Welcome Back: On to Year 2

It has been just over a year since we started blogging our cooking and baking adventures, so welcome back as we get back into sharing our creations with you. Since we last posted, we have moved out to the western Chicago suburbs. I started working as an NVH engineer for an automotive supplier and Dani just started her first class of Graduate School at Northern Illinois University studying nutrition. We’re still learning our way around and miss some of our favorite spots in Kalamazoo. As we explore Chicago-land we’ll fill you in on some of our good finds.

So here’s to our slightly less tiny kitchen and more cooking together!

Farewell Kalamazoo

It has been exactly 1 year, 10 months, 9 days and some odd hours since I moved to Kalamazoo. I moved a week after graduating from college to start my first job at Kellogg in Battle Creek, Michigan. The first time I had ever been to Michigan was during my spring break from school about 2 months before moving there to find somewhere to live. I remember thinking during this visit that it seemed like a pretty small city, which is not where I envisioned moving to after graduation. Needless to say, Kalamazoo was where I made my new home, and I set out exploring right away. I quickly found my favorites spots, most of which, not surprisingly, revolve around food. Thus, I want to share with you some of my favorites places in Kalamazoo before I leave and head back to Milwaukee and start the next chapter in my life.

My Favorite Market to Explore: The People’s Food Co-op

Kalamazoo has a pretty small downtown, and in-spite of its size, I always enjoy walking around. One of the places I typically visit is The People’s Food Co-op, a remarkably tiny cooperative food store where Jay and I, in particular, enjoy their naturally flavored honey sticks. Despite its size and high prices, I am always happy to walk around and discover their new products. Also, they are in the process of expanding to a brand new building, which I will have to visit whenever I am back in Kalamazoo.

My Favorite Coffee Shop: Water Street Coffee Joint

Every now and then I get the desire to escape the small-city feeling, and when I do I usually go to Water Street Coffee Joint. I love this coffee shop, because whenever I am there it feels like I am sitting at a coffee shop on State Street in Madison. It has great coffee and tea, a funky atmosphere, and really good people watching too. And as an added bonus, they are also the only place in Kalamazoo that has real gelato!

My Favorite Weekend Activity: Celery Flats

If you know me, then you know I like to go on walks. One of my favorite places to do that is Celery Flats. Celery Flats is a beautiful park that has both paved trails for running and biking and unpaved trails for hiking. I especially like that they have mile markers so you can keep track of your distance when running. Also, because Portage Creek runs through the park they offer canoe rentals, which Jay and I have enjoyed.

My Favorite Restaurant: Ouzos

Jay and I have eaten at so many restaurants in Kalamazoo and during the first year we were attempting to eat at a different one every time. Then when we ate at Ouzos I am pretty sure I can speak for both of us when I say that it became an instant favorite. Since the first time we have eaten there, we have been back many times, and it was even one of Jay’s choices to celebrate his graduation. It seems that whenever we go, Jay and I usually end up getting the same dishes: Jay gets the smoked salmon sandwich and I get the greek style grilled chicken breast. It is such a simple dish, but they make the best chicken breast I have ever had and their ingredients are always so fresh. Thus, Ouzos was also my restaurant of choice for what I consider my “last supper” in Kalamazoo.

My Favorite Saturday Evening Activity: The Little Theater

One of my favorite places to spend a Saturday night is at the Little Theater. The Little Theater is a small, one screen theater that features one movie per weekend about twice a month. I like this theater because the Western Film Society (Western Michigan University student organization) brings films that otherwise would not come to Kalamazoo theatrically, such as independent, art-house films. The Little Theater has great ticket prices: $5 general admission and $3 for students. This was especially helpful because Jay and I have seen so many films there over the past 2 years. I bet it will be hard to find movie tickets for that price in Milwaukee or Chicago! Also, before each film, a member from the film society holds a raffle to win a free ticket, which is always fun.

If you are still reading, thanks for sticking with me! Overall, I am ready to say good-bye to Kalamazoo and welcome the next chapter in my life. And whenever I am back in Kalamazoo, I will look forward to visiting some of my favorite places. But until then, farewell Kalamazoo; it’s been fun.

Sharing a French Press

As Dani mentioned in the biscotti post, we have been heading to Starbucks to share a french press of coffee every Sunday for the past couple of weeks. It’s been a nice way to spend our time together and try some new coffee. The baristas will usually open a bag of beans so we can try a different roast each time.

It makes about 2 cups of coffee for each of us and is a relatively good deal at $3.50. Last weekend we brought along some of the biscotti that we baked and they were very tasty together. If you have some time to sit at a store, I’d highly recommend getting a french press to share with someone.

By the way, I’m a big Starbucks fan. Their loyalty program (Starbucks Card) is a simple way to earn free coffee and has a nice game play aspect to it as you earn stars. My photo of a favorite mug was featured in a fan blog not to long ago too (mine is mug number 3 in the post).

New City, New Tiny Kitchen

We are getting back on track with our posts…we promise. A few things have changed: I’ve moved into a new, tiny kitchen. I started my first professional engineering job in Chicagoland and moved into a new apartment less than a month ago. Very little cooking has gone on here, but in time, we shall be cooking away.

We’ve just begun to explore the new city and see what restaurants and shopping markets are good. I’m personally excited to have a Trader Joe’s close by. In fact being in the vicinity of a Trader Joe’s was a key factor in my job search. There is also a Whole Foods close by. The Whole foods will probably turn into a good weekend activity for Dani and I. She loves to walk the aisles of fancy grocery stores and read the labels while I find the good samples. You may think that a Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods are no big deal, but after living in West Michigan with neither, it is a very big deal!

