Ugh.... trying not to be annoyed!

Today's post will not quite be about food,so please don't throw tomatoes at me,I'm allergic,wait ..if their cooked thats ok.

I'm back from NY got back yesterday and came straight to work,because I had already missed 2 days.Anyhoo today's post is not about food .My AC cord for my laptop is not working,so my laptop has been out of commission for basically 2 wks.I ordered a cord on the 12th it got here and would only charge for an hour.I went right back to Best Buy and got them to order me another one on the 18th,it is still MIA.So posting from another computer has been a bit trying.Now it could very well be in the management office but because they close @5 and she always forgets to put my pcgks in my apt like I ask I wouldn't know.Also I had somethings shipped from my fav store in NY,it also is not here.I am soooo fed up with mail right now,you have no idea.

Soon we will be back to our scheduled program,until then, ugh!

Brunch in the city

On Sunday just as the blizzard was beginning I ventured out to H&M to pick up a few things.I hadn't eaten yet and it was already about 2pm.I was walking through the Soho area and stumbled upon Spring street natural restaurant.(www.springstreetnatural.com)

When I walked in there were 2 hostesses standing at the hostess podium chatting amongst themselves.They both glanced at me and continued talking.After about 60 seconds I asked if I should sit myself,one of the young ladies was finally able to pull herself away from her riveting convo to seat me.

Shortly after I was seated a waitress who never told me her name took my order.I'd decided on the Challah french toast and chicken apple breakfast sausages.I love french toast.After a very short wait my food was brought out to me,but not by my waitress.I understand waitresses get busy,what I didn't understand is how she never once came by to see if everything was ok with my food.

Everything on my plate was burnt except for the fresh fruit.The sausage did still have some decent flavor but the over all theme of the plate was burnt.I couldn't eat all of the french toast,but what I did eat had to be completely submerged in maple syrup.Any other way may not have been edible.As I said the waitress never stopped by my table so when I was finished I had to ask someone else for my bill.I would not willingly go back to this place.Its easy to burn anything if you turn your head for to long but its hard to burn in as much as my food was burnt.I have some pics from my phone,so the quality may not be the best.

Why I love to cook

Since you guys are still getting to know me I thought I might delve into my love for cooking,where it comes from.It really is quite simple:the food of my childhood bored me.Thats it.My father was a health food freak and we didn't (and I still dont to this day) eat red meat.That being said,I know your thinking well they are still plenty ways to spruce aup a meal right?Nope not in my house.An average meal for us growing up was tabouli,brown rice,and tofu chili.If I told you we had this alot that would be an understatement!Needless to say I no longer eat any of those things anymore.The only time I had meat in my house was when it was KFC,burger king or Taco Bell.

When I got to college I couldnt wait to get my own apartment so I could watch the food channel and start to cook the things I wanted to cook.I still like to keep it healthy but tasty as well.
I will never forget the first time I made a cake for my 19th bday,from scratch and I had to call my grandfather every step of the way.Or the first time I made a cornish hen and telling my grandparents I had washed it with dish detergent and water.They really got their laughs in that day.I just love to experiment and keep a good balance with what I'm eating.For example growing up we only had greens twice a year,thanxgiving & Xmas.At my grandparents house it was a completely different story.We'd had greens on tuesday nite just cause!

Coming from where I'm from which is family full of southern people,greens are to be cooked in large amounts and boiled down for hours.Not in this Diva's kitchen.I saute my greens alot like I do my spinach.If you talk to my grandfather he will tell you I'm "frying"them.If I have some eggplant,guess what ?it gets diced up and goes in with the greens,turkey bacon and garlic,it is really yummy.

Now I'm off to pack for New York which is where I'll spend the holiday.Not to worry,I'll be back soon with some awesome posts and 1 about one of my fav stores in the world.Happy holidays!

Making Baklava

The pics are all in the wrong order for whatever reason!The top is the finished product,the 2nd is baklava getting ready to be baked after being cut,the 3rd is a few of the ingriedints, and the last is the filo sheets bubbling after I buttered them.

