What's For Dinner?

Chicago Style

What a random food day I had today… I mean, I ate weird stuff at weird times and then topped it off with a somewhat weird dinner. Breakfast was leftover roast chicken, then a couple hours later a lovely green monster with spinach, milk, nut butter, flax, mango, blueberries, and chia seeds. I went and spent my Valentine’s Day gift certificate from Adam today on a glorious manicure and pedicure…the toes are red and the fingers are purple!

Lunch was late (like 3 p.m.) when Adam and I decided to go to a local hot dog stand for some Chicago-style dogs. We had hot dogs from this place as a “midnight snack” at our wedding, and haven’t had them since, so we thought “what the heck” and went for it.

Now, do any of you know what goes on a standard Chicago hot dog? And, more importantly, what doesn’t?

These ingredients are what are traditionally included on a Chicago dog, and can be added or eliminated to the diner’s taste. HOWEVER, there is NEVER ketchup on a Chicago hot dog. Ever. Why are Chicago hot dogs so “doctored up”? Well, back in the depression era, hot dogs were a convenient and inexpensive way for people to have a complete meal in a time where fresh produce was limited. Because of the variety of vegetables on the dog, it’s said to be “dragged through the garden.” There, your Chicago history lesson for the day.

My hot dog this afternoon had onions, relish, mustard, and sport peppers on it, and it was FAN FREAKING TASTIC. I could’ve eaten a few more, but limited myself to one. What it did do though, was leave me wanting more vegetables. We hit up the produce market and stocked up, and a few hours later, I was chopping and roasting and spiralizing! I won a spiralizer from Sophia’s giveaway, and let’s just say, I’m quite obsessed. I forgot to take a picture of my spiralized zucchini, but I got a picture of the carrot I shredded the other day

Tonight, I sauteed together some mushrooms, an orange bell pepper, some garlic, and spinach, roasted a spaghetti squash, spiralized some zucchini and started assembling. I wanted to use some of this sauce from Bertolli and FoodBuzz’s Tastemaker Program

The bottom of my large bowl was filled with spiralized zucchini and spaghetti squash, then topped with my mushroom/pepper/spinach mixture, then the whole thing was topped with some of this creamy sauce. While it wasn’t something I’d normally buy, the flavor was very nostalgically tomato. Adam likened it to a gourmet and creamy version of the sauce on Spaghetti-Os. My bowl, while not pretty, was delicious. Thanks Bertolli and FoodBuzz!

Tonight, Adam and I are two of probably 10 people not watching the Oscars, so we’re enjoying cartoon reruns and dark chocolate. Tomorrow’s a busy day, as its the beginning of a new term, so I get to meet 120 new kids tomorrow throughout the day.

Have a great Monday!

Technorati Tags: Chicago dining, dinner, food, fun, vegetables, vegetarian

10 Comments

Mara @ What's For Dinner?, March 7th 2010 | Tags: Chicago dining, dinner, food, fun, vegetables, vegetarian
Posted in vegetarian

Steak House? No! Our House!

Today was one of those days that made me realize how lucky I am to be a part of this wonderful blogging community. Who else can say that they have friends from LITERALLY all over the country, many of whom they’ve never met in person??

I started my day bright and early by meeting up with two of my favorite bloggers, and girls who have been loyal readers and commenters pretty much since day one of this little blog of mine: Jenn and Caroline! We met up with each other at a childhood favorite restaurant of mine, Walker Brothers Pancake House, and as usual, the line was out the door. Luckily, they got us in and seated quickly!

I got a mushroom omelet, fruit, and a side of bacon. I only ate the strawberries out of the fruit cup…

Walker Bros. was the first place I ever remember going that had amazingly fluffy baked omelets, instead of the flat and folded over ones of so many greasy spoon places. The bacon was, well, bacon…so it was awesome! The best part though was the company and conversation. Thanks so much for a great morning!

