fəˈlanTHrəpē post #2: The Ark

For years I walked down Main Street completely oblivious to the hidden gem sandwiched between Rush Street and Starbucks. Sure, I had seen the occasional line of people waiting outside this mysteriously small wooden storefront, but I never thought to investigate because the mean age of the people in line usually fell somewhere around 55. I figured it was a bingo hall, at the very least. It wasn’t until January of 2009 that all changed. I was studying/loitering at Borders and 107.1 was there with Griffin House. I had never heard of this band and I was completely blown away by their soulful Nashville-inspired melodies. When they said they’d be performing at the Ark later that night, I went home and Googled the location and was surprised to find out that it was right on Main Street. That night my love affair with the Ark began.



Standing in line outside of the Ark I didn’t know what to expect. The location is deceiving because it looks very small and narrow, which is half true—it is small. The venue is upstairs and it is an incredibly intimate space: hardwood floors, dim lighting, a small stage, and tiny tables surrounding the stage with theater seats available in the periphery. It can fit up to 400 people although they don’t always set up for that many guests and you would never guess that capacity, trust me. If it's a lighter night you might even be able to find some space by the stage to get your groupie dance on. Not that I've ever done that. Really.

The coolest thing? Tickets are usually $15-20 and they're general admission for an amazing reason. They want to cater to the diehard fans. Anyone can have a front row seat as long as they arrive early enough.

What you may not know about the Ark is that it is a non-profit and it is almost entirely staffed by volunteers. (I think they have 5 employees total.) I started volunteering in the fall and I have been able to see some incredible performances for free: The Weepies, Matt White, The Alternate Routes, The Kin, Jake Shimabukuro, the Autumn Defense, Theo Katzman…I could go on and on. Sure some light work is involved, but you won’t even break a sweat--I promise. Additionally, you have plenty of opportunities to meet the performers who more often than not know you’re a volunteer so you might even score a free CD or t-shirt.

Every month they feature a Take a Chance Tuesday. They bring in an up-and-coming performer for a free performance. Usually a food donation is your ticket in the door. They also have one open mic night a month. I think it's $2 to get in and I've been very impressed by the performances I've seen there. If you want to perform you can enter your name into a raffle. If  you're picked you get to play 2 songs.

The only thing to know before you go is that you have to be a "member" to purchase alcohol. All this requires is a $5 membership fee and its expiration coincides with the end of the UM semester.

If you’re interested in volunteering at the Ark go here: http://www.theark.org/volunteers.html.

If you're hesitant to volunteer to work shows for bands you've never heard of before I recommend signing up for the shows sponsored by 107.1. That method has never let me down. Additionally, in the days leading up to the show YouTube should be your best friend.

They periodically offer 3 hour training sessions throughout the year and once you complete that you’re free to sign up for as many shows as you’d like. Normally you have to show up at 6:45 and you’re usually out of there by 10 or 11. It’s a great way to expand your musical repertoire and to support a truly unique Ann Arbor establishment.
Here's to Free concerts--lc.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs…and Homemade Ravioli.

Med school starts in t-minus 3.5 months which means it’s time to start cranking out all of those recipes I will never have time to make once I’m a med student. 

My latest undertaking? Homemade Italian wedding soup and two types of ravioli. The reason? Well, there are only a few things that surpass my love for meatballs and meatballs in a soup is just plain genius. As for the homemade ravioli, it's resume worthy. I'm exaggerating, but it is a project you can hang your hat on. I figured if I was going to go through all the trouble of making homemade pasta I might as well go wild and try two different recipes. I’m glad I did because I’m having a hard time deciding which one turned out better.

Ravioli recipe
2.5 cups flour (You will need more. You will use lots of flour and if you cook like me, most of it may or may not end up on the floor/on yourself.)
1 tbsp olive oil
5 eggs
1 egg yolk, reserve the egg white
Dash of salt

Combine all of the ingredients except the reserved egg white and mix well. Add in some of the reserved egg white if your dough is too dry. Cover the bowl with a towel once your dough is sufficiently mixed and allow to sit for ~20 minutes. Then, roll out the dough and cut out the ravioli using whatever tool you have at your disposal (i.e. cookie cutter, cup, small bowl, etc). For lack of a better alternative, I used a shot glass and it worked flawlessly. I used the spokes of a fork to create indentations along the perimeter of the ravioli. The finished product looked pretty legit although it resembled a sombrero.

Rosemary Ricotta Chicken & Mushroom Ravioli
½ lb ground chicken
1 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp ricotta
1/2 tbsp lemon zest
Generous dash of rosemary
2 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp parmesan cheese
A handful of mushrooms, diced

Put olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add mushrooms and ground chicken and cook until brown ~8-10 minutes. Add the minced garlic and rosemary to the pan while the chicken is cooking. Transfer the chicken to a medium bowl and allow it to cool. Combine ricotta, parmesan, and lemon zest to the bowl and mix thoroughly. Spoon a generous amount of the chicken filling into your ravioli shell and then assemble your creation. Drop ravioli into a pot of boiling salt water and allow to cook for about 3 minutes. (Ravioli will float to the top when they are done cooking.)

