Happy Halloween! Our Halloween was all about my nephew Cooper this year. Coop! He was a monkey, scampering around saying "twick tweat" and "canny!" (For maximum cuteness, check out the video, below.) I have a feeling some little monkey will be sleeping pret-ty well tonight!

Nathan donned...yep, Bucky Badger-wear, loosely as a costume, but mostly 'cuz Cooper loves Bucky. My mom gave away candy at Stacey's house, while Nathan, Stacey, and Bowen took Cooper around to a few houses. We didn't get back here until after 7:30, so we only saw a few of our own trick-or-treaters. But enough to give away several fistfuls of candy! Not that it matters - I only buy candy that I don't like (the faux fruity stuff - Starbursts, Skittles, SweetTarts, Swedish Fish, Bubble Gum, et al...no temptation there, yuck).

Hope you and your twick-or-tweaters had a fun, safe night!

On Wisconsin! Nathan and I are back from our Badger Homecoming Adventure and we had a GREEEAT time. It was a quick trip - 48 hours door-to-door-to-door - but well worth the drive to see the lovely campus in all its fall glory. As a bonus (?) it was also Madison's annual Halloween Freakfest celebration, didn't plan on that one, but now that it's a much more controlled event - revelers have to buy tickets to be on State Street after 6 pm, the street is lit up like a movie set with portable stadium lights, and police on horseback and on foot are everywhere - it was actually fun to see. And hear. As you can imagine, an event called Freakfest is not a quiet endeavor. Then again, nothing in Madison is quiet. (Except State Street the morning after Freakfest, ha.)

Upon our arrival Friday night, Nathan and I dashed down to State Street to catch the end of the Homecoming parade. We in fact caught the very best part - the Pied-Piper Wisconsin Marching Band, dancing their way down the street, the crowd dancing along with them, laughing and singing and waving. We met up with our friend Jon and his daughter Sofia and made our way over to The Plaza for burgers. Then we walked down to Memorial Union for ice cream on The Terrace, back up State Street for Bucky-wear shopping, and on to the hotel for bedtime. Wiped!

Saturday opened cloudy and chilly, but by game time the skies were clear, the sun was warm, and we had ourselves a perfect football Saturday. Glorious. Nathan and I donned red-n-white everything and set out on foot, following the smell of grilling bratwurst (mmm!) to Union South to meet up with Jon and Sofia to catch the marching band's warm-up concert. From there we found my friend and Portuguese professor Mary Schil, who had two 50-yard-line tickets for us. Yes, we had BOTH skybox suite tickets (thanks to our friend Niko!) and main stadium tickets (thanks to Mary!), so Jon, Sofia, Nathan, and I took turns and reaped the benefits of both views (skybox suite = brats, beer, bathrooms; stadium seats = sunshine, cheering, student-section-watching). Wisconsin beat Indiana 33-3 and Nathan got to see it all... Bucky! The cheerleaders and pom squad! The famous, fabulous marching band! And 82,000 red-n-white, chanting, singing, dancing, screaming fans. Varsity!

After the game, we met up again with Mary Schil, who asked one of the players to give Nathan a tour of the Badger locker room. Nathan met the quarterback and several other players, got head coach Bret Bielema's autograph, and was pretty much blown away by standing next to 6'7" guys in football pads. (I feel positively small in Wisconsin, land of giants, it was nice to be back with my peeps. Yeah.)

From there we did a bit of tailgating, then Jon and Sofia had to head home, so Nathan and I walked back to our hotel through the heart of the campus. Bascom Hill, on a sunny fall day, wow. As a coed I was way too busy (or something, ha) to really appreciate what a truly lovely place Madison is - the landscaping, lake views, architecture, art. The contrast between the elegant campus and the naughty (crude!) behavior of the students is pretty intoxicating. Or perhaps it's the beer fumes in the air. Hmmm...

Yesterday morning was again sunny and gorgeous, so Nathan and I walked around the capitol square, past several of the buildings I used to live in, including the Gamma Phi Beta house (good photo ops!). As I pointed at different apartment buildings and frat houses saying, I used to date someone who lived in that building, Nathan asked, how many guys did you date? Wooops...