This probably won’t be the last move in the calendar year. Once Dani hears back from the Dietetic Internship programs there will be another move. I’m currently about 40 min west of downtown Chicago, very close to Naperville. So maybe we’ll move closer to the city and find another tiny kitchen.

2010 Wrap Up

It has been a great year for us, and though we have not posted in a while, we have never stopped cooking and eating. About a month ago we got back from a trip to Toronto. We like to say that it was our Inaugural, International Vacation because it was the first time Jay and I traveled out of the country together, even though it was just across the bridge to Canada. Despite the frigid temperatures, Jay and I had a great time walking around, riding the streetcars and of course enjoying the local food. Here are a few of the highlights:

I was told that Toronto’s Chinatown was one of the biggest and it certainly was big. It was great to see all of the different restaurants and food stores that lined the main street. While walking around, we made a mental note to come back and visit one of the many bakeries and pick up an after dinner treat. Originally, Jay and I went in search of a coffee shop in Kensington Market, which we heard was in the middle of Chinatown. But, being that it was winter, most of this outdoor, multiple store market was pretty quiet. However, we did find Moonbean Coffee Company, a cute, cozy coffee shop where we warmed up and refueled.

I love exploring any kind of market; so I was a bit disappointed with Kensington Market. However, Toronto also has St. Lawrence Market, a large, indoor market with everything from fresh produce and meats, to spices and breads. After doing a couple of laps around the market to see what was available, we decided to get fresh bagels and smoothies. Jay got a lox sandwich and I got a whole wheat bagel and bought sliced turkey to make my own sandwich. That was probably the best bagel I have ever had; it was fresh, warm and soft. After lunch, we decided to get some fresh pasta from one of the vendors to bring back to Detroit to make for New Years Eve dinner.

We ate at some great restaurants, but our favorite was Fresh. It is a trendy, vegetarian restaurant with a really good selection of salads, burgers, wraps, smoothies and juices. I got an awesome salad with tofu. It doesn’t seem like it takes a whole lot to make a good salad, but Fresh makes a great one. The one I got was called the “Big Salad” and had avocado, cucumber, tomato, carrot, red pepper & hulled hemp seeds on salad greens with marinated tofu – simple and delicious. What made it so good was the marinated tofu, the fresh ingredients and the house dressing. Yum! I was a little hesitant to go to an all vegetarian restaurant with Jay, but he had no hesitation. Jay got the “Deluxe Burger” with tomato, lettuce, red onion, alfalfa sprouts, dill pickle & vegan mayo with gorgonzola cheese. I have never seen such a stacked burger! Jay loved it; he said what made it so good was the vegetable patty, the mayo and the cheese. We liked the food so much that we picked up some “to go” selections for lunch for the next day and because it was already dinner time, they were half off! Finally, before going, Jay picked up a 32 oz glass bottle with the Fresh logo to decorate his new place.

Jay and I have had crepes a few times now at Good Girls Go to Paris in Detroit, and CAFÉ Crepe looked like the perfect spot to satisfy our sweet tooth after dinner. Jay got a Nutells crepe and I got a Nutella and banana crepe. They were a little messy, but well worth it!

Overall, we had a great trip to Toronto and hope to continue traveling and exploring new places together.

The day after we got back from Toronto was New Years Eve. Jay, his brother, his brother’s girlfriend, and I cooked a great meal consisting of stuffed chicken breast, sautéed spinach and the fresh pasta that we brought back from St. Lawrence Market. I thought it was the perfect way to end 2010 and welcome 2011. Have a great new year everyone!

And the Winner Is…

Thanks to those of you who weighed in on the Thanksgiving Poll post. We appreciate your participation and input. Based on the results, the winning category is bars/ brownies!

Thus, the new questions Jay and I had to answer were: bars or brownies and what kind?  My family expressed that they wanted a chocolate dessert, so answering the first question was simple: brownies.  Then for the second question: what kind of chocolate brownies?

We got our answer two weeks ago when Jay and I were in town for my cousin’s wedding shower. For our family Shabbat dinner we were asked to make a dessert and decided on a simple brownie recipe that I later named “Puppy Chow Brownies” because they contains all the essential elements of Puppy Chow: chocolate, peanut butter, and powdered sugar. Yum! These were a big hit and therefore, we have decided to make them for Thanksgiving and share them with the whole family. We are looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow evening. Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Poll

Hey guys, we need some help. Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and Jay and I plan to bring a dessert to our family’s Thanksgiving dinner but are stumped as to what to bring. We thought we would open it up to you guys and see what you think.

Here are the parameters: it can’t be a pie, it has to feed around 30 people, it has to be portable and yummy. We also just tried making some scones, but they were difficult to make, and we don’t think they  will travel well. We’ll post about that soon. We can’t wait to hear from you!

Update

Everyone always says they are sorry for not posting in a while. But hey, we get busy. Dani has been busy preparing her applications for dietetic internships and I just turned in my thesis manuscript to my advisor committee before I defend in just two weeks.

So, thanks for sticking with us this far. We have not stopped cooking and we have a few items in the can that we are currently writing and will post soon.

Coming Soon

Hello Loyal readers. We promise to post a new recipe soon, it’s been a little busy as we wrap up summer. There are a few in the bag that turned out really well and we can’t wait to share.

Ripening Your Ice Cream?

Before a few weeks ago I thought the only thing that ripened was fruit and vegetables. Yet, I guess there’s at least one more thing that ripens. It’s the final step when you stick the ice cream or gelato in the freezer to harden. Before that step Dani likes to call it frozen yogurt. Either way it all tastes good to me.