  Season with salt and pepper.  Turn the heat to medium and cook for 15 min or until the veggies are soft.

I have a terrible problem with crying when I chop onions.  Nothing I have ever tried to make it easier has worked so a couple years ago I gave up completely and started buying pre-chopped frozen onions.  So much easier!  You can put them in without thawing but be prepared for clouds of fog to start pouring out of your blender.

 After the onions and garlic have cooked, add one 28 oz can of crushed or diced tomatoes.  

Then add 1-2 tablespoons of chilpotle sauce.  This is what I always buy when a recipe calls for chilpotle in adobo.  I like that it is all smooth and I don't have to fish out and chop slimy, saucy hot peppers.  

Cook on medium for 30 min or until hot.  Use the stir button occasionally.

Once the soup is hot all the way through, add 1/2 cup of heavy cream.  Then cover the lid and blend the soup until it is the consistency you like.  I like it completely smooth.

This recipe makes about a quart of soup.  I'm going to freeze half for later.  I love a nice grilled cheese sandwich and bowl of tomato soup on the first day it snows.  Yum!

Thanksgiving Recipe Roundup

I honestly don’t know what we all did before we could get recipes on the internet.  Don’t get me wrong, I love cookbooks and I own a ton of them but it’s so great to be able to find thousands of recipes online whenever I want them.  This Thanksgiving I was looking around for some interesting dessert recipes to try.  My sister doesn't like pie so I always try to make something that she will eat.  And I also wanted to try something new.  So here are the recipes I tried and how they turned out for me.

Cranberry Crumble Bars

http://www.marthastewart.com/938889/cranberry-crumble-bars

I loved this recipe!  The bars were super easy to make.  I used the canned cranberry sauce and they came together really quickly.  I didn't read the pan preparation instructions very carefully so I didn't notice the whole bit about using butter and parchment paper until after the bars were already in the oven. I just gave the pan a quick spray with PAM.  Whoops!  They still came out perfectly though so I think there is enough butter in the dough to help them not stick.

Pumpkin Tiramisu

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/desserts/pumpkin-tiramisu/

This recipe was not as much of a success.  I loved the idea of it because I’m a huge fan of pumpkin and my family all loves tiramisu.  But it just didn't work as well as I’d have liked it to.  First, I found it impossible to find lady fingers anywhere.  I did a quick search online for substitutions and read that I could use pound cake instead.  Then while I was making it, I was really worried about it tasting good.  I tasted each layer as I made it and wasn't loving how it all tasted.  I put it together anyway and hoped that an overnight stay in the fridge would help everything come together.  And it did mostly.  The layers tasted much better together than separately, but I still thought the balance was off.  In my opinion it needed much more cake and much less filling.  So next time I make it I’ll play around with the ratios.  Also, I thought 1 tsp of cinnamon was way too much. And I love cinnamon.  I’ll cut it in half next time.

Turkey Day

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and like most people when I think of Thanksgiving I think of food.  In the past few years I have developed a borderline insane obsession with making Thanksgiving dinner.  While many people try to stick others with the responsibility (“We can’t host this year, our kitchen is infested with mutated rabid flying squirrels.  Too bad!  Maybe next year…”) I dream of the day when I get to tackle the big meal all by myself.  I know…I told you it was insane!  Because I've always been single and living in a tiny apartment I've never had the opportunity to host.  So I channel my culinary frustration into compulsively watching Thanksgiving specials on the Food Network.

Which brings me to my main topic of concern…food network hosts.  Why are food network hosts so polarizing?  It seems like for everyone who loves Rachel Ray and thinks she’s revolutionized dinner prep there are an equal number of people who think she is a shrill harpy who seriously needs to take a chill pill.   Personally, I can’t stand the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond.  I know she has a huge following on her blog, but for some reason I never connected with her.  And then I read her autobiography and learned that she ran over her own dog and then still went on a date with her boyfriend.  Nope, no can do.  Or what about Paula Deen?  My mom absolutely can’t stand her and gets annoyed whenever her show comes on.  She even can’t stand people who remind her of Paula Deen.  But there are tons of people who adore Paula and can’t get enough of her homespun country cooking.

I could take or leave Paula myself, but weirdly I’ve developed a fascination with her two sons, Bobby and Jaime.  Not like I think they are cute or I want to date them or anything.  I save my chef crushes for Alton Brown.  What?  He’s really smart!  Instead I’ve dreamed up an elaborate fantasy where the brothers are constantly competing for Paula’s love and approval.  I have all sorts of evidence that Jaime is the favorite son.  Like for example, he’s the one who stayed in Savannah with his wife and adorable children while younger son Bobby left home for the big apple.  And Paula probably doesn’t like apples unless they are in pie form.  Also, both Jaime and Bobby had cooking shows that debuted around the same time.  While Bobby’s healthy cooking show airs on the lesser known and watched Cooking Channel, Jaime’s family cooking show plays on the Food Network.  Interesting, no?  Although now that Paula has announced that she has diabetes Bobby might gain some ground.

I indulged my conspiracy theories last week while watching the Deen brothers Thanksgiving special.  The show was actually a charming program about the brothers making Thanksgiving dinner for their mom, but I envisioned it as a cage match between Bobby and Jaime.  A food fight to the death where each son attempted to win his mother’s love through strategically implemented calories.  For the record, I’m Team Bobby.

So hopefully your Thanksgiving finds you surrounded by good food, friends and family.  I know mine will.  But as the rest of the family is settling down to watch football or parades, I’ll be sneaking off to watch Food Network and dreaming of all the elaborate recipes I can make in my imagination.  And dreaming of Alton Brown…obviously!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Massacre

I love scary stuff.  That might seem a bit incongruous with all the other things I'm into like baking, gardening and other various domestic activities, but I've always loved horror in all forms.  Lately I've been really into playing the video game Dead Island.  I can happily hack and slash at zombies for hours while my boyfriend looks on with an expression that is equal parts amused and appalled. 

So while I enjoy seeing a pixilated zombie get hacked to bits, I do not enjoy it when the carnage comes to my garden.  My pumpkins that I have displayed on my balcony in a charming (if I do say so myself) Fall arrangement have been visited by a scourge.  Not of the undead hordes,  but of demented flocks of birds.  While I sleep, these baleful creatures peck, peck, peck away at my pumpkins leaving them riddled with holes and missing chunks.

I have to admit that while the gardener part of me is angry at the destruction of my pumpkins by the same fiends who ate all my strawberries earlier in the summer, the horror fan in me is strangely fascinated by the gore of it all.  Doesn't that look just like a puddle of blood pooling underneath the mutilated pumpkin on the right?  And is the one on the left with the big drip coming out of it's wound...crying?  No?  Just me?  Okay, maybe its time to lay off the Dead Island.