Celebrate!

This week there are three things to celebrate around here.

First -- we sold the house!! It officially closed on Wednesday, September 7th.

Second -- September 7th also happened to be mine and Johnny's 5th anniversary!

Third -- September 12th is Dinner at Christina's third birthday!

Biz just celebrated her 3rd blogiversary too and I loved the "look back" she did.

Dinner at Christina's fans have been there for:

The story of my chef brother
My Grammy passing away
My first Video Demonstration: Pan Fried Pork Chops
My Dad's Homemade Sausage
My first Blogger meet up
My second Blogger meet up
Friday Firsts
When Johnny proposed!
Major House Renovations
Moving into our new tiny apartment
And following along as I plan our Dec. 2011 wedding!

I decided to splurge a bit at the grocery store on behalf of this special week. We had a great Saturday night dinner.

Massive grilled steaks medium rare, grilled onions, grilled poblano chiles, and sweet potato waffle fries.

Burgers, Beef, and Building

Ok, so technically it's not building, as much as renovation, but I was on an alliteration roll, so please forgive.

In an effort to clear out the freezer before I leave for NC (because we all know J isn't going to make any progress in that department with me gone and him home alone), we grilled some of the delicious Marx 100% Angus beef 1/2 pound burgers I won a few months ago from Christo's contest. Every time we eat them I am shocked at how good they are.

Then, I tried the pepperocini beef with giardiniera as promised. It was delicious, but a tad on the spicy side for Johnny and me. Next time I might do mild, or mix some giardiniera with pepperocinis. Served on toasted rolls with mozzarella cheese.

Entrance with new light fixture and address sign.

Me and J trying out the downstairs mirror to see if it works. (Ignore my GUT hanging out.)

Upstairs shower tiled, not yet grouted. New tub in place. (The old one was mustard yellow, yummy!)

Master bedroom carpet out, walls patched, ready to be painted.

Terrified/confused dog. Has no clue where all this construction and packing is leading...

The chaos/mess that is taking over the house as I work my way through cleaning/packing.

Edited to add: Sorry, I forget all of you aren't mind readers, and need a bit of explanation. We're finishing the house in IL to be able to sell and move to NC. I'm leaving first with some of our stuff and the pets to stay at my parents' house in NC. This way the pets and some clutter will be out of the way while we show the house. I can also work my usual summer job at the ice cream shop to make some money to make the transition easier. J is staying in IL while the house is on the market. Then when it sells, we'll purchase the house we picked out in NC and me, J, and the pets will all live in the same place again.

Friday Firsts - Fire Starters

Happy Friday everybody! I hope you enjoy your Memorial Day weekends! For those of you who will be grilling out, my first for this week is making eco-friendly fire starters! My mom used to make these, but this was the first time I've made them myself!



Now it's your turn to tell me about your first! To participate in Friday Firsts create a blog post featuring a "first" of yours. Next, link that blog post below and tell us about it! If you don't have a blog or a specific post to link to please tell us about your first in the comment section! Any and all participation is welcome!



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Eco-Friendly Fire Starters

With grilling season upon us, I thought I'd show you how to make these eco-friendly fire starters. My mom used to make these for personal and Girl Scout use when I was little. It reuses a lot of headed-for-the-trash items to make something useful.

You will need:
cardboard egg cartons
paraffin unscented wax
dryer lint
shredded paper scraps
sawdust

Melt the wax using a double boiler. *Do not melt wax over an open flame because it is flammable!* Use unscented paraffin wax so it burns cleanly. Do not use leftover candles or crayons because they may have scents or chemicals you don't want burning near food.

Using flammable items such as dryer lint, shredded paper scraps, or sawdust distribute them into the cups of cardboard egg cartons. I used dryer lint from cotton loads, such as towels, sheets, and jeans. Cotton is a natural fiber and will burn cleanly, so avoid using lint from man-made fabrics. Also be careful in choosing your paper scraps, selecting those without glossy finish or harsh dyes and inks.

Once the wax has melted, carefully pour just enough to cover the material in the egg cups. Allow to set for a few hours and then rip the egg cups to separate. You can now use one or two of these to start a fire safely without the use of harmful chemicals that are bad for the environment!

Grilled Polenta

When we were in D.C. in November I picked up two packages of polenta at the grocery store. We ate the plain one almost immediately, the other was a basil garlic flavor.

