Around the Neighborhood- Glazed and Infused Doughnuts

 

This week has been a tangled knot of doing things that I don't want to do,

and not getting any sleep. 

In other words, it was finals week. 

Red Bulls were drank, pizza rolls were eaten for breakfast. 

I was one tacky classic rock poster and game of frisbee in the quad away from 

acting like a full-fledged college student. 

Lord help me. 

But as any human knows, vices are the key to success in these trying times. 

And with that I say, bring on the doughnuts. 

Glazed and Infused is located in the neighborhood right next door, Wicker Park.

The doughnut shop fits itself into the backside of the Italian eatery Francesca's Forno, 

but it is hardly apparent that they share the space.  

Glazed and Infused occupies a humble little nook 

with a counter and a rack stacked high with fresh doughnuts. 

With both cake and raised options, they boast doughnut flavors that make 

make you want to find more bad feelings within yourself 

so you have an excuse to eat more. 

Creme Brulee

Bar Snacks

Strawberry Shortcake

Maple Bacon Long John

Their doughnuts are dense and not overly sweet,

but some of the best that i've had. 

Get on board. 

Campfire Stick Bread

This weekend I followed my inner woodland creature all the way to

the mountains of Pennsylvania.

Being the weekend before finals, past Hattie 

thought that going on this camping trip would be a great way 

to take a load off before the stress rolled in. 

Present Hattie, who is stuck cramming her final assignments into, well, today

 thinks that past Hattie is a stupid idiot. 

We'll let them duke it out. 

In spite of the rain filled nights, and a few leaky tent/soggy socks situations,

it was a great time. 

Nobody got eaten by bears, no one died of dysentery, 

and we didn't have any altercations with the natives. 

That's pretty much as successful as you can get. 

In honor of this wilderness weekend, I present you with bread on a stick.

With the texture and flavor of a sweet biscuit, 

this stick bread dough is simple to make and easily cooked wrapped 

around a stick over a campfire flame. 

White Cheddar, Apple & Honeycomb Grilled Cheese

Chapter 1- Hattie Is 21 going on 45. 

I was taking my nanny kids to tennis practice, and a group of teenagers on 

bikes rode past us asking me if I was their mom. 

"No" I said. "I'm just their nanny."

to which they said 

"Aw yeah, get that paper!"

In less than 2 seconds I was calling for the kids to stop walking

as I dropped frantically to my knees to search under the SUV for said paper,

deeply concerned that I had dropped an important

receipt, or god forbid one of their sticker books and/or paper cutouts of cats. 

Later, on the bus, I heard a rap song through some kid's headphones where 

he sang about getting paper. 

That means money, guys. 

Paper is money. 

Like, could I borrow some swag from somebody for a little bit? 

My deficiency is killing my street credit around the tennis club. 

Hardcore. 

So in honor of the sticky glory of paper motherhood, 

I give you a sweet, sticky, and playful little sandwich. 

Apples and honey are classically perfect for each other, only to be 

made more handsome when they let the sharp, saltiness of aged white cheddar

into the club house. 

My friends, that is a club house I would like to stay in all day long. 

This sandwich tastes great grilled up in a bit of butter and served as a breakfast 

or afternoon snack. 

And to boot, it leaves an incredible aftertaste in your mouth to carry you through nap time. 

Judge away, kids. Nap time rocks. 

There isn't much to explain as far as a recipe goes. 

Simply spread some honey, or in my case some thick, sweet honeycomb on two

slices of your bread of choice (I used a french loaf.)

Layer thin slices of tart apple and sharp white cheddar. 

Grill it on the stove top with a bit of butter, 

or throw it in the oven at 350 for 5-7 minutes.

Nibble. Rip the crust off.

 Let cheese and honey drip all over yourself

in a gorgeous cascade of mess. 

Be 5. Or 45. Who's counting. 

Around the Neighborhood- Bang Bang Pie Shop

(peep their adorable video below!)

So, basically anybody who knows where I live knows how much 

I am in love with it.

I talk it up like it is my over-achieving 5th grade son. 

I'd totally get an annoying bumper sticker about it if I could. 

Endless amounts of child-like love and excitement over here. 

Since Logan Square and I are still in the honeymoon phase, I thought

I'd take advantage of it and share some of my neighborhood food explorations.

The husband and wife owned pie shop Bang Bang Pies specializes in 

things that i'd trade my first born child for.

Biscuits. House-roasted coffee. PIE. 

At a place where "coffee is the new cupcake and pie is the new pie"

you are bound to have the best experience of your life.

I am a firm believer that it is always 

in your best interest to trust any restaurant with 

less than 5 items on its menu. 

My intuition was correct. Holy biscuits. 

Cuter than words should ever be able to describe, 

packed with soul, 

and some of the best

biscuits and pie i've had in my life. 

PS. If you have over 500 followers on instagram, you get a free biscuit.  

I will never be popular enough for free biscuits, but you might be! 

If you are, head on over and collect your biscuit popularity trophy.

Chorizo & Potato Hand Pies

The second it reaches a palatable 50 degrees,

 I barter away my tights and boots for shorts and skirts and jelly shoes

and never look back. 

It may be 50 degrees with the overcast skies stashing the sun behind

big breaths of wind and rain, I care not. 

It counts. 

The warmer months are always an amazing time for me. 

I'm like a weird round-faced Swede butterfly wrapped in a metaphorical

cocoon all year until the ground defrosts and green things start happening again. 

It's had me taking the long way home, daydreaming of summer and all

that it's going to bring.

I've been enjoying morning walks- exploring my new neighborhood,

people watching, and letting excitement for the

 months to come tickle in my guts.

So here's to you, rusty mailboxes and uneven sidewalks. 

To the dog tied up outside the bake shop waiting for his human

and lady in the striped shirt hugging her warm baguette to her chest as she bikes away.

To the old brick appartments, the sultry smell of coffee and toast, 

the tiny gardens popping up between the streets, and the gentle rustling of a

neighborhood waking up. 

We have months of mornings together ahead of us. 

I can tell that we are going to be friends.

These chorizo & potato hand pies are perfect company on morning strolls.
They are neat little pouches of meat and vegetables that take kindly to being
wrapped in napkins and stuffed in pockets to be whisked away
on morning adventures. 

This is a play on the traditional pasty, 
which are pie doughs stuffed with meat, potatoes and onions.
This is precisely that, but with a little more spunk than ground beef and russets.
Instead of being a hunk of beige stuffed with beige, these
hand pies are full of flavor and color and all kinds of latina spunk, naturally. 

Enjoy, ladies and gentlemen

Until the next!

Easter Brunch

Spittin' a little lifestyle-blog action at you guys.

No recipe here today.

Sorry folks, some recipes are meant to be kept between

me and my ham.

You understand.

This was my second Easter away from my family

and our long-lived holiday traditions of eating and then waiting

around until it's time to eat more.

 Last year I was left alone with boxed wine, tulips that I cut from

the planters in the middle of the city streets, and a quiche.

While that may sound strangely appealing, it was mostly just a little pathetic.

This year, we decided to have a sort of lonely-hearts club brunch

for all of us celebration-less Easter celebrators in the city.

I put on my best homemaker apron and churned out whipped honey butter,

a brown sugar glazed ham, honey dijon garlic herb potatoes, and a tacky kool whip

covered fruit salad to end all tacky kool whip covered fruit salads.

The weather was surprisingly lovely, 
which turned our brunch into a back porch picnic.

Salty meats, spring breezes,
who could ask for anything more?

 It was a lovely little time, kids.

I hope your easters were > than most things.

I really mean it.

Pinky swear.