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by Mara @ What's For Dinner? on April 10, 2009

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I had so much fun with Jenn(y) (get the title now?) today! The whole day was just a foodie’s dream! We ate so much today too, so I’m not even sure IF I’m going to have dinner, let alone what it might be…
I picked Jenn up at about noon, and we headed over to Fresh Market. I’d only ever been there once before, and Jenn had never been, so we were both really excited. Once we got there, we grabbed hand baskets and got to shopping! Around every turn, we were both in awe over some snack, fruit, prepared dish, or bulk food item. One thing I noticed this time was that there are little sample cups near every bulk item for samples! I didn’t try anything, but Jenn tried some wasabi peas and some fresh ground almond butter (there might’ve been something else, but I lost track!) We both bought similar things, but here’s a pic of all the stuff I got:

Clockwise from top: Fresh Market Spring Blend coffee, Canfield's Diet Chocolate Fudge soda, crispy apples, crispy pears, fresh peanut butter, crispy pineapple, crispy peaches

After we were shopped out, we went to one of my favorite sushi places ever, Akai Hana. It is right across the street from Fresh Market, and they have great lunch specials. I started with miso soup:

mmmm... miso...

And then my sushi combination came:

Clockwise from left: California roll, spicy tuna, spicy yellowtail

We stopped next door at the Japanese market, and I bought us some of my favorite Japanese treat:

POCKY!

After our delicious sushi, we went on a tour of the North Shore. There’s a road that runs from the south side of Chicago all the way up to Wisconsin, completely along the lake, much like Chicago’s own Highway 1. Sheridan Road runs through many of the suburbs, and there are amazingly huge and gorgeous houses, and beautiful scenery. We stopped at the beach park that my family and I used to go to when I was a little girl for some photo-ops, and came out with some beautiful pictures

Jenn using her fancy-schmancy camera to take pictures of the HUGE waves

And the beautiful view of Lake Michigan

Then, we decided to take a picture with the lake in the background… but we didn’t anticipate the wind! I still love this picture though, we were laughing UNCONTROLLABLY!

Bender and Dinner at the Lake

We got back into the car (it was COLD!), got our hair under control, and then headed back up Sheridan Road. We drove through the Ravines, which is where some of Ferris Bueller was filmed, and then Jenn showed me the house she lived in until she was two years old. We ended up on Central Street in Evanston and tooled around some of the shops there, including Great Harvest! We both got pieces of garlic cheddar bread (can you smell me from here?) Jenn let me take a picture:

cheesy garlicky goodness!

THEN we walked down the street to Foodstuffs (a gourmet market), and got incredibly delicious mochas at a cafe whose name escapes me… but there was a fairy on the sign! (EDIT: Jenn reminded me that this fabulous cafe is called Linz and Vail! Thanks Jenn!) They also had gelato, and I tasted a flavor called cupcake. It tasted like, guess what? CUPCAKES!

So many flavors, so little time

Our last stop before Jenn went home was The Spice House. It’s an amazing store with hundreds of spices and blends, and we had so much fun smelling and tasting tons of different things! I bought a tiny bag of something called cake spice and I absolutely CAN’T WAIT to try it in oatmeal with some of my fresh peanut butter! This is just one wall of the jars of spices:

I can't even begin to explain the amazing smell in this place!

Thanks for SUCH a fun day, Jenn! I can’t wait to get together again soon! I’m so lucky to have such wonderful foodies in my own backyard, so to speak!

Adam and I are still trying to figure out what to do tonight… no actual plans for dinner, which is very odd for me! Make sure you come back tomorrow for a Peep-centered Cute Food Saturday!

Happy Weekend!