A Sprinter Chicken

Well, we haven't had much of a winter this year. It's been more of a Spring-Winter, or what I like to call, a Sprinter. But every once in a while, the air carries a chill and the clouds dominate the sky and you just want to hibernate.

For those days, this is your menu.



Roasting any and all veggies rule in my book, but fennel and artichoke are particularly delis together.



Grab a can o' artichoke hearts...



A few bulbs of fennel...



Throw 'em on a baking sheet with your oven at 425 degrees...



Drizzle a little lemon juice (tablespoon), EVOO (3 tablespoons), salt n' peppa and parsley...and VOILA!



How PERFECT is that carving? Rich learned to carve birds from this video by the NYTimes. If you want to really want to impress dinner guests with your cutting skillz, learn this technique.

Winter Cure: the best banana bread

Ah yes, there it is. That crisp pure white snow we've been waiting, or bracing, for finally arrived.


Our perfect little snow day entailed waking up, whipping up a quick banana bread recipe, throwing it in the oven for an hour, and scampering over to the park next door for snow play time.



As we walked back home, soaking wet and red-nosed, we stepped foot inside our door to the knock-down smell of bananas baking. We stripped our snow gear and cuddled in warm dry snugly slippers before taking the bread beauty out of the oven for breakfast.





I added pistachios and a few chocolate chips in the bread to spice things up. And I can safely say this is my new go-to recipe for banana bread. Simple staple ingredients, little prep time, and an hour of baking yields perfection.

Looming Large

It was 11AM when our trusty Lincoln Towncar pulled in to the Family Heirloom Textile Factory in Red Lion, PA. The factory is housed right besides the old farm and creek where Granny (Rich's grandmother), used to hunt muskrats with her cousins who were well-versed in the art of trapping.

As with many of life's great things, it was not much of a sight from the outside. But as we stepped inside, owner David Kline, sitting at an antique desk with his fingers clasped, started to talk and offered to give us a tour through his looming factory. And the rest was, is, and will continue to be amazing history.



The Family Heirloom Textile factory is one of the only surviving textile mills in the United States. Taking original 18th and 19th century loom designs, the factory produces new rugs, stair runners, throws, curtains, etc.



The entire production process is incredibly intricate. As you can see below, hundreds of cardboard pages with holes designating designs are woven together into a long instruction sheet for the looms. It takes hundreds of sheets to create just a few shapes or letters.



Authenticity-seeking Hollywood producers commission David to make stair runners and carpets for their historical fiction blockbusters (Gettysburg, Gods & Generals, etc.) and he has a tear-sheet that would make any prop-dealer green with envy.



Most of the machines are antiquated and worth virtually nothing outside the walls of the factory. But they are the heart and soul of Family Heirloom. David and a few employees keep them up and running on their knowledge and elbow grease alone.













Here is a glimpse at some of the fabrics they produce. Rich and I bought a few pounds of scrap fabric to cover our wooden stairway.



Next door to the factory is a charming old stone home completely outfitted with many of Family Heirloom's designs. You can browse, shop and take a little 18th century home with you.

february fritters and frost

We froze to the bone much of February in Chicago, but a combination of Richie's birthday, a visit from Mike, and good old fashioned size-of-our-heads fried food warmed our hearts a little.



If you live in Chicago and are in the mood for knock-your-socks-off good donuts and fritters, you must try Old Fashioned Donuts in Roseland. I promise it's worth the trek.