i'm getting so bad at keeping this up. and to think, in two days it will be this blog's 6 year anniversary. can you believe it? it's so crazy. i've never done anything semi-consistently for 6 years. except be with craig. and be in elementary school. well, and live in chicago. but that's about it.

i am sort of laying low until i finish school, then i'll have lots more to share, lots more to do. and i think i'll reinvent this space. new colors, new template, new format. recipes to share, more photos. video? who knows. i think i've lost the meaning behind doing this, and i want to get it back.

in the meantime i'm planning a knock out thanksgiving menu, special canned christmas goodies, and trying to make the most of the last week or so of my 20's. i'm not sure how i feel about that right now. getting older. i contemplate that every year, but now i have a new number to get used to. three. oh.

xoxo. thanks for reading.

even though i've left the world of full time employment i find myself with less time to think about this blog and other blogs and websites i used to be so on top of. i guess it's because i'm out more - perusing farmers markets and visiting friends and cooking. (i even made a souffle for the first time the other day!) but i'm not parked in front of my machine for 8-10 hours a day. which is good for me right now. i've really honestly never been happier. i am so lucky to have the resources and the time to spend pursuing what i love - food and cooking. spending time with people who feel the same way. making (a little) money off of it. my good friend joel and i are starting a catering business. www.bermanpaige.com. frightening and exhilarating and we'll see where it goes. in the meantime i'm trying to soak in everything. and make connections and enjoy this time in my life when i'm able to take the time to do it.

also, i'm turning 30 in less than a month. i've known it has been coming, and i'm actually really excited. as much as i've enjoyed 29, 30 is only bound to be better. i'm not one of those people who reminisces about their early 20's as the best years of their lives. i didn't know who i was or what i wanted out of life then. in my 20's i married the love of my life, moved to a new city, started my culinary path by experimenting with dinner every night, which was all wonderful. but things have only gotten better since then, and i see them only growing from here on out. so 30, come on in. i have changed so much in the past year, this truly will be a new decade for me. i can't wait.

today was probably the most domestic day i have ever had. i did some laundry, tidied up the house, then trekked to the farmers market to do some shopping. honeycrisp apples, cranberry beans, heirloom tomatoes, pretzel rolls. met the husband for lunch - hannah's bretzel! came home and canned. canned a lot of jars of tomato based deliciousness. i've been intrigued by the idea for a long time, but have shied away from it (shied - doesn't that word look strange? i guess i've just never thought about how it was spelled, never typed it here, it's a funny word) for fear of botulism and exploding glass jars and who knows what. so i've been dabbling. i tried some watermelon rind pickles a few weeks back, and with my mother returning an empty jar with proclamations of "the best watermelon rind pickles ever" my confidence grew. pickled beets and onions were next - i had a few pounds of beets lying around that needed somewhere to live. i just ate one and...they're kind of great. i've been planning a massive tomato canning adventure and today was the day to make it happen. fresh farmers market heirlooms, you have met your match with me and my le creuset, my ball jars and my citric acid. boom! three pint jars of quartered homegrown tomatoes. nine eight-ounce jars of sweet and spicy tomato catsup (thank you, st john, for the beautiful recipe) and three pint jars of yellow heirloom puree, to give us some vibrancy to our winter menu. i'm ordering a pressure cooker/canner for lower acid vegetables and meats, and can't wait to try out some more recipes. i am looking forward to stocking our pantry with jars of farmers market finds. a few more weeks to go and we'll be in winter mode. i like to be prepared.

and now i'm preparing a dinner of cider glazed pork loin, braised cranberry beans, leeks and tiny sweet baby tomatoes with a simple green salad with some sort of vinaigrette that i have yet to decide on. life is good and i can't wait to see where it goes from here.

so i went to london last week, but my macbook is out of service (blue screen, not booting up) so i may have lost all of my photos from the trip, along with about 5 years worth of other photos because i am a moron and didn't back up my brand new 3 month old macbook because why would i need to?  macs are supposed to be awesome and trouble free and besides, it's brand new!  why worry!  because electronics hate me, that's why.  so i'm not going to write about london because i'm pissed that i can't access the awesome photos, well, at least a few awesome photos, and also because i didn't upload them to flickr monday or tuesday or yesterday when i had tons of free time.  so that's cool.  i'll just say one thing about the trip: eat at St. John.  i would move to london just to be able to eat there on a regular basis.  my meal there was the best meal i have ever eaten in my entire life.  and i have the photos to prove it.  oh wait, no i don't.  fuck.

