The andouille sausage + crawfish + pimento cheese fries at The Second Line in Midtown were amazing!!
Great patio area with outdoor bar and huge trees shading the customers!
therealcherish
Random thoughts from within my brain…
Category Archives: Food
Random things I learned last month
Dutch ovens are the best cooking invention ever. And short ribs are way easier to cook than I ever imagined. Big ups to Home Goods (discounted cookware!) and The Butcher and Larder (for the short ribs and tips on how to cook them)!
Bobbi Brown‘s Bronze Shimmer Brick is one of my favorite beauty products, but it did not survive my recent business trip. After failed attempts to put it together like a puzzle, it’s just a $48 mess. So sad.
When given the opportunity to try a limited reserve tequila, never pass it up! I thought I hated Cuervo until I was exposed to the Jose Cuervo Reserva de la Familia Extra Anjeo. Where can I find another bottle????
There is good gumbo in Chicago!!!! Analogue in Logan Square came with some awesome Cajun recipes. Yum. We went there three times in January.
Dog coats are a blessing and curse…helps her in the Chicago cold. But when she wears it she doesn’t want to come home as quickly!
Hope your year has started out fun too! 🎉
Lunch Bliss -Goat Chili Cheese Fries
While the Little Goat in Chicago’s West Loop has a menu full of tasty entrees and sandwiches (hint, hint – Los Drowned, Bull’s Eye French Toast and my fav The Reuben), some days when I go there I crave the ultimate “side as an entree” meal (especially when the temps are barely hovering above zero)… Introducing Little Goat’s GOAT CHILI CHEESE FRIES. 😛😀🙌👌
Go try them!!
Frozen Friday: Trader Joe’s – Potato Pancakes | Brand Eating
Found this post about these amazing frozen potato latkes that my neighborhood Trader Joe’s was sampling last week. I grabbed a box and made them for breakfast today! Frozen Friday: Trader Joe’s – Potato Pancakes | Brand Eating.
You have to try them! (with applesauce and sour cream, of course)
Valentine’s Day Recap
I had an amazing Valentine’s Day in Chicago last night!! The day started with a coworker lunch at Uncle Bub‘s BBQ in Westmont where they were giving out carnations to the ladies…
followed by a work place delivery of Garrett’s Popcorn (Chicago Mix – cheese + caramel).
After a horrible bout with traffic, my guy ordered an Uber, who’s amazing driver Mark presented me with a beautiful rose and a note from Uber.
The highlight of the day was the amazing pre-fixe dinner at Bar Pastoral – a cheese and wine bistro in the Lakeview neighborhood. The menu is below, followed by the amazing dishes that were served…
We started with the spiked cupid cocktails and mini pancakes with creme fresh and strawberry jam.
The hand pulled mozzarella was my fav dish, by far! It was amazing…
Proscuitto and cheese curds with arugula…
Beef cheeks and celery root puree…
… everything was topped off with cake pops…
…and they sent us home with some salted chocolate chip cookies for a cab-ride snack!
All in all, it was a great night and I can’t wait to go back!!
We also celebrated this weekend at the Polar Beer Fest at Rock Bottom Brewery in the Loop. While I’m not a cold weather person, I layered on the Nike Pro Hyperwarm and Under Armour Cold Gear to keep me warm. I’m also not a beer drinker so it was more about the friends and festivities for me.
Easter Trip to DC (Recap)
I spent my Easter weekend in DC with my cousin Cheryl this year. She’s the amazing food genius behind The Neurotic Baker blog. I have the pleasure of helping her with a few of her creations and being the live-in taste tester for a weekend. I swear I almost moved in with her after she made the vanilla whoopie pies below. Enjoy the recap…
Brunch at DGS Delicatessen… The Potato Latkes and Crispy Pastrami were TO DIE FOR. The bottom pic is the DGS Reuben, which was good, but I wished I had ordered the pastrami sandwich because I just couldn’t get enough of it!
