Review

Archive

February 16, 2012 by sweetly spoken

Standard Market

Last week Adelaide and I made a quick trip to Chicago. We stopped by to say hello to some former co-workers, spent time with family, and did some much-needed shopping at my favorite store.

The highlight of our trip, though, was perusing the most beautiful grocery store I’ve ever seen. Standard Market in Westmont, IL, a suburb of Chicago, is like a Whole Foods on steroids. If you live close by or are visiting the Windy City, make a trek to this place. The minute I walked in the door I felt a zen-like sensation akin to walking into a spa or a five-star resort. The perfectly stacked produce, the freshly baked bread….even the fish counter was remarkable. This is one thing Northern Michigan does not offer (although the summer farmers markets come close).

Read on for more fabulous photos of Standard Market. Read More »

Archive

October 1, 2011 by sweetly spoken

A few of our favorite things

Since we’ve had very few days left as residents of Chicago, we’ve been hitting up all our favorites with all our favorite people. Michael has dubbed this time the “McDonald Farewell Tour,” and we’ve been making the most of it (that is, eating most of it!).

Photo from Smart Destinations

Read on for a few of the places we’ve grazed… Read More »

Archive

July 19, 2011 by sweetly spoken

Cheesies Chicago

When I was a kid, I loved grilled cheese. But I didn’t just eat the plain white bread, Kraft singles-variety. My mom made our grilled cheese with real cheddar, on sour dough bread. But what made me special, was that I loved to peel back the top piece of bread and slather on a glop of grape jelly. Call me crazy (or “inspired!”), but I loved the combination of grape jelly and salty cheese. Who knows who initially gave me that idea! These days the closest I get to that flavor combo is brie with pears or Manchengo cheese with quince paste. I guess I’ve grown up a bit.
So, with grape-jelly-grilled-cheese sandwiches in mind, Michael had been begging me to go try Cheesie’s, a grilled cheese pub inChicago. Being pregnant, you’d think I’d jump all over the idea of fried cheese in between bread. For some reason, I couldn’t get very excited about the place, mostly because I figure I can make myself a darn good grilled cheese at home if I like. Michael’s been pretty good to me lately, and we had friends that asked to meet up there, so we gave it a whirl. Read More »

Archive

July 14, 2011 by sweetly spoken

Plehn’s Bakery, Louisville, KY

hellolouisville.com

A few years back, on my very first “official” visit to Louisville (I had been to Louisville in the past for the Derby, but not as Michael’s girlfriend or wife), Michael’s grandfather picked us up from the airport and upon Michael’s request immediately drove us to Plehn’s Bakery. Plehn’s is located in the pleasant neighborhood of St. Matthews. It’s an old-school bakery with cute cakes in the windows, charmingly-apron’d staff, and a plethora of baked goods (donuts, cookies, cupcakes, pastries and cakes).

Read More »

Archive

March 15, 2011 by sweetly spoken

DMK Burger Bar

My favorite high-end restaurant in Chicago is MK. I’m no restaurant connoisseur, but I do try to make the rounds to the somewhat-affordable restaurants in the city of Chicago. Well, good news for the folks that don’t want to break the bank with MK’s fare, Michael Kornick created a burger bar.

Ever since we last ate at DMK Burger Bar, I’ve wanted to go back for more. The menu is straight-forward and concise, but by no means simple. Looking to eat healthy (if a restaurant burger can ever be healthy!), I chose the Turkey Burger with some sort of awesome cheese and awesome sauce (maybe not memorable by name, but incredibly memorable taste!), which is no longer on their regular menu. It was hands-down one of the best burgers I’ve ever had, beef or no. Why they removed it from the menu just days after I tried it, I’m not sure. Luckily, any of the burgers on the menu can be made with turkey instead of beef.

I’m going back for more. See you there tonight?

Archive

March 2, 2011 by sweetly spoken

Kitchen Confidential

My dad’s the type of guy you don’t want to play Balderdash with. Balderdash, the board game where the host chooses a word, definition largely unknown, and each of the people participating writes down a silly/believable definition for the word. The host then reads all the definitions, including the “true” definition of the word, authors remaining anonymous, and then the group votes on the best/most likely definition of the word. The reason you don’t play with my dad? He most likely knows the true definition of the word, no matter how obscure, and writes it down on his card. When the host ends up reading two very similar definitions, one the “true” definition, one my dad’s, everyone is tipped off, and therefore, the game is ruined.

My dad and Mr. Anthony Bourdain

There are only two guys I know who can use the word “excoriate” in a sentence: my dad…..and Anthony Bourdain.
Read More »

Archive

January 23, 2011 by sweetly spoken

A Bus, a Milk Chug, and Six Cupcake Shops

Well, the cupcake crawl happened. And it was pretty darn cool. Michael and I were floored by the response we had…almost everyone we invited was able to come! I think if you tell people there will be cupcakes (and booze), they make a fair attempt to attend.

Lemon Meringue cupcake from More.
Michael (aka husband of the year….we’ll make it husband of 2010, since he planned this in 2010. He still has to earn the title for the current year!) came up with the cupcake crawl idea from his hair cutter lady, of all people. She mentioned something about a friend doing a cupcake crawl in Chicago, and he (immediately, I’d like to think) thought of me and my then-imminent graduation from culinary school. What better way to celebrate than eat a ton of cake on a bus with a bunch of friends and family?! Read More »
← Older posts