so today i volunteered to help with a lunch for the Chefs Collaborative summit happening in chicago right now.  the lunch for about 180 chefs, food scientists, activists, writers and foodies was served at cafe brauer at the lincoln park zoo and let me just say, wow.  that is the most beautiful event space i have ever set foot in and i want to go there every day.  

ok, so the menu consisted of 12 courses by a lineup of some of the most amazing chefs in chicago right now with food from some of the greatest farms in the area.  the lineup: Mark Mendez (Carnivale), Brian Millman (Uncommon Ground), Andrew Zimmerman (Sepia), Liz Tokarczyk (Limelight), Bruce Sherman (North Pond), Sarah Stegner and George Bumbaris (Prarie Grass Cafe), Carrie Nahabedian (NAHA), Patrick Sheerin (Signature Room), Rick Bayless (Frontera, etc), Jason Hammel (Lula Cafe, Nightwood), Paul Kahan (Blackbird, Avec, Publican), and Mindy Segal (Hot Chocolate).  and they were all there.  in the kitchen.  making their dishes.  each chef brought their own team of cooks so i set up, served and cleared.  and ate.  and was amazed at the talent in that kitchen.  what an incredible experience to have the food of so many great chefs together on one plate.  i will never forget it.

my favorite dishes were by Carrie Nahabedian (white corn polenta with la quercia prosciutto, cavolo nero greens, zucchini, eggplant and mint), Andrew Zimmerman (sweet corn chaat salad with pickle strips, mustard and charcuterie that i think was a head cheese?) and Paul Kahan (grilled sirloin with marinated italian kale trio and grilled peaches).  Rick Bayless' dish was a delicious cochinita pibil with pickled onions, tortillas and the spiciest habanero salsa i have ever tasted.  all of the other dishes were delicious as well, and i am so so grateful to have been able to participate in such a groundbreaking event.  

and it helped me forget about my stupid brand new broken macbook for a few hours.

oh hi, 6 weeks are gone. and i am 3/4 done with school, 100% done with my part time job that i quit my full time job for, and about halfway closer to figuring out what i'm going to be doing in 2010. i'm working part part time for a shared use commercial kitchen, which is awesome because i get to meet a slew of entrepreneurial food business people, get to meet local celebrities (of bravo top chef fame) and occasionally cook in a kitchen that can handle catering gigs better than my own. it's good. and the extra time off is good too, to peruse the green city market, and the daley plaza market and sleep in a little and cook and experiment and hang out with other like minded people. i want to do this forever.

i've been working on a couple of catering gigs, small to large, low pressure to high, low pay to maybe thinking that i can make a living off of this thing. my good friend joel and i coordinated and pulled of an delicious feast for 60 people in michigan a few weeks back - we had an amazing opportunity to feed some wonderful (and wealthy) folks at their summer home just north of new buffalo. they put all of their faith in two culinary students with little catering experience, and we wowed them. it rained, was colder than we planned, there were a few last minute surprises and we forgot a laundry list of to dos, but we pulled it off. joel and i recruited 3 other classmates and my wonderfully supportive husband to help us out. i'm lucky to be surrounded by such talented and helpful people who let me freak out every so often and do what i ask them to better than i ever expect them to. judy, david and nick were awesome, every one of them with something unique to bring to the team, and throughout the planning joel and i realized we are a great team and can probably take this thing and run with it. and craig is the best errand runner and pee soaked napkin holder EVER! (i will tell you that story in person if you ask me...)

the menu included a flatbread with goat cheese and sun dried tomatoes, a quartet of salsas (pineapple, cherry basil, tomatillo and heirloom tomato pico de gallo), bacon wrapped chorizo stuffed dates, grilled flank steak with chimichurri sauce and horseradish whipped cream, grilled shrimp with adobo, a grilled summer vegetable salad, grilled potato wedges with truffle aioli, and grilled pineapple with lemon honey yogurt and chocolate chili mini cupcakes with cinnamon ganache for dessert. (the theme was summer grilling, as you may have noticed.) everything turned out so well, i couldn't have asked for a better first large scale catering gig. cash in wallet included.