After another burger - this time at State Street Brats; the KK was closed (?) - we drove home. Or, more accurately, we drove to my parents' to have dinner with Stacey, Cooper, and my brother David, in from NYC for the weekend. My dad made his signature fried pheasant (delicious) and Susanna made her signature gravy (killer), alongside salad and parsleyed potatoes. Yeah, potatoes & gravy, one of my all-time favorites, a very nice welcome-back-to-Minnesota dinner.

And so, today. Monday. Back to school for Nathan (he was kinda bummed) and back to 2007 for his mommy, ha. It's fun to go to Homecoming, but it's even nicer to come home.

Happy 40th Birthday Cami!

Um, OK, sometimes I do like surprises - A LOT!!! Yes, my sweet husband looked past my unsentimental anniversary attitude (although I got him a killer gift too, which I haven't been able to give him yet, but I know he's gonna love it) and got me the most killerest, hardcore, rock-n-roll ankle boots EVAR. Oh yes, they are METAL. Suz not only said so (I wore them to Tuesday Morning Coffee with Suz & Kim - although Kim wasn't there today), she bowed down and gave them - not me, them - the metal sign. YESSS! How did he make such a genius, fashion-forward pick? He very, very wisely called my fabulously coolicious sister Stacey, who pointed him in the right direction - thank you, Stacey! Thank you, John! I'm oh, about 6'3" in these bad boys, so if you see me in them, get outta my way! Woo hoo for kickin' boots! Rarrr...

Ahem. Anyhow, now that I'm home, the boots are off and I'm folding laundry and thinking about roasting another chicken for dinner tonight. I'm just going to keep roasting 'em until I'm roasted out. And for now, I'm not even close. Buttery, crispy, roasted chicken, here we come!

Alright, after all my reading (I've been a bit buried for days, sorry), I've decided to back way off on sugars and grains. I haven't completely eliminated them, of course, but I'm consuming very few. Even more emphasis on fresh meat, dairy, veggies, fruits. Whole foods, baby! Actually not much of a change, I haven't been eating all that much bread anyhow, since I decided to pare things down exactly one year ago - except toast for breakfast. It's been a week since I started tinkering and I have to say - I feel great. And I'm not puffy, or hungry, since I'm not limiting fat. I'll let you know how I continue to feel, and look, I find it all quite fascinating. Me, interested in food and nutrition? No way!

So...mushroom & gruyere omelets for dinner, yum. Sunday nights are often omelet (or frittata) nights, they're just so tasty and easy, you know? We had a shockingly, wonderfully lazy weekend - Nathan and I have been on a big Grey's Anatomy kick (past seasons) and we had ourselves a little marathon since he had extra days off for MEA. And, oh, John and I continued our anniversary celebration yesterday afternoon with lunch at Bacio followed by a sweet, appopriately romantic movie, Ira & Abby. Way fun.

So my head's in the clouds, but I'm still here, still cooking. Just thinking. Hmmm...

Anniversaries. I don't go overboard for the required celebrations (other than my 40th birthday, ha). Oh, John and I saw an amazing movie (Into the Wild), followed by a lovely dinner tonight, in the bar at La Belle Vie (always a winner) to celebrate our 5th annivesary. But the forced part of it, that this should be an amaaaazing night, better than all others, meh. Rather unromantic, I know. But I'm not that uber-romantic girl. I don't love surprises. Plus, romance requires a certain amount of sentimentality, don't you think? And I'm too practical to be terribly sentimental. The day-to-day is where the pedal meets the metal! Our weekly Date Nights are really fun to me, because they're not forced, we just go with what sounds good. Spontaneity that I have a say in, much more my (sometimes cranky, often controlling) style, ha.

So...sorry to have been absent for more than a week! Sheesh! Not cooking terribly interesting things - the Good Calories Bad Calories book has me thinking - a lot - about grains and sugar. Hmmm...especially in light of diabetes in my family, and other health issues, just a lot to think about. A bit of an awakening, perhaps. Doesn't change things terribly much, but while I'm all contemplative and such, I tend to withdraw. Hmmm...

