A Review: Hotel Monaco, Chicago, IL

This is an unsolicited, unprovoked, uncompensated review of a hotel we recently visited. If someone wants to solicit, provoke, or compensate me for reviewing their product or facility…that can be arranged. :-)

The hubs & I like to run away to Chicago a few times a year.  Sometimes we just run up for a daytrip, sometimes for 1 night, & sometimes for an extended weekend.  Each time we have gone, we have stayed at a different hotel.  It wasn’t that we disliked previous hotels, they just didn’t have enticing reasons to return for subsequent visits.  That situation has changed…

When I started researching where we were going to stay for this trip (4 months ago…because I’m a spaz with a planning-problem), I ran across information for Hotel Monaco on one of the hotel booking sites.  I was drawn in by the pictures on the site, and the appealing price given the 4-star rating.  I knew I wanted to know more…

Hotel Monaco is owned and operated by the Kimpton Hotel chain.  According to their website Kimpton specializes in boutique hotels that are “carefully selected to show off the unique energy and personality of each destination.”  They also are pet-friendly & eco-friendly…which are major positives in my opinion (even though our furry kids didn’t make this trip with us).  And while most hotel chains & hotel booking sites have member reward programs, I thought the Kimpton InTouch program was especially fun.  After every 7 visits or 20 nights (whichever comes first) that are booked through the Kimpton site, you earn a free nights stay.  That’s pretty standard.  But I love their options to set your preferences in advance, i.e. what type of pillows you want on your bed, if you want turndown service, etc & their reward program gives you free access to wireless internet during your stay (which still surprises me that ALL hotels do not offer this as a baseline? 2011, what?). Also, the first time you stay in a Kimpton hotel as an InTouch member, you get a $10 coupon to raid the mini bar.  Those $5 M&Ms that look so darn tasty at 2:00am could be yours!! Gratis! Not too shabby for a free reward system…

I also think it’s fun that Kimpton hotels give you the option to have a goldfish buddy delivered to your room for the course of your stay…as in an actual, swimming goldfish.  If you were traveling with kids that could be incredibly fun.  You can also get a yoga kit delivered to your room for use during your stay.

Through the Hotel Monaco website, I got a stellar deal on a “Mediterranean Suite” ($199.00/night on a holiday weekend, advance purchase special rate).  Sure, the suite was a splurge…but it had a jacuzzi tub.  Since we moved a year ago, I haven’t had a proper, long-soaking bath (small bathtub + finished improperly/peeling enamel= not a relaxing bath experience…hopefully that will be amended during a future home update).  I was due. It was worth the extra $40/night.

In the days leading up to the trip, I was nervous.  It’s always nerve-wrecking trusting online reviews & photos when it comes to hotel rooms.  In this age of bedbug-mania, traveling is especially scary.  

When we arrived at Hotel Monaco, we were greeted at the front desk by the concierge.  He was slightly aloof, but not unpleasantly/annoyingly so…he was efficient about checking us in, asking if we had questions, supplying our $10 minibar coupon, & directing us to somewhere we could grab a decent & quick late-lunch, and even provided us with an appetizer coupon for lunch.  It was slightly comical because he stated something along the lines of “I’m also the concierge, so if you need anything during your stay let me know.  But you might let me know soon, because it’s going to be really busy around here this weekend.”  No worries Mr. Concierge, you were talking to an OCD, vacation-itinerary-planning fool…I’m sure I could have taught him a few things…

The second we opened the door to the room, I was instantly happy with my selection of hotels & rooms.  It. was. gorgeous.  Apparently, the hotel had been recently decorated, and the room was a fun, eclectic array of colors, prints, fabrics & decorations.  Even though it was so eclectic, it somehow all meshed together.  The Mediterranean Suite featured a small sitting room that had a pull-out couch, a window seat, a working desk & a large flat screen TV.  It then flowed into the bedroom, which was HUGE with very tall ceilings (maybe 14 feet?!). The bedroom featured a king-sized bed in crisp white linens (4 foam pillows, per my request), a fun mirrored headboard, a bench, a chase-lounge style sofa, mirrors, artwork, and AWESOMELY huge window seats.  The bathroom in the suite was decently sized, with a walk-in shower stall, and a huge-normous Jacuzzi tub.  Seriously…it was lap-swimming quality.

