Happy Belly: Rumbleseats

Hi all! Sorry it has been so long; we just finished up a month of tech weeks and openings, all of which went well and, well- are DONE! So now it's just a matter of running eight shows at once :)

Anywho, between rehearsals and running up and down the hill (it's a real thing), I managed to stop by a great little drive in called Rumbleseats here in Spring Green, WI. And may I say YUM. Classic deliciousness fried and ready to go. Take a look:

Oh, they definitely had Battleship too. 

Jess won.

Happy Belly: Bacon Pancakes

I've had a dream for a while.


That dream was to have bacon pancakes.

Well said, Jake the Dog.


Anywho, on my May trip to California, I got to live my dream thanks to my fabulous cousin, Em.

The How is pretty simple: 

Make bacon. We did it in the oven (my favorite way- clean up is super duper easy). 

Take sip of bellini. This step is VERY important. 

After that, Mix up pancake mix. We did bisquick because, well, it has yet to let us down.

Take another sip of bellini.

Then, you chop up the bacon, and sprinkle it on the pancakes. 

Flip. 

Serve. 

Cover in butter. 

Cover in Syrup. 

EAT and be ridiculously happy. 

Happy Belly: Accidental Broccoli Soup

Sometimes you mean to make one thing but end up with another very tasty thing.

One of those sometimes was last night.


See, I set out to make zucchini-basil soup. It sounded so good and refreshing and delicious that I marched myself right over to Whole Foods and got the two pounds of zucchini and herbs needed to make it.

Then I got home and realized I had bought cucumbers instead of zucchini.

And by 'realized' I mean I was cheerfully chopping them up when my roommate looked over and said, "You know those are cucumbers, right?"




In my defense, they look very much alike and are stocked next to each other.


Anyways, I already had my onions and garlic going so I had to make something. Luckily, I had broccoli, the unsung hero of most dinners.


It turned out very very yummy. And a very pretty color.




Here's the recipe if you want to try it:

Accidental, or 'Ruh-Row' Broccoli soup

2 lbs broccoli
1/2 and onion
Garlic
Olive oil
A handful of basil
4 cups chicken broth
Salt and Pepper

Dice the onion and garlic and get them sautéing at the bottom of a soup pot in the olive oil. While thats getting going, cut up the broccoli into smallish (think 1-2 inch) pieces. Once the onions are soft and a little see-through, add the broccoli. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let that sit stirring occasionally so nothing burns until the broccoli is soft. Then, add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Take it off the heat. Blend the veggies and broth either in a blender or in the pot with a hand blender  (I prefer the hand blender- less clean up). Lightly chop the basil and add to the pot. Blend until it's as smooth as you like. Serve with a dollop of cream, some parmesan, or just in a mug; all options are tasty.

Enjoy!

Happy Belly: Frisée Salad

favorite!

I love food, particularly French food.

And I love eggs- remember?

home made croutons

So it makes sense that one of my favorite meals in the world combines those two things: simple and exquisite french food and poached eggs.

Papa Cravens makes a salad of frisée, bacon, croutons, AND egg.
Here's how it works: the dressing is particularly acidic and vinegary so the creaminess of the egg warms up the salad and turns it into a glowing, luscious salad.

The salt of the bacon and the crunch of the croutons make it satisfying on all fronts. I especially love it because Papa makes homemade croutons. The whole house smells warm and salty. Sometimes, he'll get the thick lardon that stays a little chewy and soft. I love the soft parts of the bacon. It's like finding the squishy fries that have soaked up the Ikea gravy.

When all of these elements come together, it turns into a cornucopia of every flavor and texture I love: crunchy, soft, warm, cool, crisp, salty, vinegary, and creamy.


Basically, it's beautiful and delicious.

Sometimes I lick the plate.

Fine; I always lick the plate.

When Things Go Wrong (But Turn Out Ok)

As you might have heard, I'm moving. As you also might have heard, I was supposed to fly into Wisconsin Tuesday. But things don't always go as they're supposed to, do they?
On Tuesday, the United Airline network crashed nationwide. All this really did was delay a specific window of flights, including my first flight to Denver. I ended up missing the second leg of my journey.

Now, I respond poorly when travel plans go awry. By 'poorly' I mean that I follow standard Cravi procedures:
1. Panic internally
2. Decide it will be fine
3. Call parental person
4. Speak in an urgent and exasperated voice for a solid minute to three minutes then insist I'm just tired.
5. Calm down and decide to be a grown up about it.
6. Put some food in me to subdue the Hanger beast
7. Make sure I'm as nice and understanding and sweet to the poor airline people as possible

Boom- Problem solved.

This is my usual course of action.

This time, the solution to my no-airplane problem was to be put up in a hotel overnight and jump on a plant the next day. At first, I was cranky. Then the clouds parted and I realized: Hotel= jammies. Hotel = room service.
HOTEL= JAMMIES + ROOM SERVICE.
Finally, the transitive property is working for me.



See kids? We really do use math after the SATs.

So what started out as a stressful, cranky, sweaty day turned into reveling in two food vouchers worth of cheesecake, wine, and french onion soup while watching Chopped and Dance Moms.

Basically, I lived the dream.

BearBear agrees.

Happy Belly: Umami Burger

My family has... a thing for burgers.

Well, more of a history really.

Once upon a time, when my father, Papa Cravens, was 8, he was determined to build the perfect burger. He spent a meal painstakingly stacking and layering and engineering each layer to ensure maximum taste and structural integrity. Without fail, each time the burger was built to specifications, he would pick up the beast and take a bite, only to be greeted with defeat. By defeat I mean all of the luscious ingredients squirted lamely out the back of the burger. This pattern continued for the bulk of the meal. 

