Sunday, June 28, 2009

Mango Mojito Salsa


I had to bring a non-dessert to a party last week. Plantains and mangoes were on the brain, and I found the remedy to both cravings! I found this recipe on Food and Wine website: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/plantain-chips-with-chicken-and-mojito-mango-salsa
I didn't add the chicken though. I also put in a lot more ingredients than were asked for. Instead of one mango, i cut up about 14. I had 12 mint leaves I chopped up, and cut up an entire chili. I was left with lots of left overs! But it was really tasty!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

How to make your own Vanilla Extract

I love this! Joy the Baker just posted details on how to make Vanilla Extract. I'll try it out and let you know. http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/2009/06/how-to-make-vanilla-extract/

Or you try it, and let me know.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Kiva

I had a great conversation with on of my co-workers about this website that allows you to loan small amounts of money to people to start businesses. http://www.kiva.org/
My co-worker was inspired by the creator of this company to go to grad school pursuing these ideas.

You see profiles of people who need money from a rice farmer in Nepal to a prospective cafe owner in Portland. And you get the $$$ back in a year! How cool. I have no money to loan right now, but I love this concept!

Connecticut

A Thimble Island
Connecticut: One morning we ate at The Pantry, http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-pantry-new-haven Really good, really cheap=great breakfast!

Had some great East Coast Pizza at a dive, Louies Pizza. It was exactly what i wanted!!! http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g33959-d414799-Reviews-Louie_s_Pizza-Wallingford_Connecticut.html

We went on a tour of the Thimble Islands: $10 per person for an hr boat tour. http://www.thimbleislandcruise.com/

Cape Cod

Nauset House Conservatory
The Patio, in Provincetown
Wellfleet landscape next to The Bookstore restaurant



Cape Cod: We stayed at an adorable Bed and Breakfast, with hosts that were beyond accommodating. Nauset House Inn: http://www.nausethouseinn.com/aboutus.htm
The Inn was a 10 minute walk from Nauset Beach. We highly recommend this place!

We had an AWFUL dinner at Marconi Beach bbq"It-Il-Do", should've known from the name. Dont go here!!http://www.marconibeachrestaurant.net/ We ordered food, and it arrived in less than 5 minutes to our table, luke warm, and not good. And our bill was more than $40(including tip) for 2 beers and a shared plate of ribs. Lame.

In Provincetown, we ate at The Patio: http://www.ptownpatio.com/ I had steamed clams, and they were great. Jason had a chicken sandwhich, and said it was ok.

In Wellfleet we had dinner at The Bookstore, a place recommended by our Inn Keeper. http://www.wellfleetoyster.com/ I had raw oysters and steamed clams which were great. Jason had cranberry encrusted salmon(Cape Cod is known for cranberries), and it was REALLY yummy!

We also went to the drive in theater to see a movie!: http://www.wellfleetdrivein.com/

Boston

Enjoying mussels and wine at Trattoria
The Grafton

I've been away! East Coast trip. Thoughts:
Boston finally won my heart, after 4 other trips. Never liked it before...maybe it's because i'm older?
In Boston we ate lunch in Little Italy at Trattoria Il Panino, http://www.trattoriailpanino.com/
We were on the hunt for some East Coast pizza, but fell in love with the cute patio at this spot. We shared mussels and a simple prosciutto pasta that was obviously home made(the pasta). They served a refreshing Lemoncello complimentary at the end of the meal.

On our last day before our flight we had brunch at The Grafton, http://www.graftonstreetcambridge.com/ It was ok. Great people watching spot! We went for the outdoor patio. They only put 3 rasberries on my "Berry Pancakes". I felt jipped! Jason had tasty smoked trout.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Dragon Boat Races and ducklings




Yesterday I did a water sampling in St.Charles, IL, on the Fox River. I watched the infamous Dragon Boat Races and stalked a family of ducks.
Dragon Boat Races: http://www.prideofthefox.com/DragonBoatsInfo.html#Introduction

Nightwood


After returning to a semi state of health by Thursday, Jason took me to our anniversary dinner at Nightwood, a new sister restaurant to one of our favorite's, Lulas. http://chicago.metromix.com/restaurants/restaurant_review/first-look-nightwood/1229149/content
We started with a Fat Back appetizer, which was served on toast. For entrees Jason had beef ravioli, and I had Stinging Nettle tart(survived un-stung), with asparagus. Dessert was strawberry cream tart, and pretzels dipped in chocolate. Overall, a great experience!

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Our 1 YEAR anniversary was on Monday!



We celebrated our 1 year anniversary by waking up monday and exchanging gifts before I fell back into my sick coma and Jason went to work. When Jason got home we ordered take out and dug our cake from the back of our freezer to devour. I then, fell back into my delirium of sleep. Tuesday we were supposed to go to dinner at a surprise location chosen by Jason, but i was way too sick, and wouldn't have appreciated a lovely dinner. SO, we are going tonight!
The gifts! I love throwing symbolism into gift giving. I knew I wanted to get Jason artwork. First year of marriage is "Paper", so artwork on paper. I went to Etsy.com, thinking i might be able to find something affordable. I hunted for a few key words, with "original" attached because I didnt want a print or mass market piece. I hunted for a while and finally came upon this local Chicago artist, Laura Prentice. http://www.livefromthestudio.blogspot.com/
I chose the above artwork because it looks a lot like the street we live on now, during our 1st year of marriage. Jason got me earrings, single thread of gold drops, that he said symbolizes single, meaning 1 year of marriage. :)

I've been sick, minus one arm.


I hurt myself last Friday, tripping, and falling on a sidewalk. Nothing broken, but ouch....I tore/pulled a bunch of arm muscles, so havn't been writing much. In addition to the arm, I had to put up with a mean cold all week! Sniffly, coughing, feverish, rib hurting sick.....