Lake Marmo at the Morton Arboretum approaching Fall season
The city planted an Acer x freemanii ‘Marmo’ in the Spring of 2020 in my parkway. I am very happy to have a free tree, but it was planted 1 foot and a half from a street sign and now that sign has collided into its branches. Later I found more about this tree as I mulch, water and care for it the best I can. I have reported the issue with the street sign in my 311 app and do not want them to remove the tree, so I hope they respect that request.
Now that I have a new tree at home, I naturally started to get to know our quiet friend Marmo. A hybrid red and silver maple tree, Marmo doesn’t shed seeds like a lot of maples we meet.
I love a good juicy rare meat burger, but having more options as back-up is a good thing. This is a recipe that goes well with ground beef or, in this post, the beyond meat patty. Yes, this is an endorsement from a meat eater. I have tried being vegan for 9 months back in my twenties, and then entertained the idea of a vegetarian diet for 2-3 years after. I eat most meats now, but I always care about where it comes from. Meat substitutes have never satisfied me, until the beyond meat collection. It’s soy-free and actually tastes good.
Ingredients 2 beyond meat patties 1 whole roma tomato 1 whole shallot 2 oz cream cheese 2 whole scallions 1 tbsp spiced poppy & sesame seeds (minced onion, granulated garlic, poppy seed, white sesame seeds) 2 whole brioche buns 9 oz yellow or red potatoes 1 oz mayonnaise 1 tsp aїoli spice blend (salt, organic mustard seeds, granulated garlic powder, lemon juice, stone-ground mustard, pepper)
Tools large sauté pan 2 baking sheets mixing bowls measuring spoons oven mitt cooking oil salt & pepper
Prep Veggies 1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 2. Halve yellow potatoes lengthwise. Lay flat and cut lengthwise into about ½-inch thick wedges. 3. Thinly slice scallions; discard root ends. 4. Cut ends off shallot and discard peel. Halve lengthwise. Lay flat and cut lengthwise into about ¼-inch thick strips. 5. Medium dice roma tomato into about ½-inch pieces.
Season & Roast Potatoes 6. Place potatoes in a medium bowl. Drizzle with about 1 tablespoon cooking oil. Season with about ½ teaspoon salt and a pinch of pepper. Stir to coat. 7. Reserving bowl for step 4, spread potatoes out in a single layer on a lightly oiled, foil lined baking sheet. Roast 20-25 minutes, or until tender, stirring halfway through.
Make Cream Cheese Place cream cheese in a small bowl. Add scallions and spiced poppy & sesame seed blend. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
Season Beyond Meat Patties Place two patties in bowl used for potatoes. Season with about ½ teaspoon salt and a pinch of pepper. Mix thoroughly to evenly distribute seasoning.
Cook Patties & Shallot 8. Heat about 1 ½ tablespoons cooking oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Once pan is hot, add patties. Add shallot to pan around patties. Lightly season shallot with salt and pepper. Cook 3-5 minutes, stirring shallot occasionally. 9. Flip Beyond Meat patties (instructions: 4 min each side). When patties are fully cooked they will still have a pinkish hue in the middle and that’s ok. When shallot is caramelized, stir shallot occasionally, and remove from heat.
Toast Buns & Make Aїoli 10. Open brioche buns. Place on a second foil-lined baking sheet, cut-sides up. Toast 3-4 minutes, or until lightly browned. 11. Place mayonnaise and aїolispice blend in a second small bowl. Stir to combine.
Finish
Divide bottom buns between plates. Spread scallion cream cheese onto bottom buns. Top with patties, tomato, caramelized shallot, and top buns. Serve potato fries and spiced aїoli on the side. Enjoy and repeat!
Ode to the mom and pop shops in Stony Island and the Rebuild Foundation’s Stony Island Arts Bank
I miss walking into a cafe. It was always a space you could isolate yourself as well as get a good cup of coffee, chat with a stranger or a friend, it was a safe familiar space for a long time. Since March 12, this year, outdoor engagements have been strictly for exercise and grocery shopping. I’ve been supporting as many of my old cafe joints that offer pick-up when I can. At home, work is a big part of my space and so has a lot of the things I miss about spending time in a cafe. I find myself re-enacting parts of a favorite cafe. I never wanted to make my own scones until I picked up a container of take and bake blueberry scones from Spinning J.
blueberry scones forever
This cafe has the cutest bathroom wallpaper– a cream background with delicate blueprints, old timey malt shop vibes, and the sweetest staff. They have really good pie, too. There’s a lot of things in the core menu I can’t order anymore (their weekly offerings are limited but all very good), they have eggs, and other groceries. I’ve haven’t had any luck getting big fresh blueberries, but when I do, this is the only way to make blueberry scones. Do not use frozen blueberries or you will make a really soggy scone.
