It's Not Over Yet!

With September (and [gulp] school) right around the corner, it seems everyone has given up on all that is "summer". But NOT ME. You can still call it summer while it's still 90 degrees out (err... although a mention about the hazardous affects/effects of global warming should go here, but we'll save that for another day).

One thing I love about summer is cocktails. Most days, I'm a wine or whiskey girl. Complex flavors, simple pours is my mantra for about 8 months of the year. Summer months, however, is a reason/excuse/celebration to break out the funny twisty straws and my massive blender for a drink made more of fruit and sugar than alcohol.

My favorite cocktail blend so far? The Pink Tequilla via R29. It's a refreshing blend of watermelon, strawberries, lime, agave and tequilla that's both sweet and simple, but even easier to make.

via Refinery 29

It's labor day weekend, and I'm going to spend it blending up another mighty concoction. FOLLOW me on Pinterest, and see some ideas I have in mind.

Lunch Diet: Day 4

In a sad attempt to lose this growing gut, your favorite glut (i.e., me) has opted for the protein shake lunch. yum.

via Glut with Guts

It gets a little less depressing, and a little less sucky each day.

Minna-made

Unpacking after moving has taken quite a bit longer than I had expected. This in addition to minor "issues" with our apartment have kept me hesitant from breaking in the new space. It's now week four in my apartment, and slowly but surely, things are coming together and I've started to feel a bit more at "home".

via moi

S came over the other day with two lovely new additions to my kitchen: basil and rosemary! After I wake up each morning, I scuttle into the kitchen and rub a leaf of each for good measure. They smell so great!

Moving out of my old apartment, I did a major purge of my things: I threw out boxes of old clothes, many bottles of lotions and sadly... a lot of kitchen stuff too. However, essentials at hand, I've started to cook once more.

via moi

I made my pseudo pad thai. I say pseudo (and probably should) about most/all my cooking as... I barely measure. This is a bad habit I've picked up from years of watching my halmoni (grandmother) cook in the kitchen... only I have no experience to back up my method. haha oh well.

I love "easy made" recipes. I hate when I pick up a cookbook filled with ridiculously obscure french names and processes or 'crazy' ingredients. I'm a simple girl, with simple tastes and would like a recipe to be blunt and show me how in 10 steps or less. No hand-holding, just slap it down on the table.

(Also, please ignore my washer/dryer in the background. My kitchen is cramped but functional and cute!)

Other weekend happenings: I'm loving my new neighborhood and all the foodie/wino nooks and cranies.

via Glut with Guts

Truffled eggs at Fork in Lincoln Square/North Center = HEAVENLY. Sitting atop a light puff pastry with a thin layer of mushrooms and goat cheese, this truffle flavor infused eggs made me happy and giddy. I don't think I spoke the entire time I was eating this and had my eyes closed like a freak after each bite.

Other notables from the Fork menu:

via Glut with Guts -- Duck Crostini

via Glut with Guts -- Orange Carrot Juice

After brunch, +1 and I went to our favorite breakfast/bakery place (that had a 2 hour wait for brunch! Hence why we choose the no wait Fork instead.) for some coffee.

Welcome to Lincoln Square:

via Glut with Guts -- Cafe Selmarie

via Glut with Guts -- The Fountain of Lincoln Square gets a washing!

via Glut with Guts -- Sunday Sprawl

via Glut with Guts -- Summer Sprigs! :D

Restaurant Week Review: Topolobampo

Most of you know, I'm a fan of almost all things Rick Bayless. He was the nicest (yet also fiercest!) competitor on Top Chef, and I'm a long time fan of his show "One Plate at a Time". So when I started discussing an annual Restaurant Week meal w/my friend Z, I was more than excited when she suggested Topolobampo.

Restaurant Week Menu Review

First Course: Sopa Azteca - Pasilla broth with lime, avocado, tortilla strips and hand-made jack cheese
Review: More than anything I was immensely impressed with the presentation of the dish! First the plate of toasted tortilla strips, grilled chicken and jack cheese came to the table bare, adorned only by a single slice of avocado. What a delight, however, as the server soon poured out a hot broth from a single sized saucepan, tableside. The dish was a bit messy, with strings of jack cheese hanging from my mouth (I'm sure I was a classy date) but I couldn't stop dipping the large soup spoon into the bowl until near nothing remained.

