Saturday, June 23, 2012

A Little Picnic Party


It's officially summer. The warm weather months in Chicago may as well be in a completely different city. There's so much more to do for poor people in the summer. Who needs BYOB al fresco dining when you can easily spread your blanket and guzzle down wine like a common frenchman. If anyone has the misfortune of remembering any specific moments from The Wedding Planner, you'll know about the scene where J-lo and Matthew McAna-something are watching a movie in the park, and she's all like, blah blah free movies in the park are so quirky, and he's all like, she's so unconventional blah blah blah. As a 7th grader that part of the movie filled me with such metropolitan romanticism. For most yuppie Chicagoans, movies in the park may be the most cultured thing they'll experience during a given summer, unless you count baseball as culture, which I absolutely do not. You get to not-so-secretly drink wine and compare Whole Foods cheeses whilst watching so-so movies for free. It's a really great time, and in this issue I will be showing you my signature picnic dish. 



Pic-A-nic Basket Pasta Salad

Noodle salad is essential to picnic dining. It's easy to pack up and it pleases everyone. It's also filling and easy on the wallet. For anyone who's familiar with Smitten Kitchen, I totally mutilated her recipe for this one, with the best of intentions. This is a year-round favorite at my house. 

You Will Need the Following: 

1 box spiral pasta (Use whole wheat pasta, fatty)
1/2 lb french cut green beans
1 small log goat cheese
2 roma tomatoes (finely diced)
2 tsp olive oil
1 lemon (zested and squeeze)
2 tsp dry basil
1 clove garlic (chopped)
salt & pepper

Step 1: Dice tomatoes and combine with lemon zest, lemon juice, oil, garlic and basil. Allow to sit while noodles boil.


Step 2: Boil pasta with green beans, drain when tender. 


Step 3: In small batches, work pasta into tomato mixture with goat cheese crumbles. Mix thoroughly until all goat cheese clumps are smoothed out. Allow to cool and put into containers for later. 



Pigs in a (Picnic) Blanket


Putting something between your ass and the grass is a good rule of thumb for picnic-ing. Why spend real money on something that's only protecting you from grass stains and bugs? Make it! 

You Will Need the Following: 

1 cubic yard of fabric per person 
yarn
needle
hot iron

Step 1: To hem, fold in 1" around on each side and iron down. 

Step 2: In long seams, sew down the fold in a straight line all the way around. It may be hard to see in this photo, my apologies.



Little Dinner Party's Movies-in-the-Park Picks


Due to budget cutbacks back in 2010, the city discontinued the Grant Park series, but other Chicago parks have started showing movies again this summer. We'll be trying to make it out to these conveniently located parks for our favorite movies this summer:

Vertigo @ Belmont Harbor (Monday, June 11th)
A League of Their Own @ Chicago History Museum (Wednesday, June 20th)
Cabaret @ Hollywood Beach Park (Friday, June 22nd)
Grease @ Chase Park (Saturday, June 30th)
The African Queen @ Oz Park (Saturday, July 7th)
E.T. @ Wicker Park (Wednesday, July 11th)
Barefoot in the Park @ Belmont Harbor (Monday, July 16th)
Chicago @ Lakeshore Park (Thursday, July 19th) 
North by Northwest @ Jonquil Park (Saturday, August 11th)
Singin' in the Rain @ Belmont Harbor (Monday, August 13th)
Hugo @ Wicker Park (Wednesday, August 22nd)
The Wizard of Oz @ Oz Park (Saturday, August 25th)

Movies start at dusk, but we always get there early to get the best seats and to get trashed before the movie. Only annoying people bring giant chairs to sit in, making it really difficult to see over. 


Monday, June 11, 2012

A Little Brunch Party


Having a one-night stand? Thinking about having a one-night stand? Well, if your trick earns it, invite them to stay over for brunch! Brunch is for those with real jobs and the gainfully unemployed, either way, anyone who can brunch obviously doesn't have to work on the weekends. Brunch in the city is probably the antithesis to sunday worship as it's a cure for the common hangover, it's extremely gay friendly and like most meals, it's a celebration of gluttony. There's really nothing better than getting fancy egg concoctions at a reasonable hour of the morning. There's also fewer things better than a mimosa or a bloody mary. Here in Chicago, most places offer unlimited cocktails with your eggs for about twenty dollars. If you are poor, twenty dollars is a lot of money, especially if you have to pay for your date. Eggs are cheap, make brunch at home with these simple ideas. Or go to McDonalds, they have a pretty awesome "brunch" menu too. A McMuffin is basically drive-thru eggs benedict.


My First Time Eggs Benedict

Until I made this, I had never had eggs benedict. I don't like runny yolks and hollandaise sauce always looked weird. I still don't like it, but my plus-one is a huge fan of E.B. He said this recipe was "the bomb" so I assume it's pretty good. Hollandaise calls for vinegar, I hate the smell and, like mayo, avoid cooking with it completely. Instead, I used creme fraiche and lemon juice. Definitely ask your trick to help you out with this, it's easy but there's a lot going on at once. (This recipe is not healthy)

You will need the following: 

2 English muffins (toasted)
4 slices Canadian bacon
chopped chives 
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 c creme fraiche
3 egg yolks
4 eggs (poached)
2 sticks butter

Step 1: In a mixing bowl, whisk together yolks, creme fraiche and lemon juice. Melt butter and whisk it in. Set aside.


Step 2: Poach your eggs while the bacon is heating in a skillet. Poaching eggs is super easy. Crack an egg into boiling water with a pinch of lemon juice. Boil for about 3-5 minutes. Poach eggs individually. 

Step 3: Assemble

A.

B.

 Mmph


World's Best Mimosa
If you don't know how to make this, you don't even deserve to have one. Add one glass (or bottle)  of champagne to a splash of orange juice for color.