Foodmomiac

Hangin' out with Stephanie Izard

izard
Originally uploaded by Foodmomiac

At the end of March, Michael and I attended a silent auction/gala to raise money for Dylan's school. We didn't buy much, but the one big ticket item that we DID buy was a slot at a special cocktail party featuring hors d'oeuvres prepared by Stephanie Izard, the winner of last year's Top Chef!!

I had no idea, but apparently one of her partners in her soon-to-open restaurant is Rob Katz, a dad at our school. Rob and his wife Kathleen's house was AMAZING, and we had a total blast at the party.

Stephanie's food was definitely the highlight. My favorite were the tempura-battered soft shell crabs with a wasabi aioli dipping sauce. We also had lamb chops topped with a marcona almond paste, seared scallops over a salad of beech mushrooms and grapes, and an amazing pork belly concoction that featured coconut milk and peanuts.

Once Stephanie was done cooking, we were able to hang out with her a bit and she was terrific. We chatted a bit about twitter and blogs (and the fact that her dad reads every blog post about her thanks to Google alerts - Hi Mr. Izard!), and plans for her new restaurant. Great, great night.

Daydreaming of a different life

Last weekend at our cottage, I immersed myself in the Julia Child biography, My Life in France. It is an amazing book, written collaboratively with her grand-nephew, but published posthumously.

Julia's life was something truly magical. Her husband worked for the government, so they traveled quite a bit, and were frequently relocated to different countries. They met while working in Ceylon, and then after they married, they relocated to Paris for three years. While there, Julia fell in love with French cooking, got a degree from the Cordon Bleu, and began work on her classic series, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Can you imagine? She took French cooking classes with world-class chefs. She wandered the markets, getting to know each purveyor. She and her cookbook partners gave classes in their kitchen, teaching expat socialites how to make classic French cuisine. It all sounds like a fairytale to me.

This past week has been a doozy. Between work and home demands, I had no time to do any of my own writing or cooking. I have a cold, so my nose is a stuffed up mess and I'm pretty damn cranky. All week, as I struggled to make it to the weekend, I kept thinking of Julia. I know her life had its own stresses in it, but from my side of the grass, it sure looks good.

It sucks to be the younger one...

Max does air guitar when he hears a song he likes.
Originally uploaded by Foodmomiac

This video is so representative of the dynamics in our household. I was trying to make a video of Max. He spontaneously does air guitar whenever he hears a song he likes, and I wanted to capture that (it's so damn cute). Anyway, you'll see what happened. Miss D could not STAND to have the attention diverted from her own divine self.

Welcome to Foodmomiac 2.0

When I started this blog in December of 2005, it was a sad and ugly little thing, created using a generic Typepad template that was labeled, "food blog."

I eventually customized it a bit. I added a masthead that featured my own photography (and was created by my buddy Mike, purely out of pity for my sad, sad blog). It still was never what I envisioned in my head.

In my head, my blog was a beautiful and comprehensive site. I had a page dedicated to my recipes. I had a navigation along the top. I had a real, live, logo.

Today, finally, the site matches the vision in my head.

You'll notice two brand-new blogs along the top - one dedicated to Travel, and one dedicated to all-things Chicago. Foodmomiac will remain what it has always been - a place for me to talk about the things that are on my mind. Some of these things are kids-related, many of them are food-related.

I hope you like what you see!! AND, if you do, please send some business to the two people who helped me make this happen (actually, they really did everything - I just directed). Gene Powell designed my logo and created my mastheads. (And, he has a brand-new company, but their site isn't yet ready, so stay tuned for that link). Gene and I have known each other for over nine years,  so he was the perfect candidate to create my logo. I didn't have to spend much time describing myself. In fact, when  he sent me the logo (which he nailed on his first try), he said the following:

I’m imagining June Cleaver smoking Pall Mall’s in the attic and drinking Blue Label from her best china. The logo in and of itself isn’t THAT irreverent. I’m just imagining your editorial voice behind it. I don’t know, something about it screams “Danielle” to me.

I'd also like to send GIANT props to Ms. Sweetney herself, Tracey Gaughran-Perez. She programmed all three sites for me, customizing the HECK out of them, and did everything super fast. She was totally down with my phone phobia, and didn't make me call her once! We did everything via email, and it was absolutely effortless. If you need a new blog or a Twitter background or anything like that, you must contact the ladies of Sweet Blog. They are amazing.

