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 The other night I defrosted a pound of ground turkey intending to make a white turkey chili recipe that features green peppers, white beans and tomatillo sauce. It was only once I began to cook that I realized I was out of white beans. That’s odd for me. I consider cannellini beans to be a pantry staple — great for minestrone and even a quick dip. I did, however, have a can of black beans and so I decided to take my ground turkey in another direction. I came up with this recipe for a turkey and black bean chili that included some frozen corn for extra color.
My husband declared the new recipe a keeper. So, I’m sharing it with you. But the real lesson here is that chili is a dish perfectly suited to experimentation and cooking with what is on hand. There’s almost no wrong way to make chili. You can make it with meat or without. Most chilis include tomatoes, but the white chili that I had intended to make the day that I came up with this recipe does not. I suppose a chili is really a stew that gets its heat from chile peppers in some form or another. But beyond that, the definition is wide open. I guess that’s why people are always having chili cook-offs. So, as always, I encourage you to think about the techniques involved in making a chili and then come up with your own recipe tailored to your family’s tastes and dietary limitations.
For any chili, start by sauteeing onion and garlic. If you’re using ground meat, add it to the softened onion and brown it thoroughly. Then season the onion and meat mixture. You will want chili powder certainly. Cumin and coriander are other common spices in Mexican and southwestern cooking. Cinnamon would not be out of place, although don’t use too much. Don’t forget salt and pepper too! Then, to the seasoned onion and meat mixture, add your tomatoes and liquid. You will see that I use a bottle of beer as my liquid. I think it is fitting for chili somehow. But you can also use two cans of tomatoes or chicken or beef broth. Bring the chili to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer it. You can simmer for hours, which will allow for the flavors to really develop, but just until the chili thickens is okay too. Add ingredients that need less cooking time, such as canned beans or frozen vegetables ten or fifteen minutes before serving or else they will get mushy. I almost serve chili over rice and pass grated cheese and sour cream as a garnish. Other possible garnishes include chopped scallion, diced avocado, or canned green chiles. You can also skip the rice and serve cornbread. It’s really up to you.
For this chili, I ended up using canned tomatoes, which are definitely a pantry staple in my house. I recently received a very nice sampler package from Midwestern favorite Red Gold Tomatoes, which included the hot and spicy Petite Diced Tomatoes with Green Chiles and a can of Chili-Ready Diced Tomatoes. These will definitely add an extra kick to your chili. Red Gold has offered me a similar sample pack to give away to a West of the Loop reader. This prize will keep your family in chili and pasta sauce for weeks. To enter, leave a comment to this post telling me about your favorite chili recipe, or why you hate chili, if that’s the case. You can earn an extra entry the following ways:
- Follow @westoftheloop on Twitter
- Tweet about the giveaway with a link back to this post and mention @RedGoldTomatoes
- Follow @RedGoldTomatoes on Twitter
Not on Twitter? Well, you can always like West of the Loop on Facebook and let me know about that. (I know you are on Facebook. Everyone is, except my brother.) Entries must be received by Thursday February 2. I will select one winner at random. Good luck. Now, on to the recipe:
Turkey, Black Bean and Corn Chili
2 Tb Olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. ground turkey, preferably dark meat
3 TB chili powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes with their juice
1 bottle beer
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn kernels
Sour cream and grated cheddar cheese for garnish (optional)
Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until translucent. Add the ground turkey and continue to saute until the turkey is cooked through and loses its pink color. Season with chili powder, coriander and cumin, as well as salt and pepper to taste. Add a 28 oz. can of whole tomatoes, with their juice, crushing the tomatoes by hand or with the back of a spoon. Add the bottle of beer. (The alcohol will cook off, so do not worry about serving this chili to children.)
Bring the chili to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer until thickened, at least ten to fifteen minutes. Add the black beans and stir to combine. Add the frozen con kernels, adjusting the heat slightly. Cook until the beans are warmed through, approximately another ten to fifteen minutes. Serve over rice and garnish with grated cheddar cheese, chopped scallions and sour cream.
 Meyer lemon curd is like a spot of sunshine on a winter day In case you haven’t noticed the 8 inches of snow outside, it’s winter. Although I miss our beautiful summer fruits and vegetables, wintertime cooking can be very satisfying. Lots of soups and stew and hearty braises. And certainly wintertime is the perfect season for baking. Who can resist the allure of baking cookies on a snowy day? Not me! When the snow was coming down hard Friday afternoon, Zuzu and JR helped me whip up a batch of my grandmother’s Halfway Cookies.
Most people assume that I don’t do any canning in the winter because there are so few fruits and vegetables that are in season. But that’s not entirely true. I can much less often in the winter, but there are a few canning projects that I like to do at this time of year.
First, of course, winter is the perfect time of year to can citrus fruits, which are actually better now than in the summer. You can make all kinds of marmalade, for example. I have experimented with orange and grapefruit marmalades myself, but the truth is that it’s not my favorite project. Marmalade is very labor-intensive and I don’t particularly care for the final product.
For my money, I’d rather make curds with the beautiful citrus fruits that are in the grocery stores right now. Citrus curds are rich, eggy custards that can elevate your basic pound cake, scone or bowl of yogurt into an indulgent treat. I follow the Food in Jars recipe for Meyer Lemon Curd and I have also adapted it to make Key Lime curd. Just replace the 1/2 cup lemon juice with 1/2 cup of Key Lime juice. Key limes are quite small, so it will take a lot of them to make a 1/2 cup of juice. Luckily, you often buy Key limes in large bags. Lime curd is scrumptious on strawberries.
Lemon and lime curd can be processed for shelf-stability, but it is not necessary to do so. This recipe makes a small batch and it will last for weeks in the fridge. If you see beautiful citrus fruits in your grocery store, I encourage you to buy a bunch of them and pick up an extra half-dozen eggs to try your hand at making a curd. Once you try this delicacy, you will find any number of ways to use it.
The other wintertime canning project that I enjoy is making savory jellies. Savory jellies can easily be made with supermarket ingredients and often use dried fruit, so they are perfect for this time of year. They are delicious for spreading on a sandwich or as elegant addition to a cheese tray. This spicy-sweet jelly is one of my husband’s favorite. It is quite beautiful to look at in the jar with the brightly colored flecks of pepper. This recipe makes a small batch, so if you do not want to process the jelly for shelf-stability, you can simply store the jars in your fridge or give them away as gifts.
Apricot-Jalapeno Jelly
Adapted from The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
1/2 cup finely sliced dried apricots
3/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped jalapeno peppers, seeds and veins removed*
3 cups sugar
1 pouch liquid pectin
Soak the dried apricots in vinegar and let stand for a minimum of four hours.
If you are processing the jelly for shelf-stability, prepare canning pot and 3 8 oz. jars with their lids.
Pour apricots and vinegar into a large, deep saucepan. Add the chopped onion and peppers and stir in the sugar. Bring to a boil over high heat. When the mixture is boiling hard, add the liquid pectin, stirring to combine. Bring back to a boil. Boil for two minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
To process for shelf-stablity, follow good water-bath canning procedures, leaving 1/4 inch headspace in each jar and process for 10 minutes.
If not processing for shelf-stability, dunk 3 8 oz. jars into boiling water. Carefully fill the jars with the hot jelly and cover. Store in the refrigerator. Allow at least a day for the jelly to firm up before using.
*As always, please use care when working with hot peppers. I recommend wearing rubber gloves.
 The first of my Twelve Parties for 2012, a casual family dinner party, went off without a hitch this weekend. That is, unless you consider one of your guests locking herself in the bathroom to be a hitch.
When entertaining with kids, the name of the game is flexibility. Don’t expect to finish a sentence, let alone an entire anecdote. Do expect your younger guests to turn up their noses at your fine cuisine and demand mac n’cheese. And, if someone locks him or herself in the bathroom, be ready to dismantle a door knob.
The evening began with hors d’oeuvres. In addition to the eggplant caviar with pita, I also threw together a classic French hors d’oeuvre called fromage fort because my husband doesn’t like eggplant and I felt bad for him. To make fromage fort, you take an assortment of leftover cheeses and throw them in the food processor with some white wine and garlic. The end result is a creamy cheese spread with a tangy bite. Although it only took me moments to make, the fromage fort was as big a hit as the eggplant caviar. Just goes to show you! But the eggplant caviar was still beautiful and delicious and I recommend it.
I forgot to mention in my last post that I have a soft spot for eggplant caviar because I used to eat eggplant caviar sandwiches for lunch when I was studying abroad in Paris. A take-out restaurant near my school called Au Plaisir du Pain had the most amazing grilled sandwiches and the caviar d’aubergine sandwich was my favorite. That and a Diet Coke made for the perfect picnic lunch in the nearby Jardin du Luxembourg.
Caviar d’aubergine (Eggplant Caviar)
Adapted from Quiches, Kugels and Couscous by Joan Nathan
3 eggplants
1 red pepper
6 cloves garlic
Freshly squeezed lemon juice and olive oil
Paprika, cumin, and salt and pepper
Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise and cut a small slit in each half. Stuff a garlic clove in each slit. Roast the eggplants in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, char the red pepper in a dry skillet over high heat until all sides are blackened. Place pepper in a paper bag. When it is cool, remove the skin from the pepper.
Peel the eggplant halves and puree them in a food processor along with the garlic cloves, and the red pepper. Add freshly squeezed lemon juice (start with half a lemon) and olive oil until the puree takes on a smooth yet chunky consistency. Season with paprika (start with 2 tsp.) and cumin (start with 1 tsp.) and salt and pepper. Serve with pita chips, slices of French bread or raw vegetables. Eggplant caviar also make a delicious spread for a sandwich. Try it on a baguette with roasted red peppers and some goat cheese.
 If a guest locks herself in the bathroom, try dismantling the door knob The children played while the adults enjoyed their hors d’oeuvres and uninterrupted conversation. After 30 minutes or so, we moved into the dining room for dinner. (JR announced his disdain for my chicken couscous dish, so I quickly prepared some instant macaroni and cheese for him and for our guests’ preschooler. Luckily both Zuzu and our friends’ daughter are adventurous eaters.) The chicken and vegetables part of the chicken couscous — which comes from Dorie Greenspan’s book Around my French Table — can be prepared in advance. I was glad that I had done so because the broth came out a little greasy. It was probably the fault of my homemade chicken stock, and not the recipe. But by preparing the dish in advance, I was able to skim the fat off the broth before reheating, which improved it tremendously. In all, the dish was quite tasty, although if I were to make it again I would replace the turnips in the recipe with a vegetable that more people like. Zuzu thought the large white chunks were potato and the look on her face when she took a big bite of turnip was priceless. Even I have to admit that turnips aren’t my favorite.
However, the highlight (?) of the meal was when our friends’ nine year old locked herself in our powder room. She could not get the old sticky lock undone to save her life, so after an aborted attempt to send an adult in through the window, the dads dismantled the doorknob and busted the little girl out of the bathroom. Luckily, no one ever panicked and the adults –buoyed by wine and determined not to scare the kids — remained jolly even when I began combing through the Yellow Pages for a locksmith. Fortunately it never came to that and the whole incident was a reminder that when you’re entertaining, there will inevitably be disasters of all sorts. All you can do is handle them with as much grace as you can muster and hope that your guests are forgiving. Ours certainly were.
After the hearty chicken couscous, a beautiful spinach salad brought by our guests and the bathroom break-in, dessert was probably overkill. But I had made a fancy dessert and I was determined to serve it. I had made another Dorie Greenspan recipe, a Sable Breton Galette with lemon curd and fresh berries. What on earth is that, you ask? Imagine a crispy, slightly salty shortbread crust, spread with lemon curd and topped with an assortment of raspberries, blueberries and strawberries. It tasted as good as it sounds. (And the galette looked stunning on my new cake plate from Marshalls — which I still can’t believe only cost $10!)
 Galette with lemon curd and fresh berries I had made the different elements for the galette — namely the crust and the lemon curd — in advance but the whole thing needed to be assembled right before serving so the crust would not get soggy. Luckily, it’s a quick task and the result is impressive. Because this dessert is not particularly sweet, it was perhaps not the best choice for a dinner that included kids. They would have preferred something more typically dessert-y. But the adults loved it and I would definitely make it again for a different crowd. I think of lemon curd as a wintertime ingredient — because citrus fruits are best in winter — and the berries obviously are in season in the summertime. So I’m not sure what time of year this dessert is really intended for. You could certainly have fun with this idea and replace the lemon curd with a chocolate cream or a marscapone cheese. But the salty galette shortbread dough is definitely a keeper, especially if you love the combination of salty and sweet.
Looking forward to next month’s party: a Superbowl Party!
