Sunday Supper

Last fall Andrew and I attended a wedding at the Kedron Valley Inn in beautiful Woodstock, Vermont. In between enjoying the fall foliage and catching up with old friends, we managed to visit quite a few local cheese shops. One of our stops was the Sugarbush Farm, a small, working cheese and maple sugar farm at the end of a long winding road. We sampled almost all of these cheeses offered and I managed to snag a recipe for Vermont Cheddar Cheese Soup. The soup is incredibly creamy and cheesy and perfect for those nights when you want to hibernate from the cold outside! I served the soup with roasted asparagus and an incredibly easy quick bread!

Cheddar Cheese Soup

Recipe from Sugarbush Farm

4 T. butter

2 c. milk

1 1/2 c. cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 t. dry mustard

1/2 c. flour

2 c. stock

Melt butter in large stock pot - gradually stir in flour, making a paste. Cook mixture five minutes, while heating milk and stock. Add hot milk and stock to flour mixture and stir. When mixture is creamy, add dry mustard and cheese and cook over low heat until just melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Simple Beer Bread

3 c. self-rising flour

3 T. sugar

1 12oz. beer

Mix all ingredients in large bowl. Pour into buttered loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, approximately 45 minutes.

On the Road: Rock Chalk Jayhawk

When I was growing up and wanted to escape the "boring" monotony of suburban Kansas City, I would hop in my car with my sister or a few friends and head west to Lawrence, KS. Lawrence is home of the University of Kansas and is everything a good college town should be - relaxed, cheap, quirky and cool.

I've been spending more time in Lawrence recently as my ruby slippers frequently transport me from the Emerald (ok, marble) City of Washington, DC, back to my home (and my boyfriend) in Kansas. The old haunts I used to frequent when I was growing up are still there, but I have managed to uncover a lot of "new" favorites as well. The last time I clicked my heels three times and wound up in Lawrence, this is where I ate.

Milton's

920 Massachusetts St.

Lawrence, KS 66044

The go-to place for breakfast. Smack in the middle of the main commercial street in Lawrence, Milton's is packed most weekend mornings with a good mix of students, families and locals. The food is fresh, delicious and cheap! There is usually a bit of a wait, but the time goes fast thanks to the piles of newspapers by the door and the fact that they give you a coffee mug when you walk in, so you can help yourself to some java until your name is called.

Papa Keno's

1035 Massachusetts St.

Lawrence, KS 66044

Lawrence is a great sports watching town, what with the powerhouse basketball team and the fairly (recently) successful football team. If you don't feel like braving the crowds at the stadium, relaxing at home with the game on TV and an open Papa Keno's box in front of you is a pretty close second. Try the Mama Keno, a deep dish pie with Roma tomatoes, spinach, feta and roasted garlic!

Teller's

746 Massachusetts St.

Lawrence, KS 66044

My favorite place in all of Lawrence! Teller's is a gem of a restaurant housed in a beautiful old building that housed a bank in its former life. They retained some of the old touches when they converted it into a restaurant, including the old bank vault door, which you have to walk through to reach the restrooms. The space is airy and modern and awash in candlelight at night. It's a great place to grab an upscale lunch, catch up with girlfriends over a bottle of $20 wine, or enjoy a romantic meal for two.

On the Road: Michigan's West Coast

My idea of summer vacation was shaped by many trips over the years to Cape Cod, MA. To me, summer just isn't summer unless you spend copious amounts of time lounging in the sand, overdosing on fresh seafood, plowing through stacks of fluffy beach books and eating ice cream for dessert every night. We got our summer fix this year by a side trip to the West Coast of Michigan after our Chicago visit. I hadn't spent much time in that part of the country before, and I found it delightful. The towns we visited were quaint and picturesque, the days relaxed and the people friendly. We ate plenty of fresh Michigan blueberries, visited a few farm stands to check out local produce, and had some enjoyable meals while exploring a few of the quaint towns dotting the coastline. What more could you ask for in a vacation? A few of our food highlights are outlined below!

