February 2012
18 posts
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Food & Family: Recipes
Peach-Whiskey BBQ Chicken
I have a cute story to tell you. Hubby has been working with the same 5 or 6 fellas for the last few months. Each day, they drop what they’re doing and sit down to eat lunch together. Occasionally, I’d send him with leftover baked goods to share with the boys. Then their wives started sending in stuff. Then they started bringing in things that they...
Quotes of Note
“Hope it’s right when you die, old and bony.” -The Shins
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Home & Garden: Tips
Jewelry Storage: Necklaces
Valentine’s Day came and went…and now you have another necklace to add to your stockpile. Well, if you ever want to actually wear them, you’re gonna have to figure out a way to keep ‘em from tangling into a ball of shiny disaster. Good thing you stopped by. All you need is a box of straws and boom: problem solved. Wave byebye to knotted...
Quotes of Note
“As far as I’m concerned, the entire reason for becoming a writer is not having to get up in the morning.” -Neil Gaiman
Blogs You'll Fancy: Pillar Box Post →
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Quotes of Note
“No matter how much cats fight, there always seem to be plenty of kittens.” -Abraham Lincoln
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Arts & Entertainment: Literature
Blood and Guts: A History of Surgery by Richard Hollingham
Not into spending your Valentine’s Day watching chick flicks and shoveling popcorn? How about you order something naughty for your Kindle? Something dark and exotic and…full of limb transplants. RH’s delicious little book is described as a history of surgery, not the history, as you’ll find it mainly...
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Travel & Leisure: Restaurants
Nearly T-minus zero on the v-day front, fellas.
If your honey has a sweet tooth, you’re going to need to head to Michael’s Genuine {Miami}, no two ways about it. There’s a stack of sugary options for any time of day. How about Housemade Pop-Tarts for breakfast? Filled with gooey pomegranate and apple. Yanno, that good Florida-fresh fruit, not the fake stuffs. Come for...
Quotes of Note
“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read on the train.” -Oscar Wilde
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Food & Family: Recipes
Salted Caramel Hot Cookies
Leftover hot cocoa mix is the mother of invention…or something.
Do you have any idea how tired I am? Teething tots make for sleepy mums. I needed a little morale-booster. I was thinking salty. I was thinking sweet. I was thinking chocolate.
1cup butter
3/4cup sugar
3/4cup packed light brown sugar
1tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2cups flour
1tsp baking soda
...
Quotes of Note
“Ideas should be clear and chocolate thick.” -Spanish proverb
January 2012
16 posts
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Food & Family: Recipes
Spicy Beef
I’m gonna give you one of my new favourite recipes. Because I fancy you.
4lb beef roast
1 large jar pepperoncini
1 small jar giardiniera {mild or hot- up to you}
1can beef broth
1pkg italian beef seasoning
You’re not going to believe this, but you literally just toss everything {drain the giardiniera} into a crockpot and cook on low for 10-12hours, flipping roast...
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Libations & Vices: Cocktails
Superior Sips
Chicago mag’s February issue lists THE 20 BEST COCKTAILS in town {from bitter to sweet}…and I’d like to share them with you.
11A.M. Sunday 54 E 1st St The most beautiful Bloody happens to be the most delicious- smoked oysters, caper brine, and all. $8 Lula Cafe
Creole Cocktail A seldom-seen classic {bourbon, sweet vermouth, Bénédictine, Amer Picon} done...
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Arts & Entertainment: Literature
11/22/63 by Stephen King
I read a plug for SK’s newest novel on Robert’s blog {Hi Bobby!}…so I texted Mum that this would be a good gift for my uncle {whose birthday is 11/22}…and she ended up buying a copy for my husband…which I started reading…until she stole it back from me when I was only 100pages-in {then returned it}…and I finished just last...
Quotes of Note
“Loving you is cherry pie.” -Lady Gaga
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Food & Family: Recipes
Blueberry Crumb Cake
I stole this recipe from Ree {I don’t think she’ll mind}. I had to use frozen blueberries {thawed} and I only had skim milk in the house…but the kitchen smelled amazing for all of Saturday night, well into the morning. Easier than individual muffins, and twice as moist, I’ll be whipping-up a few pans of these cakes on our North Woods vacation in...
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Home & Garden: Tips
To Have and To Hold
There are a few really swell inventions. Pruning shears, for one. My Bose ipod dock. Cheese. And wax-lined paper bags.