Funny story—I didn’t remember requesting turn-down service (maybe I did?)  We got back to the hotel LATE Friday night after a concert, and discovered that someone had been in our room (temporarily freaked us out).  We were pleasantly surprised to find the bathrobes laid out on the bed, chocolates on our pillows, the TV turned to a soothing music/nature channel (unfortunately showing a creepy squirrel at the moment we walked in, adding to our confusion), the curtains drawn & the lights dimmed in our room.  It was a relaxing, peaceful, & Zen-like way to end our evening.

Quick overview of our likes & dislikes about the Hotel Monaco:

Pros:

• HUGE, spacious rooms with tall ceilings.
• Friendly staff
• Gorgeously appointed, large window seats.  Perfect for sipping a glass of wine & watching the city go by at night.
• Very comfortable beds, various firmnesses of foam pillows, with crisp linens.
• Aveda bath products. As someone who basically only uses Aveda products…this made me Very Happy.
• The huge Jacuzzi tub with the large footwell at the bottom.  It took a long time to fill (& I kindof felt bad about using that much water)…but it was sooo worth it.  They also have fizzy bath balls you can use for $7/pop (see con below).
• Easy access to the State & State/Lake rail stations.  Easy access to the numerous bus stops along State & Michigan (easy access to most places in the city).
• We couldn’t hear noise from other guests.  We know the hotel was quite booked…but we didn’t hear another guest during our entire stay.  This has been a problem with other hotels in this Chicago area.  Our bedroom was pretty isolated though, due to the suite layout.
• Fun, animal-print bathrobes to use during our stay.

Cons:

• Bathroom towels—only slightly better than interstate-side Holiday Inn grade towels. Smallish & rough.  At this sort of hotel, I expect plusher, softer towels. The perk to this—extra exfoliation…
• The bathroom shower stall was pretty small.  Thankfully I didn’t have to shave my legs during the course of my stay.  Also, the grout in the shower needed a little bleaching & some caulk needed replacing.
• Regarding the $7 fizzy bath balls…I moved the container to a shelf in the bathroom so I wouldn’t risk getting them wet…and was charged $21 for 3 bath balls upon checkout.  This was quickly removed from the bill upon explanation at the front desk (& informing that I had photo evidence that they were still intact upstairs).
•  Parking = $46.00/night.  This is on par with most hotels downtown Chicago…and we were charged for 2 nights of parking on our check-out bill.  However, we didn’t park at the hotel…problem.  Again, with an explanation at checkout, this was quickly removed from our bill.
• There is some train noise.  We were on the 9^th floor, but we could still hear the squeaky breaks & wheels of the trains as they circumnavigated the Loop. This didn’t bother us…but if you were a super-light sleeper, this may annoy the heck out of you.

There is a restaurant, South Water Kitchen, associated with the hotel…but we didn’t have a chance to eat there during our stay.  So I can’t comment on that establishment…

Overall, we loved our stay in the Mediterranean Suite at Hotel Monaco, and we hope to return for a trip in the near future.  You should check in & check it out on your next trip through Chicago!    

On to the photos:

View 1 of sitting room

View 2 of sitting room. One of the window seats in the back.

View of the bed & another window seat.

View of the sitting area in the bedroom.

The biggest of the window seats. Amazing
place to sit & watch the city go by...

Really fun mirror in the room... ignore my
purse & bag thrown on the bed.

The hubs checking out the view from one of the window seats.

View 1 of the bathroom.

View 2 of bathroom. Kindof a tight squeeze between
the shower door & the bathroom door.

Aveda bath products!  Love it!!

View 3 of the bathroom.  HUGE bathtub!

Look how deep this is!!

The dubious fizzy bath balls...

One giggle from the hotel.  Sometimes the only
options in life AREN'T "up & down."