The world according to Dylan

What is something I always say to you?
Dylan: "I love you."

What makes me happy?
Dylan: "When I do what you want me to do, and don't just sit around and be lazy."

What makes me sad?
Dylan: "When I don't do what you say and sit around and be lazy."

How do I make you laugh?
Dylan: "Make funny faces."

What do you think I was like as a child?
Dylan: "Fun!"

How old am I?
Dylan: "35"

How tall am I?
Dylan: "OK, this is hard. Five."

What is my favorite thing to do?
Dylan: "Spend time with your family."

What do I do when you’re not around?
Dylan: "I don't know."

If I become famous, what will it be for?
Dylan: "You? If YOU become famous? I don't know!"

What am I really good at?
Dylan: "You are really good at cooking."

What am I not really good at?
Dylan: "I don't want to say this, but I know what you're not really good at, but I don't want to hurt your feelings."

Me: "What is it?"

Dylan: "Singing."

What is my job?
Dylan: "Blogging."

What is my favorite food?
Dylan: "Your favorite food? Mushroom soup."

What makes you proud of me?
Dylan: "When you clean."

What makes me proud of you?
Dylan: "When I clean."

What do you and I do together?
Dylan: "We go shopping and have a lot of fun."

How do you know that I love you?
Dylan: "Well, because you love me."

What is one thing you wish you could change about me?
Dylan: "I wish your hair was longer, but I still think you're the most beautiful mommy ever."

What do you wish you could go and do with me?
Dylan: "What I wish I could go and do with you is go to LegoLand with you and then I wish we could go to France."

The world according to Mr. Max

yay max!
Originally uploaded by Foodmomiac

Yesterday, Linda posted an interview that she conducted with her son Riley. Riley and Max are just a couple of weeks apart, so I figured the answers I'd get would be just as amusing.

I cornered the little dude this morning, before we turned on the TV (he watches Special Agent Oso EVERY morning before breakfast).

What is something I always say to you?
Max: "What are you doing?"
Me: "What are you doing?"
Max: "No one. Mom, there's the car I had to open last night." (pointing at one of his toy cars)

What makes me happy?
Max: "I don't know."

What makes me sad?
Max: “I don't love you."

How do I make you laugh?
Max: “Nothing."

What do you think I was like as a child?
Max: "I don't know. Daddy's a poopy head."

How old am I?
Max: "Five."

How tall am I?
Max: “That big." (holding his arms as far apart as they go.)

What is my favorite thing to do?
Max: "I don't know. See me."

What do I do when you’re not around?
Max: "Going to work."

If I become famous, what will it be for?
Max: "Mom, can you watch the show with me, Special Agent Oso? Do you want beer when you're done telling me words?" (Note: this was at 6:30 am.)

What am I really good at?
Max: "I don't know."

What am I not really good at?
Max: “I don't know."

What is my job?
Max: "I don't know."

What is my favorite food?
Max: “Lucky Charms." (not true)

What makes you proud of me?
Max: “Going nowhere." (I think he means "staying home." He is always asking me to stay home with him all day.)

What makes me proud of you?
Max: “When i go poop.” (I knew he'd say this. EVERY time he goes, he says, "Mom, are you so proud of me??" He has been potty trained for well over a year, so I'm not sure why he is still on that kick.)

What do you and I do together?
Max: “I don't know."

How do you know that I love you?
Max: “I want you to stop saying that. Is it secrets?" (I tell him five secrets every night before bed, and one of them is always that I love him so much.)

What is one thing you wish you could change about me?
Max: “I don't want to."

What do you wish you could go and do with me?
Max: “Go to work with you. Can i Mommy? No or yes. No or yes. No or yes Mommy. No or yes.”
Me: "No."
Max: "Why? Why Mama? Why Mommy? Why Mommy? Because, because i have school??"

Public Service Announcement: Tomatoes in the fridge

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I grew up hating tomatoes. My dad requested their presence in our salad every night, and every night I'd pick them out. GAH. I just couldn't understand how ANYONE could like a tomato. Tomatoes were so mealy. So flavorless. What was the point of the stupid tomato??

