Cozy

Christmas decorations and tree are up.
The fire is burning.
Christmas movies are playing on the TV.
Otis is napping by my side.
Round two of Thanksgiving dinner has been prepared & consumed.
My perfect, cozy day.

Giving Thanks and Breaking Bread

This year for Thanksgiving dinner, I volunteered to be the bread baker. I made an arrangement of plain dinner rolls and also tried out a new recipe for Pumpkin Nutmeg Dinner rolls. Yum!


I also enjoyed the side entertainment of watching Otis guard the oven while the bread was baking!

You are the Best Thing

I went to see Ray LaMontagne perform at the Auditorium Theatre on November 12th. This is the third time that I've seen Ray perform and everytime I see him, I love his music more and more!

At this performance, he performed covers of a Lucinda Williams song and Michael Bolton's song "To Love Somebody." The highlight of the night (for me), though, was hearing the original arrangement of "You are the Best Thing."

And that's what you are, Ray: the best thing!

Full Set List

Aching All The Time
Empty
Jolene
Loretta (Townes Van Zandt cover)
Hold You in My Arms
Sarah
Winter Birds
To Love Somebody (Bee Gees cover)
Let It Be
Shelter
Fruits of My Labor (Lucinda Williams cover)
You Are the Best Thing (Original Version)
Burn
Encore:
Trouble
All the Wild Horses

A New Friend

While back in Burlington for Thanksgiving, Otis and I paid a visit to Lindsay and Bentley. While it took a while for the two of them to warm up to each other, by the end of the evening they were fast friends!

Baking Bootcamp

In early November, I took a three day baking course at the Chopping Block. There were six of us in the class and in three days we all progressed from being baking novices to baking pros!

Each day we prepared lots of sweet goodies - from brioche to apple pie, croissants to chocolate tarts, the list was nearly endless!

Here are some pics of some of the more interesting & intricate projects!

Swan-shaped cream puffs

Chocolate Devil's Food Cake (with Caramel Ganache & Chocolate Buttercream) - decorated by yours truly!

Lemon-Lavendar Shortbread Cookies with Candied Lemon Peel

Chocolate-Raspberry Tart

Preparing for Winter

Yes, I am now one of "those" people that dresses up their pet.

Whatever.

Otis looks absolutely adorable - and- he needs to stay warm in these cold Chicago winters.

Sigh.

Tonight I brought home a new toy for Otis - a stuffed rope monkey.

That poor monkey never stood a chance. He was beheaded in five minutes flat. I should know better by now - Otis will destroy any toy in his sight.

Here's to you poor monkey!

It Tastes like Fall, Part 2

Tonight's dinner was another tribute to my favorite season, autumn.

Butternut Squash stuffed with a Cranberry-Almond-Basamati Pilaf

One word - yum!

Beer Geeks Unite!

Last night we celebrated Dave's 35th birthday by attending the 7th Annual Festival of Wood & Barrel Aged Beer. I was in heaven because the majority of the beers that were served were rich stouts and porters. I didn't take a ton of photos, but I have a good excuse --- I was too busy imbibing fabulous beers to waste my time on picture-taking!

Some favorites of the evening were:


Black Xantos - Firestone Walker Brewing - Robles, CA - An Imperial Stout aged 7 months in Old Fitzgerald bourbon barrels that houses brandy for 20 years.


Kentucky Breakfast Stout - Founders Brewing Co. - Grand Rapids, MI - Imperial Stout brewed with coffee & chocolate aged in bourbon barrels.

Black Biscuit - Founders Brewing Co. - Grand Rapids, MI - A cross between and Old Ale and a Baltic Porter. Brewed with significant amounts of biscuit malt and molasses.


Imperial Coffee Stout - Goose Island Beer Co. - Chicago, IL - Imperial Stout infused with "Crop to Cup" iced African 100% Arabica post-roast coffee beans.

Madam Rose - Goose Island Brewing Co. - Chicago, IL - Brown Ale aged in French oak Cabernet Sauvignon barrels with the addition of Michigan cherries and heavily inoculated with brettanomyces.