I took Biz's advice of dipping the slices in beaten egg and then a mixture of panko and grated Parmesan cheese.

Once the cast iron grill pan was pre-heated I sprayed it and deposited the rounds on. I let them cook undisturbed for about 4 or 5 minutes, then flipped and let the second side cook for 3 or 4 minutes.

Unfortunately the breading mixture stuck a little to the pan in some areas. I think in the future I might try to bake since the polenta is so fragile. Some cracked while flipping, too.

We were still left with really great flavor from both the polenta and the breading. It had a charred goodness that paired nicely with the grilled steak and salad we ate alongside.

I was a little overzealous in my serving sizes. Neither of us finished all of our steak or ate all of the polenta rounds! They're packed neatly away for leftovers and a potential polenta casserole or lasagna.

Cast Iron Grill Pan Steak

Happy 22nd birthday to my little brother, Michael!
Aww wasn't he the cutest little kid in the world?! No wonder he was the favorite..

Holy smokes this steak was so good it deserves its own post!

Steak was on sale at our grocery store when I shopped, so I grabbed a package of two NY strip steaks. (Black Angus for $6.98 a pound is a good deal, right? It's normally $14.98 per pound. I figured us eating these 2 steaks at home for under $10 is a lot better deal than what we'd pay at a restaurant!)

I removed them from their package and put them in a zip bag with a marinade I concocted of only two ingredients. But, believe me, these two ingredients were key in making this steak a knock out!

The first was a few tablespoons of a sundried tomato "dipping oil" my parents brought when they came for Christmas. We don't sit around and eat hunks of bread often so I've been trying to use it in creative ways here and there. Basically it's olive oil, spices and herbs, chunks of sun dried tomatoes, and a little balsamic vinegar.

The second was a free sample from Jack Daniel's for their Original No. 7 recipe sauce. It was a little 1 oz. trial size packet, but you better believe the big bottle is on my grocery list as I type. (The sample was requested by me from their website because I am a free sample whore. They did not give this to me, have no idea who I am, and I was not compensated. Happy FTC?!)

In went the steak and because of an unexpected change of plans to dinner that night, it marinated for a whole day and was dinner the next night.

I let the cast iron grill pan heat up for a few minutes and first cooked the polenta (coming up in the next post), then cleaned quickly with a damp paper towel gripped by tongs. After re-spraying on went the steak with a delightful sizzle! For medium rare cook for about 2 minutes, then rotate 90° and cook an additional 2 minutes. Flip to the other side (which will cook quicker) and cook for about 1 minute, rotate 90°, and then cook another minute. This will guarantee you awesome grill marks!!

Move to a plate and let rest a few minutes before cutting into it to eat. This was completely and utterly delicious. Johnny told me after the first bite that it was "probably" the best steak he's ever had. Considering how he gushes over steak house steaks I'll take that as a compliment!

This marinade will definitely be appearing in the future. The combination was heavenly! Slightly sweet, a bit smoky, a little tang from the balsamic and the Jack Daniels... full of body and a great compliment to the red meat!

Served with a small side salad of mixed greens, carrots, celery, and sunflower seeds.

Flank Steak

Biz posted a flank steak a few days ago and the picture of the juicy strips of meat kept haunting me! I had to make it!!

I remembered Pioneer Woman (who is going to be in Skokie on November 19th) also has a flank steak recipe, so went to see how she did hers.

I threw caution to the wind, however, and came up with my own marinade. Into the ziploc bag went:

4 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 shallot, thinly sliced
~2 Tbsp soy sauce
~2 Tbsp Worchestershire sauce
~2 Tbsp brown sugar
~2 Tbsp olive oil
~2 Tbsp water
black pepper
paprika

I rinsed off the meat and put it in the bag and squished until everything was coated, then pressed out the air and sealed it. It marinated in the fridge for about 6 hours.

I heated my griddle pan over two of my burners and rubbed it down with some butter before I threw the meat on.

I let it sit 2-3 minutes, rotated 90°, flipped and then did the same on the other side.

It got some great color, I was impressed!

I let it rest on the cutting board for a few minutes while the roasted cabbage with cheese sauce finished in the oven.

Then, Johnny sliced it against the grain for us.

Mmm, it was a wonderful medium rare. Nice and juicy and flavorful!


