I am pleased to announce that I will be appearing on Chicago Tonight tomorrow evening alongside Dana Joy of Real Food Rehab and Natalie of Bake and Destroy.   January 28th, at 7:00 p.m., WTTW channel 11.  I’m so looking forward to a lively discussion with these creative ladies!  Hope you can tune in!

Jen’s husband, Steve, decided he wanted to give her a very special birthday gift….a girl’s night out, at home. How fabulous is that?!  I had the privilege of planning the menu, preparing and serving her special guests on her special night.

Here is what my son Christopher and I served:

Oven roasted asparagus wrapped with prosciutto
Baba ghanoush with warm flatbread

Arugula & red leaf lettuce with warm breaded goat cheese rounds
and reduced pear necatar and walnut oil dressing

Gaucho steak with 4 herb chimichurri (Guy Fieri’s recipe) http://www.foodnetwork.com/
Parsley pesto pasta

Warm bananas foster bread pudding with vanilla icecream and homemade caramel sauce

I would highly recommend the steak recipe.  The steak is marinated in tequila, lime, cilantro and garlic.  The chimichurri sauce is very flavorful and simple to make, you just put it all in the blender and give it a whirl.  Delicious!

Have you ever really thought about the significace of food in your life?   How incredibly important it is for your family to sit down together and share in a daily meal to bond, share events of the day, and simply have conversation with one another?  How the meal is the center of almost any celebration?  When someone is suffering or sick, the thing we most want to do is bring them some comforting food to nourish and keep them?  I believe cooking is an extention of our soul and the truest expression of love.

Last evening was one of the first in a week that we were able to all sit down together for dinner.  You see, Jack and Chris suffered the loss of their Mom who struggled for many years with an alcohol affliction.    This disease is so hard to understand and especially so for children.  

During this past week of mourning, I have felt somewhat absent from my life.  As you all know, when something like this happens, that’s just the way it is.  When the services were over, I very much felt like we needed to sit down together, I did not realize how very much I missed doing this with my family and I wanted to reconnect.  Our dinner was very quiet, but I know that this is the beginning of healing.  Love and time heals all wounds, and I believe sharing meals together do too.  Please take the time to sit together, time is precious.

Have a blessed day.

Angie

Growing up, my Mom was always very in tune with nature.  She had the most incredible garden, with plantings specifically to attract humming birds, butterflies, bees (strategically planted at the end of our property) & birds.  She had numerous bird houses and feeders.  She even made her own suet, which I’m going to do in the next week or so.  I will share with you how to make it very soon.  It is basically melted (or rendered)  beef fat mixed with seeds & nuts.  Birds benefit greatly from this high energy snack.

I have a little piece of nature heaven in my back yard.  I have three bird feeders and a bird bath with a heating coil, to keep the water from freezing.  Birds have a hard time getting enough to drink in sub zero temperatures and it requires a lot of energy to eat snow for hydration.  I also put my Christmas tree back there so that the birds have shelter from predators and cold.  Presently we do not have any evergreen type plantings…..will have to talk to Mom about what to plant there.  I call this “Google Judy.”  If she does not readily have an answer to one of my gardening questions, she has a book at hand for quick reference, she is truly amazing.

I  have the perfect view from my kitchen window into this little nature haven.  I can’t describe how it makes me feel to see the various beautiful birds that come to “Angie’s Buffet.”  They seem so incredibly happy and they sing and sing.  Regular visitors include Cardinal pairs, Blue Jays, Junkos, House Finches, Purple Finches, Morning Doves, Sparrows, Red Headed Wood Peckers, Hairy Wood Peckers, Chickadees, and I’ve even had a Hawk…..well, you know what he was doing there!  Geeze!  Anyway, vittles offered to my feathered friends include:  thistle seeds, sunflower seeds, corn, peanuts (blue jays love them!) and commercial suet.  I mustn’t forget the squirrels, I’ve had 14 at one time!  As you may have guessed, their really “chubby.”  All are welcome here.

Thank you Mom, for this wonderful gift of appreciation and respect of nature.  It is so good for my soul.

Angie

Hello everyone!  I’ve missed you.  We have been on a “holiday” visit to where I grew up in Michigan.  (11 hours, round trip)  We stayed at a hotel with a pool…..yes, I went swimming, sort of.  I will tell you this, nothing like putting on a swim suit in the dead of winter, in harsh lighting, when Christmas cookies have been a part of your daily diet for at least two weeks.    No New Years resolutions, I’d just like to take better care of myself, like I do my family.

I like lists, so here is what I’ll be trying to do in 2010:

1)  Be gentle with myself, as I would be with my best friend. 
2)  Sit down when eating.  (yes, I tend to stand at my kitchen counter while eating lunch)
3)  I’m going to try to eat 8-10 fruits and vegetables a day. (I usually get 4-5)
4)  I am going to make it my goal to exercise at least 3 days a week.  (I’m going to treat it like an activity I’ve planned for my kids, wouldn’t dream of cancelling, now would I?)
5)  I will take time for myself to be with my girlfriends, who I cherish and keep me sane.
6)  If someone is sick or suffering, I will comfort them with food from my kitchen.
7)  When I am in public, I will compliment at least one stranger.