Yesterday, I baked a cuss-load of cookies and needed to send them off to various locales. With these little carriers, complete with tin ties, that was easy. The perfect size and weight- the lining keeps food fresh and the bags are easy to label or...
Quotes of Note
“You make no mistake, I know just what it takes, to pull a man’s soul back from Heaven’s gates. I’ve been wandering in the dark about as long as sin…but they say it’s never too late to start again.” -Blitzen Trapper
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The Columnist: Post #200
Human Milk for Human Babies
If you’re one of those folks, you might want to skip this entry and come back at a later date {and hopefully you will come back}.
There were always a few certainties in my life…
I would never purchase a domestic car
High-cut bikini bottoms don’t look good on anyone
I would breastfeed my babies
You’ve probably heard the story about the...
Quotes of Note
“…there is more to you than this. If you have the courage to write it.” -Little Women
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Health & Fitness: Spices
Cinnamon
China has been exporting cinnamon since 2000 BC. It means, literally, “sweet wood” because it comes from the inner bark of the tree. The sticks you are used to seeing are actually strips of this inner bark, which have dried and curled into pretty quills. A whopping 90% of the world’s cinnamon is produced by Sri Lanka, followed by China, India, and Vietnam.
Whilst...
Quotes of Note
“I’m not one to ever pray for mercy, or to wish on pennies, in the fountain or the shrine. But that day, you know I left my money…and I thought of you only, all that copper glowing fine.” -Fleet Foxes
December 2011
14 posts
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Not Even a Mouse
Wishing you and yours a Very Merry Christmas
Cheers, The Pickwick Portfolio
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Quotes of Note
“When we fall in love, we hear Puccini in our heads.” -The Mirror Has Two Faces
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Food & Family: Recipes
Turtle Bites
Are you starting to think I work for Rolo? I assure you, I do not.
With that said…go buy a sack of them. And whilst you’re at the market, purchase a bag of Butter Snaps and some pecan halves. Line a cookie sheet with the pretzels {only use whole, pretty ones…duh} and top each with a Rolo. Into a 200degree oven for about 10minutes. Pull the pan out, and...
Quotes of Note
“I might be the only person on the face of the earth that knows you’re the greatest woman on Earth. I might be the only one who appreciates how amazing you are in every single thing that you do, and how you are with Spencer, “Spence,” and in every single thought that you have, and how you say what you mean, and how you almost always mean something that’s all about...
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Music & Culture: Donate
PigPen Theatre Co
My research department sent me an email that included this link. If you do anything selfless this season, please contribute to their project. Or donate blood. Or serve at a soup kitchen. Or all three {Santa’s watching}.
For $1500, PPTC will perform at your home. Please invite me…I’ll bring punch.
Personal Ads: Theodor Seuss Geisel
Maybe you knew him as Dr. Seuss. Maybe you knew him as Theo LeSieg. Or even Rosetta Stone. But however you knew him, you loved him.
Theodor was born in 1904, in Massachusetts. He wrote for a humour magazine whilst at Dartmouth but was forced to resign after he got busted drinking gin in his dorm room. {We really WOULD have been best friends!} Afterward, he continued writing under the pen...
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Libations & Vices: Sweets
Goodies on the Go
Whoopie pies on wheels? Oh Chicago…you lucky dog, you. Check out Sweet Ride, a truck full of tasty treats. You can visit the van, order some snacks, or even have it cater your next party. An auto full of endless edibles? Sure beats that folding-table dessert display your cousin did last year. And isn’t that what the holiday season is all about?
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Quotes of Note
“…It was a million tiny little things that, when you added them all up, they meant we were supposed to be together. And I knew it. I knew it the very first time I touched her. It was like coming home…only to no home I’d ever known. I was just taking her hand to help her out of a car, and I knew. It was like…magic.” -Sleepless in Seattle
November 2011
6 posts
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Libations & Vices: Pubs
Holiday Hootenannies
Are you one of those cool cats who thinks Thanksgiving is for the birds? Or maybe just a borderline alcoholic? Well, today is your lucky day…because four Chicago bars are offering some serious Black Wednesday whistle-wettin’. Midtown, Primebar, Grillroom, and Townhouse are all slinging $3 cocktails, $2 beers, and $1 bubbly…all day…like ‘til...