Marro's Restaurant
147 Water Street
Saugatuck, MI 49453
(269) 857-4248

Saugatuck is one of the most charming towns I have stumbled upon in a long while. A quaint artists community situated in the heart of Michigan's Western Coast, we were delighted wile away an afternoon browsing through the many art galleries and gift shops in the area. As far as food is concerned, nestled among the myriad sweet shops hawking homemade fudge, ice cream and caramel corn, you'll find Marro's Restaurant. Operated by the Marro family since 1971, this is the kind of authentic place where you expect to find a little Italian grandmother wander out of the kitchen at the end of your meal, wagging her finger in your face and chastising you for not cleaning your plate. The place was packed for a weekday, so they must have had a whole team of Italian grandmothers in the kitchen, churning out classic Caesar salads, pillowy ravioli and decadent Alfredo. We ate enough to feed a small country (and avoid a clean plate club lecture!!), but that didn't prevent us from sampling one of Saugatuck's ice cream shops on the way out of town...

K2 Pizzeria
2 Washington St.
Grand Haven, MI 49417
(616) 846-3299

Our home base in Michigan was the charming Boyden House Bed and Breakfast in Grand Haven. The town's claim to fame is their musical fountain...a large fountain placed at the top of a hill that "performs" water and light shows nightly, all set to music. Never ones to shun local traditions, we decided to participate in the nightly pilgrimage down to the lakefront for the festivities. We enjoyed some pre-dinner drinks at The Grand, right on the main drag, and then ventured down to the waterfront for a little dinner before the show. I never met a white pizza I didn't like, and K2's version was more than acceptable. Our pie contained a generous amount of asiago cream in place of tomato sauce and was topped with feta cheese, grilled chicken, bacon, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes. Fortuitously, the rooftop balcony of K2 had an excellent view of the fountain, so we didn't even have to leave the comfort of our seats, and, umm, our beers, to enjoy the display.

Everyday People Cafe
11 Center St.
Douglas, MI 49406
(269) 857-4240

Douglas is Saugatuck's next door neighbor. While we didn't get as much of an opportunity to explore this town, we did stop at the highly recommended Everyday People Cafe on our way back to Chicago. We wanted a light but delicious lunch and this fit the bill perfectly. We sat in the garden on a sunny afternoon, tucked away from the (relative) hustle of the main street in Douglas and feasted on a fresh Caprese Salad and a tangy Greek Pita sandwich. Perfect fuel for our journey back to Chicago!

On the Road: My Kind of Town, Chicago is

Summer vacation took us to Chicago in August. The Second City, on the banks of Lake Michigan, has always been a favorite of mine. It's the perfect city for outdoor pursuits, first class museum and delicious food. You've got all the benefits of a major world city with a heaping side dish of good ol' Midwestern friendliness. Plus, some of my favorite people in the world live there, so I know Chicago and I will be a part of each others lives for many years to come. Some of my favorite eats this time around...

Mambo Grill

412 N. Clark St. (between Hubbard and Kinzie)

Chicago, IL 60610

(312) 467-9797

We stopped at Mambo Grill for a quick pre-theatre meal before Jersey Boys. The decor was a bit too dark and understated for a Latin American restaurant, but the food more than made up for it. Though known for their mojitos, we opted to sample the margaritas, which were tart and clearly homemade. For me, the highlight of a meal is often a delicious and fresh bread basket - a detail Mambo Grill definitely did not overlook. When we sat down, they brought a heaping basket of warm bread, lightly flavored with jalapenos and accompanied by an orange pepper butter. We enjoyed the Coconut-Curried Tilapia and the Guava Glazed Pollo for our entrees and were out the door just in time to make our show.

Chicago Bagel Authority

953 W. Armitage Ave.

Chicago, IL 60614

(773) 248-9606

Some of my fondest memories of college involve braving the 2am crowds at Bagel and Deli for a late night bagel sandwich to last the long (and by long I mean three block...this was before my city days!!) walk home from the bars. CBA opened in Lincoln Park in 1998 and is modeled after Miami University's famous Bagel and Deli. Like its Ohio counterpart, CBA specializes in creatively named steamed sandwiches. The bagels are sliced open and loaded up with cold cuts, cream cheese, vegetables and then - this is the key step - steamed for a few minutes. The result is hot and delicious and melty and yum yum yum. My favorites are the Tonya Harding Club and the Ben's Best, on sesame. Though I will forever maintain that these bagel sandwiches taste best at 2 in the morning in Oxford, Ohio, CBA is a pretty close second.

On the Road: Laissez les Bon Temps Roulez

In 1947, Louis Armstrong recorded the famous theme music for the movie New Orleans, a song entitled 'Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans', a beautiful anthem to the city which has been performed by various artists bewitched by New Orleans over the years.

Do you know what it means, to miss New Orleans, and miss it each night and day...

Do you know what it means, to miss New Orleans, when that's where you left your heart...