From left: Me, Jenn, Caroline, and Caroline’s cousin

I’ve made an executive decision: all the bloggers I’ve met need to move to Chicago so that we can hang out on a regular basis.

Since I was so close, I stopped off at my mom’s house to show off the new camera, and of course, the lovely Stella was thrilled to be the subject of an impromptu photo shoot!

She’s been watching Top Model!

I came home and vegged out for a while, because its Sunday…and then set out to the grocery store with my EnviTote for a few days worth of produce and ingredients for dinners. Much to my surprise and delight, 3 lb. bags of baby spinach were on sale, buy one get one free for $3.99! Needless to say, I then needed to stock up on Green Monster ingredients too… I had a very specific dinner in mind, hence the trip to the grocery store.

Last weekend for Valentine’s Day, I bought a bunch of ingredients for broth/bouillon fondue after we ate our cheese, and found that we were too full after the first course. The ingredients went into the freezer, and I wanted to use them today. What were these ingredients? Jumbo shrimp and filet mignon!

The steaks needed a simple preparation: just a sprinkle of salt and fresh ground pepper, then a quick sear in a pan and then a few minutes under the broiler.

The shrimp though, got the royal treatment… they got Scampi-fied!

Shrimp Scampi

Ingredients

1 lb. peeled raw shrimp

2 Tbsp. butter

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1/2 c. dry white wine

juice of 1 lemon

5 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped

Directions

Heat a saucepan over medium heat. Add the butter and olive oil, then the garlic. Cook a few minutes, then add the white wine. Reduce by half. Add lemon juice and shrimp and cook until shrimp are done, about 6 minutes. Add parsley, stir and serve immediately.

In addition, I made a batch of the same creamed spinach I made recently. In all, this was, as Adam said, like Wildfire at home. Remember Wildfire? We went there at the end of my first week of camp this summer, and it’s one of our very favorite steakhouses! To hear that I successfully recreated at home a similar meal as we enjoy out was one of the best food-related compliments I’ve gotten!

All together now:

So, with a full belly and a sleepy head, and thoughts of snow days lingering in the back of my brain… I bid you good night!

Technorati Tags: bacon, beef, breakfast, Chicago dining, dinner, EnviTote, food, friends, fun, out, seafood, simple recipe

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Mara @ What's For Dinner?, February 21st 2010 | Tags: bacon, beef, breakfast, Chicago dining, dinner, EnviTote, food, friends, fun, out, seafood, simple recipe
Posted in beef, fish or seafood, friends, simple recipe

A Classic, Deconstructed

Just going to be honest with you here… I have the Super Bowl on right now, but only to listen for commercial breaks! The commercials are all that my students will talk about tomorrow, and I have to be up on what was shown! Apparently, I already missed a couple…

Since we’re not having a Super Bowl party, or going to one, I wanted to use today to make something I can use throughout the week in lunches or various dinners, so I polled on Facebook and Twitter about what to make. I had it narrowed down to two possibilities: slow-cooker BBQ pork or slow-cooker Italian beef. The response was overwhelmingly in favor of the Italian beef, but my decision was made up for me by the recipes. The key to good BBQ flavor is a touch of sweetness…brought by brown sugar. This eating plan I’m following leaves little wiggle room for extra sugar, and since I’m doing so well so far, I didn’t want to risk it!

Italian Beef is a Chicago staple, slightly different from the more well-known French Dip sandwich. The beef has a very spiced broth it’s slow-cooked in, and the sandwiches are, to the purists, served “wet” with sweet green peppers and sometimes mozzarella cheese. It’s been a long time since I’ve had good Italian beef, even though we live down the street from one of the best: Portillo’s.

I perused AllRecipes.comand myrecipes.com for various Italian beef recipes, and they ranged from super simple to quite complicated. I went with a variation on one of the simpler ones. Now, first is a picture of Adam’s Italian Beef, served more classically with no peppers, but plenty of juice, a crusty roll, and some mozzarella:

And then, what I ate. I had a bed of cooked green peppers topped with the Italian beef, then a bit of cheese. Ok, more than a bit of cheese… I like cheese.

