What I'm Eating... Bread, Cheese & Salami

My 'fella and I finally made it to the Chicago French Market!  After browsing a bit, we bought some creamy cheese, a loaf of asiago pepper bread, and pepper-encrusted salami, and sat down to eat.

After we had stuffed ourselves with this feast, we still found room for a latte (me), chocolate ganache torte (shared), and a cannoli (me, again).

It's too bad we couldn't break out a bottle of wine with it, but I can still see this being a future date-night location.  We were daydreaming about when the weather will be nice enough to make a picnic and bring it to Grant Park.

We walked back towards State Street after lunch, where we saw these kids skating, and snapped a few shots.

Go to Decorate, Eat & Repeat to see more shots from the day (including a fashionable young man in a suit and hat that just about made my day).

What I'm Eating... Spinach Lasagna

Okay, so I'm Italian... but I've never made lasagna.  From what I can remember, my aunt totally brought frozen lasagna to the table, so I'm not alone in this shame!  But I finally took the plunge, and as it turns out, it isn't that difficult, and it tastes waaaaaay better than the frozen kind (obviously, I'm sure).

Recipe:

Spinach Lasagna

(clicking link will take you to vanessauttaro.com)

Ingredients:

Lasagna noodles, fresh spinach, tomato sauce, cottage cheese (great substitute for ricotta!), Parmesan cheese, shredded mozzarella cheese, olive oil

Decorate, Eat & Repeat

This was the first time I saw my 'fella happily eating leftovers -- it really is one of those dishes that tastes even better on the next day!  It served us well for dinner, then lunch, then dinner again.  I think there are still two pieces in the fridge, now...

I served it with Caesar salad, and bread with butter.

What I'm Eating... Sunshine in the Window

I've heard it called "sunshine in the window", "Italian omelet", and "egg in a basket" -- this wonderful little one-stop of breakfast, an egg fried inside of a buttered piece of bread, has always been one of my favorites.

You can make it with a regular slice of sandwich bread, or even in a piece of Italian or French bread.

Ingredients:

Bread slice(s), butter, egg(s), salt & pepper

Decorate, Eat & Repeat

Use a small juice glass to cut out the hole for the egg, just place it on top of the bread, in the center, press down and twist.  Butter the hole-y bread, as well as the cut-out, on both sides, and put them in your frying pan.  Once the pan heats up, break your egg into the hole, and allow it to fry, then flip and fry on the other side.

The cut-out bread acts as a piece of toast, just fry on both sides.

Sprinkle salt & pepper (and hot sauce, if that's your thing) over the top, and enjoy!

This recipe is especially helpful for people who have a difficult time flipping fried eggs without breaking the yolk.  It seems like such a simple thing, but I'm definitely one of those who can't do it more than 45% of the time!

Enjoy some breakfast, and have a great weekend!  :)

Decorate, Eat & Repeat

What I'm eating... White Bread

Find the recipe for two loaves of bread HERE, at my website Decorate, Eat & Repeat!

White Bread Loaf