It's Official, Obvs.

I'm back to the blog, as a new mommy. Life is totally different (more on that later). But the stir of fall in the air has me all giddy for two of my most favorite things: fall food + wine pairings, and fashion. Maybe that's three things? Whatever.

It's the most wonderful time of the year. And it's good to be back.

Perfect Middle Eastern Lentil Stew

This recipe for a cozy fall lentil stew from Epicurious is so ideal, I can't find anything to change for once. Nothing. It's easy breezy to pull together on a weeknight, it's totally healthy, and its earthy flavors brightened up with lemon and mint pack much more of a punch than I expected. It's even ultra-healthy and the ingredients are dirt cheap.

Beat that.

Ok - just thought of something. Double or quadruple this puppy to have it on hand for a few meals. Now you just saved yourself two hours in the kitchen for the week.

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 3 cups canned vegetable broth
• 1 cup lentils, rinsed, picked over
• 8 ounces red-skinned potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

• 1 lemon
• 6 ounces torn fresh spinach leaves (about 8 cups)
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

• Crumbled feta cheese

Heat olive oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and stir 30 seconds. Add vegetable broth and lentils; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 10 minutes. Add potatoes; cook uncovered until potatoes and lentils are tender, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, grate 1/2 teaspoon peel from lemon; squeeze enough juice from lemon to measure 2 tablespoons. Add lemon peel, lemon juice, spinach and cayenne to stew. Cover and simmer stew until spinach wilts and is cooked through, about 2 minutes. Mix in mint. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over low heat before serving.)

Spoon stew into large soup bowls. Sprinkle feta cheese over, if desired.

Nigella Lawson Restaurant/Food Pick

Nigella Lawson Restaurant/Food Pick
...for Valentine's Day.

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My New Crush

I'm officially crushing on Chef Novelli from Bravo's reality show Chef Academy, which is one of the only food shows that makes me want to cook even more - ok...just as much as - I want to eat what I'm watching. He's a master with food. He makes basic things extraordinary. And he's so French, it kills me. Sweet Jesus. Men can surf porn online - women have this.

It also doesn't hurt that Novelli's students are on a much more relatable level than the technical stars of Top Chef. Their job is to master the essentials he's teaching them, not create on their own.

Case in point on making the simple extraordinary, this cooking demo on Novelli's pea and mint soup:

TA-DAaaa!: Foodie Gift Roundup

Buyin' It

1. Wine Country Gift Baskets: I've been an annual devotee for a few years now. Their baskets are filled with high quality sweets and savories, they ship super-fast, and the wine selection is goes beyond the usual mass-market suspects. Some of their bestsellers even ship for free. I gave my aunt their Classic basket last Christmas. She called me 10 days later to say that it had become the highlight of her kids' and husband's day to decide what to fish out of it for a snack each evening. Perfect for foodies, wine lovers, and snackers.

2. Stonewall Kitchens: My gram sent me a set of amazing jams and infused olive oils from here last week, and the idea is so good, I'm stealing it for my food-centric tribe. They have a huge array of gifts at all price points, including TONS of delish sauces and relishes that your dear ones can pop open and apply to something, or use to zazz up an actual recipe. Great for peeps who love eating, but aren't necessarily trolling the Atlantic Food Channel every day.

3. Whole Foods Baskets: I eyed some really impressive ones at the Lincoln Park store last night. They've got stacks pre-made, but if you have special needs, you can visit the holiday order table up front and they'll assemble one for you. Perfect for food snobs or your vegan friends who wear hemp jumpers.

4. Just Grapes on Washington Ave.: Their wine selection is focused (they're picky about what they stock), special (boutique producers you won't find at Binny's) and moderately-priced. You can order online, and they deliver or ship anywhere. Perfect for wine lovers who know their schtuff.

Makin' It

1. Nigella's Rocky Road Crunch Bars: I'm making these to fill goodie boxes for the neighbors, mostly as an apology for the dog throwing his bouncy toy down our front stairs at 7:00 every Saturday morning. 'Gella's philosophy is to keep it easy, especially for the holidays. Word, girl.

2. Cherries Simmered in Red Wine: These babies are red, festive, sweet, easy, and versatile as all get out. Your recipient can use them on ice cream, pound cake, with creme fraiche, or in a trifle. Or they can just fork them out of the jar like I do. Did I mention they keep forever?