It had all the classic flavor of the sandwich I wanted without any of the bread… Italian beef was a good choice! The recipe is simple:

Italian Beef

Ingredients

5 lb. beef roast, I used top round

3 c. water

1 packet Italian dressing mix

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. basil

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. ground mustard

1 tsp. red pepper

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground black pepper

Directions

Add the beef to a large crock pot. Add water and remaining ingredients to a pot and bring to a boil. Pour over the beef, then cook on low 8-10 hours or on high 4-6 hours. Shred with two forks and serve.

I thoroughly enjoyed my deconstructed non-sandwich, and Adam loved his actual sandwich. I’m thinking this recipe is a keeper. That is, unless I get so sick of eating shredded Italian beef this week that I never want to see it again.

Don’t forget to click the “Save It” button above to save this recipe on your SpringPad! (You all have accounts now, right?)

I got one more anonymous question, as well as an un-needed apology. The girl who asked me the question I answered Friday about the pressure to look a certain way for my wedding thought that SHE was the one I was referring to when I mentioned the fat bride question. That wasn’t the case at all! I got a SEPARATE question asking “What was it like to be a fat bride?” and not the thoughtful one you asked. So, whoever you are, I’m not mad!! Your apology was very sweet, and definitely made me smile.

Hi! Do you want to have kids some day? Any timeline?

My mom will be very happy to read that YES we want to have kids some day! We’re thinking about maybe starting to try in about 2 years when Adam is done with grad school and has a steady job, and (knock on wood) I’m tenured at my current job. It’s definitely in the cards, just not right now.

Feel free to ask me anything!

I’m off to watch The Who perform at half time… I love that these guys are still performing!

Technorati Tags: ask me, beef, cheese, Chicago dining, crockpot, dinner, sandwich, simple, simple recipe

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Mara @ What's For Dinner?, February 7th 2010 | Tags: ask me, beef, cheese, Chicago dining, crockpot, dinner, sandwich, simple, simple recipe
Posted in beef, simple recipe

Winner Winner Chinese Dinner

I know I swore my cooking posts would start again today, but after last week’s simple non-postworthy recipes, the subzero (yes, actually BELOW ZERO) temperatures, and the severe lack of ingredients in the house, we opted for a carry-out Chinese dinner from one of our favorite places, China Wok. I’m a slacker, I know.

Oh, and it was really tempting to not leave the house after seeing these hanging outside our front window:

Those are approximately 5 to 8 feet long icicles, the longest of which hangs directly above our front door. SCARY!

Back to dinner…

I started with half of these amazing steamed dumplings full of spicy pork:

And the rest of what I had didn’t photograph well… one patty of chicken egg foo young, a few bites of chicken fried rice, a bit of some spicy noodle thing, and of course:

My fortune read: “You will be recognized and honored as an influential member of the community”.

There’s a lot of catch-up I still need to do which I’ll address in tomorrow’s post, but for now, I want to announce the winner of the MyBlogSpark and Progresso Soup giveaway. Thanks to random.org, I came up with number #3 which was a recipe for cabbage soup from Christina! I know you’ll read this, so Christina, when you do, email me your information and I’ll contact your benefactor!

I’m off to watch the Simpson’s 20th Anniversary Special and get to bed early… it’s going to be a LONG week!

OH, and I’m committing to you here: I WILL COOK A NEW RECIPE TOMORROW. It has been blogged, so it shall be done.

Technorati Tags: Asian, Chicago dining, chicken, Chinese, dinner, dinner out, giveaway, noodles, pork, restaurant

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Mara @ What's For Dinner?, January 10th 2010 | Tags: Asian, Chicago dining, chicken, Chinese, dinner, dinner out, giveaway, noodles, pork, restaurant
Posted in Asian, chicken/turkey, dinner out, giveaway, pork

On A Pedestal

Last night, Adam and I decided that it was time for an old-school “dinner and a movie” date night. Well, it ended up being “movie and dinner” as we went to the movies first.

