half a peck

Can you believe that it is already November 7th?  Most of the leaves have been blown down from the trees and they are littering the sidewalks.  My favorite market has moved a little farther north to its indoor/winter location and Thanksgiving seems to be just around the corner.  One of the best things about this time of year is the plethora of apples.  I can’t seem to go to the grocery store or the farmers market or a friend filled trip to the pumpkin patch without coming home with a armful of apples.

packed full

Can I let you in on a little secret?  My current kitchen obsession doesn’t revolve around my KitchenAid, or my growing collection from The Spice House, or gearing up for the Holiday cooking season.  My obsession lies with my freezer.

a halloween twist

I have been wanting to have a party. I thought about celebrating Lucy’s birthday (but some might think its weird to throw a party for a cat) or the fact that we all passed the Bar (but what if someone didn’t and I just didn’t know about it) but when I realized that Halloween was rollin’ around with no plans, I jumped on the opportunity to have a party. I have spent the past two days planning out an appetizer menu of sorts, shopping and starting the process of cooking everything but as soon as I saw these TKOs over at The Kitchn, I knew something that had to be on the list.

cranberry coffee cake

Saturday marks the last day that Green City is outdoors (and right outside my apartment).  Luckily the market continues on throughout the winter, but it moves 8 blocks north which requires a chilly walk, bus or bike ride to attend.  Although I have been enjoying the colors of fall and the thoughts of the upcoming holiday season, I will admit that it is going to be sad to no longer have the late summer produce explosion of the market to be inspired by.  I did prepare a little bit by stuffing my freezer full of pitted sour cherries and sweet corn cut from the cob that will surely brighten a mid-winter day.  Last week I was excited to see a new fall arrival to the markets: cranberries.

little bites

Even though it is not even Halloween it seems like the Holiday season is fast approaching. Holiday decorations are filling the stores and Crate & Barrel has sent out its yearly holiday catalog. Even though I will admit that it is a tad early, it also makes me excited. For the first time in my life the holidays will be simply a time to celebrate and not intermixed with finals and papers. Even though I know that the holidays will stress me out because I will not have the funds to really shop for my friends and family, I will have to make up for it in the kitchen.

Windy City Blogger Wednesday: The Kitchen Sink

Originally published at Gapers Block: Drive Thru.

This week I would like to introduce you to one of the first food blogs that I really fell in love with (and we are lucky enough that Kristin lives in Chicago): Kristin of The Kitchen Sink!

What brought you to Chicago?
I went to college at Northwestern, where I fell in love with both Evanston and Chicago—not to mention my husband, whose family lives here, too. We spent a couple years in Washington, DC after college, but we’ve been back for about five years.

What do you do when you aren’t blogging?
Well, I’m a lawyer by day. Beyond that, I love wandering, in this city and other cities and in the wilderness, too. My family is in Minnesota and I try to get up there as much as I can. Beyond that, I’m usually cooking or eating or scouring the markets (farmers’ and otherwise) for food. So, I suppose I’m never that far from the stuff that ends up on the blog.

Flickr Friday

I’ve enjoyed seeing Flickr Friday posts on other blogs.  And what can I say?  I love fall.

1. Untitled, 2. acorns, 3. oh, fall., 4. fallen, 5. Untitled, 6. Untitled, 7. Untitled, 8. Untitled, 9. Untitled, 10. Yellow Bike, 11. Three Leaves, 12. Yellow

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys

pb+j

This past weekend, I celebrated a good friend’s 25th Birthday.  Now that we have graduated and passed the Bar, I don’t see my law school friends nearly enough and I know it will only get worse once we all finally find jobs and begin our careers.  I knew that I wanted to bake something for Susan and that I didn’t want to make a cake because I learned that it can be a tad difficult to serve up over beers at a bar.

When I turned 25, I remember thinking that I really should now think of myself as an “adult” and I desperately wanted to hang onto my youth.  Since Susan was also approaching this quarter-century milestone, I wanted to bake her something youthful and a little bit whimsical.  And then I remembered just the cookies: peanut butter and jelly thumbprints invented by my good friend Andrea at Bella Eats.  

wordless wednesday: fall in Old Town

I took a walk in my neighborhood.

cheese + crunch

When I first moved to Chicago, I created my gmail account under “Whitney in Chicago” because it was just felt like such a change for a Texan like me moving up to the cold Midwest.  It was only logical that I would name my blog the same thing.  Although I will forever remain a Texan at heart (Texas Pride is indoctrinated early on in elementary education-Yellow Rose anyone?), I have enjoyed making Chicago my new home.  However, this means that I must make my own Tex-Mex favorites at home (and fill suitcases to the weight maximum with good salsa).  Tortilla Soup might not be strictly “Tex-Mex” per se, but it was always one of my favorite things to order at Pappasitos when I wanted a light lunch and I can’t remember the last time that I had a satisfying bowl.