Back to scones, it’s not as foolproof to make, but they require few steps to learn and this is doable with patience. I’ve learned a few things from eating the blueberry scones from Spinning J. It doesn’t hurt to add more buttermilk or butter, but it has to be cold in order to make your scone fluffy and moist on the inside. I like to keep my scones in the freezer or fridge pre-baking so the butter stays cold. My goal was to make my scones as good as Spinning J, but not to replace their service or their goods. I chose not to glaze my home made scones with extra sugar, but feel free to do so. You can use the egg whites as a glaze or slather more cold butter with granulated sugar on top. Switch up the ingredients with nuts and dried fruit. For a savory bacon and cheddar scone, cook your bacon first for some texture. The freedom of recreating your home cafe means you decide. I’m going to walk through making what has become my favorite chocolate chip (and sometimes pecans) with orange zest scones.
chocolate chip with orange zest scones
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 2 teaspoons orange zest 2 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter 1 large egg yolk 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold buttermilk 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
*optional: use fine sugar dust + egg white for brushing on top of scone
Replacement ingredients if you don’t have buttermilk: 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold plain yogurt (or milk) 1 teaspoon of white vinegar
Place rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. I keep scones in the refrigerator once you mix the batter and are waiting to bake. The longer the butter stays cold, the better.
In a mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, orange zest, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Most blogs suggest using your fingers to rub the butter and dry ingredients together, I use a danish whisk because it’s a cool wand in my kitchen. In another bowl, combine egg yolk and buttermilk and beat lightly with a fork. Add to flour mixture all at once, stirring enough to make a soft dough. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Turn out onto a floured board and knead about 15 times. Roll or pat out into a 1-inch thickness. Cut into 4 large or 6 small squares or triangles. Place on prepared baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees F for 12-15 minutes. These are best when serve immediately with butter, but I just have a fresh cup of coffee with mine.
Back in my first year of college, I participated in videos and live performance acts directed by grad students and/or professors. An MFA piece I was a part of involved eating white colored foods in a white-walled gallery space. I initially picked rice, but then switched to cauliflower because I don’t like eating more than a fistful of rice per meal. I love rice, and all types of rice, but my idea of a well-plated dish does not consist of a huge plain platter of white rice. The quality is more important to me than the quantity.
Cauliflower has become very popular due to its low-carb, healthy, and paleo/gluten-free qualities. It is also true that roasting a cauliflower is much tastier than boiling or steaming it. Cauliflower rice, cauliflower pizza dough, roast cauliflower, cauliflower mac & cheese, cauliflower steaks, cauliflower tots –the list goes on. You’ll see a variety of cauliflower recipes from me, and I hope that you enjoy eating this vegetable more, too. Here’s a quick tasty cauliflower side dish that is featured in the same plate as my recent post Harissa Spiced Shrimp.
Ingredients 7 oz Cauliflower 3 ½ oz Red bell pepper* ¼ cup Chermoula sauce (parsley, cilantro, garlic, water, ground cumin, ground coriander, crushed red pepper flakes, sweet paprika, smoked paprika, olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar [grape must, wine vinegar], sea salt)
Tools baking sheet large mixing bowl measuring spoons oven mitt cooking oil salt & pepper
Prep Veggies Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut cauliflower into bite-size pieces, if needed. Large dice red bell pepper into about ¾-inch pieces.
Roasting Time 1. Place cauliflower and bell pepper in a large bowl. Drizzle with about 1 ½ tablespoons cooking oil. Season with about ¼ teaspoon salt and a pinch of pepper. Stir to evenly coat.
2. Spread cauliflower and bell pepper out in an even layer on a lightly oiled foil-lined baking sheet. Roast 18-20 minutes, or until cauliflower is fork tender, stirring halfway through.
3. Return cauliflower and bell pepper to bowl used for seasoning. Drizzle with chermoula sauce to taste. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir to evenly coat.
