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Who said a local breakfast had to be boring?
Well my Locavore friends, we have come to the end. Sadly, the Locavore Challenge for Green City Market ended today (Wednesday) but that doesn’t mean that a Locavore Challenge for you has to end. You can keep incorporating local, sustainable foods into your every day menu.
This does not have to be hard. It can mean using Blue Marble cream in your coffee for breakfast, salad greens from Granor Farms for lunch and Heartland Meats beef hamburgers for dinner. Easy. Delicious.
Simple, right?
Today, to mark the end of the LC, I bought a crisp and sugary sweet sticky roll with pecans from Floriole.
For lunch, I had a burger (so did Ruthie!) from Sunday Dinner! In case any of you have had these heavenly burgers, I thought I would take a picture of the SD menu board for you. PS, the cheese used on the burgers is a cold packed horseradish cheddar cheese spread from Brunkow ($6)!
In order to be as Locavorish as I can, I stocked up groceries for the rest of the week. Gee, who said eating locally was hard?! Is it so hard to buy fresh croissants, chewy ciabatta bread, sweet cream butter, Michigan peaches, creamy horseradish cheddar cheese spread and sticky buns?! No. And I bet the stuff you buy at Green City Market will taste better and be better for you than anything you can buy at the Jewel.
Yesterday, I also had the pleasure of giving tours to kindergartners from St. Monica Academy. They were too adorable and believe me, as they were at our tasting table munching on Asian pears, grapes, pineapple ground cherries, purple carrots and cilantro, they made eating local look easy.
….And they were 5 years old!
For dinner, as a final hurrah, my friends and I ate lamb bratwursts with fresh, whole wheat bread from Bennison’s. As lamb grease dribbled down our chins, we both spoke excitedly about the amazing local dinners to come.
I can almost taste them.
I have decided to update this blog to include a section of recipes and meal ideas from local chefs and Chicagoans. Keep on reading Making Chicago Home for more updates on what to eat!
Dev xx
Spotted on Bus 36 at 8.50 am this morning headed toward Green City Market: hilarious vandalism.
In case it is hard for you to see, the bottom says, “On CTA, however, you LOSE 32 hours a year. Sorry.”
Funny and true.
Dev xx
Sponsored by TimeOut Chicago, check out this free event at the Old Orchard Mall in Skokie!
-Ileana
My post for Sunday is going to be pretty bland because I forgot my camera and do not really feel like reporting much! I ate a delicious Bennison’s croissant for breakfast and then headed to Arlington Heights with Tim to celebrate his 25th birthday with his family!
We watched the Bears play (what can be more local than cheering for your local team?!) and munched on Brunkow’s dill and garlic cheese curds and Brunkow garlic cheese on crackers.
For dinner, Tim’s mom fixed a delicious crown pork roast with green bean and sweet potato casseroles. Probably not local, but you cannot deny it was a tasty dinner.
Tim wanted a vanilla cake with Oreo frosting that I made from scratch. Ummm, it was not a local cake. Sorry!
Day 13 was spent catching up with this blog and the only thing I have really eaten is a Honey Crisp apple. I guess we all have to have a break day!
I have pictures…somewhere…but to tell you the truth, I probably will not post any.
Told you this would be bland.
Dev xx
I am going to admit it right now: I was not on my ‘A’ game Saturday morning. I was exhausted from Tim’s birthday dinner the night before, not to mention the crazy guys in my apartment building shouting at each other until the wee hours of the morning. Ugh.
Instead of coffee, though, I decided to pep myself up with Floriole’s ham and cheese croissant. That did the trick. It was still warm when they gave it to me and the Brunkow cheese was melty and rich. Yum!
Later during the day, I got word that there was a puppy belonging to one of the vendors at Green City, so I went over with Laura to see what was up and what we found was the most adorable Jack Russell Terrier puppy, Flynnley (sp?!). She is only 10 weeks old and the Burton’s Maple folks painted her little claws to match her collar (big awww!). She attracted big crowds and I had the pleasure of getting to hold her to show her off. I took lots of pictures that you can see if you “click to read the rest of this article” at the bottom!
