Chicago, according to Instagram, iPhoto, and KitCam.

What a fantastic day. We couldn't have asked for better weather or a better day off in one of our favorite cities. I'll let our photos tell the story. 

There's something about Chicago that's so moving, loud, and alive. I really like Shorewood and am happy to be living where we are, but being surrounded by the activity and the pace of a busier city is something that we both found we were missing. That just means we'll have to be out and about a lot when we're home in Minneapolis in a few weeks...let the countdown begin!

MN Mondays: Spring break at home.

Get ready for a photo overload - here's the recap of our lovely not-so-spring-like spring break in MN (seriously - I had to shovel our driveway. Go away, snow.)! 

We left at 5:00 in the morning on Thursday - we were so anxious and excited to get back home! Medyk eagerly greeted us on our arrival and quickly jumped into the lap of his best friend. 

As always, a lot of our family gatherings centered around food. We were able to get reservations at one of the newest restaurants in town, Smack Shack, and enjoyed a night of seafood with our families. We almost had everyone together in one place that night, which is a rare and wonderful treat. 

Last year for St. Patrick's Day, it was 70 degrees and sunny. Even though the weather was not at all like that this year, we still managed to have a fantastic day spent (partially) outside: we celebrated Butcher & The Boar's 1st birthday! Andrew even won some of their meat to take back with us to MKE! I had attempted to document this momentous occasion, but the photos didn't turn out...too much Irish music (and beer and smoked sausage...). If you look carefully at B&B's photos from that Sunday, though, you can see me and my sister in the corner of one of them. We're famous now!

Minneapolis is such an amazing city (not biased at all, am I), and it's making an even bigger name for itself thanks to its food and restaurants...but really, it's the best because that's where all our favorite people (and dogs) are. Being able to eat, drink, and catch up with friends and family is, in my opinion, an absolute perfect way to spend a week, even if the weather doesn't cooperate. Going out, staying in, hot, cold, doesn't matter. To us, the week was all about being with those who we care for most.

We can't wait to be back. 

MN Mondays: Spring at home + Superbowl food.

As I was cleaning up some of the files on my laptop I stumbled across this gem. This picture is from the tiny lake (like really tiny...maybe it's more like a big pond?) of Kordiak park by our house at home. I've gone on so many walks there, we've hosted parties there, and I'm really wishing I was there right now! It's such a small little park, but just big enough for Medyk to run around through and not get too tired. Can't tell I'm craving sunshine and warm weather (and home) at all, can you.

At least we had some fun to distract ourselves from the not-so-nice winter weather yesterday! We snacked on our homemade bar food throughout the day and watched the game at night. Andrew made awesome wings that were smoked the day before, then fried and tossed with two different barbecue sauces, a mustard one and a spicier habanero one. We also made this fantastic guacamole and fried our own tortilla chips. "Guac" is one of my favorite snacks, even though I hated it when I was little - I think it was too green for my liking or something along the same ridiculous lines.

I would've added a serrano pepper to the mix, but that's because we like our food spicy! Otherwise this was a pretty mild version, almost sweet, in a way, because of the roasted garlic. So good.

I can't believe we're into February now. I was talking with one of my friends about how neither of us really like this month because at this point winter's boring and we're needing some fresh air. Anyone else feel that way? I am excited, though, for Andrew's birthday at the end of the month. It'll be a busy three weeks leading up to it, but I know we'll celebrate well...I already have his birthday present, and I can't wait to see his reaction!! 

Have a good start to your week, everybody! 

Turkey dinner.

We loved planning the menu for Thanksgiving. I think preparing and cooking Thanksgiving dinner might be more fun and satisfying than eating it; of course, I'm perfectly happy to sit down to eat with our family after spending a full day in the kitchen! 

Our bird took a special bit of planning, and for the main course, we brought the sous vide machine along! Cooking en sous vide is cooking in a water bath at a very specific temperature that results in perfectly, evenly cooked food that's super juicy. It's actually really easy, but at first intimidated me. In the last year, it has become Andrew's specialty; he's made some incredible meals for us using sous vide recipes! 

