Even more Thanksgiving pictures...

I was going to leave it at the last set of pictures, but realized I hadn't truly captured Thanksgiving if there isn't at least one money shot: i.e., the turkey. The Big Bird. So here's Tony about to dig in.
And mom helping to set the table. We kept it very traditional this year -- green bean and mushroom casserole, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, deviled eggs, pumpkin pie, etc.
And, of course, the after dinner nap by Pam. Not that she needs turkey as an excuse to catch a nap. :-)
And our "lesson learned" for the year -- you can't put poinsettas outside up here. It's too darn cold. Coming from Florida, we'd always thought they were cold weather plants, since winter was the only time you buy them. Now we know better. This is, obviously, after we left them outdoors and brought them back inside. Sadly, they did not revive.

Some Thanksgiving Pictures...

Here's the obligatory belly shot, even though Mom says I barely look pregnant. Me, I feel like I swallowed a soccer ball. Harley, getting in the spirit. (Not really...but he kept it on stoically long enough to take a picture).
Gracie, posing, as per usual. "Hey, Harley," she says, "This is how you wear a scarf! You gotta work it!"
Mom and Pam awaiting the turkey.
Tony and Watson putting the lights on the tree. We got a real one this year. It's bee-yutiful and very festive, though Harley is disappointed since he likes to chew on the fake ones (his yearly flossing).

Tony's Birthday "Big Night"

Things have been so crazy that I hadn't gotten this posted earlier. The Saturday after Tony's birthday, we had a birthday gathering with our neighbors a la the movie the Big Night. We spent all day making a timpano -- handmaking the sauce, the pasta, the meatballs, etc. I practiced my mommy-to-be skills by putting together some stuff for the kids to do (we made chef hats out of poster board and tissue paper and I had them make "spatula people" as a cooking-related craft).

This is a pic of the timpano going in the oven. That's Emily, one of our neighbors, helping Tony out. She was the big helper of the day, helping out with the pasta through each step. I think she had a lot of fun. We also had on some foodie movies for the kids (like Ratatouille).

And here's the timpano out of the oven. It came out pretty well. A small amount of sauce leakage, but nothing significant. It's a great dish and a lot of fun to both prepare and eat. We had a lot of fun and there were about 14 neighbors (w/ kids) in and out all day).

Grandma V's Pancake House

10 East Maple Street, Mundelein, IL 60060 (847) 949-4960

I had to make a run out to Garden Fresh today (Tony needed a small container of lard -- the real stuff), so I stopped at Grandma V's on the way for lunch. I'd been wanting to try it for a while anyway (I looove pancakes), so this gave me a good excuse.

It's not just pancakes, btw, though they have a fairly diverse selection of those. They've also got all kinds of sandwiches and Greek dishes, and desserts and BBQ...basically, a little bit of everything. It's a big menu.

I can only comment on the pancakes, though, since that's what I had. I got one of their specials: chilled juice (teeny glass, but that's ok), two pancakes, two eggs (I got scrambled with cheese), two strips of bacon (nice and crispy), and a sausage link (kind of English style, which was nice. They bring out syrup that's heated up too, which is a nice touch. The pancakes were good. Not the best ever, but a good solid representative of their kind. The whole thing also came out really fast, which might have been because of the time I was there (about 1 PM). It wasn't very busy.

Service was fast and reasonably friendly. The inside has the feel of pretty much any diner place across the country. Since it is in Mundelein, they have both smoking and non-smoking. It didn't smell smoky, though, which is good, since I couldn't take that right now at all. Smells are still messing me up. I'm not sure if I'd chance it during peak Sunday breakfast hours, however.

Demetri's

660 Lake-Cook Road, Deerfield, IL, 60015 Phone: 847-940-0777

The other night I met Tony after work before he left for Toronto (mostly just to see him, but also because he'd forgotten his suitcase). We ate at Demetri's, which is just around the corner from his office in Deerfield.

It's a Greek restaurant and he's been there a ton of times (there are only so many close places to his office building), but it was my first time there. We actually arrived very early, so we were able to get the Early Bird specials (pretty good deal; they even include dessert).