Since we were away right after Avatar came out, we finally got on the bandwagon and contributed to its billions-of-dollars success. We saw it in Real 3D which was truly remarkable. I felt like we were there, and I actually found myself swatting away a bug that I thought was in front of me…and it was on the screen. I really loved what a beautiful movie it was, and the story wasn’t bad either! I’d highly recommend it!

By the time the movie ended, it was after 9 p.m. and my after-school snack had long since worn off, and I was super hungry! There is a new restaurant near the movie theater that I had read about on Biggest Diabetic Loser over a month ago when Biz got to visit the restaurant pre-opening. Any place that has pizza and great burgers is good with me, so Adam and I decided to try The Lucky Monk.

We walked in and I was quite impressed with the decor. It was cozy without being stuffy and trendy without being obnoxious.

We perused the menu, and while The Lucky Monk is a brewery in addition to a restaurant, we declined to get beer. I’m not a huge beer fan, and Adam wasn’t in the mood for alcohol. Adam quickly decided on a 12″ New York Style four-cheese pizza, and I went with a burger. I really appreciated that the burgers came in two sizes: a “normal” 6 oz. burger and a HUGE 9 oz. one. I wanted to feel OK about indulging in some fries, so I went with a 6 oz. “Farmhouse” burger.

Since it’s a new restaurant, the service doesn’t quite “have their stuff together” yet. It took a while to get drink refills, and our server barely checked back, but once the food arrived, I didn’t care!

Adam’s pizza was crispy, chewy, cheesy and delicious:

And my burger, a 6 oz. griddled patty with lettuce, tomato, red onion, dill pickle, Tillamook sharp cheddar cheese, and 2 slices of applewood smoked Duroc bacon was so fantastic it deserved to be put on a pedestal. As a matter of fact, the burger was on a pedestal! It gave me somewhere to set it down between bites and still be able to pick it up. The hand-cut french fries were actually well-done and crispy.

Before dinner, we decided to forgo an appetizer in favor of a dessert that had grabbed our attention: skillet s’mores. Just look at this:

This, I believe, puts Fitnessista’s favorite Pizookie to shame! It was a small cast-iron skillet stacked with layers of graham crackers, semi-sweet chocolate, mini marshmallows, and a small amount of caramel on top. It was then broiled so the marshmallows got crunchy, the chocolate melted, and everything soaked into the grahams. I can see myself dragging Adam here for dessert and coffee in the future!

I truly enjoyed our dinner at The Lucky Monk, and I love that it’s a mere 5 minutes from our house! There are quite a few other menu items I’m looking forward to trying.

Don’t forget to enter the Souper You soup and jumprope giveaway by tomorrow!

Technorati Tags: beef, burger, cheese, Chicago dining, date night, dessert, dinner, dinner out, fun, Lucky Monk, pizza, restaurant

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Mara @ What's For Dinner?, January 9th 2010 | Tags: beef, burger, cheese, Chicago dining, date night, dessert, dinner, dinner out, fun, Lucky Monk, pizza, restaurant
Posted in beef, dinner out

Don’t Judge.

Ok, so that’s what my friend at work says when she comes in with take-out from somewhere deemed “unhealthy”. Then, one of us will justify her choice somehow, but in the end, what matters is that she got what she WANTED for lunch rather than what she “should” eat.

Well, when I awoke this morning to near blizzard conditions, inches of snow on the ground, and no snow day, I knew it was going to be a long day. When I looked out the window at 10 a.m. and saw that it was STILL snowing, I had already started to dread my commute home. At 3 p.m. when I did leave work in near-blizzard conditions and with more inches of snow on the ground, I knew for sure I wasn’t going to want to cook.

