Cakes and Ale

Succulents

I'm in Phoenix this morning, marking my third trip to the American desert in the past three months (I also visited Vegas and Palm Springs!) This time, I'm here for business, not pleasure, although, when it's 80 degrees outside I feel pretty darn good no matter what I'm doing. Right now, I'm blogging from the courtyard listening to the fountain before officially starting my day. Not bad.

Anyway, I've seen a lot of native wildlife on these trips and it's made me decide I want to get some cacti for our home. Someone actually gave me a cactus once - when I got fired from my high school job at a sandwich shop (it's a long story). We named it "Jeff" after my sleazeball boss. Jeff the cactus still lives on, but my parents adopted him after I went to college, so I can't ask for him back now. Jeff is a good example of why I want a succulent for a house plant though... they are hard to kill! We've already had to dispose of one ill-fated houseplant this year because neither one of us remembered to water it. Oops.

I like this seashell style one, which is apparently native to South Africa and can be purchased at www.highsierranursery.com

 

Summer Wedding in November

We had some freakishly unseasonable weather in Chicago this past weekend. It got up to 70 degrees on Saturday, which was such a wonderful surprise for our friends Patty and Steve, whose wedding we attended that night!

The wedding itself was a traditional Greek Orthodox ceremony, which was such an interesting cultural experience. Assumption Greek Orthodox Church, which is in the Gold Coast neighborhood, was absolutely stunning and everything you would expect: lots of gold and details and rich colors.

The bride's dress was very much suited to the surroundings, being stunningly beautiful, delicate and with an old world feel as well. I think everyone took a collective gasp of awe when she walked down the aisle:

The party afterward was at the awesome Ivy Room... cocktail hour was outside (!) in the courtyard, which was surrounded by windows looking into the high-end shops that surround the venue. Josh made a beeline for the mojito bar, which represented the other side of the cultural equation at this wedding - the bride is Cuban. This dichotomy made for excellent eating (catering by the fabulous Entertaining Company), with Greek, Cuban, and Ecuadorian stations for stuffing yourself with! (I could not get enough of the shrimp ceviche, the black bean cakes, and the baklava!)

We danced, we toasted, we drank ouzo... it was a blast. Most of all, we were so happy to celebrate P&S's union - they're a fantastic couple and we wish them all the best!

6th Annual Chili Cookoff

We capped off this past weekend (which included a beautiful wedding, post on which is to come!) with our friend's annual chili cookoff - year 6! The cookoff started the year we graduated from college, and I've competed every year but one. My team one once, in the 2nd year, but since then we haven't placed, to my dismay. This year, I was determined to do so.

Armed with my Mom's 70s Crock Pot (in a stylish shade of puce), Josh and I whipped up a batch of truly manly chili. The recipe incorporated bacon, the bacon grease, italian sausage and ground beef, three types of chilis (Anaheim, Poblano and Jalepeno), and a boatload of spices. The past few years I've gone with lighter recipes (chicken / turkey based) that haven't been big hits with the male-dominant crowd. Incorporating much more fat and meat was my strategy to win them over.

Don't ask.

Sadly, we again did not win. I call foul-play! If we didn't win it is certainly because of fradulent voting practices. Oh well. We couldn't help but have a blast all the same - Josh put back more chili than is natural for a human being to consume in one sitting (not to mention two servings of Sarah's "Apply Gookey" cake and a couple of beers too). Nothing like being able to sit outside on a fall day with 7 different chilis in front of you and good-humored friends on the side!

DVF

The lovely Amy and I went to go see / meet one of my all-time favorite clothing designers, Diane von Furstenburg, last night. DVF presented a special preview of her 2009 Resort collection, all of which made me want to immediately hop a plane to Rio, slip on one of her colorful frocks, and sip a couple caipirinhas on the beach.

The legend herself was so sweet... I love her design philosophy, which is to create clothing for women "at the beginning of their lives...", to which she added "and you can be at the beginning of your life at any age." She says she is inspired by art and by nature, but first by women themselves. The story of her accomplishments and life is impressive, and by God, the woman looks good for her age!

Amy and I watched the show champagne in hand and both immediately loved this one-shoulder look:

 
 

... but really, I'll take one of everything please!

You can check out and pre-order the entire resort collection on the DVF site HERE.
 

Chocolate-Chili Cookies

We've got one of those weekends coming up that is going to be non-stop. I'm excited though, because it's all fun stuff! Saturday we work at our monthly homeless lunch program in the morning, and then we've got a friends wedding that afternoon / evening. The good times continue on Sunday with our friends annual Chili Cookoff party - the 5th annual, I think? Wow.

Of course, I am competing in the cookoff... although, I haven't finalized my recipe yet. I do think, however, that I'll bring a stash of cookies along. Perhaps, by taming the crowd with sweets, I'll be able to garner some extra votes?!

These are my all-time favorite chocolate chip cookies. They're pretty classic... but with a twist: the addition of red chili powder. It kind of plays off the traditional Mexican combination of chocolate and chilis (which you see in everything from moles to hot cocoa down there) and I feel it just adds a little something extra... especially when following a steaming hot bowl of firey chili!