 My inspiration The first of my Twelve Parties for 2012 is scheduled for this Sunday, January 15. The January party is a casual family dinner party. The family that I have invited for dinner is, like us, very into food. When they had us over for dinner a few months ago, they made us a beautiful meal with a baked Brie appetizer and a perfectly cooked prime rib. (Zuzu impressed our hosts by eating her weight in prime rib.) So, I knew that this occasion called for more than my usual family-friendly fare, like make-your-own tacos or chili. I wanted to make something that would be elegant and sophisticated for our adult guests, while still being kid-friendly enough for two third graders and two preschoolers.
When I want to make something elegant yet homey, I turn to French cuisine. I am a dyed-in-the-wool Francophile, so I may be biased. But, in my opinion, the French are the masters of food that feels fancy while actually being comforting and accessible. Among my favorite French cookbook these days are Around my French Table by the wonderful Dorie Greenspan and Quiches, Kugels and Couscous, a study of French-Jewish cuisine by Jewish cooking expert Joan Nathan. From these two books I put together a menu that feels worthy of company but appropriate for all ages:
Family Dinner Party
Caviar d’aubergine (eggplant caviar) with pita toasts
Chicken couscous
Salad
Breton galette with lemon curd and berries
Whenever I am entertaining, I look for two things: dishes that can be prepared ahead of time and one-pot dishes. I also look for recipes that can be broken down into parts so that I can spread the work out over several days. That way, I never feel overburdened. In this menu, the dessert, can be broken down into different parts, the lemon curd and the dough, and both can be done several days ahead. The hors d’oeuvre, the eggplant caviar, is actually better if it is done ahead of time because that way the flavors have more time to develop. And the chicken couscous, while festive and ideal for a crowd, is totally a one-dish meal. In short, this menu meets all of my requirements.
I began preparing for the party the weekend before, by choosing the menu. That’s always the first step. Then I looked to see if there were any elements that could be done as far as a week ahead of time. Lemon curd can sit in your fridge for weeks with no ill effects, so I made that, using this recipe from my friend Marisa of the canning blog, Food in Jars. Then, during the week, I prepared my master shopping list for the party. But I waited until Friday, two days before the dinner, to actually do the shopping. I wanted my vegetables to be fresh, not wilted. (I actually will probably pop by Whole Foods again Sunday morning to buy the berries for the dessert because berries are so very persishable. But that will be a ten-minute errand at worst.)
When I got home from the grocery shopping on Friday, I immediately started making chicken broth to use in the couscous. I feel sure that one could use canned chicken broth in the chicken couscous recipe and it would be fine. It just happens that I enjoy making homemade chicken stock, especially on cold snowy afternoons. Chicken stock also benefits by being made in advance because when you refrigerate the stock, the fat congeals on top. Then, before you use the stock, you can remove the congealed fat and be assured of having a flavorful, but not greasy broth. I also made the dough for the Breton galette on Friday because the recipe states that the dough can be made as early as three days in advance.
So, by Friday evening, my fridge was stocked with all the ingredients I would need for the couscous and the eggplant caviar. In addition, I had already prepared the lemon curd and the tart dough for the dessert. Not bad at all. My plan going forward would be: Saturday, during the day, make the eggplant caviar. Saturday evening, clean the house and tidy up. Sunday morning, bake the tart dough and purchase the berries. And Sunday afternoon, make the couscous. Should be easy, right?
 My sleek new cake plate Now, another important part of entertaining at home is the table. Whenever I am entertaining, as soon as I have decided on the menu, I not only make a grocery shopping list; I also make a list of any kitchen tools or serving pieces that I will need but that I don’t already own. As a general rule, I don’t advocate running out and buying a bunch of new serving dishes or kitchen tools every time you host a party. That would get expensive and who has that much space? But at the same time, a party is a great excuse to fill in any gaps in your kitchen or tableware.
For example, in the Breton galette recipe, Dorie Greenspan recommends serving the tart on a flat plate. But I didn’t have one. All of my platters are either oval, which isn’t the right shape, or round and curved. So, this dinner was a perfect excuse to go out and buy a pretty new cake plate. I stopped by my local Marshalls when I was out running errands early in the week, and for $10, I found a beautiful square ceramic platter in a cool contemporary design. While I was there, I couldn’t resist picking up a wide but shallow serving bowl that will be perfect for presenting the chicken couscous. The two pieces together cost just $25, and I know I will get a lot of use out of them. (In fact, I already used the cake plate to serve gingerbread to my book club on Thursday night.) I was really impressed with all the different tableware on sale at Marshall’s, including some high-end wine glasses, and, of course, the prices were amazing.
I’m feeling good about my first party. But the proof is in the pudding! I will report back next week and let you all know how it goes. What about you? Is anyone else entertaining over the long weekend?
Full disclosure time: this post was sponsored in part by TJ Maxx/Marshalls. I was given a $25 store gift card to purchase items for my dinner party and write about them. All opinions expressed herein are my own.
 My dad with younger versions of my kids My dad passed away five months ago today. In the past five months, I have experienced loss and grief in a way that I never had before. It has been an eye-opening experience.
If you know me in real life or if you see me from day to day, you probably think that I am doing fine. Let me assure you that I am not doing fine. I am, however, expert in keeping up appearances. I still show up everywhere on time, dressed nicely and wearing make-up. I smile and laugh and make conversation. I am very good at compartmentalizing and I pride myself on fulfilling all my responsibilities. I don’t want to seem like a drama queen or draw attention to the fact that I am grieving.
But perhaps only my husband understands that I still cry several times a week about my father. I am struggling on the inside while managing to look like I am doing well on the outside. Although months have passed, it is impossible for me to let go of my anger and sadness at the loss of my father. As the weeks and months pass, my sense of how great the loss is only grows. The grief is no better. I am only more used to feeling this way.
Whenever my husband has a dilemma at work, or the kids hit a new milestone or I get a new opportunity, I wish so much that my father were here to give us his advice or to celebrate with us. My dad was not a bit player in our lives. He liked to know everything that was going on, especially with the kids. He was someone we consulted about all of our problems and decisions. His absence therefore looms tremendously large.
What’s more, I still find it hard to believe that he can really be gone. How can he be gone when I can hear his voice in my head or see the sandals he bought for JR in May? It feels like he was just here. There is a part of me that simply does not accept that I will never see my dad again. Part of me thinks that this is a test of some kind and that if I wait long enough, my dad will reappear. I wonder how long it takes for that magical thinking to go away. Maybe it never fully does. One friend told me that although her dad died ten years ago, when she is at her step-mother’s house and the phone rings, she thinks for a split-second that it’s her father calling.
One thing that I have learned about grief is that it is not the occasions that you dread that really get you. The worst moments are the ones that sneak up on you. I was dreading Thanksgiving, in part because it was the first big holiday without my dad and in part because it was my first trip ever to the house in Florida without my dad. But Thanksgiving was not nearly as bad as I expected. I’m sure that because I was expecting the holiday to be hard, I succeeded in steeling myself against any possible breakdowns. What I didn’t expect was the breakdown that occurred a few weeks later when I found myself in the basement looking at my stash of jam. When my eye fell on the raspberry jam, I thought of my dad and started to cry. My dad loved raspberry jam best of all and I had sent him some just a few weeks before he died. My mom is not a big jam person, so that jar of jam is probably still in her fridge barely touched. So, how can my dad be gone when the jam I sent him is still there?
I know that I am a lucky person. Nothing that has happened has changed that knowledge. Sure, many people my age still have both of their parents. And my father died far too young. But to reach the age of 37, as I did, before experiencing this kind of grief is the mark of a lucky person. I am also lucky because I had the kind of close, loving relationship with my father that makes this loss so painful. So I don’t feel that my dad’s death is unfair or that it shouldn’t have happened to me.
What I do feel is that the loss of my dad is enormous. It is big and overwhelming and it has left with me such a sense of sadness and longing for things to be different. I don’t know what the next months will bring and I don’t know when, if ever, acceptance will come. This is my first time with grief. I only know that five months in, it is still really, really hard.
 It seems like most people’s New Year’s resolutions have to do with either money or food. We all want to eat better, cook at home more, spend more wisely and — while we are at it — be more organized too. That’s a lot to accomplish in one year. The good news is that Dominick’s (or Safeway for my east and west coast friends) has a new mobile app for your smartphone that can help you get on the right track for all these resolutions. With the new Dominick’s mobile app, you can load your shopping list right onto your phone. (No more leaving the list at home and buying only half the ingredients you need for your week’s worth of menus.) And what’s more, you can use the app to review the weekly ad for your store — and maybe plan your menus around what’s on sale that week — and even load coupons onto your Dominick’s card right from your phone. For me, that is a huge because I am a failure when it comes to paper coupons. I fail to clip them and if by some miracle I do remember to clip coupons, I inevitably leave them at home and then they expire.
I am one of those people who goes into withdrawal if my iPhone is not within a hand’s reach. So this app is perfect for me. First, I make my shopping list right on the app. Then I review the personalized Just for U deals on my frequently purchased items and add the virtual coupons for the items I want to my card. Those items then get added to my grocery list, which makes the shopping experience so easy.
Here’s the terrible truth about me. Not only am I a failure at using coupons, I am terrible at comparing prices. I honestly don’t know which store has the best price on orange juice or corn starch or toothbrushes. I often fall victim to the “it’s at a huge warehouse store so it must be a good price” mentality without really doing the research. So I especially love the feature of the Dominick’s mobile app that lists not only the Dominick’s sale price for an item but also the price of that same item at other stores. So, you can buy the juice boxes or the laundry detergent with a clear conscience, knowing you actually got the best price. It makes me feel rather smug about the whole thing.
In order to encourage you to download the app, which is free, Dominick’s is giving away a $50 gift card to one lucky West of the Loop reader. To enter the giveaway for the gift card, leave a comment to this post telling me about your hopes for the new year. Are you trying to eat better? Save money? Be more organized? I must receive the comment by midnight on Friday January 13th (oooooh spooky!). You can get additional entries the following ways:
- Download the Dominick’s app and leave a comment telling me that you did so. (And I am coming to your house to check your phone)
- Follow me @westoftheloop on Twitter (and leave a comment telling me that you did so)
- Tweet about the giveaway with a link back to this post (and leave a comment yadda yadda yadda)
I will select the winner at random. Good luck everyone and happy 2012.
Full disclosure time: I was engaged by Dominick’s to write about their new mobile app and received a store gift card as compensation. All opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.
When people ask me what my blog is about, I usually reply that West of the Loop is a food and parenting blog with a thoughtful bent. (The “thoughtful” part is really just a way to say that I write long posts.) Food and parenting are great topics to blog about because they are so all-encompassing. Very little in my life doesn’t fall under one of these two large umbrellas. But ultimately what my blog is really about — to me anyway — is relationships: my relationship with my children, my husband, my extended family, my friends and my community. These relationships are what matter most to me in my life and cooking is one of the ways that I show these people how much they matter to me.
The combination of cooking with friends and family leads naturally to the subject of entertaining. I love hosting people at my home for everything from a casual Sunday brunch, to a holiday party for 18 to an elegant adults-only dinner party. But like most of us, I get intimidated by entertaining. My house is far from a showplace — have I ever mentioned my empty living room? — and my life is busy enough as it is. So although I always find hosting parties to be rewarding and even fun, I don’t do it nearly as much as I could. And when I do invite people over, it tends to fall along the same familiar lines: Sunday night casual dinners or a weekend lunch.
So, for 2012, I am launching a project on West of the Loop that will push me both to entertain more and to entertain in new ways. I’m calling it Twelve Months of Parties. Twelve parties for 2012 — get it? As the name suggests, the idea is to host a different kind of party every month. Some of the parties will be family affairs; some will be for adults only. Some will be seasonal and some will be timeless. The goal is to strengthen my relationships with friends, family and neighbors while at the same time challenging myself to cook new things and entertain in new ways.
I hope to post both before and after each month’s party. The “before” post will describe the plans and the menu for the party while the “after” post will recap the party and report back on what worked and what didn’t.
I have been brainstorming party ideas for the past few days and thinking about which holidays and events I am likely to host at my house. This is what I have come up with. In other words, here is my Twelve Month of Parties for 2012:
January — Family dinner party (casual)
February — Superbowl party
March — Adult dinner party (elegant)
April — Passover Seder
May — Mother’s Day Tea
June — Brunch
July — Summer cookout
August — Cocktail party
September — Kid birthday party
October — Game night
November — Girls Night In
December — Cookie Exchange
I think that this plan is ambitious but not overly so. I hope that at the end of 2012 I will have, in addition to a year’s worth of memorable gatherings to look back on, strengthened relationships with both old friends and new, some fabulous new recipes under my belt and — dare I say it? — a reputation as a great hostess.
If anyone wants to join me in this effort, I welcome your participation. We can share menu and decorating ideas and push one another out of our respective comfort zones. If you want to participate in the 12 Months of Parties for 2012, leave me a comment letting me know that you want in. You definitely don’t have to do these same twelve parties. To the contrary, you should pick twelve parties that fit into your lifestyle. If you are a blogger, post about the challenge on your blog and lay out your plan. Link back to this post and I will list all the participating bloggers on my side bar. We can tweet about the challenge as well with the hash tag #12parties.
