The Tastemaker Top 10 with Sarah of So Hungry I Could Blog

The Tastemaker Top 10 is a collection of 10 questions asked by me and answered by some of my favorite bloggers. Here they will tell you a little bit about themselves, their blogs, and of course, their favorite foods and restaurants. This week's post is a first for A Squared: It's a two-parter! Today, we are talking to Sarah of the fun food blog So Hungry I Could Blog. Sarah shares the blog with her friend Caitlin and we'll be hearing her answers to these questions next week... so come back next Tuesday to hear from the other half of So Hungry I Could Blog! Today, meet Sarah:

Name: Sarah Steimer

Blog: So Hungry I Could Blog

Location: Chicago

Now, tell us about your...

1. Favorite meal, food, or cuisine: Late summer/early fall foods. Chicago gives you the option of hitting a farmer’s market pretty much every day of the week, so I’m spoiled by seasonal produce. Once August and September hit, I’m elbow-deep in heirloom tomatoes, squash, apples, and dark, leafy greens. OK, and cheese.

2. Favorite restaurant in your city: Lula Cafe! I’ve fallen hard for many a Lula dish, most recently the spring onion and nettle tamales on the brunch menu. And their cocktails? Well, it’s the only restaurant where I actually look forward to waiting for a table (at the bar).

3. Favorite restaurant outside of your city: I’m a Pittsburgh native, so I have to go with a hometown choice: Mad Mex. Solid Tex-Mex food and margaritas. Now, if you want my favorite ‘burgh restaurant secret, it’s brunch at The Zenith, which doubles as an antique store.

4. Favorite food memory: Homemade breakfast with the fam! I can’t be sure, but I think 64 percent of my childhood might have included pancakes or French toast and an oldies radio station. Basically, I spent a lot of time covered in maple syrup and knowing Temptations lyrics.

5. Favorite guilty pleasure food: Ice cream, preferably from a cool parlor. I don’t feel even a little guilty.

6. Favorite ingredient (something you love to cook with, or something you see on a menu and know you have to order): Pickled onions. I love tacos, and nothing perfects a taco like some pickled onion highlights (yeah, there are some on that Lula tamale I told you about, too).

7. Favorite recipe: Caitlin and I did a savory jam guide last August, for which I made this quick tomato jam. No special ingredients, no pectin. It paired perfectly with wine and cheese for a movie in Grant Park.

8. Favorite kitchen tool, utensil, product, etc.: A sharp knife. That’s all I ask.

9. Favorite thing about blogging: Caitlin and I have both noted how cooking and blogging can be such a great escape. Plus it’s also a pretty cool way to track of how our tastes and abilities have changed.


Thanks so much for your thoughts, Sarah!

Do you have a blogger that you'd recommend to be featured on the Tastemaker Top 10? Or are you a blogger that would like to participate? Email me at aasquaredblog@gmail.com and let me know!