Hope all is well with you!

All hail kale! OMG I hated the stuff when I was kid - or at least I thought that I did, I never actually tried it. My Grandma Meyer cooked it, long and slow, with some form of pork (I think), which sounds absolutely delicious to me now but egads it stunk up her house. I don't know when I turned the kale corner - probably about the time I turned the cheese-steak-salad-egg-nuts-tuna corner, around age 14 or so. And thank goodness! Kale is wonderfully nutritious, easy to cook, and when braised and then drizzled with best-quality (syrupy, rich) balsamic vinegar... The. Kill.

Check out this Star Tribune review of Gary Taubes' new book, Good Calories, Bad Calories. Taubes stirred the pot - BIG time - with his 2002 New York Times Magazine article, What If It's All Been a Big Fat Lie?, when he poked a big fat hole in dietary recommendations to avoid fats and eat grains. I'm no low-carb fanatic (moderation, natch), but I do steer away from most processed foods, refined grains, and sugar and try to fill my plate with veggies, add some protein, add a small amount of whole grains, and include some fat (olive oil, butter, avocado, and/or nuts). I get off track sometimes, of course, especially after trips or parties (woo hoo!). And then I feel like crap, retain water, and put on weight (not woo hoo!). Moderation, baby! Real food, prepared simply, in moderation. (Like kale!) Yeah.

Aannnd, speaking of food (awkward transition alert, sorry), Happy Birthday to my King Foodie father-in-law John!

Hey, me again, back to report that I roasted yet another buttery, crispy chicken, and oh my. So good. Here's the way to eat it - preferably alone, standing up, directly from the cutting board, dipping pieces right into the bowl of pan juices. Yeah, oh yeah. Now I'm properly fortified for our neighborhood women's association meeting - wine and chat, here I come!

How super-stylin' is my nephew Cooper while he scopes his Halloween pumpkin? The little pumpkin with his pumpkin, awww, Coop! Good thing he's keeping toasty warm in his hat and scarf on such a cold day! Brrr!

Nathan, John, and I are keeping toasty warm too, with bowls of chewy rigatoni tossed with a sauce of roasted cauliflower, garlic, olive oil, red pepper flakes, and Parmesan cheese. Mmmm, hearty with a bit of heat, totally hit the spot. (Recipe posted in comments, below.)

Bath, red wine, fire, blankets, tea, fleece, wool, cookies, socks, soup, scarf, coffee, robe, tights, candles, stew, books, pie, sweats, tall boots, bread, jeans, flannel... Y'all find ways to stay warm and cozy too!

Rain, rain, go away! Especially on a Monday, sheesh. I stumbled out of bed, pulled on my walking clothes, pulled my hair back, brushed my teeth, made my way out to the kitchen in the dark, turned on my coffee...and then realized it was pouring and I was going exactly nowhere after dropping Nathan at his bus stop. Damn, I hate when I do that. It's like waking up early on Saturday by accident. And once I'm up and dressed...meh, I'm up. So here I am, complaining instead of walking, ha. Sorry.

Busy week coming up! My aunt Mary for lunch...neighborhood women's association get-together...Cooper Cuteness...Susie's open house...celebrating our upcoming 5th anniversary with the kids...work on the house...homework, homework, homework... And so, a busy food week as well. With the weather so back-n-forth, I'm having a hard time finding my cooking groove. Am I grilling or braising? Am I prepping cool, crisp appetizers, or warm, cheesy bites? I guess the answer is all of the above?! Instead of feeling cranky and out-of-sorts, I should embrace the diversity of options, right? Right?

So today, since it's cooled off pretty dramatically, perhaps a roasted something-or-other. Hmmm. For sure an acorn squash, with a sprinkle of salt, nuts, cinnamon, and brown sugar, yum. Oh, I've got cauliflower too, that would be pretty kill. (To keep things on the healthier side, I try to start with my veggies and plan from there.) Perhaps a simple soup, call 'er dingdangdone. Stay tuned...

