Sunday Adventure (and so long Sweet Heartland)

Last Saturday night while watching The Grisly Hand at Knuckleheads (on the menu: Rolling Rock and jalapeno poppers) my friend Angie suggested an adventure the following day. What better plan for a hot, lazy Sunday than an equally lazy adventure?

We started with brunch at Westport Cafe with Sabine and her family. Then it was out to the country! We drove under heartbreakingly blue skies to the little town of Weston, MO. There, we visited some shops and had a blissfully cool bottle of white wine under the arbor at Pirtle Winery.

A really wonderful pottery shop in Weston

On day when it's 106 degrees, an icy bottle of wine is just the thing

The courtyard at Pirtle Winery

On our way to Weston, we noticed signs pointing to Smithville, MO, a tiny town that has a secret: it's home to Justus Drugstore, a deservedly well-known farm-to-table restaurant. We decided to stop in at the bar for drinks and snacks.

A gin fizz and a herbed lemonade cocktail (and a taste of the housemade vermouth)

The bar at Justus Drugstore

It was really a perfect day. And a perfect end to my time in the Midwest. Matt is on his was home from Afghanistan as I write this and we are moving (hopefully for the last time in the foreseeable future) to....Washington DC! I've been lucky enough to have spent this weekend here, seeing friends and finding a place to live and I'm in love. I couldn't be more excited to return to the east coast and live in this gorgeous city. 

So  (after 5 years here!) this is goodbye to the Midwest and so long to Sweet Heartland. 

It's been lovely- thank you for following me on my adventures in the heartland. 

love, 

e

Sweet Visit: Cleveland

Summer is the best time to be in Cleveland and this past weekend I got to visit with some of my favorite people. Since my friends there are just as fanatical as I am about food, my trip was mostly about what what to eat and when. Dinner at home with Kobe burgers from  Mr. Brisket (an old school butcher in University Heights), Saturday brunch at Fire, strawberry and white chocolate sorbet at Churned, and Sunday brunch  on the lovely patio at SOHO Kitchen + Bar...we ate and drank very well. 

Churned

Breakfast michelada, SOHO Kitchen + Bar

The best part of my weekend was, I believe, one of the nicest things to do during a Cleveland summer. We picnicked and drank wine lounging on the lawn at Blossom, the summer home of the inimitable Cleveland Orchestra. We heard Emanuel Ax play Mozart and Chopin while working our way through a picnic of sandwiches from Murray Hill Market, dessert from A Cookie and a Cupcake, and two bottles of cheap wine. The music (accompanied by singing birds and later, crickets) was blissful.

picnicking

accessories

dessert

We ended the night with cocktails, french fries, and a cheese plate on the patio at L'Albatros, my favorite in Cleveland. Perfect.

July 4

July 4th and Thanksgiving are my two favorite holidays. Not much a build-up, no pressure to find the perfect gift, they are what a holiday should be- all about being with friends and family, eating, and drinking. My best July 4th's have been in the midwest and this one was no different.

I was lucky to be invited to Lake Lotawana, a little community outside Kansas City where a huge July 4th party is held every year. Angie and I floated in the lake, and I ate my weight in suckling pig the way it should be eaten- between slices of sweet Wonder Bread.

My host at Lake Lotawana with his family's annual suckling pig

Cooking frog's legs

Devouring crawfish

They were straight from the lake!

Elvis and the band

plum popsicles

The temperature has been averaging 102 degrees for a week now and everything I've wanted to eat  and drink has been light and cooling- ratatouille last night, a Hendrick's gin and tonic with Sabine on Wednesday and today, roasted red plum popsicles.

A nice man was sitting outside my local farmers market last night with a cooler of plums, offering free samples. I tried one and  "it was a very plum plum". I bought a bag and was faced with the pleasant problem of figuring out what to do with a large bowl of plums. My mom recently sent me the People's Pops recipe book so the answer was clear: popsicles!

I opted for the roasted red plum popsicles which could not be easier to make:

1 1/4 lbs plums, halved

1 cup simple syrup (I flavored mine with 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla- you can also use cardamom, cinnamon, or nutmeg

Prehead the oven to 350 F. Place the plums cut side down on a cookie sheet, then roast until the skins and flesh are soft (about 30 minutes). Remove from the oven and cool. 

Once the plums are cool enough to touch, remove the pits and whiz the plums, skins and all, in a food processor. Transfer the pureed plums to a bowl or measuring pitcher with a spout and add the simple syrup. Sitre until the mixture is well incorporated and taste. The mixture should be sweet, yet slightly tart. 

Pour the mixture in ice pop mold and freeze 4-5 hours. 

(recipe via People's Pops)

The best soundtrack for popsicle making on a hot Saturday? Beachwood Sparks new album "Tarnished Gold" on NPR First Listen.

June Lady Dinner

Sabine did a very nice job of writing about our June Lady Dinner at Haus. Haus only serves three things- sausages (from Local Pig, natch), beer, and french fries. Perfect. 

Suffice to say the sausages were good, the conversation was better, and I'm so happy to resume our monthly dinners!

via

Royals Baseball (and happy Fathers Day!)

I grew up mostly in New Jersey and Connecticut, close enough to Yankee Stadium for my dad to attend many, many games of his beloved New York Yankees. He almost always brought my sister and I along, and we always each got one souvenir (most of which are now in the dedicated Yankee room at my parents house) and sandwiches from Court Deli.