The inside is nice and pretty understated. They've got some art glass-y type of lights and a big fish tank, as well as some (presumably) Grecian columns decorating the place. The menu seemed pretty authentic to me, with all the standard Greek fare (spanikopita, dolmades, moussaka, etc. [all of which I'm probably spelling wrong, since I don't feel like looking it up right now]).

We had soup to start off with (it came with the Early Bird) and mine was an interesting lemon, rice and chicken soup. Tony had the Athenian chicken (which he'd had before and liked) and I had pasticchio (which I really should look up how to spell, since I'm positive I mangled it). Both were quite good and the portions were, honestly, too big. I especially liked the potatoes with Tony's dish. The baklava and the homemade walnut cake for dessert were also really good.

All in all, this is a nice Greek place. It's not the best Greek food I've ever had (that, so far, would be at places down in Tarpon Springs, Florida), but it was all pretty good. And if you're early, the Early Bird is definitely a good deal.

Rudy's Mexican Grill

55 Barron Blvd Grayslake, IL 60030 (847) 223-6176

I stopped in at Rudy's Mexican Grill today (ok, see, Tony is coming home tonight from Toronto and I didn't feel like cooking...so I had an early dinner out). It's in a tiny little strip mall (3 shops) right off of 137 / 83.

Friendly guy who owns it (Rudy, natch) with a pretty authentic menu (i.e. real tacos with cilantro). Homemade chips and salsa were really good. I tried a combination platter with two tacos and a tostada (one of the tacos was supposed to be a sope, but he was out, though very apologetic). All good, nice flavor, served hot and fast.

There were also some Spanish speakers in there, which is always a good sign. One diner was even all complimentary to my outfit, telling me it was "my color" which was kind of nice but weird. Especially since the color I was wearing was charcoal gray. But hey. He was being a little flirty, but I'll take it since I feel like a cow anyhow with my big 'ol belly. ;-)

So, to sum up, as Inigo might say -- small place, good vibe, good food, friendly people. Worth a visit, especially if you want something much more authentic than Taco Bell (and just down the street from them). He even had horchata, which I'll have to get next time.

Under the Sycamore Tree Bookstore

Under the Sycamore Tree Bookstore
970 Harris Road, Grayslake, IL 60030, Tel: 847.548.0311

This is an AWESOME bookstore for kids and parents. It is owned by Jackie Harris, who lives in the neighborhood. It's a really great bookstore with a large selection of both books and related items (toys, tie-ins, cool stuff) and a bunch of resident pets (a snake, some birds...). Uniquely decorated and with lots of events (author signings -- hey, hopefully I'll have one there next year when my book comes out -- storytime with Ms. Jan and all kinds of stuff).

Being a YA book reviewer, I don't often buy books for kids or teens. Heck, I don't buy many books at all -- I get too many in to review as it is. But I would highly recommend Under the Sycamore Tree to anyone looking to buy a book for a special kid in their life. I try to buy the few books I do from here. It's always good to support a small local business over the big chain stores. So many little shops have gone out of business in the last 10 years. And this one is just a really nice shop with lots to recommend it.

Prairie Croissant Cafe

Prairie Croissant Cafe
970 Harris Rd, Prairie Crossing, Grayslake, IL 847.223.9800

This is arguably the shop at Station Square that I am most excited and disappointed about. These are, of course, only my own personal thoughts. I know some people in the neighborhood love it unreservedly and others really dislike it. I'm kind of in the middle.

On the plus side, I LOVE having a coffee shop/cafe within walking distance (heck, practically spitting distance). That was one of the (few) things I liked about Old Louisville -- the Old Louisville Coffee House. I was beyond excited when they opened up the Cafe here. I love doing the whole writer-thing and working in a cafe all day, drinking specialty drinks.