Sorry for the Hiatus…we ran away to Chicago.

Chicago- Day 1

A few months ago, one of our favorite musicians, Ben Harper, announced that he was going to be doing a couple shows at the Vic Theatre in Chicago.  I immediately bought pre-sale tickets for the Friday 7/1 show.  We decided to go ahead & make a long weekend out of it, and spent Friday-Sunday in Chicago…a city that I L-O-V-E, love.

Friday morning we departed at around 8:30a (45 minutes behind schedule).  The weather did not cooperate for driving…we drove through some pretty heavy storms with vertical lightening.  We kept hoping that we would get to see lightening strike one of the windmills on the wind-farm north of Indy, but it didn’t happen.  Around the time we got to the Merrillville, IN area, it was POURING.  Luckily we had already predetermined that we were going to make a stop at the Albanese Candy Company to pick up some of the “World’s best Gummi’s.” 

When they picked this as their slogan…they weren’t lying.  The hubs & I have already been to the Albanese Candy factory before, along with placing orders from their online store.  They have THE BEST gummies in America in my opinion (& I consider myself to be somewhat of a gummy expert).  Their gummy bears are particularly excellent. They are soft, chewy & explode with flavor.  My favorites are the pineapple, mango, strawberry & the concord grape flavors (yes…concord grape!!). Walking into the Albanese Candy factory store is like walking into a non-creepy version of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory…sans Umpa-Lumpas. They have incredibly friendly workers, an endless supply of goodies in acrylic cases (things they manufacture & other popular confections), and a HUGENORMOUS chocolate waterfall that comes from the ceiling.  The other awesome thing about this location is that they have glass windows at the back of the store so you can see the manufacturing floor where they make the gummies.  There is also an audio tour you can take that explains what you are seeing.  As someone who 1) Loves gummies AND 2) Has a weird fascination with manufacturing processes (Science Channel “How It’s Made” junkie)…I could stand there & watch forever.  While we were there, there was a cascade of green apple gummy bears flying off of the conveyor belt.  Overall, this was an excellent choice of location to ride out the storm.

This is a floor mat...it was too rainy to get a good shot of the
outside sign.

The candy factory.  The rain had cleared up some by the time
we had left.  I love that it looks like they built a factory onto
the back of an old farmhouse.

Blurry...but you can get a general feel for the place. The glass
windows in the back are where you can watch the manufacturing
of the gummies.

12 amazing flavors of gummi bears. Except
watermelon...personally not a fan of watermelon.

Huge chocolate waterfall (cascades down the
outside of a pipe)

Once we were back on the road, we attempted to book-it to Hot Doug’s in Chicago.  I have seen Hot Doug’s featured on several different travel/food shows & articles…and REALLY wanted to try some of their dogs & duck-fat French fries (served Friday & Saturday).  Alas…between our delayed start, the storm delay, & horrendous Chicago traffic, my dream did not become a reality this Chicago trip.  By the time we reached Hot Doug’s, there was a line stretching over a block long.  Since we still had to park the car, check into the hotel, eat some sort of lunch/dinner & make it to the Vic Theatre in time to get a good spot in line…we decided that we didn’t have time to wait.  Bummer L.  Hey Doug, expand your store!!

