This is what happens in between recipes. Real life.

Salads that feel like fall.

Cocktails that mimic a night out.

Fires in the backyard.

His and her beverages.

Insane adorable dogs.

Real life.

So I’m doing this thing.  Turning 30.  That’s me.  Aging.  Developing wrinkles, and thin skin under my eyes.  I’m in total denial about it.  Like massively.  See once you hit 30 it’s like you’re expected to be a grown up for real.  Big time.  Soooo not ready for all that business.  I still want to be young and carefree.

But it’s coming up.  Quickly.  In just over a month, I will be the big 3-0.  I’ll still be pretending I am 29.  So let’s not go telling everyone about this.  Seriously 30 is 10 years away from 40.  What.  The.  Fuck.  Pardon my language, normally I think swearing on my blog is not ok, but I am so not ready to be halfway through my life.  Not at all.

So, I’ve developed a list.  A lot of people I like and admire have been doing these lists as well.  So I’m doing one too.  It’s like a rite of passage.  Or more like a hope that I can do something meaningful with myself before I become a real grown up.

Is it weird that I still feel the same as I did when I was 16?  Well except all of the aches and pains.  That parts new.

So here is my list of 30 things to do before I turn 30.  Most of them are food related.  Or food-love-job related.  I need to find a way to make food or writing about food or working with food my career.  Like NOW.  Want to start a food magazine with me?  That sounds fun.  I’m now taking donations to become self-employed.  I’ll keep you stocked in sweets and treats.

Some of these are small easy things I keep forgetting about.  Some are huge lofty goals, which more then likely I will not accomplish, in the few short months before I exit my 20’s for good. Sad day.  But it’s good to have goals.  Right?  And I have checked off a few already since I first made the list.  Yeah me!

1.  Make a soufflé.

2.  Redesign my website.

3.  Find a way out of my job.

4.  Create a small business plan.

5.  Start food blog.

6.  Write 30 new recipes.  Over half way there!

7.  Animate Rocky .  Look at him.  He is begging to be a cartoon.

8.  Enter Iron Cupcake.

9.  Make baking business cards.

10.  Make crème brûlée.

11.  Learn to refinish my dresser.

12.  Learn to sew.

13.  Make my own cookbook by hand.

14.  Make a perfect poached egg.

15.  Mail baked goods to 15 long lost friends.

16.  Make a wedding cake.  Scheduled.  Doing it.

17.  Eat at L’Etoile.

18.  Plan a vacation to the west coast.

19.  Read 19 new books.

20.  Take 20 GOOD artistic photographs.  Not of food.

21.  Organize my computer.

22.  Watch every movie someone suggests from now until I turn 30.

23.  Spend a night partying like it’s 1999.

24.  Scan all of my old photos.

25.  Make this beautiful cake for someone’s birthday.

26.  Make a duo of homemade cheeses, ricotta and mascarpone.

27.  Make homemade dog biscuits.

28.  Take a cooking class.

29.  Develop an exercise routine I can stick to.

30.  Choose a cookbook and make every recipe in it.

So that’s it.  My list.  I’ll keep you posted on my progress on it.  Oh by the way, did you see number 15?  This is where you come in.  Here’s your chance to get some goodies.  I have about 10 people picked out already that I want to send baked goods to, but you could be one of the remaining five!!  Just leave a comment on this post and you might get sweet treats!!  I’ll be taking the first 5 people so do it now!

And I’ll keep you posted on how my list is going.  I have a feeling this list will turn into 30 things to do in my 30^th year.  So is life.

Last night I went to dinner at Graze.

It was REALLY good.

Clean, simple food that is locally sourced.

We had cheese curds and duck confit to start. My dad got the mussels.My mom got the rainbow trout.  My husband got a burger that I forgot to photograph. I got the pork 3 ways.  Pulled pork, pork belly and some sort of grilled pork.  It was served with sautéed greens and charred corn.My cocktail was quite possibly the best cocktail I have ever had.  It was called a Mint Condition. 

