Marmalade Restaurant

This past Friday, my dad drove to Chicago to spend the day with Jeremiah and myself (Unfortunately Brad was working). Another unfortunately, Jeremiah was crankier than...well, I don't even know what to compare it to. In the moment, we thought it was a teething issue but since then we've come to discover that he was fighting off some virus that he picked up somewhere.

My breakfast dates, neither ready for a picture

Nonetheless, we packed up the car and decided that we would try to go out for breakfast anyway since Jeremiah is normally much better when he is out and about than when we try to keep him at home. And really, what's a visit with my dad without trying something new?

So after browsing through Chicago Magazine's Best Breakfast Places, we decided to try out Marmalade. One of the draws of this place is that it was started by a former chef of m. henry which we fell in love with earlier in the year.

 

And I, for one, am so glad that we did. I mean really, they had me at "Nutella". I tried the Dolce Vita; Nutella filled crêpes with fresh seasonal fruit, drizzled with chocolate syrup, topped with hazelnut cream, and sprinkled with mixed nuts. I could have done without the nectarines or whatever one of the fruits was in there. It wasn't quite ripe yet hence the indistinguishable taste and it changed the whole texture a bit since it was harder than the strawberries and bananas that were already in it. But those nuts! Loved their crunchy addition to the plate. 

I have to admit, I forget what my dad ordered. I know that he was between the Artichoke Omelette and one of their specials for the day and I'm fairly certain he went for the special. He also substituted fruit for the original side.

 

We also ordered some sausage from the kids menu because, despite the same amount of pieces on both the adult and children's menu, it was a dollar cheaper to order it from the kids. And since it was mainly to supplement our meals for Jeremiah I figured it was okay. The sausage was pretty good though too. Something I would be willing to order again.

I'm happy to report that Jeremiah did well the entire time and also made a friend towards the end, another baby in a high chair behind him that wanted to share his spoon.

Homemade Granola

Earlier this year, we were responsible for bringing snack to our small group, a responsibility that I look forward to to say the least. Anyway, I knew that one of the girls in our group did not care for sweets and also didn't eat gluten. It took some proding but I finally found out what her guilty pleasure was...granola.

And who knew that granola was so easy to make! Especially after seeing how much it can sell for in the grocery stores, this was definitely something I knew that I could do on at least a semi regular basis. So easy, so tasty, and definitely capable of variation. Success!

Granola
by Alton Brown


3 cups rolled oats
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup cashews
3/4 cup shredded sweet coconut
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup raisins

Directions

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts, coconut, and brown sugar. 

• In a separate bowl, combine maple syrup, oil, and salt. Combine both mixtures and pour onto 2 sheet pans. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to achieve an even color.
• Remove from oven and transfer into a large bowl. Add raisins and mix until evenly distributed.

 

Cupcake Crawl 2012!

This past weekend, Courtney took one last trip to Chicago  as her year here in the states to raise support was coming to an end. She wanted to spend one last time with her Chicago gang before jetting away to Costa Rica.

So as I racked my brain to what we could do for our one on one time (Jeremiah's crankiness and eventual sickness had thwarted some plans the night before), it hit me....a Cupcake Crawl!

You see, the couple of times that she has been here, especially as of late, her and I have gone on a couple of cupcake escapades, usually in the name of free, fancy cupcakes.

And then a couple of those cupcakes made it back to Michigan, the most notable a Key Lime Cupcake from more.

But during her last visit I told her that when she came back for her "Goodbye Tour", we had to go to Sprinkles so that she could taste the ultimate S'more cupcake.

So Saturday morning, I googled, and yelped, plotted, and contemplated...and then there were 7. Yes, 7 bakeries that we were going to hit up.

A cupcake from each to be enjoyed and tasted later on that day. And so our journey began. We came across bachelor/bachelorette parties, parking woes, anxiously awaiting friends, whispers of "sizzling", tiny morsels of goodness, and gigantic mouthfuls of sweetness.

And then we raced back home to finish out the day. Courtney went on to each a brunch style lunch and relax in the park. I did some things around the apartment, hung out with my brother and sister-in-law during an impromptu visit and waited for the "festivities" to begin.

Not only did Courtney and I sit down for the "tastings" but Brad, Catie, Jacob, Tony, Angela, and JoAnna joined in on the fun as well.

As expected, there was a couple duds, though only one cupcake got a clear "thumbs down" from everyone (the Coconut Cupcake from Magnolia Bakery). But the funny thing was that there was no clear "winner". The two favorites were the Drumstick from Swirlz and the Chocolate Cheesecake from Twisted Baker (though it was definitely not a winner in everyone's book, in fact it was one of Courtney and my least favorite).

But the rest definitely stood their ground. The S'more I think will always be a top contender for me, and people were also impressed with More's blueberry cupcake, to hugeness of Crumbs PB Cup cupcake, and the peppermint/chocolate concoction of SugarBliss. Why yes, I do believe we've found a new tradition.