Sweet Potato Ravioli
1 medium sweet potato
2 tbsp brown sugar
4 tbsp ricotta

Preheat oven to 350. Rinse sweet potato and cut in half. Add olive oil to a baking pan and place sweet potatoes in the baking dish with the sliced side facing the dish. Cook until sweet potatoes are mushy which should take about 35 minutes. To check, use a fork to spear the potatoes. If they go through easily, you’re good to go. Spoon out the sweet potato into a bowl and discard the skin. Add the brown sugar and ricotta and mix thoroughly. Spoon a generous amount of the filling into your ravioli shell and then assemble your creation. Drop ravioli into a pot of boiling salt water and allow to cook for about 3 minutes. (Ravioli will float to the top when they are done cooking.)

Italian Wedding Soup
For the soup:
8 cups of chicken broth
½ cup white wine (I used a Pinot)
4 carrots, peeled and diced
1/2 a small onion, diced
1 cup of your favorite pasta, cooked according to package instructions

For the meatballs:
½ lb ground turkey
1 egg
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3 cup of fresh parsley
¼ cup breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 400. In a large pot combine the olive oil, carrots, and onion and allow to sauté until tender ~7-8 minutes. Add the chicken broth and wine and bring the broth to a boil. Once it has boiled, lower the heat. For the meatballs combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Assemble small meatballs on a baking sheet and cook at 400 for 30 minutes, flipping the meatballs halfway through. Add the pasta, meatballs, and some more fresh parsley to the soup and serve.

I really wish I would’ve taken a picture of the kitchen after I was done cooking because it was a complete disaster. There was flour everywhere. I’m not going to lie--I was exhausted after I finally finished the clean-up. Maybe it’s because I was hunched over the table making ravioli for an hour and a half, or maybe it’s because I’m 24 now and not as young as I used to be. Regardless, if you find yourself in that predicament the easy and obvious remedy is to pour yourself some of that white wine leftover from the soup recipe. You'll need it.

Here’s to Feeding your cravings—lc.

Taking fashion advice from Harry Potter.

I suffer from the occasional identity crisis and you can probably sympathize. You wake up one day and decide that you want to change your look. More often than not, my hair is the victim. I either decide to cut off 6 inches with no regard to the several months I intentionally spent avoiding my hairdresser, or I decide to change the color, ignoring the fact that dark hair makes me look an extra from Twilight. In both cases, I’m pretty reckless as my only instructions to my hair dresser are: I want something edgy.

8 hair colors later, I’ve learned it’s pretty easy to change your look without the commitment a haircut entails. The solution: prescription-less glasses. Sure, the Harry Potter glasses probably aren’t my first choice for a pair of sexy specs, but it made for a catchy title.

People will occasionally ask about my glasses while I’m wearing them and when I explain that they’re fake they all ask the same question: why wear glasses if you don’t need to? I don’t see what the big deal is. It’s not like I’m walking around with pseudo-braces or crutches. Glasses can be sexy-- plain and simple. And hey, who’s to say pseudo-braces won’t be in one day. Uggs had their day, after all.

The hard part is finding fake glasses. 
Correction: the hard part is finding non-hipster fake glasses. Don’t get me wrong, I love hipsters but those oversized glasses that take up half of your face aren’t very becoming on most people; myself included.

In the past I have had success finding glasses at Nordstrom (they carry some great ones and they only cost $10!), Forever 21, and For Love 21. I’ve browsed the online sites, but I’ve never actually bought anything because I personally like trying things on. Here's a website that has glasses starting at just $8:

http://www.sunglasswarehouse.com/fake-clear-glasses.html

Yes, if you must know, they're fake.

Here’s to Fakes—at least when it comes to glasses—lc.

fəˈlanTHrəpē post #1: Selma's Cafe

A little house tucked away on the West Side of Ann Arbor has enhanced my appreciation of Fridays. Every Friday morning from 6:30-10 Jeff and Lisa open their home to local guest chefs and any foodie willing to start their morning a little earlier than usual. They call it Selma's Cafe, but that's really a misnomer because you won't find anyone there named Selma and it doesn't resemble any cafe I've ever seen. The simplest explanation is that it's a local foods breakfast salon. For a donation of $12-15 you can either choose one of the 2 dishes the guest chef prepares or one of the staples that they always serve: bread pudding, waffles, or the vegan option. Their mission is multifaceted; not only do they support local farmers, producers, and chefs, but they use the proceeds to build hoop houses.

