Chicago

Day 1, Part 1 of Chicago Fun.

The fearless driver.

The stylish passenger. The other passenger was camera shy.

Driving into Chicago.

We got into Chicago at a time that we thought was early. We were meeting Elizabeth & Brian, who had an evening wedding. It turns out that we were lucky that we got in early. It took us a while to find parking, for which we paid an arm, a leg, and an ear. Then we were about a mile and half away, so we hoofed it. Lindsay had a big, fat foot from a bee sting, but she was a trooper. We passed these art trees on the way there and decided to be trees ourselves.

Taste of Chicago. We forgot to take pictures of the actual food, but we had pierogies, tacos, goat, crab rangoon, hamburgers, and something else -- all taste size portions. We also bought a $4 bottle of water, because there were no fountains. Not cool, Taste of Chicago, not cool.

After roaming around the crowds, we took a little breather beneath a tree. Lindsay & Stephanie took a self-portrait. I was asleep.

Apron

Look! One of my favorite people in the world, Rachael, made me this awesome apron! And I posted it because I loved it SO MUCH. Thanks, Rach!

Fighting Spiders

I went spider hunting this weekend. I was going to mow the lawn, which admittedly, I hadn't done in a while. During the summer, I keep the riding mower (I know, I have NO excuse for not mowing!) parked in the garage and my car lives outside. So I really hadn't been in there in a long time. The place was COVERED with spiders. Big ones, little ones, spindly ones, dark ones, light ones, and baby ones in sacs. I lost count after 20. I sprayed them & stomped on them & smacked them with a broom. I was very concerned about unseen spidies jumping on my legs once I got on the mower to back it out of the garage. Thus, my spider-fighting uniform. I know, I'm such a superhero. (Note to anyone who might publish this blog again. Kindly do not include this picture. Thanks.)


It didn't occur to me to document this spider infestation until I was finished. Instead I took pictures of the granddaddy long legs that live on my house. These pictures were taken in about a 5-foot area on the side of my house. (The second picture is sideways, not that it matters.) I want you to imagine 5 times that number of spiders in the same space.





And now imagine most of them look like this:



At least, I think that's what they looked like. They were dark and had big round butts. I did not get close enough to examine markings. I choose to believe it was the extended family of that one above, and not of this lady here below:

[Edit: I found a big-butted spider on one of my glue traps, and it is, thank goodness, the former & not the latter. I also caught a wolf spider.]

Garden, Overgrown

The edges of the garden are pretty hard to see, because it is WAY overgrown.


Only a few of my broccoli plants made broccoli. I let this one get a little yellow. Whoops.


Shallots separating.


Swiss chard in a forest of grass.

I also planted lettuce & arugula, but I have eaten those, and they're going to seed now. The strawberry plants did not bear fruit & none of my peas appear to have come up.

I'm pretty proud that my garden produced ANYTHING and didn't totally dry up.

We're Published, Y'all!

Sarah H. had a bridal shower this weekend and received lots and lots of cookbooks, including this awesome one. You might think from these pictures that it's from me, but it's not. It's from her law school friend. (Thanks, Ericka!)

I'm pretty tickled that we're, technically speaking, published authors now. Go us! Put it on the CV. Hope you enjoy, Sarah! Particularly those classics such as "How to Pour Cereal" and "Bad Day Meal." =)

Expanding?

I was thinking perhaps we should expand our blog just a bit. Although the focus should still be on food, maybe it could include all things domestic & house-related? Maybe that way a certain contributor would have things to post. Like her home improvements, her new patio and bbq pit, etc. What say you?

The Finale

Contrary to my typical style, I made way too much food. However, the results were delicious and worthy of the lost finale. I got all my recipes online so I will just put hyperlinks since there are so many. The coconut shrimp were amazing! And I would make the Dharma cookies again.


The Island Mixed Drink




This is really based on the PF chang's poolside drink. I renamed it the island, because I can do that.

Coconut Shrimp with an Orange Marmalade Sauce



I think these were the best things of the night. Yum. And I am pretty sure I saw Hurley eating prepared coconut shrimp throughout the season on the island.


Dharma Beer



OK- I didn't make the beer or the labels, but I printed them off my computer. They are really funny though. The UPC is based on the numbers Desmond has to enter and the warning about drinking if you are pregnant is Dharma related.



Mr. Clucks Mini Bucket of Smokey Chicken and Zucchini Boats



I didn't make the chicken- it is just frozen chicken. But it does have smokey in the title so I get bonus points for that. This was my least favorite but I wanted to make a mini bucket of chicken :)

The zucchini boats were good but I was getting really full by this point because I made things in shifts and not all at once. I didn't follow the recipe really at all, but I go the idea from there and just added my own stuff for the filling of the zucchini.


Pineapple-Plane Upside Down Cake



This was good. The plane is a toy I bought for my dissertation task. It is so realistic, I know.

And last but not least...

Fish Biscuits and Lost Island Drink of Choice



These cookies were really good- they were citrus and I used food coloring to make them look like the fish biscuits on lost. When I made them I spelled Dharma wrong, I kept leaving out the R so it was a fish biscuit from the Dhama initiative. I did it multiple times despite making a conscious effort to spell it correctly.



Alby played the part of the polar bear for this shot. I made him press a lever and everything before he got a biscuit.



My last e-guest for the lost party. No recipe for her.