Finally, in the Papa Cravi's rarely seen but oft dreaded rage, he took the burger in his hand and crushed it as Zeus crushed the Titans. 

This story has become legend in our family, known universally as The Hamburger Story.

Since The Hamburger Story, Papa Cravens has mastered the art of the burger. I, quite frankly, fancy myself his grasshopper. 

I swore revenge* on all burgers after hearing the legend.  

And I have vanquished every burger in my path. Usually with relish (pun). 

*By revenge I mean I eat burgers like it's my job.

Then I met the Umami Truffle Burger. 

This is the Siren of burgers. It needs no pickle, no ketchup, no onions, no garnish or embellishment of any kind beyond it's truffle cheese promised in the description. 

It seems meek and simple at first glance. Easy to overtake. Then you pick it up and see how... juicy it is. Your pace quickens. You hold the burger lightly, careful to keep the contents in the bun. The aroma is intoxicating.

Then you take the first bite.

And your mind goes blank.

But seriously, this burger is the very definition of Redoncuous. 

Oh, and there are also truffle cheese fries.

I'm just sayin. 

Weekend Pin Ups

That's right. It's Mitzi Gaynor.
I'm always surprised when people don't recognize her; wasn't everyone brought up on classic American musicals? It's like when people haven't seen All About Eve. I just don't understand parents these days.

Anyways, here are my Pinterest picks this week:

Weekend Pin Ups

Here are my favorites of the week. Happy Saturday! 

Happy Belly: Italian Soup.

I love soup.

This is one of my favorite soups and is super easy and SO yummy

All you need is:

1 white onion
garlic
1 box chicken broth (or vegetable broth, if that's what you're into)
2 cans chopped tomatoes
2 cant white beans (or kidney- it's all yummy)
a handful of pasta, maybe two

olive oil
fresh rosemary
parmesan

Ok. Now you have than menagerie collected, lets do this:

Chop up the onion and garlic. toss it in the bottom of a soup pot with a little olive oil and sauté it till the onions are soft and slightly transparent. Then, add the chicken broth and the tomatoes. Note- don't drain the tomatoes; the juice is yuuuuummy. Let that simmer for a couple minutes while you drain your beans. Toss those in. Let it all come up to around a boil (this is a super precise recipe, in case you haunt noticed,). Toss in some pasta. Now, I like to ere on the side of caution here. Pasta tends to soak up the broth, so i like to put just a bit of pasta so I still get the broth goodness.

Back to the cooking.


Let the whole thing bubble till the pasta is cooked how you like it.
while that's happening, take a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a mug or cup or microwavable container. throw some rosemary in there and microwave it for 10-30 seconds. The goal here is just to warm the oil so it soaks up the rosemary flavor.

ok- its soup time!
Grab a bowl, ladle up some soup, drizzle some rosemary oil and add cheese to your hearts content.

Then snuggle down on the couch and EAT UP!!!

Happy Belly: Poached Eggs

I'm pretty sure eggs are the best food in the world.

And I'm pretty sure poached eggs are the best eggs in the world.

Think about it: poached eggs are creamy but cooked, gooey but manageable, soft yoked but not fried so they're good for you. It really is the best of all eggs.

I will put poached eggs on... Well, anything I suppose. I put them on soup, salad, sandwiches, most meats, any carbs... Just about anything. The trouble is that they can be very tricky to do right-  so easily can one find a whisky, stringy mess staring back at you from the pot of lightly bubbling water. Is there anything more sad and disappointing when all you want is an egg?

Well, the Mama Cravens has found the solution: poach pods.

I know, I'm just as skeptical of anything with "pod" in the title. But these are magical.
They've simplified the process of poaching an egg to boiling the water, spraying the pods with pam, cracking eggs into them, and putting them in the boiling water. A few minutes later, you come back to beautiful, happy, shiny little eggs glinting back at you cheerily.

So what does one do with that time? If you're me, (which I am,) then you put one of those laughing cow cheese wedges on toast, put the eggs on, crush some salt, pepper and flax seed on, and go to town.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some eggs to eat.
Or twelve.

Posted with Blogsy

Wish List: Kitchen Bits

I think my favorite part of the kitchen (besides the food and eating part), is accessorizing it with the cooking utensils and tools. That wall of single-purpose toolset Williams Sonoma is heaven. So I went on a ModCloth an Anthropologie rampage to find the sweetest little kitchen tools possible.

kitchen brush, oven mitt, bottle opener, s&p shakers

yellow apron, measuring spoons, teapot, geometric apron

dish towel, spice jars, measuring spoons, ceramic farmers market basket, utensils set 

How ADORABLE would this kitchen be?

Coney Island is Great. And Fishes Too!!!

I went on an adventure this past weekend to the magical land of Coney Island. It was filled with fried food, otters, and random people. You'll see what I mean in a minute.
I went with my Big from college (we were in the same sorority) and we had way too much fun.
Our first stop was Nathan's for some deep fried goodness

I have an obsession with french fries. We have a long and loving history and my love for them never wavers; it's an extension of my devotion to the humble potato. But more about that later.

After filling ourselves with fries, corn dogs, root beer and orange soda (that's right,) we took a stroll on the boardwalk to see what we could find. The best thing was the tiny dancing man, wearing a straw boater, black jazz pants, a black beaded bolero jacker and big white fluffy gloves. You now; as you do.

We also made the excellent life choice of stopping by the New York Aquarium. It reminded me that there are few things I enjoy more than a romp with the fishes. I just love aquariums. here are some of the fishes and animals I got to see!

All in all, it was a great way to spend my last sunday in New York for a while; fishes, friends, and fried food.





And this guy.