So from there we ventured into downtown Chicago, parked our car in the Millennium Park Garage, and walked to our awesome hotel, Hotel Monaco (review coming in different post).  After checking into the hotel, we took the recommendation of the concierge (who also gave us a coupon for a free appetizer) & headed across the street to the Emerald Loop for a really late lunch (around 3:00pm).  For our free appetizer we ordered their Spinach Artichoke Dip ($8.95).  It wasn’t the best I’d ever had, but it was creamy, cheesy, piping hot & had huge chunks of artichoke in it.  It was served with warm pita & tortilla chips.  It hit the spot for our hunger, after the let-down of “no Hot Doug’s” and the sugar-high we were coming off of from the Albanese Confectionary.  For my meal, I ordered the corned beef sandwich ($9.95), which according to their menu was a specialty of the restaurant & made with home-made corned beef.  Overall, I was pretty disappointed with my lunch.  Normally, a place claiming to be an “Irish Pub” has at least semi-decent corned beef.  Not so for the Emerald Loop.  The beef was tough & cut way too thick considering the toughness.  The flavor of the beef was lacking any sort of potency of seasoning or distinguishing flavors.  The corned beef was served with thin sliced, mundane Swiss cheese (Kraft perhaps?), & between dark rye bread that tasted exactly like Pepperidge Farm bread.  It was served with fries that were hot, but tasted like a frozen Sysco product.  The Hubs had a better lunch than me.  He ordered one of their specialty burgers called the “Crazy Twist Emerald Burger”  It was a thick-cut, charbroiled burger topped with grape goat cheese, pancetta, pickled onion & mushroom aoli, served with lettuce, onion, tomato & French fries ($11.75).  He gave me a bite of the burger & toppings…it was quite tasty.  

From lunch we meandered our way up to the Vic Theatre.  We arrived Super Early (5:00pm), considering that the gates didn’t open until 6:30p.  We were #8 & #9 in line for admission.  All but 2 people in front of us in line had been to the prior night’s show in Chicago.  We could hear Ben Harper singing/soundchecking while we were standing outside, so that was cool.  But what was REALLY awesome, is that on his way out to dinner before the show, he had his van pull over so he could tell the dozen or so of us standing there how awesome we were for coming that early, how much he appreciated it, & thanked us for coming to his concert. Then he blew us kisses. It. was. awesome.  We wanted to arrive early for the general admission show so we could get 1st row in the balcony for the concert (seats—compared to standing on the floor).  We COULD have had front row spots standing by the stage if we wanted to.  I think we made a great choice though…because our legs & backs would have been KILLING us by the end of the concert.  We’re getting old. The Vic Theatre turned out to be an awesome concert venue.  It was small (for Indy people, think about half the size of Vogue), & the acoustics were GREAT.  I would love to go to another concert there.

The concert. was. amazing.  The Orbans opened the show with a great set.  They are a band I had never heard of before that night, but I downloaded their album off of iTunes when we got back to the hotel.  They are a fun group out of Texas that has a rock/alternative sound that [to me] sounds like an interesting meld of Oasis, Stereophonics, with some underlying Texas country sound.  Highly intriguing & enjoyable.  Personally, my favorite songs of theirs right now are “Darlin My Dreams,” “Alibi,” & “Songs We Sang.”  I highly suggest buying their album…love it.

After a short stage re-working, Ben Harper came on stage.  The concert was AMAZING.  I’m pretty sure they played until their fingers bled…because I think the concert length for their set was >3 hours by the time the final encore ended.  He played a lot of my favorite songs, and ended the night with an acoustic version of “Not Fire, Not Ice”…which is my FAVORITE, and is especially meaningful to the Hubs & I since we used it in our wedding. Overall, it was one of the best concerts I have ever been to…simply amazing.  That night I wanted to drop everything & become a Ben Harper groupie.  

Oh Ben Harper...

Singing a capella, without a microphone...powerful & amazing.

Although technically this should fall under Day 2 events (since it was well after midnight), after the concert we walked down Belmont Street to see what was still open for food.  We decided to just go the “quick, easy, cheap & familiar” route & split a sub from Subway. After that we hopped on the Red Line back to our hotel, to rest & relax until we began Day 2.

[To Be Continued...]

Kitchen Weapon: Ground Chipotle Powder

Sure—you can buy canned chipotles in adobo, slice/chop/puree them & use them in recipes.  That’s delicious, but it can be time consuming & messy.

Here enters my friend ground dried chipotle powder.

I go through 1.5-2 bottles of this a year...