I also had a Ginger Snap.  It was good too, but the Mint Condition was amazing.We all got dessert at my insistence.  My mom got chocolate cheesecake, which she dug into before I could snap a pic.

My husband got the ice cream cookie sandwich with fresh baked cookies. My dad got the bourbon pie.  I had the peach raspberry cobbler, with homemade custard.It was good, but I dare say my own peach raspberry crumble may have been better.

It was a damn good meal, one I would definitely like to repeat.  I am going to spend the next month trying to figure out how to duplicate that cocktail.

I’m soooooo ready for summer to be over.  It’s hot.  Too hot.  93 degrees hot.  And humid.

Unacceptable.

I’m also ready for slower weekends without 48 hours somehow packed into 24.  I’ve neglected my house.  I’ve neglected my yard.  I’ve neglected my life.  I need some time.  For reals.

I’ve been spending my weekends driving 60 miles into the country every Saturday, working my butt off and then collapsing in bed around 1 or 2 in the morning when we finally get home.

Don’t get me wrong.  It’s not like I don’t love working at Milkweed.  I do.  It’s amazing.  I feel at home.  I feel comfortable. I feel like I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing.  It feels like how I only wish work could feel.  I need to find a way to make food my life.  But it’s still exhausting.  After working 40 hours every week, it makes for a long week.

Last Sunday I was lucky enough to have a few hours to do whatever the hell I wanted.

I made these rolls.  They were delicious.  Not overly sweet.

Loaded with fresh berries.

And drizzled with lemon icing.

Simply perfect.

Add some iced coffee with maple syrup and it’s pretty much the best breakfast rolls ever.

I can’t wait for colder weather.  And campfires.  And long weekends with nothing but my kitchen.

And pumpkins.  Just you wait.  Me and fall are BFF’s.

That’s pretty intense, right?  That sounds like a lot in one cookie.  Maybe too much?

Rest assured my friend, it is not too much.  It’s quite possibly, perfect.

I made you these cookies a few months back.  They were most excellent.  I was inspired to make them when my lovely friend Kerry brought some over one night.  We simply devoured them in a matter of minutes.  I specifically remember telling my husband to hide them before the rest of our friends came over.  They were that good.

And when they were gone, I had to have more.  Yet I had no recipe.  I had forgotten to ask for it yet, and decided to just try and fumble my way through it.  It worked out well.

 Maybe a little too well.  I made these cookies for a friend of the family, after his wife of many, many years passed away.  I’m hoping the sugar high filled the hole she left temporarily.

I really like these cookies.  They are loaded with chocolate chips and toffee bits.  Had I known at the time how easy it is to make toffee, I would have made my own.  Alas, when I made these I think I used Heath bits from the grocery store.  The cookies are drizzled with caramel sauce when cooled and then sprinkled with sea salt.  It’s a fabulous combination.  Salt and caramel go together like a dog and his boy.  I pretty much order any dessert that involves caramel and salt.  It’s a winning combo.

I decided to keep with the toffee theme.  Really it’s because I’m working on an epic post, which I’m having some trouble finishing.  I’ll get it down soon, and you will love it.  Why?  Because it may result in you getting baked goods.  Make yourself some cookies in the meantime.  They’re perfectly wonderful.  I promise.

Chocolate Salted Caramel Cookies with Toffee and Chocolate Chips

            Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup toffee bits

1 cup chocolate chips

Caramel

Sea salt

            Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl, sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.

2.  Cream together butter and sugar in a mixer.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing thoroughly between additions.  Add vanilla extract.  Add flour in 3 additions, mixing well after each.  Add chocolate chips and toffee, mixing well to distribute.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and transfer to refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

3.  Using a small cookie scoop, scoop cookies onto parchment lined baking sheets.  Bake for approximately 9 minutes, when tops just begin to set and appear cracked.  Cool completely.

