"To dream, dream, dream, all day long. Wrap my head in the gauze of a song." Tulsa

I've had a quiet week this week and last, and I'm still relishing all the loveliness of my Milwaukee trip.

I made it there with very little fuss, peach pie nestled safely in my backpack, and I fully enjoyed waiting for the bus as there were fighter jets passing overhead every few minutes (courtesy of the Air&Water Show). It's about two hours with traffic from downtown Chicago to Milwaukee and I spent most of the time watching the fields go by, it looks so much like home! I love living in a city, but every few months I still get home sick for the country. Open skies. Big Trees. Soybeans. Bugs. Stuff like that.

Plus, I adore listening to music while on the road. Don't you?? Some songs just need open skies. I really wish I had found out about this band/dude, Tulsa/ Carter Tanton, before my trip! (Now I have to patiently wait until November for his new album. Not one of my virtues.) Excellent road trip tune-age. Instead it was mostly the Cold Mountain soundtrack, Avett Bros, and Gillian Welch. The way back was more Irish tunes heavy thanks to several hours at the Irish Fest and the local Irish bar afterwards.

Miss Lyndsey, my faux big sister, and I ate delicious things: cuban food, waffles with walnuts and strawberries, diner hamburgers, corned beef sammitches, the traveling peach pie, amazing tacos, and of course a local brew. We also got to spend a lovely afternoon with Mr Brandon, my big brother from college, it was a little family reunion. He fed me cantaloupe and told me how to make curried mashed cauliflower. Going to make that. Also going to make cider with black currant juice and try out Miss Lyndsey's favorite thing of putting oat bran into her baking for delicious heartiness. Mmmm.

It was a perfect trip, and I'm grateful I have such dear people only two hours away. I was in a much better head state when I left, soothed and centered. Plus, I really do like Milwaukee, it's a small town version of Chicago and I always have a great time! Of course I was welcomed back to my city by a traffic jam of epic proportions (a semi jack-knifed on the Dan Ryan Expressway blocking 3 out of 4 lanes of traffic ahahahha), but it gave me the extra two hours I needed to finish Cranford! Yay?

I held on to the pleasant calm of my mini-break with lots of hot baths, lit candles and quiet nights. Then I decided to have some serious fun and invited two friends over to cook dinner with me in my tiny-ass kitchen! Now that was an interesting experience!!

We hit up the local farmers market for tomatoes and basil, then picked up two bottles of red wine and some cavatelli pasta, which is now one of my favorite shapes! It's like a little cowry shell, more pasta thickness than penne but not a honkin' piece of dough like gnocchi. There was a lot of maneuvering, improvising, and wine consumed but three people managed to make sauce and pasta to feed themselves. In a very tiny space. Since we were hungry the sauce couldn't simmer and thicken as it really should so we, after some drunken deliberation, decided to roux it. Actually it really wasn't a deliberation, it was just my friend declaring "Oh! We need to make a...a...crap! I only know the word in Coatian!! Ummm flour thickener?!?" "A roux." "Yes! A roux! Give me your flour." "Ok." And I gave the crazy drunk Croatian in my kitchen the flour and slowly backed away.

The sauce was delicious. We ended up having massive amounts of left-over cavatelli so the rest of the weekend was pasta with fresh basil, lemon juice, olive oil and cheese. Delicious. I've also decided I need one more work surface in my kitchen to make it really functional, so I'm keeping my eyes out for a small counter height table/shelf/cart thing.

I had last Friday off and decided to make the most of the remaining summer and go to the park. Chicago has awesome parks, and the one near my house has a section that they've designated to be a prarie area. Wild flowers and local flora go nuts and it's really quite lovely.

I hunkered down with my current read, Fanny's Last Supper, sipped sweet tea, and watched squirrels frolic.

See, wasn't kidding about that last part. I love me some squirrels!

All in all it was an excellent week and weekend, even though I didn't get around to posting about it! This weekend I'm dog-sitting Miss Ashely's Dottie and I'm bringing my camera. Get ready.

T.G.I.F.

Happy Friday everyone!

I'm off to the Magical Mystical Land of Milwaukee this weekend to visit my dear Miss Lyndsey! Perfect timing too, I had a rough week and am in need of a little break and the comfort and company of an old friend!

Speaking of friends! Another dear friend of mine, Miss Ashley, came over for dinner last Friday to celebrate her survival of finals week (and her belated Birthday)! She's becoming a librarian! How cool is that!! I'm always asking her random questions about the workings of the CPL. Having practically grown up at the library in Granville, it's weird for me to not know how things are done at my new library. Things get complicated when there are multiple branches!! If I check out a CD at one branch can I return it to another or is that bad??!! Will the librarians hate me??! Buuh!

There was lots of wine with nectarines (see Finals Week), my Mom's Honey Curry Chicken over rice with green beans, and a lovely wee apple pie a la mode for dessert! We spent about two hours watching My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding on Youtube (see Finals Week). Finals Week can really excuse any sort of behavior I've found, even when you're not the one taking tests!