Second Course: Puerco en Mole Poblano - Red chile-marinated, grill-roasted Maple Creek pork loin in Mexico’s classic fiesta sauce, mole poblano. Black beans, grilled green beans
Review: Both Z and I ordered the Puerco en Mole Poblano, each of us enticed by the Bayless famous mole. Each bite was quickly followed by an, "omg", with even the green beans packing flavor and  punch. The beans were warm and filling, and the entire dish was floating above mole. Even better, Z thought to ask for hot sauce, upon which we we're brought a small bowl of habanero sauce and strong warnings of "please, it's very very spicy. only use a small amount." but greed gave in and large amounts of habanero we're slathered. Although extremely hot, the habanero sauce was done really well!

Third Course: Crepa con Cajeta - Warm, buttery crepes filled with plantain custard. Nieve de crema (sour cream sorbet), peanut crunch, homemade cajeta and bittersweet chocolate drizzle
Review: Jennifer Jones (Topolobampo Pastry Chef), I am forever your fan for introducing me to this awesome dish. This was amazing. Z and I had originally planned on hitting up Xoco post-meal for a churro and chocolate festival, but after such a larger portioned, filling meal followed by this amazing dessert, churros and chocolate was the last thing on my mind. This light crepe filled with rich plantains mixed with ice-cold sour cream sorbet was a perfect balance of everything that's right with this world.

The Service: Our waitress was so sweet, attentive to our needs, and carefully apprehensive to other requests (i.e., the one for hot sauce). Everyone was on their A-game, even though our meal was just for a lunch. Water glasses we're never empty, our quickly emptied plate never lingered, and out wait was totally forgotten in conversation, in other words really great harmony and flow in the service.

The Room: Topolobampo, Frontera and Xoco share a corner block that really should just be re-named Rick's Corner. Topolobampo's interior was filled with traditionally Mexican art, but brought together and displayed in a very upscale manner. The best surprise was seen on our way out, with the art installation of butterflies inspired by the annual staff trip to Mexico. I love everything about this place, the menu and Bayless!


Chicago Restaurant Week runs from Feb. 18 - 27. Topolobampo is located in River North at 445 N. Clark St.

Guess What...

This is why I'm fat:

PUMPKIN BUTTER

I recently made a trek to the farmers market in the Loop, since it's gettin' cold out there and the market will soon be closed for the summer. I was there to buy some squash and pumpkins and instead got roped into buying this: PUMPKIN BUTTER.

I'm certain this is my new favorite ingredient. I've forgone the usual jam for my morning English muffin, instead slathering it with pumpkin butter. Dollops of pumpkin butter have found their way into the Sunday waffles I make, and sometimes, it's the replacement for honey in my pomegranate tea.

Dear pumpkin butter,
How have I lived this long before without knowing you? The photo above is from when I first cracked the jar open, still weary of what it might taste like, afraid you'd be too sweet or too goopey. But then you suprised me, you were the perfect blend of all the things that are right with autumn, no.. what's right with this world. You complete me, and it scares me that only half the jar remains in my fridge.
You make my world go 'round,
♡M

Ravishing Ravenswood

Belated Update of dates in Ravenswood!

Mee Dee Cafe
4805 N. Damen Ave.

Run to Mee Dee!

Mee Dee Cafe is so adorable, but definitely not a place for large groups of friends! I would say bring one person along, there's only so much room! This bright and friendly interior was totally welcoming and quiet enough, and small enough to make this place intimate, but not cramped. Their website... is adorable!

Thai Heaven

We ordered the Lava Calamari, the Almond (what?) Pad Thai, and the Mee Dee Signature Curry. The Calamari was decent, nothing spectacular and not super impressive. The Pad Thai left me longing. Ever since I moved away from the walking distance of Noodles in the Pot in Lincoln Park, I've been looking for a new neighborhood Pad Thai to call me own. Unfortunately, the search continues.

The Mee Dee signature, on the other hand, is a dish not to miss! Both sweet and tart, savory and light, this dish was the best one we ordered.

Mee Dee Signature: Pan Fried Fresh Salmon with spicy and nutty flavor condense curry sauce, pepper, kaffir lime leaves.
Oh man. We ate every single last drop of the curry... so good! Did I mention? MeeDee is BYOB! I'm not sure I'll be hurrying back, but I'd venture here if I were in the area.

trees!

doves!

Apparently, a new community art place will soon be showcased in the Ravenswood walkway near Berwyn. I don't go through here often, but will make a mental note to come back and photograph the final product. I love local art!

I also love:

MACAROONs!

MAX! The puppy that loves me.... and I him.

