Happy October everyone! I'm trying out some new colors on the blog. And a new title photo. Hope you like it. The title photo was taken by my neighbor Phil Onofrio, at the Uncommon Ground Harvest Fest.

Sloppy Joes!

Here's a great weeknight meal. The recipe is from Tyler Florence on the Food Network. I served with celery and blue cheese dressing as a dipping sauce.  

• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 1/2 pounds lean ground turkey
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups ketchup
• 1/4 cup yellow mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 12 parker house rolls
• Homemade Bread and Butter Pickles, recipe follows

Directions

Set a heavy-based pot over medium-high heat and add a 3-count of olive oil. Add onions and saute for 2 to 3 minutes until translucent. Add ground turkey, season well with salt and pepper and brown well all over, breaking it up with a wooden spoon - about 7 to 10 minutes. Add ketchup, mustard, cayenne, brown sugar and tomato paste. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes. Finish with a splash of red wine vinegar and season it once more before serving on parker rolls with Homemade Bread and Butter Pickles.

Everything tastes better with Bacon!

This photo was sent in by Uncommon Ground owner Michael Cameron. Something hearty and tasty to take you into the Fall months as the air gets crisp. Meatloaf wrapped in bacon! Head on over the Uncommon Ground for this dish. I've been a fan of Uncommon Ground since it was a youngster, I used to frequent the Wrigleyville location to see my favorite singer-songwriters and have a cup of hot cocoa back in 1993. Owners Michael and Helen expanded the place into 3 rooms, making it a premier spot to see live music, and be served a wonderful meal focusing on organic ingredients. Good wine and beer selection too. I like the Matilda, by Goose Island. A stand-out appetizer is the baked artichoke goat cheese spread with toast rounds.

And now their 2nd location, opened about a year ago, on Devon Ave., in Edgewater has become a favorite neighborhood place of mine, especially on Friday eve, for their Honky Tonk happy hour. The front bar is so cozy, with a fire place, you can catch the early set in there, and then later on the eve, great music acts play in the back room. Oh, I just realized this week is the first friday of the month, and one of my favorite bands plays at the Happy Hour....Honkygrass! I just may have to make an appearance!

Thanks Helen and Michael for creating TWO great spaces for musicians and foodies alike!

My blog has changed its name!

Please take note that I've decided to change the name of my blog. It was nagging at me for a while. Not that I don't like the name "everything's better on toast" but it was hard to say all in one sentence to tell people the address, with the blogspot...yadda yadda....apostrophe or no apostrophe...and I feel really good about the new name....drum roll....LDelicious!.

Thanks to Crowley for the name! My friends call me be my initials...and what I post here will hopefully always look delicious!

Happy Fall

With the turning of the season this week, I thought I'd post an autumnal food....beets! Roasted beets are amazing! So good. You might not believe me if you've only had canned beets (which I did as a kid...but don't get me wrong, my mom was an AWESOME cook....for some reason, the beets were served from the can). Slice them up, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and maybe some thyme and bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes. I'm telling you....so delicious. This photo below shows the beets not yet roasted. And 3 different varieties! (from a Farmer's Market).

Darrell Jones approves the Cafe's Meatball Sub

This meatball sub is available on occasion at the Cafe inside the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, IL, USA

My nephew James eating chocolate ice-cream at the Choo-choo grill. A great place to take kids. The food arrives at your table from a train car that rides around the counter. Worth a trip to Des Plaines, IL! There's a rumor that they are closing...so hurry up and go!

Choo-choo grill

What's your favorite flavor of ice-cream? Mine is cookies and cream or Ben and Jerry's Vanilla caramel fudge.

LDelicious episode 2 - "cooking some chicken"

You asked for it....another video! Episode 2 in "LDelicious".

This takes the cake!

Walking in Wicker Park one night, I stumbled upon Alliance Bakery on Division Street. I haven't tasted their cakes but I was intrigued by the designs.

near State Street, that great Street

Where's the best place to people-watch and have a filet mignon slider? That's right....I put those 3 words together: filet-mignon-slider. Well, actually Gibson's did. It's so Gold Coast, it's so old-school Chicago, it's so 50 yr. old men with 25 yr. old women, but who cares when you have that yummyness between two buns.

And they have my favorite style of ketchup bottle!

I went to Gibson's with my cousin. When she saw my sliders she had to order one for herself. I also got the iceberg wedge salad...it's back in style folks! Slathered with blue cheese dressing, crumbled blue cheese and bacon bits, you'll be happy you ordered this. Also pictured here is the chopped salad.

Gibson's Steakhouse in Chicago

"LDelicious" - Knives

I'm starting a new series on EBOT called "LDelicious"..everything that's captured on film will be a part of "LDelicious". The first episode features a tutorial on knives that you should have in your kitchen.

LDelicious - Episode 1 - "Knives"

As British as cherry pie

My friends JB and Fen came over to make cherry pie. I have always wanted to learn how to make a pie from scratch. Fen is from England so the pie had a special touch...a shortbread crust that tasted like those Walker Bros. butter cookies. I didn't write anything down because I was having too much fun watching the pie-making. So here's a pictorial of "baking cherry pie". It turned out yummy and we ate it a la mode - vanilla ice-cream.

weeknight chicken tacos

How easy is this? Chop up a tomato, avocado, red onion, jalapeño and cilantro and set aside. I buy one of those rotisserie whole chickens already cooked. Peel off all the meat set aside in bowl. I use flour tortillas for this recipe. Throw them on the open flame on the stove, or the grill if you are inclined to fire it up. Both ways cook the tortilla very quickly. You won't have time to throw a load of laundry, go to the bathroom or update your status on Facebook. Just stand there and flip the tortillas over, oh, about 30 or 40 seconds on the flame.

Susie's recommendation is to salt and pepper your fixins before building your taco and to spread a thin layer of sour cream on the cooked tortilla. Add the chicken and the rest of the toppings. Spoon a dollup of your favorite salsa on top. I'm into salsa verde these days...you can get it at any grocery store. If you wanna skip the chicken, you can of course add in a sauteed veggie such as zucchini or even asparagus.

the greatest dessert in Chicago

warm gooey chocolate chip cookie cooked in a cast iron pan, vanilla ice-cream, caramel sauce. "4 spoons please, and no, I'm not finished with my wine."

Dunlay's on the Square

grilled celery..hmm...interesting

I haven't even had my blog up a week and I already have a guest blogger! This is sent in from my friend Rich Rankin who made this lovely dinner. I'm curious about the grilled celery. I wish my computer screen was "scratch-n'-sniff". Oh, well....maybe I'll get invited for dinner....hint hint.

Rich says "I made grilled pork chops and grilled celery with fresh cucumber/tomato salad, touch of caeser and a glass of Malbec."

Way to go Rich....this looks delish!!

they melt in your mouth

When did they start making

blue m & m's?