Yep, you're reading that right. Beef lips.

Fridge Friday

Fridge Friday 6-26-09
Originally uploaded by geg5150

Click through to read the notes and see the freezer!

Let me see your fridge!

Picnic Dinner

Wednesday night we went to watch The Producers at a beach park on Lake Michigan. It was great fun. We're doing picnics in the park before the movie. I love it.

I didn't want to do traditional picnic food or sandwiches, I wanted a real meal. Something that was easy enough to eat and that would be tasty at room temp.

I kinda invented Lemon & Olive Chicken with Couscous



6 chix thighs, no skin on the bone

In a large skillet that has a lid heat 2-3 tbsp of oil. Salt and pepper your chicken and brown on both sides for a total of 6-8 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate and add chopped onion to saute for about 3 minutes. Add 1 clove of mined garlic and cook for another minute. Add 1 cup of chix stock to deglaze the pan. Add the chicken back to the skillet along with 1 cup of chopped green Spanish olives and Kalamata olive (or whatever you like), six lemon quarters (that's 1 1/2 lemons) and a tsp or so of dried marjoram. Bring to a low simmer, cover and cook for about 45 minutes...the chicken will be almost falling off the bone.

This is very lemony. The chix broth & olive have plenty of salt, so don't add extra. I did add extra pepper and a slash of Tobasco sauce in the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Serve atop couscous with plenty of the yummy sauce.

I served it with grilled veggies, pickled radishes and fresh pineapple for dessert.


Saturday night it's The Goonies at Chase Park. The Boy is responsible for the picnic, I think it'll be pot roast.

This must end

Happy Father's Day

G's first Christmas
Originally uploaded by geg5150

This was my dad's first Christmas as a dad. This year will be his 37th. He's pretty great. It's amazing to me that he's 26 in this picture. Yikes! That's so young to have so much responsibility.

I'm so lucky to have great parents. My dad has always be a terrific provider, has put his family first and afforded us so many adventures throughout my childhood (and adult life)!

I love you, Dad.

(And yes, that baby is me.)

Hot Town, Summer in the City

Not exactly dirty and gritty, but it is getting humid here in Chicago. I'm fighting the urge to turn on the air conditioning. It's hovered at 78 in the house all day, now that it's 10 p.m., I'm hoping that it will cool down. The windows are wide open and the fans are on full blast. After a slow start, it appears that summer is here.

Last night was a great summer night! The Boy and I started with dinner at Moody's Pub, an institution since 1959. A damn fine burger and a lovely beer garden. It's always summer at Moody's.

Our dinner choice was strategically located just three blocks from Berger Park, the location for our Movie in the Park! Last night's film was Rear Window with Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly. Grace Kelly was exquisite, such a beauty. Her outfits were just stunning! I'd seen parts of the movie, but not all of it. 1954 was so very different from anything I know in my life! So formal and reserved.

The park had a great sound system and the screen was huge. The grassy area was littered with couples and small groups of three and four on blankets with bottles of wine, picnics and snacks. It did get a little cool and by the last 15 minutes of the movie, I had on my sweatshirt and was more under the blanket than on top of it.

The next movie on our list is The Producers in Lincoln Park next week.

Tomorrow night is Happy Hour with two guys that I met at a work function a few weeks ago. They're friends with each other and I met each of them independently. I nice surprise to find that they know each other. An instant circle of friends, I'd say. Hmmm, which one of them will I choose for my gay husband. Can I have two?

The rest of the weekend will be spent working around the house, organizing and such.

Oh, and tomorrow morning, I'm going to get my new 32G iPhone 3G(s). Excited!

Right, About that To Do List

The progress:

• Final trip to the old condo to pick up random crappe, including: telephone, lamp, box of books, hanging picture, dead Christmas cactus, vacuum, etc. DONE!
  
• Go to Petsmart to pick up a scratching post for Buttercup, she's scratching my brand new bedroom rug. DONE!
  
• Change the cat litter. DONE!
  
• Meet a lady from Craigslist to give her some boxes and packing paper. DONE!
  
• Shower! Zoiks, I'm a lil' stinky. DONE!
  
• Unload the diswasher. DONE!
  
• Throw a down comforter in the washer. Fail.
  
• Bring 2 boxes down to the basement. DONE!
  
• Take the trash out. DONE!
  
• Find a home for the ironing board. Not done, but I like Anna's idea!
  