It was a lovely time and I'm getting increasingly better at entertaining in my new space. It really takes me a while to figure that out for some reason! Just having people stop by is one thing, but making food in my wee kitchen when company is there and getting the timing etc down for a proper meal is quite another! I really enjoyed getting ready for Ashley though, everything went smoothly and even if it didn't she's not the sort of person to give a hoot!

Miss Linda's Honey Curry Chicken

adapted from the More-with-Less Cookbook (Mennonites!!)

3 lbs chicken

4 tbs butter

1/2 c honey

1/4 c prepared mustard (we use Colman's English mustard but any yellow mustard would do!)

1 tsp curry

1 tsp salt

(I sometimes go crazy and add some cocoanut milk and up the amount of the honey and spices if you want it to have more of an Asian feel)

Heat your oven to 350. Melt the butter then add the honey, mustard, curry and salt. Mix all together and pour over the chicken in an ovenproof dish. Bake for about an hour until chicken is cooked through. Serve over rice.

I typically just buy two chicken breasts and halve the recipe. It makes about three meals for one person that way!

And as Ashley really liked my green beans this is how I do it!

How to Achieve Cooked-Yet-Crisp Green Beans

Fill a large bowl with really cold water and put it in the fridge. Put a pot of salted water on to boil while you rinse and trim your beans. When the water comes to boil drop in the beans and only leave them in for 3-4 minutes. Just until they are bright green!! Then drain them in a colander and run them under cold water. Now put them in that bowl of water in the fridge either for 5 minutes or until you are ready to eat. Drain and voila! Crisp yet cooked beans! Try them with sauteed tomatoes and onions! It's seriously delicious!

Speaking of seriously delicious. Here is my breakfast:

I've got another in the oven for Miss Lyndsey since nothing says "I've missed you and thank you for having me!" like peach pie! I added some lime zest to the filling and it was a brilliant move. Brilliant and zingy!

I'm off to pack! Love to you all!

Alas, poor Cabbage, I knew it well...

I've been eating cabbage for two weeks now. It's a long story.

My dear friend Miss Cait and her girlfriend Miss Lisa travel quite a lot. Last week they were in Spain and Germany! And if you'll remember, last Fall they were in Turkey and they gifted their bi-weekly vegetable delivery to me. That time it was bok choy, some beets and a pumpkin.

This time its a butt-load of cabbage, carrots, corn, greens, green beans, one wee cucumber, a tomato, an eggplant and a summer squash. HAUL!!

Last weekend I sauteed some of the cabbage with eggs, carrots, onion and some worcestershire sauce.

Last Friday night my dinner was a sauce of roasted eggplant and tomato puree over rice.

And last Sunday I shared some roasted squash and tomatoes over pasta with a childhood friend who was in town for Lolla.

Monday it was corn on the cob and cabbage slaw.

I don't remember what I ate Tuesday...

Wednesday it was one of my favorite dishes, Papa al Pomodoro, it's a lifesaver. While I love fresh bread from the farmer's market it always seem to go dry before I can eat it all. Enter Papa al Pomodoro. Of course it's from Orangette, you sautee onions, garlic and tomatoes. Pull off pieces of stale bread (soak in water if necessary), leave to sit in the tomato mix for about 15 minutes then consume. For it's not an eating dish, it's a consuming dish. You will eat it all. I had those fresh green beans on the side. I made a sad face when it was all gone.

Thursday I didn't make a damn thing as I was getting drunk, eating baked brie and watching Gaskell's North and South with some of my Ladies. Because who doesn't need an industrial revolution love story in their lives??!! If you've never read or watched any Gaskell I do recommend it. She's what would of happened if Jane Austen and Charles Dickens had a love child. Romance and English country life but with political, social, and religious conflicts! Delicious.

Now, all that's left of the veggie haul is carrots, one wee cucumber, the greens and the damn cabbage. 3/4 of a head. Not entirely sure what I'm going to do with it but it has to go. Either in my belly, the garbage, or I'm going to force Cait to take it back!

I've got a quiet weekend planned as I'm out of town next weekend (Milwaukee Irish Fest with Miss Lyndsey!!). A nice simple breakfast:

Peaches to be made into a rustic galette later this weekend.

And loads of British movies to be watched because we've got a storm coming in.

Scratch "coming in". It's here. Just had to shut my windows to stop the rain from blowing inside!

I'm so glad the weather is cooperating with my plan for the day, it always seems weird to watch British films when the weather is fine. Rainy gloom is much more appropriate. I've already worked my way through all the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes and the Miss Marples (all of them.), and now it's time for some P.D. James! Hurrah for Netflix instant play!

I hope you all are having a lovely weekend, rain or shine, and let me know if you have any good recipes for cabbage!!