Badger Homecoming, the weekend of October 26, heh, heh, heh! Thanks to our friend and co-Badger alum Jon, who pulled together tickets from our other mutual friend Niko - woo hoo Jon and Niko!

And this time, I'm taking Nathan (and Jon's taking his daughter Sophia), which will cast a verrryy different (read: sober!) view of Madtown, ha. And I can't wait! I'm so excited to show Nathan where I lived and went to classes, my Gamma Phi Beta sorority house, the KK (burgers, of course), the Brathaus (aka State Street Brats, more burgers with Jon and Sophie, uff, a burger-y weekend, and yet, somehow I'll manage, ha...), the Union Terrace, Gino's (lasagna and tortellini bolognese, baby), perhaps a Parthenon gyro (if we can somehow fit it in), hopefully lunch on Sunday with my Portuguese professor Mary Schil, The University Bookstore for Bucky Everything (especially for Cooper, who lurves Bucky), and of course, the creme de la creme...a Badger Football Game. (And oh, lots of walking to burn off all that heavy food, good Lord I don't know how I didn't weigh a coupla hundo in college...)

Camp Randall, here we come! Woo hoooooo!

Oooh, get this! My doorbell rang this evening and lo and behold, there were Susie and Cory, bearing not just treats, but warm, home-baked Apple Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce! Yessss! I adore Apple Bread Pudding, and now so does Nathan, ha. Thank you, thank you, thank you, my dear friend. You're The Best!

I braved the heat and humidity to snip some herbs from my deck (OK, it was only a few steps, but it's HOT out there!) and found a couple of colorful visitors (black swallowtail caterpillars!) feasting on my parsley. And some pretty little blooms on my rosemary. Very not October (poor buggers, I don't think they're going to make it to butterfly stage this late in the season), but lovely!

The rosemary is for the appetizer I'm making for Nathan's class parent party tonight. A room-temperature pizza, lightly topped so it's almost like a hearty foccacia bread. It's very easy, do-ahead, and most important (!), tasty. I vary the toppings, depending on what I have in the cooler. Tonight's version has a bit of crisp bacon, fresh tomatoes, said rosemary, caramelized onions, olive oil, and mozzarella. Sprinkle of coarse salt, few grinds of pepper, good stuff. (Recipe posted in comments, below.)

Man, I think I have to wear a tank top to this party tonight - 90 degrees is truly sweltering, even if it is October. Wild.

Happy Birthday (yesterday!) to my mother-in-law Dot!

Yikes, where did this week go? Crrraaazy around here, as I'm sure it is for all of you too, wow. It's nice to finally see that gorgeous October sun! (Rain much?!) And all of the leaves slowly turning. I keep trying to remember to look around - and SEE - and enjoy that the leaves and birds are still here, that the grass is still green, that flowers are still blooming. In such a short time we will be living in a black-n-white photograph and I will miss all these beautiful colors. Sniff. Sigh.

I've actually been too busy to do much cooking and for me, that's pretty damn busy. I did get a solid (simple) meal on the table last night - crispy roasted chicken drummies, asparagus, and rice. Before that, it was a bit of catch-as-catch-can from our various leftovers. Which is fine too, hey, I feel like we didn't waste a thing. But I'm getting ready to fire up the ol' stove again. Or tonight, the ol' grill as it were, since I'm throwing on some lamb chops. Mmmm, nothing like crusty, garlicky lamb chops for a perfect (easy!) Thursday night dinner (I smear 'em with minced garlic, olive oil, and a generous sprinkle of coarse salt about an hour before grilling. Grill until just-pink in the center. Baaa voilaaa.) I actually have a few good tomatoes left, from my pots on the deck, so my plan is a big salad, chock full o' said tomatoes with lots of dill and feta. Perhaps some grilled pita (rub uncut pita on both sides with olive oil, sprinkle with a bit of coarse salt, grill briefly until hot and lightly browned in spots, about 5 minutes total) as well, yum. Can't wait!