De-lish

August 9, 2011 In De-lish, Food, Photos, Wisconsin

can you believe i didn’t get the nutella one?

I know right? I can’t believe it either. It probably won’t ever happen again. The thing is, I had some life-changing fresh peaches last week when I made some red sangria, so when I saw the option for a peach and blackberry crepe:

…at Bradbury’s:

…on Saturday morning, I just had to have it. I made a good choice:

I gobbled this thing up in a second. It was the perfect fresh and all-organic breakfast to fuel me for the mac-daddy of all farmer’s markets; the Dane Country Farmers MarketÂ on Capital Square in Madison.

***(To be continued in part 2…)

August 4, 2011 In De-lish, Food, Illinois

never ending food porn

I might be borderline obsessed with delicious and pretty food. Even this, my simple veggie quesadilla from a patio dinner at Moonshine a couple weeks ago was beautiful to me:

Good food coupled by good company is like the best thing ever.

July 29, 2011 In De-lish, Food, People, Photos, Virginia

annual cheese and friend weekend? i like it

This weekend last year I was hanging out in Madison, Wisconsin with old friends who are my besties who never fail to crack me up:

We did things like wandered the biggest farmers market in the country:

…to participate in a classic Wisconsin cheese-fest fun, like trying fresh cheese curds:

(The squeaking totally freaked me out!)

…and fresh-baked spicy cheese bread:

Mmm…

We were essentially on repeat that whole weekend cracking up and eating a ton of cheese. Delish.Â Lucky me, I get to head to madison next weekend and do it all over again. Yeah! Who knew this girl would love the Midwest so much.

Ian’s Pizza~

Yes, I think I should see you annually too! You had me at Mac n’ cheese pizza…

July 25, 2011 In De-lish, Food, Illinois

how do you gear up for a cubs game?

With free double dark chocolate cupcakes of course!

Meet Ellen and Morgan:

We passed by them on the way to the game Saturday as they were enticing the crowd with: “Would you guys like a free cupcake?”

Heck yes we would!

These friendly cupcake gifters said they drove all the way from California:

…in their nifty little van with their fresh-baked salt caramel, red velvet, and double dark chocolate sweets- to treat Saturday morning baseball fans. People swarmed them:

What a fun job. Cheers to Sprinkles!

(Why do I look like a kid who stole candy and hid behind the truck anyway? They gave the cupcakes to us!)

The only and best place fit for a photo of me noshing on the goodness, was of course right in front of the famous Wrigley Field sign:

Mmm…chocolate.

Who knew one little cupcake could make a girl so happy?

July 8, 2011 In De-lish, Food, Illinois, Photos

girls just wanna have fu-un

I had dinner with girlfriends last night at Mon Ami Gabi. I have always had more guy friends than girl friends, but for whatever reason recently, life has delivered me some of the most hilarious, fun, smart, sassy, accomplished and interesting women to hang with and I am loving it. We were all too busy chatting and being “that table” laughing too loudly to take photos of our first 54 courses of food, but I finally grabbed my camera when dessert came:

Do you know how hard it is to wait even 10 seconds to dig in with stuff like this in front of you and 3 other women with forks and spoons? These plates didn’t stand a chance against us:

Fruits, crepes, puff pastries, chocolate cakes, creme brulee’-oh my! Indeed like a pack of wherewolves attacked. I am all about those times the chef decides to just send out every dessert on the menu.

Here’s to French themed patio summer nights, never ending food-porn photos and falling asleep stuffed and smiling.

June 25, 2011 In De-lish, Food, Illinois, Photos

to market to market

This gorgeous Saturday morning got me up and out to explore the Green City Market. This Farmers Market is located on the south end of Lincoln Park in Chicago and it was packed:

I wandered through fruits and veggies:

…fresh-baked loaves of bread that made me want to bite right into them:

…and pretty pink flowers for sale:

I love that each vendor had a tag attached to their space with personal notes about them and information on miles traveled from farm to market:

I opted for a strawberry fruit smoothie for my treat from Seedling Farms:

Gorgeous color and totally delicious.

The good old American Saturday morning in the summer at the Farmer’s Market; Crowds noshing on fresh fruits right out of the baskets, chef’s stocking up on supplies for weekend dinners, and kids running around in the grass screeching with delight.

