Bistro Marget

A few weekends ago, the JLC (Junior League Chicago) girls and I ventured into Old Town for a little lunch. Old Town is a small area, just north of the city. It is very cute and even a little quaint.
The entrance to Old Town:


For lunch we went to Bistro Margot. Bistro Margot is a little french/parisian eatery.
The outside sign:

The inside is very warm and cozy, decorated in red velvet, marble floors and lovely little pictures.
The inspiration for the sign and my favorite picture:

I had a traditional french lunch. A cup of French Onion Soup and then Kim and I shared a Croque Madame with Pommes Frites. T'was delish! It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon with the girls.

Apple Fest in Long Grove

This past Autumn, the girls and I ventured to Long Grove, IL. Long Grove is about 35 miles outside of the city. Each October they celebrate Apple Fest. Everything is apples, apple cider, apple donuts (Yum!), caramel apples, apple butter, apple cocktails, apple beer, brown bag apple pies, the list goes on and on. In addition to a wonderful festival, Long Grove is seriously adorable. There are cute shops, cute restaurants and cute buildings. I love the coziness of LG and how perfectly cute the little town is. It was still warm in October, that the flowers were still in bloom.

The Long Grove Time Piece:



The Long Grove Apple Haus, where we enjoyed apple cider and hot, fresh baked apple donuts. Delish!

The 'town square'. All the shoppes surrounded this area. It was bustling with people the entire weekend. The sidewalks are brick and beautiful flower plantings are everywhere. It was so nice to be there with the crisp, fall air and the smell of warm donuts.

One of my favorite shoppes, Within Reach. I purchased a black and white polka-dot wristlet with a pink S on the front. I also purchased a lilac tea for one set and some apple tea sachets. This is the back entrance and was all decked out for Autumn.

After a little shopping and snacking, we decided to rest by listening to the music. The stage was in the covered bridge. So picturesque:

A little resting spot:

And my favorite photo of the day, a cowboy right in the middle of suburban Chicago. He was the real deal too.

Pumpkin White Chocolate Cheesecake

Back before Thanksgiving, I decided to make my very first cheesecake from scratch! I decided to experiment with pumpkin. I have not always loved pumpkin for about the last year I have grown to adore the flavor. Since we were close to Turkey Day, I decided pumpkin would be a great flavor, but I wanted to make it just a little more decadent, so I added white chocolate to the mix. I started with the "Almost Famous Pumpkin Cheesecake" from foodtv.com. One of the liberties I took was using cinnamon graham crackers as the base. Mixed with the butter the crust is completely luxurious and the cinnamon elevates a simple graham cracker crust. Then I melted the white chocolate and poured a nice layer on the crust.

As that cooled, I mixed the batter leaving out the pumpkin. Be sure to set aside a little of the plain cheesecake decoration later. I also mixed in tiny white chocolate chips. To make the swirl on top, I used a spoon to put several lines of the white on top of the cheesecake. Then I ran the point of a knife perpendicular to the lines and made the swirl.



This is a great dessert for a party or a pot luck. It is very rich, so it's better to share. Since then, I have made this cheesecake about 6 times. It is a sure fire hit.

Bon Appetit!

After having watched Julie & Julia (I love love love the part with Julia), reading My Life in France, receiving a wonderful Paris cookbook and constantly having people tell me I remind them of Barefoot Contessa*, it seemed like fate wanted me to cook more. Since I live in Chicago and winter can be a bit of a bear, this was a perfect indoor project. It's good because it is something I could do at my leisure and there is no pressure to get things done.

I have always loved cooking and am actually pretty good it. I do quite a bit of entertaining. Brunch is my favorite meal to host! I decided this was good opportunity to push my skills and really cook from scratch on all levels. (read: no semi-homemade business) I have a little list of what to make I am compiling in my Lilly Pulitzer 2010 Agenda.

So with much love I wish you (and me) Bon Appetit!

*I do adore Ina and am very flattered by the comparision. But I feel compelled to point out I am much younger and have a much more vast wardrobe than her.

Chicago French Market

A few weekends ago, I ventured to the Chicago French Market. The CFM is an indoor marketplace selling fresh groceries and flowers, along with many food stands. The purveyors are all local businesses and local ingredients (as much as possible). Because the CFM is pretty new, there are only a handful of vendors. The goal is to eventually have to be close to Milwaukee's Public Market. It was very pretty on the inside and I am glad there is a lot of room for growth.

The Apple Stand - look how shiny and yummy these apples look:


The Flowers Stands were also one of my favorite parts. I especially love pink and orange together in the form of gerber daisies.


My lunch was from Pastoral. Pastoral is a local artisan cheese and gourmet foods shop.

I had a lovely sandwich with herbed goat cheese, avocado, roasted red pepper, and tomato all on warm french bread. It was delish.

For dessert I had the best crepe this side of the Atlantic. It was a fresh made crepe with smeared Nutella, marshmallow sauce that was then broiled, with graham cracker crumbs and banana's. It was amazing.


Each weekend, they are adding more vendors and shoppes which is very exciting. I am already trying to figure out when I am going to visit next.

Showtune Tuesday

While I am a little on the old side to like Zac Efron, I do. I also like this part of Hairspray because it is so upbeat.

Veuve Clicquot Champagne

I adore champagne and of course one of my favorites is Veuve. Seeing the orange-yellow label always brings a smile to my face. One of my all time favorite books is The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It.



From Amazon: The Widow Clicquot, a fascinating story of the cunning bravery and good fortune that helped build the Veuve Clicquot brand. Widowed at age twenty-seven by the death of her husband François Clicquot, Barbe-Nicole assumed control of her family’s wine business amid the chaos of The Napoleonic Wars. That she became a prominent female leader in a male-dominated industry was one thing; building an empire amid savage political unrest was quite another. With passionate research and true admiration for her subject, Mazzeo pays homage to the beloved Widow from Reims and the remarkable weight her name still carries today.

I also love all the accessories on their site. Why shouldn't your champagne have a Clicquot Traveller? Or a Cruiser Bag?

Today while doing a little grocery shopping, I stumbled upon a wonderful display of Veuve Clicquot Rose Champagne. It is perfect timing for Valentine's Day.

It is the perfect pink for Valentine's Day, actually all year round.

Let the cork pop and the bubbles flow.