I served it with Ree's controversial dipping sauce - the marinade boiled into a thick, delicious sauce. It was savory sweet and I think it complimented the meat beautifully. I don't have an issue with this practice, I find the reasoning behind it being a health hazard a little flimsy.

The marinade is on the outside of the meat when you place that on the grill, is it not? Why is that marinade ok to eat, but the rest of it is somehow "contaminated," even if boiled for 15 minutes?

Let me be clear by saying I would not save and re-use marinade (which is icky and potentially deadly!) Ultimately you can cook (or not cook!) things to your preference and what makes you comfortable, so I chose to make the sauce and I don't regret it, and neither do my tastebuds!


This was my first time cooking flank steak! There are so many exciting ingredients out there that I see on TV, in the store, and on other's blogs. I've had fun introducing new ingredients to my repertoire and think it'll be cool to tackle new ingredients as a challenge to myself!

What are some ingredients you have personally never cooked with before?

Some of mine are artichoke, celery root, grape leaves, and polenta.

I'll compile a list of some ingredients after I hear back from you guys! I think it will be fun and inspiring to tackle the list and welcome you to join me if you also want to try out a new ingredient!

Chicken Under a Brick

One of Johnny's birthday presents from me last year was Weber's Big Book of Grilling.


Still trying to desperately clear out my freezer (as it now needed room for 55 pounds of sausage) I thawed one of the 3.5 lb. whole fryer chickens. At first I thought beer can chicken, but it needed an hour and a half and we didn't have that much time to work with. So, we settled on another new one - Chicken Under a Brick!

Other than using their instructions for cooking time, and brick technique, I didn't use their recipe. My dad brought fresh homemade hot sauce, salsa, and jerk sauce for us, so we utilized the jerk here.

After thawing the chicken, I sat back and "ewwwwwed" as my dad took the guts and neck out of the cavity. I've never bought a whole chicken before (just boneless breasts or thighs) so I was not expecting guts in there! We cooked up the livers and other questionable stuff for the cat and dog, who enjoyed it thoroughly.

The chicken was cut in half and put in a ziploc bag with the jerk to marinate for a few hours.

We got the coals really hot, but then put them to one side so the chicken could cook over indirect heat for 30 minutes.

The chicken was layed down first, skin side down.

Next, an oiled pan (I used a cast iron griddle) lays over the chicken.

Finally, foil wrapped bricks (we used extra landscaping ones) go on top of the pan to weigh it down. They also collect and hold some of the cooking heat, so the chicken can cook from both sides and doesn't need to be flipped.

Leave the chicken alone for 30 minutes, then carefully remove the bricks and pan. Flip the chicken to the other side for a few minutes to get some color and crispness.

We also grilled two zucchini, a bunch of asparagus, and a tomato, marinated in Newman's Own Caesar.

Ohhh I wish you guys could have smelled/tasted this! It was so juicy and flavorful! You've got to try it - it was such an easy process and came out better than expected. The three of us polished off almost the entire bird - there was just one piece left!



Blogger Secret Ingredient (BSI) this week is chocolate! Entries are due by Sunday, September 13th to London Foodie in New York. I already have an idea, I hope it turns out as good as it is in my head!

I won Laura's Best Foodie Foto (BFF) contest this week with my Calumet Fisheries salmon shot!

Grilled Sausage

Working with sausage all day will make you hungry for some for dinner!


1 whole onion, sliced
1 whole green pepper, roasted (plus a chunk that was floating around in your fridge)
homemade sausages of choice
unpictured Freekeh (from TJ's)
2 ears corn

We grilled everything except the freekeh, which goes into the microwave in a pouch for 90 seconds. I'd never had it before, but it's a drum wheat that looks very similiar to barley. It was really nutty and bold in flavor, so it held up nicely with the grilled foods and acted as a bed and side dish. My dad found it in TJ's by the couscous, and encouraged us to try it out!

The sausages were still juicy and flavorful on the inside, with a crunchy charred crunch on the outside.

The vegetables had roasted down with delicious smoky flavor, and the whole pepper steamed on the inside, creating a tender juicy texture. The corn, as always, was crisp and juicy and I'll be sad to see it go, it was a great season!

Johnny made little amuse bouches with a sausage slice, a piece of the green pepper, and a piece of onion.

We enjoyed the hearty, spicy dinner with a Chilean wine, bought at TJ's for around $5, as a perfect compliment.