Sisterly Love of Food ~ Alpha Chi Omega-style

So this past weekend, I was feeling a bit nostalgic for my college days, and especially for the time I spent in the lovely Alpha Chi Omega, Gamma Chapter Sorority on NU's campus. I think the fond memories were sparked by a recent trip to the grocery store, where I happened upon the cereal aisle, and once there happened upon the box of Golden Grahams cereal.  I seriously thought that they didn't make Golden Grahams anymore, but thank goodness I was proven wrong.  So I put the box of golden loveliness in my cart, and I remembered that I had some ingredients at home including chocolate chips and mini-marshmallows.  With these sweet items in mind, I started to reminisce about my sorority girl days as an "Alpha Chi," the friendships, the sisterhood, the bonding experiences, Chapter dinners, living in the Quad with JoMama, Curly, & Jen, or the Bowling Alley which barely was lived in (right, Jo? tee hee), or rooming with Crazy in the room all the way down the hall on the 3rd floor, Winter Rush, the frat parties, the trips to the Keg, the Monday nights during senior year at Nevins, and quite fittingly the comforting "homemade" food made for us sisters by dear Iola, the House's cook de cuisine.

Iola made Monday Night Chapter meals at the House really special.  She had a way with taking "Mom's" classic recipe and making it as lovingly as "Mom" would and have enough to feed nearly 50+ girls all with varying tastes, and yet succeed in all feeling wonderfully satisfied with the puff pastry chicken or the tri-delt chicken or the chicken gerbils (or were they hamsters) or the Amy's chicken sausage & pesto pasta, and other culinary creations...Apparently, we Alpha Chi gals liked our chicken, though.  But one standout recipe that always has me thinking of the House that was such a special treat were the Golden Graham S'mores Bars that Iola made.  So simple in terms of ingredients but so profound in terms of the joy that each member's face showed with every delicious bite taken of these sweet treats.  Although I never got a chance nor thought at the time to take down my favorite Alpha Chi recipes including the S'mores Bars recipe, I did a quick search for one that might do the trick since I happened upon the box of Golden Grahams and other ingredients I had handy, and here's what I found courtesy of a recipe on Betty Crocker's website:

Ingredients:

• 1 box of Golden Grahams (approx. 8 cups)
• 1 bag (10.5 oz) of mini-marshmallows (approx. 5-1/2 cups)
• 1-1/2 cups of milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet to cut the super sweetness of the recipe~ha!
• 5 TB of unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup of light corn syrup
• 1 tsp. of vanilla

Basically do the following to yield a delicious, nostalgic treat:

• Grease a 9x13 pan with non-stick cooking spray or butter
• Place the (8) cups of Golden Graham cereal in a large bowl & set aside
• Set aside 1 cup of mini-marshmallows to sprinkle into the mixture at the end of assembly
• In a sauce pan, on LOW heat, melt together the butter, chocolate chips, mini-marshmallows (4-1/2 cups), light corn syrup, & vanilla
• Pour the melted sweet sauce onto the cereal and mix thoroughly, though gently & add the remaining cup of mini-marshmallows
• Spread the mixture into your greased baking pan and pat down with the back of a buttered wooden spoon and let it cool for about 1 hour before cutting out gorgeous bars of goodness.
• ENJOY!

Here's a look at how my Little Miss E & I  put it all together...

Perhaps this recipe is not exactly the way Iola made it for the Alpha Chis, but goodness it sure tasted memorable!  I especially love that my Little Girlies & the Dude love these special treats as much as I do.  Although their fondness for them doesn't stem back to fun & crazy sorority life at Alpha Chi Omega ~ Gamma Chapter, my family's love of them is just as sweet.  And to my Alpha Chi Sisters from 637 University Place, thanks for the sweet memories we created together on NU's campus, while enjoying Iola's take on our yummy GG S'mores Bars! You know the letters that should follow here.... :) 

Older, Wiser, Fuller!

Well, yesterday I turned another year older, perhaps wiser, and most definitely fuller!  I've had one of the best birthdays this gal has had, and much of it, in addition to the sweet love I received via birthday greetings from the Husband, the Girlies, Family & Friends, centered around the celebration of food that occurred while celebrating my turning 34 (well, 29, if my birthday wish were to come to fruition~ha!).

