Cheddar Apple Pie Dip. You're Welcome, part 7.

Nummies.

Do you have this? Get one, fool.

Milk fat, mixed with creaminess, mixed with cheesy fats.

Just before going into the oven, spread the apples onto the dairy goodness.

I can't say that I really like bridal or baby showers. In fact, they embody just about every one of my phobias — enclosed spaces, obligatory small chat, shower 'games' (the sort of horrifying games that you read about in The Feminine Mystique), herds of people I don't know, 'Ooooo's' and 'Ahhhh's' when opening gifts, and all-round, full-blown awkwardness. They commonly occur on Sundays, which is a sacred day of pajama-wearing nothingness in our household. I really have to like you to sacrifice my cereal-eating, shut-in Sundays, but whatever. I'll shove a dirty sock in my mouth and act like I care.

Aside from the good friends, here is one thing I like about showers, though. The food. A shower host typically whips up an impressive batch of color-coordinated appetizers and finger foods worth enduring those 'games' I mentioned earlier. You know, the ones where you pass around diapers filled with hee-larious* chunks of chocolate poopy and try to guess the flavor, or have a race to see who can make a wedding dress out of tee-pee the fastest? Those ones. Anyway, back to the food.

Someone always ends up making a dish that I absolutely love, and hope to make in the future. The best recipe I've found in a long time is this one, thanks to Shelly. Something about apples, cinnamon and cheese is a perfect combination of sweet and savory. The first time I tried the dip, it was like holding a pickle up to a pregnant lady — you might lose a finger. If no one else was present, I probably would have been found on the floor, cleaning the bowl with my face.

But this was a shower, and ladies don't do that sort of thing at showers.

Enjoy.

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 each: red and green apple, finely chopped (about 2 cups) --- I used those already cut apples and just cut them into smaller pieces, that way my kids were still able to enjoy the leftovers!
1/2 cup Planters Walnut pieces (I did not include this in my recipe, but didn't want to leave it out for people that like nuts)
1 pkg cream cheese - softened
1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
Wheat Thins (I used the cinnamon ones)

Preheat over to 375. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Add apples (and walnuts if you choose); toss until evenly coated.

Mix cream cheese and cheddar cheese in a medium bowl. Add sour cream; stir until well blended. Spread into 9-inch pie plate and top with apple mixture.

Bake 20 minutes or until heated through.

*not true
Side note: I took pictures of everything but the finished product, so that is a generic photo from Kraft at the top of the page.

All Hail the Bratwurst.

I can tell by the smell of pork fat and beer in the air. It's almost summertime. Bratwurst has been a part of my diet since younghood. I grew up in Chicago, and you eat lots of brats in this special city.

John and I have been trying out a local company called Farm Fresh Delivery, and we've really enjoyed it. It's an online home delivery service that provides organic produce and natural groceries to its members. Basically, you get this green bin for your porch, and these magical produce gnomes deliver fresh, (mostly) local organic produce and groceries. It's $35 and we have stuff delivered every other week. The brats included in our latest delivery were from Moody Meats, located in Avon. They are the best brats I've ever made at home — very smooth in texture with a really mellow flavor. I'm used to buying prepackaged ones at the grocery store that taste like this, so I won't be going back.

Anyway, this is a slightly altered Bobby Flay recipe for beer brats.

• 4 brats
• Beer, to cover
• 1 medium large sweet onion
• 2 ounces (1/2 stick) butter

Directions

Place brats in an iron skillet with onions and butter, cover the brats with beer. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer until brats are cooked. Remove brats and set aside beer mixture. Grill brats until golden brown and return to beer mixture until ready to serve. Serve brats on fresh baked brat buns with sauerkraut, onions, green peppers, ketchup, and/or mustard.

The Work Kitchen

We all know it well. For some, it's the place known to inspire heated love sonnets written on Passive Aggressive Notes. Like this little gem. People fuming over the Lean Cuisine left in the mini fridge since Christmas 2005. Disdain for those who insist on letting their coffee mug soak in the communal sink for three weeks before washing. Coworkers who decide their lunch sucks ass, but yours sure looks tasty.

Our kitchen isn't like that. Yeah, we have the occasional offender that needs a little shaken baby action, but for the most part, it's harmonious love and canoodling in the Marketing and PR kitchen suite. One dedicated employee always fills our ice bucket for all to enjoy. The sink is crust-free. Even though coffee was sadly cut from the budget, the machine is now filled with premium exotic flavors that people have brought from home. And the food people bring in ... forget about it.

I guess it's probably the downfall of our department, but we're food whores. Pitch-ins that could feed an army and bring strangers out of the woodwork from every department. Leftover birthday cakes, breakfast casseroles, boxes of yeast donuts with icing from Long's Bakery, homemade cinnamon rolls, hand-churned ice cream (the dude even wore seersucker pants that day, swear to Jesus), birthday party, cheesecake, jelly bean, BOOM (That sound was my ass getting fat).

This is the latest treat to grace our kitchen. My boss makes food to share at least once a week. The worst part is ... she is a complete health nut and usually won't even touch the stuff she brings in. I know, it positively reeks of sabotage — until you meet her. The woman is made of gold. She even sneaks healthy substitutions into all of her recipes to make her food guilt-free.