Hope to party with you in 2012!
  Thanks to Duncan Hines for sponsoring my writing. There’s no limit to the baking possibilities, so grab your favorite Duncan Hines mix and Comstock or Wilderness fruit fillings and Bake On! www.duncanhines.com.
This weekend we are hosting a small gathering of friends to celebrate Hanukkah, which starts on the night of December 20. The traditional food for Hanukkah is, of course, potato latkes and believe me, we will be serving at least two kinds of latkes, with their traditional accompaniments, sour cream and applesauce. There will be other traditional and not-so-traditional fare as well, like noodle kugel, meatballs and veggies and dip. And it will all be delicious, I’m sure. But what most people look for at any kind of holiday party is dessert, right? The holiday season is really about cookies, candies, pie and cakes. At least that’s what my kids think.
Although they are not as well known as latkes, there are some traditional Hanukkah desserts. Hanukkah foods are typically made with oil because of the role of oil in the Hanukkah story. (For those of you who don’t know the story, Hanukkah commemorates the victory of a small group of Jews, the Maccabees, over the army of the Syrian-Greek King Antiochus in the second century BCE. After the Jews drove the Greeks out of Judea, they attempted to restore their temple, which had been destroyed in the war, only to discover that there was oil to light the lamp that held the eternal flame for only one day. The story is that a miracle occurred and the small amount of oil lasted for eight days, which was how long it took to make new oil.) Thus, in Israel, it is very common to eat a kind of fried, jelly-filled doughnut called sufganiyot for Hanukkah. I personally am way too chicken to try making doughnuts at home, but one of our guests said that she was going to give it a try. I’m excited to see the results.
 If jelly doughnuts aren’t your thing, any dessert made with oil would count as a typical Hanukkah dessert. There are many interesting cake recipes that call for oil — including some which call for olive oil, which would be even more traditional — like this chocolate zucchini cake. Another traditional Hanukkah dessert is the classic Jewish cookie rugelach. Rugelach are a crescent-shaped cookie made with a rich cream cheese dough and filled with jam, fruit and nuts. Apparently, there is an ancient story from the time of the Maccabees about a Israelite widow, Judith, who plied the Syrian commander with cheesecake and wine and then, when he fell asleep, cut off his head. Thus, in many Hanukkah foods, cream cheese is used to symbolize the bravery and cunning of the small Jewish army.
I’m not 100% sure how I feel about that, but rugelach are delicious and fun to make. I made some for our Hanukkah party with my favorite assistant pastry chef, JR. He loved helping me spread jam and sprinkle brown sugar and raisins on the circles of dough. And then, after I cut the circles into wedges, he rolled them up to make the little crescents. It was a great project for a rainy morning.
Another fun idea for a Hanukkah dessert is a cake in the shape of a dreidel. A dreidel is a four-sided spinning top that is a traditional part of any Hanukkah celebration. Dreidels have a Hebrew letter on each of the four sides. The letters are: nun, gimel, hay and shin. Those letters stand for the sentence “nes gadol hayah shom,” which means “a great miracle happened there.” To play dreidel, you need a “pot” of small candies, coins or tokens. Players take turn spinning the dreidel and depending on which letter the dreidel lands on, the player has to either add to the pot, take half of the pot, take the whole pot or do nothing. So, basically, it’s gambling. I went into Zuzu’s third grade class last week to talk about Hanukkah and judging by the enthusiasm of the kids for the dreidel game, Illinois is going to have a generation of gambling addicts on its hands in about ten years.
To make a dreidel cake, all you have to do is make your favorite cake recipe or Duncan Hines cake mix in a straight-sided metal 13×9 inch pan. After the cake is cooled and baked, on one of the short sides, cut a 3X3 inch square off each corner. That creates the top of the dreidel. Then, to make the spinning point, cut two right triangles off the corners of the other short side. Frost and decorate any way you like. I wish I had a picture of the dreidel cake to show you, but I haven’t made ours yet. I promise I will post a picture when I have one though. I plan to make a chocolate cake and then using a stencil, make one of the Hebrew letters out of powdered sugar. I think the kids will get a big kick out that.
Remember to check out Duncan Hines’ website www.duncanhines.com to find some great recipes for your holiday get-together! I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective.
 Are you surprised that I’m recommending soup for a quick weeknight dinner? Do you think of soup as a dish that is labor-intensive or requires a long cooking time? Sure, some soups require you to chop a long list of ingredients and simmer the concoction for hours on end. Those kinds of soups are perfect to make on a lazy Sunday afternoon. But many soups are quick to put together using ingredients that you are likely to have on hand and they have the added benefit of being a one-dish meal. (On week nights, I am all about the one-dish meal. Less preparation equals less clean-up at the end.) Add a loaf of crusty bread picked up on the way home or throw some greens in a bowl for a salad and you have a satisfying, crowd-pleasing meal for a cold winter night.
Soups are also very often healthy and inexpensive meals. One of my favorite soups to make when I want to warm my soul while still feeling virtuous is Pasta Fagiole, or pasta with white beans. Saute some veggies and season them well; add chicken broth, a can of tomatoes and bring to a boil; toss in a short variety of pasta and cook until the pasta is tender; add a can of white beans — a good pantry staple — and some greens like spinach or Swiss chard, and heat through. There you have it: a complete, balanced meal in a bowl.
This recipe is another one of my favorite entree soups. It’s a little less virtuous because of the cream, but the amount of cream is not excessive when you spread it out over the whole dish. The multi-colored peppers,* red onion and tomato make the soup look cheery on a dark winter night and if you didn’t quite get enough vegetables over the course of the day, this soup will more than make up for it. (Moreover, this recipe could easily be adjusted to be vegetarian by substituting vegetable broth for chicken broth.) But most important, it just tastes terrific. I clipped this recipe out of the Washington Post Food section eleven or twelve years ago and have been making it with some adjustments ever since. The Post Food section, in turn, adapted it from a cookbook called Main Course Soups by Ray Overton that appears to be out of print. Too bad because if it were in print, I would buy it. Main course soups is a concept that I endorse heartily.
Penne Pasta Soup with Tomatoes and Peppers
If, like me, you freeze your leftover Parmesan rinds, this is a perfect recipe to use them in. I add a Parmesan rind when I add the chicken stock. If you are wondering what the heck I am talking about, read this.
3 TB olive oil
1 red onion, halved and sliced (but feel free to substitute a regular yellow onion if that is all you have)
1 red and one green pepper, or any other combination of two Bell peppers, sliced or julienned
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
28 oz. can whole tomatoes with juice
1 tsp. sugar
6 cups chicken broth (canned is fine)
8 oz. penne pasta
1/4 cup vodka
1/2 cup heavy cream or half-and-half
Freshly grated Parmesan for garnish
Heat the olive oil in the bottom of a deep stock pot or Dutch oven. Add the sliced onion and peppers and saute until softened but not browned. Add the minced garlic, stir and season well with salt and pepper and add the crushed red pepper flakes. Saute a few more minutes then add the can of tomatoes, with their juice, crushing the tomatoes a bit with the back of your spoon. Sprinkle the sugar over the vegetables. Cook uncovered over medium to medium-low heat until the mixture starts to thicken, 10-15 minutes. Add the chicken stock, cover and bring to a boil. Add the pasta once the soup is boiling and cook for the recommended time, erring slightly on undercooking the pasta. Add the vodka and cream and simmer until heated through.
Serve with grated Parmesan as a garnish. A green salad or a loaf of crusty bread really round out this meal.
*I almost never use green peppers, which are less sweet and less nutritious than red, orange or yellow peppers. Here, the fun is in having peppers of two different colors. But if you have two red peppers, obviously that’s fine.
 Chef Druck's offerings Last weekend was the inaugural Chicago Food Swap organized by me and my partner-in-crime, Chef Druck. As I have explained before, food swaps are the latest foodie craze and are sweeping the country from Los Angeles to Austin to Philadelphia. These events bring together passionate home cooks, gardeners and social media mavens in a friendly, non-commercial atmosphere to swap their homemade (or homegrown) edibles. No money changes hands. Everything is done by barter. The end result is that participants meet like-minded people from their own city, everyone diversifies their pantry and, with any luck, walks away inspired to push their culinary boundaries a little further.
As with any new enterprise, our first Chicago Food Swap started small. But our little group brought a wide variety of offerings and was very convivial. I naturally brought some of my jams and pickles, including strawberry balsamic jam, pickled asparagus and apricot-habañero jelly, to swap. Local personal chef and food blogger Angie brought several varieties of cookies, including the best gingerbread men that I have ever tasted. (They are chewy, not crispy, which is the key to their deliciousness.) Food blogger and digital media guru Jessi brought 16 loaves of homemade foccacia topped with carmelized onions. Wow. My family polished off a loaf of that foccacia that same night. Chef Druck brought her homemade jam as well as cookies. And among the other delicious offerings were pumpkin bread, currant scones, ginger martini syrup (!) and hot buttered rum mix — just add rum and boiling water. Unloading my bag when I got home that evening was like a foodie Christmas morning.
One of the best things about the first Chicago Food Swap was that it turned into a family affair. Chef Druck announced the week before the Swap that her eldest daughter, Bella, who has become something of a baker lately, wanted to participate in the Swap. I shared this information with Zuzu, who is two years younger than Bella and therefore thinks Bella is pretty much the coolest person ever. Naturally, Zuzu wanted to come as well. Bella made adorable Reindeer Rice Krispie Treats to swap and Zuzu whipped up some mini-loaves of her favorite weekday snack, chocolate chip banana bread. Another swapper Jacky, of the hot buttered rum mix, ended up bringing her eleven-year-old, and my friend Rowena of the fashion and lifestyle site She She Shoppers brought her daughter. The four girls had fun sizing up all the swap offerings and browsing at the upstairs boutique.
 Angie's delicious gingerbread men are not too cute to eat! Speaking of upstairs, our hosts for the swap, the Forest Park alternative craft boutique, Pretty Little Things, was almost as much of a draw as the food was. When I approached the owners about using their downstairs space for our swap, they immediately expressed their interest. Their store is all about featuring unique handmade items so the zeitgeist of the food swap movement — which showcases handmade products — really appealed to them. Sisters Signe and Binky could not have been more gracious and accommodating hosts and Chef Druck and I are very grateful to them for letting us use their space for free. They did get a little something out of it. All of the girls found some items at the store that they could not live without. Both Bella and Zuzu went home with a pair of hand-knitted fingerless gloves, which I suspect will be come The Next Big Thing at their elementary school. If you are looking for unique holiday gifts this season and are local, definitely check out Pretty Little Things for unusual and handmade apparel and home decor.
Chef Druck and I are already gearing up for the next Chicago Food Swap, which is tentatively scheduled for February 11. Location TBD. As much as I would love to be at Pretty Little Things again, we are hoping for a larger group this time around. And with that, a more central location. If the idea of a food swap sounds at all appealing to you, I hope you will join us in February. To hear about the latest updates of the Chicago Food Swap and to find out when registration for the February Swap opens, check out our website, follow us on Twitter or like our Facebook page. And stay tuned!
This post originally appeared at this time last year on my local blogging community site, The Chicago Moms. It’s timely once again and my sentiments have not changed, so I am reposting for 2011.
 At this time of year, there is a lot of discussion in the media about what I call the Christmas culture wars. In a multi-ethnic society like ours, where not everyone is Christian, how prevalent should Christmas merriment be? Some people worry about political correctness and eschew Christmas greetings in favor of a more neutral “Happy Holidays” or even “Happy New Year.” On the other side, you hear observant Christians talking about “putting the ‘Christ’ back in Christmas.”
On a trip this past week, my husband saw a flight attendant wearing a pin that said “It’s okay to say ‘Merry Christmas.’” The television show “30 Rock” had a clever satire of this culture clash with the Vermont-dwelling liberal professor character, played by Alan Alda, wishing everyone a happy winter solstice festival and the Alec Baldwin character’s conservative, Ann Coulter-like girlfriend claiming that “happy holidays is what terrorists say.”
As a Jewish woman who grew up in interfaith family– like Hall of Famer Rod Carew, I converted — I feel that I have a unique perspective on the Christmas culture wars. My nuclear family is Jewish. But, I did not grow up in a Jewish home and my mother is not Jewish. I grew up celebrating Christmas and when I converted to Judaism, it was important to my mother that I not turn my back on that family tradition. Nor did I want to. As a result, my family observes Hanukkah in our home and at the end of December, we travel to my parents’ home and celebrate Christmas with them. In short, we are a Jewish family who celebrates Christmas with our non-Jewish relatives.
This is actually not at all confusing for my kids. I tell my kids that Santa does not come to our house because we are Jewish, but he goes to Meme and Poppa’s house because Meme is not Jewish. That plainly makes sense. This contrast does lead to some funny moments, however, such as when my daughter asked Santa to bring her her own tzedakah box. (A tzedakah box is a small coin bank where Jewish families save coins to donate to charity.) Many thanks to the Santa at my town’s library last week for not batting an eye over that unusual request.