my classes are over for this quarter, and i'm sad. this was probably my favorite quarter in culinary school so far, with more pressure and more reward than i have experienced cooking in my life. my catering class made me shaky and nauseous then elated and calm after pulling a meal together with no recipes and limited ingredients in 2 short hours. my nutritional cooking class taught me some of what i already knew - that healthy cooking can be approachable and delicious - but also introduced me to a slew of ingredients that i knew little or nothing about what to do with (amaranth, millet, wheat berries). and how to make tofu. and seitan. my beverage and dining room class taught me how to be a waiter. which i am now certified for. so there's that. but really, this quarter has been more about growth for me, giving me more confidence than i've ever had in my cooking abilities and making me realize that i really honestly am doing the right thing. i'm happy. really really happy.

i'm on break until the end of september, which is wonderful. hubb and i are taking a vacation (half of it is work for him) to london for a week. i'm really looking forward to two things: walking around by myself while craig is working in a town i have vague memories of from a visit 15 years ago, and this place. i will do a proper write up about the ox heart i plan to eat there. xoxo

hello from the land of working less and doing more. i've been working part time for a few weeks now, but i am not quite sure where my extra time is going. i'm still staying up late to do homework, forgetting to send birthday cards, and missing out on lots of get-togethers. i have, however, received my first sunburn of the season (i don't think i ever had a single one last year so that's an improvement in time spent relaxing), and i've had a beer at a liesurely lunch on a weekday a total of two times. it is nice being out in the daytime, and scooting around town is making me very very happy. (aside from the drunk assholes who holler at me for rides as i scoot past bars on milwaukee ave. )

school is off to a good start this quarter. i'm taking a catering class where we prepare surprise dishes (we learn what we are each making on the night of class) for other classes, a dining room class where i'm learning the difference between a fish fork, dinner fork, and entremet fork, and a nutritional cooking class where i'm learning low sodium, fat, sugar and vegetarian cooking. i'm most excited about that one.

my brother moved here last weekend (his apartment is about a block away from my house) so i've been spending a lot of time with my family. his lovely girlfriend is staying with him for the next few weeks as he gets adjusted, and i couldn't be happier to have them around for a while. my mom lost her job a few weeks ago so she's been around a lot, and i'm working with her to find a new job and a cheaper place to live. it's stressful, but i'm grateful that i have the free time to help out. on my day off tomorrow we look at studio apartments. yay! wish us luck.

being home a little bit more also allows me to cook more, which is wonderful. the other night i made a boneless pork roast, which was "the best pork i have ever eaten in my entire life" according to my mom. she is probably a bit biased, but it was really good. here's the recipe:

"the best pork i have ever eaten in my entire life"
or
bonless pork roast with apple cider gastrique

for the pork:
one 2-3 pound boneless pork roast (mine was from trader joe's)
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried sage
2-3 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
(you could add a little chopped garlic, but i didn't. but do whatever you want. this isn't a science)

preheat oven to 500 degrees. (don't be scared) rub pork with oil, thyme, sage and s+p. place it on a roasting rack and pop it in the oven. after 10 minutes turn the oven down to 250, and roast until the center registers 150 degrees, about 1 hr 15 min to 1 hr and a half. pull out and cover with foil to let rest 10 minutes before carving. your pork will be moist and tender and delicious.

for the gastrique:
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup apple cider
1/2 cup white wine vineger
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh rosemary

combine sugar and water and bring to a simmer. reduce by half and then add herbs, cider and vinegar. reduce by half again, a little more or less to your most desired consistency. it should be syrupy but not too thick. not caramely, but more like a thin maple syrup. unless you want it thicker, but then it's like candy, so i don't recommend it. remove herbs. drizzle over sliced pork. enjoy!

for the last 5 years craig and i have participated in angelic organics, a community supported agriculture program located in caldonia, illinois. each year we sign up for a 20 week vegetable share, receiving a 3/4 bushel box of locally and organically grown vegetables every saturday throughout the summer and early fall. we share our box with another couple, and even splitting everything in half there is still always plenty of food. for the last three years we have also participated in an egg share, receiving a dozen beautiful golden free range, horemone free eggs along with our vegetables.

our share this year started on a weekend when both craig and our friends were out of town, leaving me with the entire box of vegetables to myself. i saw this as a challenge and decided to kick off a week or two of the raw diet, which i did last summer and really enjoyed. however, the week also coincided with me starting a new job with a caterer, and with that an unpredictable daily schedule.

