Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

The Vegan Experience, Day 0

I did this for two weeks because I was feeling so unhealthy. I felt fantastic and ate tons of whole foods, and cooked much more than I usually do, because I had to. It's not sustainable for me, and I am not ideologically committed so I couldn't give up some of the pleasure I get from certain food permanently, but I found it to be a totally valuable exercise.

marinelm at 6:09PM on 01/13/12

Lunch in the Loop: Protein Bar

I love this place! Especially the buffalo bar-rito!

marinelm at 2:47PM on 01/03/12

From Talk

Excess Sour Cream: Ideas, Please

I love bringing coffee cake to work when faced with this predicament. 3.5 pints is a lot of coffee cake, though. At least maybe it would help with some of it! Happy new year!

marinelm at 12:04PM on 01/01/12

The Vegetarian Option: Mana Food Bar

I've eaten here three times. The first two times I loved it, the third time it was kind of "meh." The hot food was served tepid, which was not ideal. Or delicious. I do love the sliders, though, and they have some unique and vegetable-accented cocktails that are fun.

marinelm at 10:33AM on 12/17/11

Seriously Delicious Holiday Giveaway: Counter Culture Coffee Subscription

I just finished overnight shift 10/11 so sbux has been making me a tall nonfat misto more often than I should admit. When I'm among the living, I make coffee with warmed milk. Not cream.

marinelm at 8:44AM on 12/15/11

From Recipes

Kir Rodriguez's Cashew Polvorones

I just made these. They aren't so round as the picture, but we couldn't stop eating them!

marinelm at 11:48PM on 12/09/11

The Over 21 Club: Sun Wah BBQ

They also have some of the best chicken ever. We went there and somehow one in our party knew about the owner's brother's special chicken. It was sort of roasted, sort of fried, and some of the best chicken I ever ate. We demolished a duck and a chicken. As a party of four.

marinelm at 5:41PM on 12/08/11

Seriously Delicious Holiday Giveaway: Counter Culture Coffee Subscription

Milk. Preferably with a small amount of fat in it. I embrace fat in baked goods and other applications, but I really dislike cream in coffee.

marinelm at 5:34PM on 12/07/11

From Talk

Restaurants Around the Magnificent Mile

I love Purlple Pig. I also have a soft spot in my heart for the Pierrot Gourmet, on the ground floor of the Peninsula. It's warmly decorated, and they have nice tartines. I also like the breakfast flatbread and the seemingly unplanned Pen chicken salad, filled with roast chicken, pistachios, craisin, cashews, bacon, and topped with big shavings of cheese. It's a horrible value and ridiculously expensive, but I like it anyway. (The beautiful dessert case does not hurt.)

marinelm at 5:11PM on 12/06/11

A Cookie A Day: 'One Sweet Cookie'

Somewhere in working overnight the next 11nights in a row I plan to bake something! I just have not figured out what it is yet...

marinelm at 11:46AM on 12/05/11

7 Biscotti Recipes We Love

I like to do pistachio, craisin and white chocolate chip for a festive Christmas biscotti.

marinelm at 8:20PM on 11/30/11

A Sandwich a Day: Milk & Honey Café's Avocado and Smoked Gouda Sandwich

I love this sandwich! I always want to get something else for lunch there, but I never do. (At brunch I love the breakfast sandwich or the casserole.) I just wish all the accompanying chips were delicious. They're usually a mix of burnt and underdone, with some perfect ones in the middle.

marinelm at 11:22PM on 11/22/11

Announcing Serious Eats Chicago

OMG. Never thought this would happen. Welcome to the referential "city" fornthe entire Midwest.

marinelm at 2:55PM on 11/08/11

Chick-fil-A: Beyond the Chicken Sandwiches?

Adding my name to the list of people who have never eaten in a Chick-fil-A. They opened one a block from my house, and while it's tempting to find out what the fuss is about, the only vote I have that counts is how I spend my money, and I won't spend it there.

marinelm at 3:10PM on 10/27/11

Sweet Technique: How to Make Swiss Buttercream

I have to confess that for my own birthday cake, I'd take a mock buttercream that transports me immediately back to the mom-baked cakes of my childhood, but I totally agree that taste trumps...smoothness. Fondant is not delicious. Not even "good" fondant. Swiss buttercream, however, can be both pretty and value-added in the taste experience. Making a cake made with a real buttercream and spun sugar decoration was one of my most triumphant kitchen moments ever.

marinelm at 11:06AM on 10/03/11

Bake the Book: 'Farmers' Market Desserts'

I can't wait to try that squash pie recipe you posted last week. Because I haven't been baking at all lately. And because it looks seasonally gorgeous.

marinelm at 11:58AM on 09/26/11

Where to Drink Coffee in Chicago

I agree about the wasteland of Streeterville! (although if you need a Chili's you're all set...) They're all a schlep from here, but I'm eager to try Caffe Streets because Division, even W Division, isn't so far.

marinelm at 10:00AM on 09/01/11

Giveaway: Enter to Win This Panasonic Breadmaker

Challah made by my friend hannah's mom. In her bread maker.

marinelm at 9:35AM on 09/01/11

From Slice

Flee The Pizza: Spike Mendelsohn's "We, The Pizza" in Washington D.C. Still No Good

I had the exact same thought about Whole Foods! It bears a striking resemblance!

marinelm at 4:12PM on 08/25/11

Cook the Book: 'The Glorious Pasta of Italy'

I'm supposed to pick just one?

marinelm at 7:01PM on 08/24/11

We Try the Whole Menu at Michael Voltaggio's New Sandwich Shop Ink.Sack, Los Angeles

I wish I could swap Grahamwich for this!

marinelm at 6:18PM on 08/18/11

Taste Test: Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Trader Joe's Joe-Joes are terrible. They taste funny and the texture is too slide-y. Not slimy, but just too slippery. I keep eating the box I bought, but I'm not enjoying it.

marinelm at 10:07PM on 07/22/11

Cook the Book: 'In the Small Kitchen'

Basement apartment in Georgetown.It was at the back, and had a window and a door to the "patio" under which large amounts of dirt could enter. The floor never came clean, no matter what, and the stove was in the corner next to the fridge such that there was very little room to actually stand in front of it. But it's where I started independently learning to bake and cook, and where I started feeding people.

marinelm at 6:11PM on 06/21/11