Disclaimer #1: I don’t bake, so when I cook it’s all eyeballed and taste-tested and totally winged (wung? wang? wing-ed?).  When I post recipes, they’ll reflect that.

Disclaimer #2: On that note, I cook and post recipes like Renee and Rachel.  No, seriously – you should read their recipe posts.  Renee’s self-portraits are fantastic, and wine’s always involved with Rachel’s cooking.

That being said, I’ve started making my own salad dressing for a number of reasons.

1. My dad does it, and my dad has taught me all kinds of things about seasoning and cooking, and I trust his culinary knowledge.  I WOULD learn a lot from my mom also, but she’s an exceptional baker and we just established that I don’t do that (see: disclaimer #1).
2. I’m decreasing my intake of processed foods.
3. It’s easier and cheaper to throw together oil+vinegar+other stuff in small batches than it is to buy full bottles of dressing at $3+ pop.

The most basic way to make salad dressing that I know of is oil+vinegar+other stuff.  In this case, my other stuff is honey, dijon mustard, and a splash of champagne.

That’s basically it.  Recipes I’ve found for basic vinaigrettes seem to largely be 2:1 vinegar-to-oil, but again – taste test it until you like it.  I mix it all together until it’s as sweet, spicy, and tangy as I like it, then add a splash of champagne and shake it up – the champagne makes it a little creamy/frothy and gives it a really nifty texture.

My favorite salad?  Spinach leaves, topped with avocado, dried cherries, and slivered almonds.

Mmmm….

After my last post about Mateo Restaurant and that time I raved about how Mateo even got me in the doors in the first place, I was invited to join Megan Jansen (one of the restaurant’s owners) for the happy hour she hosts with a most amazingly eclectic group of folks on Friday nights.  I showed up just shortly after five, met Megan and her friends, and got to pick her brain a little about Mateo and her background here in Boulder, but she also shared some great information with me about hers and husband Matthew’s other restaurant, Radda Trattoria, which is:

A neighborhood restaurant inspired by the cuisine and culture of Tuscany, Italy.  (according to their website)

Also from their restaurant, another tasty little morsel about who they are and what Radda is:

Radda is the second creation of Chef Matthew Jansen, after the much lauded Mateo Restaurant Provencal that opened in 2001.

The spirit, beauty and hospitality of Tuscany are transported to the very neighborhood that Matthew grew up in. Having participated in the vendemmie [wine harvests], studies and extensive travels, Radda is an experience that is authentically and wonderfully Italian. Upon entering you will be taken away with the passion for Italian food and wine.

After a some time talking about the restaurant, Megan decided to take us to Radda since I’d never experienced it.  ”Us” was Megan, myself, @ChristopherDan (part of the brains behind @boulderbars, for whom I’m a reviewer) and @cindykcruz (an amazing woman I want to spend hours upon hours with just hearing stories and begging her to pack me in her suitcase next time she goes to Italy), and we hopped over north of downtown to Radda.

It wasn’t crowded, but the bar – which is positioned in a square in the center – was definitely buzzing.  We pulled up four chairs right next the bar, was introduced to Hillary, the gorgeous bartender, and tried some of Chris’s signature cocktails – the #JustDan.  Megan also insisted we try the pizza, prepared by gorgeous (but married, sorry ladies) chef Theo Adley.  Sensitive to my veggie/pescetarian tastes, Megan ordered us a veggie pizza that was incredible.

As always, my I’m-not-a-culinary-expert-but-by-GOD-do-I-love-food-and-fun-dining disclaimer comes out when I actually talk about the food, but let’s just put it this way – we’d all had a few drinks at happy hour with some yummy apps at Mateo (OH MY GOD THE BRUSSELS SPROUTS*), and by the time we hit up Radda, I was ready for some sustenance.  The pizza?  Did the trick.  The veggies were perfect, the cheese was melty and amazing, and the crust?  OH MY GOD, the crust was amazing.

Thanks to Megan for showing us around, for introducing us to some of the fantastic staff at both Mateo and Radda, and for spending some time with me – Boulder’s new girl – and even further whetting the appetite of this little eater.

I happened into Mateo Restaurant last week because of an invitation extended to me through a conversation on Twitter.  I raved about Mateo’s use of social media in outstanding customer outreach and service on boulder.me, and thought I’d talk about the food and dining experience here.

Wine

House Red, Chateau de daugelas vaugelas (le prieure), Corbieres. I have no idea what that means, and I won’t even pretend to, but I know it was beautiful.  It was a perfect cocktail wine, but held up against the light apps and cheese we had as well.