The fact that I am a Jewish person who celebrates Christmas means that when someone wishes me a Merry Christmas or asks my kids what they want Santa to bring them, I don’t bristle. We are lucky enough to participate in many of the fun, secular Christmas traditions. But I am very aware of how unusual my family’s in-between status is, and as a Jewish person in this largely Christian country, I can imagine all too well how difficult this time of year is for people who do not celebrate Christmas. Christmas is ubiquitous and not participating in such a huge cultural phenomenon is marginalizing, especially for children.
So, here is my take on the Christmas culture wars. To my fellow Jews, let’s not pretend that Christmas doesn’t exist, okay? We are a religious minority in this country. If you want to get away from Christmas, I hear Israel is nice this time of year. So let’s keep our cool about the fact that Christmas is everywhere. If the checkout person at Jewel wishes you a Merry Christmas, it is not okay to bite her head off. It is okay to say politely, “I actually don’t celebrate Christmas. I’m Jewish.” That way, you can nicely spread a little awareness about our faith.
School holiday concerts where kids sing Christmas carols are okay too – so long as they also sing some Hanukkah and Kwanzaa songs. The dark days of winter is a time of year when all cultures celebrate something. A school holiday program that acknowledges myriad traditions is a good thing. Personally, I loved watching my daughter and some of her friends from our temple belt out the spiritual “Mary Had a Baby” at her school holiday concert.
And to my fellow Christmas-lovers: let’s not go around assuming that everyone celebrates Christmas, especially not kids, okay? To do so risks making some little kids really sad. At my son’s soccer class the other day, the coach said, “Everyone say your name and what you want Santa to bring you this Christmas.” These three and four year olds were of all races and hues and it was simply not okay to assume that all of them celebrate Christmas. It’s unfair to put young children in the position of having to say, “Santa doesn’t come to my house” in front of a group of their peers.
In other words, it’s okay to say Merry Christmas to people who you know are celebrating Christmas — but that’s not everyone. Adults, I hope, can handle these kind of situations with grace and dignity. But kids shouldn’t have to.
 Italian sausage and peppers in a rich tomato sauce As someone who teaches canning lessons, I often get asked about canning tomatoes. My answer is usually that I don’t recommend it. The exception to my rule is if you grow your own tomatoes. If you grow tomatoes in your garden and have a surfeit come August, by all means, go ahead and can them for the winter. I’ll even teach you how to do it. But if you are buying tomatoes in the summer months with the intention of canning them, you are probably spending more time and money than is worthwhile. This is because tomatoes are expensive to buy fresh and also because it takes a very long time (think 40+ minutes) to process tomatoes properly in a water-bath canning pot. Moreover, the canned tomatoes that you find in the grocery store are really just as good and certainly more cost-effective.
Go to the tomato aisle in your grocery store and you will see a world of choices. There are conventional tomatoes, organic tomatoes, imported tomatoes, domestic tomatoes, fire-roasted tomatoes, whole tomatoes, diced and crushed tomatoes — whatever your heart desires. The variety is impressive. One local Midwestern brand that I like is Red Gold tomatoes, which are grown and canned in nearby Indiana. Canned tomatoes are a great, inexpensive way to get your family to eat their vegetables all year long. I am picky about ripe tomatoes and only like to eat them when they are in season. So this time of year, I rely on canned tomatoes and use them frequently in all kinds of sauces, stews and chilis — in other words, hearty cold-weather cooking. If you look back over the recipes I’ve posted here, you’ll see how often I rely on canned tomatoes, for recipes like turkey pumpkin chili, Moroccan Meatball Stew, weeknight fish stew, and vegetarian stuffed zucchini. My go-to winter recipes — the ones that everyone in the family will eat — like spaghetti and meatballs, chicken chili and Mexican chicken soup all call for canned tomatoes. My family just loves a red sauce.
One of my favorite recipes using canned tomatoes is Italian sausage and peppers. Zuzu has loved red peppers since she was a little girl and I love to indulge her in this healthy habit. I’ve had to play around with this classic because of our house rules on pork. (The rule is, we can’t have any pork in our house.) So I use Italian-style chicken sausage which is leaner anyway. And, I like to serve this dish over instant polenta instead of pasta just for a fun twist. But it would work equally well over a short pasta or orzo or even just with a crusty loaf of bread to soak up the sauce. Of course, my calorie-conscious husband just eats this straight with no carb chaser. Garnish with some grated Parmesan cheese.
Like all of my cooking-without-a-recipe recipes, this is more about the technique than the actual recipe. What I want to convey is how to make a tomato sauce. Once you understand the technique, you can vary this sauce depending on what you have on hand or to make several different dishes. I think you will agree that canned tomatoes are a staple of cold-weather cooking.
Italian Sausage and Peppers
Extra virgin olive oil
One yellow onion, cut in half and sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 red bell peppers, sliced or julienned
1 28 oz. can tomatoes (whole, crushed or diced)
1 cup red wine
1 9 oz. package Italian flavor chicken sausage or regular Italian sausage
Dried herbs, such as basil and oregano, red pepper flakes and/or fennel seeds (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
Heat several tablespoons of olive oil in a large, deep skillet or Dutch oven. Add the onion and red peppers and saute over medium-low to low heat until softened but not browned. Stir occasionally. Add the minced garlic. Salt and pepper the vegetables generously. Crumble up a teaspoon or two of your favorite dried herbs like oregano, thyme or basil in your hand and sprinkle them over the vegetables. You can add some crushed red pepper flakes for a little heat as well or fennel seeds for a slight anise flavor. Stir. Cook for a few more minutes until fragrant. Make sure the vegetables are as soft as you want them to be before you add the tomatoes. Because of the acidity of the tomatoes, the vegetables will not get softer once you add the canned tomatoes.
Add the red wine and the canned tomatoes. If you are using whole canned tomatoes, crush them with your hand or the back of a wooden spoon when you add them to the vegetables. This step is not necessary for diced or crushed tomatoes. If you like a sweeter sauce, feel free to add a teaspoon or two of sugar at this point. The combination of the tomatoes and the red wine can be quite acidic. Bring the sauce to a boil and then turn down the heat and simmer gently. Slice the sausages into rounds and add them to the sauce. You can serve the dish as soon as the sausages are heated through, which should only take ten minutes or so. Or, if you prefer, simmer the sauce for 25-30 minutes for a thicker end result and deeper flavor. Be sure to taste the sauce as you go and adjust the seasoning. Add more salt if it’s bland or add sugar if it’s too sharp.
To vary this sauce to make a more classic pasta sauce, chop the onions instead of slicing them and omit the red peppers. Add instead two carrots, that have been peeled and diced. Omit the red wine and add a second 28 oz. can of tomatoes.
No, sadly, the Gift Guide is not edible. But all the gifts in it are!
This time last year I put together a Chicago Foodie Holiday Gift Guide featuring delicious products made in the Chicago area, like Vosges Haut Chocolate, Carol’s Cookies and Eli’s Cheesecake, that are ideal for holiday gift-giving. I stand by all the recommendations I made in that post, and I urge you to check it out. This year, however, I am casting my net a bit wider and featuring delectable edible gifts from around the Midwest. I am even giving away one of my favorite products — think salami! — to a lucky West of the Loop reader. So if you are casting about for memorable gifts for the office staff, the in-laws or any of the other impossible-to-shop-for people on your list, read on.
Right before Thanksgiving, my friend Chef Druck and I attended a delightful tasting of Wisconsin artisanal cheeses at Oak Park’s own gourmet destination, the Marion Street Cheese Market. Between sips of wine, we sampled a delicious and inspiring array of cheese, charcuterie, crackers, spreads, and candies, many of which were from Midwest-based producers. These unusual handmade products make unique and thoughtful gifts and at the same time buying from these small producers supports people who are living out their culinary dreams. It’s way more fun than sending a generic fruit basket.
 Image courtesy of Quince & Apple Jams and Jellies
Because I make more jam than my family could possibly ever eat, I am not really in the market for the store-bought kind. If you want to sample some of my homemade jam, then I suggest you either do me a favor — because I thank people in jam — or bring something yummy to trade me at the Chicago Food Swap this Sunday. But barring that, if you are looking to give jam and fruit spreads as a gift this holiday season, there are two local varieties that are worth checking out. First, Oak Park’s very own Rare Bird Preserves makes amazing small-batch jams in flavors like Peach Lavender. (The woman behind Rare Bird Preserves actually lives in my town, but I don’t know her.) I personally would buy a jar of the Passion Fruit Curd for my mom, who has a thing for passion fruit sorbet.
Another Midwestern jam maker to try is Quince & Apple. Based in Madison, Quince & Apple uses locally grown fruit for their handcrafted preserves. The unusual flavors, like Fig and Black Tea, are surprisingly versatile and would work well paired with some Wisconsin cheese, like a chevre or Gouda. Personally, I am excited that Quince & Apple makes a Ground Cherry jam. Ground cherries are little round red fruits that grow in husks like tomatillos. I see them occasionally at the Oak Park farmer’s market, but I’ve always been too chicken to buy them — which is not like me at all. But now I know what to do with them and next summer, I will not be so timid.
 Image courtesy of Hidden Springs Creamery Cheese
One of the most interesting people that Chef Druck and I met at the Marion Street Cheese Market event was the owner of Hidden Springs Creamery. Located in southwestern Wisconsin, Hidden Springs Creamery makes sheep’s milk cheeses from their own herd of dairy sheep. Chef Druck and I buttonholed this poor woman for 15 minutes, peppering her with questions about her sheep, her milking operation and her products. This farm is clearly a labor of love for the owners and you cannot help but be entranced by the image of the placid sheep grazing on lush green grass until milking time. While sheep’s milk cheese are commonplace in Europe, there are very few domestic sheep’s milk producers, which makes Hidden Springs Creamery that much more unusual. We absolutely loved the cheeses we tried, especially the soft fresh Driftless cheese, which had a distinctive (grassy?) taste. It comes in several flavors, such as Honey and Lavender or Tomato and Garlic, and would make a unique spread for your holiday entertaining.
If you need something on which to spread that Driftless cheese, or you want to give a package of cheese and crackers as a charming gift, I recommend Potter’s Crackers, which are another handmade Midwestern product. These whole-grain, organic crackers are made with local ingredients and are designed to showcase the best Wisconsin cheeses. I love how the crackers are presented in cellophane bags tied with ribbon. It looks so homemade! We sampled the seasonal pumpkin graham flavor and it tasted like fall but without being too sweet like some pumpkin-flavored products can be. The rosemary crackers are also a favorite of mine.
Candies
It turns out that there are a lot of gifted confectioners making their sinful treats right here in Chicago. Chef Druck and I met one such candy-maker, Lauren Pett of Rich Chocolate and Candies, who left a career in photography for pastry school. She started her company in 2007 and still makes all her candies by hand. As passionate foodies ourselves, Chef Druck and I were really moved by the way Lauren is living out her culinary dream. And needless to say, her chocolates are amazing. Chef Druck could not stop drooling over the Bacon Toffee Bark, while I was crazy about the Pub Bark, which combines chocolate with pretzels, peanuts and — wait for it — corn chips. Needless to say, Lauren understands the allure of the sweet-salty combo. Rich Chocolates and Candies’ Windy City Truffle collection, with flavors named after Chicago neighborhoods and landmarks, would make an elegant gift for an out-of-town friend.
I could not leave the event at Marion Street Cheese Market without buying a box of La-Dee-Dahs made by the Chicago-based Whimsical Candy company. I had one teeny sample and I was hooked. This little bite of heaven is a swirl of nougat and caramel dipped in dark chocolate. But the nougat is not like Milky Way nougat. Oh no! It is like the honey-sweet nougat you get in Italy but softer in texture. Apparently, the owner of Whimsical Candy is on a mission to bring back nougat. I’m all for it. (Better than bringing back sexy anyway.) These chocolates taste like the old-fashioned, handmade treats that they are. I would normally say that $6.50 is an insane amount to pay for three pieces of candy, but I did it that night and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Or better yet, someone send me a box for the holidays. Whimsical Candy offers gift baskets in several sizes that would make any candy-lover’s holiday (ahem!) extra-sweet.
 Image courtesy of Creminelli Fine Meats Charcuterie (and finally the giveaway!)
I have explained before that while I eat and enjoy pork products very much, we do not have them in our house due to an elaborate religious compromise between me and my husband. So, while I love charcuterie, I don’t get to enjoy it very much and when I do enjoy some out of the house, it seems like a forbidden pleasure. (Maybe that only makes me love it more. Who knows?) Anyway, the best of the best when it comes to American-made charcuterie is Creminelli Fine Meats. I wrote all about my love for Creminelli and its founder Cristiano back in March. Creminelli is based in Salt Lake City — the dry climate being perfect for curing meat — so it is a little less local than some of the other products that I am featuring. But hey, Creminelli’s salami is worth a trip.