When I first heard about Selma's I thought it sounded extremely awkward. Pulling up a chair and dining in some random person's house? No thank you. However, after going I was very impressed. It's a welcoming atmosphere and all of the volunteers are extremely friendly. Everyone wears a name tag and since space is limited, you usually have to share a table with strangers which adds to the whole experience. The food is usually prepared quickly and in the meantime you can either chat with fellow foodies, watch the chef do their thing, or simply stare in amazement at their beautiful kitchen.

(After dining, simply stick your name tag anywhere and it'll be there waiting for you when you return. Or you can do what I do and pick a new name every time you go.)

In the past I've had the pleasure of trying a Korean pulled pork breakfast sandwich, biscuits and gravy, breakfast pasties, and cheesy grits with a breakfast enchilada. I'm getting hungry just thinking about all of the fabulous food I've had there! If I still haven't succeeded in convincing you, check out the Yelp reviews: http://www.yelp.com/biz/selma-cafe-ann-arbor-3

You can sign up to be on their e-mail list on their website: http://www.selmacafe.org/ They promptly send out the menu on Wednesday afternoons.

Here's to Fridays--lc.



My big fat Greek dinner.

There's nothing like a 6-month lag between your first and second blog posts. Let's just say I was using the hiatus to get inspired.

It has been almost a year since I graduated and one of the things I've enjoyed the most is being able to cook for myself. The most extravagant meals I ever cooked during undergrad involved $1 Cottage Inn Bread and store-bought spaghetti. Total prep time: 10 minutes.

Who doesn't love Greek food? Throw feta on just about anything and I'm a happy girl. This year I've been experimenting with some of my favorite foods. I'll find a recipe online and then modify it because let's be honest: sometimes it's fun to disregard instructions. My latest undertaking: stuffed grape leaves aka dolmades and chicken lemon rice soup. The inspiration for the first dish really came from two places, the first being Sparrow Market in Ann Arbor.

After being disappointed by the lack of produce at the Saturday morning Farmer's Market, I went inside and decided to buy something I'd never cooked with before. That's when I saw the ground lamb and at a very reasonable price.

The second reason I decided to make dolmades, well, sometimes I really wish I lived in Greece. Since that's not feasible, I figured cooking Mediterranean food would be a good alternative.

The truth is I always crave those little bundles of heaven, especially after a night of drinking. (Don't judge, I have weird hangover cravings.) So I figured there was no better opportunity to make these than right around my 24th birthday when some drinking would undoubtedly be involved.

You can basically let your creativity run wild when it comes to deciding what to put in your dolmades. General rule of thumb: pick your favorite meat, add in rice or a rice substitute, and then load in the spices, olive oil, and a ridiculous amount of lemon.

Dolmade ingredients:
1/2 lb ground lamb
1/4 cup quinoa, cooked according to package instructions
1 lemon, the bigger, the better
1 cup broccli
1 cup cauliflower
1 tbsp fennel
3 cloves garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
Enough olive oil to provide a thin layer on the bottom of a frying pan
2 cups of your favorite stock, I used chicken

In the frying pan add the olive oil and minced garlic. Allow to cook for 3-4 minutes and then add the ground lamb and fennel. Cook on medium heat.

While that's cooking, preheat oven to 350 and put broccoli and cauliflower in baking dish. Add 1/2 cup stock, juice of 1/2 a lemon, and lemon zest. Toss all ingredients together and bake covered for 15-20 minutes--toss them again about halfway through.

Once the lamb is cooked, add in the cooked quinoa, 1 cup stock, juice of half lemon, and lemon zest. Lower heat and allow to cook down.

Stir the broccoli and cauliflower into the ground lamb. Allow to cool and then begin assembling the dolmades by spooning a generous amount of the mixture into the center of the grape leaf. Tightly wrap the dolmade and place into a baking dish. Cover the dolmades with remaining stock and lemon zest, cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45-50 minutes.

Chicken Lemon Rice Soup ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
2 carrots, peeled and cut
1 small onion, diced
6 cups chicken broth
1 lemon
1 cup brown rice
2 eggs
Italian parsley

This recipe is a breeze! Mix the broth, carrots, and onion in a large pot on medium heat. Add chicken to the pot and allow to simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. Remove chicken, allow to cool, and add rice to the to pot. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes. Shred chicken and add back to the soup.

Pivotal step: Taste test the rice to make sure it is cooked.

In a small bowl whisk the eggs and lemon juice. Add 1 cup of the hot soup broth to the mixture and continue whisking. Combine egg mixture to the pot and it's ready to serve. Garnish with parsley and add some lemon zest if you're a fan of citrus, like me.


That's it! It's really quite a pay off for a minimal amount of work because your finished dolmades will be a lot less oily than the grape leaves you buy anywhere else and the soup could compete with just about any Coney Island's--I'd even put money on it.

Here's to being a foodie--lc.