Category Archives: Food

Music to cook dinner to

I’m about to sign the lease for my first “big girl” apartment. Hip hip hooray!

Although I’ve yet to move a single piece of furniture into my new place, I can already picture myself coming home from work, turning on some tunes and making a delicious meal. Maybe this. Or this. (OK, probably this.) Fine. It’ll be a Lean Cuisene. Regardless, the music will reflect the cozy nature of the food I long to cook.

Naturally, I’ve already made the playlist, because why pack up all of your belongings when you can browse Spotify for three hours? Priorities, people.

Anyway, I’ve included the playlist here and below. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do (and cook better meals while listening to it than I do).

  1. “My Little Corner of the World” – Yo La Tengo
  2. “Sex Tourists” – French Kicks
  3. “There Goes The Fear” – Doves
  4. “My Life” – Best Coast
  5. “She’s Bound to Get Hurt” – Summer Fiction
  6. “Right Moves” – Josh Ritter
  7. “Butchie’s Tune” – The Lovin’ Spoonful
  8. “Magic” – Girls
  9. “King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1″ – Neutral Milk Hotel
  10. “Wind and Walls” – The Tallest Man on Earth
  11. “Cowboy Boots” – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
  12. “Dreams” – Fleetwood Mac
  13. “Back to Front” – Eliza Doolittle
  14. “Hold On” – Alabama Shakes
  15. “Between the Cheats” – Amy Winehouse
  16. “Let’s Do It” – Billie Holiday
  17. “I Thought I Saw Your Face Today” – She & Him
  18. “Night Windows” – The Weakerthans
  19. “World News” – Local Natives
  20. “Worry Dance” – Diet Folk

Spicy Tomato Dill Soup

It is Oct. 24. I am in Chicago. And it is 75° outside.

Unacceptable. Give me fall back.

Throughout the summer (my least favorite of seasons — gasp!), I willed it to be autumn with the purchasing of oversized sweaters. I’ve gone for a more cost-effective, calorie-ineffective method this time around: Spicy Tomato Dill Soup.

This is my favorite dish on the planet (I know I’m a hyperbolic person, but I promise I’m not exaggerating). The recipe comes from Summer Kitchen, an adorable restaurant in Door County, Wis., my family spends most summers frequenting. That I developed my love for this piping hot soup during summer months is a testament to its deliciousness. Still, it is best enjoyed during colder months — the weather is more fitting but the clothes are not.

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Caramel stuffed apple cider cookies

I have been commanded by my boss to write a new blog post, because “she needs a laugh.” Well, seeing as it is Monday morning and my pension for humor is at a weekly low,  I thought I’d go with the next best thing: baked goods.

I made these caramel apple cider cookies a couple weeks back and they were delicious. Credit to this blog for the recipe and my mad Instagram skills for the photo.

Warning: The recipe advises you refrigerate the dough for an hour before baking. As I’m sure you all know, this is the most disheartening tip to encounter in a recipe, so I did what any rational being would do when faced with it: I ignored it. (Truth be told, had I read the recipe in full before committing to it, the hour-long wait would have kept me from baking these. Huzzah for my dwindling patience!)  Continue reading →

Potlikker: Simply delekktable

A month into my New York move and I have become quite the penny pincher. Between the monthly Subway passes, frequent trips to the dry cleaners and joys of paying New York rent, I find myself having to say” no” to purchases previously innocuous or irresistible.

What I am willing to spend my money on, however, is food. It’s surprising New Yorkers are as thin as they are, because there is no lack of to-die-for food in this city. I’ve barely been able to keep my hands off a fork and knife.

Potlikker (Photo Courtesy Katie Sokoler/Gothamist)

Over the weekend, I traveled to Williamsburg with friends new and old to try Potlikker, the latest offering from New York restaurateur Liza Queen. An intimate dining venue, the waitstaff managed to find room for our party of eight. It was an unbearably hot and sticky Saturday in the Big Apple, and the restaurant’s exposed kitchen marred any chance our overheated selves had at finding sweet relief (many a joke was cracked about butt sweat – ha!). Luckily, Potlikker more than made up for its balmy atmosphere with exciting and tasty cuisine.

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Nick’s Pizza: Come for the pies. Stay for the salad.

Well, I caved. It took a month, but this Chicagoan has finally given New York pizza a chance. How did it go? Hmm… Well, I don’t like salad, but I enjoyed it more than the pizza. Does that paint a clear enough picture?

OK, I’m being a little (read: very) harsh. Let’s rewind: On Tuesday I dined at Nick’s Pizza, located on the Upper East Side at 94th Street and Second Avenue. I let the person I was with order, because he insisted he knew what was good there. As such, we got the house salad and a large pepperoni pizza. Unfortunately for Nick’s, I am more of a veggie pizza than a meat pizza kind of girl, so my date had made my expectations even less attainable. Oops.

I got the house wine, which stood at a whopping $4 a glass. Considering the price, the taste was plenty agreeable. I had no complaints.

Then came the house salad. Like I said, I am not the girl who goes to lunch and orders a salad. I wish I was, but I’m not. Having said that, this salad was arguably one of the best I’ve ever had in my life. I was on a date, but I had three servings. That’s how good it was: I did not care about looking like a pig. The ingredients were simple enough. Greens with sun dried tomatoes and something yellow I couldn’t identify. It was the dressing, which had the perfect amount of sweetness, that really made the dish sing. If you go to Nick’s, get the house salad. I rarely recommend lettuce, but this is an exception.

The pizza was next, and I had mixed feelings about it. First off, the pepperoni was too small in circumference. The heat of the oven had made the edges curl inward, turning each slice into a tiny bowl of oil. Seeing as I was once the girl who blotted her pizza with a napkin (I’m proud to say I’ve outgrown this stage of my life), this was not terribly appetizing. I had three slices, but by the third the pepperoni was getting picked off. The overall taste was good enough. In my opinion, a pizza is as good as its crust, and this one stood its ground: thin but chewy. It wasn’t the buttery deliciousness of my beloved Lou’s, but it worked.

In short, the place affirmed my devotion to Chicago pies without making me entirely cynical about the New York pizza experience. It was good, not great, but I’d be more than willing to go back if I could do my own ordering.

If you have any recommendations for New York City pizza joints you think will convert this Chicago loyalist, leave a comment!