Turns out, tomatoes (in season) are awesome. I LOVE tomatoes. I can eat tomatoes plain right off the vine and be happy with them. Sprinkle 'em with salt and maybe a touch of olive oil, and I'm officially in heaven.

What I DON'T like, though, are tomatoes that have been stored in the fridge.

Everyone. Please. Repeat after me.

TOMATOES SHOULD NEVER BE STORED IN THE FRIDGE. TOMATOES BELONG ON THE COUNTER.

Now that tomato season is inching closer (and you southerners and Californians can just hush it over there with your fresh produce all year long), this is very important to know.

Tomatoes in the fridge turn mealy. They lose flavor. They become sad, pink orbs of doom.

So... .don't do it.

(You may now return to your regularly scheduled programming.)

Produce Watch: ASPARAGUS!!!

Our local farm
Originally uploaded by Foodmomiac

Here are the signs to the little farm that's just down the road from our cottage. Last week, there were only the two black signs on the left. THIS week, we have an exciting new addition - ASPARAGUS!!

In an effort to avoid reality for as long as humanly possible, we aren't heading back to Chicago until after dinner. On the menu is steak (bone-in ribeyes for the adults and tenderloins for the munchkins), Pioneer Woman's Crash Hot Potatoes, grilled ASPARAGUS (yay, yay, yay!!!), and green beans cooked with onions, garlic and lots of butter. I can't wait.

It was a great Mother's Day weekend up here in Michigan. We were going to drive in after work, but decided to be crazy and leave at 5:30am in order to do our Friday work at the cottage. The early wake-up call was well worth the pain, as Friday was the best weather day of the weekend, nearing 70 with blue skies and lots of sunshine.

Michael's mom (Moppy) drove in Friday afternoon to join us, and we had a great time showing her the sights and sounds of Saugatuck. Dylan also loved having a new partner for Yahtzee.

This morning, Michael made pancakes from scratch, and served them with homemade strawberry puree and some Michigan-grown maple syrup that we grabbed yesterday at American Spoon.

Right now, I'm sitting with an Oberon (the word's greatest summer beer), while the kids watch Phineas and Ferb. I'm feeling very mellow and satisfied. (OH, and Dylan rode a two wheeler today, FINALLY.)

Happy Mother's Day to all the mamas out there!!

Pantry Cooking Success #1

This past weekend was a monumental one in the Foodmomiac household. It was our first official weekend in the summer cottage that we rented. And, though the weather was chilly, it was wonderful. We did a whole bunch of nothing. I picked up some eggs at Chicken Scratch Farms, went for a 2 mile run (and then died, because OMG the hills in Michigan are crazy), read books, played catch with the kids, watched my elderly dog romp around the yard like a puppy and just CHILLED. I think part of the secret was knowing that everything was in order at home.

Michael got some kind of an organizational/anti-clutter bug last weekend while I was in New York, and I have to say that I am a big fan of this. He is definitely a little annoying with the constant reminders (nagging) to straighten and pick up, but the house looks GOOD. I also did all of our bills the evening before we left, so I didn't even have that unpleasantness in the back of my mind.

I was telling my neighbor that I was feeling a bit stressed about the weekends in Michigan because the weekends are my time to get everything accomplished. However, I think that's a "glass half empty" point of view. My new philosophy is that weekends away are AWESOME, because we are forced to accomplish everything during the work week, leaving the weekends for pure relaxation.

The one glitch that we still need to work out is the food shopping. For the past year or so, we have been doing our food shopping on Sunday mornings. This won't work on the weekends we are in Michigan. This week, we determined that Michael would shop Monday evening (last night) while I prepared a dinner using stuff we had laying around. It worked out fine, but I'm not sure it's the system we'll use for the long haul.

Anyway, last night's dinner was pretty successful! We grilled a humongous pork loin while we were in Michigan, so I had those leftovers to work with. First, I chopped up 1/2 an onion and 2 cloves of garlic and sauteed it in some olive oil. I then chopped the pork into 1/2 inch chunks and added it to the pot. After one minute, I added one cup of chicken broth, one can of diced tomatoes and one can of tomato sauce. I then poured in a VERY healthy amount of chili powder and one can of corn kernels. While that simmered away, I cooked up some Jasmine rice in the rice cooker and made a salad (we had leftover lettuce from Michigan and I made ranch dressing). Voila! Instant pork chili.