Hæ vinátta!

That's Icelandic for "hi friends".  Surprise!  I was in Iceland last week.

Live like a Viking!

And then I landed and had to go into 3 days of business meetings a mere 8 hours later.  So work plus exhaustion from the action-packed trip equals a neglected blog.  I've got a couple more work-related things happening this week so it will likely be this weekend before I get a new recipe posted (spoiler alert - I'm thinking pumpkin spice cake). 

To tide you over... I bring you a recap of the best meal I have ever eaten.  In my life. 

Roy and I happened on this place, the Seafood Cellar (or Sjávarkjallarinn, as the locals call it), after a recommendation from our hotel in Rekyjavik, Iceland.  The guy said it was his personal favorite and that you could order things by the plate, like a normal restaurant, or go with a multiple-course tasting menu if you felt like being adventurous and checking "best meal ever" off your bucket list. 

What can I say, we were in vaca mode and interested in trying as many Icelandic things as possible.  So we selected a five course tasting menu and then added the paired wines cause what the hell, you only live once. 

Best.

Meal.

Of my life.

(No offense Mom, your home cooked meals are easily the runners up in this battle).

It was a 4 hour experience that Roy and I will never, ever forget.  We spent our time enjoying the wine and each plate as it came to the table.  Then we discussed our faves and reranked the courses as we progressed through the evening.  And since I don't have a new recipe to post here, I'm including photos and descriptions of the dishes. 

If you've got an adventurous spirit, I HIGHLY recommend trying these things if they ever come your way.  The only thing I didn't love was the goose breast and gizzard.  But everything else, including the lamb heart, was divine. 

Taste from the chef
Marinated shrimp with a lemon, thyme and parsnip puree

Frozen monkfish, celery and barley
Very thin slices of monkfish, barley salad with feta from Eglisstadir and pickled celeriac, barley mayonnaise and herb vinaigrette with vinegar pearls. 
Wine: Montes, Sauvignon Blanc, Casablanca Valley, Chile

Cheeks of halibut, angelica and potatoes
New Icelandic potatoes and lightly salted cheeks of halibut with leek, angelica and brown butter
Wine: Blanc de Pacs, Pares Balta, Penedes, Spain

Wild Goose, red cabbage and huckleberries
Goose breast and gizzard, fried apple puree, huckleberry jam and sautéed red cabbage with juniper fused goose sauce
Wine: Monte Garbi Ripasso, Tenuta Sant’ Antonio, Veneto, Italy

Blue ling (north Atlantic fish) and mussel sauce
Slow cooked blue ling, salsify, Brussels sprouts, shrimps, small potatoes and creamy mussel sauce from our friend Simon at Breidafjordur Mussels
Wine: Adobe, Chardonnay, Casablanca Valley, Chile

Lamb from Oxnadalur and larch mushrooms
Fillet, shank and heart of lamb, potato puree, larch mushroom, kale and carrots with lingon berries and mushrooms glaze
Wine: Piccini Sasso al Poggio, Tuscany, Italy

Roy is thoughtfully pointing out the lamb heart for you

Spruce and Birch flavored ice cream

Palate cleanser

Black Currants from Skorradalur and toast
Toast parfait, black currant sorbet – and jelly, with brown sugar meringue, honey roasted muesli and crème fraiche
Wine: Morande, Late Harvest, Sauvignon Blanc, Casablanca Valley, Chile

Cheers to new things and a beautiful country!

Banana Nutella Toast

I've recently started making this banana Nutella toast concoction as an afternoon snack.  I'm actually a wee bit obsessed with it and I've started craving it for breakfast as well! 

The idea stems from the food I ate when I backpacked through Europe after college. It was a pretty standard trip... Eifel Tower, cheap wine and museums in France... beer and brats in Germany... singing on the Sound of Music tour in Austria... history and wine in Italy... and extreme sports and gorgeous mountains in Switzerland. 

Like all cheap college-grads, my travel buddy and childhood friend Liz and I got creative with meals.  We ate crepes from the street vendors in France, brats from the German version of 7-eleven (yes, I'm ashamed of that in case you're wondering), loads and loads and loads of pizza in Italy.  And a bunch of picnics in between.  Usually made up of a baguette, some sliced meat, cheese and fruit that we bought fresh each morning.