After brining our turkey with apple cider, star anise, peppercorns, cinnamon sticks, and bay leaves, we put all the pieces in bags with sage, thyme, and duck fat, and placed them into the sous vide machine. With the water at an exact 149 degrees, the turkey was done in about two hours. But the beauty of sous vide cooking allowed everything to stay in the water bath for another three hours without overcooking (and we had the oven free!) Ahh, science! We deep fried the breasts, pan seared the thighs, and grilled the drumsticks on the grill outside, just as it was starting to snow. 

Everything tasted so good, I'm getting hungry remembering it all. Of course, we had all the traditional Thanksgiving foods to accompany our "modern" turkey: mashed potatoes, cranberries, green bean casserole, brown-butter and sage Brussels sprouts, sweet potato casserole, creamed corn, baked sweet potatoes, sausage and wild rice stuffing...and this doesn't include the appetizers and desserts! I think it's a good thing we ran that morning!

Here are some more pictures from our two-day cooking and baking extravaganza:

Are you hungry now? I'm ready to eat Thanksgiving dinner all over again! 

P.S.: if you want to find out more about sous vide cooking and recipes, check here, here, and here. 

MN Mondays: A Williams-Sonoma Thanksgiving.

Confession: nothing gets me more excited for Thanksgiving than walking into Williams-Sonoma. And with less than three weeks to go until Turkey Day, I'm just itching to make it out to W-S as many times as I can, but visiting the website is a good substitute (they have so many great recipes!). The store is filled with gorgeous cookbooks, knives, cast iron pans...it's definitely our happy place, and we get inspired to cook something new each time we're there. 

Whether it's July or the beginning of November, the mulled cider smells of that store always make me crave Thanksgiving dinner. When we were little and growing up, my mom always hosted Thanksgiving at our house. The preparation for this food-filled, family friendly holiday always included a trip (or several!) to Williams-Sonoma where we would pick up Thanksgiving essentials, including pumpkin butter, the annual Thanksgiving Guide, and a few new "kitchen toys" that we knew we just had to have to make the perfect meal. Every year she set a beautiful table and cooked her heart out, and it's no surprise that Thanksgiving dinner has become one of our favorite holidays. I'm also not surprised as to why I love hosting dinners and parties so much: I know I learned it all from her! 

Last year, Andrew and I hosted both our families at our apartment for Thanksgiving dinner. While it wasn't always the easiest to cook for nine people in our tiny kitchen, everything turned out wonderfully; we cooked all day and spent time with our favorite people, which to us, sums up a perfect day. This is a picture of our fridge last year, stuffed to the doors with everything we made from scratch, from turkey stock, to green bean casserole, to crème brûlée!

We absolutely can't wait to go home for Thanksgiving, and will be trying something spectacular for the turkey this year: SOUS VIDE! We first attempted this last year for our "Thanksgiving Round 2" that we made in March (yes, March), and Andrew, my sister, and I all agreed that this was the best turkey we've ever had. When we were home last weekend, we started discussing the details of Thanksgiving dinner, and after little to no argument, Andrew said he could be persuaded to bring along the sous vide machine so we could recreate that turkey. And of course, we'll have (THE BEST) stuffing, our homemade version of green bean casserole, and mashed potatoes: all the classics that make dinner so much fun. 

What are your favorite Thanksgiving foods - are you sticking with the tried-and-true recipes or will you be making something new, perhaps a classic with a twist? I'm getting hungry just thinking about all the possibilities! 

Happy Monday, friends! 

Happy Taco Day!

Apparently October 4th is National Taco Day. We played along, and made fish tacos for dinner, following the Sussman brothers' cookbook. Super easy, delicious, and fast! We topped them with a jalapeno coleslaw, a yogurt and lemon sauce, and tomatillo salsa, all homemade (and, coincidentally, all adapted from the Sussmans!).

Have a wonderful dinner, make some tacos!