The Oven Fairy Came!!

(Before = Evil, old, tempermental, fire-spitting oven)
(After = New, eager to please version)

To the naked eye, these two ovens look very similar. But my neighbors and I can now rest assured that I will not 1) blow them up or 2) asphyxiate them when I turn it on. Thank you, Mr. Landlord, for the replacement!

Rice Crispy Treats - The Lazy (Wo)man's Treat

Because I have no oven (my new one gets delivered today!!)
Because it was 90 degrees in my apartment yesterday
Because it I was craving something crunchy
Because I was feeling lethargic (I blame it on the heat)

I made rice crispy treats. This has to be the easiest recipe ever. No fuss, no hassle, no mountain of ingredients. It’ll take you back to feeling like a kid again. I have to admit – I got a little giddy hearing the snap, crackle, pop!

Ingredients:
6 cups of crisp rice cereal (Kellogg’s Rice Krispies cereal preferred)
4 cups mini marshmallows
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Spray a 9 x 13” pan with cooking spray and set in aside. Measure out your cereal and set that aside as well. In a large saucepan, melt the butter. Once it is melted, add in the marshmallows and stir until they are completely melted as well. Add in the vanilla and stir again.

Add the cereal directly into the pan and (WORKING VERY QUICKLY!) stir until well combined. Remove the pan from heat and pour the sticky, gooey goodness into the prepared pan. Pat down the cereal mixture to evenly distribute it in the pan. Allow the treats to cool for an hour (or two, if your apartment is as hot as mine). Cut them into squares and gobble. If you want to save them for later, either cover the pan in plastic wrap or individually wrap each pre-cut square in plastic wrap.

Blueberry Scones for Father’s Day

So what is the logical thing to do on a humid 80 degree morning? Crank up the oven to 400 degrees, DUH! I was down in Decatur, Illinois for Father’s Day weekend and finally had access to an oven! Never mind that it was so hot that weekend, I was in the mood to bake, darn it! I whipped up a batch of scones for Father’s Day breakfast because frankly, that’s the only recipe I have memorized and after rummaging around in my mother’s kitchen cabinets and fridge, I already had most of the ingredients.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cold
1 cup blueberries
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large egg

Glaze Ingredients

1 cup powdered sugar
juice from one large lemon
zest from one large lemon

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together all your dry ingredients. Using a pastry blender or a knife, cut the cold butter into the dry ingredients. Take care not to fling flour all over your mother’s kitchen. I’m guilty as charged. Anyway, continue to cut in the butter until the mixture starts to resemble coarse crumbs. Mix in your blueberries.

In a separate bowl, stir together the sour cream and egg until creamy. Stir in the sour cream/egg mixture into your butter/flour mixture using a fork (and then your hands to finish the job).

Flour a large cutting board and dust it with flour. Pat the ball of dough into a disk on this floured work surface. You’ll want it to be about ¾ to 1 inch high and about 10 to 11 inches in diameter.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Using a pizza cutter, make 8 wedges of equal size, and place the wedges on the cookie sheets a few inches apart. Bake for about 15 tp 20 minutes or until the tops become golden brown.

Allow the scones to cool and then start your glaze.

Whisk together the powdered sugar and the lemon juice and zest. It’s always handy to keep extra powdered sugar and another orange on hand. If the glaze is too runny, add more powdered sugar. If it is too thick, add more juice.

Now, drizzle the glaze over the scones and sprinkle on additional zest, if desired.
my pops!



Devoured! I'd say they were a hit!

The Cupcake Counter

Update: I still do not have a functioning oven. This is putting a damper on my blog! In the meantime I’m taking the opportunity to try out some bakeries around Chicago. New to the list: the Cupcake Counter on West Madison Street in downtown Chicago. The Cupcake Counter is quite literally that: a counter. The tiny bakery is tucked in next to a parking garage and the La Quinta Inn hotel. Normally I’d walk right by it because it’s pretty unassuming from the outside. But not today – I was on a mission!

