Generally, I’m hungry around 10 am. This is because I’m not ready for food before that time, only coffee. By 10:30 am, I am susceptible to craving immensely whatever food is put in front of me. So this morning, when I read that the place my old college roomie works for was being featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, I was in prime-craving mode. I haven’t been in Kansas City in nearly 6 years, so I decided to pop over to the Happy Gillis website and see what they had to offer. Just in case I’m ever in the area again, ya know?

Croque Madame caught my eye — ham, swiss, and grainy mustard, with runny egg to boot! Some may find this odd, but despite my love for runny egg, I’ve never had a croque madame. I didn’t even know how to make one. But, alas, I have no ham.

Or so I thought! I went to rummage through my refrigerator, because at this point I wanted something. We had some friends visiting this weekend, and they had come bearing not only gifts, but their road trip leftovers, which included – HAM! Hot diggity, I am back in bidness! (more…)

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Brunch, French, Lunch, Sandwiches by Courtney

A while back I read a great tip (I believe in a Martha Stewart Living) to save your vegetable scraps in a freezer bag until you had enough to make a vegetable stock from. So I decided to try it, and I’ve been hooked ever since. So I thought I’d share the process with you. (more…)

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Dairy free, Gluten free, Prep for Later Use, Vegan, Vegetarian by Courtney

My husband and I just returned from a trip to Japan, and I’m still reeling from all of the amazing food we had a chance to eat. From fresh sushi to sukiyaki to kaiseki, we were able to try some familiar favorites as well as plenty of items we never had before. One of those “never had before” dishes was, for lack of a better term at the time, deep fried octopus balls. Imagine my surprise this morning when reading the Kitchn that I was finally able to find out what they were. (more…)

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Japanese, Snack time, World traveller by Courtney

I know, I know. I can barely keep Madd Hatter’s Diary up to date, and here I go creating not one blog, but a site containing three! Well, it’s something I’ve been thinking about for more than a year, and now I’m ready to jump in with both feet.

In April of 2009, I read a blog post somewhere (can’t remember where now) about whether or not cooking was intimidating. “Why on earth is cooking intimidating??!!” I thought. You either cook something you know how to cook, or you experiment – be it via a recipe, via instructions over the phone from a family member, or hell, you just wing it. Most of the time it’s gonna turn out okay enough to eat, and if not, just go out. As I read through the comments that day, however, I started thinking more about “intimidation” and what that meant to me. (more…)

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miscellany by Courtney