• Ask the downstairs neighbor who is moving out if she'd like some empty boxes. Not yet. I think I'm saving them for The Boy.
  
• Mentally prep for work tomorrow. BOO! Well, it's Monday and I'm working, semi-prepared mentally.
  
• Meet the old landlord to give her the keys and get the security deposit back. Whoo hoo, free money to pay the mortgage! (Actually, I think I'll use it to buy my new 32G iPhone 3G(s) phone and put the remainder towards my bedroom furniture that I'm getting next month.) DONE! I met her in the courtyard and can you believe that she didn't even go in to look at the condo? Crazy! She gave me a check for the security deposit without looking at the place. I can't get over it.
  

I actually didn't do too bad on my list. Of course, it's a never ending cycle of to do lists. Today's list includes:

• Going to the bank.
• Working...yes, that. After being off on Thursday and Friday, I'm playing alot of catch up.
  
• Prepare for tomorrow's meeting. I have a pretty important meeting tomorrow to prepare for. Lots of documentation to gather and organize. Fortunately, it's not until 3:30 tomorrow, so I can prepare today and then look at everything with fresh eyes in the morning.
  
• Take a walk! Always a constant battle to get exercise in. The bonus is that I'll enjoy my new neighborhood walks.
• UNPACKING. I'd like to finish up the office and get a little more accomplished in the living room which still continues to be the dumping ground.

Today's To Dos

It is a ridiculously glorious day here in Chicago. I think it may finally be heading towards summer here. High of 75 with blue skies, breezes and big fluffy clouds. Perfect for spending the afternoon at Ribfest with The Boy.

Before I meet him, though, here's my to do list:

• Final trip to the old condo to pick up random crappe, including: telephone, lamp, box of books, hanging picture, dead Christmas cactus, vacuum, etc.
• Go to Petsmart to pick up a scratching post for Buttercup, she's scratching my brand new bedroom rug.
  
• Change the cat litter.
• Meet a lady from Craigslist to give her some boxes and packing paper.
• Shower! Zoiks, I'm a lil' stinky.
• Unload the diswasher.
• Throw a down comforter in the washer.
• Bring 2 boxes down to the basement.
• Take the trash out.
• Find a home for the ironing board.
• Ask the downstairs neighbor who is moving out if she'd like some empty boxes.
• Mentally prep for work tomorrow. BOO!
• Meet the old landlord to give her the keys and get the security deposit back. Whoo hoo, free money to pay the mortgage! (Actually, I think I'll use it to buy my new 32G iPhone 3G(s) phone and put the remainder towards my bedroom furniture that I'm getting next month.)

What are you doing today?

The Mess

Mess
Originally uploaded by geg5150

I think I'm past the "getting worse before it gets better stage". It should be only getting better at this point.

The Metro Rack has been assembled in the basement. I did that by myself, it was hairy for a second or two. Seriously, I have so much room in the basement, I'll be able to free up a lot of space in my closets. Holla!

The office is coming along nicely and so is the kitchen.

The living room and bedroom continue to be the dumping ground for everything that doesn't have a home yet.

A HUGE shout out to The Boy for helping me like crazy for 24 hours! From packing, cleaning, talking off the ledge, to organizing, assembling and making me laugh, he's been awesome. I don't think I'll be able to properly repay him.

I'm hoping to have most everything done by Sunday night. Still have the Serve-a-thon tomorrow and RibFest on Sunday, so I have bunches to do!

Moving and Shaking

Didn't I just do this? Yes, less than a year ago I moved from VA to Chicago, now I'm moving again. This is my fourth move in 27 months. I'm over it.

Today is moving day. The movers should be here in about a half an hour. I'm feeling pretty good about the move. Everything is packed. I've been trying to clean as I go along so that the final cleaning won't be so bad.

I know that I'll have to made a trip back for the final contents of the fridge and any last minute things that are sure to be left behind. Oh, and to pick up the cats. Sadly, they'll be trapped in the master bathroom for most of the day as they are escape artists.

It's raining here in Chicago today, so that adds a nice twist to the moving experience. On a good note, I picked up the U-Haul and parallel parked it like a rock star! The things that you do out of necessity when you're a single gal in the city! The movers will load the truck, I'll drive it to the new place and they'll unload.