The gorgeous flowers that Jerry and Jill from Stoney Run Fields gave me!
One of my favourite parts of Green City Market are all the kind volunteers, workers, vendors and shoppers who love chatting with you about sustainable food or their products. Jerry and Jill are two of my darlings and always make time to chat with me when I walk by their stall. They are so passionate about growing the most beautiful country flowers and I love listening to them talk about whatever! :-)
For lunch, Tim stopped by the market and we enjoyed Sunday Dinner’s delicious, local, sustainable and seasonal pre-prepared food. Tim ordered the delicious burger, made from Heartland Meats ground beef, topped with Growing Power’s baby green mix, Brunkow cheese and mayonnaise, all on a Bennison sesame seed bun. Tim said it was one of the best burgers he has ever had!
I had the lamb bratwurst, which was also so delicious, I am going to invest in some for this weeks’ dinners!
Make sure to check out more pictures of Flynnley on the next page!
Dev xx
For breakfast on Friday, I had a huge, crisp and juicy Honey Crisp apple from 1st Orchards and Greenhouses in Michigan. As one person aptly put it, Honey Crisp apples are the Mercedes of apples.
Friday was a big day because I had to finish up my shopping for my friend’s birthday on Sunday. Since I was trying to stick with the local theme, I found a hilarious card by a local artist who goes by the title Rovenko. You can find her stuff on Etsy.com, but if you want to buy from a local store, then you can find her stuff at Paper Boy on W. Belmont.
Since I was on the run practically the whole day, I did not have time for a full lunch. Instead, I opened the bag of dill and garlic cheese curds I bought from Brunkow Cheese of Wisconsin from GCM, and snacked on those. Later, I had some delicious sweet corn on the cob from 1st Orchards.
Perfect Corn on the Cob:
For perfect corn on the cob, bring your water to a boil first then add the corn for only three minutes! It is not necessary to keep the cobs in for five because if you boil them too long you start to break down the sugars into starch and the corn starts to lose its sweetness. Drain the corn and then slather on Nordic Creamery’s sweet cream butter (it is lightly salted) and eat immediately while still steamy!
Dev xx
If you were wondering where to have your next date/group dinner/dinner with a friend, look no further than Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises’ Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba! Conveniently located only a hop, skip and a jump away from Steppenwolf Theatre at 2024 N. Halstead, I thought Ruthie and I would give this place a try before we headed over to see Fake.
Since I was not sure if we were going to be terribly hungry or just go for drinks before our girl’s night out, I made reservations at Ba-Ba-Reeba through Open Table, a .com site that lets me make reservations for free online (I hate calling reservations in!).
As soon as we made our way to the restaurant, we decided to sit outside. The wait staff is uber-friendly, almost alarmingly so, as they made cheery, direct conversation. They showed us to a patio table and our waitress gave us a thorough explanation of the menu since it was our first time. She told us that the sangria was a favourite and that she recommended the black raspberry. Ruthie ordered the classic red sangria which had a deep, fruity taste and bitter aroma. My black raspberry was definitely more mild but had a tangy aftertaste.
Since Ba-Ba is known for its tapas, Ruthie and I thought we could not go wrong by ordering a few…errr…a lot. We ordered the above, or the short-rib stuffed piquillo pepper on toast. I am used to tasting a million different ingredients, but this pintxos did not need much to make it good. It practically melted in your mouth.
Bacon-wrapped dates
Ruthie tried the bacon-wrapped dates while I marveled at the fact that Ba-Ba had a local dish! Yes, they had a Green City Market special…wood oven roasted cauliflower with capers and onions! It only appears on their weekly menu until Sept. 23rd, but I thought it was cool that they tried to incorporate local ingredients for those of us in the Locavore Challenge!
