Check out this quick video on choosing organic and local foods. To the point, interesting facts, and sweet-talking southern boy.
Birke Baehr: What’s wrong with our food system Video on TED.com
My favorite line? Either pay the farmer, or pay the hospital!
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Just some thoughts for the New Year….
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| Chocolate Candy Bar Cupcakes |
Do you have thoughts on the matter? Want to recommend a cupcake shop in Chicago? Do tell!
I wrote about this place not too long ago. We just had another dinner there that trumped the last one, so I had to write again. Uncommon Ground. This place rocks. If you haven’t been, and you’re in the Chicago area….GO. Now. Their breakfast (and coffee) is good too, but go for dinner. It will not disappoint.
What did we eat?
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I love it when we have guests in town because we get to go out for breakfast, one of my favorite things to do. When Michael and I first started dating, we tried out many, many different breakfast places in Lincoln Park, Wrigleyville, and Lakeview. I’m pretty positive that breakfast is my favorite meal. When else can the entrees pretty much be dessert?
Speaking of dessert, pictured above is Julie’s order from Southport Grocery: stuffed french toast, made with local apples, cream cheese, streusel with soy-maple reduction & apple butter (featuring Callebaut Praline & apple butter from the grocery). Delectable! I had my mainstay at the grocery, Baked Almond Oatmeal. The grocery used to post the recipe for it on their website, but looks like they smarted up and took it down. I don’t blame them. It’s a definite money-maker! Trent had the biscuits and gravy, Michael chose the Cuban from their lunch menu, all very good choices. We got a couple sides of the red potato mash as well. Yum, yum, yum.
Every time I go to Southport Grocery, I fall in love with breakfast a little bit more. It doesn’t hurt that they also have shelves stocked with gorgeous gourmet food items either. Bon Apetit!
Costa Rica. The rich coast. For our annual trip this year, Michael and I originally had high hopes of trekking over to South Africa, but due to vacation day restrictions and a hefty price tag, we moved down the list of travel to-do’s and settled on a much more reasonable destination: Costa Rica.
We flew into San Juan, the country’s largest, most central city. We stayed a quick night at The Adventure Inn, near the airport, in order to rest up and head out during daylight to our first tourist destination. The Adventure Inn, Canadian-owned, was a perfect place for us to settle for a quick night. At the hotel bar, we ordered some nachos and sampled the local beer (Pilsen or Imperial) while watching a disturbing documentary on the mis-treatment of pigs. Glad those nachos didn’t include pork! The hotel staff afforded us a bit of practice on our Spanish. My Spanish skills were pretty dusty (it has been seven years since I studied in Spain!), but we were able to pick up the gist of things pretty easily. What Michael lacks in grammar, I lack in vocabulary, so between the two of us, we’re able to do ok.
Our stay at Adventure Inn included a very generous breakfast. Michael tried his first serving of gallo pinto, something we had heard about on the plane ride the night before. A mixture of black beans, peppers and rice, gallo pinto is traditional Costa Rican breakfast fare. It goes great alongside eggs.
After a lengthy contract negotiation for our rental car (you’d think we were renting a plane, or a handgun or something!), we were off for the Arenal Volcano National Park and La Fortuna. The drive was picturesque at times, and the air outside was surprisingly cool, probably due to the elevation and the never-lifting mist that surrounded us. A car-sick-laden, curvy-road, three-hour drive later, we arrived at our hotel, Nayara. The volcano loomed ahead of us on our drive in and we were nothing short of in awe over the views.
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uncommon tiramisu: woodford reserve bourbon, black cat espresso & omanhene cocoa powder
On a web search for mini caramel apple ideas here, I happened upon a blog post regarding a monthly cupcake competition in Chicago. Iron Cupcake Chicago holds a cupcake competition once a month. This month’s competition was hosted by Mrs. Murphy’s Irish Bistro. While I couldn’t enter into the competition this month, Michael and I did have time to drop by and check it out. For $5, we were able to taste all the cupcakes and vote on two categories: Taste and Appearance. See photos after the jump for some of the cupcakes.
Michael and I took a long walk over to this Thai restaurant, and we were pleasantly surprised by the awesomeness. Sticky Rice was first recommended to us by Michael’s hair stylist. You know what they say; hair stylists are right up there with doctors and therapists. Better trust their judgment.
Here’s what we sampled:
- Northern Thai Sausage (*SPICY*)
- Crab Rangoons (of course!)
- Tom Yum Soup (*SPICY*)
- Cucumber Salad
- Rama Chicken
- Duck Leg Panang Curry (special) (*SPICY*)
Needless to say, all of the the food was scrumptious, but the highlight was Michael sitting across from me and sweating it out….the entire meal…..I guess when you say “spicy,” they take your word for it.