After my normally-30-minute commute turned into an hour, I got home to a frozen gate latch and this view:

I walked in the door, took off my boots, shook the snow off myself and said “What’re we doing for dinner? Because I’m NOT going back out in that and we don’t have anything to eat for dinner.” Ultimately, we decided to order from an old favorite carry-out Italian place, mostly because a) it’s delicious and b) they’re reliable when it comes to delivery in iffy weather. Rosati’s is a national family-owned chain, so check it out if there’s one near you!

We splurged a little (this is where the “don’t judge” comes in)

yeah, those are cauliflower poppers

Adam ordered a calzone:

And I got something that is Chicago legend. So much so, that when Gina (our very own Fitnessista) and her Pilot came to visit Chicago, it’s the very thing I got for the Pilot to eat. I got a cheese-topped Italian beef sandwich:

It was supposed to come with roasted sweet green peppers (or “with sweet” as us Chicagoans say) but they forgot. Oh well, it was still fantastic and JUST what I needed.

If you’re interested in guest-posting for me while we’re on our honeymoon, please email me your posts in a text or word document by Wednesday, December 16! I’d like to have some time to appropriately schedule them!

I’m unplugging for the night, off to take a hot shower and snuggle up with my husband (hehe husband!) and relax. Have a wonderful night, and if you’re somewhere the weather is bad, stay safe!

Technorati Tags: beef, cheese, Chicago dining, dinner out, Italian, red meat, sandwich

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Mara @ What's For Dinner?, December 9th 2009 | Tags: beef, cheese, Chicago dining, dinner out, Italian, red meat, sandwich
Posted in Italian, beef, dinner out

Wedding Week Recap!

I know, I’ve been gone for a while… getting back to reality after the crazy and amazing week I had last week has been a little difficult, and that includes blogging. But I’m back, and ready with a week-long recap for you! Are you sitting down? Get comfortable, this is going to be a long one, and it may take some time to load, as it’s very photo-heavy…but worth it!

Monday, November 23

I worked a normal school day full of meetings and inservices, and got home to find my dad sitting on our couch! I hadn’t seen my dad since our engagement party in January, and I was so excited to see him! We sat and talked for a while, then headed out for dinner. We went to Sushi Station for a light dinner, and then to Yogen Früz since he’d never had it (with living in Oregon and all). Then, we went to Macy’s to find a tie for him for the wedding, and went our separate ways after that, at least for that day. I had a busy few days ahead of me!

Tuesday, November 24

At about 10 a.m. I left for my mom’s house. Why you might ask? Well, when my mom and dad got married, my mom and her mom spent a day baking a challah for their wedding. I wanted to do the same thing! My sister came over as well, and we got to work. After mixing and kneading the dough, letting it rise an hour, then punching it down and rising again, it was time to braid. In the end we came out with one HUGE challah, two smaller ones, and three mini ones:

Wednesday, November 25

It was a hair day! I met my mom at our favorite hair place for highlights, an eyebrow wax (desperately needed) and a professional blow-dry. The result was fantastic, but of course, I forgot to take a picture! I then spent the remainder of the afternoon dodging “Blackout Wednesday” traffic to get our centerpieces and other supplies to our wedding venue, then picking up Lizz’s bridesmaid’s dress from the tailor. We had sandwiches from Boloney’s for dinner, and I believe I was asleep by 10 p.m.

Thursday, November 26

Thanksgiving day! I debated not being a food blogger and just enjoying the day, but I realized that, down the line, I’d be bummed if I didn’t document the meal. My mom’s best friend put out an amazing spread as usual, and no one was left with an empty stomach. Just a sampling of the eats:

Friday, November 27

Rehearsal day! Adam had to work Black Friday morning at his part-time job, so I spent the morning getting last minute things together and packing my bag for two nights. When he got home, we went for lunch, and then drove down to our wedding venue for a quick rehearsal with everyone involved. The guys left after that, and the girls went to get manicures and pedicures.

Afterwards, we drove like crazy people to the rehearsal dinner at Gino’s East Pizzeria for some Chicago-style deep-dish pizza, salad, and pasta. At that point, I said bye to Adam until the wedding! We still talked later in the night, but it was odd not seeing each other.

