Favorite Xmas Dish

I was really pleased with these ricotta chard malfatti (essentially big gnocchi) served with a large dab of gingered cranberry relish.

Xmas Dinner

Yule Log in Terrifying HD

Xmas Langues de chat

Based on a recipe from December's Gourmet: Langues de chat with hazelnut praline. Should go nicely with Christmas Eve's pumpkin pie and Christmas Dinner's egg-nog panna cotta.

Chard Core

4 bunches of chard reduced-- by cooking and removing moisture-- to 1 cup of chard.

Wholly Candid

I love this picture Kenneth took of me preparing a salad. It's wholly candid. It also features my hairy arms, which I like.

Chicago's Culinary Excess

My blog is in decline, I know. I feel I'm in a new life phase, and I can't decide whether blogging will be part of that new phase.

While I mull it over and wrestle with xmas tree lights, here's something to feast your eyes on: images I prepared for a post on Chicago's culinary excess, a post I failed to complete in a timely manner.


2 huge cinnamon roles at Ann Sathers. This is but one of two side dishes included with a brunch entree. Truly delicious, but... excessive.


A slice of Chicago-style (stuffed, I think it's called) pizza. It has two crusts. I drew a blue arc into the below image so that you can see the upper crust:

The tomato sauce just floats on top of the whole shebang. I can get behind the decadence of this dish-- especially as one who's lived through multiple midwestern winters. However, I think the toppings (a misnomer, as they go inside the pizza, below the top crust) get lost in the lower cheese layer.