Spending time with girlfriends is restorative.

Getting out of the daily routine of chores, work, and kids can be a powerful antidote to the ennui and fatigue that can strike us all, particularly in the dead of winter. That is especially true when we shake up our routine by spending a fun evening with friends. For that reason, I am really looking forward to the Second Annual “Girls Night Out — Go Red for Women” event presented by WBBM Radio, K-HITS, B96 and Sassy Moms in the City on Wednesday February 29th. (That’s right: it’s on Leap Day!) I attended this event last year and it was so fun: Cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, beauty treatments, a red carpet fashion show, raffle prizes, swag bags and a chance to get out with your girlfriends in the middle of the week. Best of all, a portion of the proceeds from the evening will benefit the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women initiatives which help raise awareness of the number one killer of women in America: heart disease.

In keeping with the spirit of the event, guests are encouraged to wear red — do I even own anything red? — and bring a gently used hand bag or pair of professional shoes to donate to Dress for Success, a non-profit dedicated to providing career development for low-income women. This event is all about the ladies! Having fun and helping two important causes.

The $30 ticket price includes a walk on the red carpet, delicious cocktails — probably red ones — hors d’oeuvres, mini spa services, a fashion show, a swag bag filled with goodies and more. I’m definitely going to be there on February 29th and I’m bringing Rowena to thank her for organizing that fun night out last week when I really needed it. I also get to bring one West of the Loop reader and one of her girlfriends. That’s right: I’m giving away two VIP tickets to Girls Night Out — Go Red for Women.

To enter the giveaway for two VIP tickets to Girls Night Out — Go Red for Women, leave a comment to this post telling me about why you need a night out with your girlfriends. You can earn additional entries the following way:

• Follow me @westoftheloop on Twitter and leave a comment here telling me that you did so.
• Tweet about the giveaway with a link back to this post and the hashtags #GNO and #GoRed and leave a comment here telling me that you did so.
• Sign up for my RSS feed to receive West of the Loop by email or on your Google Reader and leave a comment here telling me that you did so.
• Like the West of the Loop Facebook page and leave a comment here telling me that you did so (but please know that Facebook has nothing whatsoever to do with this giveaway).

All entries must be received by Sunday February 12. I will select the winner at random. The winner will have to register for the event by February 22nd, so please watch your email or check back here after February 12 to see if you won. Even if you don’t win, I hope you will join us on the 29th. I promise a fun evening — did you notice the part about cocktails? — and I would love to hang out with you!

Full disclosure time: I received two complimentary tickets to this event in exchange for helping to spread the word about it. I hope that you will join Sassy Moms in the City along with WBBM Newsradio, K-HITS and B96 for a fun and charitable night on Wednesday February 29th at the “Girls Night Out Benefiting Go Red for Women” at Alhambra Palace Restaurant. I was selected to host this giveaway by Sassy Moms in the City.

Girls Night Out Benefitting Go Red for Women is a post from: West of the Loop

Half empty jar of sorghum syrup

January is a funny time of year for a Farmers’ Market Find post. The only farmers’ market that I have been to in the past three months is the Saturday morning farmers’ market in Naples, Florida, which is actually quite fun. Zuzu likes it for the freshly made kettle corn; my mom likes it for the hand-woven baskets; JR doesn’t like it; and I like it for the unusual tropical fruits on offer, including red limes, chocolate persimmons and something called egg fruit. But this post is not about the Naples market. (Although that is a good idea for a future post. Maybe in March?) This post is about a product that is hard to find except at places like farmers’ markets in southern and Midwestern rural areas, namely sorghum syrup.

Sorghum is a grain that is common throughout tropical and subtropical regions all over the world. It’s a staple for many rural people because it grows well in harsh environments and can thrive without fertilizers or other additional nourishment. In America these days sorghum is primarily grown for fodder, but it was not always so. In the 19th century, syrup made from sorghum was a popular sweetener throughout the southern United States. Making sorghum syrup was a labor-intensive process. First farmers harvested the sorghum cane. Then the cane was pressed through a mill to extract the juice. Lastly, the juice was cooked down into a syrup, like sap is cooked into maple syrup. The process is pretty much the same today.

The end result, sorghum syrup, has a golden amber color and a slightly burnt caramel taste, like molasses but without the bitterness. The flavor is very mellow and complex but not cloying. Traditionally sorghum was served on biscuits or pancakes and used as a sweetener in baking. Now that there are so many other cheap sweeteners available, sorghum syrup is one of those old-fashioned products that is practically extinct. But there are a few producers, mainly in places like Kentucky or Tennessee who still make it by hand.

