Jim Gaffigan, Rearranging the Apartment, and a Mustache Dinner Party

Not to knock how we spent two weekends ago...

- BUT -

This past weekend was awesome!!

On Friday night we went to see Comedian, Jim Gaffigan.  I'm not going to lie - before Hunky asked if I wanted to go see the show I had never head of Mr. Gaffigan.  He is HILARIOUS!  The great thing is that the humor isn't profane - this is NOT one of those shows where you are just wiggling around in your seat waiting for it to be over!  This is a show that could have gone on all night and I wouldn't have noticed!  The stories about his family are fantastic, how he talks about his wife is totally adorable, and his take on seafood cracks me up! You may enjoy Jim's take on Cinnabon.

 Saturday was spent rearranging the apartment.  We had been kicking the idea around for a good three months and finally had a day and a half, as well as a deadline, a dinner party the next day, so that the project couldn't carry on for months.  Lucky for us to only big piece of furniture we have in the couch - a sectional - which conveniently is able to break a part into smaller, easier to move, sections!  My new favorite space is the designated and contained area for Anna's crafting!  Hooray for not being a slob and taking over 50% of the space with my sewing! If you are considering rearranging your place I would strongly recommend taking an evening or couple of weeks to discuss and plan - we would still be living in a huge mess if we hadn't had a well thought out plan.

Sunday - we went to mass and then spent the morning preparing for a dinner party we were hosting.  I usually hate to walk down Michigan Ave. it is usually quite crowded with people who aren't paying attention to anything.  A lot of unsuspecting tourists get mugged walking down the Avenue.  Needless to say, that's a major reason why I avoid it.  Although on a Sunday morning at 10:30 it seemed safe.  I'm certainly glad we walked that way - we were able to enjoy Tiffany's Great Gatsby themed windows!  I am sooo excited to see the movie and plan on attending it in my fringed flapper dress!

Now, doesn't every good, Catholic couple go to stock up on wine and beer before 11 am... That's what we were thinking with our cart full of dinner party essentials at Trader Joes 8 minutes before 11 am... the legal time to sell alcohol on Sundays. On a side note - my mom is all about owls these days often saying "Owls are hot."  Well, it's true, they are hot enough to be on Japanese beer!

Part of our rearranging included moving the dining room table to a room lacking a ceiling light fixture, but on the plus side it has a whole wall of windows.  After we argued for half an hour, walked to Home Goods, thought about poverty inflicted by purchasing a Crate & Barrel lamp, and considered throwing one another in front of a bus, Hunky made a quick trip to Ikea to avoid a dinner party of darkness, and came back with this gem.  Yes - sometimes that's how decisions are made - and we like to think it's perfectly normal. :)

My lovely spring colors table-scape - enhanced by the fabulous flowers Hunky gave me earlier in the week - and of course - our under kitchen cut-out bike.  We have a lot of bikes in our place lately.  Hunky has a new hobby and is really running - errr- riding with it...

 We had fun playing around with the mustache drink markers Hunky's sister gave him - thanks Beth!  The mustache selection process was quite intense...

"Should I go with my dream mustache or the one that I would probably have if I were to grow one?"

... and then we figured out they would stick to our faces...

Sometimes when we cram 100 million things into a weekend it's a blast!

New Years 2013

We rang in 2013 with Hunky's cousins Judy, Jen, and Josh.  I think they had fun running around the city with us because at some point there was a call home to their mom begging to stay another night :)

For the big night itself - we tried to do things a bit fancy... like an all you can eat all you can drink Chicago style extravaganza. Minus the booze, plus sparkling cider, a lot more candy, and card games!

Our fabulous spread - most of the complicated recipes were thanks to Pinterest.  Shrimp, veggie tray, chips and dip, Parmesan egg plant pizzas, brie puff, steak, potatoes, candy, creme puffs, ice cream... seriously you name it we snacked on it!

 Full , but not too full! At midnight we ran down to the beach to watch the fireworks over Navy Pier.  It was incredibly cold, but what a fun way to kick off 2013!

 

The next day we explored Michigan Ave.  The boys convinced poor Jen to try a super hot chili sauce from one of the stores in the mall.  Poor girl became sick to her stomach! :(

Jake Melnick's is one of our favorite resturants in the city - chances are if you've visited us - or if you will in the future - we'll take you here! Seriously fantastic barbeque.

After a few days of shopping, fantastic food, and great company we packed them into their car and told them to go back to school :D

Sprinkles Cupcake ATM!

Hunky, Beans, and I went to check out the Sprinkles Cupcake ATM last night on our walk.  What a neat and delicious machine!  You can see the little box with our cupcake in it right inside the machine.  Shortly after Hunky snapped this photo we had to hustle to get our cupcake out of the machine because the door began to quickly close... With the cupcake still inside!  Apparently you only get 30 seconds to get your treat. :D

We picked red velvet and it was delicious!  We'll probably be going to that ATM a little more than we should... YUM!

