I was sitting at my computer contemplating what to write about today and my mind was a complete blank.

OK….lets think….what is going on in your life that you’re excited to share, Liz?

UM….?

Truth is, there’s really not much going on that I feel motivated to tell you guys about. Lately I’ve been feeling in a bit of a standstill. Work is the same, my relationships are the same, weekends are the same…I’m craving something different!

Don’t get me wrong, life is great, but it’s just feeling a little monotonous lately. I don’t get excited about the things I used to. I’m feeling like I need to evolve in some way. Quarter life crisis?

This weekend for example, I met up with two of my girlfriends to attend the Taste of Lincoln street festival, historically my favorite summer fest. We knew a friend working a tent who could get us drinks, it was a beautiful night and a good band was playing. Sounds like a great time, right?

In the middle of the party, one of my friends and I were yelling at each other over the music, drinking our luke-warm beer, watching intoxicated people act stupid when we both realized that what used to be a highlight of our summers was now just…sort of…boring.

It’s official. I need to switch up my routine and start doing some new things! What I enjoyed two years ago just isn’t cutting it anymore. Now I just have to figure out what WILL be fun and get my friends to agree with me!

How do you guys shake things up when you’re feeling in a rut?

Mother nature decided we were NOT going to have fun with roller coasters this weekend, so we decided to stick around Chicago instead. The good news about this change of plans was that I was able to cook a DELICIOUS meal last night.

When rummaging through our fridge of meat, I decided to break us out of our normal meat routine and make some gorgeous veal chops we picked up from the Farmer’s Market recently.

I am a big fan of adding extra flavor to meats with a rub. I put Luke to work with our mortar and pestle grinding up three garlic cloves, olive oil, pepper and some cayenne pepper.

I rubbed the garlic paste into both sides of the chops and then pan seared thems in olive oil (heated until smoking) for three minutes on both sides

After searing, I put the chops on a plate and covered with foil. I added some beef stock and scraped up all the seared-on pieces from the bottom of the pan.

Despite not really liking mushrooms, I was craving a mushroom-cream sauce. What can I say? I’m an odd bird. I added some cipollini mushrooms, heavy cream and pepper to the liquid in the pan. To thicken it a little, I added some hazelnut flour (because we try to avoid white flour,) but any type will work.

I know the above doesn’t really give much guidance on the sauce, but you should just eyeball it all to your taste.

I let the sauce simmer 2-3 minutes to cook the mushrooms and then returned the chops to the sauce, covered and simmered another 5-7 minutes. You’ll want to spoon some of the sauce onto the chops throughout the cooking process.

I really like the combination of the tender veal with the creamy, savory sauce. They compliment each other very well.

To add to the inventiveness of the meal, I decided to try a NEW vegetable for a side: Radicchio. This hard-to-pronounce vegetable has a slightly bitter flavor that works really well with a salty counterpart. This is what it looks like at the store:

Kind of like red cabbage, but smaller.

I found a recipe in a cookbook at home for pancetta-wrapped radicchio that looks delicious and easy. To make it, just cut the head into wedges, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and wrap with a piece of pancetta or bacon.

Throw the pan into a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes until the pancetta is crispy and the radicchio is soft. Drizzle with some balsamic vinegar and what you get is this crazy-yummy “vegetable” side dish.

All in all, I’d say mother nature did us a favor bringing the storms so we’d be forced to stay in town and go on some culinary explorations!

There are few things in this world that can make me scream with terror and excitement like a little kid. This is one of them…

We’re going to Cedar Point this weekend!!

Land of the tallest, scariest and ridiculously fun roller coasters in the world (not to mention some AMAZING people watching, elephant ears and water rides to boot). I’m giddy with excitement!

Hope you all have an exhilarating weekend too. :)

Hey guys! Apologies for being MIA. Work is going to be crazy hectic these next few weeks, so I may not be able to post as often as I’d like. Hang in there with me!

My colleague, friend and former guest writer, Thi recently shot her engagement session with the Talented Becky Hill of Becky Hill Photography and I adore how their photos turned out! You can really see their personalities shine through with the locations, props and smiles.

Aren’t they an adorable couple? I can’t wait to see their wedding pictures when they get hitched this fall. Check out their full engagement session here.

Oh, and I love that yellow dress, Thi!