Dessert wine: Tawny Port.  INCREDIBLE.  And Alex the Bartender educated us on the glasses this was served in.  A local company, Movia, supplies a lot of the glassware for Mateo, and the beautiful thing is that each vessel is handmade with one piece of glass.  We learned that typically, wine glasses can be made in as many as three pieces: the base, the stem, the glass.  These are made with the same piece throughout, and because of this – each of their pieces are completely unique.

Food (prices reflect weeknight happy hour pricing: 5:00-6:30PM)

assortment de noix roasted mixed nuts, curry spice $2
pomme frites herbs de provençe $3
artisian cheese tasting daily selection of cheese, fruit, wine jelly, nuts & grilled bread $7
pot de chocolat, warm dark chocolate truffle cake, crème fraîche, berries $7

Mateo can correct me if I’m wrong here, but I thought I heard or read something about the pomme frites being done in some kind of champagne gastrique (gastrique is my new favorite word – thank you Food Network! – and it’ll be the next culinary adventure I embark on).  I remember being able to taste the sweetness, and of course Europeans would bathe their fries vinegar – gastrique just made sense.  And it was YUMMY.

The nuts were a nice little start to munch on while I waited for Ashley to join me, and we chomped on the fries before and after the arrival of the cheese plate.  I need to do something to better educate myself on cheese plates and tastings.  I know I like sheep’s milk.  And goat’s milk.  And cow’s milk.  Ok, so that didn’t help much.  And I know I like anything asiago-like, anything unique, and anything gruyere-like.  And fresh mozzarella will always have a place on my palate.  Anyone know where to start with something like a cheese tasting class? That was just officially added to my life list.

Finally, the chocolate.  It just felt right to get dessert, and with that dessert to get a beautiful dessert wine.  I’m almost as much of a sucker for dessert wines (mmm tawny port… mmm Alexis Baily Ratafia… mmm) as I am for champagne.  And we all know how much I LOVE me some bubbles.

So, the chocolate.  Yeah, we pretty much licked the ramekin clean it was so good.  Dark chocolate truffle anything is one of my favorites, and this just melted in my mouth.  The crème fraîche was nice, even though I’m not totally sure what crème fraîche is… (hold please, whilst I consult The Google.  Ah! Lovely… moving on), but it was smooth and creamy and… fraîche-y.

All in all?  Wonderful experience.  There’s a risotto on that menu I want to get back and try before they change it up again (we learned they rotate menu items based on seasonality, which makes me love them even more), and of course – I’ll always have another cheese plate.

Thanks, Mateo for a wonderful, delicious, and fun random weeknight.

Wow, been awhile, huh?  It’s not that I haven’t been eating and traveling, but I’ve just had zero time to start compiling the write-ups for all of the places I’m going.  However, I moved from Minneapolis (great dining) to Boulder (still great dining) and have enough trips planned over the next few months to warrant getting back in action here.

Up and coming:

Boulder Bar reviews: Mateo Restaurant, The Med, and The Walnut Cafe

Upcoming trips: Austin, TX (SxSWi); Las Vegas, NV; and hopefully a trip to South Jersey in April

Other topics: Pho, Cheese Plates, Pescetarian Cooking

Stay tuned!

Nomadic Foodie welcomes Little Miss Obsessive to wax NYC here for us.  We were paired up as part of the 20-Something Bloggers Blog Swap, a great way to find, meet, and introduce yourself to new bloggers.  LMO’s spent some considerable time in NYC, so she weighed in her favorites and must-dos.  I visited NYC for the first time this past summer, and can not wait to get back to see and eat more!
Enjoy!

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

New York City Favorites

Well hello blog tarts, I’m Little Miss Obsessive and I’m invading Doniree’s blog today for the 20 something bloggers 6th Blog Swap! So don’t forget to head over to my digs today also, to get a dose of the lovely Doni talking about her city, Minneapolis.

Being a Jersey girl and all, I have been able to do my fair share of exploring the amazing city of New York. I still have SO MUCH left to cover but I thought I’d share with you some tips, favorite spots & adventures from my travels there.

My #1 Recommendation – Learn to use the Subway system

My college roomie and I use to travel to the city with her Dad for a few days every winter. We usually stayed somewhere in Midtown, as I’m sure most people do. During the day we would explore on foot, walking up to the Upper East side or walking around Midtown but walking can only get you so far (and taxi’s get expensive!). One year, we were gung ho about getting us some fake bags from Canal Street and realized to do this, we would need to conquer the Subway system. We really did not have high hopes for ourselves but we were pleasantly surprised (and proud) of how easily we were able to navigate our way. And once we did, we realized just how much more of the city there is to explore! An all-day unlimited pass is only $8.25. And for all the zipping around the city you can do – that is an amazing deal! You have endless possibilities for exploring if you can just conquer that silly subway system.

