This bitterly cold February weather can wrap up anytime, Mother Nature! Can’t we turn the switch to spring a month or two early? Even with the chill, we had a lovely weekend. K and I took advantage of being early birds and started Saturday morning at Baker Miller, a Lincoln Square bakery that opened in September. We wanted a sweet and savory Valentine breakfast, and it was perfect.

Baker Miller is bright and airy with a seasonal menu, a pastry and bread bar, and eclectic sheets of art hanging on the walls. The bakery has received a lot of press lately, including Bon Appetit. Baker Miller is unique in that it only bakes with whole grains, which are locally sourced and milled by the bakery itself {aka they grind their own flour and oats}. The grains are organic and non-GMO, and several are for sale in the store. We picked up a container of Stone Cut Oatmeal to try, sourced from an Illinois farm. Baker Miller even has their own online flour shop.

K and I started with a shared cinnamon roll as an appetizer, and rounded out breakfast with oatmeal and grits. My beautiful bowl of oats included house-cultured cream, raw sugar, rolled oats, preserved cherry jam, and pecans. By far the best oatmeal I’ve ever had. Cherry jam is definitely making it into a future bowl of oats at home. Baker Miller also has a ‘toast bar’ with a toaster on each table and a communal spread of jams and other bread condiments in huge jars set on a bar on the opposite side of the bakery kitchen. Check out the seasonal menu here.

On Saturday night, we decided to stay in and cook for ourselves with a few recipes from America’s Test Kitchen. I have an annual volume of their huge list of recipes and cooking techniques, and all four recipes from dinner were from the cookbook. We drank wine and made pan seared scallops and shrimp with lemon brown butter sauce, parmesan risotto, and roasted brussel sprouts. The Test Kitchen technique for roasted brussel sprouts is the best one I’ve tried. It includes tossing halved sprouts with oil, salt and pepper like usual, but adding 1 Tablespoon of water to the mix as well. Place the sprouts cut-side down on a pan and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Roast at 500 degrees for ~10 minutes. Take the foil off and continue roasting for another 10 minutes. The sprouts were a little bit crunchy on the outside, and so creamy inside. We added red pepper flakes for a bit of extra heat.

Workouts Lately

To round out all this talk of decadent food, here is a list of my workouts for the past two weeks.

Week of February 2nd

• Monday: “Ballerina” Dance Cardio Class {1 hour}
• Tuesday: 5 minute warmup walk on treadmill; ran 3.1 miles; 5 minute increasing incline + speed walk
• Friday: 3 mile treadmill run; arm workout {3 sets, 15 reps each}; 3 sets of 50 crunches
• Saturday: Active rest {walked 4+ miles}
• Sunday: Ran to/from a 1 hour Barre Class {3 miles total}

Week of February 9th

• Wednesday: 10 minute stairmaster warmup; 2 mile treadmill run; 5 minute increasing incline + speed walk
• Sunday: 75 minute “Detox” Yoga Class

I was sick with a cold for a few days this past week, so I decided to take it easy with workouts and rest instead. For that reason, I was able to finish reading Big Little Lies {in less than a week!} as part of the Bookish Bloggers Book Club. If you’re looking for a quick and suspenseful read, I highly recommend it.

Have a great Monday!