3. Duo of Sugars: If actually cooking or baking makes you want to lie down, how about tossing together some fancy sugar and putting a bow on it? Whole Foods has ideas on their web site, including these. If you can locate dried edible lavender and vanilla bean pods, you too can impress.

Two other morsels of advice: No one beats the Container Store for all manner of festive little receptacles for your food gifts. And avoid Martha's site this season, as it requires a PhD in Crafts...unless it's for decorating your mantel or tablescaping (she completely rocks the casbah at those).

So... Whad'ya Eat?!

The Obama Foodorama blog posted the White House's Thanksgiving menu below, which is plenty generous on the Southern-style sides - but Holy Pie, Batman! That's six kinds of pie! Imagine all the leftovers THEY'RE having.

Turkey
Honey Baked Ham

Cornbread Stuffing
Oyster Stuffing

Greens
Macaroni and Cheese
Sweet Potatoes
Mashed Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole

Pumpkin Pie
Banana Cream Pie
Apple Pie
Sweet Potato Pie
Huckleberry Pie
Cherry Pie

Thanksgiving at our house was traditional this year. My sis and I have done some New Mexican themed holiday dinners in the past, from which I've snuck in a dish or two for Thanksgiving. And I'm famous for conjuring up a risotto for any occasion. But since it was just my husband's family visiting this year, I decided to keep the green chile and pasta products mostly out of it.

Everything with an asterisk came from Cooking Fools, which meant I spent four hours cooking, rather than the typical 8-10.

Turkey*
Gravy with Fresh Herbs*

Mushroom and Parmesan Bread-Pudding Style Stuffing
Mashed Maple Sweet Potatoes with Candied Walnuts* (the breakout hit of the show, I think)
Roasted Root Veggies with Garlic and Thyme *

Crushed Cranberry Sauce
Walnut, Orange and Red Onion Salad
Rosemary Ciabatta Rolls

Martha's Pumpkin Cake with Brown Butter Icing

2007 Ehlers Estate Pinot Noir

In preparation, I finally bought all the things from Crate and Barrel and CHEF's that I didn't know to register for when we got married three years ago...Like an army of serving utensils and white ware bowls, a table cloth in a shade of any-season-friendly green, a 12-quart stock pot, and generous latte mugs for guests to endlessly fill with hot tea to warm themselves.

I flaked on the extra candles for the mantel and kept the table almost Quaker in terms of embellishment, but the big fire in the fireplace was all the atmosphere we needed.

All in all, a success. More than anything, I'm learning that successful entertaining means impressing people with as little work as possible so they can enjoy my company as much as the food.

Review: Belly Shack

Kudos to Bill Kim for getting this place opened with lightening speed. The laid back attitude and quick service are just exactly what the neighborhood likes, and while I'm really happy they're here, it isn't amazing yet. Innovative and interesting, definitely. But not amazing. We've just been once so far, early on an already-busy Saturday night. We sat at the big communal table in the middle of the space to compare notes with other patrons, and the consensus was surprisingly consistent: good and interesting, but not great.

My boricua sandwich got all of its flavor from a great sauce served on the side, rather from the plantains (which I couldn't taste), marinated tofu (totally blank soy flavor), or rice. In fact, the rice on the sandwich wasn't successful at all - there's a reason rice sandwiches are rare - it tastes too starchy with the bread and falls out. My husband's lemongrass chicken sandwich was okay, but again, not all that flavorful.

Our generous neighbors offered us wine from their BYOB bottles, something the entire restaurant seemed to be loving too. I passed in favor of dessert - a decent mint soft serve ice cream with chocolate brownie chunks. I had higher hopes for my husband's Vietnamese cinnamon caramel version, but the cinnamon was just barely detectable.

Come to Mama

So, I'm pregnant. Thirteen weeks to be exact, which brings me to the glorious, grateful close of my puke-y first trimester. I'll tell you, nothing else I can think of can screw with your appetite so drastically for so long. Some new lessons I've learned on life as a fertile woman:

1. Life without wine really blows. I took an itsy sip of the hubbles' prosecco about a month back and nearly started bawling in my stupid club soda it was so good. Incidentally, my Italian-American mother drank a small glass of wine at Sunday dinners when she was pregnant with me, and I was born a perfectly healthy mostacholi, as she still relishes recalling. Those days are long gone, mi amici. Try this in America now, and well-intentioned people will accost your person for being a brazenly psychotic baby-killer... including my husband.

2. Nausea is straight from hell. The cruel joke is that it's at its absolute worst when you're at your hungriest. It's God's official way of getting back at me for sass-talking to my mother.