Well, there it is.  My top 7 things to do in the New Year.  I’d do top 10, but that would ordinary, besides, no need to overwhelm ourselves with unrealistic expectations, right?

You may now be wondering when I will stop babbling and post a recipe.  I’m in recovery mode, I don’t think I knew the date the entire month of December.  I have many, many ideas.  I’ll give you some hints tomorrow.
I promise you, they will be really good!

Have a great evening.

Angie

Hello and Merry Christmas.   I don’t think Ryan would have lasted another day.  This is just about the sweetest time I’ve experienced with him.   Last year when we saw Santa at the mall, I asked if he’d like to go and talk to him, and very suspiciously he said “no Mama, I’ll just look at him.”    Ryan is pretty cautious, so I know not to push him if there is something he isn’t comfortable doing.  This year, late November, we went to the mall and there wasn’t a soul in line to see Santa.    He made eye contact with santa and waved with a sweet, unsure smile.    He was very pleased to talk to Santa, who was a beautiful looking Santa with a REAL beard.  We then of course had to write to Santa, twice.  In the first letter he asked for a  monkey pillow pet & a crane.  After much contemplation he decided he needed to add a Gordon train.      A couple of  weeks later, he came to me in tears,  he said that he forgot to ask Santa for something else.  I explained to him how very fortunate he is, that many little children don’t have toys, or even food to eat, and that they may be hungry…..he then said to me, “Mama, you can give them my Thomas trains.”   I don’t think I’ve ever given him more kisses in one sitting, ever.  

Let us remember those less fortunate.  Let us be kind to one another. Let us remember the true meaning of Christmas.  Let us savor the magic and the beauty of a child’s belief in Christmas, there is really nothing like it.

Have a wonderful Christmas.

Angie

Good morning.  It is very early and the thing is, I start getting ideas on what I’d like to write about between 4:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m.  I’m thinking it’s because no one is interrupting every thought I have in my brain, “have you seen my ipod charger?  Where is my hat?  Can you sign this, and I need $10….”   you know what I mean.  So I begin having all these thoughts and there is no way I can go back to sleep.  I need to have a pen and paper near my bedside, yes, that’s what I’ll do.

As previously written, I am from a very small town.  I moved to Chicago right after college, so that would be about 22 years.   Writing for my blog has been so incredibly theraputic and has led me down memory lane as well as self discovery.  Here are some things about me:

I love my family and always want them near. (well, most of the time!)
I have a strong love of nature and open green spaces.
I love anything old fashioned.
My love of cooking is related to my desire to please the ones I love.
I don’t NEED many things.
I don’t WANT many things.
I love learning about the history of most anything.
I love to talk to people with many years of life experience, I love to learn how they grew up and how it used to be.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.
I am a cancer survivor. (don’t worry, I’m ok!)

So.  There it is.  My list.  Now, don’t get me wrong, there is one thing I’ve always wanted….a kick bucket kitchen….I’d like at least a 6 burner range…double ovens… someday.  The main reason being that we don’t have enough space to entertain the whole family at holiday time, I really want to be able to do that.

My little one is up, it’s 6:37 a.m., he wants juice, and so it begins….

Thank you for reading and have a blessed Christmas.

Angie

I just love when I run into a college classmate and they ask me, “hey Ang, do you still make those cinnamon rolls you used to make?”  Well, of course I do!  Isn’t it something that people remember those kinds of things?  In the upcoming new year, why not choose one or two dishes that you love to eat, and work on perfecting those dishes.  Make them YOUR specialties.  There is nothing like a special request for something you make.  We all don’t have to be great at everything, how about just some things?

I spoke of cinnamon rolls, I learned how to make them with my Grandma Henderson….don’t worry, I won’t break into tears today!  Question, do some of the commercials on tv make you teary?  You know the ones, Folgers coffee, when the guy comes home from Africa to be with his family on Christmas?  Geeze, it gets me every time!  And what about Extreme Home Makeover, Home Addition?   I will not watch the new one, Find My Family….I’d be a mess!  Am I alone here?

Anyway, back to the subject!  If you do not work with yeast, I really would love to be the one to teach you.  When I was a young girl, I thought it was so fascinating that dried yeast would make my dough “puff up.”  It is actually a very simple process.  Your loved ones will flip out when you make these.  I love the reaction I get from Jack and Chris, it’s something I really wish I could bottle.  I also love when they approach me and say, “hey Ang, you know what you haven’t made in awhile?”  This kind of thing really warms my heart, good stuff.

I am so looking forward to 2010, we are going to have so much fun together!

Have a wonderful day.

Angie

Hello everyone!  I must apologize for the lack of posts the last couple of days.  Last night I took my final exam for recertification in food safety in the State of Illinios.

I also have been working on cookie recipes and photos to post by Wednesday, I actually have a few of my favorites I will be sharing with you.

I hope you all are taking time to enjoy this bessed time of year.

Angie