I am not a southerner and I had never tasted sorghum syrup in my life until a few weeks ago. I first heard of sorghum syrup in a New York Times article about the revival of traditional southern crops, which comes on the heels of a renaissance in Southern cooking. This attempt to reinvent Southern cuisine by going back to its roots with heirloom crops and indigenous ingredients is exemplified by the cooking of Sean Brock. Chef Brock was profiled in The New Yorker last year and his Charleston restaurants Husk and McCrady’s have received national acclaim.

I was intrigued by both The New Yorker piece on Chef Brock and the New York Times article on Southern cooking, and I have put Husk on my must-try list. But what really caught my eye from the New York Times piece was the sidebar on sorghum syrup. There is nothing that interests me more than a hard-to-find, old-fashioned ingredient. You all have heard me ramble on about Damson plums and gooseberries and garlic scapes and the other unusual fruits and vegetables that I find at the Oak Park farmers’ market. If it’s weird-looking and I’ve never heard of it, you can be sure that I am going to buy some. Well, I had the same reaction when I read all these old Southerners going on and on about the delicious, complex flavor of sorghum syrup: I had to have some.

What I discovered is that if you don’t live near a source, sorghum syrup is awfully hard to come by. After much searching, I ended up ordering some from an online store called the Rural Root Mercantile. The name alone made it worthwhile. I felt like Laura Ingalls Wilder and Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman all rolled into one. I think my measly 21 oz. jar of sorghum syrup cost me $25 with shipping. And, you know, it’s good. It’s not life-changing or anything, but then again, I didn’t grow up on sorghum syrup.

Although it is not a source of nostaglia for me, I enjoy the taste of sorghum. It is, as they say, similar to molasses without any bitterness. My husband and I both tried in on pancakes, but then went back to maple syrup for our second helpings. I bet sorghum syrup would be delicious on ham, but we have that pesky no-pork rule in our house. I think that the real virtues of sorghum syrup come through in baking. I experimented with using sorghum syrup in lieu of molasses in some of my recipes and the results were interesting. Then, I made a batch of gingerbread using half sorghum syrup and half molasses and that was incredible. I served it to my book club and the ladies loved it. My measly 21 oz. jar is now half empty (or is it half full?) so to paraphrase Elaine from Seinfeld, I’m trying to decide if any other recipes are “sorghum-worthy” before committing. I’ll let you know if I come up with anything.

Sorghum Gingerbread with Lemon Glaze
Adapted from The Silver Palate Cookbook

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. salt
1 egg at room temperature
1/2 cup sorghum syrup (or granulated sugar)
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup powdered sugar
Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon

Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 8 or 9 inch square baking pan. Whisk together dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Beat the egg and add it to the dry ingredients along with the sorghum syrup and molasses. (Things will be rather sticky.) Mix well. Add the vegetable oil and the boiling water and stir together until smooth. Pour batter into the baking pan and bake 35 to 40 minutes until the edges have pulled away from the sides and a tester comes out clean. To make the glaze, whisk together the lemon juice, lemon zest and powdered sugar until syrupy. Pour the glaze over the top of the gingerbread while it is still hot. (Do not feel compelled to use all of the glaze. You don’t want soggy gingerbread. Just a light coating on top will do.)

Farmers’ Market Find: Sorghum Syrup is a post from: West of the Loop

My husband declared the new recipe a keeper. So, I’m sharing it with you. But the real lesson here is that chili is a dish perfectly suited to experimentation and cooking with what is on hand. There’s almost no wrong way to make chili. You can make it with meat or without. Most chilis include tomatoes, but the white chili that I had intended to make the day that I came up with this recipe does not. I suppose a chili is really a stew that gets its heat from chile peppers in some form or another. But beyond that, the definition is wide open. I guess that’s why people are always having chili cook-offs. So, as always, I encourage you to think about the techniques involved in making a chili and then come up with your own recipe tailored to your family’s tastes and dietary limitations.

For any chili, start by sauteeing onion and garlic. If you’re using ground meat, add it to the softened onion and brown it thoroughly. Then season the onion and meat mixture. You will want chili powder certainly. Cumin and coriander are other common spices in Mexican and southwestern cooking. Cinnamon would not be out of place, although don’t use too much. Don’t forget salt and pepper too! Then, to the seasoned onion and meat mixture, add your tomatoes and liquid. You will see that I use a bottle of beer as my liquid. I think it is fitting for chili somehow. But you can also use two cans of tomatoes or chicken or beef broth.  Bring the chili to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer it. You can simmer for hours, which will allow for the flavors to really develop, but just until the chili thickens is okay too. Add ingredients that need less cooking time, such as canned beans or frozen vegetables ten or fifteen minutes before serving or else they will get mushy. I almost serve chili over rice and pass grated cheese and sour cream as a garnish. Other possible garnishes include chopped scallion, diced avocado, or canned green chiles. You can also skip the rice and serve cornbread. It’s really up to you.

