Just a Chi Town Girl

“There is nothing wrong with loving the crap out of everything. Never apologize for your enthusiasm. Never. Ever. Never.”
Ryan Adams

(via emphasis added; riddle me this)

A weekend full of record breaking heat, lots of time with good friends, the beach, the pool, and grilling out…one of my absolute favorite Memorial Day weekends ever, that’s for sure.

A big thank you to those who have bravely served our country and those who continue to serve. May God bless and protect you!

I have been wanting one of these my entire adult life.

And yesterday, this baby blue Le Creuset Dutch oven came home with me, a gift from my (apparently) super thoughtful boyfriend.

To be clear- we are not “I was thinking of you so I bought you some high end cookware” kind of people. But Ryan said he wanted to do something nice for me and knows I have been wanting Le Creuset the entire time we have been dating so after nice chat about the value of the 4.5 quart vs the 5.5 quart with the salesman at Bloomingdales Home, the larger size won and this gateway to awesome, enjoyable cooking was ours.

Queso Fundido is going to be the first thing prepared in it, in a few hours when we host a Memorial Day BBQ. I am so much more excited about this than I should be…

Welcome to our kitchen, Little Blue!

Friday. Holiday weekend. Poolside.

4 words have never sounded so sweet.

Have a great weekend, everyone! Xoxo

I love summer food. Grill food. Meals that I can make out of ingredients that have flavor and haven’t been overnighted from halfway across the country.

Take tonight- a quick breeze through Whole Foods and I had great veggies in my little reusable bag (and turkey burgers!) and was home, ready to rock. Brushed with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar, I threw them on the grill for somewhere between 2-3 show tunes (I am on a serious Broadway binge), added fresh ground pepper, sea salt, some oregano and coarsely chopped everything up. Toss in orzo and boom- grilled vegetable orzo salad.

Summer food and a long summer(ish) coming up…something tells me there’s lots more where this came from.

My awesome Grandma gifted Ryan and I with cooking lessons Chopping Block for Christmas. She knows how much we love to cook and I can honestly say this was one of the most thoughtful gifts I have ever received. Did I mention that Grandma is 95? Homegirl is on her game.

“Date Night at the Hacienda” was our chosen class so it was an evening of Mexican cooking and Spanish wine drinking. Aside from getting to cook in that amazing kitchen with all of their awesome cookware (I die for le crueset), it was a really nice evening. The Chef was knowledgeable, I learned some new techniques and it was really, really fun to do something different for date night.

The Queso Fundido and the Chocolate Cajeta Flan Cake were the standouts that we will 100% make again. I am not really a cheese person but this Queso…well, I probably had a solid pound of cheese that night so there’s that. Here’s the recipe- I highly recommend it, especially with Memorial Day weekend coming up!

Queso Fundido
1/4 pound Mexican chorizo
1 onion, medium dice
1 clove garlic, minced
4 cups grated Chihuahua cheese
2 T cornstarch
1 Cup pale lager (I.e. Corona)
2 T tequila
2 T cilantro

Sauté chorizo and onions in cast iron pan over medium heat until onions are caramelized and sausage cooked. Add garlic, cook additional minute.

Toss cheese and cornstarch together. Add beer and tequila to onion mixture and cook til heated through. Gradually add cheese until melted and smooth. Stir in cilantro. Serve in pan with tortilla chips- legit, solid, non-wimpy (read: thin and breakable) tortilla chips.

I leave you with a picture of the Flan Cake business that we made…this was so much better than the strawberries and orange I had for “dessert” tonight.

We had just finished grilling and eating out on the porch when this storm started rolling in. After such a beautiful summer’esque day like today, I think falling asleep to thunder and lightening sounds lovely.