mum

little goat diner


a booth to nestle my bum after an hour waiting at bread,

a wait spent nursing a goat milk latte topped with goat caramel and other goat-y things {good if you like that sort of thing, heavy if black coffee is your jam},

noshes of an apricot masala scone, bloody mary bread, and fresh goat-y bagels.

ane brun on the radio, cute aprons, natural light i could ingest for hours.

a thick scallion pancake topped with pork belly and oodles of veggies in ginger maple dressing {a dish i'll try to recreate soon and a dish that left me no choice but to overstuff my belly and dream about it for days to come},

the banh mi that didn't, conversation that did, a millenium park post-meal ice skating romp, and  another day in chicago nailed like a nail gun going into a cardboard box. whatever that means.

little goat diner was fun. if you have talented conversationalists to muscle out the wait with and/or can pounce on some bar stools in the little goat bread shop next door during that wait, i'd recommend it.

-yeh!





recipe: marzipan + dark chocolate + orange rugelach


when i was in school, mum flew in for just about every percussion ensemble concert, which happened twice a year. she'd arrive in the city with a giant massive suitcase weighed down by multiple batches of her amazing yummy fantastical rugelach, which i'd bring to the dress rehearsal for all of the other percussionists and, more importantly, the stage crew. the alice tully stage crew loved that stuff so much. to the point where even now when i pass by the stage door on the way to work and see one of them outside, they ask for mum's cookies. and whenever that happens, i miss those early mornings before percussion ensemble concerts, rehearsing and eating rugelach.

so last week in preparation for the first percussion ensemble concert of the year, i bought a silly amount of cream cheese and butter, and got workin so that i could arrive with a little surprise for the tully crew and my percussiony successors. i replaced mum's typical cinnamon sugar filling with my current obsession, marzipan. and then added some citrus to balance everything out. they came out of the oven beautifully, and i couldn't wait to prance back stage after the show and deliver batches of rugelach.

but then.

on the morning of the concert as i made my newspaper rounds, i discovered the percussionists dress rehearsing in peter jay sharp theater. not tully. i wanted to cry and i tried to think of ways to sneak in to tully and deliver the crew my rugelach.

but instead i let the percussionists {who played a wonderful concert} have seconds, and considered this round a test batch for the springtime concert. which i think is in tully? let's hope.
marzipan + dark chocolate + orange rugelach
{makes 40-50 cookies}
the dough is based on molly o'neill's recipe, the one that mum uses.
dough
1 c {2 sticks} unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
8 oz. cream cheese, chilled
2 tb sugar
2 c. all-purpose flour
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
filling
1/2 c orange marmalade {apricot or raspberry jam would also work well!}
1/2 c dark chocolate chips
1/2 c marzipan "chips" {i make these by rolling out marzipan and then using a pizza knife to cut small squares, about the same size as chocolate chips}
egg wash
1 egg yolk
1 tb honey
1 tb water
a few pinches of salt {i use maldon flakes}

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1. make the dough: in a large bowl, combine the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and flour with a pastry blender or your hands. 
2. in a separate bowl, combine the egg yolks, vanilla, and almond extract. add to the flour mixture and mix well until smooth. form the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic, and chill overnight. 
3. preheat oven to 375, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
4. using half of the dough {the other half should remain in the fridge} roll out dough on a floured surface into a rectangle that is 1/4 inch thick. spread evenly with half of the jam, and then sprinkle with half of the chocolate and marzipan. working carefully, roll up dough into a jelly roll shape. slice the roll into one-inch sections and place on prepared baking sheet. repeat with the other half of the dough.
5. make egg wash by combining the egg yolk, honey, and water. brush this onto the tops of the rugelach, and then sprinkle with salt.
6. bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are brown.

cool and enjoy! the calories don't count if you've just spent the morning moving a ton of percussion instruments.
 -yeh!

what i'm loving these days


florida. tomorrow. before hanging up the phone with me this morning, mum said "see you tomorrow!" that made me sooo happy. it has simply been way too long.

this trailer for dog days.

brussels sprouts. and buying them on the stalk and carrying like a baby all the way home. yesterday maria and i had them covered in parmesan at parm, tonight i'll be making them with rosemary and apples, and yesterday ashlee posted one of my favorite recipes.

mrs. meyer's clean day lavender scent. i'm noticing a pattern in all of the restaurants i love and that is that their bathrooms have mrs. meyer's lavender hand soap or room spray or a poop candle... i finally couldn't take it anymore so i, for the first time in my life, spent way too much money on hand soap and room spray. $10 for a poop candle though simply can't be justified... just don't poop in my bathroom, people.

yogurt cheese. my yogurt cheese affair began when i woke up once starving in the middle of the night. the only thing in the fridge was my roommate’s yogurt cheese. so i ate all of it. and then bought her another pack, which i am now eating all of. oops. also, it being yogurt makes it good for you, i think.

eating away sandy. this week donny bought dozens of sweets from the robicelli's, whose entire inventory was wiped out by sandy. donny obviously shared, and i got to indulge in an unreal sweet potato cupcake. 

-yeh!


second guesses and summer dresses

a politic-free tuesday list 


when, as if i suddenly just became my mother, pumpkin scones appeared on the brunch table at the too-early hour of sunday before noon.

after a night of sipping away sandy and eating midnight chicken buns with rob over conversations of chemistry and the future,

and meeting the human behind one of my most favorite blogs, meg. 

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the smell that is happening in my kitchen right now, as onions and sauerkraut cook down for pierogies. {that when i google "what is the plural form of..." the first guess that comes up is "moose."}

and the other dumplings that i'm working on for the violet's winter issue!

and the live dumpling-making soundtrack that is going on in my living room right now.

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the i-woke-up-at-4am bagel topped with the generic brand nutella that has crunchy bits of nougat mixed in. 

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crisp morning runs.

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celebrating the life of elliott carter: remembering the absolutely enjoyable hours spent on his improvisation for solo timpani that got my butt into college, sitting in a box seat when i was five to see my dad play his clarinet concerto, recognizing that, yes, elliott carter spent his 103 years right. rest in piece.

-yeh