Read more…click below! Read the rest of this entry »
Day nine, or Thursday, started really early and ended very late! Since I was up at the crack of dawn, I made myself raspberry yoghurt, sprinkling the very, very last of the season’s raspberries atop of organic Wallaby vanilla yoghurt. Now, Wallaby is not local, so this is cheating a bit, but I must say that it was bought before the Locavore Challenge and had to be consumed before I had to write a post titled, “When good yoghurt goes bad”.
Part of the LC is to not let anything go to waste.
For lunch, Tim and I decided to head over to our favourite spot in the city, Bittersweet, located on 1114 W. Belmont Ave. in Lakeview. I have told you guys this before and I will tell you again that Bittersweet is, by far, the best lunch in Chicago. Oh yes, yes, yes…we all coo over the Bourgeois Pig and do flips over Al’s deli sandwiches (not technically in Chicago proper, but close enough!) but Bittersweet does everything right for a good price, great location and even more amazing pastries.
So, as you can see from the above picture, I started with the matzo ball soup. The matzo dumplings were tender and flavoured with chicken fat. They came in a bath of vegetable soup with chicken stock and was a light and delicious first course. That is one of the best things about Bittersweet: You never leave the cafe feeling like there is a brick in your stomach. Everything satisfies your hunger without making you feel like you have be rolled down the street afterward!
For my main dish, the chicken dijon salad was just calling my name! This sandwich, which obviously has mayo in it, also has a generous helping of dijon mustard, making it a more complex chicken salad. Pair that with the diced carrots and celery thrown in the mix and put it on freshly baked wheat bread and you have yourself a thick sandwich that tastes zesty and sweet.
For the finale, may I suggest the lemon and chocolate Parisian macaroons? A French favourite, and something that is hard to find not in a rolled coconut form, these Parisian macaroons are made from blanched almonds and egg whites. The filling is made of egg whites and butter. However simple these may seem, do not be fooled: Bittersweet has put a twist on these classic favourites by flavouring them with lemon and chocolate! At first, the crunchy shell breaks under your teeth, but then you sink in to a chewy interior, making these macaroons crispy like a cookie and moist and crumby like cake.
The chocolate ones are not to be missed. They taste like brownie edges and have a rich taste that will stick to the roof of your mouth!
In addition, they have a ton of gorgeous little sugar cookies shaped into cute objects, like the Crayon above!
Bon appetit!
Dev xx
The capital building in Madison.
Before school starts again, I knew I would be remiss to neglect my ongoing efforts to explore all the wonderful things the Midwest has to offer during my fall break. So when a friend invited me to accompany her to Madison, WI to visit her Alma mater, I jumped at the opportunity!
A mere 3 hours outside of Chicago, Madison is an old town, made popular by the University of Wisconsin campus. (Now don’t get me wrong, as a graduate of FSU, my new-found love of Madison has little to do with their football team!)
State Street.
The main artery of Madison is State Street, a bustling thoroughfare of cars, bikes, students and alcohol–with a smattering of food and boutiques, of course! The street leads directly from the campus to the capital building. The building, incidentally, is the very one that our nation’s capital is modeled after! Fancy that!
Evidently, State Street is where the majority of off-campus activities take place. Staying true to Wisconsin’s seeming love of all things low-key and quiet, the avenue does not extend too far, rendering Madison ultimately quaint and homey.
An old, Frank Lloyd Wright building.
UW Madison’s campus is one of the most vibrant and scenic I may have ever seen. Though its building aesthetic leaves much to be desired (some architectural A.D.D.), it mixes an innate appreciation of history with a kitsch mentality to acheive the je ne sais quoi that is Madison. Confused yet? Let me show you…
A dining hall in the Union.
Above is a shot of the student union. This is only one of the dining areas in the building, but helps to illustrate my point. The cavernous, pass-the-bratwurst style room is complemented by an adjacent, modern tech room with large windows, and a nearby rec-room of Buddhist monks. Slightly disorganized, but oddly comforting.
