busybee!

Hi!

Here’s what I look like at school!

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And here’s a new endeavor that Gerard and I have started!

((click the link to get the story on the picture!))

apartment fantasy

Ever since Gerard started dedicating (ala Weird Al) Ween songs to my apartment obsession, I haven’t been able to get it out of my head. My work environment has a lot to do with it; I’m surrounded by beautiful things and the facts attached to them, which makes them exciting and approchable at the same time. Color, design, and space has evolved over the past year- into something I actually think about, rather than something that seems inaccessible and only for rich people. Danielle and I are lucky that our landlord said we could a) repaint the place and b) take the $ out of our rent. I have to run the budget by her, but this is what we’ve decided on thus far.

Kitchen: June Day

Living Rooms: Nuance (it didn’t scan well, but is not pure white)

Bathroom and Den: Tango

Accent wall in Living Room: I forget the color name

My bedroom: I also forget the color name, it doesn’t look this pink in real life.

I know it seems like a lot (maybe too many colors) but I am confident in how the neutrals will work with the brighter pops. I also like how certain color schemes will be echoed throuought the whole home. Craigslist is proving to be a valuable resource, and my friend Ashlie who goes to the Harrington Institute of Design is going to help me and Danielle with some space solutions, especially for our cabinet-less kitchen.

domestic bliss

I’m going to keep my fingers crossed… but tonight Danielle and I are dropping off our security deposit and signing a lease for a new apartment that we’ll be moving into in July. It’s a little further south and a little further east than our seperate current digs, the price is right, it has a den, and a very workable (read: big and uncluttered with a butler’s pantry) kitchen. It is the first apartment I am really excited about moving into. I have enjoyed living in all of my environments, but am ready to be cat free. My job has given me lots of great ideas design and I can’t wait to apply them to my home. Talking about color selection/ space planning with Danielle has been really fun. We have similar tastes that are different enough to keep it interesting. All of this is great, but Danielle and I both have benefitted from living with people who have a lot of furniture. This means we have a couple of shelves, and our beds. This means we need a couch.

For my birthday my grandma decided it was time that I get some “adult furniture” but not until I move out of my current apartment. Well the time has come, and I luckily work at one of the best resources for home design in the city of Chicago. I got lucky on craigslist and found this couch from a really nice couple who I turn out to have some mutual friends with.

The couch is great

I can’t wait to sit on it

I’m recovering it in this fabric, which is called Rocket in the color cocoa.

And I’m making 2 big pillows for it in this Paul Smith fabric, that I have been obsessed with since August.

Many happy meals will be made in this house, and eaten on this couch.

dark n’ stormy

A few years ago, a friend’s older sister’s friend (say that 10 times fast) introduced me to a delicious drink called the Dark n’ Stormy. I know it sounds like a romance novel from the last days of disco, but it’s actually quite good and very refreshing. Last night, the weather was dark and stormy, so I though a theme drink would be apt. I’d also confirm that I find people usually act more “Light n’ Sunny” after they’ve had a few of these almost tropical concoctions.

If you google Dark n Stormy, you’ll be told that you MUST use Gosling’s Dark Seal Rum. They are lying. It is good with any high quality dark rum. However, it’s worth noting that the powers that be are not lying about the dark rum- don’t try it with white rum or spiced rum. You will not be happy with the results. Traditionally the ingredients are 1 shot dark rum, ice, ginger beer, and lime. Ginger beer is worth having at your house all the time. It is delicious, and you can even make your own. After going to the Violet Hour, I was surprised to see them using a ginger syrup in addition to the traditional ingredients. Needless to say, it gave me a great idea.

Last fall, I decided to make my own ginger syrup. I’ve been experimenting with it since then, but I think last night I finally got it right. Here is the recipe

1 cup freshly grated ginger
1 cup sugar
1.5 cup water
2 tablespoons ground ginger

Combine ingredients, bring to a boil.

Let boil until the mixture reduced by 1/2. Strain into a glass container.

Meanwhile, you should have some freshly cut limes on hand.

Once the ginger syrup has cooled a bit, pour a shot of the syrup into your glass, along with the juice of 1/2 a lime

Next, pour a shot and a half of dark rum over your syrup/lime mixture

Place 4 cubes of ice into the cup, top off with ginger beer, stir and garnish with a lime

Delicious! I’d recommend making this on Thursday nights, especially since 30 Rock is all new.

what’s that you say?

i’m going to get more diciplined about blogging. for reaz.

in the meantime, a quick update. the weekend was good (almost a week ago!)

took myself out to dinner on friday

to celebrate/commemorate the end of my current relationship with this book:

fantastic book. going to the dominican republic in april because of it with ms. lopez-betanzos. officially obsessed with junot diaz.

saturday was work after the most beautiful coffee drink ever.

after work, i swear these shoes were just hanging out by a trashcan.

saturday evening

i was mod, danielle was a biker (dead).

this huge dog was at the party

as were carmex and captain crunch!

monday we helped nat with her installation.

it might look like a sweatshop, but it was fun.

go to her opening!

it will be awesome!

omg

i am about to turn 25 in less than 48 hours, more like 36, but whatevs. i just discovered the cutest dog ever. well, i actually found it a few weeks ago, a american blue pitbull.

and even better OUTKAST BREEDS THEM. FOR REAL! CLICK ON REAL! PLEASE. but not at work because the website plays outkast.