At some point in Italy, we got creative and picked up a whole loaf of bread and a bunch of bananas to go along with the jar of Nutella we'd been toting across the world.  I don't remember how it happened, but all of sudden we were spreading Nutella on bread, adding banana slices and calling it dinner (I'm pretty sure Liz was the mastermind behind the idea).  Now I make it a few times a year when I'm craving chocolate but in need of something healthier (hey, there's grains and fruit, it counts!). 

This latest version includes toasting the bread and adding in peanut butter in place of some of the Nutella.  I've also swapped out the white bread we used in Italy for some whole grain bread to make it more filling.  I use Brownberry 12 grain (Brownberry goes by Arnolds in some parts, just an FYI). 

I'm not posting a recipe because it would only insult your intelligence.  All you do is toast the bread, add a thin layer of peanut butter followed by a thin layer of Nutella and then slice up a banana and lay it over the toast. 

Make sure you pause to give your begging dog a few slices of banana as well.  It's the least you can do after accidentally exposing him to bananas which turn out to be the 4th love of his life right behind you, squirrels and bacon.  Seriously, that dog can hear me peel a banana from 3 rooms away.  

Once your four-legged friend has been appeased, go enjoy your snack!

Foster meets the Thunderbirds - Chicago Air & Water Show 2011

This past weekend was the annual Chicago Air & Water Show.  It's by far my most favorite Chicago event.  This year it was extra special since my college girlfriends Pam and Carey were in town with their husbands.  Although it's hard to tell since we all look like we're 21 in the photos below, eventually we're going to begin having kids and starting families and these weekends will be harder to make happen.  We cherish these times together and make sure no cookie goes uneaten, no beer unopened and no hilarious college tale untold.  I'll get to the food I made for their visit later, for now... here's the weekend in photos and videos. 

Everyone arrived late Thursday night and we spent Friday afternoon in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field watching the Cubbies beat the Cards. 

Several Chicago dogs were consumed and were certified to be as delicious as promised!

We woke up early Saturday morning, put on lots of sunscreen and packed up the coolers for the airshow.  Only as we loaded everything up, the sky got darker and darker and darker.  So we decided to postpone our departure and watch the storm while playing a few rounds of Catch Phrase, Scrabble, UNO, and some other video game that convinced Pam's husband, Tim, he could be an air traffic controller if his current career path didn't work out.

Once the weather cleared up, we thought we'd head down to Lake Michigan since we'd heard the show would resume on a delayed schedule.  We arrived just as all the spectators were making their "show-is-over" mass exodus.  Fantastic! 

Despite the fact that our adventure no longer included fighter jets, we stuck with our plan and set up camp on the lake with the new goal of just enjoying the afternoon. 

Pam and Tim love us so much they came out despite the fact that it was their first wedding
anniversary. Happy Anniversary guys!

We wrapped up the afternoon and headed to Lou Malnati's for some Chicago deep dish pizza.  And on Sunday everyone woke up and went their separate ways, back to the real world.  It was a great visit and I can't wait for the next one!

Predictably, Roy and I couldn't let the airshow weekend go by without actually seeing some planes.  So we downed some caffeine and made our way to the lake to have our bones rattled by howling jets and get our annual reminder of why we are privileged to be Americans living in the land of the free and the home of the brave.  (Many thanks to those who fall into the brave category, leaving their homes and families to protect our freedom).

We rolled the dice big time.  We took the dog. 

It was a bit touch and go when the first fighter jet buzzed the spectators and Foster jumped out of his skin.  But he adjusted quickly and enjoyed all the activity, especially the USAF Thunderbirds.  He was completely enamored with the planes as well as with a few jet skis playing around near the shore. 

Although I'm sad that everyone missed something that I love so much, it was still an amazing weekend.  And I'm glad Roy and I were able to find a way to squeeze in the Thunderbirds, this time through the eyes of my favorite 4 legged buddy.

PS: major photo credit to Lydia Wendte for snapping the look of awe on Foster's face and for the great family photo. It was much appreciated Lydia!

Gone Girls Weekend 'ing

I know I promised a post on Ina Garten's sole meuniere last week.  And I really meant to write it up and post it.  But then Thursday rolled around.  And I had to take off for girls weekend.  And it was amazing and wonderful and I completely forgot about the sole meuniere.  But it's coming, I promise!

To tide you over, I'm sharing a few photos from girls weekend.  Mainly of the food we ate on the 3 day weekend that took me from Harlem to Hoboken.  Lots of these are with my cell phone camera because it was ungodly hot on the east coast last weekend and carrying a big honking camera (that I still don't really know how to use) was just too much. 