I'm really not looking forward to the move, but it's here and I can't stop it. This is a super busy weekend with the move, the Chicago Cares Serve-a-thon on Saturday, Ribfest & Midsommarfest on Sunday. Unfortunately, I have a happy hour planned with two new friends tomorrow night that I think I'm going to have to cancel in order to get everything done.

Check you later!

The Kitchen Table and Chairs...

Kitchen Table
Originally uploaded by geg5150

they have arrived.

Supposed to be Monday, then yesterday, finally delivered today at 6 p.m. I'd really rather be hanging out eating a meal on the new table. I think it looks really great against the bright green.

Click through to see other new pics.

Pick Your Seat

Have I mentioned how much I love The Chicago lately? Well, I do. Thiiiiiiis much!

The weather has been a little slow to realize it's June, but I really don't mind. I quite like having to wear a sweater out to dinner and on my evening walks. I like the chill in the air. (Dear Phoenix: I don't miss you one bit! Just my people there, but I think they should all relocate to here.)

My latest love affair with Chicago is surrounding the Chicago Park District's Movies in the Park program. From June to September over 170 current and classic movies will be shown in parks around the city for free!

Rear Window? Check. Next Wednesday.
The Goonies? Check. Blue Brothers? Check.
Breakfast at Tiffany's? Sunset Blvd.? The Philadelphia Story? Check. Check. Check.

What fun will be had. Movies are showing at different parks all over the city, so I'll have even more reason to explore different neighborhoods.

In other news, last night's walk only garnered three kittens and three grown cats. Not much for the wild life last night.

Oh, yeah, and the movers come tomorrow! Holy Sh!#!!! I think I'm ready. I have tomorrow and Friday off work, so that helps alot. I just hate this whole process and I'm so tired. Six hours of sleep a night isn't enough for me. I cannot wait until Friday morning when I can sleep in late and begin the unpacking process.

Chicago is a Zoo

And I don't mean because of the crazy traffic, the crazy people or the crazy public transportation. I mean because of the animals.

The boy and I have been taking walking late in the evenings pretty regularly. It's fun. Get a little exercise, visit and explore the neighborhood. We usually go pretty late, so there aren't many people out, but the animals abound.

Just last night we saw:
6 bunnies
5 baby raccoons
1 baby possum
2 kittens
1 big tomcat

I'm happy to report that I still haven't seen a rat in my year living in Chicago. I've seen them in DC, NYC and even in Phoenix, but not here. The boy reports that just last night before he came to my place that he saw two rats and two skunks. Stinkaroo, no thank you.

I think that maybe I need to start taking my camera out on my walks to document the animals. Although, what else could there be? I think that we may have seen all of the variety we're going to see, right? There are deer in the city in the parks, but we're not really walking near there. There was a cougar found in Roscoe Village last April. I hope to not encounter a deadly "big cat".

In the jungle,

The mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight.

Saw these two babies napping in the neighbors yard on Friday.

A Good Evening Indeed

Do you remember when I went to Bonsoiree with Leanne back in February? I couldn't stop thinking about it. I mean really, check out all that we had to enjoy on our visit. I was so excited that my work bestie, Kelly, was in town from Philadelphia and wanted to try it. I secured our reservations several weeks ago and last night was the big night.

We chose the seven course menu:

The amuse was Kona Kampachi Sashimi with yuzu and fresh wasabi. The perfect bite. It was served on a tiny shark skin grater used to grate the wasabi.

Our salad course was so fresh and green. Shaved cucumber, pea tendrils with Verjus dressing. Accompanied by bacon cubes, house pickled Japanese eggplant and a bruleed kumquat. Wow! That kumquat was something else!

Our third course wasn't off menu and was the Scallop Motoyaki that was had last time, too. I actually think that I enjoyed it better this time!

The next course was really interesting, a green tea smoked, oil poached baby octopus with rhubarb gravlax and a beet chip. I don't usually love octopus, but this was very good. Octopus is usually chewy and this wasn't all all. It was nice. Probably my least favorite of the dishes, but darn good!

Our soup course was next with a delightful roasted yellow tomato soup paired with butter poached shrimp with shiso. The soup was great and so was the shrimp, the shiso really made it. I have to say that I was really missing something crunchy hear for a textural balance. I, of course, would have loved some kind of interesting twist on a grilled cheese. Maybe that's too pedestrian for Shin.

