A few weeks ago Luisa wrote about some beautiful bitter orange marmalade she made. I usually do whatever Luisa tells me, and I’ve been wanting to make marmalade for years, so I started checking around to see if I could find me some Seville (sour) oranges in Chicago. I found folklore-like reports online of sightings at this ethnic market or that grocery store…but nothing panned out. I started to give up and move onto other projects. But while we were in Los Angeles, some friends who took us to Lindy & Grundy, a super rad butcher shop in West Hollywood. I picked up a jar of orange marmalade that turned out to be fantastic and renewed my determination to find the oranges. I found a place online where I could order a case of Seville oranges, and despite the high cost, decided that the elusive Seville oranges would be mine.

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Friends! At long last, I am back. My absence wasn’t planned. I came down with the worst flu ever, which kept me out of commission for a couple of weeks. It was especially discouraging since I was a good citizen and got a flu shot at the start of the season. But luckily I felt better just in time to enjoy some holiday cheer. I’ll be back in earnest next week with some updates on what I’ve been cooking, but I wanted to take a moment and say hello.

Hello!

At the end of the year, I like to look back over the blog and remember all of the good food we shared. I gave myself the challenge of picking the 5 best recipes of the year.

I failed, so here are 7:

Smoky Eggplant Puree with Pine Nuts and Urfa Pepper

I liked this recipe so much it ended up making it into the wrap I designed to benefit Open Books.

Baby Spinach Salad with Dates and Almonds

This remains the most satisfying thing I made all year—simple and delicious. read more+++

[This annual gift guide has become one of my favorite parts of Lottie + Doof. I really enjoy putting this together, and this year I had fun shooting all of these good things “on location” in our apartment. As always, these are all items that I own/use and can vouch for.]

Rhubarb Hops Syrup

Wisconsin’s Quince & Apple produce all sorts of beautiful products. This year I especially love this rhubarb and hops syrup that can be added to sparkling wine, or water to make a memorable refresher.

Gold Flatware

These feel right to me, right now. Lots of this. Modern. Gold.

Wilder Quarterly

There are a slew of new home/food publications out, and many more on the horizon. Some are great, and some seem to be sacrificing substance for style. Wilder manages to prioritize both style and substance and does them both well. They describe themselves as a publication for people “enthralled by the natural world”. It is a wonderful mix of growers, makers, plants, animals, ideas and recipes. There is an article on will-o-the-wisps and one on Julie Newmar’s garden in the current issue—nuf said. read more+++

Thanks to this blog, and all of you amazing people, I get to do some really fun stuff. A few weeks ago, the folks at Falafill (delicious, fresh and modern Middle-Eastern restaurants in Chicago) asked me to participate in their Chefs for Charity program. Each month Falafill has local chefs (“chefs”, in my case) design a seasonal wrap which is then sold at all three Falafill locations. Getting to design a wrap is pretty fun, but the really amazing part: one dollar ($1!) of each wrap sold goes to the charity of the chef’s (my) choice. Whoa!

I designed what I think is a really tasty wrap (so far, a couple of friends, Bryan, and a teenager who works at the Oak Park branch, all agree). In addition to Falafill’s classic falafel (which is so delicious), the wrap includes urfa pepper and eggplant spread, arugula, feta, pickled pears(!!!) and toasted walnuts. It is available now. Go get it!

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“You Don’t Own Me” PSA from You Don’t Own Me on Vimeo.

I’ve been watching the recent presidential debates on Twitter. Well, I’ve been watching them on my TV, but following along on Twitter. The majority of folks I follow usually tweet about food. That changes for those few hours when the debate is taking place and suddenly everyone is talking politics. It is an odd phenomenon. It becomes especially odd when, during the debate, someone tweets about something not related to politics. During one of the debates, Chicago chef Rick Bayless tweeted:

A Genius Mix on my iPhone: Black Eyed Peas, Justin Timberlake, Sound of Music & R Kelly from his Christmas album.Called Urban Crossover

Which became unintentionally hilarious (though maybe that phrase is inherently funny?) in the middle of an impassioned series of tweets about election issues. Ruth Bourdain responded to Bayless with what everyone may have been thinking:

WTF? read more+++

[Today’s final post comes from my best friend, Katie. She is literally the best.]

LAND OF LOTTIE

A Doof Tour of Chicago’s Southwest Side

If a wayward reader stumbled upon Lottie + Doof, a cursory glance might cause her to surmise the blogger grew up in the Hamptons. More committed and thorough readers, or those who read the paczki post know that Tim spent years one through five on Chicago’s Southwest Side. For years I’ve been telling Tim he should treat loyal Doofers to the culinary wonders of his old neighborhood. When he gave me the chance to contribute to L+D’s 4th anniversary, I whisked him away in my car to eat our way from 34th to 92nd, from Western to Pulaski. read more+++

This is Henry, one of my favorite Brooklynites. In addition to being adorable, he seems to really love my tomato soup.

(Thanks, Remy! xoxo)

Adventures with Lottie

Episode 346: The Tale of the Spicy Soufflé by Amelia Morris of Bon Appétempt

My phone rings at 4:00 am. The hour of the wolf. No one calls at this hour with good news. Nervous, I lurch at my end table and flip open my phone.

“Amelia. It’s James Oseland. Editor-in-chief—”

“I know who you are.”

“Tim needs your help.”

In one long, breathless sentence, he explains: As winner of Saveur’s Best Food Blog 2012, Tim is being sent to Paris as part of a Saveur-sponsored celebrity blogger tour. “He’s insisting you join him. A private jet is waiting for you at a super secret airstrip just south of Beverly Hills. A car is outside your house. Go now!”

“I need to think.”

“You can think when you’re dead. Now, go!”

I bounce around in the back seat of a black town car. A wave of nausea washes over me—did I mention the driver gently blindfolded me before screeching off into the crisp pre-dawn? Even though I’ve grown somewhat accustomed to these adventures with Tim, something about this one—the blindfold, perhaps?—is making me uneasy. read more+++

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Dear you,

This week we are celebrating four years (4!!!!) of Lottie + Doof. Where does the time go? I am celebrating by taking a break, and turning over this small piece of internet real estate to some of my favorite writers, photographers, eaters and makers. Over the next few days you will be visited by a wonderful mix of people, sharing and celebrating with you. It is going to be beautiful, delicious, weird and wacky. Think of it as a variety show, of sorts. It is a great line-up and I am excited to see it all unfold.

But before the show begins, I want to thank you. Where would I be without you?! Thanks for making this such a cool place to hang out. After four years, it seems like we’re off to a good start. I am looking forward to many more years of cooking together.

Enjoy the week—I’ll see you in the comments!

xo, Tim