Breakfast for Dinner

Sometimes breakfast for dinner just hits the spot! Some nicely roasted asparagus and a few poached eggs - so divine!

Objects d'Art

For the past year, I've been searching for a large piece of artwork that would look pretty on my dining room wall, but that would also blend with my living room decor.

I didn't have much luck finding anything - so my few stints with Bottles & Brushed inspired me to make some art of my own.

The Loot

I went to the Randolph Street Antique Market the other day and came back with some great vintage goodies.

I found a few vintage city of Chicago maps from the 1920's - so weird to see a map of Chicago without O'Hare or the Kennedy Expressway! I'm planning to frame these maps and hang them in a cluster around my Chicago Neighborhoods map. And I also found a few vintage globes.

Oh, Randolph Street Antique Market, how I love thee!

Sangria by the glass

Who says you need to make sangria by the pitcher?

This glass of sangria hit the spot. I used some sweet red wine that I purchased from the cute salesman at Wine Styles and combined it with a bit of grenadine, triple sec and of course, bite-sized fresh fruit.

Pure bliss!

Hip to be Square ... Even Hip-er to be Cube

When I heard that Target sold wine juice boxes - I just had to check it out! Turns out that they have both smaller single serving boxes and multi-use wine cubes. Being the economical and thirsty gal that I am, I opted for the full-on wine cube. While I've not popped the top on this box yet, I'm certainly planning to do so soon. Can't wait to spend a few evenings on my deck with Otis and my wine cube!

P.S. another interesting tidbit about these wine cubes - the cube pictured below is actually the equivalent of two bottles of wine. I still can't wrap my brain around this since it looks like such a small box. I guess good things do come in small packages.

Randolph Street Antique Market

I love the Randolph Street Antique Market - you never know what treasure you're going to find! On this trip, I found a few vintage city of Chicago maps and a few vintage globes. I also found Otis' twin brother - I really wanted to bring him home, but I was too busy picking up my jaw from the ground after I looked at the price tag!

No Parking Zone?

Not sure if I would be so brave to park here.

I secretly (or not so secretly) think it would be pretty funny if the hydraulic lift crashed down on the car below.

Moving like a turtle...

My work friend, Cheryl, borrowed this turtle costume for her dog, Duke, from another work friend, Alina, for a "pug" crawl. Duke looked so darn cute in the costume, that I just had to see Otis model it, as well.

After he stopped trying to eat the costume and I was able to get him outfitted, he was actually a pretty photogenic model.

Spicy Sesame Broccoli & Spinach

This side dish was so good - and so simple! Just steam some broccoli & spinach and toss with an Asian marinade of teriyaki, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, red pepper flakes and sesame seeds.

Guac!

I love me some homemade guacamole!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pastries

Last Sunday, I made some "turnovers" filled with strawberries & rhubarb. Since they didn't really "turn over," I'm just going to call them pastries. No one needs to know, right?

Summertime Sunroom

As the weather gets nicer, I plan to spend lots of quality time in my summer sunroom. After a pretty funny attempt to purchase patio chairs at IKEA, I landed on these wooden Adirondack chairs. I'm even attempting to keep a few flowers alive - not sure if I'll succeed, but if not, my chairs are positioned with a view of Alex & Claudio's "greenhouse."

Herb Watch 2010

I've planted my herb garden - and hoping to keep it alive through the summer. Can't wait to use my basil, oregano, mint, cilantro, parsley, and sage, (sorry, no rosemary nor thyme).

Baby, Baby!

We celebrated the upcoming arrival of Princess Pearson a few Sundays ago.

It was a beautiful shower for a beautiful mama-to-be.

French Toast - ooh la la!

On one of the blogs that I read regularly, I saw the idea for french toast made of raisin bread. I would have never thought of this, but once I saw it, it made total sense. If you're making a sweet french toast, why not use a sweet bread as a base?

I didn't have raisin bread handy, but I did have some leftover challah bread. So, it was challah french toast with powdered sugar and a side of strawberry jam. Ooh la la!

Espincas con Garbanzos - take two!

This dish is easily one of my favorite dishes to prepare (and eat!)

It's a simple, spicy stew of chickpeas, spinach and tomato sauce. And I love that I can customize the smokiness and spice-level by altering the amount of cumin, red pepper and sambal.

Kung Pao Chicken (err Tofu)

I've become a big fan of tofu. I still like to eat beef, chicken and pork, but I find that tofu is such a wonderful meat-alternative.

This dish consisted of tofu, bell pepper, broccoli, peanuts and a spicy Asian marinade. Love it!

What would Brian Boitano make?

I recently watched a few episodes of "What Would Brian Boitano Make?" - pretty much out of curiosity because I couldn't picture a figure skater having his own show on the food network.

And ... I was pleasantly surprised by the show. Not only is Brian quirky and entertaining, but the boy can cook!

I took an idea from one of his episodes and made a sweet onion jam to accompany a grilled challah & brie sandwich. Now, that's a classy grilled cheese sandwich! The soup, on the other hand, is just your standard Campbell's condensed tomato soup - as sophisticated as I'd like my palette to be, I'll always think that Campbell's is mmm, mmm good!

Toasting to Two Weeks

To celebrate the completion of my first two weeks of being director, I popped open a bottle of Rogue Chocolate Stout. The girl with the pint glass was just as happy as the girl with the stein.

Asparagus & Ham Pasta

A recent creation of pasta, asparagus, spinach and ham.

So yummy and springy!

Dark Lord Day

This year for Dark Lord Day our group multiplied exponentially - so much so that we rented a coach bus to hold our group of 45!

As always, it was a fun day of beer tasting and friend making. There were even a few beer miracles.

Note, the number of photos taken were easily outnumbered by the number of beers consumed.

Tuna Panzanella

I love panzanella - and this recipe was a slightly different variation from my normal salad. It consisted of bread (some of my homemade baguette), tuna, tomato, canellini beans, and basil. It was very light and fresh - will definitely be making it again sometime this summer!

Sun-bathing & Squirrel-watching

Here's a few recent photos of Otis in some of his favorite places.

Sunday, Sunday

I love to make a big breakfast/brunch on Sunday mornings. On this particular Sunday, bruch consisted of a potato pancake, scrambled eggs with spinach & ham and toasted challah bread.

Promotion in a Bottle

I was promoted to Director of Inventory for the Intimate Apparel & Accessories team in mid-April - and had been saving this bottle of wine for the ocassion.

It was worth the wait!