I was treated to such deliciousness over my birthday weekend, that I feel so full as I enter this post into the books.  To celebrate in style, Alex made a reservation at the swanky, oh-so-chic Balsan in the Gold Coast area of Chicago.  Such a beautiful place, aesthetically and gastronomically.  We had just about everything from every section of their pleasant menu.  From the Old Fashioned spirited cocktail to start the night with a bang, to the briny oysters on the half shell to keep it sexy and chic, to the signature savory bacony tarte flambee to tempt our tastebuds, to the refreshing beet salad to cleanse my palate, to the rich and meltingly tender veal blanquette surrounded by lengthy egg noodles to celebrate a long life ahead for me, to the smooth glasses of lovely Argentinian Malbec to toast my aging, to the earthy French Pressed coffee to keep me energized to celebrate throughout the evening, and finally to the indulgently sweet Paris Brest dolled up with a birthday candle for moi, my Birthday Dinner was absolutely lovely, delectable, and memorable.  And if this wasn't enough, Alex's selections were just as lovely, and he shared with me too, including a taste of his rich chocolate souffle cake with milk stout ice cream...Happy Birthday to me!

Me & my Old Fashioned! So excited for my Birthday meal!

Savory Tart Flambee

Sexy Oysters!

Pretty & Refreshing  Beet Salad

Delicious Ben Marco Malbec~Cheers!

Rich Veal Blanquette with Egg Noodles! Here's to a rich long life ahead!

Coffee & Tea time!

Chocolate Souffle Cake for Alex...and Me :)

Paris Brest Birthday Pastry :)

Me & My Dude, enjoying a lovely Balsan Birthday Dinner  :)

Now, since the Balsan dinner technically did not occur on my actual birthday, but the eve of it, we decided that after spending an evening of Citylife and slumber sans the kids, we would get up on the morning of my actual 34th, and meet my cousin Mia (more affectionately known to us as "Ge Mitz" or Ate) at the equally awesome though more earthy and approachable Nightwood restaurant in the Pilsen are of the City for a delightful brunch. I've gotta say, I am a lucky gal to have been the recipient of 2 fabulous meals to celebrate my coming into the world.  1st a beautiful she-she-la-la dinner at Balsan, and now a fantastic and hip brunch at Nightwood that went a little like this: a cup of earthy Intelligentsia coffee to wake me up, next a sampling of Nightwood's famous bacon butterscotch glazed donut + caramel cream stuffed donut with pecan glaze~Oh.My.Goodness.Gracious!, then my main brunch plate of a bagel sandwich consisting of a shmear of smoked trout cream cheese, layered with crisp bacon, a sunny side up egg, refreshing cabbage slaw, and beautifully rustic tater tots that are like little delightful hash brown spheres of yum.  Take a look:

Bacon Butterscotch & Caramel Cream-filled Donut with Pecan Glaze :)

So good!

What remained of the caramel cream-filled donut after the trio of us devoured  it!

Bagel Sandwich of Goodness, with hip Tater Tots on the side

And if all this wasn't enough, we left the city to head back to our Girlies, who were entertaining my parents at their house.  And since Mom is still taking it easy to stay sickness-free, and the Chicagoland area was still recovering from remnants of the crazy Blizzard 2011, the parents decided to order dim sum take out from our dear old Chinese restaurant of choice~Hong Min in Palos Hills, but I was soooo stuffed from the night before and brunch that I could only muster a bite out of my favorite dim sum dumpling~shumai.  But the Girlies went to town on some delicious shrimp chiang foon noodle rolls.  And to top that all off, Alex & I stopped at Oberweis Ice Cream parlor to grab a small ice cream cake to make my birthday celebration with my loving little family complete.  And if that wasn't enough, when we got to my parents' house, my dad opened up a bottle of sweet red wine to toast to me :)  Talk about making a gal feel special and full of food and love and love of food...I heart my family!!!

Sweet Red  Rheinhessen~Cheers!

Shrimp & Pork Shumai Dumpling with Chili Sauce on the side~yum!

My Loves :)

Essentially a kind of foodie's dream weekend.  I am so grateful that I was the recipient all the love, and of such a wonderful weekend of celebrating. 34 ain't that bad. Cheers!

To think...We might do this all over again in a few weeks, Alex-style, when we celebrate his birthday at the end of the month!  I love February. (Burp!) Tee hee...