Saturday was my very first time ever making baklava,and I am proud of the turn out!It's by far one of my favorite holiday treats.This year it will be shipped to a few of my friends and family and hopefully they like it.Here is the recipe I used: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baklava-II/Detail.aspx . I like this site because you can adjust the number of servings you want and it will adjust the recipe portions for you.Now I will give you a few tips and things I noticed while I was in the kitchen:

• Filo/phyllo is like very old paper.Think of it as the report card from 1st grade,if you grab it and your not gently with it it crumples,so keep the filo save under a damp dish towel.Cover it in its entirety.


• Its important that you cut it to fit the cookie sheet you use.As you will see further down I didnt always do that so I ended up with crunchy filo,sticking up from the dessert.Not actually a big deal if this happens;wait till it cools then cut it off.


• As far as nut choping,I first put them in to bags then pounded them with a hammer(alot like I do my grahm cracker crust).6 minutes later I wised up and put them in the blender.Be careful with a blender because it has the capability to give you powdered nuts and not finely chopped which is what we want.


• The syrup that goes over the baklava after its baked,it never really thickened like it was supposed to .I brought it to a boil, let it rest all that jazz,but it never got thick.No worries cause it tastes great.I ended up sprinkling sugar on top in the end anyway.


• The recipe says to bake it @ 350 for 50-60 mins.DO NOT DO THIS unless your oven takes a while to actually heat up.I had mine in for 20 mins and it was done.


• Syrup is to be poured whilst the baklava is still hot.it makes this yummy sizzling sound.


• The top part of the filo was not as flaky as I would have liked it.I only used 2 layers on top,next time I may try 3 may 4 layers.

Pizza Hunt!

I have always loved pizza,when I was a child I thought it was going to go away when I became an adult,it did not.This all makes sense because in the past year I have realized that my favorite food is cheese.Well not so much realized;but I've come to terms with this fact.I also love to read.I spend alot of time on the train,and while the El is certainly a show in itself,I always keep a novel with me.
Anyhoo I was looking a some recently published food articles and I found this one.(http://www.articlesfactory.com/articles/food/digiorno-pizza-is-it-the-best-frozen-pizza.html)I found this article to be interesting but I do.not.like.Digiorno.I'm still trying to undertand why most of the world is enthralled with it.It's not bad pizza but its not spectacular either.If your looking for a really amazing frozen pizza Freschetta is my absolute favorite.It's also some of the most expensive frozen pizza there is.I believe its somewhere between $7-8 a pizza.Boooy is it worth it!The crust is like croissant but thicker and they dont skimp on the cheese.Crust is important because I dont like cracker crust.
However there are some safeway brand pizzas I buy that have cracker crust.I buy the pizza because its delicious,my fav are the bbq chicken pizza and the alfredo pizza!When I eat this pizza I rip the crust off and call myself cutting back on carbs.This excuse also makes me feel better about the fact that I've just wasted perfectly decent bread.I digress...I love to make my own pizza when I have time.I buy the boboli crust(its really the best) I season the crust with oo,garlic pepper and a parmesan.This is a crust I devour,happily!The toppings are really endless and we will certainly get into this on a later to post,where I'll be making a pizza.
The last thing I will share with you is I recently went to Webbers grill for happy hour.http://www.webergrillrestaurant.com/ .During happy hour they have alot of $4 drinks and appetizers but it only lasts until 6pm.I decided to have the bbq chicken pizza and it was the best thing ever.It happened to combine everything I love on one pie.Smoked gouda cheese,cilantro,bbq sauce and carmelized onions.All of my dreams have come true and I shall want for no more.

A little bit about me

Since this is the very first post,this will be a good time to tell you about myself and explain why I'm here.Firstly I looove music so there will usually be a song of the day and it will correlate to the post for the day.I'm a midwesterner,from Michigan just moved here to the Windy City about a year and a half ago.I'm a busy lil diva as I work at a law firm by day and run my event planning and catering company on wknds.Oh and I plan events and occasionally cater for a non-profit organization.This blog will follow me from everything to the exploration of my love for smoked gouda cheese to the building of my company!http://www.thechicagosupperclub.com/
Join me as I become Illinois most sought after caterer and event planner!Ambitious I know,well like I always say,if you like me hug me if you hate me kiss me!