Whole Larder Love

I like food. No, I love food. I've got a whole lotta love for food. In honor of his new book, Whole Larder Love, I had the pleasure of listening to Australian blogger, cookbook author and food warrior Rohan Anderson share the beginnings of his journey as a hunter/gatherer; hosted at Longman & Eagle's Off Site Bar. To top it all off, Rohan carried out a first hand demonstration on skinning a rabbit. His familiarity with the process was mesmerizing. I can't imagine that knowledge will ever come in handy for myself but Rohan's desire to work for his food has stuck with me (and to thank for my newly acquired tomato plant.) Post-skinning, Longman worked their magic and made a lovely dish for Rohan which I may have stole a delicious bite of. Thank you, Max Wastler, for introducing me and being an always charismatic host.

Not Nevada.

Let's be honest, 90% of my Google searches are food related. From gluten-free recipes* to videos on cutting a butternut squash to restaurant openings; I'm all over it. So as soon as I saw a main restaurant front close in my neighborhood, I knew something had to take its place. Enter Reno. Although they just opened about a week ago, I had been drooling over food rumors of wood-fired bagels, pizza and pasta for the past month. With a menu that changes morning, noon and night - this was my third visit and oddly, in that exact order. Things got serious pretty quickly when suddenly our table was cluttered with plates of shaved Brussels sprouts, roasted cauliflower, a carnitas pizza and a fennel sausage pizza. The word "legit" was thrown around a couple times to describe the crust. Hell, everything was beyond legit and I'm glad/nervous that such a great eatery is only a 5 minute walk from my place.

 

* I don't follow a gluten-free diet, I just tend to like recipes that are gluten-free/vegan/everything most people don't like.

Logan square.

Besides downtown, Logan Square was my first introduction to Chicago. It's hard to argue against the abundance of lawn space on the boulevard that you don't see in many other Chicago neighborhoods. It's been two years since I began exploring the "square" and one year living in it. Often prefaced with "up and coming," it's exciting to see new restaurants and stores opening all the time and feeling a sense of ownership and pride; the community vibe is ever present here. Of course we're still lacking a few vitals (Trader's Joes, call us) and it's not immaculate but it has a lot of history and character and trees and I like that.

Block party.

 If Longman & Eagle doesn't ring a bell for you, I suggest you familiarize yourself as soon as possible. I am lucky enough to live a hop, skip and a jump away so I like to pretend we're those neighbors that take time to talk about our latest gardening endeavors on the weekends. Recently, Longman held their second annual block party. The number of trendy parents and their equally stylish children was overwhelming, so of course I snapped a couple deceptive photos. Up until this particular day, I had been on the Vegetarian train for about a month, but after I saw the special for evening, I fell off. Pork belly, beans, corn pudding, coleslaw and potato salad-- see? It did not disappoint but I had to bow out shortly after due to a gluttonous food coma.

Bang Bang.

 The descriptor "sweet tooth" comes up a lot in life. While I try and fight it, there's really no use as every Astrological Birth Chart I've read clearly makes note of this weakness. Or at least this is my excuse for ending up at this little pie shop almost every weekend. There is enough online press that elaborates on how fantastic this place is; instead I will simply visually reminisce my latest trip involving: a biscuit, a slice of Oreo pie, a slice of plum pie, and a slice of banana walnut toffee pie. Don't worry, this wasn't a lone venture.