 I love dried ground chipotle powder…it’s probably one of my favorite ingredients in my spice cabinet.  It is a quick, easy way to add smoky undertones & flavorful heat to a dish.  Sprinkle a little on flank steak or skirt steak with some garlic, salt & pepper when grilling out.  Add it to chicken seasonings & rub it onto chicken before you grill it. Use it as the base of a great dry rub for ribs (recipe coming soon)…

Chipotle mayo?  Don’t waste money buying it in a jar.  Make it yourself. Try dipping sweet potato fries into it, or using it on beef & cheddar melts. 

2 Tablespoons of your choice of Mayo + ¼ teaspoon of chipotle powder = a good basic chipotle mayo.

Not spicy enough for you?—add more chipotle powder. 

Are you a mayo hater? (craziness but understandable), substitute sour cream or Greek yogurt.    

Add a little chipotle powder to your favorite mayo, yogurt or sour cream based dip…yada yada yada…the possibilities are endless.

Chipotle Powder PSA = over. J

Chopped pork that was rubbed with chipotle dry rub.

Chipotle mayo

 Not a pretty picture...but it's a delicious sandwich.
Chipotle chopped pork, chipotle mayo & cheddar cheese on
 fresh baked Naan.

Pineapple Fried Rice

I love rice. White rice, brown rice, wild rice, black rice…I would have a rice problem if I let myself.  I can see the episode of Intervention now…

This is one of my favorite rice dishes…It combines sweet & spicy, and it makes incredibly delicious leftovers for lunch.  I never let myself make more than 4 cups at a time (unless feeding a crowd), because I’m pretty sure I would eat this, and nothing else but this for a full week.  

For this recipe you need to use cold, leftover long grain white rice (none of that parboiled Minute/instant rice junk).  It needs to be cold, otherwise you will end up with a starchy, gloopy, sticky mess. Normally I would make a 5-6 cup batch of plain white rice on a Sunday evening (Basmati or Jasmine rice) & serve it with Sunday night dinner.  Then I would use 2 cups of that rice for this recipe, and then use the remaining rice for another recipe, or to use as breakfast for the week (leftover rice, warmed up & treated like oatmeal is delicious).

However…sometimes I do dumb, ditzy things.  Like plan this dish as a side dish for dinner, tell my husband I’m making it (who also loves this recipe), and dream all day about the homemade fried rice I’m going to devour for dinner & at lunch the next day…only to realize at 2:00pm while sitting at my desk...”I didn’t make rice.”

Ugh.

Then I remembered something that I saw at the grocery store.  Confession--I laughed when I originally saw it.  Uncle Ben’s now makes warm & serve packets of different varieties of long-grain rice under their product line "Ready Rice."  You know…those things you put in the microwave, pray that the plastic they are cooking in isn’t toxic, warm & dish up?  I remember laughing when seeing those for the first time.  The seasoned rice blends I could kind of understand…especially for those that don’t cook.  But plain basmati or jasmine rice?...who wouldn’t just make their own?

Apparently…these are specially designed for the ditzy-cook-who-has-her-heart-set-on-pineapple-fried-rice-but-forgets-to-make-the-darned-ricecorner of the market.  I’m guessing there are others like me out there.

What is incredibly handy—this recipe calls for approximately 2 cups of rice…and that is approximately how much is in one of the packets of Uncle Ben’s instant rice.  Glorious. I just dumped it straight out of the packet into the pan (no microwaving). 

While it’s not an economical way to dish up dinner compared to cooking the rice from scratch…it saved our dinner last week.  The taste/texture of the rice was ok—but was not as good as precisely cooked basmati in this recipe, but it satisfied the pineapple fried rice craving.

Ok…enough rambling…on to the recipe.  I served this last week with Hawaiian Ribs & sautéed green beans.  Normally when I make this I do not add chopped vegetables to the rice, because I’m normally serving it with vegetables (plus…I hate peas).

My favorite leftovers...