For this chili, I ended up using canned tomatoes, which are definitely a pantry staple in my house. I recently received a very nice sampler package from Midwestern favorite Red Gold Tomatoes, which included the hot and spicy Petite Diced Tomatoes with Green Chiles and a can of Chili-Ready Diced Tomatoes. These will definitely add an extra kick to your chili. Red Gold has offered me a similar sample pack to give away to a West of the Loop reader. This prize will keep your family in chili and pasta sauce for weeks. To enter, leave a comment to this post telling me about your favorite chili recipe, or why you hate chili, if that’s the case. You can earn an extra entry the following ways:

• Follow @westoftheloop on Twitter
• Tweet about the giveaway with a link back to this post and mention @RedGoldTomatoes
• Follow @RedGoldTomatoes on Twitter

Not on Twitter? Well, you can always like West of the Loop on Facebook and let me know about that. (I know you are on Facebook. Everyone is, except my brother.) Entries must be received by Thursday February 2. I will select one winner at random. Good luck. Now, on to the recipe:

Turkey, Black Bean and Corn Chili

2 Tb Olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. ground turkey, preferably dark meat
3 TB chili powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes with their juice
1 bottle beer
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn kernels
Sour cream and grated cheddar cheese for garnish (optional)

Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until translucent. Add the ground turkey and continue to saute until the turkey is cooked through and loses its pink color. Season with chili powder, coriander and cumin, as well as salt and pepper to taste. Add a 28 oz. can of whole tomatoes, with their juice, crushing the tomatoes by hand or with the back of a spoon.  Add the bottle of beer. (The alcohol will cook off, so do not worry about serving this chili to children.)

Bring the chili to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer until thickened, at least ten to fifteen minutes. Add the black beans and stir to combine. Add the frozen con kernels, adjusting the heat slightly. Cook until the beans are warmed through, approximately another ten to fifteen minutes. Serve over rice and garnish with grated cheddar cheese, chopped scallions and sour cream.

Cooking without a Recipe: Chili (and a Red Gold giveaway) is a post from: West of the Loop

Meyer lemon curd is like a spot of sunshine on a winter day

In case you haven’t noticed the 8 inches of snow outside, it’s winter. Although I miss our beautiful summer fruits and vegetables, wintertime cooking can be very satisfying. Lots of soups and stew and hearty braises. And certainly wintertime is the perfect season for baking. Who can resist the allure of baking cookies on a snowy day? Not me! When the snow was coming down hard Friday afternoon, Zuzu and JR helped me whip up a batch of my grandmother’s Halfway Cookies.

Most people assume that I don’t do any canning in the winter because there are so few fruits and vegetables that are in season. But that’s not entirely true. I can much less often in the winter, but there are a few canning projects that I like to do at this time of year.

First, of course, winter is the perfect time of year to can citrus fruits, which are actually better now than in the summer. You can make all kinds of marmalade, for example. I have experimented with orange and grapefruit marmalades myself, but the truth is that it’s not my favorite project. Marmalade is very labor-intensive and I don’t particularly care for the final product.

For my money, I’d rather make curds with the beautiful citrus fruits that are in the grocery stores right now. Citrus curds are rich, eggy custards that can elevate your basic pound cake, scone or bowl of yogurt into an indulgent treat. I follow the Food in Jars recipe for Meyer Lemon Curd and I have also adapted it to make Key Lime curd. Just replace the 1/2 cup lemon juice with 1/2 cup of Key Lime juice. Key limes are quite small, so it will take a lot of them to make a 1/2 cup of juice. Luckily, you often buy Key limes in large bags. Lime curd is scrumptious on strawberries.

Lemon and lime curd can be processed for shelf-stability, but it is not necessary to do so. This recipe makes a small batch and it will last for weeks in the fridge. If you see beautiful citrus fruits in your grocery store, I encourage you to buy a bunch of them and pick up an extra half-dozen eggs to try your hand at making a curd. Once you try this delicacy, you will find any number of ways to use it.

The other wintertime canning project that I enjoy is making savory jellies. Savory jellies can easily be made with supermarket ingredients and often use dried fruit, so they are perfect for this time of year. They are delicious for spreading on a sandwich or as elegant addition to a cheese tray. This spicy-sweet jelly is one of my husband’s favorite. It is quite beautiful to look at in the jar with the brightly colored flecks of pepper. This recipe makes a small batch, so if you do not want to process the jelly for shelf-stability, you can simply store the jars in your fridge or give them away as gifts.