4.  Drizzle tops with caramel sauce and sprinkle with sea salt.

Homemade Caramel Sauce

            Ingredients

1 cup cream

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup corn syrup

Pinch salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

            Directions

1.  In a large heavy bottomed saucepan heat cream, sugar and corn syrup over medium high heat.  Bring mixture to a boil, whisking occasionally.  Using a pastry brush dipped in water, brush any sugar crystals off sides of pan that may form.  Cook for approximately 10 minutes, until caramel is golden brown or registers 250 degrees on a candy thermometer.  Immediately remove from heat and transfer to an ice bath whisking occasionally until cooled.

It’s the end of summer.  It’s almost fall.  Autumn.  The kiddies are going back to school soon.  It’s about to be my favorite season. 

Aaannnnndd I’m wishing I were on vacation.  Somewhere north.  In a cabin.  By a lake.  With my dogs, a boat and a campfire.

Sometimes I build a little fire in our fire pit out back.  I close my eyes and try to ignore the sound of the highway just feet from our backyard and pretend I’m in the middle of nowhere.  It almost works.  Almost.

Every year around this time I long for the north woods.  For as long as I can remember my family has gone to northern Wisconsin for a week in August.  Being a grown up with a job and responsibilities has made that trip impossible for me the past couple of years.  I have fond memories of running around in a bathing suit, covered in sand, playing until I felt as though I might collapse.  We would go to the local bookstore and would each get to pick out a book for the week that I would devour hungrily at the end of the day.  I remember eating spaghettios and corn, cream of wild rice soup and hamburgers.  And of course at the end of the day, when it finally started to get dark, there would be marshmallows, s’mores and pudgy pies.  It was heaven to a small child.  I remember crying on the car ride home, year after year, having to leave my friends, knowing school was starting soon and I had to go back to real life.  It was a magical place and time, and I often get reminded of it this time of year.

In my quest for comfort, I decided to fill the void with cookies.  I have, for quite some time, been trying to perfect the chocolate chip cookie.  I knew this somehow involved more brown sugar then white, and a difference in butter and egg ratio. 

Being slightly obsessed with toffee lately and having homemade toffee bits, that I desperately wanted to put into a chocolate chip cookie, I went in search of the perfect recipe.  I buy cookies from Ethel Ann’s every Saturday at the farmers market that come ridiculously close to perfect, and wanted to attempt the same.  When Alton Brown and Joy the Baker both agreed on the same recipe, I knew I had found the right one.  I tweaked it here and there, but pretty much stuck with the straight science of it.

These cookies may just be the best cookies I have made to date.  They’re soft and chewy.  The toffee adds a bit of crunch and caramel like depth.  They’re dense, but not heavy.  I made 18 of these on Saturday night and my husband, his cousin and best friend devoured them before I could even blink.  I’m pretty sure my husband did most of the damage.  He has a problem with cookies.

There are a few key things to know about this recipe, and cookie making in general.  Cool that dough!  Once you’ve made your cookie dough, into the fridge it goes, for at least 30 minutes, longer if you have the time.  This allows the butter to solidify again and creates steam inside the cookie while baking.  It is what helps the cookies stay soft and chewy, not thin and crispy. 

These cookies are also slightly unpredictable.  I used homemade toffee, as should you, but it makes for slightly irregularly shaped cookies.  This toffee has no stabilizers or preservatives so when it heats up and melts, it doesn’t always stay in a neat little package.  It’s ok, those strangely shaped cookies, are still delicious, and the toffee that ‘s spread out, has become so thin and crisp and light, it’s amazing.

These cookies hold up well too.  All too often, cookies come out of the oven beautifully, yet once completely cooled, they are hard, dried, shells of what they used to be.  Not these.  They stay moist and chewy and delicious.  You need some milk on hand for these.

Cookies, alas, are not the vacation I so desperately need and want, they are however a good enough substitute.  Comfort in a small, sugary, chocolaty package.