savory swiss chard tart

summer is the season of farmers’ markets in chicagoland, and i am volunteering at my neighborhood market in the heart of logan square, two sundays a month for its’ duration until the end of october. you can check out the link on your right.

volunteering at the farmers’ market has thus far been a very worthwhile experience. i’m starting to recognize more personalities around the neighborhood and i’m feeling really connected with the community.

the market this year is well organized with farmers and vendors who focus on sustainable and or organic food/ products. yesterday, i bought swiss chard, radishes, baby onions, lemon balm, dill, and six fresh eggs.

when i got home at 1, i was pretty warm, but i knew i wanted to make something delicious with my fresh purchases.

i did some research and found a recipe for a swiss chard tart. the only problem was, i didn’t have any ricotta cheese, pre made pastry crust, or even a pound of swiss chard. in fact, i only had about half of the necessary ingredients. so, i did what any young fiscally bound woman would do and improvised.

the crust? i made it- and although time intensive it was worth it.

the recipe can be found here

for the ricotta-like mixture, i took a brick of queso fresco (which you can find at most corner markets) and blended it with 5 eggs, some chevre, and a cup of parmesan. i also put some thyme and lemon pepper in the mix, and beat it with my very nice one mixer arm blender.

i made sure that mix was creamy and well blended, and then i put it in the fridge to cool for a bit with the pastry crust.

next up was the swiss chard.

i separated the stems and ribs from the chard, and boiled about two cups of it for two minutes.

then, i put the chard on a paper towel to dry it, and drained the artichokes (i know it’s basically a crime to use canned veggies during the summer, but i really didn’t want to ride to the big grocery.)

next, i cut up some spring onions and sauteed them for about 5 minutes, then i added some garlic, which i sauteed with the onions for about a minute- you want to be careful because the garlic can get burnt easily. next, i added the swiss chard and artichoke mix, and let it sautee for between five and ten minutes.

i let the mixture cool for a few minutes, and then i added it to the “ricotta” that was chilling in the fridge. i kept it in the fridge while i was preparing the pastry crust. this is also when i began preheating the oven to 375 degrees.

i took the pastry crust out of the fridge and rolled it into a sheet to put into the pie pan.

i didn’t have a rolling pin, so i used an old triple sec bottle that was hanging around… classy!

i then filled the crust with the ricotta-chard-artichoke filling.

i decided to make a lattice top for the tart, mostly because the triple sec bottle was not REALLY doing the trick for big sheets of pastry dough.

then i put the whole thing in the oven and cooked it for 45 minutes

when i took it out, i had to let it cool for a moment.

it turned out really well, better than i had hoped. the crust was flaky and delicious, and the filling was savory and just rich enough to taste special, but not overwhelming.

it would be a fine meal on its own, but i felt the need for a little extra.

chris brought steaks over and broiled them to perfection.

i also made a salad with turnips, baby spinach, mandarin oranges, and a mustard vinegar dressing. to drink we had sun tea, which i made with black tea and fresh mint and lemon balm. it was a great meal!

gluten free

bleeding heart bakery has the best gluten free chocolate chip cookies, ever. just fyi for all you celiacs who have boyfriends who can eat wheat- he can’t even tell the difference.

Hump Day

Yesterday evening a successful experiment took place. I made what I have named Italian Macaroni. I didn’t feel like grocery shopping, so I just took what was around the house and whipped something up, domesticity can be fun…

Ingredients:

1 cup Pacific Foods Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup
2 1/2 cups of Shredded Mozarella Cheese
1 cup Parmesan Romano cheese mix
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Butter
1/4 cup skim milk
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons dry basil
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 cups Italian Corn Fusilli Pasta

Cooking Directions

1. Have ingredients ready to go. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Prepare Corn Fusilli Pasta as directed on Package. Drain and Rinse. Let sit.

3. Chop garlic.

4. In a saucepan over low heat, heat olive oil. When hissing, add garlic.

5. Let the garlic saute a bit, then add 1/4 cup skim milk and butter.

6. When hot, add 1/2 cup of Parmesan Romano Mix.

7. When this cheese melts, add 1/2 cup Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato soup.

8. Once heated, add 1 1/4 cup of shredded mozarella cheese.

9. Let this boil and melt together, so it is creamy.

10. Add the remaining roasted red pepper and tomato soup, parmesan romano mix, and mozarella in that order, waiting until each ingredient is blended to add the next ingredient.

11. Taste it to see if it’s good.

12. Add the mustard and basil. Salt and pepper according to taste (sometimes it’s good to let your other eaters salt their own dishes)

13. Let simmer for 15 minutes, not burning it. Make sure it is creamy!

14. While the cheese sauce is simmering, seperate the fusilli into three different individual size bread loaf pans, so each pan is 3/4 full.

15. Pour the cheese sauce over each pan of fusilli. It should be covered, but not swimming.

16. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

17. Take out of oven, and flip each serving onto a plate. Let it cool a little bit. Dig in!

It also freezes quite nicely.

This is an awesome recipe because it’s easy, and surprising. When you look at this macaroni, it looks like regular cheddar cheese macaroni because of its orange color. However, when you eat it, it’s this awesome blend of roasted red pepper, tomato, garlic, basil, and parmesean.

I’m at work right now, more later.