Beer Under Glass

Some of our food & beer relaxing on the lawn

 I love craft beer. 

I love Chicago's Craft Beer Week. I love tasting new beers while enjoying delicious food samples and looking at beautiful plants. That basically sums up the event Chris & I attended last week!
Beer Under Glass (held at the beautiful Garfield Park Conservatory, http://www.garfield-conservatory.org/) is the annual kick off to Chicago's Craft Beer Week and is just a blast!

Delicious beer- beautiful flower

 We tried a ton of great beer, our favorite (or at least my favorite) was from Haymarket Brewery (http://haymarketbrewing.com/). Their Mathias Imperial IPA is a total mouth full & packs a punch at 10% alcohol by volume! They represented with delicious food too- kielbasa & bratwurst pictured above are both from Haymarket.

Even cacti like beer

The food competes with the beer for my attention every time we attend a tasting.....I guess I just really like to eat! City Provisions (http://www.cityprovisions.com/) informed me in a facebook post that they were pulling 45 pounds of pork for the amazing sliders they provided. It made me so happy to know what they were bringing- because everything I've had from their deli has been great. The sliders were my favorite food at the event! A dill pickle slice, cole slaw & perfectly prepared pulled pork on a soft roll. They are not included in the photo above - Chris & I both ate them standing up immediately after we got them!

If you want more info about Chicago Craft Beer Week (still going on........it's actually so awesome it stretches into a week & a half!) visit http://chibeerweek.com/. There are so many fun events with outstanding beers - how am I supposed to find the time to do it all?!?

Chocolate Chip Salted Caramel Cookie Bars

I love salted caramel anything as of late.

I was wandering around Pinterest a couple of weeks ago and came across a recipe for Chocolate Chip Salted Caramel Cookie Bars and I knew I needed to try it! You can find the recipe here; http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/chocolate-chip-salted-caramel-cookie-bars/

I baked these for the first time while visiting my in laws in the Philadelphia area and they were a big hit!



Chocolate Chip Salted Caramel Cookie Bars



My only 2 issues with my effort on this recipe were: 1. I didn't use a coarse enough sea salt- so there wasn't that chunky salt feeling when I ate the bars (which clearly I ate my fair share!). I personally love the chunky salt feeling when eating anything with salted caramel. The 2nd problem I had was that the bars were SO goopy after cooling for a couple of hours. They were still delicious, but messy and required a plate & fork. Good to know: they were PERFECT the next morning.

I love anything you can make ahead- it makes life so much easier. This is a perfect "make ahead" dessert, because is was way better after it had 12+ hours to cool.

My sister made the recipe too, she added oats & said it turned out really well- so it is also clearly a recipe you can get creative with..............which I think makes it even better.

Let me know if you try this recipe - for your in laws- or anyone else!

Spring Pasta... with a side of relaxation!

I love to try new recipes.

I found this totally easy one on Food & Wine's website; http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/penne-with-asparagus-sage-and-peas After a jam packed weekend, all I wanted to do was head home & cook a meal for the two of us!

We have been so busy with travel, throwing parties in our home, and special events that I have not cooked us a "real" meal just for us in over 2 weeks. That is WAY too long!! (All of those things probably also contribute to my lack of blog posts!)

This recipe is perfect for a spring dinner although I did make a few changes:

I added chicken (to make the meal more substantial)

I substituted dried sage for the fresh (because I didn't have fresh :)

I omitted the butter (because I didn't think it needed it with the richness of the half & half)

I substituted half & half for the cream (because it is what I had in the fridge)

I substituted roasted garlic infused olive oil for the fresh garlic (because I didn't have any garlic in the house!)

Even with those adjustments it turned out really well.

Chris loved it- he is pretty darn complimentary of whatever I cook though- so maybe I should take his compliments with a grain of salt :) ? Even if I deem a dish a failure, Chris will typically thank me for making it & eat it anyway. Often he ends up telling me he thinks my failures are good! I sure do love that about him.

