Labor Day Weekend!

This long weekend my family and I went to the city! We went to an amazing Italian restaurant, a Sprinkles cupcake shop, and a wonderful bakery with homemade bread and pastries!

First we went to a restaurant called Quartino! It was a very traditional Italian restaurant! The food was meant for family style eating! We ordered the Salumeria Tasting to start. It came with two types of salami, two types of cheese, apricot puree, beet salad, eggplant salad, baby artichokes, and tons of olives! It was so delicious, I loved making different combonations! Second we had the Margherita Pizza! It was made with homemade mozzarella, sweet basil, and ripe tomatoes! So good!!! Then the risotto and lasagna came! The risotto was a shrimp risotto with zucchini and sun-dried tomatoes! The lasagna was so different but still delicious! It had ricotta and a meat ragu in it. The different part about it was that there were carrots mixed into it as one of the layers! It made the lasagna sweet! This lasagna was thick and not as wet as some of the other lasagnas I have eaten before! But it was on of the best! 

The next day we spotted a Sprinkles Cupcake Shop! We stopped inside and each grabbed a cupcake! They had dozens of flavors but the one that I got was a cinnamon and sugar cupcake! I love cinnamon, and it was perfect in this cupcake! the rest of my family got an almond and dark chocolate cupcake, a red velvet, and a chocolate marshmallow cupcake! They were all fluffy, sweet, and amazing! 

Right after we indulged ourselves, with cupcake goodness, we went to another bakery called Hendrickx Belgian Bread  Crafter! We got croissants, apple turner overs, country bread, and brioche! This morning we heated up the croissant and turn overs and ate them for breakfast! They were the perfect breakfast and I wished I had more the second they were eaten! As for the brioche and country bread, I think a sandwich and french toast sounds perfect!

-Emma Lou:-)

Herb and Cheese Omelette!

I love William Sonoma! It has got to be one of the best kitchen stores there is out in the world right next to my other favorite kitchen store Sur La Table! I was resently surfing the William Sonoma web site when I spotted an omelette recipe that sounded FANTASTIC! It was an Herb and Cheese Omelette! It used cream cheese! You can use any herb that you like, but I just so happened to have chives growing in my families garden!

I love making omelettes! They are quick, easy, and delicious! These omelettes are amazing! They are creamy, cheesy, and extremely fluffy! I served it with fruit and toast!  Now it is the only omelette I make! 

A Piece of Pie!

My Family and I had a road trip to a beach town called Saugatauk in Michigan! One our way there we stopped at a pie restaurant called Cranes Pie Pantry! It was a old fashioned restaurant on a huge 98 acre farm! It was a beautiful day and when we pulled into the parking lot we were greeted by green fields for as far as we could see!

When we got inside we saw that all over the pie shop were old antique items! There were old fashion signs, dolls, bikes, books, and much more! I felt like we had gone back in time! For lunch I got a cup of there famous chili and a grilled cheese sandwich! The chili was amazing! The grilled cheese was delicious! But the whole time I was eating them all I could think about was this pie that awaited me at the end of the meal!

You can't believe how many kinds of pie they have on their menu! They have every type of pie you can think of! I choose the Red Raspberry Pie! It was one of the best pies I had ever tasted!  It was a little tart but still sweet! I loved my food at Crane's Pie Pantry!

After we ate we went into the fields and picked some fresh peaches and plums! Then we bought some fresh zucchini! The fruit and vegetables were so yummy and delicious! I didn't know what to do with the two zucchini that we had gotten! So I decided to make Chocolate Zucchini Muffins! I love chocolate so I doubled the amount of chocolate chips!

Zucchini-Chocolate Chip Muffins

Makes 12 Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup milk

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup shredded zucchini

1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1.In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Combine the egg, oil, milk, lemon juice and vanilla; mix well. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in zucchini, chocolate chips and walnuts. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until muffins test done.

-Emma Lou:-)

C'est la Vie!

C'est la Vie! That is what my French teacher always says when something goes wrong! It means that's life! I was so excited when I heard that I was going to get to go to a restaurant called Vie! It was there Sunday Supper! I got a chilled sweet corn soup, wood grilled pepper relish, and a Spanish olive oil for my first course! It was so good! It tasted amazing! I could eat 10 bowls of this soup!

 Next I got a wood-grilled rushing waters rainbow trout, fried fingerling potatoes, roasted tomatoes, garlic aioli! I loved this trout! The roasted tomatoes were so good! They brought so much flavor to the plate!  Finally for the dessert I had ice cream sandwich chocolate chip cookies with triple vanilla ice cream! The ice cream tasted like the most vanilla-y ice cream ever! Although the ice cream melted immediately! Over all the entire meal was a huge success! I can't wait to go back!




-Emma Lou:-)

Washington Wonders!

While I have lived in Chicago I have noticed that people in Chicago like meat! Especially Italian Beef Sandwiches! I have also noticed that they don't have many Teriyaki restaurants! I used to live in Seattle where you can find at least two Teriyaki restaurant on every block! It is the complete opposite in Chicago! You can find at least two beef restaurants of every block! I mean it is crazy! My family and I play this game called "Beef"! When ever we are on long car rides we look for restaurants that have a sign that says BEEF! We yell "BEEF"! At the end of the car ride the person with the most "Beefs" wins! 

While I was in Washington I visited a restaurant called Pomodoro! It is an Italian restaurant that has delicious food! I got the calamari for an appetizer. The calamari came with these sticks, they looked like  very skinny bread sticks! Turns out they were fried spaghetti sticks! Wow these  spaghetti sticks were amazing! The calamari was incredible to! I didn't like calamari until I had this calamari! It came with an aioli that was awesome too!

Next for my entree I got spaghetti and meatballs!  I mean when I think of Italian food I think of spaghetti and meatballs so why not get that? The spaghetti and meatballs were great and I left Pomodoro stuffed and happy!

-Emma Lou:-)

Black Bird Chicken!

I was reading Food and Wine magazine and I came across an article called Best New Chefs and their simplest dishes! I was surprised to see a  chef with a restaurant that my mom had gone to called Black Bird! I read the recipe which was a Twice Glazed Asian Barbecued Chicken and a Cucumber Cherry Salad! 

The chicken was DELISH!!  The salad was sweet, tart, and totally yummy! I couldn't believe how well the bold flavors of the chicken married with the sweet, subtle flavors of the salad! If you like Barbecued Chicken and Asian food you should definitely try this dish!

-Emma Lou:-)

Pantry Perfection!

I love to raid the pantry when I am bored and find things to make! On my last pantry expedition I found a ripe peache, flour, and cream cheese! So I made a Peach Tart with a cream cheese sauce! I got the dough recipe off of Epicurious! The tart turned out fantastic! It was sweet, creamy, and totally fun to make! The was a cream cheese dough! Here is the recipe! I used the 9-inch pie shell reacipe and the hand method!

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Flaky-Cream-Cheese-Pie-Crust-101857

After I took the dough out of the fridge I put cream cheese, sugar, and cinnamon into a blender! I spread this mixture on to the surface of the tart leaving about 1/2 an inch of the edge bare! I cut  a peach into tiny slices and spread them all over the middle of the tart in a round formation over the sauce! Then I sprinkled a little bit of sugar, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg over the top of the peach! I folded the edges of the tart over the peach leaving a hold over the top of the tart! I folded the edges over each other! Then I put it in the oven at 350 degrees and baked until the edges were golden brown!


-Emma Lou:-)