Moving on to our fish course of a pan-seared grouper served over an almond farro risotto with maple syrup and braised Globe artichokes. Yum! Wow! I love grouper and this preparation was divine. The maple syrup sounded odd, but gave a great underlying sweetness to the dish. And the artichoke, well it was just stupendous!

Finally, a meat course, a duo of lamb -- lamb loin served very rare and a deep fried, housemade lamb sausage. This was served with a "death mustard" (it wasn't that hot!), haricot verts and a saffron cauliflower mousse. Seriously, that lamb loin was super, duper rare...I mean, it didn't even look like it had been cooked at all. Fine for me, but not what I was expecting. It was tender and flavorful! The sausage was gamey and salty and just right!

Oy, are you getting full yet?

All the while, we're enjoying our wines. We stopped into In Fine Spirits right down the street from my place to get some guidance from the great staff there. Our Champagne in fact wasn't Champagne, but it was a 2005 Sainte-Hillaire Extra Dry, which is reported to be the oldest sparkling wine maker in all of France. Even older than any Champagne. It was dry, dry, dry. I loved it.

For our white, we chose Errazuriz 2007 “Wild Ferment” Chardonnay from Chile. It came very highly recommended from the staff at In Fine Spirits and they didn't lead us astray, I'm not usually a huge Chardonnay fan, but this was so nice. It wasn't too oaky or buttery. It was just mineraly enough and powerful enough to stand up to the food.

Our red was a 2002 Madonna Estate Reserve Pinot Noir from Napa. I actually bought this bottle back in 2003 on a trip to Napa. It's been carted around the country so I wasn't sure if maybe it had turned as it hadn't always been stored in the best conditions. It turned out to be a winner. We opened it right away and decanted it. It was a winner for sure.

Finally, the end was nearing and our intermezzo arrived. A delightfully refreshing and tart yuzu and raspberry sorbet. It made me pucker! Loved it.

Dessert was a grilled banana bread pudding with hard sauce and a ras el hanout whipped cream and granulated honey. The bread pudding was crunchy and creamy and not too sweet, the cream was the perfect compliment.

What do you think?

I really love the service at Bonsoiree. It's pretty much just Ryan, he's the maitre d'. It's either him or the Chef/owner Shin serving and explaining every course to you. The service is very relaxed and comfortable. It's not stuffy at all. Make not mistake, it's not lax or sloppy, but it's not the least bit pretentious! We were there in blue jeans and felt perfectly comfortable.

Now, I can't wait to go back when Laura and Andre are in town next month.

Fridge Friday

Fridge Friday
Originally uploaded by geg5150

Click through to see notes and the rest of my fridge.

I showed you mine, can I see yours?

A Little Bonus

Here's the recipe for The Publican's chicken. OMG, tasty.

Here Piggy, Piggy, Piggy...

(I want to eat you.)

I'm recovering from porky goodness at The Publican on Tuesday night and I've now entered into a self-imposed pork moratorium for at least three days. I was invited to join the gals from Chicago Bites and another local foodie, Stephanie, and was more than happy to oblige.

Overall, it's a great space -- very open and airy which, of course, results in a pretty loud space. It's kind of got the "art full farmhouse" thing going on complete with long, narrow community tables, a few 2 and 4 tops and booths. It's not a particularly quiet, romantic date spot, but you could get cozy in a booth.The booths are kinda weird though....they're big, but they have doors on them. More like gates actually. It's almost like your dining in a stall or a pig pen. Maybe that's in keeping with the piggy theme? I loved the art work of giant pigs on the walls. I think the paintings were the size of Smartcars.

Make no mistake, The Publican is all about the beer and meat. We noticed that the male to female ration of diners was pretty high and we were the only party of all women. Beer + Meat + Lots of Men = Fun to Watch.

We had everything from pork rinds and three hams to grilled sardines and mussels. We indulged in oysters, beef tongue and roast chicken with frites. The three hams (from TN, IA and Serrano from Spain) served with grainy bread and goat butter was amazing -- it may have been my favorite and honestly, I would have been happy with a meal of ham, bread, butter and beer. Really? Is life better? But, then came the mussels, which we all agreed were better than Hopleaf. We also agreed that Hopleaf is a Belgian Beer Bar that serve food, whereas The Publican is a restaurant that serves Belgian beers. The mussels had a little kick, were nice and garlicky and the broth was divine.