Saturday, November 28

Wedding day!!! I’ll let the pictures tell the story… it was truly the happiest and best day of my life so far.

We spent the night dancing, celebrating, and well, it was the best wedding EVER! I’m beyond thrilled with how well it all went, and even MORE thrilled to be married to my amazing HUSBAND (I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of saying that!) We were beyond exhausted by the time the night was over, and made a rather surprising decision for:

Sunday, November 29

Rather than staying in a hotel for Sunday night, Adam and I opted to go home and sleep in our own bed. We had some friends in from out of town we wanted to see before they left, and the measly 4 hours of sleep Saturday night just weren’t cutting it! We both took long naps after brunch, and decided to spend our “hotel money” on a great dinner out to celebrate. We went to Shaw’s Crab House near our house for a fantastic meal.

(I know what you’re thinking…enough with the wedding stuff and get onto some food!)

We started with a spicy crab california roll:

And shared a cup of the amazingly creamy clam chowder:

We decided to really splurge and get what we REALLY wanted, so I got King crab legs, the best I’ve ever had:

Adam (the HUSBAND! Notice his ring?!?!) got these Nantucket scallops with spinach:

Rather than getting dessert at the restaurant, we opted instead to have dessert at home. On Saturday, we didn’t get ONE piece of our wedding cake! Well, we each got a tiny bite when we cut it, but that was IT! So what did we do? We had slices of our top tier! Instead of saving it for a full year, we had one piece Sunday, we’ll have another Saturday (to celebrate one week married) another at one month after the honeymoon, another at 6 months, and the rest at a year.

This cake was alternating chocolate and red velvet with milk chocolate buttercream and white icing:

(Are you still here?)

Thank you for reading the recap of the BEST week of my life… here’s to a hundred more years! Adam, I love you more than anything!

Speaking of honeymoons: We leave for our honeymoon December 19, and obviously, I’ll need guest posters! Send me an email if you’re interested!

Technorati Tags: Chicago dining, dad, dinner out, family, food, friends, fun, out, pizza, sandwich, seafood, wedding

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Mara @ What's For Dinner?, December 2nd 2009 | Tags: Chicago dining, dad, dinner out, family, food, friends, fun, out, pizza, sandwich, seafood, wedding
Posted in dinner out, family, fish or seafood, friends

Bachelorette Party Recap!

Only a food blogger… I swear, only a food blogger would do what I did at her bachelorette party.

There was much drinking (as was expected) and a great time was had by all… There were quite a few embarrassing pictures taken of me, mostly involving odd facial expressions and looks of shock while opening gifts. There was one photo, actually, that one Meghan said she’d give me $100 if I put it on the blog. I deleted it. I guess I can share one goofy one with you…

I should rewind a bit. My sister Leigh(my Maid of Honor) did a fantastic job planning a very “Mara” night out. Thanks to some cool chef people my sister knows, she was able to get reservations at The Bristol, a restaurant that does not take reservations. It’s a very cool restaurant with interesting food and a focus on sustainable ingredients.

Lizz and I got there early (a RARE occurrence for us) and went up to the upstairs bar while we waited for the rest of the party to arrive.

While we waited, we ordered drinks. Little did I know that the drinks we ordered would be some of the best I’ve ever had, EVER.

This was called a Dardanian Cocktail. It contained gin, muddled pear, elderflower and sour. It was un-freaking-believable. I drank oh… 4 of these.

This was called a Cu-Cui, which had pear vodka, cucumber puree, and something else I don’t remember. Lizz kept saying it was like someone took a salad and put it in a drink. It was also amazing.

Before we sat down at the table, I made it a point to get a picture with Leigh and Lizz

The rest of the party finally arrived, and we headed downstairs to the table

We perused the menus and decided to share a bunch of appetizers and each get our own entrees. Now, you all knew that I’d take pictures of my food. I actually debated blogging about the night, but then Lizz reminded me that if I didn’t, I’d probably regret it… so, here goes (some of the pics are blurry…I did my best!):

I ordered another pear cocktail, and my friend Erin proceeded to order me drinks.

