I’ll never forget what my mom said to me three years ago as I was boarding a train from my hometown back to the city.  It was right before Christmas and Evie was my only baby. I was dashing about, trying to make the holiday special for my little family, and my mom could see […]

A few weeks ago I bought a HUGE butternut squash for just $3.00 at the neighborhood farmers market.  Seriously, this thing was giant.  Like, bigger than a watermelon. When I saw it I knew it was a great buy because I can do so much with squash.  Roasted with maple syrup, tossing some in a […]

I have a confession to make: I save bacon grease.  Whenever we make bacon (picked up from our co-op), I pour the leftover grease into a small bowl on our countertop. It sits there until a need arises: eggs in the morning, grilled cheese for lunch, roasted veggies at dinner.  Its amazing how much flavor […]

The weather has turned decidedly fall-like.  There’s a briskness in the air, and even when its warm the tinge of cooler temperatures looms.  So, I can’t say I was surprised when my husband requested soups for lunch again.  Its been a summer of salads for him, but heartier fare seems more appropriate now that its […]

Chris was out of town on Friday and Saturday, and I was surprised by how much I missed him.  Not only do I appreciate his help with the kids on the weekends, but he’s my favorite person to hang out with.  When he’s gone I miss his handsome face and strong arms and cheerful personality.  […]

I feel so lucky to be a part of a very large extended family.  My mom has seven siblings and my dad has six, and so I have lots of cousins near and far.  The other night we got together with my grandparents for dinner, and on their way to the restaurant they bumped into […]

The text message from my sister Caitie came through innocently enough: Do you have any desire for a massive zucchini? Not quite sure where my trickster sister was headed with this, I replied: What kind of a question is that?! Turns out, a friend of her mother-in-law gave her mother-in-law a big zucchini.  The mother-in-law […]

My husband’s mother came for a visit last weekend.  To welcome her to our wonderful city I wanted to make a nice dinner.  However, she arrived on one of the hottest days of the year so I didn’t want to serve a heavy meal.  Fortunately, my mom recently posted a chilled soup recipe to our […]

I don’t want to jinx it, but I *think* summer might be here to stay.  Even though I was born and raised in Chicago, I hate hate hate cold weather, so I tend to spend every possible minute outdoors once the warmer months arrive.  The building we live in has an awesome roof deck, and […]

Our good friends Sarah and David gave us a totally awesome “Welcome, Vivian!” gift: a delicious dinner prepared and delivered by Kendra Peterson, the super talented chef behind Drizzle Kitchen here in Chicago.  We had the luxury of choosing a meal for her to create, and as soon as I saw the description of her […]