The beauty that was Jackson Park Hospital. Does it look like a hospital you would want to end up in? I didn't think so!Thursday, October 23, 2008
First Assignment...why we're glad it ended!
The beauty that was Jackson Park Hospital. Does it look like a hospital you would want to end up in? I didn't think so!
Molly's Cupcakes
These were taken a couple of weeks ago after going to a Haunted Sanitarium. Beforehand we had walked by "Molly's Cupcakes" and just had to go back for dessert. I had an oreo cupcake with homemade oreo ice cream and Brian had a chocolate-peanut butter cupcake with chocolate ice cream. They were totally scrumptous. And yes...that is a swing I am sitting on at the bar...very cool! Even better though was the fact that they had board games to play, so after filling our bellies we challenged our brains with an exciting game of Scrabble. I won and was ecstatic b/c that truly does not happen often...I will give Brian credit...playing Scrabble against him is generally a lost cause. 
Fantastic Friday!
Field Museum
Sue, the Field's famous T. Rex. It is the most complete T. Rex ever found...in 1990 in North Dakota....crazy that that wasn't so long ago!
Chief Custer...welcome to his teepee!
Love the Dinos!
And after tons of fun at the Field Museum (6hours...yes, Sharon, I know that means you are probably glad you weren't with us!), Brian surprised me with tickets to see Dirty Dancing. It was fantastic and I was totally dancing in my seat!
Sue, the Field's famous T. Rex. It is the most complete T. Rex ever found...in 1990 in North Dakota....crazy that that wasn't so long ago!
Chief Custer...welcome to his teepee!
Love the Dinos!
And after tons of fun at the Field Museum (6hours...yes, Sharon, I know that means you are probably glad you weren't with us!), Brian surprised me with tickets to see Dirty Dancing. It was fantastic and I was totally dancing in my seat!
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Welcome Meredith and Josh!
We had a blast with the Howell's this past weekend during their visit from Houston! Friday night, Buddy Guy's Legends the Blues Club. Saturday, The Shedd Aquarium. Saturday night, mini pub crawl...way, way too much fun (as you can tell by Josh mugging for the camera) and dancing! Thanks for visiting...it was great to have friends!Charlie Trotter's
Mmm...mmm...good! We ventured out to dinner last Thursday to experience the culinary expertise of Charlie Trotter, chef extraordinaire! Charlie Trotter's is in our 1000 Places book and is also reportedly one of the top 20 restaurants in the world. It is an 8 course menu with items pre-selected by the chef and wow....the food was both amazing and a little interesting at times. As they always say on Top Chef, "I wouldn't have thought to put those flavors together, but they really work well."
After dinner we enjoyed a tour of the kitchen with the host, Christian. The kitchen was very clean....as in no dirty pots piling up....I know what my kitchen looks like when I'm cooking and I'm not always the clean as you go type!
The kitchen again. Chef Trotter was not actually present this evening (he lives in a brownstone down the street), but we can say that he has certainly trained his staff well...both in cooking and in service. For such a nice restaurant, it was not pretentious in any way and the staff was truly friendly and helpful.
A comment on our dinner, since you of course must be wondering what we ate. Here's the list: 1. Raw oysters served in a sea water jelly. We don't eat oysters, but they were actually really good...we could have done without the jelly. 2. Rare Lake Trout with crayfish and roe in a vegetable broth. Quite good, particularly the crayfish. The roe was larger than I've experienced, so took a little getting used to. 3. Quail...I don't remember exactly what it was served with but our 2nd fave entree. 4. Drumroll please....the #1 entree of the evening was hands down the Japanese himachi served with pickled fennel and something that looked like a small crab cake, but was actually made with pig tail. This was the absolute best fish we have ever eaten! 5. Lamb chops with black fermented garlic. The lamb was cooked to perfection, but I don't think either of us cared for the garlic. And in no particular order, the 3 dessert courses: grape sorbet (sort of a pallette cleanser), figs with a port wine, berries with a celery ice cream (surprisely good), carrot cake with a chocolate ice cream and very thin chocolate "hair" that was bundled like straw, and last but certainly not least was the apple fritter dessert that truly defined heaven on earth! And now that we have had this meal, we are living the rest of our time in Chicago on PB&J and Ramen Noodles!
This kitchen is on the other side of the restaurant and is where Chef Trotter films his cooking show. I want a kitchen like this! Equally impressive was the garden and greenhouse at back where the restaurant grows all of it's own herbs.
Not Charlie Trotter's but right next door was a very big shoe store, "Lori's...the sole of Chicago." I couldn't resist this photo op!
After dinner we enjoyed a tour of the kitchen with the host, Christian. The kitchen was very clean....as in no dirty pots piling up....I know what my kitchen looks like when I'm cooking and I'm not always the clean as you go type!
The kitchen again. Chef Trotter was not actually present this evening (he lives in a brownstone down the street), but we can say that he has certainly trained his staff well...both in cooking and in service. For such a nice restaurant, it was not pretentious in any way and the staff was truly friendly and helpful. 
A comment on our dinner, since you of course must be wondering what we ate. Here's the list: 1. Raw oysters served in a sea water jelly. We don't eat oysters, but they were actually really good...we could have done without the jelly. 2. Rare Lake Trout with crayfish and roe in a vegetable broth. Quite good, particularly the crayfish. The roe was larger than I've experienced, so took a little getting used to. 3. Quail...I don't remember exactly what it was served with but our 2nd fave entree. 4. Drumroll please....the #1 entree of the evening was hands down the Japanese himachi served with pickled fennel and something that looked like a small crab cake, but was actually made with pig tail. This was the absolute best fish we have ever eaten! 5. Lamb chops with black fermented garlic. The lamb was cooked to perfection, but I don't think either of us cared for the garlic. And in no particular order, the 3 dessert courses: grape sorbet (sort of a pallette cleanser), figs with a port wine, berries with a celery ice cream (surprisely good), carrot cake with a chocolate ice cream and very thin chocolate "hair" that was bundled like straw, and last but certainly not least was the apple fritter dessert that truly defined heaven on earth! And now that we have had this meal, we are living the rest of our time in Chicago on PB&J and Ramen Noodles!
This kitchen is on the other side of the restaurant and is where Chef Trotter films his cooking show. I want a kitchen like this! Equally impressive was the garden and greenhouse at back where the restaurant grows all of it's own herbs. 
Not Charlie Trotter's but right next door was a very big shoe store, "Lori's...the sole of Chicago." I couldn't resist this photo op!Eagles/Bears Game
Here we are tailgating in one of the Bears' parking lots with about 50 other Eagles fans. They were quite a rowdy bunch...booing any Bears fan that walked by!
The view from our seats! Okay, this one is a little zoomed in and I believe one of the many Eagles attempts at scoring that they let go to waste.
Coin Toss!
Our seats! Eagles' fans were pretty spread out, but we did have a few around us to keep us company. We had an absolute blast, though it definitely would have been more fun is the Eagles had won!
Frank Lloyd Wright Tour
Here are a couple of pics from the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio Tour in Oak Park, IL. This was the first home that Wright built for his family, later adding on to build the studio as his business grew. The tour also consisted of a walk around the Oak Park neighborhood to view homes that were designed by Wright and are still privately owned today...they were all very impressive!
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