Apricot-Jalapeno Jelly
Adapted from The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving

1/2 cup finely sliced dried apricots
3/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped jalapeno peppers, seeds and veins removed*
3 cups sugar
1 pouch liquid pectin

Soak the dried apricots in vinegar and let stand for a minimum of four hours.

If you are processing the jelly for shelf-stability, prepare canning pot and 3 8 oz. jars with their lids.

Pour apricots and vinegar into a large, deep saucepan. Add the chopped onion and peppers and stir in the sugar. Bring to a boil over high heat. When the mixture is boiling hard, add the liquid pectin, stirring to combine. Bring back to a boil. Boil for two minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

To process for shelf-stablity, follow good water-bath canning procedures, leaving 1/4 inch headspace in each jar and process for 10 minutes.

If not processing for shelf-stability, dunk 3 8 oz. jars into boiling water. Carefully fill the jars with the hot jelly and cover. Store in the refrigerator. Allow at least a day for the jelly to firm up before using.

*As always, please use care when working with hot peppers. I recommend wearing rubber gloves.

Winter Canning is a post from: West of the Loop

When entertaining with kids, the name of the game is flexibility. Don’t expect to finish a sentence, let alone an entire anecdote. Do expect your younger guests to turn up their noses at your fine cuisine and demand mac n’cheese.  And, if someone locks him or herself in the bathroom, be ready to dismantle a door knob.

The evening began with hors d’oeuvres. In addition to the eggplant caviar with pita, I also threw together a classic French hors d’oeuvre called fromage fort because my husband doesn’t like eggplant and I felt bad for him. To make fromage fort, you take an assortment of leftover cheeses and throw them in the food processor with some white wine and garlic. The end result is a creamy cheese spread with a tangy bite.  Although it only took me moments to make, the fromage fort was as big a hit as the eggplant caviar. Just goes to show you! But the eggplant caviar was still beautiful and delicious and I recommend it.

I forgot to mention in my last post that I have a soft spot for eggplant caviar because I used to eat eggplant caviar sandwiches for lunch when I was studying abroad in Paris. A take-out restaurant near my school called Au Plaisir du Pain had the most amazing grilled sandwiches and the caviar d’aubergine sandwich was my favorite. That and a Diet Coke made for the perfect picnic lunch in the nearby Jardin du Luxembourg.

Caviar d’aubergine (Eggplant Caviar)
Adapted from Quiches, Kugels and Couscous by Joan Nathan

3 eggplants
1 red pepper
6 cloves garlic
Freshly squeezed lemon juice and olive oil
Paprika, cumin, and salt and pepper

Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise and cut a small slit in each half. Stuff a garlic clove in each slit. Roast the eggplants in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, char the red pepper in a dry skillet over high heat until all sides are blackened. Place pepper in a paper bag. When it is cool, remove the skin from the pepper.

Peel the eggplant halves and puree them in a food processor along with the garlic cloves, and the red pepper. Add freshly squeezed lemon juice (start with half a lemon) and olive oil until the puree takes on a smooth yet chunky consistency. Season with paprika (start with 2 tsp.) and cumin (start with 1 tsp.) and salt and pepper. Serve with pita chips, slices of French bread or raw vegetables. Eggplant caviar also make a delicious spread for a sandwich. Try it on a baguette with roasted red peppers and some goat cheese.

If a guest locks herself in the bathroom, try dismantling the door knob

The children played while the adults enjoyed their hors d’oeuvres and uninterrupted conversation. After 30 minutes or so, we moved into the dining room for dinner. (JR announced his disdain for my chicken couscous dish, so I quickly prepared some instant macaroni and cheese for him and for our guests’ preschooler. Luckily both Zuzu and our friends’ daughter are adventurous eaters.) The chicken and vegetables part of the chicken couscous — which comes from Dorie Greenspan’s book Around my French Table — can be prepared in advance. I was glad that I had done so because the broth came out a little greasy. It was probably the fault of my homemade chicken stock, and not the recipe. But by preparing the dish in advance, I was able to skim the fat off the broth before reheating, which improved it tremendously. In all, the dish was quite tasty, although if I were to make it again I would replace the turnips in the recipe with a vegetable that more people like. Zuzu thought the large white chunks were potato and the look on her face when she took a big bite of turnip was priceless. Even I have to admit that turnips aren’t my favorite.