As I explained in the post I wrote in March, I sent my dad the Creminelli Gourmet Artisan Salami Mix last January when he was recovering from surgery and needed to get his strength back. He especially loved the tartufo flavor. Now that my dear dad is gone, I am so glad that I sent him that care package when he was ill and I think I will always have a soft spot for Creminelli’s products because of that.
But you don’t need to have a sentimental association with Creminelli’s salami to love it. The products are so delicious and made with such care that you can’t help but go wild for them. And they make a very impressive gift. This year, Creminelli Fine Meats has 11 Salami Gift Sets along with new hardwood hardware, providing the perfect complement and accessory to aged salami.
I can’t bring Creminelli’s beautiful salami home, but you can. Creminelli Fine Meats is giving away a Gourmet Artisan Salami Mix, the same one I sent to my dad, to one lucky West of the Loop reader (United States address only). Seriously, this is one of the coolest giveaways that I have ever done. You will want to win this. To enter, leave a comment to this post telling me an edible gift that you would like to give or receive this holiday season by 12 am CST, Wednesday December 7. You can earn an additional entry the following ways:
- By subscribing to my RSS feed. (That just means you get new West of the Loop entries emailed directly to you, which is obviously extremely awesome and convenient.)
- Follow me (@westoftheloop) on Twitter
- Tweet about the giveaway with a link back to this post
- Blog about this giveaway on your own blog with a link back to this post.
For all these options, please make sure to leave me a comment letting me know that you did so. I will select one winner at random. Good luck!
Full disclosure time: None of this post was sponsored. I paid for my ticket to the event at Marion Street Cheese Market where I sampled all of the products mentioned. Creminelli is giving me the salami mix to give away. All opinions are naturally my own.
 
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Thanksgiving comes this week and with it the official start of the winter holiday season. The holiday season has a reputation for being stressful and even difficult. What does Sally say in When Harry Met Sally? “A lot of suicides.” There’s so much to do: order holidays cards, mail holiday cards, shop for presents, attend everyone’s holidays parties, throw your own holiday party, decorate, cook, travel, get ready for house guests. It’s overwhelming.
Of course, that’s a negative way to look at what can be a festive, joyful time of year. A time of year that is not like any other.
For many of us, the holidays means special, once-a-year foods. There’s stuffing, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving. (Does anyone really think that the turkey is the main attraction?) And at those holiday parties: eggnog — one of my husband’s favorite indulgences — fancy hors d’oeuvres, and Christmas cookies. For Jewish families like mine, Hanukkah means latkes: potato pancakes served with either applesauce (no) or sour cream (yes please!). It’s a glorious time of year for cooks and gourmands alike. But then, there’s always the fear of the dreaded holiday weight gain and the sure knowledge that we will all be at the gym — looking like idiots in some Zumba class, no doubt — come January. So, the joys of holiday feasting is not without a dark side.
 Zuzu's class sings lots of songs about Santa at their holiday concert. Shopping and gift-giving can be great fun this time of year, especially when you hit upon the perfect present for someone on your list. And goodness knows it’s fun to receive presents. Even adults love getting presents, right? But exchanging gifts is also a huge source of stress. Some people (read: men) are impossible to shop for. Your kids always desperately want some toy that is either impossible to find or completely unsuitable. There’s also that nagging fear that someone who wasn’t on your list will give you a present and then you will end up either embarrassed or scrambling for a last-minute gift that smacks of desperation. Ugh.
So what is there about the holiday season that is happy and comforting without any stressful or negative flip-side? Does such a thing even exist?
Well, there are a few things about the holidays that bring me joy and nothing but. One of them is music. There’s so much beautiful music to enjoy this time of year and it just makes me happy. When I was a little girl growing up in DC, we went to see annual holiday concert called The Christmas Revels, which features traditional music and dance from different regions and eras, like Victorian England or 19th century Appalachia. One of my favorite elementary school teachers appeared in The Christmas Revels, which only added to its allure for me. (Yes, the show does feature a seemingly endless audience-participation dance number — like a Gentile hora — at the end of the first half, but even that awkwardness couldn’t ruin the show for me.) Of course, there was also the annual trip to see Washington Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker with our dearest family friends. I know intellectually that The Nutcracker is trite and hackneyed, yet the sound of the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” never fails to make me smile. But my favorite Christmas music memory of all is listening to the Christmas Eve service from King’s College at Cambridge University with my mother while we cook the holiday meal. The haunting sound of the lone boy’s voice singing the opening strains of “Once in Royal David’s City” sends chills up my spine.
Now that I am a mother of an elementary school student, I have my daughter’s school holiday concert to look forward to. The music program at Zuzu’s school is extraordinary and I am always blown away by how much the kids know about music. How the music teacher gets these kids to learn all the songs for the holiday concert is beyond me. As a Jewish parent, I’m sure I should be bothered by how much Christmas music they sing. I know parents who are. But I am a Jewish parent who grew up celebrating Christmas and I love Christmas music more than anyone, so I won’t even pretend to mind. Plus, one of the funniest things that I have ever seen in my life was one of Zuzu’s male classmates, who also happens to be Jewish, belting out — and I mean belting out — an old spiritual entitled “Mary Had a Baby” at last year’s concert. I’m counting the days until the third grade winter concert: December 22 at 1 pm!
From “O Come All Ye Faithful” to the Muppets’ version of the “The Twelve Days of Christmas” to “Little Saint Nick” by The Beach Boys, I love silly and serious holiday music. I love that this is a time of year when everyone is encouraged to sing and we all know the words. Sure, even holiday music has a dark side — “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer,” anyone? But for the most part, music is one of the little comforts that makes the holiday season special for me.
Full disclosure time: Comfort is the perfect gift for everyone on your holiday gift list, so be sure to take advantage of Tempur-Pedic’s Buy 2, get 1 free pillow offer! I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective.
 How will you cook your turkey this Thanksgiving? Five years ago, I arrived at my parents’ house for Thanksgiving brandishing an article from the now-defunct Gourmet magazine. The article claimed to have tried every conceivable way to roast a Thanksgiving turkey: brined, basted, slow-cooked, high heat, low heat, everything. The editors’ conclusion? It turned out that the easiest way to roast a turkey was also the best way to roast a turkey. High heat, short cooking time, no basting, no brining — just blast the bird. The magazine’s editors claimed that the result was a moist turkey with crispy, delicious skin and all with almost no work. My mother was doubtful but agreed to give it a try.
Well, the editors of Gourmet were right. It was both the easiest and the best turkey that we had ever cooked. My mom couldn’t believe it. Since then, we have roasted our Thanksgiving turkey according to this same method and every time it has been delicious. We have shared the recipe with many other doubters. Everyone who tries it is convinced.
This year, I am happy to say that Mom and I are not the only ones advocating the high heat/short cooking time method for roasting a turkey. Dominick’s (or Safeway for my East Coast readers) has a step-by-step recipe on its website for a 2-Hour Turkey that explains exactly how to ensure the best Thanksgiving bird that you have ever had without tying up your oven for the whole day. I have compared Dominick’s recipe to the old Gourmet one that my mom and I use and there are a few small differences. For example, Dominick’s recommends roasting the bird at 475 degrees; we usually do 450. And, not surprisingly, Dominick’s recommends a slightly shorter cooking time, depending on the size of the turkey. But the general idea is very much the same: high heat, short cooking time — no basting because opening the oven so often causes the temperature to plummet — rotate once, rest for at least 30 minutes before carving. I know this may sound like Thanksgiving heresy to some of you. But Dominick’s and I know of what we speak. Follow this recipe one time and you will be converted.
For those of you who don’t want to bring your laptop into the kitchen, you can download the Safeway Chef Assistant app onto your iPhone. The app guides you through step-by-step instructions on how to prepare the turkey according to this method. You can also use the app while shopping for your ingredients and cooking tools or as a timer — genius! — to remind you of important time and temperature checks.
Dominick’s holiday website has many other helpful tips for all the important meals of this season, including recipes, decorating ideas, wine pairings and even ideas for how to use up those leftovers. (I personally think Thanksgiving leftovers are one of the best things about the holiday. That’s one of the reasons my mom and I always insist on hosting.) These ideas will make you want to run out to the store so I am very excited to announce that Dominick’s has sent me a $100 gift card to give away to one lucky West of the Loop reader. (For my East and West Coast peeps, the card is good at Dominick’s or Safeway, so do not hesitate to enter!) That will help with your holiday party-planning, right?
To enter the giveaway for the $100 Dominick’s gift card, leave a comment to this entry telling me your favorite Thanksgiving dish by midnight, Central time, on Monday November 28. You can earn an additional entry the following ways:
- By subscribing to my RSS feed. (That just means you get new West of the Loop entries emailed directly to you, which is obviously extremely awesome and convenient.)
- Follow me (@westoftheloop) on Twitter
- Tweet about the giveaway with a link back to this post
- Blog about this giveaway on your own blog with a link back to this post.
- Babysit my kids
Okay, I was just kidding about babysitting my kids. (Or was I?) But for all the others, please make sure to leave me a comment letting me know that you did so. I will select one winner at random. And I hope you all have a very happy and delicious Thanksgiving.
Full disclosure time: I received a gift from Dominick’s in exchange for writing this post. All opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.
 When I don’t spend the afternoon chauffeuring my kids between multiple activities and when my husband is not out of town, I really enjoy cooking a nice dinner. Just this week, I made penne pasta soup with vodka, tomatoes and cream and a white turkey chili with tomatillos. Unfortunately, the magical combination of events that lets me put together a really nice meal occurs maybe three nights out of the week at most. Between piano lessons, swim team, Hebrew school and my husband’s travel schedule, I often put a quick dinner on the table for the kids that consists of things they like — chicken nuggets, hot dogs, etc. — but that I have no interest in eating myself. On those occasions, I make myself A Big Salad à la Seinfeld.
Putting together a dinner-sized salad is not even really cooking. It’s more like assembling. If your pantry and fridge are well-stocked, it takes very little effort to assemble this meal for one. Plus, it is tastier and healthier than any frozen entree. I always have either bagged baby spinach or baby arugula in my fridge. I like the convenience of these pre-washed greens — you should still give them a rinse, though. And both spinach and arugula have more taste and more nutrients than Romaine or — heaven forbid! — iceberg lettuce. I keep these greens around at all times because in addition to enlisting them for salads, I throw them on my lunchtime turkey sandwiches to add some extra nutritional content.
To assemble the big salad, I put a generous handful of greens right into a deep soup bowl. (No need to create extra dirty dishes.) On top, I throw what my family calls “tidbits,” with a focus on adding protein, color and texture. I almost always include dried cranberries, some walnuts or almonds — toast them quickly first in a dry skillet for more flavor — and some cubed hard cheese like a Cheddar or Gouda. If there is a nice firm apple in my fruit drawer, I will chop that up and throw it on my salad too. Halved red grapes make a nice addition if I don’t have an apple. If I have planned ahead, I might add an egg that I hard-boiled earlier. But the nuts and cheese provide enough protein without the egg when I am putting together my salad at the last minute, which is usually the case. If I have cheese twists or those Trader Joe’s Parmesan crackers, I will crumble them on top of my salad for some extra crunch and a little carb fix. Alternatively, I will toast a slice of bread to accompany my salad. But I am too fond of carbs to contemplate a meal without them. And there I have my Big Salad. Filling, healthy and easy to eat standing up while supervising math homework and referring sibling squabbles.
What about dressing, you ask? Of course, I dress my Big Salad. The only person that I have ever known to eat salad without dressing was my dear dad. He was so calorie-conscious that he used to eat chicken Caesar salad without dressing for lunch almost every day. That’s practically an inhuman level of discipline. I personally can’t stomach salad without dressing. If you are really feeling lazy, just drizzle some Balsamic vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil over your bowl. Add salt and pepper and you are good to go.
There are, of course, lots of bottled dressing available in the grocery store. I am not usually a fan of bottled dressings because many of them they are full of artificial ingredients and sugar. So, when Marzetti gave me the opportunity to try its new line of salad dressing, called Simply Dressed, that is made with natural ingredients and no fillers, I was intrigued. One thing that is different about the Simply Dressed dressings that I noticed right away: they are kept in the produce section under refrigeration, not in the salad dressing aisle. I tried the Ginger Sesame dressing to give my Big Salad an Asian flair. I loved the fresh taste and the smooth texture. I really hate gloppy, too-thick salad dressing. But the Simply Dressed dressing was pourable and gave my greens a nice coating of flavor without drowning them. It was a fun change from my usual oil-and-vinegar. I also think that the Asian Sesame flavor would be great as a marinade on chicken or added to stir-fries. I want to try the Ranch flavor next. Ranch dressing as a dip for raw vegetables is a guilty pleasure of mine. At least with the Simply Dressed version, I only have to feel guilty about the calories, not the artificial ingredients.