I would have normally made a birthday treat for my friend, Suzi whose birthday is on the 26th. But without an oven, it was impossible this year. I needed a cupcake bakery downtown that was close enough to Union Station in order for me pick up a few on my lunch break and hop a train out to meet her for dinner. The Cupcake Counter is convenient in that it’s only a couple of blocks away from my office. However, I was a little disappointed in the selection. The basics were available (chocolate, yellow, carrot and red velvet) with a few flavor-of-the-day choices. No frills like fillings or fancy icings were available, but the choices they did have looked sufficient considering the pinch I was in. If given the choice between a basic cupcake and no cupcake – basic cupcakes win every time!

Mojo Spa

I’m unable to bake this week since I can’t turn on my fireball-shooting oven for fear of singeing off my eyebrows, so I’ve been forced to entertain myself in other ways. And by other ways I mean shopping. I haven’t previously promoted shops and bakeries in the Chicago area even though there are some fantastic ones. I figure it’s about time. No, today’s shopping had nothing to do with William Sonoma or Molly’s Cupcakes - yet it is oddly relevant to this blog.

My friend Terri introduced me to Mojo Spa in Wicker Park a few years ago, and I’ve been hooked ever since. I’m 100% certain they make the best skin products in Chicago, and they give darn good manicures and pedicures. So how do skin products and mani-pedi’s relate to this blog? Good question. The owner of Mojo Spa was a personal chef turned beauty product extraordinaire. Now she concocts tons of bath and beauty products inspired by sweet treats. How can you not like body “meringues” that smell like cake or soaps in the shape of candy bars? My personal favorite is their line of body scrubs. There is something about them – I think she somehow made scrubbing crystals that dissolves into lotion in warm water. It’s genius! I’ve never found a product that works so well or smells so good!

I wish I could buy stock in Mojo Spa. It would be a solid investment if only they sold it! I’ve purchase many projects from them over the years - everything from night cream, makeup, and cuticle creams to scrubs and body lotions. I’ve even gone so far as to suggest throwing my best friend’s bachelorette party there. (Her sister did an amazing job with the cake-see below!!!) You can rent-out Mojo Spa for manicures and pedicures and bring in your own food, booze and music. There is even a little place to open presents. If you ever find yourself in Wicker Park, I strongly urge you to stop by. Otherwise, check out their website – you won’t be disappointed!



Kodi and the bride-to-be, Suzi, checking out the products
the whole gang!

Blackberry Cobbler and the Fireball

As much as I like to bake, I overlooked the age of my kitchen appliances when I found my otherwise perfect apartment. For the past month my pilot light and I have been fighting. I was trying to bake a pizza a few weeks ago and the pilot light decided to go out. Normally it would be no big deal, but when they made this model back in the 1950’s apparently they thought it was a good idea to put the pilot light at the back of oven so you have to stick your entire arm over the broiler to relight it. Pilot light: 1, Natalie: 0.

You would think this small victory would have been enough for my spiteful oven. Oh no. You’d be mistaken. Yesterday I was preheating my oven for this recipe and smelled no gas (which was a good sign!) until I heard it ignite fully and saw a fireball shoot out the broiler door. Needless to say - Off went the oven. I had to pack up all the ingredients and cart them over to my boyfriend’s to make the cobbler. Good thing there are very few ingredients in this recipe, so it wasn’t as big of a pain in the rear as it could have been. Pilot light: 2, Natalie: 0

It’s time to call in reinforcements…repairman has been scheduled! Take that!

Blackberry Cobbler

(from The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl cookbook)

1 cup self-rising flour
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 cup milk (I used skim)
1-1/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons white sugar
2 cups blackberries (you could also use raspberries or peaches)

Preheat the oven at 350 (taking care not to create fireballs). Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray and set it aside.

Whisk together the cup of flour, 1 cup of sugar, and the milk. Melt your butter and whisk that in as well.

Rinse the fruit you are using and pat it dry.

Pour the batter into the prepared casserole dish and sprinkle the fruit evenly over the top. Sprinkle ¼ cup of the sugar over the fruit/batter.

Bake the cobbler for 1 hour. When 50 minutes have passed, sprinkle the additional 2 tablespoons of sugar over the top and return it to the oven for the last 10 minutes.

Serve it immediately with vanilla ice cream.