However, the highlight (?) of the meal was when our friends’ nine year old locked herself in our powder room. She could not get the old sticky lock undone to save her life, so after an aborted attempt to send an adult in through the window, the dads dismantled the doorknob and busted the little girl out of the bathroom. Luckily, no one ever panicked and the adults –buoyed by wine and determined not to scare the kids — remained jolly even when I began combing through the Yellow Pages for a locksmith. Fortunately it never came to that and the whole incident was a reminder that when you’re entertaining, there will inevitably be disasters of all sorts. All you can do is handle them with as much grace as you can muster and hope that your guests are forgiving. Ours certainly were.

After the hearty chicken couscous, a beautiful spinach salad brought by our guests and the bathroom break-in, dessert was probably overkill. But I had made a fancy dessert and I was determined to serve it. I had made another Dorie Greenspan recipe, a Sable Breton Galette with lemon curd and fresh berries. What on earth is that, you ask? Imagine a crispy, slightly salty shortbread crust, spread with lemon curd and topped with an assortment of raspberries, blueberries and strawberries. It tasted as good as it sounds. (And the galette looked stunning on my new cake plate from Marshalls — which I still can’t believe only cost $10!)

Galette with lemon curd and fresh berries

I had made the different elements for the galette — namely the crust and the lemon curd — in advance but the whole thing needed to be assembled right before serving so the crust would not get soggy. Luckily, it’s a quick task and the result is impressive. Because this dessert is not particularly sweet, it was perhaps not the best choice for a dinner that included kids. They would have preferred something more typically dessert-y. But the adults loved it and I would definitely make it again for a different crowd. I think of lemon curd as a wintertime ingredient — because citrus fruits are best in winter — and the berries obviously are in season in the summertime. So I’m not sure what time of year this dessert is really intended for. You could certainly have fun with this idea and replace the lemon curd with a chocolate cream or a marscapone cheese. But the salty galette shortbread dough is definitely a keeper, especially if you love the combination of salty and sweet.

Looking forward to next month’s party: a Superbowl Party!

Casual Family Dinner Party: The Recap is a post from: West of the Loop

My inspiration

The first of my Twelve Parties for 2012 is scheduled for this Sunday, January 15. The January party is a casual family dinner party. The family that I have invited for dinner is, like us, very into food. When they had us over for dinner a few months ago, they made us a beautiful meal with a baked Brie appetizer and a perfectly cooked prime rib. (Zuzu impressed our hosts by eating her weight in prime rib.) So, I knew that this occasion called for more than my usual family-friendly fare, like make-your-own tacos or chili. I wanted to make something that would be elegant and sophisticated for our adult guests, while still being kid-friendly enough for two third graders and two preschoolers.

When I want to make something elegant yet homey, I turn to French cuisine. I am a dyed-in-the-wool Francophile, so I may be biased. But, in my opinion, the French are the masters of food that feels fancy while actually being comforting and accessible. Among my favorite French cookbook these days are Around my French Table by the wonderful Dorie Greenspan and Quiches, Kugels and Couscous, a study of French-Jewish cuisine by Jewish cooking expert Joan Nathan. From these two books I put together a menu that feels worthy of company but appropriate for all ages:

Family Dinner Party

Caviar d’aubergine (eggplant caviar) with pita toasts
Chicken couscous
Salad
Breton galette with lemon curd and berries

Whenever I am entertaining, I look for two things: dishes that can be prepared ahead of time and one-pot dishes.  I also look for recipes that can be broken down into parts so that I can spread the work out over several days. That way, I never feel overburdened. In this menu, the dessert, can be broken down into different parts, the lemon curd and the dough, and both can be done several days ahead. The hors d’oeuvre, the eggplant caviar, is actually better if it is done ahead of time because that way the flavors have more time to develop. And the chicken couscous, while festive and ideal for a crowd, is totally a one-dish meal. In short, this menu meets all of my requirements.

I began preparing for the party the weekend before, by choosing the menu. That’s always the first step. Then I looked to see if there were any elements that could be done as far as a week ahead of time. Lemon curd can sit in your fridge for weeks with no ill effects, so I made that, using this recipe from my friend Marisa of the canning blog, Food in Jars. Then, during the week, I prepared my master shopping list for the party.  But I waited until Friday, two days before the dinner, to actually do the shopping. I wanted my vegetables to be fresh, not wilted. (I actually will probably pop by Whole Foods again Sunday morning to buy the berries for the dessert because berries are so very persishable. But that will be a ten-minute errand at worst.)

When I got home from the grocery shopping on Friday, I immediately started making chicken broth to use in the couscous. I feel sure that one could use canned chicken broth in the chicken couscous recipe and it would be fine. It just happens that I enjoy making homemade chicken stock, especially on cold snowy afternoons. Chicken stock also benefits by being made in advance because when you refrigerate the stock, the fat congeals on top. Then, before you use the stock, you can remove the congealed fat and be assured of having a flavorful, but not greasy broth. I also made the dough for the Breton galette on Friday because the recipe states that the dough can be made as early as three days in advance.