Canal St. – China Town

Speaking of Canal St, that was probably one of my favorite adventures in NYC. Now, I don’t know if you are into buying some fake bags but even if you are not, it is a sight to see. Located in China Town, a stretch of Canal St is store after store of all the same items – sunglasses, jewelry, scarves, hats, purses, purses & purses (mostly knockoffs of the real expensive stuff)! But not the blatantly fake stuff, the good stuff. With imperfections that are sometimes completely unnoticeable. However, the stores that you can see from the street are not where the good stuff is located. They have to hide the good stuff from public or they will get busted by the cops. Basically what happens is, as you’re walking down the street, people will be acting all nonchalant and as you walk by they will get really close and whisper, “you want Gucci, Prada, Coach, Louis??“

The first time we said yes, we ended up having to follow a lady 2 blocks to a convenient store and then down to the basement. Yes, it was just as sketchy as it sounds and you probably think we are crazy! Once downstairs, we found ourselves in a room filled with bags – Coach, Prada, Chanel, etc. – just as promised. We each bought a bag and that was about all the excitement we could handle the first year. The following year, a lady took us to a parked van which was filled with bags. There were three of us and we could barely fit in the van, there was a little bench big enough for barely two people so my sister ended up sitting on my lap as we scoped out the bags. It’s actually quite a rush, to be honest. Half the fun is definitely the adventure! By the next year, College Roomie and I were pretty much pros at how it all works, and would be able to spot the people who had the hidden stash somewhere. We went in the dead of winter, bundled up and literally spent hours walking around in the bitter cold. And we still had a great time. At one point, I turned to her and said, “man, I love this place.” To which she replied, “I really do too.”

Serendipity – The East Side

It’s become our tradition to go to Canal Street every winter followed by a trip to one of our other favorite spots in the city – Serendipity – famous for its desserts and especially their frozen hot chocolate. I especially love it there around the Holidays. They do an amazing job with the decorations and create an amazing ambiance (and I’m allll about the ambiance of a place). There is almost always at least a 2 hour wait. The one time we did not have to wait, we went right when it opened at 11am. But I’m guessing not everyone wants to eat dessert at that time. So here’s what I suggest: you get there and put your name down. Then head over to Patsy’s Pizzeria across the street to have dinner. It’s awesome! I promise. Now – here’s the important part, DON’T FORGET TO LEAVE ROOM FOR DESSERT! After you eat, you will have killed at least an hour or an hour and a half. That’s when you head back over to Serendipity and check on how much longer a wait you have. Probably only 15-30 minutes. Then enjoy the lovely ambiance and a DELICIOUS dessert. I’m craving their famous FROZEN hot chocolate just thinking about it:

Central Park – Upper East Side/Upper West Side

Another favorite spot of mine is Central Park. I kind of can’t believe I’m in the city when I’m there. It’s so beautiful and even, relaxing! It’s such a contrast to the hustle and bustle of the streets. During the spring you will find the grass covered with people lying out, reading or getting a tan. There are great restaurants like Tavern on the Green and The Boathouse to have lunch or dinner at. There is also a really cute, small zoo that I’m not sure that many people know about – The Central Park Zoo. You can cover the whole thing in only an hour or two which is perfect for an afternoon in the park.

Central Park – May ‘09

Times Square

Of course, no trip to the city would be complete without spending some time in Times Square. Sure, it is the most touristy part of the city – but that’s ok. I think everyone should see it at least once in their life. There is really nothing else like the hustle and bustle of Times Square. Mostly all the Broadway shows are located in this area. If you do not have a specific show you are dying to see then I suggest visiting the Ticket booth in the middle of Times Square (located “under the red steps” In Father Duffy Square on Broadway and 47th Street). Basically, they sell discounted (up to 50% off) for that night’s shows. You have to wait in line but if you don’t mind and you don’t have your heart set on a specific show then it’s a great deal!

So, those are just a few of my favorite places to go to in the city. The amazing thing about New York is that it is filled with endless possibilities. You don’t even always have to have a plan. You can just wander around and see what you end up finding.

Have you traveled to New York? Where are some of your favorite spots?

Last month, I participated in a GuacOff courtesy of Metro Magazine and with the combined culinary stylings of some great fellow Twin Cities bloggers (Kaeti, Doug, Emily, and Conner), we took home Most Authentic.

