sour cherry jam with balsamic

Summers are just different in the midwest. After a long winter, a short spring, summer is a welcome change. The markets are finally filled with something other than potatoes and storage apples. Sure I get excited for asparagus and peas but one of the truly special market arrivals are sour cherries. i have spent the past two saturdays spending a lazy afternoon of watching the Women’s World Cup (YAY USA!!!) while pitting a few quarts of sour cherries. Some of last week’s haul went into a delicious pie and I have a few bags tucked away in the freezer to save for a chilly fall or winter day but I was really the most excited by this sour cherry jam.

creamy roasted jalapeño salsa

It is pretty hard to grow up in Texas and not have a thing for salsa. The quality of the salsa can make or break a Mexican dining experience. If I sit down at a Mexican place and the salsa is lackluster it is rather difficult to look forward to the rest of the meal. However, really good chips and salsa can almost ruin the rest of my meal, because I just can’t stop eating the scoops of salsa and I spoil my appetite for the rest of my dinner.

a happy 4th

Even though it is only July 3rd, it is already a pretty awesome 4th of July weekend. A long weekend out of the office. It actually has warmed up and feels like summer here in Chicago. The Crosstown Classic. A game of bocce in the park. BBQs at friend’s apartment while watching with suburban firework shows in the distance to the west from balconies. Summer is really a great time in Chicago. If I can suggest one thing, make a batch of these paletas tonight, so they are ready for the 4th tomorrow. You could probably even tweak the recipe a tad and make some boozy sugared blueberries and strawberries for a festive look. The sour cream base just screams to be tinkered with.

growing home csa week 2

Even though it is only the second week, I’m already so happy that we joined a CSA this summer. It is pretty nice to drop by Green City and just buy some strawberries and cherries and know that I’m already set for most of my veggies. This week we received a few repeats in our CSA share from the week before including asparagus, kale, lettuce, bok choy, japanese turnip, dill and spinach. But we also got carrots, broccoli, garlic scapes, and cilantro. I decided to make a big pot of veggie soup, loosely inspired by this recipe, to pack for lunches for the week. Since the summer solstice is tomorrow, celebrate now with this “spring” soup.

Last Day of Spring Soup
Recipe loosely based on Spring Minestrone Soup

I used what I had on hand but this is really adaptable. Let me know if you try another mix of veggies!

1 onion, diced [I regretted not grabbing a bunch of spring onions to use]
2 large or 3-4 carrots, diced
1 russet potato, diced into spoon sized pieces
1 quart of chicken or veggie broth [I used chicken since I have 6 quarts to use up before next month's move]
5-6 stalks of asparagus, diced
1/2 a large bok choy, stalks diced, leaves cut into ribbons
quick pesto (just food process a handful of basil leaves with a clove of garlic and some olive oil)

Saute onion in some olive oil in a dutch oven or other large pot until softened. Add carrot, bok choy stalks and potatoes and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Salt and Pepper to taste. I threw in a little ground chipotle pepper at this point to give it a little depth. Add the quart of chicken broth and a quart of water to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5-7 minutes, until potato chunks are fork tender. Add asparagus and bok choy leaves. Simmer for a few more minutes. Taste, adjust seasonings as necessary.

cacio e pepe {and my honeymoon in Italy}

A month ago I became a Schmidt.  I’ve only legally changed my name with the social security office because there just hasn’t been time for all the other places (DMV, banks, credit cards, ARDC, etc).  I still haven’t totally mastered my new signature.  And just this Wednesday, I signed my old WM initials while signing a lease for a new! bigger! apartment {we move at the end of July and I can’t wait to share our new home with you!}.  But in the past month, I’ve mastered Cacio e Pepe.

growing home csa week 1

This summer I joined a CSA (community supported agriculture) through Growing Home. My best friend Betsy recommended their CSA not just for their delicious organic produce all summer long but also for their social mission of providing job training to those who might have difficulty finding traditional employment. I thought it would be fun to try to let you see what I get every week and one dish I created from the produce box. Dave and I are splitting our box with Betsy This week we got asparagus, kale, green garlic, lettuce, bok choy, japanese turnip, radish, spinach, mustard greens, dill and oregano. I decided to cook up the kale and bokchoy with the green garlic and eat it over rice with a fried egg on top. It was a good decision. I’ve also enjoyed a few salads with the lettuce and spinach with sliced radishes and the japanese turnip (mildest and sweetest of turnips, best eaten raw) and some carrots I picked up from another vendor at the market. Looking forward to the summer season of produce and experimenting in my kitchen!

CSA Greens & Garlic over Rice with Egg

3 stalks of green garlic; sliced then roughly minced
1-2 heads of garlic, diced
1/2 head of bokchoy stalks sliced into 1/2 inch pieces, greens roughly chopped
1/2 bunch of kale, stems removed*, roughly chopped
olive oil
soy sauce, I used low-sodium
kosher salt
fresh cracked pepper
cooked white or brown rice
1 egg, preferably also from the market or at least an organic, cage-free source
Sriracha, or your favorite hot sauce

Saute the green garlic in a good glug of olive oil for a few minutes until fragrant. Add the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes, just don’t burn it. Add the bokchoy and kale with a splash of water. Cover and allow to cook down, approx 5 minutes. Once the greens feel tender, throw on a good glug of soy sauce and season with salt and pepper.

Heat a separate pan with cooking spray and fry an egg sunny-side up.

Put rice in a bowl and top with the greens, then slide on the fried egg. Squirt on some srircha for good measure.

spouseless eating

Today I caught up on a handful of Spilled Milk podcasts at work and listened to a perfectly timed topic: spouseless eating. Tonight my husband (and it feels weird to finally call Dave that) had his book club meeting (yes, our group of guy friends was jealous of our girls’ book club and started their own) so I was on on my own for dinner. Spouseless eating usually means to me epic amounts of braised kale and spaghetti (or a trip to McDs if you are Dave) but since it is springtime at the market it is time for epic amounts of asparagus. I picked up two bunches yesterday at the market with plans to make this salad but I’ve been flipping through this book the last few nights and remember a recipe that featured asparagus. And it was especially perfect for a dave-less night because it called for anchovies.

rhubarb streusel muffins

I’m still trying to sort through the 700 pictures that we took in Italy and figure out where to store all the lovely new things we received in our now quite full 1 bedroom apartment but the easiest way for me to feel grounded and back at home is to bake.

mrs. schmidt

I will be back to tell you all about it (and our honeymoon in Italy; Rome! Cinque Terra!) soon.

Pimm’s Cup

Today has been a good day. After weeks of unemployment, endless wedding crafting, days and days of rain in Chicago, days and days of hot and dry and wildfires in my home state of Texas, massive tornados and many other terrible things in the world, I woke up to sunny skies and just in time to see the Royal Kiss.

I wasn’t one to be obsessed about William and Kate’s wedding. Sure I was excited to see her dress but I didn’t expect to enjoy the coverage so much. It was wonderful to see something happy and positive on the world stage than the constant doom and gloom of late.