Restaurant Week

Yeah, it's not really restaurant week in Chicago, but it feels that way to me. I fully intended to use this week as a chance to restart my mojo, eat right and exercise. Instead, I've used this week to eat out. A lot.

Just in case you're inclined to follow in my delicious but not so healthy footsteps, here's a quick rundown of my week of culinary experiences.

Sunday
A visit to Lula Cafe in Logan Square. My fella and I have been enjoying brunch there for many years, and it's still one of the best options for brunch in the city. Some weeks, I'd go so far as to say it's THE best brunch in the city. Their specials change from week to week, and sometimes they're better than others. Most times they're spot on, though. Go. Eat. And then nap. 'Cause you'll be full.


Tuesday

An impromptu dinner at Vie in Western Springs. A friend from elementary school was in town for business, and we didn't want to drive all the way into the city for a tasty meal. Fortunately, there's an excellent option in the Western Suburbs complete with a Michelin Star.

I completely forgot that this is Barbecue Week at Vie, so not only did we have an amazing meal, it was that much more exciting because of the special menu. Yum! Also, their Carolina Style BBQ sauce was actually Carolina style, so extra points!

Wednesday

Yet another visit to the awesome Yoshi's Cafe in Boystown. We eat here almost every week, and it never fails to deliver. Everything is good, and I mean everything. We've eaten here so often that I've had literally everything on the menu at some point.

Friday

Time for another round of food created by Chef Paul Virant! We're off to his new(ish) restaurant, Perinneal Virant. Our friends are in from out of town, so we thought this would be a fun option to share. Chef Paul's food is always so interesting and includes lots of local fare. I've also spent some time experimenting with his cookbook: The Preservation Kitchen. There are TONS of recipes for preserves and relishes, and the process of creating them is surprisingly easy. The book is also stunning!

Saturday

Since the first visit went so well, we figured we'd end our week of fun and food with a trip back to Yoshi's. We asked our friends where they'd like to eat, and they had such fond memories of going to Yoshi's with us the last time they were in town that they insisted we go there again. Who am I to argue with people who have such good taste?

So much for the diet this week. Next week, I'll get back on track but I plan to enjoy myself thoroughly until then!

Mr. B.

It's been forever since I posted anything. I'm a slacker. I am currently working on a blog post to dazzle your eyes and tickle your fancy. In the meantime, please enjoy this video that combines two of my favorite things: cats and ukuleles.

Dogshaming

I happened upon this site today, and I couldn't resist sharing. Let's face it...we all know a dog that could use a good shaming now and then.

Inspiration

I'm doing a triathlon on Sunday. I've never done a triathlon before, and I'm a super slow runner. There's a part of me that's worried I'll be dead last, but then I watched this Nike ad and decided that it didn't matter. Finishing at all is reward enough.

Night Game

Just hanging around at Wrigley.

Uke Joint

With the arrival of summer comes a change to "normal people hours" at work, so I'm able to get back to taking ukulele lessons again. There was about a six month gap between sessions, so I was a little rusty at first. Now, I'm feeling more confident. I'm still not an amazing ukulele player, but I'm a lot better than I was a year ago and my teacher is a lot more famous! Well, sort of...

She was featured in this lovely article written by Mary Schmich for the Chicago Tribune, and she was in this fun little clip that was on The NBC Nightly News last night:

Fortunately, I had the presence of mind to go ahead and sign up for classes again before these articles piqued the interest of every other potential uker out there.

It's not so much than I'm pining to become an amazing ukulele player, although let's face it...that would be cool. I've just learned that I'm a lot happier when I have a chance to do something fun every week. Whether I'm playing the ukulele or playing kickball, it's just nice to do something just for the pleasure of doing it and not because it's something I'm supposed to do.

Sure, it would be great to get summers off the way I did when I was a kid, but since that's not going to happen I'll make the most of the time I have and I'll bring my uke along for the ride.

What's for Brinner?

My half birthday is this week, so I decided to use it as an excuse to throw myself a party. My real birthday is in December, and I'm always, always working. Plus, everyone is swamped with Christmas stuff, and it's too cold to do anything but hibernate when you're not out in the hustle and bustle of the holidays. Half birthday celebration on the porch in 90 degree weather? Why, I think I will, thank you very much!

I decided that it would be fun to throw myself a brinner: breakfast at dinner time = brinner! Breakfast is my favorite meal, so it was the perfect plan. I made gluten free cheddar biscuits, muffins, eggs, fruit, brown sugar bacon and (the pièce de résistance), cupcakes with bacon in them. Yum!

 

The picture above shows not even half of the spread from last night. There were mimosas, wine and plenty of beer, too. We planned to make waffles, but everyone filled up on all of the other goodies, so we ended up making waffles this morning just to try out the new waffle maker.

Entertaining is always a little stressful. Between the actual cooking and having to clean my house so that people don't think I live in squalor, it was a lot of work. However, all of the recipes I used were super easy, and people really seemed to enjoy the brinner concept.

Our party was a ton of fun, and I'm sold on celebrating my half birthday in the future. It's a great excuse to throw a party, and it more than makes up for the lack of time to really celebrate in December!