Cooking for the two of us is all about slowing down the pace of our lives. I like to be busy, to have a full plate, to plan & attend parties, etc- but I do love the aftermath- that blissful moment when you realize you have a few hours ahead of you with nothing you need to do and no where you need to go. Except to make dinner and enjoy it  at home with your husband.

I hope you have a chance to try this recipe out- or do what I did & take your own riff on it! Let me know in the comments if you try it!

Fresh produce delivery

 I didn't know it until this week, but I love getting fresh produce delivered to my doorstep!

I ordered a box of produce to be delivered after Chris & I had been away for awhile, figuring it would be a great way to restock our fridge& fruit bowl it worked fabulously. 

Our handwritten note from the delivery person

As a bonus, the delivery person hand wrote a note on a post it apologizing for my delivery box being dirty- who does that?? It was a gesture that likely took the delivery person a minute, but I was so impressed by it. 

List of the delicious stuff inside, plus a view of how dirty our box was :)

I love when people make the extra effort- it does make such a difference. The box was full of awesome stuff for us, and honestly- the perfect size for a couple; almost everything came in a pair. As the photo shows, the box was pretty beat up on the outside, but the items inside looked perfect.

Florida Sunsets

I love watching the sun set over the Gulf of Mexico. 

My family has been visiting a small key in Florida for over 35 years (being the youngest- they were going well before I was around!) and it seems like we've always gathered at the end of the day to watch the sun go down together. It is so strikingly beautiful and somehow incredibly relaxing. 

I sometimes catch the sunset in Chicago, but it isn't quite the same; I can't watch it go all the way down to the horizon and although it is classic, the sun setting behind the El isn't quite the same as the sun setting over an ocean.

I really love the chance to have a lingering drink and watch something so stunning at the end of a vacation day.

Hope you enjoy some photos!

Biking to work

I love riding my bike to work.

It is so easy to love being outdoors on a sunny, nearly 80 degree day in Chicago (in March!). 

I rode my bike to work again today and despite having to fight with all manner of motor vehicles for space on the road, it is still so awesome. It harkens back to being a kid somehow and I love that too. My family would be the first to tell you I am a terrible bike rider - and, who am I kidding, they'd be right - but I still love it! Knock on wood, I've only crashed once & it was into another biker........so I've got a much better track record than I do in HondaPants.

$4+ per gallon gas just sweetens the deal and makes me enjoy my rides even more, because my lovely bike doesn't need any of it.

I hope you have the chance to enjoy some of this crazy spring time weather!

Irish Soda Bread

I love being Irish. I also love Irish Soda Bread.

Last night's final product - Irish Soda Bread

As it happens, I am baking some now.....(partly because this is the time of year that Chris gets home closer to midnight than 6pm. Thankfully for me, him, and our marriage- this is an abbreviated time of year!!) The more obvious reason that I'm baking this bread is that is abundantly delicious. I may have also baked a loaf last night. I like it that much!

So, St Patrick's Day is coming up, which is the most obvious reminder to make this delicious bread. I feel like this bread should be in my life year round. My preference is to use raisins along with whatever other dried fruit I have on hand. As is the case yesterday/today dried cherries have been making their way into my dough....delicious.

Chris & I were out & about on Saturday and I bought a "hunk of Irish Soda Bread" from a small bakery. We saved it for Sunday brunch at home and it was just so good. The crust was thick and crunchy and the center full of flavor and dried fruit. It served as a kick in the pants to bake some of my own! It also made me realize that my bread did not have the amazing crustiness of the bakery's. So, I did what anyone in my age range would, I googled "how to bake crusty bread" and promptly pinned the best response I found. :) How techie I have become! Here is the link; http://www.preparedpantry.com/howtobakecrustybreads.aspx 

Tonight's loaf- still baking!

So back to tonight; I have a pan of steaming water below the pizza stone I've been baking the bread on. (and yes- I realize I worked against myself by opening the oven to take the photo. Yes- steam escaped!)

 Last night's effort did indeed have a beautiful crust, so I went the same route again!

Does anyone else love this quick bread as much as I do? Let me know in the comments!