Don't call it a comeback

Welcome readers! Much has happened in our absence. First of all, Pinterest was invented, ruining or enhancing the lives of cubicle drones everywhere with beautiful pictures of food, fashion, home goods, beautiful places... like we don't get enough visual stimulation by looking at computers for hours a day, we now have envy over those perfectly executed cupcakes, "easy freezer meals", the World's Best Macaroni and Cheese, and swoon worthy cocktails. But we can't look away. So thus it's time to throw our hats into the ring yet again and breathe some life into this creaky url. Thanks, Pinterest, for keeping the pilot light of cooking alive in our hearts. And just in time too, as Google Reader is slowly being phased out over the next few months...

But this is not a tech blog! You came to eat. And eat I did last night, at my first outing at Girl and the Goat. Wow guys. This place is the real deal. First of all, it's gorgeous on the inside, and was totally packed but not too loud at all. The space didn't feel cramped, the servers were attentive, and the wide front windows allow a perfect view of Randolph Street in all of its pre-Spring glory. The food was wonderful, small plates but everything cooked with care and attention. My dining companion and I shared:

• Wheat bread with peanut butter butter (not a typo, freakin' delicious) and honey
• Chickpea fritters (at the recommendation of Martha)
• Broccoli with bleu cheese (tasted like some kind of smoked meat, amazing and taste-bud befuddling)
• Diver scallops and of course
• Goat belly with crab and lobster

All in all, fantastic! I think the chickpea fritters were the most filling, the broccoli the most surprising, and the goat belly was  tender and crispy and amazing all at once.

The only odd part was our reservations were for 4:30. And they had been made in January.  We were totally done by 6 pm, which was great ... but a little strange. What's a girl to do?

...Wander down to the first annual Fete Market, of course! I had gotten an email from my old pals at Tasting Table a while back about this event but had not planned on attending due to my work schedule. Thankfully things got shifted around and I was able to attend. Holy guacamole. I've never seen so many people crammed into such a small space. After paying a $5 entrance fee I hung up my coat and took it all in.  The first floor had a few food stands such as Mama's Nuts, Co-Op Hot Sauce, 5 Rabbit beer, Maria's Packaged Goods, etc, as well as some clothing, dinner ware, and a book store. (Marcel the Shell!)  But upstairs was rockin' and rollin' beyond belief!  It was tons of restaurants and bars and everything all crammed into the upstairs floor of the warehouse with me and 1000 of my non-closest friends in super close-friend territory, aka "all up in my biz."

I did happen to find my friend who was bartending at Longman & Eagle and we shout-chatted at each other a bit. I started to feel overwhelmed after a while by the madness and escaped to Firecakes where, inspired by Miss Fats (click to see pictures), I picked out a butterscotch praline filled doughnut. I cradled it all the way home, the long way down the Ashland bus, and ate it with a delicious mug of milk.  Perfect end to the night.... foodie heaven.

The perks of being a cubicle drone

I started a new job about a month and a half ago. (Egads, it's almost been two months, but let's pretend that time is not passing ever so rapidly even thought that's technologically impossible...!) It's at an office downtown and I have never been more excited about an office building. The layout is nice and open and I have a wonderful view of the river when I walk down the hall. The sun comes in even when I'm far away from any windows and I have delightful "cube buddies" in my little quadrant. I've started to put up pictures and I'm nesting in quite nicely if I do say so myself. The workload is getting easier as time goes on and I'm getting more and more confident every day.

One of the most awesome things about working downtown is the access to all of the culinary delights Chicago has to offer, in particular food trucks! My coworkers are obsessed with food trucks, and with good reason. In the past two weeks we have had: tamales from the Tamalli Space Ship, empanadas from 5411 Empanadas, and today we had macaroni and cheese from The Southern Mac.

Additionally, there is a delightful little French-style market in the basement of the train station, and I am able to get quite a lot of chicken for four dollars, fresh produce, and a big ol' heap of Belgian frites (fries). These frites have awakened a dormant love for mayonnaise in me, and I don't know if I feel excited or ashamed.

Today I followed the wrappers until I found that USA Network was handing out free mini Häagen-Dazs cones for whatever reason. So fancy, they even had toasted walnuts on top!

I used to think the best part about working downtown would be to be close to all of my friends who've been working down here for the last few years. I imagined them all to be lunching together, laughing and having a grand old time. In reality, one of them goes to Wendy's "1.5 x per week" (when I asked how, he said he goes 1 time 1 week and 2 times the next week), another usually brings her lunch, and still another favors sandwiches over elaborate lunches with friends. Anyway, they're all far enough apart that it doesn't really work to meet up after all. But as long as I've got my free ice cream, I think I'm okay with that.

PS, or, How I feel about today

Tricks and Treats

M: so how are you going to eat birthday cake during lent

me: omg, nina asked me the same thing

i usually make an exception for my birthday

if it's just one time

M: ah

that's what jesus did, too, i think

because his birthday fell in the middle of the 40 days

me: ...