Points to The Publican for being generous with the bread. A rustic farm loaf with butter arrived as soon as we sat, a still warm baguette was served with the mussels and the brown bread with the ham. We had the chef's choice of six oysters with two from three from Washington state, two from PEI and one from Rhode Island. I don't remember the two I had, but I liked them very much. The housemade crackers served with the oysters were so good, like little slabs of savory, buttery shortbread. The sardines were an unexpected dish for me. I knew I'd try them, but I really liked them. Three large sardines grilled and served over roasted potatoes and chilis with kick! With the head on (yum) and lots of little bones, I wouldn't eat all of the sardines myself, but sharing is good.

Beef tongue was tasty, albeit a Little texturally challenging for me. The chicken was perfectly cooked, but the frites with the chicken jus = heavenly.

My least fave part of the meal was the dessert. A waffle with rhubarb compote with honey butter. The waffle was a little too eggy for my taste. The compote was good and we all didn't even realize that we were eating the blobs of butter until it was almost gone. We couldn't figure out what was so salty. Ha! Food coma for sure.

It was all very good and the beer menu was outstanding if you're into Belgian beers like I am. I don't know alot about them other than to say that I like Belgian beers very much.

I can't do the dishes justice, so you should go check them out here. Tammy takes stunning photographs with her big, fancy camera. As a bonus, Tammy is my neighbor once I get moved in next week, so I'm very much looking forward to more tasty adventures with her and the other ladies.

If you're in Chicago and feeling a lil' piggish, get to The Publican. Three cheers for pork, beer and chicks!


(Oh, and you should follow Chicago Bites on twitter @chicagobites, Stephanie is @chemgk and as always, I'm @geg5150.)

Busy Bee, Busy Bee

This week is busy for me.

Actually, the busyness started on Friday when I closed on the condo, selected paint and spent the evening at May Fest in Lincoln Square. Saturday was KIPP for the day, the paint store and packing. Sunday was jammed pack with a FREE Meat Puppets concert at Permanent Records in West Town, a viewing of Star Trek and drinks at Hopleaf.

Monday was work, work, work.

Today the couch is being delivered and I've got loads of work to catch up on. I'm meeting the gals from Chicago Bites for dinner at The Publican, which I've been wanting to try since it opened in the fall. Can you say "pork and beer"? Maybe not what you think of for an early June night on the town, but it is supposed to be rainy and about 55 degrees by dinner time.

Tomorrow is more work and meeting an old friend for drinks at Nacional 27. A tasty cocktail is definitely in my future. I haven't seen John in about seven years, so it'll be nice to see him and to finally meet his partner, Frank.

Thursday is someone's birthday and I'll be making tiramisu ice cream from David Lebovitz's "The Perfect Scoop". By the way, if you're not reading his blog, you should be. He's a hoot. Trying to figure out how I can finagle a dinner or at least a snack with him when I'm in Paris in the fall.

Friday my work bestie, Kelly is coming into town from Philadelphia. She's actually coming to visit her family in the suburbs, but she's escaping to the city for one night only to hang with me. We're planning to have drinks and then head to dinner at Bon Soiree. I love that place! You might remember my meal with Leanne there back in February. I'm still dreaming about it.

Saturday and Sunday I have to pack and also spend some time at Ribfest in North Center. It's festival time in Chicago and there's a festival every weekend! It's crazy, but perfect. I love it. Ribs + music + beers = fun. Not sure which day I'll head down, but definitely won't miss it.

Saturday night Luka Bloom is playing at the Old Town School of Folk Music. I bought the tickets a while ago and looks like The Boy and I will be heading to the show there.

Oh good Lord, I'm tired already. When am I going to finish packing, clean the house for Kelly's arrival, make the ice cream, go to the gym, go to Fedex and all of the other stuff I have to do?

"Pink is my signature color."

Foyer & Living Room
Originally uploaded by geg5150

"My colors are blush and bashful."

"Her colors are pink and pink."

Anyone know the movie reference?

Anyway, my colors are Lime Twist and Napa Vineyard, otherwise known as green and green. Yep, that's the living room.

Click through the photo to see the entire set of the new condo on Flickr.

Tomorrow I'll be hanging at the condo wait for the orange couch in the pics to be delivered to the office. I'll bring a couple of boxes of stuff to unpack, too. Probably kitchen goodies.

The movers come on the 11th. Zoiks, so much more to do.