Cruising with Ruben and the Bretts - Lagunitas Brewing Co. - Petaluma, CA - Imperial Stout brewed with cacao nibs and wihte peppercorns -- Aged in used oak whiskey barrel from Heaven HIll distillery. Dosed the barrel with Brettanomyces and local Sonoma cherries.


Gibraltar Oatmeal Stout - Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery - Lombard, IL - Oatmeal Stout aged in a Woodford Reserve barrel.

Cappatown - Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery - Lombard, IL - Raspberry Imperial Porter aged in a Woodford Reserve barrel.


Two 2007 - Surly Brewing Co. - Brooklyn Center, MN - Oak Aged Cranberry Stout

Conquistador de Muerte - Three Floyds Brewing Co. - Munster, IN - Milk Stout aged in a Woodford Reserve barrel with ancho & guajillo chiles.

Bliss!

Early Saturday morning.

Mid 50's temp.

Leaf-covered Palmer Square.

Walking with my buddy, Otis.

Coffee with pumpkin spice creamer.

The start of a great autumn day!

Hmm, I wanna make this dish again!

I had actually forgotten that I had made this dish (and taken this photo) about a month ago - it was a spicy marinated tofu dish, with stir-fried veggies and bean threads. I was actually surprised how much I liked tofu (because I had only had it a few times before) - and I absolutely loved the spicy marinade! Hmm, I'll have to find that recipe - because just like this photo, it's a hidden treasure!

Post note: I did make a variation of this dish again and it was fab-u-lous!! (This version had more mushrooms & red pepper as I didn't have any zucchini on hand).

It Tastes like Fall!

Tonight, for dinner, I made Pasta with Pumpkin Sauce. While I wouldn't feel like eating this every night, it was a really great dish with flavors that are the epitome of the autumn season.

Relaxation via the Culinary Arts

Cooking and spending a day in the kitchen is my ideal mode of relaxation. This past Sunday, I was so excited because I had absolutely no plans - this was a welcome change because this was the first day in a long time where I had no place where I "needed" to be. So, I got to spend the day my way - listening to great music, sipping my coffee and cooking like crazy!

I started the day by simmering a big pot of chicken stock. The scent of chicken, aromatic vegetables and herbs filled the condo! Otis was beside himself while he waited for the stock to finish so that he could dine on the leftover chicken scraps. Here is the final result: a well-stocked freezer-shelf - with containers of chicken stock awaiting their supporting role in this winter's various soups, stews and risottos.



While the chicken stock simmered, I started a batch of a hearty soup. My first soup recipe of the fall was White Bean & Bacon Soup. It was a very simple recipe of bacon, Great Northern beans, carrots, onion, celery, garlic, herbs & spices. The soup was finished just in time for me to enjoy a "lunch break".

Next up, I tried out a recipe from a recent edition of Cooking Light. This creation was aptly called Bulgur Salad with Dried Cranberries, but if I was a magazine editor or recipe-writer, I would have called would have called it something like Rustic Autumn Tabbouleau. I've been dining on this creation all week for lunch at work - it gets better day by day! It's a simple recipe of bulgur, cucumber, dried cranberries, parsely, lemon juice and EVOO. I added the special touch of goat cheese, too. So yummy!

Next on the agenda was Foccacia Bread. I had never made foccacia bread before, but really wanted to try my hand at it before I learned the "official" way to make it in my "Baking Bootcamp" class next week. This recipe was very simple and called for parmesean cheese & Italian herbs as the garnsih on top. This is another creation that I've been enjoying all weeklong!

I took an afternoon break from cooking to relax in the sunroom with Otis and a book. This was truly shaping up to be a perfect day. Since we had just "fallen back" for Daylight Savings Time the night prior, by five 'o clock it was getting dark outside and I was craving dinner. I went back into the kitchen and tried out another Cooking Light creation - Chicken & Butternut Tagine with Mediteranian Couscous. The "tagine" was flavored with great spices like cumin, tumeric, and cinnamon. A special touch was also added by the flavors of dried plums and kalamata olives. For the couscous, I again used mediteranian spices and also added dried currants. This dish was so authentic that it made me feel like I had travelled to a foreign land!