What do you make for dinner when you are cooking for one?
Full disclosure time: I was one of the bloggers selected by T. Marzetti Company and Clever Girls Collective to host a Marzetti Simply Dressed review. They provided me with product to test myself and compensation for my time. However, my opinions are entirely my own.
 Kevin's beautiful quince paste Is it weird to eat food made by people you don’t know? Of course, we do it all the time in restaurants. But at least we know that restaurants are inspected by the state and local health departments and there are enough people working in a restaurant kitchen to deter any one of the cooks from trying to poison the patrons. So, my question really is: is it weird to eat food made by a home cook that you don’t know? It may be weird, but in this day and age of food blogs, crowd-sourced cookbooks, food swaps and social media, it is an increasingly common practice. Food has always brought family and friends together. Now, the love of food and cooking is bringing together complete strangers in ways that are new and either exciting or scary, depending on your point of view.
Earlier this year, I saw a Tweet from a Southern California jam-maker, Kevin West, lamenting the fact that he had not seen Damson plums at his farmers’ market all summer. That same week, I had spied the very first Damson plums of the season at the Oak Park Farmers Market. I replied to Kevin’s Tweet with a report of my Damson plum sighting. After some back-and-forth about regional specialties, I proposed that Kevin and I exchange some of our homemade fruit preserves. I would send him some of my Damson plum jam and he could send me something he made with a California fruit that is not available in Illinois. Kevin suggested quince, which is a fruit I don’t know at all. I agreed eagerly.
It took us a few months to actually execute our plan, but last week, two beautiful pounds of Kevin’s quince paste arrived at my door. (I hope my Damson plum jam arrived safely at Kevin’s house and that he is enjoying it. Kevin has been featured in O magazine and has a cookbook coming out next year, so it is a little intimidating to send him food.) Although Kevin and I have never met, receiving the rosy pink quince paste was like getting a care package from a faraway foodie friend. I was so tickled by the surprise and the kindness-of-strangers aspect of it all. And of course the quince paste was exquisite. My family has been enjoying it for days. Zuzu declared it was like nothing she had ever tasted before. I even served some of the quince paste to my coffee klatsch as an accompaniment to cheddar buttermilk biscuits. (The only thing I knew about quince paste was that the Spanish serve it with Manchego, so that’s why I chose to serve mine with cheese biscuits. It worked quite well.)
If you think that exchanging food with a complete stranger halfway across the country is weird, how about exchanging food with complete strangers from your own city? That’s the idea behind food swaps. Food swaps are the latest foodie craze. They are happening all over the country from L.A. to Austin to Philadelphia and everywhere in between. In a food swap, home cooks, bakers, and gardeners get together on a somewhat regular basis to trade their homemade and homegrown edible creations. Along the way, you meet like-minded folks and get inspired. There is no question that it is a leap of faith to try jam or bread or granola made by someone you just met. The health department is not inspecting everyone’s kitchen. But, personally I like to believe in the goodness of my fellow home cooks. And I love to try new things and show off my own homemade goodies.
So, naturally, I am helping to organize a food swap here in the Chicago area. This city has an amazing food blogger community and I think that the food swap movement will catch on here. Our very first swap will take place on December 4 at 4 pm. You can register here; follow us on Facebook here and read our Tweets here. (It’s free to participate but pre-registration is required.) The December swap will be followed by a holiday cookie tasting so that everyone can get to know one another better and swap ideas during this season of baking. Our host for the event is the super-funky alternative craft boutique Pretty Little Things in Forest Park. Pretty Little Things is all about showcasing unique and handmade goods, so the food swap felt like a natural fit with their mission. Forest Park may seem like a bit of a haul for you Chicago folk, but it is easily accessible on the El or by Metra. Plus Forest Park is home to a great shopping and dining district so it is worth a trip.
I will be bringing some of my most exotic canned goods, like curried apple chutney, this green tomato salsa and maybe some strawberry balsamic jam to the food swap. I am dying to see what other swappers bring. Hope to see many of you there!
 Turkey pumpkin chili warms your heart on a chilly fall night. Halloween is over. Thanksgiving is right around the corner. The leaves are flaming out and falling to the ground in droves. In other words, it’s November. November would be my favorite month if it were not for the sense of foreboding that I feel this time of year. It may be sunny and in the 50′s now, but I have spent the past week making my kids try on their parkas, snow pants and boots from last winter to see what fits and what needs replacing. (Verdict: Zuzu can get another year out of her baby blue Lands End parka and snow pants, but needs new boots. JR needs new everything. Apparently a crappy attitude has not stunted his growth.) We may have missed out on the freak Halloween snowstorm that buried our friends on the East Coast, but we know that winter can hit any time now and we had better be ready.
In the meantime, I am trying to live in the moment and enjoy this month that brings my mother’s birthday, my birthday — turning 31 again! — and Thanksgiving. At least it’s a great time of year to cook. I’m working my way through the fall fruits and vegetables that I bought at the last farmers’ market and enjoying some other fall favorites like winter squash and pumpkin. I love pumpkin anything. I love pumpkin pie. I love the pumpkin apple bread recipe from the Gourmet cookbook. I love these pumpkin whoopie pies with cinnamon icing from Cheryl’s Cookies — I can’t wait to buy some at Cheryl’s new retail store opening in Oak Park soon.
Savory pumpkin recipes are pretty delicious too and less guilt-inducing. I was planning to make a white turkey chili for a family dinner this weekend but when I asked my friend Chef Druck for a recipe recommendation, she mentioned seeing a recipe for turkey pumpkin chili on Blogcritics. I was intrigued by the idea so I formulated my own recipe, drawing a little on the tradition of Mexican mole — that’s the cinnamon and cocoa powder — and omitting beans because Zuzu cannot stand them. The result was delicious and healthy — a nice addition to my fall repertoire. I served this chili over rice with grated cheddar cheese and sour cream as garnishes. For dessert, try something that also cries out “fall,” like an apple-cranberry crisp.
Turkey Pumpkin Chili
Serves 6
3 TB olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 hot peppers, such as jalapeño or habañero, seeded and minced*
1 lb. ground turkey, preferably dark meat
1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie mix)
1 28 oz. can chopped tomatoes
1 cup beer
2 TB chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Heat olive oil in a large, deep sauce pan or stock pot. Add onion, hot peppers and garlic and cook over medium heat until softened. Add ground turkey and cook, stirring, until the meat is no longer pink. Add chili powder, cumin and cinnamon to the meat and vegetables and cook until fragrant. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add tomatoes, pumpkin and beer and bring mixture to a boil. Turn heat down and simmer, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes. Add cocoa powder and combine well. Cook 10 more minutes. Adjust seasoning and serve.
*As always, use caution when working with hot peppers. Wear gloves or wash your hands immediately.
 Mums at the Oak Park Farmers Market The Oak Park Farmers’ Market ended last Saturday, October 29. I’m always so sad to see the market end for the season. Not only does it mean the end of my Saturday mornings spent browsing beautiful, locally grown fruits and vegetables, but also it is a sure sign that winter is on its way. On the last day of the market, I try to buy fruits and veggies that will freeze or keep well in an effort to prolong the season a little longer. This Saturday, I bought root vegetables, like celery root, that will keep for weeks in the fridge; a half-bushel of assorted heirloom varieties of apples for eating, baking and canning; a dozen red peppers which I will can in a marinade; and cranberries — lots of cranberries because these babies freeze like a dream.
Growing up, I always thought of cranberries as a New England crop. We used to visit the island of Nantucket every year when was a little girl and Nantucket is famous for its cranberry bogs. But when I moved to the Midwest — now some ten years ago — I was happy to learn that nearby Wisconsin has its own cranberry bogs and actually produces half of the U.S. cranberry crop. Really, cranberries just like cold climates. (That’s where cranberries and I part ways.)
It is only recently that I have started baking and canning with fresh cranberries. I just couldn’t resist the big scarlet berries when I first spied them at the farmers’ market. So I began experimenting with them at home. At $5 for a large container, cranberries are one of the cheaper fruits you find at the market. And, as I mentioned, these berries freeze very well, particularly since you are not likely to eat them raw, but rather use them for baking and cooking. My favorite dessert cookbook Rustic Fruit Desserts has a recipe for a cranberry-orange buckle — a buckle being no more than a single-layer cake containing whole berries — that is easy to make and a favorite with everyone. The cranberries split during baking but retain their shape in a very pleasing way. Cranberries pair well with oranges and another great fall fruit, apples. Experiment with an apple-cranberry cobbler or crisp and throw some orange zest in for good measure. Cranberries are tart, as I am sure you know, so this is not the time for low-sugar baking.
 Root vegetables will keep for a long time in the fridge. Of course, many of us only eat cranberries once a year at Thanksgiving. That’s fine too. Not everyone has to love this quintessentially American berry. But if you are buying that jellied cranberry sauce from a can, you are missing out on how good real cranberry sauce can be. For years, my mother bought fancy-sounding cranberry relishes and chutneys from her favorite gourmet markets for our Thanksgiving table — and one jar of the jellied stuff for my dad who had a soft spot for it. It was a bit of a family joke. But recently, while we still had to buy the jellied cranberry sauce for Dad, I’ve made a homemade cranberry sauce for the rest of us from fresh cranberries bought at the Oak Park Farmers Market and its better than any cranberry sauce we’ve ever bought.
Although I make my cranberry sauce in late October or early November and can it for shelf-stability, you do not need to be a canner to make this recipe. Just make it closer to Thanksgiving and keep it in the refrigerator until your holiday dinner. This recipe makes four pints, which is more than one family needs, so if you do not plan to can the cranberry sauce, you can either give some away to your neighbors for their Thanksgivings or cut the recipe in half. Of course, there is no rule saying that we can only eat cranberry sauce once a year. This sauce would be good on turkey sandwiches or roasted meats all year round or even as an unusual accompaniment to a cheese tray. I can see it being delicious with a sharp cheddar.
Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce
Adapted from Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
Makes four pints
4 cups granulated sugar
4 cups water
 It's so easy to make your own cranberry sauce with fresh berries. 6-10 whole cloves
3 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
8 cups fresh cranberries
Zest of one orange
Tie the whole cloves and the cinnamon sticks in a spice bag or piece of cheesecloth. In a large saucepan, combine the water and sugar and the bag of spices and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Boil for five minutes. Add the cranberries and bring the mixture back to a boil. Reduce the heat and boil gently for fifteen minutes. Stir in the freshly grated orange zest during the last few minutes of cooking. The cranberries will burst while cooking and may squirt a bit, so be careful. You know the sauce is ready when the liquid begins to look syrupy. Remove the spice bag and discard it.
If you are canning the sauce in your water-bath canning pot, leave 1/4 inch headspace in the jars and process them for 15 minutes. If not, store the sauce in the refrigerator until needed.
I hope that you come across some fresh cranberries this fall and are inspired to experiment with them yourself.
 The baby calves at the dairy farm were adorable. What kind of milk does your family drink? Do you pay more for organic? Do you shop around for the best price? When I was a kid, the only question was whether you drank skim or 2% or maybe whether your mom let you have chocolate milk. These days grocery stores carry a dizzying array of choices in the dairy aisle. Some people have very strong feelings about what kind of milk they prefer; others express confusion about what all the different choices mean. When it comes to dairy products, the question may not be “got milk?” but rather “got an opinion?”
As for me, I spent my first years as a parent not worrying about what kind of milk to buy but rather worrying about how to make sure Zuzu was getting all the fat and calcium that she needed without dairy products. Zuzu, of course, has a dairy allergy that she is just now beginning to outgrow at the age of eight. (JR, on the other hand, would subsist on cheese and yogurt if we let him.) When I was buying milk for just me and my husband to drink, I confess I didn’t think much about which kind to buy. I grabbed a gallon of skim and that was it. Some of my friends with milk-drinking kids, on the other hand, were going out of their way to buy organic milk, paying often twice as much for the privilege, citing fear of antibiotics and hormones in conventional milk.
Once I found myself in the position of buying milk to feed a growing child, I began to wonder what the right thing to do was. Although I am admittedly not very price-conscious in the grocery story, I did balk at $6 a gallon for the organic milk. My husband definitely came down in favor of conventional milk, citing a paper he had written in law school about artificial bovine growth hormone and his firm belief that it cannot be detected in milk. On the other hand, like many parents, I am concerned about what I read in the news about American girls reaching puberty at increasingly younger ages and a possible connection between that and the milk they are drinking. So many people I knew felt that buying organic milk is important — there must be something to it, right? If organic milk is really safer, of course I would pay more. But what if I was just paying more for marketing and there was really no practical difference between conventional and organic milk?I just wanted information that I could trust.