Pineapple Fried Rice

Modified from recipe #28005 on food.com, Cook time: 10 minutes, 4- ½ cup servings

Ingredients

Ingredient lineup...with the dinner-saving rice

• 1.5 t. olive oil
• 2 t. garlic, finely minced
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups leftover white rice (long-grain, not Minute rice)
• 1-2 green onions, green & white sections, chopped
• 2 t. soy sauce, your choice (gluten free, low sodium, etc)
• 1 t. kosher salt (optional)
• ¾ t. ground white pepper*
• 6 T. pineapple, chopped or tidbits
• chopped vegetables- i.e peas or carrots (optional)
• 3 T. cashews, chopped (optional)

1.  Preheat oil in the bottom of a wok or large skillet.  Add garlic & sauté until it starts to brown.  Add chopped vegetables (optional).  

2.  Put rice into the pan, fold together with oil & garlic.  Add the soy sauce, salt, white pepper & pineapple.  Stir until well mixed. 

3.  Scoot rice over to one side of the pan.  Crack the 2 eggs side-by-side on the empty spot of the pan.  Using a rubber spatula, scramble the eggs until mostly cooked, breaking up any large chunks.  Stir eggs into the rice.  (If you stir the eggs into the rice uncooked…you will end up with a gloopy mess.  If a little rice gets into your eggs while you are scrambling them…that’s not a problem at all).

Crack eggs into the pan

Scramble the eggs.  Don't blend them into the rice yet.

Now it's ready to blend together...

4.  Fold in green onions & cashews…and serve.  

Love it.

*A note on white pepper- (1) You want to use white pepper not black pepper.  It is the “heat” element in this dish.  Black pepper will not taste remotely the same.  (2)If halving the recipe, use ½ teaspoon of white pepper.  If making 3 cups of rice, use 1 t. ground white pepper. 4 cups of rice=1.25 t. white pepper…etc.  White pepper is one of those ingredients that you do not want to truly double.  The heat from the pepper doesn’t double…it quadruples.  Along those lines…if you are cooking for a family that doesn’t like spicy foods—in the recipe above use ½ t. ground white pepper instead of ¾ t.  

Slow Cooker "Hawaiian" Ribs

This is a recipe I found when I was on a gluten-free experiment last year from the blog crockpot365.blogspot.com.  If you use gluten-free soy sauce—the recipe is gluten-free.  I loved the flavor that this recipe creates (once it is modified a bit.)  The super-great thing about this recipe is that the sauce & cooking method can be used for So Many items.  For this round of the recipe, I used some beef ribs I had picked up on sale.  I usually use pork spareribs for this recipe.  Both style of ribs have their pros/cons.  

Beef ribs:  pro—the ribs stay solid when being slow cooked for so long, con-- I don’t think the meat picks up the flavor of this sauce as well.

Pork spareribs: pro—these get incredibly tender & the meat soaks up the flavor,  con—The cartilage’y bones in spareribs basically disintegrate & turn into soft rubber pieces, making eating these a little trickier, and a little more difficult to consume in front of company.  

You could also use pork babyback ribs. Pork loin or shoulder substituted in this recipe could make some delicious ‘Hawaiian” flavored pulled pork.  Perhaps serve it on the Hawaiian mini sweet rolls with some coleslaw, pickles, or grilled pineapple pieces?  Just a thought…not something I have actually tried yet. 

The night last week that I made this I served it with pineapple fried rice & sautéed green beans. The meat gets a lovely dark caramelized appearance during cooking & is ridiculously tender.

 

Hawaiian Slow-Cooker Ribs

Prep time: 5 minutes, Cook time: 7-9 hours in a slow cooker. Serves 4-6

Ingredients

Ingredient Lineup.  I used a snack pack of pineapple for this
because it was midnight on a workday when I was assembling this...
and I got lazy.  A can of pineapple is more economical...

• 1 rack of beef ribs (can substitute 1 rack pork spareribs, 1 rack babyback ribs, 2-3 pounds boneless beef roast, or 2-3 pounds pork loin or pork roast)
• 2/3 cups soy sauce of choice (gluten-free, low-sodium, etc)
• 4 T. brown sugar
• 2 T. honey
• 1 t. Chinese 5-Spice powder* (see note below)
• 1/3 cup pineapple juice  
• 1/2 cup pineapple tidbits
• 8 cloves garlic, minced

1. In a small food processor or blender, pulse the soy sauce, brown sugar, honey, 5-spice, pineapple, juice & garlic until well mixed. (This step can be omitted…I’ve done it both ways, I actually didn't blend it this time preparing the recipe…and the flavor is deeper if you mix it in advance instead of layering it in the slow cooker).