Pie Time

So it's fall, which is the only season that tempts me to indulge in pie. Pie hasn't always been a go-to dessert option for me, as sometimes the sauce of pies seems to sickly sweet.

BUT I'VE BEEN REFORMED thanks to a slice of heaven also known as Hoosier Mama's Sweet Cream Pie.. LORD have mercy!!!!

i sit here with my mouth open, drooling.... gahhhhh

Other than the first/last/only slice of key lime pie I had in South Beach, Miami... this pie... rocks my world. OH MY GOD it's that good. (Umm... disclaimer: the first time I had a slice of this amazing pie, I was three cucumber martinis and 2 pomegranate margaritas deep. Just as an FYI, although I'm sure this won't change much as this pie still rocks my world.)

Although I know that anything that comes out of the Glut with Guts kitchen won't compare, I will dedicate some time this month to makin' and bakin' a unique pie creation of my own. Ingredients to be determined... but I can guarantee the grating of some nutmeg will ensue....

Another thing that puts me off from pie is.. the goopey. (Is goopey even a word?) The way the guts of the pie ooze and gooze all over the plate, seems so... off putting! When a pie comes to me with the crusts beginning to smoosh together as the insides ooze out the sides, any appeal the pie might have had beforehand is gone. (Also note: Hoosier Mama's Sweet Cream Pie doesn't ooze.. maybe that's why I like it so much?) Anyways....

Enter Sur La Table, cookware/bakeware/utensil-dream heaven. [enter singing angels] The other day I found at my local Sur La Table:

EL PIE GATE... o

Yes indeed, the genius minds at Sur la Table now bring you THE PIE GATE, the device to keep the guts of the pie where they belong. Between the crusts! Ingenious inventions and gadgets like these made me wish I had me a suga daddy to replenish these requests. [daydreaming ensues...]

But until then.....

Your broke bloke-ette, with a gluttonous gut,
♡M

Fall Festivities

Chicago weather is cooperative today, a playful tease before the impending chilling colds. But being a true Chicagoan, we must put that at the back of our minds, to complain about later.

There are only a few more days left of the Farmers Markets in the Loop, so I made my way over and traveled through narrow aisles of gourds and herbs to make my favorite purchases... HAPPY BUTTER. For $5 a piece, I picked up a buttery brown pumpkin butter for me and a honey sprinkled cashew butter for +1. mmmm.... I can't wait until morning to bust out some toast with pumpkin butter (and maybe a little fig jam?), my stomach is excited with anticipation!

Again, iPhone photos :(  i must remember to carry around my Olympus!

p.s. check out the pumpkins on a stick!

Festive Fall in Lincoln Square

Taken at Dominicks in Lincoln Square

Man, I'm a horrible blogger. I never remember to bring my camera anywhere (hence the crappy iPhone photos)! Anywho....

Yesterday was a super productive day... I got my blood drawn for testing, got my flu/H1N1 shot, got my teeth cleaned, re-evaluated my savings/retirement plan, and got my hair did. Phew!

I did something unheard of for this glut with a huge gut... I forgot to eat. I spent my morning fasting for my blood test, then was rushed to meeting after meeting, went to the dentist, and after the lecture my dentist gave me, felt too guilty to eat anything then ran off to the salon for my appointment.

So it was a relief when +1 called me to see if I wanted to grab dinner. I love the Lincoln Square neighborhood (where we met up) and everything it has too offer, even beyond the one block stretch of Lincoln off of Western. We debated what to get, what was close enough to go to, if we should bring puppy along, etc. etc. and before we could make a decision, it was fast approaching 9pm and everything would soon surely be closed.

Then we realized that we had biked past the new Dominicks at Lincoln and Farragut a few weeks ago, and it looked like it was near completion. Now I must include, Dominicks has long been building a new facility in my Edgewater neighborhood, one of the strong points that led me to putting down my roots in the new neighborhood. I love Edgewater and living near the lake, but walking past that still incomplete Dominicks structure, is such a tease.....

Anyways, back to the story. We wandered over to the new Lincoln Square Dominicks and me oh my, what a nice place! It was deceptively large, and had a great Signature Cafe area, much better than what I had anticipated! I can't wait now, for mine to be completed....

the long awaited Edgewater Dominicks a la uptownupdate.com

Dining on Diamonds

For lunch today, I made my tasty choice at the Jewelers Mall on Wabash. Uhh.. what? Apparently there's an awesome falafel place hidden inside the Jewelers Mall, and once I heard, I knew I needed to make my way there.