 Who is the dork in the combine? Back in July, I wrote about the new Illinois Farm Families Field Mom program which is designed to connect Chicago-area moms with real Illinois farm families in an effort to open up a dialogue between consumers and producers about food and agricultural production in this country in a way that cuts through the myths and media hype. Through this program, ten Chicago-area moms will have the chance to visit Illinois farms throughout the year and talk directly to the families who own and operate these farms. No topics are off the table. It is a chance for these urban moms who care deeply about what they are feeding their families to ask all their burning questions and to see what life on the farm is really like. And they will be reporting back on what they learn and see at the Illinois Farm Families website: Watch Us Grow.
I was lucky enough to accompany the Field Moms on their first trip, which took place on October 15. The Field Moms and I traveled to two farms that day: Larson Farms, a grain and cattle farm in Maple Park, IL and Lindale Holsteins, a dairy farm in Hampshire, IL. What a thrill it was to visit these two farms! I learned so much about raising beef cattle, about grain production and about how our milk is produced. I met conscientious, hard-working farmers who care deeply about feeding people in a safe, environmentally conscious manner. At the same time, the farmers we met feel strongly that we cannot turn out back on technology if we are going to feed the exploding world population. At Larson Farms, for example, we learned how the Martzes analyze each acre of soil that they plant to make sure that they only use the fertilizer that they need — less fertilizer applied means less run-off — and that they plant their seeds in the most efficient manner. And that was just one example! To hear more about our trip — and to see a baby calf sucking on my perfectly manicured fingers — check out this short video.
But getting back to that pesky question of which milk to buy. While at the Lindale Holsteins dairy farm, I had the chance to really pepper the Drendels and their vet Brian Gerloff about organic versus conventional milk and the use of growth hormones. What I learned was very reassuring. First of all, did you know that the only difference between organic and conventional dairies is that organic dairies don’t use antibiotics on their cows ever — even if the cows get sick. (Did you ever get mastitis when you were nursing? Well, dairy cows get mastitis too. Conventional dairies give sick cows antibiotics and organic dairies do not.) I’m not saying that one way is better than the other; I’m just saying that that is the difference. But even conventional dairies who do give their cows antibiotics when it’s called for, take the cows that are receiving the antibiotics out of the milking rotation until he medicine has cleared their systems. Most dairy farmers are part of a co-op, meaning that their milk is combined with milk from other farms at the bottling plant. And milk is regularly tested for antibiotics and other contaminants. A farmer whose milk was tainted by the presence of antibiotics would be liable for the cost of the whole spoiled batch of milk — a huge economic disincentive.
Here’s another interesting thing I learned about milk on the farm visit: all drinking milk is the same grade — the highest grade. Different prices for milk at the supermarket — aside from the organic — is purely a question of the name on the jug. All the milk comes to the bottling plant from the same dairy farms. The bottling plant puts it into different bottles and it goes to the grocery store. So there is no real difference between store brand or name brand milk. My takeaway? I’m buying the least expensive milk on the shelf. Period. It’s all the same. I’ve also decided that it’s not important to me to buy organic milk. Organic produce and organic meat I will still pay more for. But organic milk doesn’t seem worth the money to me. You may disagree and that’s fine. As long as we all know why we’re doing what we’re doing.
But what about the growth hormone question? You will notice that many conventional dairies no longer use artificial growth hormones (or rBGH) on their cows. Apparently, enough consumers had qualms about it that the dairy industry responded by moving away from its use. While at Lindale Holsteins, Dr. Gerloff explained to the Field Moms what rBGH actually is. It is a naturally occurring hormone that is present in higher levels in dairy cows that have recently given birth. When cows get further away from their last live birth, their milk production slows down. (Any human mom who has nursed can relate to that.) So dairy farmers would give these cows a shot of rBGH to simulate the levels of hormones that a new cow mom has as a way of increasing that cow’s milk production.The FDA and many vets believe that there is no difference in the milk of cows treated with rBGH versus those not treated with it.
That explanation was very helpful but I wasn’t entirely satisfied. I knew that the EU and Canada had banned the use of rBGH in its dairy cows; surely these two governments would not have banned a substance without good reason. So I asked Dr. Gerloff about that. He explained to me that rBGH does have some potential side effects for the animals treated with it, including increased risk of mastitis (and now you’re back talking about antibiotics again) and twinning, which can be risky for the cows. Dr. Gerloff’s belief was that these governments had banned rBGH for animal welfare reasons, not for food safety reasons.
The point is: I didn’t know all this information about antibiotics, growth hormones and organic versus conventional milk before my farm visit. And I am someone who cares a lot about my food! Now that I know, I can make the choice that is best for me and my family. So whether it is important to you to buy organic milk or milk from cows not treated with rBGH or simply the cheapest milk you can find, we should all have these choices and we should all have the information we need to make the best choice for our families. I think if you keep up with the Illinois Farm Families Field Moms and their travels, you will learn a lot of helpful information and we can cut through some of the myths and misinformation out there on all sides.
 Rock star-themed paper goods helped complete the look. One of the most viewed West of the Loop posts ever is this one about Zuzu’s 7th birthday party which was a DIY American Girl Doll party. Remember? That was the party where I made tiny doll-sized food. I’ll admit that that was a little hard-core. The truth is, I love doing Zuzu’s birthday parties at home. For all their sassy back talk and begging for their own phones, tween girls are surprisingly easy to please. They want to feel like big kids but they are still young enough to be fairly uninhibited. They worship teenagers and they are still naive enough to think an Edible Arrangement is the height of elegance. Keep these things in mind, and you can plan a wildly successful tween party for not a lot of money.
In the past few months, Zuzu has gotten really into listening to pop music. I remember eight as the age when I started listening to Top 40 radio myself. Back then it was Q107 — DC’s long-lost Top 40 station. Zuzu, of course, likes to listen to Pandora Internet radio on her iPod Touch and download her favorite songs. (I, on the other hand, had to tape songs off the radio, often during Casey Casem’s weekly Countdown, when I was eight.) Somewhere between Zuzu’s passion for the latest Top 40 hits and her fervent desire to get a feather hair extension, I came up with the idea for a Rock Star birthday party. Zuzu was ecstatic and I began to plan in earnest. We sent out invitations that instructed Zuzu’s friends to get ready to party like a rock star and to come attired in what we called “pop star chic.”
When you are planning a DIY tween birthday party and you want to keep costs down, the first thing you should do is figure out what you can hire a teenager to do. Teenagers are a cheap source of labor and add instant coolness to your party. Obviously, try to find one that actually likes kids and will show up when they say they will. I hired one of the counselors from Zuzu’s summer camp — a high school student from our congregation, who is a serious dancer — to teach the girls a dance routine as the first party activity. For $30 plus tip, Drew warmed the girls up and taught them a very age-appropriate routine in my living room. A few of the girls were shy and hung back, but most were very into the dance routine and when they all started singing along to the Ke$ha and Beyoncé songs on Drew’s iPod, I knew I had picked the right party theme. Most importantly, the first 45 minutes of the party passed without incident.
 Drew gets ready to teach the girls the dance routine in my empty living room. After the dance routine, the girls were hot and tired, so we went right into the food and drink part of the party. I purposefully scheduled the party from 2 to 4 pm so I wouldn’t have to feed the girls a meal. (If you learn nothing else from this post, learn that.) I made a punch with fruit juice and Sprite that was outrageously pink in color and that we dubbed it “Pop Star Punch.” A lot of successful kid party-throwing is marketing. I also filled margarita glasses with colorful candies like Mike and Ike’s, Swedish Fish and Skittles and placed them on the table. The girls loved the sort of Willy Wonka effect and the table did look quite festive for very little money. I had found “rock star” themed paper goods on clearance on a party website, so that added to the ambiance. I even caved and ordered an Edible Arrangement for the girls to snack on because Zoe thinks those things are the coolest. (That was one of the most expensive items at the party and I only got it because I knew that if my dad had been alive and heard me balking at spending $50 on an Edible Arrangement for his beloved Zuzu, he would have ordered one himself. So I thought of it as a present from him and I told Zuzu so.)
But the real pièce de resistance was the guitar birthday cake. For those of you in the Chicago area, I highly recommend ordering a cake from Chef Jen Giovingo of Pastries So Tasty. Jen does all custom work and her cakes taste as good as they look. (I know this because when moms taste the cakes at my kids’ parties, they end up ordering their kids’ cakes from Jen too.) She’s a delight to work with and she even delivers. Jen’s prices are really reasonable in my opinion. The amazing (and huge) cake cost $60, including delivery.
After cake and punch and way too much candy, the girls were ready to move onto the next thing, which was karaoke. It costs at least $100 to rent a real karaoke machine and for these 8 year olds, who have no experience with drunken bar karaoke — and nor do I — the real thing is overkill. Instead, I borrowed a kiddie “karaoke machine” — which is basically a glorified boom box with a microphone — from a friend. We burned a CD with some of Zuzu’s favorite, crowd-pleasing songs — think Katy Perry, Taio Cruz and more Ke$ha — and I printed out the lyrics to all the songs from the Internet. Boom. Instant karaoke. The girls all took turns singing alone and in groups and they danced along. It was pretty adorable. No one seemed offended by the lack of a real karaoke machine with a screen.
 Guitar cake! Goody bags were pretty simple: Pop Rocks (get it?), some temporary tattoos and a little “rock star” notebook. (Had I thought of it, I could’ve burned a copy of the karaoke CD for each girl and then their parents would have egged my house for exposing their daughters to such inappropriate lyrics: “Mommy, what’s a ‘bottle of Jack?’”.) I’m quite sure I brought the whole party in for under $250 and if I hadn’t sprung for the Edible Arrangement, it would have been under $200.
But most importantly, Zuzu loved every minute of her rock star party and I think her friends did as well. Thank goodness that 8 year olds are still an easy mark. I shudder to think what the 9 year old party will be. But I will say this: one of these years I plan to shamelessly rip off my friend Lisa’s amazing 12 year old birthday party: a scavenger hunt in a shopping mall in which each team was armed only with a bag of quarters and tasked with finding an absurd list of required items — examples: a Polaroid picture of the cutest boy you could find and something an Eskimo would like. No one planned birthday parties like Lisa’s dad. Mr. D, you’re still my party-planning idol.
 Remember when phones looked like this? Our kids don't. Parenting in the digital age has numerous challenges that we anticipate — cyber-bullying and “sexting” to name two — and even more that we don’t anticipate. While my children are not old enough for Facebook profiles or their own phones, I still find that parenting them in the age of WiFi and TiVo is full of issues and dilemmas that my own parents didn’t face. As if that weren’t enough, the kids always seem to be one step ahead of me. As a result, I constantly feel like the general who is fighting the last war.
Recently I encountered an issue with Zuzu and our family DVR. Like many households, we have a DVR, that is, a digital video recorder. This device is lifesaver, right? I record every single episode of “Dinosaur Train” for JR and when I grant him some TV time, he picks whichever episode he is in the mood for and all is well. I record “30 Rock” and “Community” every week and watch them with my husband whenever he’s home and doesn’t have to work. My husband records the Sunday afternoon football game and watches it after the kids go to bed — and skips all the beer and truck ads. Truly, it’s a much better way to watch TV than having to sit down at the precise time your favorite show is on. But what happens when your kids learn to use the DVR by themselves and it’s recording programs for the whole family?
I would never have realized that there need to be rules for a family DVR if Zuzu hadn’t made it abundantly clear. A few weeks ago, I began to record the a cappella singing competition “The Sing-Off” for Zuzu. I had envisioned it as an age-appropriate foray into prime time television for my young music lover, and indeed it has been. She loves the diverse singing groups — many of whom are college kids — and the thoughtful comments from the knowledgeable judges. (Well, at least two of the judges are knowledgeable. Pop star Sara Bareilles is useless.) She is even properly mystified by host Nick Lachey’s compete lack of charisma.
No, the problem is not the show I had recorded for her. At least I am capable of guessing which shows are appropriate for my 8 year old. The problem arose when Zuzu began watching another show — one that I recorded for myself — instead of the show I had recorded for her. The first night I gave Zuzu permission to watch “The Sing-Off,” my husband was late getting home. As a result, I was handling bedtime on my own. As I headed upstairs to bathe JR and put him to bed, I granted Zuzu permission to watch her new show. When I came downstairs 20 minutes later, instead of a cappella singing, Zuzu was watching potty-mouthed Joan Rivers dissect celebrities’ Emmy’s fashion choices on a special, hour-long episode of “Fashion Police.”
Now, don’t get me wrong: I love Joan Rivers. She’s a fascinating, hilarious, ground-breaking female comedian. And I really, really love “Fashion Police’” which is no-holds-barred critique of celebrity fashion choices, both good and horrific. But “Fashion Police” is not rated G or even PG-13. Among its regular segments are a guessing game called “Streetwalker or Starlet?” — it’s surprisingly hard — and the ever-popular celebrity fashion head-to-head, “Bitch Stole My Look!” I was completely horrified to discover that Zuzu had watched 20 minutes of this program and I was even more distressed that she had decided to turn on not that show that she had been specifically authorized to watch but rather a different show the title of which caught her fancy.