Another pear cocktail as well as a cocktail with Patrón silver tequila and citrus

Then the appetizers came… duck fat fries (the BEST I’ve ever had, hands down)

These came with homemade ketchup and horseradish cream sauce… SO AMAZING!

And, there was savory monkey bread with dill butter… which luckily, Leigh remembered to take a picture of with one piece remaining while I scolded myself… bad food blogger!

There was an apple and manchengo cheese salad

And Leigh and I split fresh radishes with butter and salt. An amazing combo if you’ve never tried it!

Then the entrees came out. Not only did I take pictures of MY food, but I passed my camera around and made everyone else take pictures of THEIR food. I’m really not positive of what all this stuff was… I’ll label the ones I’m sure of.

Half chicken with mustard spaetzle and apple salad (there were about 5 of these at the table)

Goat meat ravioli type things. Thanks for the great picture Meghan!

Raviolo. A HUGE ravioli filled with fresh ricotta cheese and egg yolk. Still smacking myself for not ordering this myself!

Fresh noodles with something called mojama. It’s a Spanish delicacy of cured tuna, grated over the top

Organic grass-fed beef with sweet potatoes (they’re in the background!)

No idea… greens of some sort?

Leigh and I split this whole roasted Pompano fish. I’ve never had more buttery fish, ever!

There were also desserts that were devoured before a picture could be taken, but I assure you, they were FANTASTIC!

After dinner, the group split up and a bunch of us headed north to a quasi-improv show called Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind. I say quasi-improv because while true improv isn’t rehearsed, this is… it’s 30 plays in 60 minutes, the cost of admission is $9 plus whatever is rolled on a 6-sided die, and if they sell out, they order pizza. We’ve been going to this show for the better part of the last 15 years, and it was the PERFECT thing for us to do. The doors didn’t open for another 45 minutes when we got there, so we went around the corner to a favorite bar, Hopleaf, for another drink. I got a raspberry Lambic.

[source]

We then went back, got in line, and took a final group picture.

From Left: Me, Lizz, Leigh, Leah, Mom, Anna, and Kristin

It was an amazingly fun and perfect night out! Thank you SO MUCH to Leigh,, all who came, and everyone who helped make it a night I’ll never forget! I love you all!

I spent the night at Lizz’s house, and we had the luxury of going to IHOP for brunch… there’s something about breakfast food cooked by someone else that’s just so great! Dinner has yet to be decided…

Technorati Tags: beef, Bristol, cheese, Chicago dining, dinner, dinner out, family, food, friends, fun, noodles, out, red meat, restaurant, salad, seafood, thank you, wedding

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Mara @ What's For Dinner?, November 15th 2009 | Tags: beef, Bristol, cheese, Chicago dining, dinner, dinner out, family, food, friends, fun, noodles, out, red meat, restaurant, salad, seafood, thank you, wedding
Posted in beef, dinner out, family, friends

A Wedding Feast

Tonight was a very exciting night!

Adam and I went to our wedding venue to finalize numbers, the menu, and make a payment and all of a sudden, its REAL… we’re getting married 2 weeks from tomorrow!!!

One of the best things about our venue (besides the fact that its GORGEOUS) is that their food is stellar. In fact, last year when we booked, we were asked to have our food tasting before we even signed a contract because they pride themselves on how wonderful the food is. Even at the wedding reception, each dinner is cooked to order, and guests get a choice THAT NIGHT of what they want to eat. There’s a restaurant attached to our venue as well, and we decided tonight to treat ourselves to a wedding feast (since we hear that the bride and groom don’t really get to eat much the night of their wedding!)

