Archive for August, 2007

vacation day: algerian crepes and coffee

August 8, 2007 · Filed under chicago, restaurant

I took a vacation day. Needless to say, I worred about how things were going at the office. But I did manage to have a lovely lunch at a restaurant in the Andersonville neighborhood. It’s historically a Swedish neighborhood, and it still contains Swedish bakeries, delis and restaurants. But J. and I went for the odd-ball of that ‘hood, and chose an Algerian crepe restaurant called Icosium Kafe. We started with coffee. Turkish style, but with spices that I’ve never had in coffee before. You could taste the cardamom.

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I had the sweet Crepe Bunea. Mango & ginger chutney, sunflower seeds and raisins. A side of ice cream. Just what you need on a vacation day.

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….C

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babysitting baking

August 2, 2007 · Filed under community, food

J. and I babysat our friend’s kids Friday through Saturday night. Their lovely house was full those 2 days with their 5 children, 1 dog and 1 cat.  Saturday afternoon rolled around and the baby was taking a nap, so the older girls and I took a walk to the store. We had a list in hand as we made our way through the grocery aisles. 1 tall girl, 2 little ones. The excitement was around the apple crisp we were making. These selfless ones wanted to bake a gift for their parent’s anniversary. “Mommy and Daddy love apples!”

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Apple Crisp
4 tart apples, sliced and peeled
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
1/3 cup butter
3/4 t ground nutmeg
3/4 t ground cinnamon

- Heat oven to 375ºF. Grease bottom and sides of 8-inch square pan with shortening. 
- Spread apples in pan. In medium bowl, cut butter with remaining ingredients until well mixed. Sprinkle over apples.
- Bake about 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and apples are tender when pierced with a fork.
- Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream (yum). 

 

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The girls picked the apple crisp from an old church recipe book. One peeled the apples, the other helped me slice apples. Their little brother joined us for the spoon licking portion. 

…C

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