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Mother’s Day Gift Guide
Mother’s Day is just around the corner, and this year it falls on a Sunday, my favorite day of the week. Why? Because Sunday is Brunch Day! Here are a few ideas for spoiling Mom on her official Day of the Year. 1. Sunday Brunch. Zagat made a nice little list of awesome brunch places you could take mom on her special day! 2. The classic: Flowers! Get mom a beautiful bouquet of mixed flowers, this is a nice idea if you’re not able to celebrate Mother’s Day together. 3. Another option is to send mom a box of sweets! I especially LOVE sending my…
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World Nutella Day
I have to admit, I forgot today was World Nutella Day but thanks to the interwebs and hashtags I’m all caught up. Not that I wasn’t prepared, of course. All you need is a spoon. No spoon? Use your fingers. I won’t tell! 😉
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How To Make Frozen Pierogi Taste Homemade
Sometimes you just don’t have time. You come home from work, sink full of dishes from the morning/night before… You only have two options: order a $20 pizza, or make those frozen store bought pierogi. Okay, your third option is not to eat dinner tonight. So of course you go with the pierogi route. My Mariona’s Market sells just Kasia’s Pierogi, which happen to be pretty tasty if you make them right. Now this is important, I’m about to share a pretty AWESOME secret of making frozen pierogi taste like the most delicious meal you’ve ever had. Here’s how to make frozen pierogi taste homemade: Ingredients: 1 package of frozen…
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New Hair, Don’t Care
Finding THE hair stylist is the hardest task a girl can take on. I’ve been to probably 8-10 different hair stylists (always once, never came out of there happy… sigh.) and I have finally secured THE GUY. The color guy. My hair guy. Dave. Dave has worked for Bumble and Bumble in NYC before, he’s worked with models, celebs, socialites, and now me. A regular human who just wants her hair to look great. CHECK. THIS. OUT. Beautiful sun-kissed hair, natural looking, and most of all – mine. Dave works at Arsova Salon 750 N Franklin St Suite 101 Chicago IL 60654
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It’s My Way Or The Pie Way
Sometimes a girl’s gotta bake a pie. Ingredients: 1 pie crust (or make it from scratch, I’m not judging) 2 apples Drizzle of honey and lemon juice ~ half a cup of brown sugar Pinch of salt and cinnamon 1 glass pan Directions: Thaw the crust according to instructions. Meanwhile, peel them apples, slice into half moons, toss in a bowl with all other ingredients. Roll the pie crust into your pan, cut off edges. Don’t toss out the crust remains! Now, spoon them apples into the pie crust. Take all the remaining pie crust dough and make into a ball, then grate over the top of the pie, to…
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Late To The Party
So Spring is here, at least on the calendar, and I’ve come to realize that my winter mission to find a new apartment has come to a fail. Perhaps my plan that stated “less people are moving in winter so I’ll have more to choose from” kicked me in the behind, I mean, if less people are moving, less apartment are available, duh! So back to square 1000 and back to the endless Craigslist hunt. To brighten up my day I shot this photo of mini French Macarons. Love them, sweets make me happy! Isn’t this a beautiful photo? What are some little things that make your day?
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Now Obsessing: Cajun Seasoning
I’m not huge on spicy, hot foods, in fact, whenever my boyfriend takes me to his mom’s house, we make a pit stop at a drive-thru somewhere because I know I won’t be eating any of that spit-fire papaya salad, hell no. Take me to a pho shop and I order a chicken broth, then eat it plain, sorry, no Sriracha for this white girl. Recently I came across this Cajun seasoning that I’m totally in lust with, though. It makes shrimp “punch you in the face” – as the brand’s website puts it, and not the kind of “your-eyes-will-be-watery-and-your-nose-will-be-running-the-whole-time” punch in the face. I use it on everything; chicken,…
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Perfect Almond Croissant
It ain’t easy being a girl. It’s even harder if you love your pastries as much as I do! I’ve been to many bakeries around Chicago and I think I have finally found the PERFECT almond croissant. Well, actually the credit goes to my friend Leila. As a pastry chef she has tried, and made, plenty of croissants in her career, but she had the same problem I had: couldn’t find a great flaky, thousand-layered croissant that’s always made fresh and always tastes like a cloud of buttery goodness. And then we went to La Patisserie P. A tiny corner bakery, hidden among asian markets and noodle shops, always full…
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Oh Em Cheese!!!
I spent most of my morning on twitter , scrolling, RTing, tweeting, following… When one post caught my eye: national grilled cheese month. Happening NOW. 2 hours later I was still thinking about grilled cheese so I decided to make my own to kick off this celebratory month. It’s got bacon, tomatoes, 2types of cheese, spinach and bread. Simplest thing ever. To make 2 grilled cheese sandwiches: 4 slices of bread 2 slices of tomato 2 slices of bacon Handful of spinach, chopped 4 slices of cheese, or more, your preference (I used 2slices of mild cheddar and 2slices of Swiss) Butter First cook the bacon and tomato slices over…
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French Macarons
I’ve been absolutely obsessed with French macarons and I think I found the best macaron baker EVER. I’ve been ordering LOTS of macarons online, since Chicago bakeries SUCK at making perfect macarons, and a few months ago I came across www.LeilaLove.com. I’ve ordered many many times from her and each time I fall deeper and deeper in love with her. Leila always packages the macarons in beautiful boxes for any occasion, she wraps them in air tight foils so they won’t dry out by the time they get delivered to me. It’s an absolutely gorgeous and decadent set of macarons, always different flavors, but I’ve been able to request all…