It’s World Penguin Day today, so I picked a crustacean recipe to share with you, but also because this comes as a request from my mama. I like this quick and easy harissa-spiced shrimp to go with a previous post (Crunchy Carrot & Cabbage Slaw). Shrimp is delicious only if you pick ones that have good flavor, firm texture, usually grayish white in color. If you can afford it, pick Gulf White instead of Gulf Brown shrimps. Brown shrimps (especially large ones) have a lot of iodine, a naturally occurring mineral. Shrimp should smell of saltwater only and should not have black spots or melanosis on their shell. Brown also means shrimps with yellow shells or those that feel gritty which may indicate a bleaching agent was added to remove melanosis. More about types of shrimps most commonly found in your market and what to pick here.
Oddly, it’s preferable to buy shrimp frozen because the shelf life of thawed shrimp is only a couple of days. Frozen shrimp retains their quality for several weeks! I always pick peeled and deveined shrimp because I’m lazy, but it’s better to do that yourself after you’ve thawed your frozen shrimps. My father always peeled my shrimp for me, opened crabs and lobsters so I’m a bit spoiled. Don’t be like me.
Ingredients 10 oz Shrimp ground black or white pepper and sea salt 1 tsp Harissa seasoning (paprika, caraway, crushed red chili pepper, cayenne, coriander, cumin, garlic, peppermint, sea salt)
Tools medium sauté pan medum mixing bowl
Season Shrimp
Rinse shrimp. Pat dry with a paper towel.* Place in a second medium bowl. Season with harissa seasoning, salt, and pepper. Drizzle with about 1 tablespoon cooking oil. Stir to evenly coat.
* Did You Know? Patting the shrimp dry results in a more even distribution of the seasonings, as well as a better sear.
Cook Shrimp
Heat about 1 ½ tablespoons cooking oil in a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add shrimp to hot pan. Sear 3-5 minutes, or until shrimp are fully cooked, stirring occasionally.* Remove from heat.
* Take Note: Shrimp are fully cooked when they’re pearly and opaque in the center.
Japanese coleslaw is my favorite. I’ve noticed that every household prepares this dish with a slightly different flavor, and I have yet to be bored with it. It suggest Japanese mayonnaise, but if you don’t have that or don’t want it add a dressing that suits you. This is a different slaw from my previous post, and I added carrots because I love having more color in my salad. You can google crunchy slaw recipes like I did and get ideas so that you can make your own custom slaw. I’ve seen this dish with toasted sesame seeds, scallions, miso-ginger dressing instead of mayonnaise, cashews, and other exciting variations. This recipe is so simple yet beautiful. I have a feeling that you will see lots of happy faces to this quick side kick treat.
Ingredients:
2 handfuls of shredded green cabbage (mix it up) 2 handfuls of shredded purple/red cabbage (it looks purple to me) 1 medium carrot peeled and cut into 1/4 inch matchsticks (2-3 inch long) 4 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
flaky sea salt, to taste white pepper, to taste red pepper flakes, for spicy lovers sesame seeds, for garnish
This is a side dish that I could easily eat as a meal. Add a protein and fill your plate up, anything goes with all recipes shared here. I normally don’t like dried fruit in my slaw, but dried currants are less sweet than others and taste like little surprise nibs when eating your veggies. I love a good crunchy salad. There’s something incredibly satisfying about each bite when your salad reminds you of potato chips!
Lemon-cumin dressing (lemon juice, ground cumin, olive oil, parsley, stone-ground mustard [grain vinegar, water, mustard seed, salt, spices]): mixed together based on taste
Tools: Salt & pepper Medium mixing bowl Salad mixing utensil
1. Place cabbage and carrots, scallion, and pepitas in a medium bowl 2. Make Lemon-cumin dressing and add to bowl to taste 3. Salt and pepper to taste 4. Toss to combine 5. Sprinkle dried currants over slaw
a simple gratin: carrots, mushrooms, broccoli, red potatoes, red bell peppers, and cheeses
There are many ways to cook gratin because every family has a different cupboard and we all have different taste buds, too. Naoko Takei Moore (a.k.a. @mrsdonabe on instagram) has amazing examples of using shrimp or crab in her dish. Feel free to check those out, too. I love to cook and learned most of my skills from my father growing up. He is no longer with me in this world, but this is how I stay connected to him. He travelled a lot and was so creative in that he could replicate dishes just by taste and memory. He was an accountant and embraced logic, science, chemistry, numbers, facts, and first hand experience. There was no internet back then and books were always outdated or recipes always needed to be adjusted the old fashioned trial-and-error way. I confess, I have books, I follow numerous blogs, and will follow exact recipes the first time I cook most dishes. However, I always allow myself room to change, adjust, and most importantly taste as I cook. Cooking is a creative process and the type of work that is calming to me because of the feeling I get when I share with loved ones a unique experience, made with care, compassion –kindness.
