Foux da fa fa

Over the weekend, I ventured down to the Southside neighborhood of Hyde Park. Lately, this area has gotten a lot of recognition as Prez Obama's home, but it is also home to my older brother :) The bike ride (from 1200 N to 5700 S) was a lot more demanding than I had anticipated on my old Schwinn cruiser, but the sunset views of the Skyline on my upon my return made it all worth it. Actually, the true motive for my visit was to check out this small French bakery that my brother recommended to me.

Unlike some French-style bakeries around Chicago, Bon Jour Bakery & Cafe is actually owned by French ex-pats. The woman behind the counter who was obviously the owner, spoke French with her hankerchief-headed employees and offered several pastries that aren't frequently seen around here. To begin, we ordered a palmier that was seriously sweet and perfectly crisp. My brother ordered a delicious little roasted pepper and goat cheese panini. Then, we took three different macarons to go. I would have definitely ordered more but these little bites of heaven weren't cheap at $1.65 a pop. We got lemon, cinnamon, and lemon-basil. They were all fantastic, but the lemon-basil, which was recommended to me by one of the adorable employees, was incredible. The flavor began with a sweet herbal basil taste then finished with the clean and tangy taste of lemon. Beautiful!

Afterwards, we wandered over to Jackson Park to visit the Osaka Garden. This is a little getaway just South of the Museum of Science & Industry leftover from the Columbian Exhibition in 1893. It is absolutely gorgeous and so peaceful, if you live nearby it is definitely worth taking the time to find. And with this beautiful weather that has finally arrived, why not?

Bake It Pretty...aka HEAVEN

Amidst final exams, I've come to realize that taking breaks is practically as essential to achieving good grades as the actual time devoted to studying. At least that is how I'm rationalizing my time spent away from the books. Here is one of the many treasures I've found while avoiding tax laws and the principles of auditing. Yipee!

Ok...WHOA. Must purchase this ASAP, we're clearly meant to be together!

F. Scott Fitz

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer."

An Oldie but a Fantastic-ie

i cannot/will not get over this song. beirut is going to be at the pitchfork music festival in July. oh oh :)

Tarts & Charts

School stinks. That's all there is to it. Consequently, I put off studying for exams tonight to make these little wonders. Veganomicon's heart shaped apple galettes! I didn't have the inclination to heart-shape them, so here they are in all of their circular glory. I'm dying to live in apartment with natural light so that these picture will not be so aesthetically DISpleasing. The weather has been so lovely and practically all the other universities in Chicago have been finished for weeks, why must the quarter (rather than semester) system torture me so? 2 weeks til freedom. Until then...

Memorial Day & Extries

Last night I had a dream that there was anarchy in the U.S. and it was every (wo)man for her/himself. Totally and completely freaky and I woke up pretty spooked, very Children of Men. So after getting ready, I hopped on my new bike, Cat Ballou, and I rode off to work. Because of the holiday, there was hardly anyone on the streets and I arrived at work only to find that it was CLOSED, argh! Really not a big probalum but the uneasiness leftover from my dream hadn't really lifted yet. The weirdness continues, there are about 100 gigantor plague-like mosquitos hiding out in the vestibule between the outside and the museum in my apartment building. Hopefully, this strange morning is not indicative of an even more disturbing week ahead.

On a different note--this blog called Cake Wrecks is highlarious & definitely worth checking out, see below. Happy Memorial Day, lovelies!

T-t-t-tacos!

About 20 days past due on Cinco de Mayo, but nevertheless, summertime food is finally in season! Things have been pretty busy around here lately, I recently purchased a new bike that actually fits me (woohoo) and I can't wait to ride it around town. Also, in a couple weeks I'm moving up to a new apartment, about 6 blocks north of where I'm at now in the Hemingway mansion. The kitchen is about 10x bigger and it actually gets natural sunlight :) so I can't wait to post some better recipes and prettier pics!

These tacos, or fajitas? I guess they're more like fajitas. But anyways, they're really not traditional with the main protein being Boca bits, topped with sauteed onions/pepps and some chunks of avocado in a spinach tortilla. I also served refried black beans on the side with some sweet potato fries. If you want, you could spread the RF beans on the tortilla and throw some of the fries into the taco. I bet it would be preetteeee good.

Ingredients:

1 3lb. bag of Boca bits (or another ground beef substitute)
1 packet of taco seasoning (I prefer La Preferida)
2-3 T olive oil
1 medium yellow onion
1 large yellow or orange bell pepper
1 ripe avocado
4-5 medium tortillas

Start by cutting the pepper and the pepper into about 1/4 in. thick slices. Sautee those in the olive oil for a few minutes, covered, until the onions are translucent. Then, follow the directions on the fake meat package, or for the Boca Bits just sautee them over med-high heat for about 1 minute then add about 3/4 c. water and the taco seasoning. Cook the Bits for about 5-7 more minutes then put a couple of spoonfuls on a tortilla. Follow with the peppers and onions then layer on some chunks of avocado! These would also be tasty with sour cream or cheese. Either way, they're pretty healthy and seriously delicioso. Espero que les gustan :P

Oatmeal + Blueberry Muffins

SO these aren't vegan. Yea yea I know, I'm a terrible human bean, but my Lenten vows ended with Easter. While I still eat ~mostly vegan, I have been eating dairy in moderation. The # 1 perpetrator has been yogurt--Fage is whats up.

Anyways, these little muffs could be easily veganized used 1 egg replacer or even 1/2 a mashed up banana may work. Oatmeal is my favorite grain, I love everything about it. From the Quaker Oats Quaker to the lovely texture it provides, ahh splendid. Plus, the addition of ze oats makes these energy packed bundles of breakfast joy. This recipe is slightly modified, but 100% based off of: http://familyfriendsandfood.blogspot.com/2009/03/oatmeal-blueberry-muffins.html, a cute blog I found via Tastespotting. The only changes that I made were to use rice milk + 2 t of apple cider vinegar instead of buttermilk, 1/4 t cloves, and I added about 1 t of vanilla. If you like your muffins to be sweet, you should up the sugar, but I think they are perfect just the way they are :P

I will leave you with Donatello...the muffin that closely resembles a Ninja Turtle...

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