Wait, what? No, really. You enter into the Jeweler's Mall and walk past aisles of glistening gems to find this hidden lunchtime GEM. Get it? GEM amongst GEMS? har har har... [I know I'm so lame]

Here's what I saw from Left to Right from where I was sitting. (Next photo assignment: learn to take cool panoramic photos... and remember to bring camera everywhere so I don't have to resort to taking lame ass iPhone photos....)

Mister: "Yo, you takin' mai phOtO?!"

Still perplexed? I swear I'm not lying when I say you have to walk through the jewelry aisles!

Stolen a la YELP

AWESOME.

Diamond lusting,
Your GLUT who's gaining a gut

Hunt and Gather, Gaztro-Wagon

Last night, I took Neighbor J on an adventure: Over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house we went. Or at least it seemed that way.

Neighbor J texted me and asked if I wanted to grab dinner. I had been RAVING about this awesome falafel joint humbly called, "Taste of Lebanon". Well before meeting up with him, I checked my tweetdeck, like the addict I am. A sign appeared from the trending gods, and on top of my recent tweets list, "@wherezthewagon Touchdown ravenswood metra stop."

Conversation ensues:
"Neighbor J, LOOK! The food truck is so close by!"
"Close by? It's like two miles away! And um.. a food truck?"

ㅎㅎㅎ the PR skills of my former life kicked in, and I was able to convince Neighbor J of the awesomeness of the food truck revolution and our impending NEED to be part of the trend.

SO off we went, dodging through foot traffic (aka maneuvering and jumping out of the way as the senior citizens of Edgewater sped toward us on their fast motorized wheelchairs), resisting alluring temptations (gelato, coffee/tea and, desserts galore of Andersonville's Clark street!), and going over and under the bridges of Ravenswood (aka the metra line).  Who knew the northside landscape could be so adventurous?


It felt slightly like what I imagine Geocaching to be like, using tweetdeck to navigate our way to foodventure finds. Wow, they should make a version of urban geocaching for food. Wouldn't that be awesome?


After being on the wrong side of the tracks for a while, we finally found....

Gaztro-Wagon We Found You!!!

Moments of silence took place, as Neighbor J and I devoured out sandwiches...

zee infamous Wild Boar Belly Sandwich

I ordered two sandwiches (one for me, one as a request for a friend I was meeting later) but... temptation took over, and I ended up eating half of each. I know.. I'm a bad friend. So in total I ate:

• 1/2 of the Wild Boar Belly: Blue Cheese, Date Jam, Romesco Sauce, and onions
• 1/2 of the Braised Lamb: Queso Panela, Apricots, Candied Walnuts, Padron Pepper

Man... was it good. The Wild Boar was delicious, containing all my favorite things, gooey oozey cheese, sweet jams (particularly date and fig for me!), and onions galore. YUM.


The Braised Lamb was equally noteworthy. As a love of all meats smoked, braised, and grilled, it was hard not to love the sweet sauce of the lamb, and the juicy tender meat. Sadly, I think the apricots were left out of my sandwich? I didn't get to taste any, and neither did Neighbor J. hmmm....


I can't wait to track down this truck again. I want to try their Fidel Castro (uhh.. hellO Manchego cheese.. one of my favorite hard cheeses) and their Duck Confit. MMMM.... 


Dreaming of my next sandwich,
Your resident, shameless GLUT

Not MY picture, but look how happy Chef Maroni looks!

Chicago Food Film Fest 9.24.2010

A bit belated, but updates from the Chicago Food Film Festival on Sept. 24, 2010.

Neighbor J and Friends from Purdue, Moi and neighbor J

As the first ever Chicago Food Film Festival, none of us were sure what to expect. One of us had read that it was an open door free for fall event, and warned us not to expect organization. I must say however, it was a very organized event and enjoyed by all of us!

The evening began with the opportunity to try foods of all sorts of food from around the Chicagoland Area.

fOOd~

We sampled pomegranate margaritas, cucumber martinis and lavish wines from Lush.Delicious braised carrots and beets from Harvest Moon Organics, an abundance of cheese from Jarlsberg Cheese, and fried foods galore (hellO cheese curds)!

The rushed reception of food was following with a screening of multiple short films focused on film.

Food Film Festival Founders George Motz and Harry Hawk

Each film was paired with surprise samples passed out during the film. From out comfortable seats we sampled: Deep Fried Orero, Cucumber Soda and AMAZING Hoosier Mama Sugar Cream Pies.