Ingredients: 4 ½ oz yellow/red potato whatever you have 6 oz Broccoli * feel free to use carrots, mushrooms, onions, bell pepper, pasta 1 oz Cream cheese ¼ cup Breadcrumbs (Japanese or Italian Panko) 1 oz Parmesan cheese * feel free to use other cheeses or try meats that sound good in a gratin
Tools: medium oven-safe sauté pan small bowl measuring cup & spoons cooking oil salt & pepper
Prep Veggies: • Preheat oven to 425 (F) degrees • Thinly slice broccoli lengthwise. • Peel potato, if desired (I don’t, just clean off any dirt). Quarter lengthwise. Lay flat and slice across into about ¼-inch thick quarter moons.
Make Topping:
1. Place breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese in a small bowl. 2. Drizzle with about 1 tablespoon cooking oil. Stir to combine.
Start Gratin: • Heat about 1 ½ tablespoons cooking oil in a medium oven-safe sauté pan over medium heat. • Add potato to hot pan. Season with about ½ teaspoon salt and about ¼ teaspoon pepper. • Stir. Cook about 5 minutes, or until potato begins to soften, stirring occasionally. • Add broccoli and ½ cup water. Stir. Bring to a boil. Add cream cheese. Stir until melted. • Remove from heat.
Finish Gratin: • Sprinkle breadcrumb and Parmesan topping over pan with veggies. Transfer pan to oven. • Bake 10-12 minutes, or until sauce has reduced and potato is tender.*
*Careful! The pan handle will remain hot after the pan is removed from the oven. Slide a silicone pan handle cover (or a pot holder) over the handle to protect your hands.
Everyday I often forget, but always remember that there is still kindness and goodness in this world. That we can help each other with a little positive perspective to the many struggles we face. I’m thankful each day for the ability to stay healthy and keep in communication with people online, on Teams, Zoom, Google Hangouts, Blue Jeans, Face Time, and at home with my family. I miss humans, but also don’t want to take life for granted and care about our future on this planet.
ALL NIGHT DRIVE #3: CALUMET SILKSCREEN, 23″ X 19″, 2010 by Ethan D’ercole
……………….. and then I remember that today is not even Monday.
It’s been 4 weeks of working-from-home during a pandemic. Mondays through Fridays, it’s all the same day now. I went from consciously trying to disconnect from social media, the internet, or any digital device to scheduling in-person face-time with my friends and family. I’m a web developer and I’m expected to look at a lighted screen when I’m working. I am very lucky to be where I am. I have been able to safely work-from-home since March 12th, 2020. Most of my friends including partner have lost pay or “temporarily” lost their job during the shelter-in-place orders. As we know, in America, if you lose your job, you also lose your health insurance.
hello world
It’s a very existential time. Practicing social distancing feels unnatural, but necessary. I miss the gym so much, and feel guilty for all the times I went in with feelings of resentment. And now, I only seem to remember all the times I came out of the gym feeling good about going. I really miss table tennis or watching sports, too. I think about all the small businesses I haven’t seen the past month, the long list of Go Fund Me pages, the sudden realization that most of these places or people will not exist in the same way I remember them, and I do forget that I am not alone. When I was a kid, learning the basics of social etiquette, I loved saying hello, but never understood why anyone would ever need to say goodbye. It seemed like the rudest practice and I would often replace it with “no goodbyes, I’ll see you Monday!” regardless of whether I would see them again. I don’t know why I’m writing this in my blog. I think I just feel the need to write to an audience, and remind you that I care even if we’ve never met. I care about humanity, self-care, self-training, self-isolation, but I don’t think of myself as one. I want you to know that we all are changing, we are far apart, we are different people, but we are not alone.