Corn Chowder

Due to a recent increase in sweet corn, (thanks Mom and Dad!) I've been getting creative with corn in the kitchen recently.  This Corn Chowder recipe from Simply Recipes is just delicious, super easy, and I believe it would also be excellent chilled - I'll get back with you on that one after lunch today!

I added sliced garlic and topped with Parmesan cheese.

An 8 Course Meal

To celebrate Hunky's return home after 6 months on the road we purchased a Gilt City coupon to have an 8 course dinner at a local restaurant Merlot on Maple.  It was an experience.

Before we get into the details here are a few things I learned about attending our 8 course celebration dinner...

• Don't arrive too hungry.
• Don't arrive too sleepy.
• Your courses won't arrive with instructions - so just do the best you can - and hope that those that you are eating with aren't embarrassed as you attempt to, for example I don't know -  cut through really hard cheese without shooting pieces of it across the room...
• Don't fill up on the bread basket - even if it is delicious and the time between courses makes you want to gnaw off your own arm.
• If the atmosphere is headlined by a British couple in an argument due to a lack of music or any background noise you and your dining partner will probably come down with a case of the giggles. 
• If another couple is seated very very close to you - close enough that you no longer notice the British couple arguing - close enough that you might as well be sitting together - close enough that their conversation, which is super awkward, might as well be your conversation - then the giggles may continue.
•  You may get hungry enough at some point during taking photos of all 8 courses that you forget to take a photo of a few courses and just clean your plate.
• 2 ravioli is never enough.  Not ever. Especially when they are delicious.
• If your waitress doesn't seem kind or engaging - try the person who buses the tables.  Her name was Alma and she was fantastic!
• I truly, truly missed my husband he is probably the most fun person I know and I am so happy to have him back home!

 

Cheers to Hunky being home!  Note the tired looking eyes, the sleepiness will set in around course 5, just before the food sickness. Also - I wish this photo captured sound so you might be able to listen to the British couple bicker.  Even though they were obviously angry their accents were just lovely.

  Prosciutto and aged Parmesan - how does one eat this? 

 

Our Menu

 

I could eat this quiche everyday for the rest of my life - it was that good.  And those greens, don't they look manly?  I hope you think so, because they are called "Manly Greens" 

  

This soup was really cheesy.  I believe that the next course is the one I devoured without photographing - it was a yummy little egg plant bite.

I believe this was Hunky's favorite course.  A super meaty sauce on a bed of homemade noodles.

 I could have eaten about 20 of these ravioli - by far my favorite course!

Hunky is such a good sport. He's probably starving waiting to eat those ravioli!

Look how blurry I am!  Hopefully you can make out the thumbs up - we're most the of the way through our dinner and still going strong! 2 bread baskets in!  And yes, in case you are wondering, I have worn my jean jacket pretty much every day since I purchased it :)

The meat course.  Now this is what a palm sized serving looks like!

 Drunken angel food cake with a chocolate filling... yumm

We made it to dessert!  We missed the final course of assorted cookies because Hunky wasn't feeling well.  Which was okay because it gave me an excuse to down more bread before we left!

Have you done any fun Groupon-like excursions lately?

An Afternoon of Chocolate & Latte Tasting

 

My fabulous sister-in-law Bethany came out to visit Hunky and myself about a month ago.  We had a great time catching up, shopping, eating good food and having our own little chocolate and latte tasting from a local Leonidas Cafe.  Thanks to Groupon we had 2 delicious lattes and 6 pieces each of the clerks favorite chocolates... 

 Needless to say, we each only made it though about 3.5 pieces each.  They were nice enough to bag up the rest for us to take home and avoid sugar overload!

I think she'll be back soon! :D

Delicious Easy Beer Bread Recipe

In truth this is not the most beautiful piece of food you'll ever make... BUT... IT'S DELICIOUS! This fact in itself totally makes up for what this lovely hunk of bread lacks in aesthetics. The recipe is quick and easy... enjoy!

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 12 oz beer (my advice on selecting this is very limited, I just used what was in the fridge.)
• 1 egg beaten
  

Place the rack in the oven on a low/middle rung.

Preheat your oven to 375.

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.

Add beer and stir until combined.

Turn dough onto floured surface and kneed quickly to form a ball.

Place bread on baking sheet and slit an "X" on top with a serrated or sharp knife.

Beat egg.

Brush beaten egg over dough. Try not to make mess.

Attempt to fix mess with turkey baster.

Give up on turkey baster and use paper towel to wipe up extra egg.

Bake 45 min until golden brown.
Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Enjoy!

Hunky and I created a very simple honey butter to put on our bread. We put some good old tub butter in a ramekin and whisked in some honey from a bear jar with a fork. Simple - delicious.