While a portion of my heart does belong to New Orleans, almost all of my appetite does.

Since falling in love with a boy whose entire heart (except the sizable portion reserved for me, of course ;) ) belongs to New Orleans, I've had multiple opportunities to indulge in the various culinary delights that city has to offer.

To kick off the summer, we traveled down south for our annual Louisiana food fix. Our days consisted of visiting with old friends, relaxing by the pool, sipping ice cold cocktails, and feasting on delicious meals. It was a perfect vacation. It's no wonder so many people leave their heart in New Orleans.

Restaurant August

301 Tchoupitoulas St.

New Orleans, LA 70130

504-299-9777

As in years past, our weekend in the Crescent City coincided with my birthday. To celebrate, we made a reservation at Chef John Besh's restaurant in the Central Business District. The bar and reception area at Restaurant August is dark and clubby - the kind of place where you expect to see a table of Southern Gentlemen holding court in the corner, sipping bourbon and puffing on cigars. The main dining room is brighter and airier, however, and an inviting place for a special meal.

Upon being seated (45 minutes after our reservation...), our waiter brought over two complimentary glasses of champagne. I'm not sure if it was to make up for the extended wait or to honor our special occasion, but it was a nice gesture and went a long ways toward erasing any irritation from the delay in being seated.

Our meal started with an amuse bouche of seafood bisque, served in a petite eggshell. The soup was rich and velvety and bursting with pieces of fresh crab and shrimp. I wish it had been offered as a starter because the two bites I had left me wanting more! We split an appetizer of goat cheese ravioli tossed in a light cream sauce with fresh spring peas and crispy pancetta. It was also incredibly delicious - we asked our friendly server for more homemade bread so we could sop up every last drop of the cream sauce. Licking the plate is generally frowned upon, I'm told... We each got a fish entree for our main course - the fish was perfectly seasoned and cooked and served over a portion of steamed fresh vegetables. For dessert, we ordered the strawberry trio - mini tasting portions of three desserts featuring strawberries. When they presented the plate, the pastry chef had written "Happy Birthday" across the top in chocolate, a festive touch.

Martin's Wine Cellar

714 Elmeer

Metairie, LA 70005

504-896-7300

I can get lost for hours inside gourmet food and kitchen stores - wandering up and down the aisles perusing random kitchen gadgets that I never knew I absolutely had to have, checking out bottles of unique marinades and delicious brownie mixes, dreaming of stocking my tiny kitchen to the brim with new purchases. When we wandered into Martin's Wine Cellar, a local chain with 4 outposts around the Gulf Coast region, to pick up picnic supplies en route to Oak Alley Plantation, I knew our estimated time of arrival at the estate would have to be pushed back. We browsed through the offerings at Martin's and picked up some "only in Louisiana" items, such as Zapp's potato chips and Cafe DuMonde beignet mix, as well as a few books on New Orleans food and culture. We also stopped by the bistro/deli (only available at the Metairie location) to pick up some sandwiches for the afternoon.

When Andrew was finally able to pry me away from the store and we arrived at the mansion, we unpacked our picnic under the shade of a grove of ancient oak trees. The sandwiches were huge and featured fresh hearty ingredients - thick slabs of homemade bread, oven roasted turkey, ripe red tomatoes. After we washed them down with mint juleps from the bar at Oak Alley, this city girl was ready to trade in her high heels and Starbucks for lazy afternoons enjoying good food and strong drinks under the oak trees...

Camellia Grill

626 South Carrolton

New Orleans, LA

504-866-9573

Camellia Grill is an institution. The tiny restaurant, located in the Uptown area of the city, features counter seating, saucy waitstaff and delicious food. A favorite haunt of Andrew's during his days at Tulane, I had heard a lot about the restaurant and was excited to finally have the chance to try it, as it was closed during my last two visits to the city due to Hurricane Katrina. After a modest wait, our party of four was seated next to one another along the serpentine counter and promptly greeted by a white coated waiter.

We visited Camellia Grill our last day of vacation, on our way to the airport. Even though it was afternoon, I settled on a bacon and cheese omelet as I love to eat breakfast anytime of the day and had heard raves about their eggs over the years. They certainly didn't disappoint! The omelet was light and fluffy and bursting at the seams with full strips of bacon and cheddar cheese. It was served with a hot crispy tangle of french fries. To further add to the gluttony, I ordered a chocolate milkshake. Hey, it's vacation. And it's New Orleans.