i decided to stick to about 80% raw, incorporating one or two cooked elements every day. it is easy when i'm at home but difficult when i'm meeting up with friends and having to taste food i'm preparing at work. i think i'm at about 70% now, which isn't bad. at home i've made salads, spring rolls and raw marinara, but at work i've been eating whatever is available, and eating out with friends i've been tempted by too many dishes on menus to order simple salads. so when i can't be strict to raw dishes, i at least follow the following pairing guidelines for healthy digestion:

fruit - always eaten alone, at least 45 minutes before eating anything else.
vegetables - try to stick to raw veggies, or lightly steamed or stir fried. can be eaten in combination with any of the other groups (except fruit!)
meats - i'm eating just one dose of animal protein a day (if that), usually it's just an egg or two. meats can be eaten with vegetables, but not with any other group.
starches - trying to stay away from processed bleached white starches and sticking to whole grains. can be eaten with vegetables, but not with any other group.
dried fruits and nuts - can be eaten alone or with vegetables, but not with any other group. trying to stick to naturally dried fruits and raw nuts.
dairy - trying to stick to minimal dairy. goat cheese is the main cheese i'm eating, or ricotta. no milk or cream in my coffee - i'm using almond milk at home or rice or soy milk if i can get it at a coffee shop.

so that's it. it's pretty easy if you can be creative. i make a raw marinara by processing onion, garlic, tomato, carrot and fennel and can eat that over ribbons of raw zucchini or a whole wheat pasta, or as a base for a whole wheat pizza. i can eat a seared piece of fish or some scallops or shrimp over a bed of spinach with a carrot slaw on the side. a big salad with a poached egg on top and a little lemon juice, or a salad topped with almonds and sun dried tomatoes. vietnamese spring rolls - rice paper wrappers filled with tons of fresh herbs and veggies and a honey soy dipping sauce. yum. for breakfasts i'll use my juicer and make an awesome liquid breakfast with ginger and apple and lemon and some romaine lettuce. then fruit until lunchtime. then a raw lunch, a snack in the afternoon of nuts or raw granola or fruit, and dinner with a cooked element.

vinegar is one of my best friends - it tenderizes veggies while giving them a tart flavor. one of my favorite dishes, one that i've been eating at least once a day and most of the time twice a day, is what i call bruised greens. i've used kale, chard, totsoi, spinach, and the tops of beets, radishes, or turnips. take a few big handfuls of your greens, wash them, chop them and put them in a bowl. drizzle about a tablespoon of olive oil on top, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. squeeze half of a lemon over top and massage the greens with your hands until they wilt and tenderize. top with a poached egg, a piece of fish, or put it over brown rice or pasta. or simply eat it alone. it's that good.

i'm feeling energized and healthy, and i've lost a pound or two (although that wasn't my main goal in doing it this year.) mostly i'm doing this to challenge myself, to learn new recipes, to remind myself to follow guidelines and to get out of the carb loaded winter diet i've gotten used to. to kick start the summer by eating healthier and treating my body better, and to enjoy the veggies in our box every week. and really, massaging greens is kind of theraputic.

ok, so school is out for summer (straight A's!) - which for me is only a mere 3 weeks until classes begin again. during that time i plan to catch up with friends (hi, friends!), eat a little healthier (made easy by coinciding with the start of our angelic organics CSA share), and relax. and i have one week left of my full time job until i join the ranks of people with flexible schedules and time off in the middle of the day. although i really am going to have a hard time leaving the company i've been with for the past 4 years, i am really looking forward to the next few months' lighter schedules.

i'll also be taking more photos now - i've taken an unplanned hiatus for the past year or so, posting mostly iphone photos to flickr. after taking (and doing very well in, i might add) a food styling and photography class, i've reconnected with my love for my nikon, and i'll be keeping it with me more often now. i'll also be experimenting with more food photography if anyone wants to invite me over for dinner...

so today i purchased a scooter to get me in between home, school and my two new jobs. it is a 2003 yamaha vino, a little 50cc scooter that i don't have to get a motorcycle license to ride. he's a brownish/greenish/grey (i have gendered him to be a boy) with beige accents and fabulous custom leather saddlebags. i am waiting on the title to get him registered, plated and stickered, and i have to get one of the side mirrors replaced, but i should be up and running in less than 2 weeks. i tootled around the neighborhood today and wondered the whole time why i didn't buy a scooter before now. riding is an instant pick me up, and i can't wait to start commuting between my various destinations on something other than the bus.

he has amazing pick up, and i've found it easy to adjust to the balance and control of the bike. it will be such a great way to commute between home, work #1, work #2 and school. more realiable, faster, and safer than the walking + bus riding i would be doing otherwise. and way more fun.