2.  Cut the rack of ribs into 2-4 smaller pieces.  Layer 1 layer of ribs in the bottom of a large slow cooker, with the bones on the bottom.  Spoon 2-3 large spoons of the sauce mixture over the first layer of ribs. Add the 2^nd layer of ribs & pour the remaining sauce over the top of the ribs.  

Assembled ribs.  I always get this ready the night before & let
it marinate in the fridge overnight.  Then I just pop it in the slow
cooker before I head into work.

3.  Cook on Low for 6-8 hours, or on High for 4-5 hours. If you are around home while these are cooking- move the top layer to the bottom & the bottom layer to the top about halfway through cooking.

Scene I came home to.  It's not pretty...but it's yummy.

4.  Be prepared for the meat to be SUPER tender & for it to fall off of the bone.  Have a slotted spoon on hand to remove stray chunks of meat from the cooking liquid.  Enjoy!

A brief note about Chinese 5-Spice powder.

What is it?  Chinese 5-Spice is a blend of 5 spices that are frequently used in Chinese-style cooking.  Personally, I buy mine at The Spice House (I love the freshness & quality of their spices).  You can find this in some grocery stores—if you do not find it in the regular spice/spice blend section, check the international food aisle in the Asian section.

If you can’t find it…you can always make your own.  Our friend Google will point you in the direction of a ton of different ratios for making up your own blend…but I will just copy over the one used on this recipe from Crockpot365.

Chinese 5-Spice Powder

1 t. ground cinnamon

1 t. crushed anise seed

¼ t. ground fennel

¼ t. ground black pepper, fine

1/8 t. ground cloves

Mix ingredients together. Store in an airtight container.

Lemon Lover's Coffee Cake

I've had this recipe in my cookbook for about 5 years.  It is one of my favorite things to take for breakfast pitch-ins because you can do most of the prep work the night before, mix it for a few minutes & then let it bake while you get ready in the morning.  It is delicious warm, & is equally delicious when it is room temperature or chilled. I glaze this 5 minutes after removing it from the oven.  I then cover it with paper towels (to trap the steam) & put the lid on my Pyrex container & take it into work.  It is still hot when it's time for the breakfast meeting to start.

Not the best photo (taken right before a
morning meeting...but it tasted great!)

Not much else to say about this one...except to enjoy!

Lemon Lover's Coffee Cake
Prep time: 10 minutes, Cook time: 30 minutes, Modified from Betty Crocker


Ingredients

Ingredient Lineup

• 3/4 c sugar
• 3/4 c butter, softened
• 2 t. grated lemon peel
• 3/4 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. vanilla (I add closer to 1 t.)
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 c all purpose flour
• 1/2 jar lemon curd (I like Dickinson's, but you could also make your own if you are ambitious)

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease bottom & sides of an 11x9" baking dish.

2.  In a large bowl beat together the sugar, butter, lemon peel, baking powder, vanilla, & eggs with electric mixer on low speed until well mixed. Mix on medium speed for an additional 2 minutes. Fold in flour & stir until incorporated.  Spread cake batter into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.  Spoon lemon curd by rounded teaspoonful onto the top of the cake. I make 4 rows of 3.

I grate the lemon peel the night before, preserve it with a little
squeeze of lemon juice & tightly seal it in the fridge overnight..
This cuts down on the prep time in the morning.

Raw cake.  When it cooks, the curd will
sink down into the cake.

3.  Bake for 23-26 minutes until golden brown.  Remove from oven & let cool for 5 minutes.  Drizzle with glaze (recipe below).

Apparently it was a success...this is what
I brought back home that night...

Lemon Glaze

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2-3 T. lemon juice

Directions

Mix together.  If you want a stiffer glaze, add more sugar.