So, by Friday evening, my fridge was stocked with all the ingredients I would need for the couscous and the eggplant caviar. In addition, I had already prepared the lemon curd and the tart dough for the dessert. Not bad at all. My plan going forward would be: Saturday, during the day, make the eggplant caviar. Saturday evening, clean the house and tidy up. Sunday morning, bake the tart dough and purchase the berries. And Sunday afternoon, make the couscous. Should be easy, right?

My sleek new cake plate

Now, another important part of entertaining at home is the table. Whenever I am entertaining, as soon as I have decided on the menu, I not only make a grocery shopping list; I also make a list of any kitchen tools or serving pieces that I will need but that I don’t already own. As a general rule, I don’t advocate running out and buying a bunch of new serving dishes or kitchen tools every time you host a party. That would get expensive and who has that much space? But at the same time, a party is a great excuse to fill in any gaps in your kitchen or tableware.

For example, in the Breton galette recipe, Dorie Greenspan recommends serving the tart on a flat plate. But I didn’t have one. All of my platters are either oval, which isn’t the right shape, or round and curved. So, this dinner was a perfect excuse to go out and buy a pretty new cake plate. I stopped by my local Marshalls when I was out running errands early in the week, and for $10, I found a beautiful square ceramic platter in a cool contemporary design. While I was there, I couldn’t resist picking up a wide but shallow serving bowl that will be perfect for presenting the chicken couscous. The two pieces together cost just $25, and I know I will get a lot of use out of them. (In fact, I already used the cake plate to serve gingerbread to my book club on Thursday night.)  I was really impressed with all the different tableware on sale at Marshall’s, including some high-end wine glasses, and, of course, the prices were amazing.

I’m feeling good about my first party. But the proof is in the pudding! I will report back next week and let you all know how it goes. What about you? Is anyone else entertaining over the long weekend?

Full disclosure time: this post was sponsored in part by TJ Maxx/Marshalls. I was given a $25 store gift card to purchase items for my dinner party and write about them. All opinions expressed herein are my own.

Twelve Months of Parties: a Casual Family Dinner is a post from: West of the Loop

My dad with younger versions of my kids

My dad passed away five months ago today. In the past five months, I have experienced loss and grief in a way that I never had before. It has been an eye-opening experience.

If you know me in real life or if you see me from day to day, you probably think that I am doing fine. Let me assure you that I am not doing fine. I am, however, expert in keeping up appearances. I still show up everywhere on time, dressed nicely and wearing make-up. I smile and laugh and make conversation. I am very good at compartmentalizing and I pride myself on fulfilling all my responsibilities. I don’t want to seem like a drama queen or draw attention to the fact that I am grieving.

But perhaps only my husband understands that I still cry several times a week about my father. I am struggling on the inside while managing to look like I am doing well on the outside. Although months have passed, it is impossible for me to let go of my anger and sadness at the loss of my father. As the weeks and months pass, my sense of how great the loss is only grows. The grief is no better. I am only more used to feeling this way.

Whenever my husband has a dilemma at work, or the kids hit a new milestone or I get a new opportunity, I wish so much that my father were here to give us his advice or to celebrate with us. My dad was not a bit player in our lives. He liked to know everything that was going on, especially with the kids. He was someone we consulted about all of our problems and decisions. His absence therefore looms tremendously large.

What’s more, I still find it hard to believe that he can really be gone. How can he be gone when I can hear his voice in my head or see the sandals he bought for JR in May? It feels like he was just here. There is a part of me that simply does not accept that I will never see my dad again. Part of me thinks that this is a test of some kind and that if I wait long enough, my dad will reappear. I wonder how long it takes for that magical thinking to go away. Maybe it never fully does. One friend told me that although her dad died ten years ago, when she is at her step-mother’s house and the phone rings, she thinks for a split-second that it’s her father calling.

One thing that I have learned about grief is that it is not the occasions that you dread that really get you. The worst moments are the ones that sneak up on you. I was dreading Thanksgiving, in part because it was the first big holiday without my dad and in part because it was my first trip ever to the house in Florida without my dad. But Thanksgiving was not nearly as bad as I expected. I’m sure that because I was expecting the holiday to be hard, I succeeded in steeling myself against any possible breakdowns. What I didn’t expect was the breakdown that occurred a few weeks later when I found myself in the basement looking at my stash of jam. When my eye fell on the raspberry jam, I thought of my dad and started to cry. My dad loved raspberry jam best of all and I had sent him some just a few weeks before he died. My mom is not a big jam person, so that jar of jam is probably still in her fridge barely touched. So, how can my dad be gone when the jam I sent him is still there?

