Getting Some Happy

When I sat down to make this blog entry I was met with a sense of anxiety about what to write. I wanted to put something witty and interesting out in world for you all to read.  After a few fruitless minutes of writing I decided it was time to take a break.  I spent a few minutes looking at Facebook then at The Pioneer Women blog http://thepioneerwoman.com/ then I realized.  The reason I love reading Ree's entries on The Pioneer Woman is because she writes about what she loves, she writes the way she talks, and she writes about her silly side, her serious side, and so much more.  So this will be the standard to which I aspire!  Here is a little movie staring my most recent love, my baby Theo!  In the future I will not be so focused on having a perfect blog entry, but rather, one that makes me happy and hopefully my readers too!

Hot Dog!

My husband Eric and I recently relocated to the Chicago area and after watching a documentary on Hot Dogs I have decided to find for myself the best Chicago Dog in Chicagoland.  My quest started with a visit to Poochies a burger and hot dog place we passed by on Dempster St. in Skokie IL.  These were our first Chicago dogs in about 4 years and they tasted great, but mind you, we have no other Chicago dogs in our resent memory to set the standard.  Poochies may have established the dog for which us to compare all other dogs since it was our first in a very long time.

We went to Poochies on a Sunday afternoon around 3:00 and it was pretty empty as you might expect at that time of day.  We walked in ordered two Chicago dogs and a couple of sodas to wash them down.  The college-aged girls at the counter were friendly, quick and efficient, managing to gossip about someone or another in their circle while serving up our food.  The dogs had all the traditional toppings, onion, relish, tomato slices, jalapeno peppers, a whole dill pickle, mustard, and celery salt.  The hot dog bun was poppy seed as is traditional, although it was not steamed, which seemed to help keep the toppings from popping out while eating.  The Vienna hot dogs were beefy and delicious and went well with all the salty toppings.  We left with full tummies, feeling like we had all the food we needed all for under $10.  I was most impressed by the fact that the tomatoes were bright red and tasted like a tomato.  All in all this was a great Chicago dog that may set the standard for which we can judge others.

The next Sunday we found ourselves with a similar hot dog craving at about 3:00 in the afternoon.  Our first impulse was to head back to Poochies; so, we piled in the car and headed down Dempster St. toward Skokie once again.  On our way we passed Herms Hot Dog Palace and took a quick left to try out a new spot.  Once again the restaurant was relatively quiet seeing as how it was a Sunday afternoon.  We were quickly greeted by what I think was Mr. Herm himself.  We looked at the menu for a second, even though we all knew what we were there for; then, ordered up two Chicago dogs, a couple of sodas and a small fry.  Once again the order was just about $10 and some change.  This was only slightly more than Poochies since we added the fries into this order.  Mr. Herm who asked us if we wanted everything-- even the hot peppers and celery salt served the food up quickly.  This attention to detail is greatly appreciated and we quickly said, “yes” to everything.

The hot dogs were nice and hot, the poppy seed buns were steamed and all the toppings filled the bun to just about overflowing.  Eric looked at them and thought there were too many onions for his liking and tossed a few off, but I kept them all intact and was very happy I did.  The steamed bun was a nice detail, but proved to make it harder to keep the copiously topped dog inside the bun.  If you set it down too many times (like Eric did) you lost the integrity of your bun and soon began losing toppings.  I had an easier time since I caught on that setting it down would cause an explosion and enjoyed every bite with minimal topping loss.  The jalapeños provided the perfect zip that really brought out the beefiness of the hot dog the stems were even taken off another detail we both appreciated, although, the pinky white tomatoes added little to the flavor, but in the end did not distract from it.   All in all we enjoyed the service from an owner operated joint as well as the atmosphere provided by a mural of the proprietor on the wall, video games, and the world cup soccer game on one of the many televisions.  The dogs were delicious and we had fun! 

Where Did That Name Come From?

Yesterday I begin my blog with my first blog entry-- a recipe I thought up on the fly—Radicchio pasta. I hope this will be a common occurrence on How To Be Toni because it is a common occurrence in my life.  So you might be thinking "I like Toni, all right, but I don’t need to learn how to be her".  Put your mind at ease, the name is merely a nod to a musical number in one of my favorite films: Funny Face staring Audrey Hepburn (another favorite). 

In the film Audrey Hepburn’s character, Jo is a beatnik working in a small Greenwich Village bookstore whose world is taken over by a magazine editor and a photographer. Jo is persuaded to go to Paris for a fashion show and photo shoot, but really to she wants to spend her time in café’s talking philosophy and hoped to meet the philosopher and father of Infantilism theory Prof. Emile Fostre.  Much to the chagrin of the magazine reps Jo wants to while away the hours sipping wine in grungy beatnik cafes talking about the philosophies she holds dear.  In a musical number called “How To Be Lovely” Jo gets a lesson in being “lovely” for a question and answer session with the press.  The song is catchy and perhaps one of my favorite scenes in the film.  It is common for me to walk around the house singing this song.  This blog is not exactly a guide on how to be me, but more of a venue to share fun things, stuff that I hope will make you smile, and remind you to be true to yourself just as Jo unrelenting does in the film throughout most of Funny Face.  They do have a Hollywood ending, but you know, that tends to happen in film.

Radiccio Pasta

I love to make meals from what I have on hand or what I get from my CSA share (community supported agriculture). Today I found the most lovely head of radicchio in my CSA share.  I am not a big fan of how bitter radiccio tends to be; but, I thought up this recipe in the hopes that it would marry the flavor and nutrition of the greens the with more mellow flavors of pasta and chickpeas. The result is very yummy! This recipe was off the top of my head so the measurements are approximate.  Use more or less of anything to get the flavors you most enjoy.

Radiccio and White Bean Pasta
1 to 2 cups gemelli or another small sized pasta
1 head radiccio washed and roughly chopped
3 cloves fresh garlic chopped
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 TSP crushed red pepper (more or less if you like)
1 Can (16oz) Chickpeas
Grated Parmesan cheese 
Salt to taste

Begin cooking pasta. Melt butter and olive oil in a large skillet.  Add garlic and red pepper to the pan while the butter and oil begin to sizzle.  Begin adding the radiccio to the skillet.  Once the radiccio is wilted, and the pasta just slightly done, move the pasta to the skillet along with the radiccio.  Add up to 1 cup of pasta water to the mix while the pasta finishes cooking.  Add the chickpeas and cook until mixture is hot and most of the liquid has cooked off.  Add a handful of Parmesan cheese and toss.  Serve hot and top with more cheese if desired.