Each and every item at the restaurant is house made from the bread, to the pasta, to all the soups, salad dressings, and sauces. There was tomato-topped focaccia and fresh Italian bread on the table, set to be enjoyed with herb-infused olive oil and parmesan cheese:

Then, we got steamed crab claws in a basil-white wine broth

Next was a mixed greens salad with a white balsamic viniagrette

My entree was quite possibly the best steak I’ve ever had. It was a bone-in filet with an herb sauce, potato croquettes, and steamed baby bok choy:

Adam got a bowl of house-made rigatoni with tomato-vodka sauce, topped with some absolutely enormous, lobsteresque shrimp… unfortunately, I couldn’t get a good picture of it… Last, but certainly not least, we got coffee and shared a piece of carrot cake. It came out with a surprise on it!

The ambiance made for a very romantic (albeit early) evening

We took a romantic stroll around Best Buy after dinner where I searched for a new camera case (any suggestions???) and we’re now home relaxing. Tomorrow night is my bachelorette party, but never fear! It will still be Cute Food Saturday!

Have a wonderful Friday night everyone!

Technorati Tags: beef, Chicago dining, dinner, dinner out, food, Italian, red meat, restaurant, wedding

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Mara @ What's For Dinner?, November 13th 2009 | Tags: beef, Chicago dining, dinner, dinner out, food, Italian, red meat, restaurant, wedding
Posted in Italian, beef, dinner out

Epic Food

*This post was written last night at about 9:30 p.m, but my blog host was down and it wouldn’t publish! So… pretend it’s last night!*

I left work today excited for two main reasons: one, I was going for my next to last wedding dress fitting, and two, my BFF Lizz was coming with me, and we were going to a new favorite place for an early dinner.

The dress fitting went swimmingly, and I really can’t wait to share pictures with you… but you’ll have to wait a couple weeks!

Afterward, we headed up the street to a place that my friend Heidi (you know, Quin’s mom?) had been bugging me to go for months. Adam and I went not too long ago, and fell in love… what is this place?

Baloney’s is a Barrington, IL landmark, attached to the Catlow Theater, an old-style movie theater. They are famous for their kitschy decor

And even more famous for their remarkably huge and delicious sandwiches. The first couple times we went, I got a Dagwood sandwich, and I only got a phone picture of it.

Yes, it was delicious…and yes, I ate the whole thing! Tonight though, the girl behind the counter was making suggestions to Lizz and I decided to take her advice. I got a Reuben. Usually, Reubens disappoint me, as the corned beef isn’t as good as I think it should be, or there’s not enough cheese, or the sauerkraut is too sour… but not this Reuben. Oh no. This…well, this was epic.

Oh, but you can’t see how HUGE this was… let me help you out:

It was, quite possibly, the BEST sandwich I’ve ever had. Seriously. I’ll never be able to eat a Reuben again without comparing it to this one. Lizz agreed with me that they were amazing sandwiches. She got a beef and cheddar sandwich:

She kept saying “I’m never going to Arby’s again!” We both agreed that these were truly epic sandwiches. I got Adam a Dagwood sandwich, and if you don’t know why it’s called a Dagwood, this is why:

This is Dagwood Bumstead, of the “Blondie” comic strip, and he was famous for eating enormous sandwiches!

What made my evening of food even more epic?

Oh yes. That would be Früz. But more specifically, one of their Nü Naturals mixes which was (get this, are you sitting down?) Key Lime Pie with graham cracker crumbs! It was the BEST Früz I’ve ever had! Lizz and I shopped a little bit, and once I got home, I was about ready to crash… but I had to share this evening with you all!

I’ll be cooking again tomorrow, and I’m determined to try a new recipe! Do you have any ideas for me?

Technorati Tags: beef, Chicago dining, dinner out, friends, red meat, restaurant, sandwich, Top Chef, wedding

20 Comments

Mara @ What's For Dinner?, November 12th 2009 | Tags: beef, Chicago dining, dinner out, friends, red meat, restaurant, sandwich, Top Chef, wedding
Posted in beef, dinner out, friends

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