I started at Dinosaur BBQ in Harlem with old friends Shannon and Clara. To quote Shannon when Clara told us where we'd be going... "I'm not leaving till my waist band snaps".   Well ok then!  Challenge accepted...

Clara, Shannon and Rachel in Boston in 2009

We chowed down on fried green tomatoes that made you forget how far north of the Mason-Dixon line you were. 

Fried green tomatoes at Dinosaur BBQ

Then there was a smorgasbord of pulled pork, ribs, and some amazing mac n cheese.

Pulled pork, slaw and butter potatoes

And finally, a little bit of dessert with some fresh berries and shortcake.  Thank goodness calories don't count on girls weekends!

Fresh berries and shortcake

After that I made my way to Hoboken to meet up with my college girlfriends.  We met when we were freshman and sophomores at Virginia Tech and we've been holding a "girls affair" annually for the past 7 years.  The location and activities may change, but the junk food and trashy magazines (ok, and wine) are a constant. 

The staples of girls weekends

To complement the theme, I brought our hostess this bacon and chocolate chip pancake mix as a thank you.  It's from an unbelievable store in Chicago called Vosges Haut Chocolates that was one of the first to get on the bacon and chocolate train.  I'm regretting not getting one for myself but something tells me I'll be rectifying that soon!

Mo's Bacon Chocolate Chip Pancake Mix

Our weekend in Hoboken let me indulge a number of my "eater" passions.  We swung past Carlo's Bakery from the TLC show "Cake Boss".  Instead of seeing Buddy, the head honcho, we saw a line over a block long in triple digit temperatures and immediately continued on to an air conditioned bar.   

In the battle of baked goods versus air conditioning... the AC won. THAT'S how hot it was!

We also stumbled upon the Garden of Eden Gourmet Market.  It's the same chain featured in the Bravo tv show "Rocco's Dinner Party", which my Mom has just gotten me hooked on.  I swooned, freaked out, made someone take a photo of me and in general, made enough of a fuss that the girls wanted to come inside to see what all the commotion was about. 

Hi Mom!!

Seriously, how drool-worthy is this place?

I would have taken more photos but we had decided to come back later to get dinner and I didn't want to get the boot before I'd even had a chance to sample the goods. 

To add insult to injury, the prices were reasonable!  They were the same or less than I'd pay in Chicago.  I pretty much want to move in upstairs.

Goodbye Garden of Eden, I will miss you

We ended up walking about 4 miles in 95+ degree temps with humidity.  So when we saw a Crumbs Cupcake store, I felt about zero guilt for stopping in to try something.  All my NYC friends rave about it so it felt wrong NOT to go eat a cupcake. 

Hello lovelies!

We picked up red velvet and original chocolate.  They didn't disappoint!

It was an amazing weekend.  These visits are just good for the soul.  They're full of belly laughs, gossip, girly movies and bad reality tv. We rehash old memories and admire how far we've all come while remembering and appreciating who we are at the core. They remind us of how blessed we are to have friendships like these.

After all, not just any friends will stage an intervention to tell you it's time to give up the jean jacket.  And then still love you when you refuse and continue to bring it everywhere :)

Modeling the various jean jackets I brought to Girls Affair 2008

Until next time ladies,
xoxo

My favorite part of Boston

I'm in Boston this week running an event for work.  There will be less cooking and more organized chaos in my world until Friday.  There will also be pastry!  Becauase you can't go to Boston and not get some amazing pastry or dessert in the North End.

Seriously, look at that pastry counter!  I think it's physically impossible to leave Mike's Pastry, a North End Boston legend, without some kind of sweet treat.  Last time I was here I grabbed 2 Boston Creme Puffs, intending to take them back to Chicago to share with the Royfriend.

Unfortuantely, only one creme puff made it on the plane.  I plead the 5th on the whereabouts of the second one, although I suspect it disappeared sometime after dinner while I waited for my flight to take off.

I gave the second creme puff to the Royfriend when I got back to Chicago and immediately began cautioning him that it would probably be too sweet for his taste and it was ok if he didn't like it despite that fact that I'd just carried it all the way from the eastern United States. 

By the time I finished my speech and turned around he'd already eaten half of it.  Foster the Monster campaigned for a bite but ultimately had to settle for a dog treat.  It wasn't for lack of trying though!

Be back next week with some new stuff!