Simple things, happy places.

June 21, 2011 In De-lish, Food, Illinois, Photos

food porn

(I’m sorry, there is just no other term strong enough to describe the following!)

The famous chopped salad from Wildfire:

The famous cinnamon roll from Ann Sather:

…oozing with warm icing:

Frites and egg at the Publican:

…and their snap pea salad:

And this was just a small portion of my Wednesday through Sunday last week!

Chicago sure has been spoiling me on the food front. So much de-lish, so little time…

June 11, 2011 In De-lish, Food, Illinois, Photos

chi-town saturdays

Rules:

1.) Get all your errands and “important” done in the morning.

2.) Get showered and dressed for the day by noon.

3.) Wear comfortable shoes.

4.) Leave your house and get on some sort of public transportation

5.) Plan on getting home at…???

Yep, that’s how you must do it. And you don’t even have to bring a ton of money either!

Last weekend a friend and I met up for free wine tasting. Wandered out of the building and into a guy who had some beer mugs, asked him where he got them and in a flash, we turned, walked up the street 4 blocks and voila! Maifest Chicago:

Singing, dancing, packed house and Mmm…pretzels and Hofbrau Haus beer. Prost!

It took me back to that summer in Germany when I was 15. That’s when nomad and adventurer Diane was born.

The marathoning of festivals and events continued as we walked and walked in the sunshine, hopped on a bus, got rained on a bit, walked some more, more wine tasting and then met up with some other friends at Big Star:

Yes, this is a veggie tostada, but I totally ate a pork taco, so broke my vegetarianism. The food at this place is smack yo mamma good, so when I saw the words “cilantro” and “grilled pineapple” in the description after the “marinated pork”, I had to. Oh was it so worth it. The vibe at this honkey-tonk-ish, tatted up joint was perfect, the place was slam-packed and people watching was a blast.

After Big Star we headed to Ukrainian where there was yet another festival. I went to bed so happy and exhausted that night I slept like a baby.

Yikes! It’s past the noon hour and I have a Saturday worth of festivals and friends to meet, so I’m off…

Can you tell I’m having a blast in Festival City, USA for a few months of good weather?

May 25, 2011 In De-lish, Photos, Vermont

this makes me crave an otter summer…

…from Otter Creek Brewing Company.

No matter where I am in the country, every time I see a Vermont license plate, my stomach does a happy flip. I love my home state. I spotted this VT plate and sticker a couple days ago in Chicago and had to smile:

There sure is a lot of delicious beer in the Green Mountain State. Here’s to local brews for the summertime!

ILOVERMONT.

May 18, 2011 In De-lish, Food, Illinois, People

‘it’s sweet, it’s fresh, and it’s gonna send you to sugar heaven.”

A friend called last minute on Friday, was in town for work for the day, and said he wanted pizza. Of course! I’m in Chicago, so deep dish was a must.

We met at Gino’s East of course:

We had quite the lunch experience. First lets start with my pizza; Deep dish cheese with tomatoes. My own perfect little pie:

Perfect thick crust:

…and oh that cheese:

You all know me by now. You know I am a foodie, and that I think there is nothing more important than time with people you love, feasting and laughing. I’ve lunched with this particular friend bunches of times over the past 14 years, but this particular time was one of my all-time favorites because our waiter added the perfect entertainment value. He was sweet, polite, thorough and just an all around happy chatty guy. Meet Demi:

Demi is from Bulgaria. We chatted about his time in Chicago, how much he loved his job and the people he works with at Gino’s. When I asked him if I could take a picture of him, he replied “Only if you are with me!”

I often wish when I write, you all could’ve been there, because words on a computer screen can’t capture moments as well as if you were in person when scenes unfold. After we paid our bill, Demi cooly breezed by our table out of nowhere, dropped a bag in front of me with an enormous cookie in it and simply said “It’s sweet, it’s fresh, and it’s gonna send you to sugar heaven” with his fantastic accent as he waved and went back to work.

We all rolled with laughter, and left stuffed and smiling. A delicious lunch with friends and a quote I’m sure we will use for lots of years to come.

Thanks Demi, you totally made our day. How did you know I love hot, fresh chocolate chip cookies anyway?