Because of this, I still like going to baseball games and I was very happy to be invited to a Kansas City Royals game to celebrate my friend Angie's cover on this weeks Kansas City Ink Magazine. Especially when I was told we'd be tailgating. What in the world could be better than grilling sausages and drinking beer in a parking lot while listening to Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen? For some people, I guess a lot of things but for me (at least on a gorgeous summer night) not much.

We stocked up on essentials- Coors Light, Leinenkugels's Summer Shandy and sausage from The Local Pig.

Vintage Abercrombie cooler and a Bodum grill I'm coveting

Grilling

Half of me and our neighbors playing washers in the lot

It was a good night for baseball

Just a postscript: I spoke to my dad in the middle of writing this and he told me the greatest baseball game he's ever seen in person was the Yankees versus the Royals in the fifth game of the 1976 World Series. The teams were tied six-six until the bottom of the ninth inning when Chris Chambliss (who apparently was our neighbor in New Jersey) hit a home run. My dad was freezing his tucus off in the bleacher seats. So there you go.

Delicious! Ice Cream

Ice cream is my biggest food vice.

I simply cannot get enough of it. So I was very excited when my mother sent me the KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker stand mixer attachment for my birthday. I chose the most simple recipe I could find out of the Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream At Home book (backyard mint) and dropped by Sabine's to harvest her herb garden.

The result was delicious! An earthy, minty, incredible ice cream. You can use any herb in the recipe- I'm thinking next time will be rosemary with candied ginger.

In her book, Jeni recommends making a boozy float- whisky and soda with a scoop of ice cream. Of course the following night, I had to have some friends over for a tasting.

They were very good.

A fashion show in the Paris of the Plains

Each year, the West 18th Street Fashion Show takes place in Kansas City. 18th street in the Crossroads District is shut down, a runway is built and a fashion show filled with up and coming designers takes place.

Some of the clothes were good (no models stopped in front of me, or I would have shown my favorites) some of the accessories were very good, and some had me puzzled. That's not really what matters though- what's important is that Kansas City has more events like this one.

Yes, a horse opened the show. 

Saturday was also my birthday, and I had some friends over for drinks and bits before the show. More than celebrating my birthday, throwing a cocktail party was an excuse to make the best party cocktail you'll ever have and serve it to some of my favorite Kansas City-ans.

I kept the food simple- Union Square Cafe bar nuts, Easter egg radishes with sea salt, olives and an eggplant dip with pita from my brand new Fresh & Easy Cookbook (which Matt sent to me for my birthday along with...new pans!).

A friend brought monster cupcakes

The view from the kitchen

Baby Harper was the tiniest and sleepiest guest.
She kept it festive with a cupcake onesie and a bow. 

We ended the night at Westport Cafe where I allowed myself a birthday indulgence: Spring pea ravioli and a side of french fries.

Sweet Visit: South Florida

It took a year of daydreaming (Italy? Palm Springs? Miami? Kansas City?) but Matt and I finally found the most perfect location for our wedding- a villa (complete with a resident peacock named Sir Winston) in Coconut Grove.

Our chuppah will be set up between the arches.

My family scoped out the location first, and told me to come to Florida as soon as possible- there was only one date available in 2013! So this past weekend, I took a quick trip south and it's true- the venue is  perfect for us. We'll be married in the courtyard (fingers crossed for no rain) April 27, 2013. Matt and I are beyond excited.

It was just ladies this weekend- my father was riding his bicycle through Georgia (and perhaps that was a good thing for him- last time I was home he very gamely went wedding dress shopping). After seeing the venue we had a lovely lunch at the Peacock Cafe.

Then it was on to Sasha's Bridal to place the order for my dress and a quick trip to Saks for preliminary MOH dress shopping for my sister. It was a truly delightful day.

So many dresses!

Since there are lots and lots of wedding blogs already, I'll keep wedding-related posts to a minimum unless I feel there's something particularly newsworthy or lovely...

Hello Summer!

I love Memorial Day weekend, firstly because it's three days and secondly because it's a signifier of summer. For a Memorial Day barbecue at Sabine's I had hoped to find a recipe for an amazing drink I had at a barbecue I attended the night before. It was a twist on a recipe in the Southwest Airlines magazine (scroll waaay down for the recipe). Though I couldn't hit upon how to make the drink, I was inspired to make something with a jalapeno simple syrup.

I decided on making Shandys because they are a perfect summer afternoon drink- not too alcoholic and very refreshing. You can use Minute Maid lemonade and Pabst and it's delicious- I opted for jalapeno lemonade and a wheat beer from my local brewery, Boulevard Brewing Company. 

It was a big hit, and perfect with hamburgers. I do think next time I'll use Red Stripe beer because the slight snap would stand up nicely to the lemonade. 

It was a wonderful beginning to the summer.

A visit to MoVi

My good friend Angie recently opened up the most charming business- MoVi, a modernized vintage boutique that is housed in an Airstream trailer that Angie's husband (and his father) renovated to whimsical perfection. 

MoVi is open every Saturday from 11 am- 6 pm on Westport Road at the corner of Mills and Westport (across from World Market), and every First Friday in the Crossroads District at 19th and Central. 

I love visiting with Angie (left) and her cousin Katie

The husbands (boyfriends, fiances) waiting area. My suggestion to Angie: stack some vintage Playboys and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues nearby for bored partners to leaf through. 

My purchase for the day was a perfect pink silk shantung shift. It reminds me of one of my favorite fashion/historical moments- Jackie Kennedys trip to India:

Image via

 If you live in Kansas City, be sure to drop by MoVi soon. And even if you aren't lucky enough to reside in Kansas City, you can support this lovely boutique by "Liking" it on Facebook. And if you do happen to fall in love with an item- MoVi is always willing to ship!