Zuzu got in a lot of trouble for this transgression. She claimed that she had selected “Fashion Police” as opposed to “The Sing-Off” by accident, which is plausible. That doesn’t explain why she kept watching it even after it had become abundantly clear — by the lack of singing for one thing — that it was the wrong show. No, she deliberately kept watching a show that she had not been authorized to watch. And she has some culpability for that.
But what’s my culpability? Yes, I said to her: “You can watch ‘The Sing-Off’ while I bathe your brother.” That is permission not simply to watch TV but to watch a specific show. But I had never said to her that night or indeed ever: “You are not allowed to watch shows on the DVR except for ones that I specifically authorize.” The truth is, I had not anticipated this issue. Zuzu has never been interested in any shows other than the ones that I record for her, mostly Disney Channel tween fare. In this case, one friend theorized that the word “fashion” in the title of the show was too strong a temptation for Zuzu who shares my interest in the subject. But the fact that she may have accidentally selected the wrong show leads me to another question: is it careless of me to record inappropriate shows on a DVR that my 8 year old has access to?
I kind of hope that the answer to the second question is “no.” I don’t want to stop recording R-rated movies or other adults-only fare on my DVR. Frankly, the only movies that I see anymore on ones I record on my DVR and watch in snatched segments while folding laundry. (Latest favorite movie watched this way: “Coco Before Chanel.”) As parents, we have a right to set limits and expect our children to follow them. But it may not be fair to drop temptation in our children’s laps and then punish them when they fail to resist it.
I recently attended a lunch for bloggers hosted by PopCap Games, makers of such favorite procrastination tools as “Plants vs. Zombies” and “Bejeweled.” Many of the other moms there have older kids and we had a fascinating discussion about violent video games, how to set limits on screen time and other issues about parenting in the digital age. I was grateful for the insights but my main thought was that I’m not even there yet with my kids. We don’t have a Wii or an Xbox. My kids do play games like the PopCap ones — they especially like “Bookworm,” which is vaguely educational — on my phone or my iPad, but it’s mostly when we’re stuck at the airport or other occasions when we’re trying to kill time. JR has a Leapster Explorer, but that too is educational and he doesn’t have the patience to play it for too long. Video games plainly pose another set of challenges and goodness knows, I’m really not ready for those. If knowing what to do about the DVR is causing me stress, I’m so not ready for these other pitfalls of parenting in the digital age.
 Homegrown green tomatoes Fall in Chicago is characterized by bizarre weather. This week has been day after day of abundant sunshine, crisp autumn air and afternoon temperatures in the 70′s. In other words, it’s been perfect. But last week, we had nonstop rain and the temperatures were in the 50′s at best. The nights got downright cold and gardeners started to worry about frost. I am not a gardener, but my understanding is that when the possibility of frost becomes real, it’s time to harvest whatever is still growing in your garden or risk losing it. That’s how I ended up the lucky recipient of four bags of fresh herbs and several pounds of green tomatoes from my friend Cortney’s garden.
For the same reason that Cortney gave me a dozen of her green tomatoes, farmers are selling their green tomatoes at the farmers’ markets this time of year. And they are generally selling for a lot cheaper than ripe tomatoes. Everyone has heard of fried green tomatoes — because of the book and the movie and the love that dare not speak its name — but other than that dish, what can you do with green tomatoes?
First of all, fried green tomatoes are really good and you should definitely give them a try. I make them for my family once or twice every summer. My method involves slicing the tomatoes, dipping the slices in buttermilk and then dredging them in mix of half flour, half cornmeal that has been flavored with salt, pepper and something to give it a little heat like cayenne or even Old Bay seasoning. (Remember, I’m from DC so Old Bay tastes like home to me.) Pan-fry the tomatoes in a heavy, deep skillet, the bottom of which is coated in a thin layer of hot vegetable oil. You don’t have to submerge the tomatoes in oil; rather fry one side until browned, then turn the tomato slice over and cook until the other side is browned. Drain on paper towels. To serve, spritz the slices with some lemon juice. I think they are delicious topped with mayonnaise but I’m the only one in my family who likes mayo. My husband actually tops fried green tomatoes with a savory red onion jelly that I make. They’re also great on a sandwich. Try a BLT with a fried green tomato!
 Green tomato salsa Of course, one can only eat so many fried green tomatoes. Fortunately, green tomatoes are also great used in chutneys, relishes and salsas. If you’re a canner, like me, you can also pickle green tomatoes. Old New York delis used to serve dishes of pickled cucumbers and pickled green tomatoes on every table. I wonder if any place does that anymore.
But even if you are not a canner, you can make a great green tomato salsa for a crowd or just to keep in your fridge. I use Anaheim peppers in this salsa because they add a subtle heat and I am not a fan of very spicy food. If your family prefers salsas with a bit more fire, feel free to vary the kind of peppers or simply add more of them. Whatever kind of hot pepper you use, please exercise caution when handling them! I personally wear rubber gloves to chop hot peppers. Ask anyone who has ever handled a hot pepper with bare hands and then accidentally touched his or her eye what that felt like. It’s not a positive experience.
Green Tomato Salsa
Adapted from Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
7 cups, cored and diced green tomatoes
2 Anaheim peppers, seeded and finely chopped*
1 large red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup lime juice
2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Combine the tomatoes, onion, garlic, lime juice and peppers in a large, non-reactive sauce pan and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring frequently. Add the cumin, salt, pepper and cilantro, if using. Reduce the heat and boil gently for five minutes. Remove from heat. If you are not processing the salsa for shelf-stability, refrigerate in a glass or plastic container. Use as you would any salsa, such as a dip with tortilla chips, with scrambled eggs, on baked potatoes etc.
To process the salsa for shelf-stability, follow good water-bath canning procedures. You should leave 1/2 inch headspace on your jars and process them for 20 minutes in a boiling water bath. This recipe makes approximately 6 eight-ounce jars or 3 pints.
*For an extra smoky flavor, roast the hot peppers first and remove the skin before chopping.
 Zuzu demos how to drink hot chocolate with wet nails. Raise your hand if you are a mom who has ever hired a babysitter so that you could get a mani-pedi or a bikini wax or, dear Lord, just get your highlights done. I seriously don’t know any mom who hasn’t done this at some point. Okay, I’m sure that there are some moms out there who don’t color their hair or get their nails done, but, frankly, none of them live in my town. The hair color thing especially seems to be nearly universal. If you don’t color your hair at all, I dare you to leave a comment to this post. I will take you to Starbucks and we can discuss whether your natural hair color is really cutting it any more.
I will confess right now that I do my own highlights. You can’t really tell on hair as curly as mine anyway. But I absolutely won’t do my own nails. I love getting my nails done. It’s a little thing that makes me feel polished and chic and it costs a lot less than a new pair of boots. (Speaking of new boots, I am looking for a pair of stacked heel boots in like a tan or light brown. Hit me up with some recommendations. And don’t mind my husband quietly weeping in the background.) Zuzu also loves getting her nails done and I am afraid that I have created an eight year old manicure junkie. I remember one time last summer when Zuzu and I were getting pedicures together, some sweet old lady said to Zuzu, “Is this your first time getting your nails done?” And Zuzu replied with withering contempt, “No. I come here all the time.” I was so proud.
Anyway, all this is to say that finally there is a salon in Chicago that has nails, waxing, hair and — wait for it — child care. Yes, you read that right: child care. At Urban Mom Salon in Bucktown — so near where we used to live before we had JR and moved west of the Loop — moms can get all their favorite salon services while their kids play next door in a beautiful play room supervised by professional nannies. No wonder Daily Candy called it a dream come true. (And before someone starts lecturing me about kids inhaling all that formaldehyde, please note that the kids’ play area is separately ventilated. Also, I love the smell of formaldehyde in the morning.)
Urban Mom Salon is the brainchild of two Chicago-area moms who happen to be sisters. They have thought of absolutely everything that busy moms need. The salon is pleasant and relaxing. They offer a full range of nail, hair and waxing services. There are plenty of celebrity gossip magazines to peruse while your toes dry. (Reading a celebrity gossip magazine at the nail salon is an integral part of the experience.) As for the child care room, it has a train table, a play kitchen, a tent and all the favorite little kid toys. And for big kids? A Wii. The play room is supervised by sitters from Chicago Nannies and the fee is a flat rate of $7 for the first kid, $4 for an additional kid. So go ahead and get those highlights done, ladies. You can stay all day.
Zuzu and I had a chance to check out Urban Mom Salon this past weekend. I had a Signature Manicure while Zuzu played “Just Dance” on the Wii in the play room. (While I do take Zuzu to the nail salon, we don’t have a Wii at home, putting her firmly in the category of the Deeply Underprivileged by her standards.) Then Zuzu got a mini-manicure (for kids ten and under) while my nails dried and I chatted with Valerie, one of the owners, about the business and her upcoming family expansion. In all, Zuzu and I agreed that Urban Mom Salon is awesome, leaving me with only one additional comment:
When are they opening an Oak Park branch?
Full disclosure time: Zuzu and I received complimentary manicures at Urban Mom Salon. I was not asked to write about the salon and all opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.
 Slices of brisket in a rich gravy This past week marked the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah. Last year at this time, I wrote a post about enjoying Rosh Hashanah dinner with my friend and fellow blogger Vanessa AKA Chef Druck and I shared my recipe for sweet carrot tzimmes — the vegetables cut into rounds to resemble gold coins for a prosperous new year.
This year, I am happy to report that I once again enjoyed Rosh Hashanah dinner with Chef Druck and family. This year’s dinner was hosted by our mutual friend Rowena, who is one of the chic ladies behind the fashion and lifestyle blog She She Shoppers. There were four families all together and while it was a bit of a madhouse, it was wonderful to ring in the new year with these dear friends. The holiday was certainly bittersweet in light of the sadness of the past year. But these friends have comforted me in my grief and I feel lucky indeed to have them.
The night before Rosh Hashanah, my family had a special holiday dinner with just the four of us. As is traditional for holiday meals, I served brisket. In Jewish cooking, brisket can have a bad reputation. Everyone has a memory of being served a tough, greasy, inedible brisket by an aunt or grandmother at some holiday meal. My husband and I have one friend who shudders at the very mention of the word. But when prepared correctly, brisket can be flavorful and fork-tender. It is also an inexpensive cut of beef and one that is best when prepared in advance. These two factors make it a dish worth exploring for modern, busy families — maybe even ones who (gasp!) aren’t Jewish.
The key to cooking brisket is two-fold: first, cook the meat in liquid for a long time — a technique known as braising — and second, prepare it the day before you want to serve it. Brisket is a tough cut of meat — that’s why it is cheap which is why Jewish immigrants were able to afford it when they first came to this country. To make a tough cut of meat tender, braising is the right approach. Cooking the brisket the day before you plan to serve it allows you to cool and then reheat the sauce. When the sauce is cooled in the refrigerator, the fat congeals at the top, thereby allowing you to remove it and serve a flavorful, but not greasy sauce to accompany your meat. Also, brisket is much easier to slice when it is cold.
 Round challah is traditional for Rosh Hashanah. This year, I learned to make a braided round challah! This method will produce a tender, delicious brisket in a rich gravy that will give no one indigestion. This is truly a brisket to win over the brisket naysayers out there. It even worked on the friend who claimed to hate brisket. I call this brisket “cooking without a recipe” because the sauce recipe is not what is important here. Feel free to vary it according to your family’s tastes. What is important is the method: Long, slow braise in liquid the day before and reheating with the sauce prior to serving.
Braised Brisket with Gravy
Serves 6-8
Whole beef brisket (3-4 lbs.)
2 TB vegetable oil
1 large onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 TB ketchup
3 1/2 cups beef stock or broth
1 1/2 cups fruity red wine
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Heat the oil in a large, deep, oven-safe Dutch oven that has a tight-fitting lid. Add the brisket and brown it on all sides — just a few minutes per side. Remove the meat and set it aside.
To the Dutch oven, add the onions and garlic. Stir, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium-low heat until the onions are softened, about ten minutes. Add the ketchup, beef broth, and wine and stir to combine. Return the meat to the Dutch oven and cover.
Transfer to Dutch oven to the preheated oven. Cook the meat in the oven, turning it every hour or so, for two and a half to three hours. Refrigerate the meat and sauce separately.
Prior to serving, skim any congealed fat off the top of the sauce. Trim the fat off of the top of the brisket and slice it against the grain. Then, place the slices in a deep baking dish. Pour the de-fatted sauce over the meat, cover with foil and reheat in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes to an hour. Serve with buttered noodles or potato kugel.
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About West of the Loop is the chronicle of my struggle to stay relevant and current as a thirty-something suburban mom. It’s about marriage and relationships; the work-life balance; cooking, food and feeding our families; books, fashion, pop culture and other fun things.
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