Anyway, this cake brought back sentimental memories for me, as it is a recipe I've fondly known to be called, Yummy Bunny Cake. My dad and I used to make it on Easter weekends together. Except our cake was covered in coconut and used jelly beans for flair. Here is the recipe:

• 1 package (any type) of cake mix (plus the ingredients necessary to make that cake)
• 2 cans pre-made vanilla frosting
• 1 14-oz. package of coconut (about 5 cups)
• food coloring
• small candy pieces for decorating the cake (gum drops, jelly beans, licorice, chocolate chips, etc.)

Directions:

• Prepare cake mix as directed and pour into two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans. Bake cakes according to package directions. Cool completely.
• Cut cake as show in diagram.
• Line large tray or sturdy cardboard with foil.
• Frost sides of each cake piece.
• Place pieces of cake as shown in diagram on foil-lined tray.
• Frost top of cake.
• Sprinkle about 2 ¾ cup coconut over top and sides of cake, lightly pressing coconut onto the sides
• In a small bowl combine ¾ cup coconut with two – three drops red food coloring and toss until evenly colored. Place aside. Repeat with 1 ½ cups coconut and two – three drops green food coloring.
• Sprinkle pink coconut over ears and bowtie; outline with chocolate chips
• Decorate bunny face with other candy pieces using small slices of licorice for whiskers
• Sprinkle green coconut on foil-lined tray around cake. Place additional candies on the green “grass” if desired. You can also make the bunny’s bow tie a different color if desired.

The library. Who knew?

OK, I'll admit — it's been a long time since I've been to the library. About 10 years to be exact. Since moving downtown, I've been able to see the excitement build as the St. Clair branch was so elegantly reconstructed. But, something has kept me from entering those doors. Maybe I still have this stigma that the library is for late night research projects that suck my brain of any will to live? Perhaps.

All I can really say is ... what was I waiting for? The place is an absolute gem. I was inspired to go after receiving a New York Times article about a site called ArtBabble.com — . It is basically a dedicated place on the Web for art videos, and I must have spent at least an hour and a half perusing videos while I was there. Did I mention the site was created by the IMA? What a great plug for our city.

The video that sucked me in was this one, which asks the question, 'What happens when five artists come to one of the world's largest libraries in search of inspiration for their next project?' I always have a hard time finding a creative outlet, and the library is not the first place I would have considered. But, the more I thought about it, why wouldn't it be? Their collections are vast and span over a hundred years of knowledge and culture. Not to mention it's all under one roof ... one grand, aesthetically pleasing roof.

The first hour was spent refamiliarizing myself with how it all works. Wait, how do I look up a book? And where do I find it again? Where is the business section?

Then, I began to 'Ooo' and 'Ahhh.' From the coffee house to the skyline views to the vast entertainment section, it was all there. Every magazine you could think of, an entire DVD collection and a whole floor dedicated to workshops and community forums. And music. Good music.

So, what did I end up checking out? Books. Yep, it was back to basics for me as I perused row upon row of information in the form of paper-bound words. I came to research starting your own business, and boy did I hit the mother load. An entire aisle was dedicated to the likes of me — creative, female twenty-something seeks guidance to open her own online photography business. Kind of specific, I know, but there were at least two books that begged me to pull them off the shelf and devour their knowledge, one of which I will mention.

The Boss of You, by Lauren Bacon & Emira Mears
For any female (or nerdy-cool male hipster) looking to start up a business, this book has a forthcoming, honest, coming-to-Jesus sort of talk with you, and I love it. It's totally conversational and even gives you little pep talks in parts of the book when they know a reader is thinking about bailing on the chapter. I should also admit that their head shots on the back had some influence on me. Any redhead who boldly dyes their bangs Gwen Stefani pink has my admiration from the get-go.

All in all, the library visit was a huge success. I'd say my favorite part was the self-checkout. You scan the books yourself and slide the little due date slip in the familiar manilla holder in the back. I only wish it still included the old-timey date stamps of previous readers who enjoyed the confines of a book. It always made it feel special when you know you've found something treasured by so many.

I have three weeks of inspiration. Thanks, IMCPL.

Different strokes. A blog about John.

John and his ketchup. Someone must put a stop to this condiment abuse.

All the major food groups. Tators, cheese, garlic.

He loves the iron skillet. I just think it looks decorative.




John made some breakfast a couple weekends ago that made my mouth feel real prettylike. It was simple and delish. Hand-sliced potato hash browns with folded eggs and cheddar cheese.

I've found that our style of prepping is what makes us so different in the kitchen. While I love efficiency and order, John prefers to keep it old-timey and embraces the process. While I like to pre-measure, use electric gadgets and line everything up in small, white vessels, John has a more organic approach to cooking. He casually chops everything by hand, mixes ingredients with wooden spoons in handmade bowls and taps his foot to what's playing on the radio. Heck, he really doesn't even use a recipe much anymore. It wouldn't be any fun if you had to follow someone else's rules. To him, at least.

I thrive on staying between the lines. I'm a creature of habit – give me instructions and I will try my hardest never to stray. Cooking for me takes an hour just to find the best version of the recipe I want to make. If I can find a dish that has already been tweaked, tested and proven delicious, it takes all the guessing out of the equation. It's methodical and meticulous, but I prefer organized chaos.

Suddenly I realized that our philisophies in the kitchen absolutely translate into the way we lead our lives. He has a way of making everything seem so simple, spontaneous and so damn fun. And, everything I do in my life takes hours of preparation, research and thought - until it inevitably maddens me. I forget what I was working on, because I get too fixated on the details. But John always helps me to see the big picture.

I love that jackass. And his breakfast.