Scrabble Snacky

For 'lunch' today I had (as did the boyfriend...though I'm sure he ate something else while I was in class) smoked salmon, brie and blue saga cheese and smoked oysters on sweet wheat crackers. We also played a game of scrabble...which was terrible...it had to be paused for my class then lost by me a few hours later. A close game but awful board.

Lunch and Dinner

Lunch was steamed broccoli and brussels sprouts with a little parmesan cheese and half a package of Sapporo Ichiban ramen. This was my first experience with the Sapporo brand and as much as I love Top Ramen, I'm going to have to reccomend that you all try the Sapporo Original flavor ramen...far "souperior".

For dinner, the boyfriend and I had eggplant parmagiana (spelling?). I breaded and fried egg plant slices and cooked up two italian sausages. I then added the sausages (cut up into smaller bits) to some, admittedly jarred, marinara sauce. In a casserole dish I layered (three times):three slices eggplant,two dollops sausage tomato sauce, moderate sprinkling of parmesan and mozzarella cheese.

We just finished watching Miss Congeniality Two. It wasn't good. Don't watch it, it's simply not very funny...okay but maybe you should watch it anyways...no actually, don't do that at all.

"You poop into my butt hole and I poop into your butt hole ... back and forth ... forever."

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I do not like to talk about, let alone joke about, poop. And yet last night the boyfriend and I watched Miranda July's first feature length film, Me And You And Everyone We Know, and I couldn't stop laughing during a poop-errific scene...The title of this post being a direct quotation from the movie.

If you have not seen this movie, you should. It is funny and flirts with being disturbing without ever truly crossing the line.

Sushi c/o Tokyo Marina

Yesterday the boyfriend returned from Madison where he got to see Robert Kennedy Jr. speak about land conservation and a whole bunch of other people talk about it too.

We went to Tokyo Marina and sat at the sushi bar. I found it a bit odd (though not at all when it came to the sushi itself) that our sushi chefs both spoke Spanish and were definitely not Japanese. I've never come across non-Japanese people making the sushi. Ignorant girl that I am.

I had california maki and tempura udon. The boyfriend had the small sushi combination. All looked appealing and tasted even better. No wasabi tobikko though.

Shitake Mushrooms and Spinach

A slight variation of another lunch, this meal was simple to make. A little water, sesame oil and balsamic vinegar in a frying pan. Put your desired amount of spinach in the pan first then the mushrooms. Cover on medium to high heat, checking to see when the spinach melts. A few dashes of garlic salt finishes the dish.

Wine Night...The Journey Continues

Last night wine night was held in an apartment in the loop. It was fantastic. There was a veggie plate with two kinds of dip, four kinds of cheese (no five) and crackers, a tasty artichoke dip and much more.
Brie cheese wrapped in dough with some sort of chutney in the middle (above).
Baklava and other sweets (below).
The view from their apartment...that building with the pink top...that's the Hancock.
11/8/05-ammendment: that is in no way the Hancock Building...I was mistaken.
There is nothing, not nothing, like flaming Greek cheese. Nothing.


Thanks to our hostess for a righteous good time. The only thing that could have gone better would have been the Astros winning their game. The hard-core fans said the guy who hit the homerun in the top of the ninth is a robot and I think I believe them.

Enchiladas Suizas c/o Puebla

After hanging at the lake I got a call from my college pal asking me if I could help her make a decision about an apartment/neighborhood. So I walked back to the apartment, got my stuff together and met her downtown. Then we took the blue line to the Logan Square stop and walked a few blocks to the apartment building she was thinking about renting. Looked good to me, we ran into a wine night regular on the street and I think she had far more knowledge about the neighborhood than I did. I think the friend is going to take it.

After walking around for a bit, we went to Puebla restaurant on Milwaukee, less than a block away from the Logan Square subway stop. I knew I should order a chimichanga, but I wasn't in the mood. So I had the enchiladas suizas dinner. Cheesy, tomato-y, goodness. The atmosphere was colorful and our waiter was funny.

Lake Freakin' Michigan

After dim sum I decided to take a walk to the lake. This is only the second time I've walked to the lake and for that I am ashamed. It is less than a mile away, amazingly pretty and yet I've only managed two visits. This is preposterous (sp?) especially as it is soon going to get very very cold and then going anywhere is going to suck.

Anyways, I walked to the lake, sat and looked for awhile. Then I made a pillow out of my purse and sweater and began to read a new book. Very lovely.


I have more meals/events to post but it's very late and I"m tired so stay tuned for Logan Square grub and another fantabulous wine night!

Dim Sum c/o Furama Part Six

Yesterday I ended up not having any dim sum. Today I couldn't stand it any longer. I went to Furama and had some dim sum and a hot and sour soup. Dim sum on a non-Sunday is not half as fabulous as a Sunday excursion. The carts just sit there, the food stays relatively hot but there isn't as big a variety.
Dim Sum c/o Furama: Good any time...best on Sundays.