I know that I am a lucky person. Nothing that has happened has changed that knowledge. Sure, many people my age still have both of their parents. And my father died far too young. But to reach the age of 37, as I did, before experiencing this kind of grief is the mark of a lucky person. I am also lucky because I had the kind of close, loving relationship with my father that makes this loss so painful. So I don’t feel that my dad’s death is unfair or that it shouldn’t have happened to me.

What I do feel is that the loss of my dad is enormous. It is big and overwhelming and it has left with me such a sense of sadness and longing for things to be different. I don’t know what the next months will bring and I don’t know when, if ever, acceptance will come. This is my first time with grief. I only know that five months in, it is still really, really hard.

Five Months Later is a post from: West of the Loop

I am one of those people who goes into withdrawal if my iPhone is not within a hand’s reach. So this app is perfect for me. First, I make my shopping list right on the app. Then I review the personalized Just for U deals on my frequently purchased items and add the virtual coupons for the items I want to my card. Those items then get added to my grocery list, which makes the shopping experience so easy.

Here’s the terrible truth about me. Not only am I a failure at using coupons, I am terrible at comparing prices. I honestly don’t know which store has the best price on orange juice or corn starch or toothbrushes. I often fall victim to the “it’s at a huge warehouse store so it must be a good price” mentality without really doing the research. So I especially love the feature of the Dominick’s mobile app that lists not only the Dominick’s sale price for an item but also the price of that same item at other stores. So, you can buy the juice boxes or the laundry detergent with a clear conscience, knowing you actually got the best price. It makes me feel rather smug about the whole thing.

In order to encourage you to download the app, which is free, Dominick’s is giving away a $50 gift card to one lucky West of the Loop reader. To enter the giveaway for the gift card, leave a comment to this post telling me about your hopes for the new year. Are you trying to eat better? Save money? Be more organized? I must receive the comment by midnight on Friday January 13th (oooooh spooky!). You can get additional entries the following ways:

• Download the Dominick’s app and leave a comment telling me that you did so. (And I am coming to your house to check your phone)
• Follow me @westoftheloop on Twitter (and leave a comment telling me that you did so)
• Tweet about the giveaway with a link back to this post (and leave a comment yadda yadda yadda)

I will select the winner at random. Good luck everyone and happy 2012.

Full disclosure time: I was engaged by Dominick’s to write about their new mobile app and received a store gift card as compensation. All opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.

Save Money and Time with Dominick’s Mobile App is a post from: West of the Loop

The combination of cooking with friends and family leads naturally to the subject of entertaining. I love hosting people at my home for everything from a casual Sunday brunch, to a holiday party for 18 to an elegant adults-only dinner party. But like most of us, I get intimidated by entertaining. My house is far from a showplace — have I ever mentioned my empty living room? — and my life is busy enough as it is. So although I always find hosting parties to be rewarding and even fun, I don’t do it nearly as much as I could. And when I do invite people over, it tends to fall along the same familiar lines: Sunday night casual dinners or a weekend lunch.

So, for 2012, I am launching a project on West of the Loop that will push me both to entertain more and to entertain in new ways. I’m calling it Twelve Months of Parties. Twelve parties for 2012 — get it? As the name suggests, the idea is to host a different kind of party every month. Some of the parties will be family affairs; some will be for adults only. Some will be seasonal and some will be timeless. The goal is to strengthen my relationships with friends, family and neighbors while at the same time challenging myself to cook new things and entertain in new ways.

I hope to post both before and after each month’s party. The “before” post will describe the plans and the menu for the party while the “after” post will recap the party and report back on what worked and what didn’t.

I have been brainstorming party ideas for the past few days and thinking about which holidays and events I am likely to host at my house. This is what I have come up with. In other words, here is my Twelve Month of Parties for 2012:

January — Family dinner party (casual)
February — Superbowl party
March — Adult dinner party (elegant)
April — Passover Seder
May — Mother’s Day Tea
June — Brunch
July — Summer cookout
August — Cocktail party
September — Kid birthday party
October — Game night
November — Girls Night In
December — Cookie Exchange

I think that this plan is ambitious but not overly so. I hope that at the end of 2012 I will have, in addition to a year’s worth of memorable gatherings to look back on, strengthened relationships with both old friends and new, some fabulous new recipes under my belt and — dare I say it? — a reputation as a great hostess.