Then we took a trip to Horace and Dickies… after seeing a line down the street everytime we passed by this Man vs Food approved spot, we couldn’t take it anymore. The fish was AWESOME and the “atmosphere” was as memorable as they come. We took our “sandwich” – four filets and 2 pieces of white bread – and camped out next door at the Hookah lounge’s outdoor seating area.
H & Pizza was my first DC meal, and the pizza I chose was the Farmer’s Daughter. The egg yolk was a great touch!
FARMER’S DAUGHTER –
Spicy Tomato, Housemade Mozzarella, Hot Sausage,
Farm Eggs, Spinach, Parmesan Reggiano, Red Pepper Chili Oil
Breakfast at The Diner was prety good… except the “grits”. They called it grits on the menu but it was weird, thick grains, and super creamy. The creamy part was fine but the big grains was a little awkward. Either way, the food was overall pretty good. We tried to get mimosas, but the waiter reminded us that it was only 8:30 AM and drinks don’t start until 10. Hey. I was on vacation! No judgement.
A couple of scenic shots from the city and the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial that I finally got to visit at the National Mall!
My cousin Cheryl is also the MASTERMIND behind Edith and Ethel – home of the most AWESOME oatmeal raisin cookies in the world!! Her blog http://neuroticbaker.com/ is where I now go for most of my “impress your man” recipes… so far its working too! LOL! We spent most of the day on Sunday baking – whoopie pies, cupcakes, a cake, oatmeal raisin cookies… it was a post-Lent dream!! Everything was tasty but my favorite, hands down, were the Vanilla Whoopie Pies with rhubard filling or lemon-ginger filling.
Its My Birthday!!!
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“Recreating my birthday experience 30 years later at my employer @mcdonalds #imlovinit”
End of the World Suvival Kit – designerstyle
The best part of the holiday season at work is the amazing and tasty gifts our partners send us. There are cookies, sausages, popcorn, chocolates, cheese varieties, etc… and now, an end of the world survival kit!
While the useful and tasty items included are cool, the real start here are the slogans and comments. This must have been a truly exciting project for everyone involved! I took a few photos for your entertainment…
The box came in a very strong black bag with a warning label “Open in case of Armageddon” and below it “Radiation dampening and RF-shielded bag. In case of emergency, bag may be inflated and used as a floatation device.”
The box was labeled for the “Apocalypse” and sealed extra tight…
The dramatic dark colors, “scientific” fonts and extra features such as the aluminum panel all gave us second thoughts as to whether we might actually need this in a few days!!
A close-up of the contents… whisky (with a note to remember that the bottle is “portable”), rope (not to be used too close to the whiskey), duct tape with a “not edible” warning label, soap – to keep it clean, anti-rad pills (i.e. tic tacs), a glow stick which can also be used for light during surgical procedures, a chocolate bar that provides an aphrodisiac if needed, and a box of matches to burn the chocolate wrapper and prevent any zombies from following the smell. I can’t forget the coffee labeled “Stay awake, stay alive!” and lastly, the white flag to wave, in the event you need to surrender!

In the event you aren’t sure of what qualifies as “Armageddon”, there is a graphic-list of possible scenarios…
Hands down the BEST and most creative I’ve seen so far! Kudos to the amazing designers of Hexanine!
*bonus for all of you marketing and brand geeks – Check out their book Damn Good: Top Designers Discuss Their All-Time Favorite Projects
Happy 4th of July WEEK!!
Since the Fourth falls on a Wednesday (stupid for work calendars) its only right we celebrate ALL WEEK!!! Since I didn’t get to go back to Detroit and spend it with my family, it was only right that I have an equally appropriate meal in Chicago. Enter “Chicago’s Home of Chicken and Waffles” in Oak Park, IL. (Un)Fortunately I have become a near regular at this place! My wallet forgives me, my waistline cringes unless I get up the energy to walk to two miles there) and my friends love me for bringing them along!
This visit I had my usual Reverend C.E. Robinson’s smothered wings and potatoes with collard greens. It gets NO better. Drool away… Then go check it out for yourself!!
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therealcherish 