One of the films, Mr. Okra

And what better way to top off a fun fall evening of food, films, and friends than with some festive pumpkin spice ice cream. gaaahhhh... still drooling~

Bobtail Ice Cream's Amazing Pumpkin Spice

p.s. Did I ever tell you I love alliterations? I could wordlessly write these warming words all day....

Cruisin' to Chinatown

Three years ago, after a very traumatizing late night trip to Chinatown, I vowed to myself I would never return there. (My trauma to be shared later... **shudder**)

Unfortunately, since my last trip to NYC (and this lovely crisp fall weather Chicago is experiencing) has left me craving soup dumplings. ME WANT! So I spent the week scrolling through all the online reviews I could find, in search of "Chicago's Best Soup Dumplings" (literally what was entered into every search).

Well this brought me (+1) to dinner at Lao ShangHai in Chinatown, go figure. WoW~ how much Chinatown has changed! Not drastically so, but there are definite improvements in the area, and notable changes in accessibility to the Chinatown-Cermak red line stop.

photo a la Metromix Chicago

The Chinatown mall was, as usual, packed and crowded with hoards of teenage cliques and posses waiting in line for a seat at the hipper/trendier looking restaurants like Chi Cafe or Joy Yee's. Lao ShangHai, despite great online reviews, was particularly empty and appeared to serve an older crowd and small families. For a bustling Saturday night, it appeared only half the restaurant was filled.

Me and +1 were glad, though, that we didn't need to wait in a horrendous line. We weren't particularly hungry, I just really really wanted the soup dumplings! So we ordered:

SOUP DUMPLINGS

Shanghai Style Fish Fillet

I'm not going to lie, the soup dumplings were a definite disappointment. There wasn't enough soup inside, and the dough was disproportionately more than the filling/soup. I guess nothing can compete with Joe Shanghai's soup dumplings! Craving has subsided for now, but I'm sure it'll come back with full force again soon!

The surprising dish of the night was the Shanghai Style Fish Fillet. The photos didn't make it seem that appealing, and from reading the descriptions online, I was expecting something that was cold and bitter. Was I wrong! It was warm, grilled fish fillets in a tasty, under-stated white sauce and it came out piping hot, keeping us warm despite the draft that floated around the restaurant.

Next step: Seek out soup dumplings in "Little Vietnam" which is MUCH closer to home than Chinatown, on the other spectrum of the red line.

**Chicago Food Film Festival photos coming soon! Currently battling some technical errors with my little Olympus SLR~

Discovering the New Neighborhood: Round 2

Apparently on a margarita kick, sadly realizing that summer is slipping through my fingers
:(((  <-- that's my triple chine from drinking too many sugary drinks.

Join another gaggle of guys for $5 margaritas at T's bar on Clark in Andersonville. It's a really nice, casual vibe here, with decent food and drinks. (The margaritas are strong, ++++++!)

We had a good time there and enjoyed the music selection and the service. Nothing supremely memorable, but my friends all suggested another trip here to try out all the different, unique beer mixtures.

Meatless Mondays?

On my daily morning commute, I like to stand in the accordion section of my bus (as to avoid awkwardly standing in front of someone on the sometimes long, often short ride down Lake Shore Drive) pop in my earphones and open up my handy dandy NPR app to stream live radio.

Today's discussion was focused around the topic of Meatless Mondays. Started by a hype man (or commonly known as ad people), it's become a widely accepted phenomenon from schools to industrial/commercial food places, it's principles adopted by public health advocates, chefs and suburban moms!

One particular point of interest is that the organization has been able to recruit the likes of Dovetail in New York City, offering primarily vegetarian meals every Monday.

Definitely food for thought. Americans are reaching disturbingly record highs in obesity and heart attack rates (heart disease and strokes are the #1 killer in men and #3 in women) bringing to question:

Why are we eating so much processed meat?

In an attempt to be more contientious, tonight's menu will be a healthy grilled eggplant, marinated in balsamic and olive oil with a Israeli couscous and spinach salad on the side. OH, and a hearty healthy lovely glass of my new favorite.. malbec. :)

Can't wait for dinner!

Note: link to the NPR feature

Growing Gut of Glut

Monday: 1 mini cupcake from Swirlz
Tuesday: 2 mini cupcakes from Flirty Cupcakes on wheels
Wednesday: 1 white chocolate chip macadamia cookies from Panera

Currently: Feeling extremely guilty and gluttonously gross.....