I think we found our Drink of Summer. My friend Katie and I like to declare an official drink each year. They’ve ranged from a classic mojito to more complicated concoctions with cucumbers and gin and lots of muddling involved. This classic Italian cocktail combining prosecco and Aperol is leading the pack for summer 2009.  read more+++

My friend Sophie Buhai is one half of the design genius behind Vena Cava, a women’s fashion line that launched in 2004 and has been rocking the fashion world ever since. The duo (which also includes my pal Lisa Mayock) won runner-up honors in last year’s prestigious CDFA Fund Awards and have garnered countless accolades from the fashion world and their loyal fans. If you’ve read a fashion magazine in the last few years you have undoubtedly heard about Vena Cava. Their clothing is consistently beautiful, relevant and smart and always has a sense of humor. The only problem I see with Vena Cava is that they don’t make men’s clothing—yet. I keep begging and hopefully one day I’ll be spending my paychecks on VC menswear. read more+++

Still we wait for spring. I don’t know about where you are, but here in Chicago we haven’t put our parkas away yet. Everyone is so anxious for warm spring days, but so far they are not materializing. I am trying to use these final days of winter-like weather to cook some cold-weather favorites before all I can think about it fresh fruit and ice cream. This oatmeal snack cake has been a favorite in our house since I first tried the recipe a year ago. It is so comforting and delicious. An extra moist oatmeal cake is topped with a sweet icing containing pecans and coconut. The whole cake is stuck under the broiler for a couple of minutes to cook the frosting and turn this into a serious bit of good food. read more+++

Oh, carrots. They are such a reliable and safe vegetable, like the sedan of the vegetable world. They make their way into the brown paper lunch bags of countless school children across the country. Onto crudités platters at corporate meetings and dinner parties. They get glazed with some sweetness for holiday meals. If they’re really lucky they get turned into a carrot cake to celebrate a special day. And in every incarnation they are consistently good. read more+++

This recipe goes out to all of you chocolate lovers—don’t say I never did anything for you. This chocolate and caramel tart has provided me with a bit of an adventure, nerd-style. You may recognize it from the cover of the current issue of Saveur which features it as part of a story on the beloved Marlow & Sons in Brooklyn. The tart looks beautiful, but I first come across the recipe a while back in Diner Journal, the quarterly culinary publication by the folks that own Diner and Marlow & Sons. If you haven’t already checked out Diner Journal, please do. It is such a beautiful publication, beautiful and inspiring. And if you haven’t already eaten at Marlow & Sons and Diner—do. read more+++

This weekend a car full of my favorite ladies drove from New York to Chicago on a roadtrip. I wanted to make something delicious for them and I pretty quickly decided on Macaroni and Cheese. Mostly because, like me, my dear friend Tini can’t get enough cheese. She asks for extra cheese on everything and usually is upset because it still isn’t enough (lucky for her, she has the metabolism of a hummingbird). In honor of Tini and our mutual love of cheese, I decided to try to combine a few of our favorite things into one perfect dish of baked pasta. read more+++

Sometimes you just feel like a challenge, a recipe with multiple steps which extend over a couple of days, right? Well, I do. Lately I’ve been attracted to slightly more complicated recipes. I think I am in a bit of rut and find myself anxiously waiting for spring and all of the fresh fruits and vegetables the new season will bring my way. In the meantime, I am trying to keep myself busy. My fancy dessert phase started with the Tres Leches cake and has lead me to this Aurora Tart.  I made this bit of decadence a couple of weeks ago when we had friends visiting—everyone loved it. It took longer than I thought, but tasted better than I expected- which seems like a good trade-off. And guess what, friends? There is chocolate in this recipe! (Okay, only an ounce of chocolate. But still!) read more+++

Well, summer might be too optimistic, but spring is definitely on its way.  Even though it isn’t their season, I associate citrus fruits with summer— especially citrus flavored ice creams and sorbets.  What could be better than lemon sorbet on a hot summer day? I know that we can buy oranges, limes, and lemons year round and so their season is somewhat irrelevant but the taste can really go downhill once summer starts. Now is the time to find a really superb variety of flavorful citrus fruits.  So, while we still have delicious oranges and lemons on the shelves of our markets, I suggest you take some time to make this orange sherbet and dream of summer.

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Between work, travel, and house guests, I haven’t been in the kitchen as much as usual. I did, however, make this pasta which has become one of our favorite dishes as well as one of the most frequently cooked meals in our house. It is simple to put together and so delicious. It combines three of my favorite flavors: bacon, onions and tomatoes. Great for a casual dinner in front of the tv but good enough for company. read more+++

Oh, Canada. There is so much to tell you about our trip to Montreal but you know that I like to keep it brief so I’ll focus on two amazing places we visited and one amazing dessert that I discovered. On our first or second day in Montreal we took Bryan’s grandparents to a cabane à sucre in Rigaud, just west of the city. It was my first visit to a sugar shack and it certainly did not disappoint. read more+++