booties.

shoes are my biggest weakness. shoes manage to let me forget all sense of self control. when i find a pair I love it's basically over. and I'll have to deal with it later.

ever since summer these booties have been my dream! the only problem is they litteraly do not exist. I have tried everyhting including emailing every distributer that at one point offered them. so far - shopbop might have them back in stock end of the month.

this pair combines both bootie and sparkle. however, they are aldo and I've never trusted them.

nordstromes has an awesome selection at the moment.

madison in the fall

fall trip to madison! I got off early last friday and took the bus up for the weekend. I totally lucked out on the way there my seat was on the second story and I literally looked out the front windshield. it felt very titanic and "I'm on top of the world"

we went out for delicious coctails and snacks friday night at madison's own james beard winning restaurant graze. everything we got was delish I can't wait to make it back and try the rest of the menu.

saturday was the perfect fall day. we started with brunch at marigold - a madison staple. then off the the market. it circles the capital and is filled with fresh veggies, flowers and tones of pumpkins! there is a lot more diversity compared to the chicago 'green city' farmers market. 

I loved these kale flowers - they give the bouquet a very different look and they are supposed to last significantly longer than most other flowers.

then it was game time with my fam! we were so happy that the badgers pulled off a win for us.

randolf street market

my first visit to randolf street market! i made it right before the end of the season and it was a beautiful day!

no purchases but a success all the same. there seemed to be a split between awesome handmade eclectic furniture and somewhat overpriced knickknacks. 

i do love ball jars but at 6$ + a pop they are just trying to fool people.

i did think the mustache glasses were pretty awesome, and only 8$-10$ a piece.. makes you want to laugh at urban outfitters. 

also, meet my friend stella (the great dane below)! i know i'm probably not supposed to love it when dogs are named stella but this dog is pretty awesome.. right?

now.. the awesome coffee tables + cow hides. too bad they are 400$ +

i have to say my one big complaint is the food.. in a city filled with awesome food trucks why not invite some of the local talent.

food bucket list...

There are sooo many things I was to atempt to make.. in order to keep track of them and my progress I am creating a food bucket list.  This will be addition one, since I am constantly coming up with things that I want to try and make.

Pizza - hand made dough and all.  My favorite kind of pizza is the super thin crust oven roasted kind, with spinach and mushrooms and tomatoes.... yum.  Though I don't have a wood oven, I will still aim for something similar. Gweneth made this one with her beautiful wood oven, I will use her recipe for dough. 

Lox... I did attempt this last week and somehow it was not right. I think its because I did not use kosher salt.  I was completely crushed, not only did I waste the fish but I was soooo excited to eat lox all week.  This, however, will not stop me.   My love for lox will push me to try this again and master the salty treat. 

Bagels.  To go perfectly well with my lox, once they are perfected.  First I will try this recipe from lottie and doof.  My mom used to pan fry a bagel for break feast.  It sounds odd, but she would slice it in half, butter it, and fry it with a heavy lid on top.  So a perfectly crunchy, butter, salty top and bottom would develop.

Yogurt. I think this is why I am destined to be obsessed with food.  When I was growing up my mom made Greek yogurt.  Greek yogurt in general is just SOOO different from the likes of Dannon that Yoplait and everything low fat just tastes fake to me.. And I know there now are better options out there (like my favorite from Trader Joe's "European Style" which is creamy and tangy and delish) BUT nothing can match the memory I have of my moms yogurt. And hands down perfectly strained it always made the best tsadziki.

Flourless chocolate cake.  This should not be too hard, a woman I used to cater with would bring this delicious, rich dark chocolate cake.  Probably the best choclate treat out there.

Learn interesting things to make with tofu.  As of now my only trick is to pan fry it with salt, peeper and olive oil and put it on a salad.  This works but, the tofu is more of an after though than the star.

This will be it for now... can't wiat to share my progress!

Gojee...

Of all the emails I receive in the morning (groupon, living social, urban daddy, daily candy, habitat.......why do I keep signing up?) hopefully I found something useful credit to them.  Gojee is a collection of food blogs, from what I believe it acts like an epicurious of blogs and blog recipes.  And considering that I have used recipes from blogs and enjoyed my experiences, I think I will give Gojee a try (and unfortunately add to the number of emails I get a day).

And I think I'll be trying this mushroom panini..

And explore more of Kate's Isn't everything  in the kitchen trial and error.

A bit of the basics..

There are many things in your kitchen that you do not need to spend a lot of money on.  However, everyone needs at least one awesome knife.  About 2 months into my stint working as a line cook I treated my self to a Global 7 inch santuku knife.  

Out of everything that I have bought completely convinced that I was making an "investment" (heals, jeans, the list goes on...) this one truly is.  It cuts beautifully and when I use it, it almost feels like and extension of my hand.  It keeps me from cutting myself and allows me to to do everything I want.

For the small lesson: How to chop an onion.  Trust me, with a good knife and a solid cutting board (one that doesn't wobble is very important) your will be a pro at this after a few attempts.  

Start with an onion fully intact, cut in half horizontally.

Remove outer, undesirable layers (this is much easier once you have halved the onion).

Make lateral cuts across the span of the onion.  Don't cut all the way through (top to bottom) leave the top end intact so that the onion holds together (this will help with the next step).

Now cut horizontally, you can vary the width to make as fine or coarse as you would like.

There you are a perfectly chopped onion.

Often one onion is too much for what I am making, if I just want some for a salad.  In which case I just put the rest in a a jar with one half red wine vinegar and the other half water.  This will leave the fresh and just pickle them a little.

Shit people steal

Eater Chicago has a great series out right now, Shit people steal, which gives restaurants and chefs the opportunity to vent about their fanatic guests stealing items from the restaurant.

Being guilty of snagging a salt shaker or shot glass to mark a special even or experience, I feel exposed and I think I will retire from the activity I considered harmless.