This post isn’t about that. Conner did a great recap, so I’ll point you over there for that.

What this post IS about is the gift card that I snagged as part of the prize stuff from Crave Restaurant. I’m not too far from the restaurant, located in Edina’s Galleria Mall so when Rachel was here a couple of weeks ago, we decided to check it out.  I kept hearing delicious things about it, and we decided to move in for their HUGELY PROPORTIONED brunch.

We rounded up my roommate and her manfriend and made it there pretty much as the doors opened (11AM on Sundays).

The deal (snatched right from their website, emphasis mine):

Fabulous Family Brunch $15.95

Generous helping of scrambled eggs with Tillamook smoked cheddar, house made baked hash browns, off-the-bone ham, applewood smoked bacon, savory sausage links, whole wheat toast and jam, fresh fruit, and sticky buns all served on large platters for your table to share and replenished as you desire!

Also Includes: French Toast Bar with gourmet toppings and Our Chef ’s “Create-your-own” Omelet Bar and A glass of Mimosa, Champagne, or Orange Juice

Yeah, you had me at French Toast Bar and Champagne for sure. And I’m always a fan of hash browns or breakfast potatoes or whatever you want to call them, but these? UNFREAKINGREAL.  Here’s a [close-up!] shot of those with the yummy eggs:

Can’t you just smell the cheese melting all over that?  SO good.  But seriously, those hashbrowns were greasy, cheesy, potato-y perfection.

Because that wasn’t enough food, I had the chef make me my own omelet; isn’t it pretty?

Tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, and cheese – YUM!

Our table basically looked like this: we each had coffee and a mimosa.  The plates in the center of the table included: the cheesy-orgy plate of eggs and hash browns, the meat-lover’s plate of sausage, bacon, and ham, plus some toast because why not throw more carbs in the mix, a plate full of sticky-buns, and then whatever plates we’d collected at the French Toast or Create-Your-Own Omelet station.

I’m not a meat-eater, but check this out:

Make no mistake, I know how to make y’all drool.

I’ll have to get back to try their other meals, but this was definitely a winner for a giant Sunday brunch with some of my faves.

Photo credits: Me! I took the pictures, but with Rachel’s camera and she did the editing.
Camera: Canon Rebel XT; 50mm F/ 1.8 II lens

This is going to be a quick and dirty recap post.  I had the chance to try LOTS of great little neighborhood places while visiting Chicago this fantastic Labor Day weekend, but this visit was more about hanging out and catching up with friends than it was exploring Chicago’s culinary offerings.  However, because the locals here know where to hang – and have great taste in eats and imbibes, the places we did eat deserve a nod here.

Breakfast/Brunch

Moonshine Food, Music, Spirits, and Brewery
1824 W Division St, Chicago, IL 60622
I tried this place on an earlier trip to Chicago this summer, and I instantly fell in love with their HUGE mimosas:

Yeah, count me IN.  We were all a little hungover from the previous night at Mac’s, so were looking for greasy brunch.  I opted for a veggie omelet (perfect!), breakfast potatoes (OMG!), and toast (hard to screw up toast).

DELICIOUS!

Sunshine Cafe
2012 W Chicago Ave, Chicago,IL 60622

Finding ourselves hungover again on Sunday morning (what? we’re on vacation!) and all craving different things, we headed over to the diner-like Sunrise Cafe.  I had their banana pecan shortstack, which was AMAZING, but the best thing about this place was the kickass waitress we had.  She was on top of everything, totally laid back, funny, and just all-around awesome.

Dinner/Bar Food

Zen Noodles and Sushi
1852 W North Ave, Chicago, IL 60622
This was a GREAT find (thanks, D!) that was the perfect place for Saturday night’s blogger hang.  I had the fried tofu app and the Aloha maki roll (tuna, avocado, and mango).  The food was insanely awesome, but the best part was that this place was BYOB.  Um, YES please.

Cleo’s
1935 W Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60622

This was the perfect place for late night drinks and apps on Saturday night.  There were 8 of us – new friends and old – and we spent a couple of hours outside on the patio, enjoying wines and $3 Modelos and sharing stories that had me literally on the floor I was laughing so hard.  I snacked on their spinach and goat cheese quesadilla (awesome) and tried a bite of their cheese-stuffed portabella mushrooms, which were TO DIE FOR.

The server was super cool, even gave us a round of shots on her.  Thanks!

Mac’s
1801 W Division St, Chicago, IL 60622

LOVE this place.  Noteworthy – their mac and cheese is ABSOLUTELY UNREAL.