3. Sneak attack food aversions are real. I can't pass within 20 feet of a sushi restaurant without shuddering. Pre-pregs, I could eat it daily. My other forms of kryptonite have been any form of raw fish, coffee, peanut butter, meat smells, sometimes chocolate and God help me, my usual endorphin-source of choice, truffle oil.

4. Random and sudden hunger pangs - also real. My husband knows I'm having one when all of a sudden I'm laying on the car horn in the driveway 60 seconds after announcing it's time to mobilize for Chipotle. How LONG does it take him to find pants anyway?

5. Heelllooo, Chipotle.... and Potbelly's. I'm not proud of it, but these are the things I crave when I go out to eat lately. I'll also settle for pretty much any form of pasta, risotto, mac and cheese, or other comfort food. And Jimmy John's? Their scrappy little delivery guys can seriously have a sandwich in your paws (with that guac spread) less than 12 minutes from right now. Imagine the possibilities.

6. Waiters at good restaurants get bitchy when I pass on the alcohol. It ranges from mild puzzlement to openly expressed disapproval. I'm not showing yet, so they don't know what's up, especially since I always urge my husband to order the martini or the split of pinot for himself. I've been thinking maybe I should hand out a pre-printed card with: "In first trimester. Back the f*** off."

7. The joy of a fresh fruit or veggie smoothie never tasted so good. Ahhh....sweet, sweet cool, creamy deliciousness, I love you.

8. Yep, I can justify almost anything I do want to eat. Fish and chips? Giddy up. Mayo on the veggie sub? So much better. Pancakes at brunch? Sha - yes. Four bananas in succession? Try to stop me. With so much out there making me cringe, I'm not about to pass up something that's screaming my name.

9. I will go code blue for the bread basket. Now that I'm in my hormone-induced irritability phase, waiters need to be forewarned that if the bread doesn't hit the table within two minutes of seating, there could be some serious hell to pay. I barely used to even touch the stuff. Now I'm homicidal for it when I show up at a restaurant hungry. And guess what the odds of that are?

10. Fake drinking is an art. My options were to a) suspiciously avoid my horde of wine-chugging friends for three entire months or b) enlist the help of one trustworthy soul to help me fake them out at dinner. How? You and your partner in crime order the same drinks and sit next to each other. You pretend to drink, but swap glasses after a little bit when no one's looking. Your friend, the trooper, will need to consume twice the amount they order. And, yes, you'll need to buy her a really nice Christmas gift to apologize for that hangover.

Sleep in on Thanksgiving

Last Thanksgiving I was a crazy woman. Though it's my all-time favorite meal, I was working so many hours, I barely had time to floss much less cook two days for a feast. I pretty much told the Hubbles to plan for a quiet night at home with a burrito. But then the fine geniuses over at Cooking Fools sent me an email I didn't expect: they do pre-ordered Thanksgiving dinners. I just had to call it in ahead, pick it up the night before, and warm it up the day of.

So we invited over some cousins, and I ordered the turkey, sweet potatoes, spinach gratin, bread, and gravy. I made my own favorite stuffing, salad, cranberry sauce and dessert in about two hours, just to keep it feeling homey and yummy. Added wine, and - all done. So easy. Totally, totally delish.

This year's Thanksgiving is seeing a snowball effect. We're already at five people and could go up to seven. I have a far more zen life now....but since I'm spoiled, I emailed Cooking Fools yesterday anyway to ask whether I'd be receiving that magical email again. Nick Faitage, their executive chef/owner assures me that I will. They just haven't worked out all the menu details yet.

Oak Treet

After receiving some sad, sad news about a good friend today (not Mayor Daley or the Olympics...but that didn't help either)... I was in a blue, blue funk this afternoon. Add to that the 50 degree high, blowing wind, and drizzle, and I just needed to get the hell out for some distraction.

So I grabbed a cab and headed to Bloomingdale's, where I knew warm, shiny things would await. Mostly I was just starving to death, so I went straight up to the top floor of 900 N. Michigan and got myself a seat at the Oak Tree. Why do I forget about this place? It's so civilized and lover-ly there. My view of the side of the Hancock Tower and down Michigan Ave. instantly made me remember why I love living here, even in the rain. And then the food.

A pot of hot Orange Dulce tea. A cup of Tuscan Veggie soup. And a gooey, melted cheddar, fig preserve, caramelized onion, and Roquefort cheese sandwich.

Sigh. All better.