Chocolate-Chip Chili Cookies

1 C. plus 2 T. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. salt

1 stick unsalted butter (use real butter please!), softened

1/2 C. sugar

1/2 C. packed light-brown sugar

1 C. semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

1 tsp. red chili powder

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Wisk the flour and baking soda together.

On medium speed, mix the butter and the sugars together until smooth and creamy. Add the egg, vanilla, and salt and blend until smooth.

 

Stir in the flour mixture to the butter mix until well-combined. Add the chips and the chili powder and stir.

 

Grease cookie sheets using butter. Drop the dough 1 heaping teaspoon at a time onto the sheets, leaving a 2 inch gap between each cookie. Drop some dough in your mouth... (hehe, Mom would scold me for the raw eggs bit here, but I'll ignore her).

 

Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes, until the edges are brown. If you want, you can rotate the sheets halfway through cooking for even browning.

Tomato Soup Cure-All

So, I've come down with a pretty nasty case of bronchitis, which I've been kind of ignoring for the past week. The thing is, I don't really get sick all that often, and in my head, I like to think that I am one of those super-immune people who just plows through cold and flu season with nary a sniffle. My doc says I'm no longer contagious, but that my cough is going to stick around for a while. Lots of fun for Josh! I sound like I have a 30 year smoking habit right now.

Anyway, I'm not one of those people who loses their appetite at all when I'm sick. I've never understood it - I feel just as hungry as I always do. I do, however, crave some specific things when I'm under the weather... things that remind me of childhood and being taken care of by mama. My mom was pretty strict with us if we were staying home sick from school: we could sleep or do homework or read - no TV! It was her way of ensuring we weren't trying to pull the wool over her eyes with some fake illness.

Nevertheless, she did still baby us with comforting food and hot tea. Most people want chicken noodle soup when they're sick, and sure, I've had my fair share. Yet, nothing does it for me like Mom's favorite remedy: Campbells tomato soup with a tablespoon of butter melted in your bowl. It sounds strange and maybe a little indulgent, but it's so darn good. With a side of dry toast and some ginger ale, you're all set. Thankfully, I've always got some t.soup on hand, so I know what my next few meals will consist of...

Zara

Finally, it's here!

Zara, the Spanish answer to H&M, has opened it's doors in downtown Chicago. I've been a fan of the line since back when I was living abroad. In fact, I bought my first dress in one of the stores in Paris around 1999. Ever since, I've hoped they would make their way to the U.S., and then they did!

However, for the past year or so, the only location anywhere near me was out in the 'burbs at Old Orchard shopping center in Skokie. Not convenient enough for me... especially since the store gets new shipments about once a week!

On Oct. 29th, though, the Michigan Ave. spot was ready for business. I haven't been over there yet, but to start, I think I'd like this cozy little wool sweater dress:

A perfect addition to my winter uniform!

Reine de Saba

We had some friends over Friday night who recently got engaged. Seems like love is in the air because my best friend ended up getting engaged this weekend as well! (Congrats to Amy and Mark!) Anyway, nothing says love like chocolate, right?

Ever since seeing Julie and Julia, in which the Julie Powell character makes an insanely delicious looking chocolate cake covered with crushed almonds, I've been itching to give it a go myself. So, out came the Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Many bowls and pots and mixing utensils later, I managed to come up with this:

It's called a Reine de Saba, which means "Queen of Sheeba", and it consists of oodles of bittersweet chocolate and crushed almonds. The cake itself is almost flourless - it has a consistency more like a sponge-cake, with a creamy center. I topped it with Julia's glacage au chocolat icing and a ring of pulverized almonds.

The end result is simple... but chocolate doesn't really need complexity, does it? Lots of spoon licking occured.
 

Halloweenie

I'm feeling pretty lame right now. This past month has been such a whirlwind, I haven't done any of the following:

- Carved a pumpkin (last year Josh and I had a competition... J. carved an elaborate Dracula face in his that spooked me for weeks!)

- Ate any miniature or fun-sized Halloween-themed candy (usually I've made myself sick off of pumpkin shaped Reese's pb cups by now at least once.)

- Put on my super-awesome vampire fangs.

To make matters worse, we don't even have plans for tomorrow. Truth be told, between last weekend's wedding extravaganza, this week's work travel, and another wedding bash next weekend, I almost just want to zone out and maybe allow Josh to force me into watching a horror flick!

We shall see... I always have the fangs (and some fake blood capsules) in case I get inspired!

Wedding in the Desert

I haven't even tried to write about the wedding we attended last Saturday in Palm Springs yet, mostly because it was just so fantastic I'm sure I won't do it justice! I guess all I can do is boil it down to the basics:

- a ceremony on the croquet lawn underneath streamers of fresh orchids

- the bride's dress

- Lillet cocktails and potato-caviar appetizers

- Dinner outside amongst the palms, which were hung with chandeliers

- Toasts + sparklers

- Fireworks!

- Dancing under the stars and getting silly in the b&w photo booth

- The gorgeous couple, who are now privately celebrating on their honeymoon in Buenos Aires!