Wake Up

This morning I woke up, took this picture (that's the window next to my head while I sleep), then fell asleep for another hour.

Last night I watched my last episode of the third season of Monk. I also watched the night's episode of Grey's Anatomy. Television is a dangerous but beautiful thing.

Low Key Lunch

I made myself a little shitake mushroom and broccoli stirfry. Seasoned with ginger, sesame oil and soy sauce.

I learned that the reason so many of the photographs I've been taking have a soft focus is because I forgot to reset the camera's focus to automatic instead of manual. Silly me.

The End of Last Night

The night ended and then the two Andersonville residents (me being one of them) ended up spending another hour or so waiting for a bus, running after a bus, missing the aforementioned bus, going to a bar to use their bathrooms, being asked by a blonde woman if we wanted to make out with her friend (no), getting a hotdog, and finally getting on the Clark Street bus. A very late night.

These were the drunk obnoxious guys at the hot dog stand. They were having some sort of yelling thing with the hot dog staff. When I asked them if they wanted a better picture than this one, the guy on the left said something about running around with his penis out. I turned away and did not take another photograph.

The Other Side

After Matisse we went to a wine bar...and quickly left (the scene was a little too coupley/winey/no prices on the drink menu). We ended up at The Other Side a restaurant bar that, according the the girl who has been in Chicago the longest, has great pasta. It also has a fun bar scene. Lots of Talking Heads on the stereo, friendly people dancing and a whole shelf of games. This is the epic game of Jenga we played.
Note that guy behind the Jenga tower...he watched until the very end. He high fived us every time we got out of sticky situations. It was pretty amazing, the game not the guy.
I ended up being the bastard that ended the game...I was so close to not being that person it still smarts to think about it. We left around 2:30 am.

Buffalo Chicken Salad c/o Matisse

Last night me and a few girls went to Matisse in Lincoln Park (Square?) for dinner and drinks. I had the buffalo chicken salad, the chicken had a kick to it (one could say it was like a buffalo kick right to the mouth) but the rest of the salad was a little disappointing...generic iceburg lettuce, waxy cucumbers and bland tomatoes. I allowed myself one martini, a dirty absolut, which was very good...I didn't even have to ask for three olives, that's just how it came.

We stayed there for a long time and many drinks.


Haloween, Alaska.

Obviously

I just put on make up and can't decide how much I look like a painted whore...this is the best picture I could get of my eye makeup.

Let's take a vote...it'll be fun...painted whore or crazy person?

DSW

This afternoon I went shoe shopping at the DSW on Clark (cross street Barry)...don't worry I didn't eat any of the shoes.
Above and below are pairs of shoes I tried on, liked but didn't buy.
I was looking for a pair of shoes I saw a few weeks backat Filene's Basement. They were very low heeled with very sexy buckles. Alas, they were not at DSW, so I must simply covet my college friend's pair and leave it at that. I was also looking for a pair of non-boot but rain proof shoes/clogs. Along with the weather proof shoes I was also looking for a new pair of sneakers as my grey reeboks are going on five years and have holes in them...whenever it rains they smell really bad.
Above and below are the pairs of shoes I did buy...do you think I chose correctly? Oh my.
The brown Rocket Dog shoes I think are very cool but strange. Strange because I usually wear a size 8-9 shoe and for these suckers I went down to a 7 1/2...spooky.

Light

Mid-morning light on the boyfriend's arms.

Sausage and Peppers

Inspired by a neighbor's recipe, I made sausage and peppers for dinner tonight. The boyfriend and I feasted on three peppers (red, green and yellow) and two different forms of meat...Bratwurst from Wickstrom's on Clark and Italian Sausage c/o Dominicks.

Baked for about twenty minutes it was a delicious meal.

On a different note, the boyfriend and I managed to lock ourselves out of the apartment and took about forty five minutes figuring out who to call and how to get back inside...a lesson well learned.

Realms Of The Unreal

The other night I watched a documentary on Henry Darger, a Chicago native and altogether interesting...though mighty strange artist and man. I thought the documentary was a little too long and certainly left a few questions unanswered. But the story of his life and art is worth the time.

Also. Finished another V.I. Warshawski novel by Sara Paretsky. In this one, the beginning of the mystery happened in my neighborhood...only seven years ago...Paretsky's descriptions of junkies and poverty stricken families are fascinating as they represent (to me) how quickly a neighborhood can change. A good mystery. Seriously, stop thinking mysteries aren't so great...they are.

Cod and Edamame

Cod and edamame. I breaded the cod:flour mixed with salt, cayenne and ginger, egged it, breaded it again then egged it again. Broiled the cod, boiled the edamame.