The Spice House, Old Town Oils and a nice Home Made Lunch

Today so far has been awesome. The weather once again was beautiful outside, which honestly I have noticed  makes my mood 10 times better. I went to the Spice House on Wells with my class today and it is actually the first time I have ever been. I'm kind of disappointed in myself that I have lived here this long and never been there. They had the doors open and just walking up you could smell a wonderful mix of spices, it made me contemplate filling out an application just so I could stand in there and breathe the air all day. I had no idea we were all going there as a class so I didn't have a lot of cash on me, but I feel like I made out like a bandit. I got a nice little box of Himalayan Pink Salt, which is awesome if you haven't tried it. (I'm a salt addict) And then some small bottles of: Calcium Salt, Sodium Alginate, Maltodextrin, Xantham Gum and Lecithin :) and I only spent $20. Not too shabby if you ask me. And I get to keep the ball rolling with the whole "trying new things" idea. It might not seem like a big deal, which it really isn't but I'm still excited none the less.

Two doors down is a place called Old Town Oils, which is another store that I can't believe I haven't been to. They had every flavor of EVOO that you could think of. They had a strawberry balsamic, peach balsamic and a white jalapeno balsamic that were seriously amazing. It was also a WONDERFUL place for awesome gifts. So, Mom, if you're reading this, just know that one day you will be getting a gift from Old Town Oils. :) I have the day off work today and I had groceries set to be delivered. I made myself a very late lunch after they got here. I had a delicious rice pilaf, some chicken tenderloins I baked with onion and garlic and some Bok Choy that I cooked in a onion, garlic, brown mustard, white wine sauce. It was delicious if I do say so myself. Now I am stuffed and sleepy and have nothing to do other than lay with my sweet puppies and relax. :) I love you Wednesday <3     www.thespicehouse.com    www.oldtownoil.com

2 Weeks Notice, Yolk and Fresh Farms International Market

Yesterday, March 19, 2012 I put in my two weeks notice at The Cheesecake Factory. This is very good news! I have worked there a year, it has been great experience but it's time to  move on. Yes, being pregnant had something to do with this decision, its very high volume and very fast paced and was starting to make my body just ache all over anytime I worked. Sooooo, point being, while I was in the office putting in my two weeks and talking with manager my phone was ringing in my pocket which I thought was probably just a friend not realizing I was at work. Come to find out after listening to my voice mail that it was The Signature Room on the 95th floor of the Hancock Building asking me to come and stage for them! Talk about another door opening up! :) I gave them my resume during a job fair that my school held a few weeks back and am very stoked that they are considering me for it.
  Today, my psychology class took a field trip to Yolk, which is a breakfast joint on Chicago & Wells. I have been to this place once before and it was awesome. A little fun fact about me, I LOVE EGGS BENEDICT. Hate making hollandaise, but love eggs  benedict! So, spoiler alert, I got the traditional Eggs Benedict. It was great, they serve it with roasted potatoes and fresh fruit, which I like having both. Having the sweetness of the fruit is really good with the salty potatoes and with that buttery richness that hollandaise has. Walking back from Yolk I stopped by a store on Chicago called Paper Source, which is a custom card and paper store along with lots of super cool, cute little journals and novelty gifts. I wound up buying the baby her first stuffed animal. Which I know is cheesy! I couldn't pass it up though, its a dog, a yellow lab to be exact and probably the softest thing I have ever felt! :)

  After school I went with my friend Maria to Fresh Farms International Market in Niles. I wanted to go and by some produce I am not familiar with working with, I bought Indian Bittermelon and Asian Bittermelon, along with Dragonfruit and Black Radishes. Radishes I'm familiar with but never actually made anything with Black Radishes. For those of you who haven't seen what an Indian Bittermelon looks like, look it up, it looks like some kind of alien pod! So neat! I'm looking forward to making myself a little "Chopped" basket and having fun working with some new things! I will post pictures and definitely be talking about the outcome of my ingredients. Fingers crossed it turns out great!  www.eatyolk.com   www.paper-source.com  www.myfreshfarms.com

Lillie's Q, Wonderful Weather & My New Special Spot

I recently moved right into the Wicker Park and Bucktown Area. I live on Damen and I am surrounded by little restaurants that all look wonderful. Today I decided to venture out and try somewhere I haven't been before. The weather was perfect in Chicago today, sunny and warm with a little breeze.  My boyfriend Brian and I decided we wanted to go to Melt on Damen, I walk by it all the time and looks like an awesome little sandwich shop. We had to meet there so I left a little early and wound up going by Churchhill Dog Park and sitting on some bleachers in the shade. Listened to a little Lucero on my iPod, watched a Dad and his Son play catch on the baseball field and enjoyed the breeze. I think it was the most relaxed I've felt in a long time and will be frequenting that new little spot again very soon. 
    We showed up to Melt  and they were closing in 15 minutes, they had a  busy day and had ran out of a lot so we decided to come back another day and let them get out of there and enjoy the rest of their Sunday. So, Brian had wanted to check out a BBQ place on North called Lillie's Q so we went there instead. IT WAS AWESOME! Seriously, everything we had was great. We started with Oysters and Fried Pickles, the Oysters came with a super tasty spicy vinagarette and the fried Pickles, were as you can imagine, delicious! It's kind of hard to go wrong with fried pickles in my book but these were great, big pieces of pickle and the batter was awesome. I got the Pulled Pork southern style which is topped with coleslaw and he got the Beef Tri Tip sandwich. We split sides of Macaroni and Cheese and Collard Greens which were some of the best I've ever had. We finished it off by splitting an order of Banana Pudding. Not only did we have no complaints, it was all just awesome and a perfect place for a perfect Sunday afternoon. The staff was great, atmosphere was great and food was fabulous. I would say this is a place you must go!  www.lilliesq.com