The Terrace.
The Union building has an outdoor eating and lounging area called The Terrace which, as I soon learned, is a prominent destination for current students, alumni, faculty and visitors alike. It provides a glorious view of Lake Monona, and I am not ashamed to admit that I spent many a relaxing hour (0r 3) sitting there and enjoying the beautiful weather. (Also, the brightly colored and bizarre shaped chairs are unique to the Madison campus!)
A peak over Mr. Lincoln's shoulder provides a full view of the campus.
I was shocked to find how large the campus is. Quite comparable in size to Florida State’s, walking from one side of the campus to the other proved to be quite a feat! At one point, we reached a very sizable hill (the very one Lincoln sits atop in the above photo), a walkway that many students must cross in order to get to class. Huffing and wheezing when I finally made it to the top, I now understamd the reason behind everyone’s’ svelte physiques!
My friend (and apparent tour guide) regaled me with some campus lore that Mr. Lincoln has been known to stand in the presence of Madison virgins. As you will notice in the photo, he sits.
Lake Monona.
It would seem that every corner of the UW campus is swelling to the point of bursting with scenic beauty. Many dorms have uninterrupted views of the Lake, and a gravel path runs from one end of the campus to the other… on the water. Here in Chicago, I thought I’d seen it all when it comes to pretty lakes. How delightfully wrong I was.
The drive back home to Chicago that night was very easy. In fact, it may have taken us less time than the drive up.
Wisonsin's famed dairy farms.
If you’re looking to spend a fun weekend away from the bustle of city life, and not commit to exorbitant hotel prices, why not give Madison a try? Close enough to not be a bother, but far enough so one can enjoy the feeling of having been on a mini-vacation.
-Ileana
While I love the Bourgeois Pig, located in Lincoln Park, I sometimes think you have to be part of the bourgeoisie to eat there! Why? This place is expensive! Now, I am not a cheap lady and I certainly would not stiff it to eat well (and say, eat at Uncle Sammie’s…blech!), but this place could go a little easier on their prices! But before you judge that, let’s all take a minute to appreciate the Great Gatsby, arguably one of the best sandwiches in Chicago!
Is your mouth watering yet? Mine is while I write this!
The Great Gatsby (shown above!) is a twist on the club. Inside is crumbled bacon, oven roasted turkey, swiss cheese, avocado, tomatoes and leaf spinach, blanketed in basil pesto and mayonnaise and tucked between focaccia bread. After they dress your sandwich, it gets thrown on the grill!
This is my second time with The Great Gatsby, so I do have a thorough critique. The sandwich, at first bite, is heavenly. The swiss has a sweet, young flavour that is perfectly complemented by the avocado and although you cannot really taste every ingredient in the sandwich, it is palate pleasing and you crave for more. But upon the second bite you realise how much basil pesto the sandwich maker slathered on. Now, all you are tasting is olive oil and pesto clogging your tastebuds and letting everything else slide down your throat without savouring the flavour of the turkey or bacon. And why exactly do you need mayonnaise AND pesto? Pesto, when added correctly, can moisten the bread and delicately season the sandwich without other help.
My advice to the Pig is to lose the mayo and lighten up on the pesto. The sandwich is amazing but it loses a lot of its umph when you don’t let the other ingredients speak for themselves!
While it is tasty, this sandwich, which is rather small and thin and only comes with a pickle garnish, will drain about $9 from your wallet. Pair that with a bottle of rootbeer, and you are looking at $12 of damage. And I reckon, if you were hungry to begin with, you will be hungry when you leave.
Sticking with the Locavore Challenge (because yes, this means I fell off the wagon) I chugged down a Goose Island rootbeer, brewed in Chicago, to add something local to my dinner!
Now it’s your turn. What is your favourite thing at the Pig, why and is it too expensive?
Dev xx