M: so he got drunk and ate

Yes, it's true. I used to be one of those sad children who had to bring bagels in to class for a birthday treat because my birthday ALWAYS falls within Lent. This year I'm giving up sweets, even though my roommate laughed at me, saying I could give up something else if I wanted, but seriously guys, my sweet tooth is the size of Texas. I need to cut back. So we begin.

Last night I went out with a friend to celebrate the end of her last job. We went to Margie's and it was magical. In fact, M and I had already visited the location nearer to us on Monday, in anticipation of this Lent thing. Margie's has MASSIVE amounts of ice cream and home made hot fudge, and candy, and basically it's like Willa Wonka's sweet shop plopped down in the middle of Chicago. And last night I discovered you can get "swiss fudge" which means they swirl marshmallow fluff into your fudge before they serve it to you and pretty much what all this means is that it was a terrible place to spend Ash Wednesday.

But I'll be back, Margie. With a vengeance! 39 days to go.

On the tricks side of this post we have a few contenders.

1) M sent me this video today and it is not only disturbing but made me down right hate America...

http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/the-heart-attack-grill-24471051

2) Chartwells, provider of food for my Alma Mater and current employer, has often incurred the wrath of not only me but many colleagues. Students recently organized and won a "living wage campaign" because Chartwells workers were not being paid living wages and had no health insurance, despite working full time at the University, some of them for several years. The students rallied with the workers and helped them unionize, and things are fine now, health insurance and the whole nine yards.

Sadly, Chartwells' shenanigans run much deeper. As I found out first hand, ordering from them can be ... an experience. With a capital "E", no less! They have questionable descriptions for their food menus, for example:

The Bronzeville: Ribs, Fried Chicken, and Watermelon (seriously?!)
The Pilsen: Fajitas, Rice and Beans
The Wentworth Avenue: Dim Sum and Chinese food

Why don't they just call it "soul food", "taco bar", or "asian cuisine"? In trying to be "cute", they're just being offensive. My supervisor sent off this email tonight (yes, after 5 pm sh*t does hit the fan over here):

"This is absurd and demeaning!! It sounds like the Jim Crow menu. This is wrong on sooo many levels (e.g. so they don’t eat tacos, chicken, and ribs in Lincoln Park??). Should we (Steans & Egan) continue to order from Chartwells and sit by while they spend our money and spit in our face at the same time? Do we refuse to purchase from them until they change names for their menu options? Do we bring this to the larger university administration’s attention and demand that they make Chartwells change this non-sense?

What is the proper course of action here? Do we even care? What say the rest of the village on this one?"

Well village, let's talk about this :)

Sunshine and blue skies (an early spring tease)

Hello everyone (or maybe just one)!

Snow and gray skies have kept me indoors and out of commission for a while. I haven't stopped cooking but I have become a bit lazy, and reverting to my old mainstay of pasta with sausage a few too many times than I would care to admit. In addition to being less than creative, I am also at work which is not an ideal blogging environment, but still appreciate use of a full keyboard, and will make this post a list format as opposed to my usual rambling text (which I know everyone, not just one of you, will appreciate :) )

Things that are great:

1) This shrimp bisque from Bell'Allimento. I love Bell'Alimento, the writing style is after my own heart and her food looks delicious. This was my first attempt at something of hers and it was fabulous. This soup kept us warm and snug during the Snowpocolypse last month.

2) Soul Vegetarian Restaurant on 75th St: I've had some eating qualms for a while, starting back in the fall when I took my Food and Social Justice class that was taught by one of my bosses, who also happens to be a vegan. While I could never hope to be vegan (I heart cheese wayyyy too much), I have started to consider dabbling in vegetarianism, if only accidentally (ie, I sometimes forget to eat meat or just don't have it in the house). Yet this restaurant, which catered our staff retreat last Wednesday, totally blew my mind. There were "eggs" (tofu scramble) "sausage patties" (I am guessing this was seitan and some kind of bean mixture) and the best biscuits I have ever had. Lest you forget, I've worked at two bakeries. Hands down best biscuits. And all of this was completely vegan and completely amazing and tasted completely like it was supposed to, like real eggs and sausage and buttermilk-y, crumbly biscuits. Nom.

3) Serious Eats: I love love love this website. I can get lost for hours here. For the Super Bowl this year I made their Spinach Dip, M caramelized some onions for a dip of her own, and we anticipated making some delicious wings... except that I left the wings at home. Next on deck, maybe tonight if I get my life together, are these little babies.

4) The smell of basil. It is just wonderful.

5) Sunshine! Even if it still cold, just waking up to sun and being able to go home from work and have it still be sunny is an amazing thing.

Hope you're all having a great week, happy Wednesday, and stay tuned for more rambles!