It was fun to stay in pretty much one neighborhood the whole time.  We did make our way downtown to check out a little bit of jazz fest and to do a little site-seeing, but for the most part we all stayed in the Wicker Park/Bucktown area.  I enjoy how much of a chance this gave me to really get the feel of a truly awesome neighborhood.

Nicole and I at Buckingham Fountain, Grant Park

Until next time, Chi!

I know, I know.

EVERYBODY’S doing it.

You can’t be a TWINCY blogger, resident, passer-through, man, woman, or pet rock without having been exposed to  somebody’s own personal recap of their Great Minnesota Get Together experience.

For those of you unfamiliar and/or not from this great state, this event is also more formally known as the one and only Minnesota State Fair.

Ten days of deep fried EVERYTHING-on-a-stick, I believe Minnesota boasts the second-largest state fair in the country, just behind Texas.

I did my duty as a good Minnesotan and made my appearance on State Fair Day 2, Friday, August 28.

My counterparts?

Minnesota born-and-raised, long time state fair veteran and my oldest friend, Steve (pictured above, nomming some gator).

Alissa, a Florida native marking her second ever year at the State Fair.  Last year was her first, being the year she moved here and all.

And virgin fair-goer, my blog-friend-turned-lovely-girlfriend Rachel.  Rachel hails from South Jersey and until a week or two ago HAD NEVER HEARD OF CHEESE CURDS (pictured – reluctantly – eating gator above).

Don’t worry, we fixed that whole cheese curds thing.

I’m pictured above too, but I’m the one happily eating her grape-leaves-on-a-stick from The Holy Land in the International Bazaar (one of my personal favorite parts of the fair!), leaving the gator sausage (ew?  but yes, of course I tried it) to the others.

Anyway, we went on Friday during the late afternoon and into the evening hours and managed to try and share the following:

We ate:

• beer
• corn fritters
• CHEESE CURDS
• grape leaves on a stick
• baklava
• deep-fried alligator on a stick
• DEEP-FRIED CANDY BARS (specifically the Reese’s PB Cups and the Oreos)
• Wine flight from local Minnesota vineyards
• Australian battered  potatoes
• Sweet Martha’s Cookies

What we missed that I wanted:

• Deep-fried Belgian waffle
• Summit on a Stick
• Corn on the Cob (a food fest STAPLE in the midwest)

The verdicts?

Cheese curds are a must, and get the ones in the food building (according to Steve).  If the line is any indication, he’s absolutely right on (but they’re a well-oiled machine and it moves quickly).

Trying different fruit wines from all over Minnesota was fun; I tried a Rhubarb wine that was unique and fruity.

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups deep fried in some beignet-type batter and sprinkled with powdered sugar is pretty much the orgasmic fried dessert I have EVER had.

Also?  The crowds on Friday night seemed a little thinner than going during the day, and the lines were relatively manageable (Sweet Martha’s cookies being the longest, as per usual).

Until next year, my fairgoing friends!

I left out one of the most crucial details of my second LA trip, not because I forgot about it or didn’t like it, just because I didn’t want to post this without the proper photo.

Oh trust me, it’s worth it.

What I failed to mention was this crazy phenomenon LA kids know of as “Taco Truck.”

Yes, TRUCK.

Apparently there are these various TRUCKS that show up at specific locations around the city after [bar] hours and serve up some delicious Mexican fare to the drunk and hungry masses.  Nico made sure I didn’t miss out on this during my visit last month, god bless him.

We’d spent the previous couple of hours at a bar in Nico’s neighborhood (Shooters?  Sneakers?  Help me out here, Nico) after I’d landed at LAX and by the time we left the bar, I was HUNGRY.

Enter: taco truck.

Patrons order at that little window and we waited probably 10 minutes or so from the time we put in our order until the time we were sitting on the median in the middle of the four-lane road, enjoying our little taco truck picnic.

I had chicken tacos and a cheese quesadilla and yes, my taste buds were totally blown away.  It was the perfect amount of carbs and cheese for this weary little nomad, and a phenomenon certainly worth NOT missing.

Thanks, Nico!

Ok, so I didn’t travel anywhere to find this.  And it’s not about a neighborhood bistro or cafe I just stumbled upon.  But it’s about food and it’s HILARIOUSLY deliciously awesome, and bears sharing (pun INTENDED).

I present to you, the GUMMI BEAR KAMA SUTRA.

You heard me right.

The HuffPo describes this as a:

“yet another ‘this-will-scar-you-for-life-by-using-things-from-your-childhood-in-sexual-ways’ post.”

Enjoy, kiddos.

I just took what was left of your innocence, I know.

photo credit