Strawberry Shortcake

Ripe strawberries - does it get any better? I think not, especially when you get to eat them right off the vine. The fresh taste is nothing compared to the store-bought strawberries I’m used to. Chicago’s produce is lacking – even the half-way decent looking berries at Jewel or Dominick’s lack flavor and only last a day or two before molding. I miss the berries of my youth! As a kid, my parents, sister and I would go strawberry picking. When you are 12 you don’t notice the back-breaking labor associated with scavengering for the juiciest berries. But man, it’s work! We’d stay out for hours and cart home bushels of them. Looking back, I have no idea how we managed to consume all of them.

Last weekend I had the chance to get the freshest berries I’ve seen in a long time. My boyfriend’s parents have a patch in their backyard, and it just so happened that some were ripe and ready to pick while we were there (thanks to his dad who was willing to go out in the pouring rain to pick them!!!) Heading back to Chicago with homegrown strawberries meant one thing to me: strawberry shortcake…

Shortcake:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons separated
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, very cold
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large egg

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set them aside.

Measure the dry ingredients into a large bowl (excluding the 2 extra tablespoons of sugar). Using a pastry blender, cut the stick of very cold butter into the dry ingredients until small crumbs form. Next, whisk the egg and sour cream together in a small bowl. Once combined, add this wet mixture to the dry ingredients and combine it thoroughly with a spoon. You may need to use your hands to get the mixture to form a rough ball of dough.

Lightly flour a flat work surface (I use a large cutting board). Using your fingertips spread the dough out until it is approximately ¾” think. Using a biscuit cutter or a drinking glass, cut the dough into uniform circles and place them on the parchment lined sheets. If you are using a drinking glass, it’s helpful to flour the rim of the cup to keep the dough from sticking to the glass.

Sprinkle each biscuit with sugar before baking. Pop them in the oven for about 8-10 minutes or until they are golden brown on top. Allow them to cool on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, prepare your berries:

Berries ‘n Syrup

1 pint strawberries
2 tablespoons white sugar

Slice your berries (my berries were small so I left them whole) and place in a medium bowl. Sprinkle the sugar over the berries and mix until well incorporated. If you like your berries sweeter or with more syrup, add an additional tablespoon of sugar. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the berries to sit for a few minutes. The longer the berries sit, the more the sugar draws out the juices and the more syrup you’ll have.

To assemble:
Place a shortcake on a plate and top with the berry syrup, whipped cream, and another shortcake. (I never claimed this was rocket science). Enjoy!

The Women's Bean Project - Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

Sorry for the shortage of postings lately! I just got back from a long weekend in Denver with my family for my cousin’s graduation and Memorial Day weekend. I’m a “burn it at both ends” kinda gal and routinely end up sleep-deprived and caffine dependent. A weekend at my aunt’s secluded cabin in the mountains was just what the doctor ordered! I had a chance to catch up on my beauty sleep (and believe me, I needed it), take long hikes, and play endless board games.

Denver is one of my favorite cities, and I’m reminded every time I visit of why I love it so much. Close to nature and the mountains, friendly people, tons to do - ahhhh – I could stay there forever! But alas, Chicago calls! But before catching my flight back, we went to the Old South Gaylord Memorial Day festival. While paroosing the local fare, we came upon a booth for the Women’s Bean Project. A few years ago, my aunt introduced me to one of her favorite shops in Denver, 10,000 Villages, which carries products made by the Women’s Bean Project. The Women’s Bean Project is a non-profit organization helping to transform the lives of at-risk women in the Denver area. This organization enables women to break the cycle of poverty by providing the skills and employment opportunities. The women participating in this program hand-assemble dry mixes for soups, dips, salsas, cookies and brownies, marinades and spice rubs. They now even carry their own coffees and instant teas. These products are for sale in some retail locations in the Denver area or can be purchased online. Each package is labeled with the name of the women who put together the mix. I love the personal touch!

Whenever I am in Denver, I try to bring back some of their hand-packaged gourmet mixes. I was so happy I stumbled upon their booth and could snag their oatmeal chocolate chip cookie mix before departing! I highly recommend you order from them online! The prices are really reasonable (from $3.50 tea mixes to $5.50 for soup mixes to $9.95 for 12 oz. bags of coffee). They make great gifts for housewarming presents, stocking stuffers, and showers! Did I mention they’re delicious? Well, they are!