First Dinner of Summer

It's officially summer. The moment I want to set every table outside, I know that it's here. Last week I only had eyes for the patio. Plus, there was Mexican take-out on the way, and what better meal to inaugurate the season?

Eggplant fries, beef skirt steak taco and a chicken verde taco with pickled red onions were compliments of Sonora Grill. If you haven't been yet, seriously, forget your dinner plans and head immediately to the Midtown Global Market. One bite of those cornmeal-crusted eggplant fries dipped in aioli and you will love me. And then two days later when your obsession has taken hold and you can't fathom eating anything else, you might hate me. But it's worth it, so go!

Here's the other reason I was so keen on eating outside: 

Happy, "new" patio furniture! In place of chair cushions so weather-worn you'd mistake them for softball bases, I covered the seats in a bright, inexpensive Ikea fabric. I spray painted the wrought iron furniture a few years ago. It's amazing what a staple gun and a little muscle can do.

What are your sure-fire signs of summer? Cooking every meal on the grill? Cracking open a new bottle of Hendrick's and keeping the fridge stocked with tonic and limes?

Italy, Dish by Dish

It's finally sinking in. In a little over a week, I will be stepping on a plane and flying to Rome. For twelve days I'm going to wander through piazzas, marvel at ancient ruins and Renaissance art, and most importantly, eat everything in sight. 

I'm not ashamed to admit that the majority of my trip-planning has been spent dreaming of food. From Rome, my family and I are making our way toward Venice, Florence, Bologna and Siena. In my mind that translates to a steaming bowl of Bucatini all'Amatriciana with guanciale (cured pork jowl), fried Roman artichokes, paper-thin slices of Prosciutto di Parma, and plenty of Tuscan wine. If I don't gain weight on this trip, I will have done something wrong.

Forget Rick Steves. Here are the books I've been reading in anticipation:

Cooking with Italian Grandmothers is an especially gorgeous book. Part cookbook, part history of Slow Food in Italy, this book chronicles a way of life I hope we never lose touch with.

I've never been to Italy. Do you have any recommendations for me? Any food, sights, or experiences I shouldn't miss?

The Good Sleep Better

I'm in Toronto this week. Found this aphorism on my pillow at The Drake Hotel. I proceeded to eat my cookies and have a lousy night's sleep.

How to Throw a Leap Year Party: Part One

You know that feeling you get when you've just come home from a really incredible trip?

It feels like some part of you must be carrying on in Bangkok/Portland/Budapest/fill in the blank, having experiences and living life. How could something so vivid come to an end? Yet, the rational part of your brain knows that it's over. You occupy one place and that's home. There is a sweet relief in this. But it comes with a bitter edge.

Welcome to my emotional state from January 29th and on. Whee! What had once seemed like a completely fanciful life (baking school in New York), turned into a new normal. As happy as I was to be reunited with home (and husband!!), readjusting to Saint Paul life was a little tough. So what did I do to ease the transition?

Melissa Copon©

I threw a party. And guess what? It worked.

Let me back up. Melissa and I threw a party. 

It started four years ago when my creative partner in crime, Melissa, asked if I wanted to throw a leap year party. She came up with the initial awesome idea and we collaborated from there–Dinner in the Dark. We invited eleven people over for a dinner in the pitch black dark. Eight courses later they emerged from my bedroom-turned-dining room with dazed, happy grins. And the tradition of the Leap Year party was born.

This time around we wanted to do something different. But what? 

My partner in parties (and the occasional victimless crime).

When I was in town for Christmas, we got together for late-night pizza and beer. A tipsy discussion of how awesome it would be if you could spend the holidays with your friends gradually morphed into an idea. What if we could celebrate all of the holidays with our friends? In the form of a party. Five holidays in one night–All-iday!

Oh, the holidays we left on the cutting room floor (Presidents' Day, you had so much potential). It was hard, but we narrowed it down to just five and then Melissa got to work on the invite. A killer invitation can really kick-start a party, setting the tone for everything to come. Melissa knocked this one out of the park (see above). We spent a Sunday afternoon hand-delivering our red-ribbon wrapped scrolls and then it was official. This party was really happening.

As for the rest, I'll leave that for the next post. There may or may not have been truffles...

There was certainly a garland of Christmas bows.

And this one is a surprise. Any guesses?

A Tale of 400 Cookies

There are some people I'd walk across fire for. I know that sounds dramatic, but it's true. My friend Sara is among that select group. If I was ever locked up in a Tijuana jail at 4am with no passport or pants (hypothetically-speaking, of course), Sara would get me out. So naturally, when she asked me to bake cookies for her wedding favors, I said yes. Then I asked, how many?

That bowl of batter is much larger than it appears.

All in all, I baked 400 crunchy, buttery cookies with a  sprinkle of silver sugar.  I used the Crunchy Sugar Cookie recipe from Fine Cooking, which I highly recommend (there's a chewy version, too, if you prefer that texture). Paired with a glass of milk, a sugar cookie is such a classic comfort. 

Sara and her amazing husband, Tony, got married exactly one year ago. Thinking back on this baking experience, I laugh a little at what I mess I was in the kitchen. My rudimentary calculations to increase the recipe. How I just crossed my fingers that all the ingredients would fit in my mixer. But they did! Cookies were baked, bagged and tied with a white satin bow. And Sara and Tony had the most memorable, romantic, and moving wedding I've ever had the honor of attending.

Happy anniversary to my dear friends! Cheers to many more years of happiness with each other.