If anyone wants to join me in this effort, I welcome your participation. We can share menu and decorating ideas and push one another out of our respective comfort zones. If you want to participate in the 12 Months of Parties for 2012, leave me a comment letting me know that you want in. You definitely don’t have to do these same twelve parties. To the contrary, you should pick twelve parties that fit into your lifestyle. If you are a blogger, post about the challenge on your blog and lay out your plan. Link back to this post and I will list all the participating bloggers on my side bar. We can tweet about the challenge as well with the hash tag #12parties.

Hope to party with you in 2012!

Twelve Months of Parties for 2012 is a post from: West of the Loop

Thanks to Duncan Hines for sponsoring my writing. There’s no limit to the baking possibilities, so grab your favorite Duncan Hines mix and Comstock or Wilderness fruit fillings and Bake On! www.duncanhines.com.

This weekend we are hosting a small gathering of friends to celebrate Hanukkah, which starts on the night of December 20. The traditional food for Hanukkah is, of course, potato latkes and believe me, we will be serving at least two kinds of latkes, with their traditional accompaniments, sour cream and applesauce. There will be other traditional and not-so-traditional fare as well, like noodle kugel, meatballs and veggies and dip. And it will all be delicious, I’m sure. But what most people look for at any kind of holiday party is dessert, right? The holiday season is really about cookies, candies, pie and cakes. At least that’s what my kids think.

Although they are not as well known as latkes, there are some traditional Hanukkah desserts.  Hanukkah foods are typically made with oil because of the role of oil in the Hanukkah story. (For those of you who don’t know the story, Hanukkah commemorates the victory of a small group of Jews, the Maccabees, over the army of the Syrian-Greek King Antiochus in the second century BCE. After the Jews drove the Greeks out of Judea, they attempted to restore their temple, which had been destroyed in the war, only to discover that there was oil to light the lamp that held the eternal flame for only one day. The story is that a miracle occurred and the small amount of oil lasted for eight days, which was how long it took to make new oil.)  Thus, in Israel, it is very common to eat a kind of fried, jelly-filled doughnut called sufganiyot for Hanukkah. I personally am way too chicken to try making doughnuts at home, but one of our guests said that she was going to give it a try. I’m excited to see the results.

If jelly doughnuts aren’t your thing, any dessert made with oil would count as a typical Hanukkah dessert. There are many interesting cake recipes that call for oil — including some which call for olive oil, which would be even more traditional — like this chocolate zucchini cake.  Another traditional Hanukkah dessert is the classic Jewish cookie rugelach. Rugelach are a crescent-shaped cookie made with a rich cream cheese dough and filled with jam, fruit and nuts. Apparently, there is an ancient story from the time of the Maccabees about a Israelite widow, Judith, who plied the Syrian commander with cheesecake and wine and then, when he fell asleep, cut off his head. Thus, in many Hanukkah foods, cream cheese is used to symbolize the bravery and cunning of the small Jewish army.

I’m not 100% sure how I feel about that, but rugelach are delicious and fun to make. I made some for our Hanukkah party with my favorite assistant pastry chef, JR. He loved helping me spread jam and sprinkle brown sugar and raisins on the circles of dough. And then, after I cut the circles into wedges, he rolled them up to make the little crescents. It was a great project for a rainy morning.

Another fun idea for a Hanukkah dessert is a cake in the shape of a dreidel. A dreidel is a four-sided spinning top that is a traditional part of any Hanukkah celebration. Dreidels have a Hebrew letter on each of the four sides. The letters are: nun, gimel, hay and shin. Those letters stand for the sentence “nes gadol hayah shom,” which means “a great miracle happened there.” To play dreidel, you need a “pot” of small candies, coins or tokens. Players take turn spinning the dreidel and depending on which letter the dreidel lands on, the player has to either add to the pot, take half of the pot, take the whole pot or do nothing. So, basically, it’s gambling. I went into Zuzu’s third grade class last week to talk about Hanukkah and judging by the enthusiasm of the kids for the dreidel game, Illinois is going to have a generation of gambling addicts on its hands in about ten years.

To make a dreidel cake, all you have to do is make your favorite cake recipe or Duncan Hines cake mix in a straight-sided metal 13×9 inch pan. After the cake is cooled and baked, on one of the short sides, cut a 3X3 inch square off each corner. That creates the top of the dreidel. Then, to make the spinning point, cut two right triangles off the corners of the other short side. Frost and decorate any way you like. I wish I had a picture of the dreidel cake to show you, but I haven’t made ours yet. I promise I will post a picture when I have one though. I plan to make a chocolate cake and then using a stencil, make one of the Hebrew letters out of powdered sugar. I think the kids will get a big kick out that.

Remember to check out Duncan Hines’ website www.duncanhines.com to find some great recipes for your holiday get-together! I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective.

Dessert with Friends at Hanukkah is a post from: West of the Loop