Chocolate Chip Toffee Cookies

Recipe adapted from Alton Brown

            Ingredients

2 sticks unsalted butter

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 tablespoons milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup toffee bits

            Directions

1.  Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat.  Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

2.  Pour the melted butter into a mixing bowl.  Add the sugar and brown sugar.  Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed.  Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined.  Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips and toffee bits.

3.  Chill the dough, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets.  Bake for 8 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. 

I freaking love weddings.  Do you?  Seriously.  I have a problem.  I hate photographing weddings, but I loooove going to them.  Especially if I know the person well.  I get all teary eyed.  I like the grand gesture of it all.  The weight of it.  The formality.  Maybe, I also like cake.

My good friend Nick got married today.  We used to work together.  He went out to dinner with me when I was husbandless on weekends while my husband was working non-stop last summer.  He’s kind of the best.  And his wife is even better.  She’s amazing.  She seems reallllly shy, but then you realize she’s like brilliantly sarcastic and funny.  They’re pretty much perfect together.  And they’ve been through a lot to get to this point.  There’s a distinct possibility I started to tear up the second I saw them start to walk down the aisle.  No big deal.

They had their reception at the Monona Terrace.  There was cheese.  Cheese!!!  At a wedding.  It is Wisconsin after all.  

There was wine.  

Chocolate cake.

Mmmmmm cocktails.

Red velvet cake.  Soooooooooo good.

I put those flowers on that cake.  And got free drinks for it!!

Look, those are empty wine bottles.  And paper for little notes.  Message in a bottle.  Get it?

Place cards.

That’s the dining room.  It overlooks the lake.  Amazing view.

There’s the bride and groom running in for their entrance.  They’re so adorable.  I love weddings.  Can I get married again?  It’s sooo fun.  And this time I’ll remember to take it all in, ok?  Wait, I’ve only been married for five years?  I guess I have to wait a while to do that whole renewing the vows thing.  Booooo.  If you’re getting married, you should totally invite me.  I’ll help with tasks.  I’ll make your cake.  And then I’ll eat it.  

How do you feel about cocktails?  Do you like them?

I like them.  Quite a lot.  I look forward to going out to dinner for the cocktails, not just the food.  I always check the drink menu online before going somewhere new.  Mixed drinks make me happy.  And not just because they have alcohol in them.  

There’s something about a perfect cocktail with a meal that just heightens the whole experience.  When you mix high quality alcohol with fresh ingredients, something magical happens.  I’m pretty picky about my drinks.  I like something unique, but I’ll also go back to the classics. Like Margarita’s, Sangria and Mojito’s.  I order Mojito’s a lot.  It’s probably my favorite drink.  Mint is amazing in a mixed drink.  It’s such a perfect ingredient.  It’s pretty and flavorful.  I decided to make a twist on the classic Mojito that I normally drink last night.  I had take out from my favorite local Thai restaurant, Thai Noodles, and I needed a fabulous cocktail to go along with it.  I had tequila, but no rum, so I decided to combine the Mojito and Margarita.  Here’s how it happened:

First I got everything together.  Including a curious dog.

Next I juiced my lemons.  And some agave nectar for sweetness.

In goes the mint leaves(look, that’s pineapple mint, from my garden!) and you muddle it up until it’s good and minty.

Salt up that glass.  Or sugar it, come to think of it, I might like a sugared glass better then salted.

Bring your delicious Thai food outside, it’s a gorgeous night and you needs to be eating outdoors.

Tequila and club soda meet your lemon juice and muddled mint.  Then they get a pretty little garnish of more lemon and mint.  Drink it up.

Lemon Mojito Margarita’s

Ingredients

2 ounces high quality tequila

Juice of 1 lemon

2 teaspoons agave nectar

2 sprigs of mint

Club soda

Directions

1.  Juice lemon.  Using either a mortar and pestle or a martini shaker, Mix tequila, lemon juice, agave nectar and mint leaves.  Pour into a glass.  Top with club soda.

