Jan 30

Jan 30 Roasted Carrot & Tomato Soup | National Soup Month

Hey there, Chicago! I hope you’re staying as warm as you can. Today is one of those days where I feel extremely fortunate that I work from home. The “feel like” temperature this morning was -51 degrees and letting the pups out I felt like I had turned into a human icicle. This is dangerous cold so I genuinely hope you all are staying warm and avoiding the cold as much as possible if you’re experiencing this polar vortex. On the bright side, this is perfect soup weather! Nothing warms you up more than a screaming hot bowl of soup, something I’m going to miss in the gorgeous 60 and 70 degree Texas weather in a few days. Fingers crossed my flight gets out tomorrow night!

Nov 12

Nov 12 Sweet Potato Soup | Farmers Market Series

Christine Rosko

Food

Happy Monday! I hope your week is getting off to a productive start. It’s been awfully cold around these parts lately. Dinners have been all about soup in my house. Not only is soup easy to make and a one-pot-dish, it’s comforting and warming which is all you need on a cold night. The sun starts setting around 3:30 and is down completely by 5 which is crazy but I love it. I’m still adjusting to the early nights and trying not to go to bed by 8PM but I’m all for the arrival of winter. It’s the season of bundling up, fires in the fireplace, hot cocoa, Christmas music, and comfort food. You can add this recipe for Sweet Potato Soup to your collection of cozy cold weather soups too! It’s a good for you but still stick-to-your-ribs kind of soup…

Nov 3

Nov 3 Sauteed Kale with Bacon & Apples | Farmers Market Series

Christine Rosko

Food

Not to start a panic or anything but Thanksgiving is two days short of three weeks away! If you’re hosting this year, I hope you’ve got your ducks in a row. The last thing I want for anyone is an overwhelming feeling of stress from procrastination until the last minute. Get those turkeys ordered, set that timeline for prep and execution, start stocking up on supplies and ingredients that won’t spoil...and in case you need a helping hand to get started, we put together a few tips. Regardless of the occasion, recipes that whip up quick without much effort are ideal for busy weeknights or holidays. This sauteed kale recipe is tasty, it’s fast, and there are only three total ingredients making it a winner. I served it for a regular weeknight dinner alongside seared steaks but this would be a delicious addition to any holiday dinner table as well…

Oct 29

Oct 29 Maple Roasted Brussels Sprouts + Beets | Fall Recipes

Christine Rosko

Food

November is just a few days away and I am in the thick of holiday planning. My conversations are focused on what we will be assigning, how many desserts we really need, how many batches of gravy (spaghetti sauce) I prepare in advance, etc. This weekend was all about experimenting with my family’s gravy recipe. I had an outline of what was supposed to be included and had to tweak it by taste to come up with the final solution. The great thing about family recipes is that they’re handed down over generations. The bad thing is that no one ever actually writes the recipes down so it’s a giant guessing game until you create your own version of it. My recipe will never be the same as my great-grandfather’s but it gives the memory of his gravy a nod and takes on my own personal twist. For one...I will never cook a pot of gravy without a Parmesan cheese rind. Ever. That should be a cardinal rule unless you have a severe dairy allergy…

Oct 22

Oct 22 Roasted Chicken Thighs with Fall Veggies | Fall Recipes

Christine Rosko

Food

Coming off a two-week east coast trip, you’d think that the weather here in Chicago would be similar to what I experienced. Instead, I’m still somehow adjusting to a 30 degree temperature change. My last day in Boston was 80 degrees, my last day in Washington DC was 70 degrees and this weekend, we had a 10 minute blizzard in Chicago. Yes, snow in October! It's not unheard of but not usually this early. With that said, comforting dinners have been front of mind lately and nothing says cozy fall dinner like a roast chicken. Except, who has time for a whole roasted chicken on weeknights and more important, who wants to carve it? Not me, that’s for sure…

Oct 8

Oct 8 Pan-Seared Pork Chops with Roasted Root Veggies | Fall Recipes

Christine Rosko

Food

Fall meals that take all day to cook are lovely but weeknights are still crazy and it might not be the best time to make that 5 hour chili you’ve been dreaming about lately. You can still have a comforting fall dinner any day of the week though. In fact, I find it much more convenient to whip up easy weeknight dinners during the fall and winter compared to summer and spring. Roasting vegetables and cooking a protein is about as basic as it gets for weeknight cooking.

Oct 6

Oct 6 Tex Mex Stuffed Zucchini | Farmers Market Series

Christine Rosko

Food

Good morning from Syracuse, New York! Things have been a tad quiet lately while I’ve been getting ready to embark on my two-week long trip to the northeast. It’s been exhausting so far, I won’t lie but still so much fun. I’ve already eaten myself into a coma and hunted down several coffee shops to visit. A long walk on an unexpectedly hilly campus stretched out my legs after twelve hours in a car. Yes, twelve long hours where a few naps took the place of good night’s rest. Needless to say, as I write this my reward for productivity is sleep. I could have napped as soon as we arrived at the hotel on Friday afternoon but I’m the kind of person who prefers to push through the rest of the day and get back to a regular schedule as quick as possible…

Oct 1

Oct 1 Farmers Market Soup | Fall Recipes

Christine Rosko

Food

Another Monday, another to-do list, another day of non-stop coffee drinking. I don't know about you guys but last week was insane. Honestly, the last two weeks have been insane. I’m sure this week will be no different considering work is a little bit out of control right now but the difference is I leave for a trip on Thursday night! I’ll be driving to Syracuse, New York overnight Thursday for a long weekend before heading to Boston on Monday and then Washington, DC on Thursday. It’s been a while since I’ve taken a trip and I honestly can’t wait to leave. The hardest part about going on trips is leaving the pups but they’re always here to come back to which is a lovely homecoming every time. In the meantime, this week is all about easy, low maintenance dinners...kind of like this Farmers Market Soup.

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