Lists are good. Lists are efficient.

It's been a while. I suppose many things have happened since my last post and since I am such a fan of lists, I will update you in list form!

1. Chicago Voyage
June 5th was spent in Chicago with Joshua. We met at Wormhole (my very favorite coffee shop in Chi) and visited the Cloud Gate and BP Bridge at Millennium Park, shopped at H&M and Urban Outfitters, enjoyed the perfect weather at Wicker Park, got lunch at Crisp (the very best place in Chi for wings), coffee at Intelligentsia (don't tell Wormhole, although Josh refused to drink coffee anywhere but WH so he got iced tea), dinner at Urban Belly and ended the evening full circle at Wormhole (again) for more coffee.
It was so nice to have a whole day off and just enjoy the weather and company and simply eat food instead of prepare it.

Pritzker Pavilion and Smurfit Stone Building from the BP Bridge

fancy chair that Josh got to try out at Telli
(note the iced tea)

2. Farm Dinners
I've made dinners consisting of grilled steaks and cheesy polenta, grilled pizza, citrus beef dumplings in a pea vine broth, sweet potato empanadas with lime-cilantro sour cream and spanish rice and cherry pop tarts!

3. Cherry pop tarts
I've been wanting to try homemade pop tarts for a couple months now. Ever since I saw a recipe for them back in January actually. Don't think of it as a pop tart so much as an individual pie, perfect for picnics, packed lunches or road trips! It was actually quite easy to make! Just a basic pie dough recipe and basic pie filling recipe.

4. Grilled Pizza
Apparently, this is a much more common thing than I thought. When I found it online I was so excited to try it, thinking not many people knew about it. But, everyone I've talked to about it, seems to have at least heard of it before if not made it several times. :/ Well, I'm still excited about it and whether you've heard about it or not, I'm going to tell you about it because it's my blog and that's how it works! Grilling is actually a really great way to prepare pizza! Lot's of bottom heat, which is what pizzas prefer (I asked them, they told me that). You just want to keep your grill on low heat setting and try to keep the temp between 300 and 400 degrees. Other than that, its just the same as making pizza in your oven. Check it often to make sure it's not charring on the bottom and enjoy a delicious hearth style pizza without heating up your whole house by running your oven in the summer. I also learned the importance of a pizza peel. I thought, 'naaaah i dont need to flour the bottom of a pan, it will be fine!' Wrong. The result was a cosmetically deformed mass of dough and cheese that loosely resembled a pizza. Good thing I made 2 so that I could correct my mistake. I heavily flour the bottom of a cookie sheet (because I didn't have cornmeal) and Voila! A perfectly shaped pizza. Turns out peels are just for looks or ambiance. Imagine that!

5. L'Etoile
If I thought my station at the restaurant was at capacity...I was wrong. A new dish appeared on my station last weekend along with the return of charcuterie. Doesn't sound so bad, huh? Well, this new dish is the worlds most popular appetizer involving 3 more mixing bowls, house made mayo, crab (read: shell fish allergy concerns) and martini glasses. A cold mess to say the least. Don't get me wrong, it's delish. How could you go wrong with the season's first sugar snap peas and kind crab salad?? I'd want to order it too! But to make it... not so much. Secondly, charcuterie. Sounds harmless as well doesn't it. However, one plate of charcuterie involves coppa, prosciutto, head cheese, pate and mortadella (all house made) and well as, toasted bread (a real pain if you forget and it burns) another type of mayo, mustard, marinated olives and cornichons. Luckily it doesn't get order too often. Only when I'm already 'in the weeds'. But I'm not complaining. Merely recounting my experiences behind restaurant lines. It ain't always pretty back there people!

6. 1/2 marathon training
Yes, somehow I was convinced to run another 1/2 marathon. This one is in Chicago in September. Two in one year? Something is definitely wrong with my head. However, it is the something that is wrong with my knees that holds the majority of my attention. I couldn't even finish my leisurely 3 mile run last weekend. :/ I had to walk the last half mile or so, iced it for an hour and still ended up walking like a pirate for the following 8 hours. Not a good sign.

7. Indie Coffee
I found a new coffee shop in Madison to spend some time! It's a pretty good space and good coffee. But the real draw, they serve waffles all day!!! yesssss! I haven't actually ordered one, but I at least know they are available. :)

8. X-Men
I saw X-Men: First Class last weekend. So good! By far the best and my favorite Xmen movie yet! Yes, I liked it even more than X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Hard to believe, I know. And Wolvie was barely in this one! So, if you haven't seen it yet, you should def go see it!

9. Newsletter update
Newsletter writing is like a snow ball rolling down a hill, picking up more and more snow as it goes. In addition to the CSA newsletter we have added a cheese share newsletter and fruit share newsletter. so. much. writing.

My contributions: This is where it gets confusing and I wish I could just link the actual document, but alas I can't. Just know that we publish several newsletters which can be search by clicking the different options...

Newsletter homepage

Madison and local
June 4: 'This Weeks Box'

Twin Cities
June 11: Pea Vine veg. feature and recipes
June 16: 'This Weeks Box'

Cheese
June 9: Recipes

Fruit
June 16: Recipes

(See! I have been writing a lot! Perhaps now you will excuse my lack of blogging)