I’m slightly obsessed with toffee lately. It stems from my love of caramel.  It started with these chocolate salted caramel cookies (which I promise to post soon), matured with these toffee sugar babies from the Savannah style bakers at the farmers market, and grew into ice cream.

Toffee is really easy to make.  It’s just sugar, butter and water.  Throw in a pinch of salt and a splash of vanilla if you want.  It’s pretty foolproof.  Except the part where you have to soak the pan for a week to get it clean.  That part is not foolproof. That part is bad news.

You don’t even need a candy thermometer.  It you’re scared of molten bubbly sugar go ahead and use one, but it’s not required.  You can tell when it’s ready.  Just make sure you have a greased cookie sheet ready to go.  The larger the cookie sheet, the thinner the toffee and vice-versa.

This toffee is uber-versatile.  You could smother it in chocolate and almonds.  Throw it in ice cream like I did, or bury it in cookies like I plan on doing this weekend. You can also just put it in the cupboard and hope your husband doesn’t gobble it all up before you can even make the cookies.  The guy who told me he doesn’t like toffee sure likes to eat a lot of it.

Toffee is super fun to make.  I love watching the sugar melt, then boil, then start to caramelize and finally pour into a perfectly smooth surface on the cookie sheet.  Once it hardens, cracking it up is super fun too.  I used a heavy handled butter knife and just tapped it until it cracked.  Then I put it between parchment and used a rolling pin to get it nice and small for ice cream.

And then I threw it into maple ice cream.  This was a brilliant idea.  The strong flavor of really good maple syrup partnered with the crunch of slightly salty toffee is heavenly.  It reminds me of a Butterfinger candy bar.  And Bart Simpson.  Ok that’s the Butterfinger not the ice cream.

The ice cream did get a touch icy this time.  I think next time I’ll cut the maple syrup down to 1/2 cup and add some liquor for better texture.  This still didn’t stop my husband and I from eating an entire tub in one day.  Don’t worry there’s still another tub of it too.

Butter Toffee

Ingredients

1 stick plus 6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons water

Pinch of salt

Directions

1.  Grease a cookie sheet liberally with butter.  Add all ingredients to medium saucepan.  Turn heat on medium high.  Stirring constantly bring mixture to a boil.  Stop stirring and allow to boil until mixture reaches brittle crack stage.  This will be approximately 300 degrees on a candy thermometer, or when a bit of candy dropped into cold water turns into threads.  My candy looked about as dark as it could before it would start to scorch.  Don’t worry if the color isn’t even all over.

2.  Remove pan from heat.  Gently swirl pan to mix candy thoroughly and pour onto greased cookie sheet.  Let cool completely.

Maple Ice Cream

A note on this recipe:  This is what I did, like I said I would cut down the maple syrup next time so play around when adding it.  Also try adding a tablespoon of a liquor of your choice.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 1/2 cups whole milk

3/4 cup maple syrup

6 egg yolks.

1/2 cup toffee bits

Directions

1.  Heat cream, maple syrup and sugar in a medium saucepan until just simmering.

2.  Prepare an ice bath.

3.  In another bowl whisk egg yolks.    Slowly add hot cream mixture to temper the eggs, whisking constantly, until cream is completely incorporated.  Return to pan on medium heat.  Cook approximately 2-3 minutes until mixture just starts to thicken and coats the back of a spoon.

4.  Immediately strain mixture into a glass bowl over ice bath, whisking occasionally until mixture is completely cooled.  Add liquor.  Transfer to ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturers instructions.  Once it reaches soft serve consistency add toffee bits.  Freeze at least 4 hours before serving.

Last weekends filet at Uncommon Ground in Chicago.

Farmers Market bounty.

Raspberry peach infused rum with club soda and agave nectar.

Cucumber mojito at The Great Dane this friday.

The fire out at Milkweed.

Vegetables and potatoes for the entree.

The most perfectly cooked piece of beef for the house at Milkweed.