So, that in turn is my biggest disappointment...though it probably has more to do with the demographics of this neighborhood than with the Cafe itself. During the day, it's a noisy, noisy place packed with miscellaneous play groups. I know, I know, I'll soon be a mom myself. And I'm sure I'll be happy to take my kiddo there to get out of the house too. But it really ruins it as a place to go work in during the day. But even when it isn't packed with kids, it is always pretty noisy. Something about the space just makes it that way. Not that it isn't a pretty, attractive space. It is. Just too many hard surfaces to cushion the sound.

For the most part, the drinks and food are all pretty good. I'm partial to the steamers (I'm not a big coffee drinker). The bad thing is how long the food usually takes to arrive (especially sandwiches). They still have some kinks to work out on service levels. They have been expanding their offerings lately, and it looks like things are improving. Another note on the sandwiches though -- they are all mostly French style (which means ultra-crusty bread and frou-frou fussy ingredients). They've all been okay, just not my favorite kind of sandwiches. The pastries (from an organic bakery) are all pretty yummy though.

As an interesting note, they have the most efficient hand dryers in their bathrooms that I have ever seen. Really insane.

At any rate, the Cafe is a nice place. They still have some things to work out, but it is getting better every month.

Little Skye

Little Skye
Station Square @ Prairie Crossing ~ 970 N Harris Road, 1C ~ Grayslake, IL 60030 ~ (Rt 137 & Casey Road) 847-543-1975

Little Skye is another one of the shops here at Prairie Crossing. It's a children's boutique featuring clothing, toys, furniture, and all kinds of cool little kid things. It also has some maternity stuff, but more items on the "kid is already here" end.

The owner is Eden (hopefully I'm spelling that correctly). She's a nice lady with a small daughter and an older son. She carries more high-end type of items (it really is a children's "boutique"). In keeping with the whole PC theme, she also has a fair amount of organic cotton items, etc.

Some really cute diaper bags, which I'll have to look into pretty soon.

Affinity Boutique

Affinity Boutique
970 Harris Road, Suite 2B, Grayslake, IL 60030

The Affinity Boutique just (and I mean "just" as in two days ago) moved from downtown Graylake to the Shops at Prairie Crossing. I suppose you could call that good news for me and bad news for Tony. Well, kind of. Being nearly 5 months pregnant means I'm not buying a whole lot of normal clothes at the moment (though I did see a really cute jacket that I think will work for me both now, in a few months, and after).

I actually should have written this little clothing and accessories boutique up months ago when I bought a really cute little brown dress there. My favorite little dress, actually. It's a bit pricey for what I normally spend on clothing (my mom's influence), but really, really cool stuff from interesting designers. And technically, by big city standards, not that expensive.

They carry XCVI (my dress is from them), and a bunch of other designers that I've never heard of (mostly because I'm not all that label-aware) like Sisters, Willow, Jag Jeans, Nic & Zoe, Cubism, Bloom, Donna Morgan and many others (I lifted that from their website...it isn't from memory...like I'd remember all that).

Jill and I walked over today to check out their new digs. It's a nice location around the corner from the cafe and they've got two dressing rooms now and a lot more space. On the one hand, it is kind of sad to see something close in downtown...on the other hand, I'm happy to see it here.

At some point I need to write up all the other shops in PC. I'm not sure why I haven't yet (oh yeah. Time.)

Sammie's

Sammie's
799 Belvidere Road (Route 120), Grayslake, IL 60030 (847) 223-4663

Sammie's is one of the ubiquitous "Chicago-Style" restaurants cum greasy spoon type of places that dot the countryside up this way. It's probably the closest one to our house (though I could be wrong...when I say these types of places are "ubiquitous" I really mean it).

There are actually a few locations (another in Lake Villa and a third in Round Lake Beach). According to their take out menu, they've been around since 1964 serving their Chicago Style Sandwiches.

So, what exactly does that mean for people who don't live up this way? Well, it means that the following things will be on the menu:

• Chicago Style Hot Dogs (mustard, relish, onions, tomato [as in real slices of], pickle [as in a spear], cucumber & celery salt and don't you DARE to put ketchup on it)
• Italian Beefs (kind of similar to a Philly Cheesesteak, but not exactly...and it comes topped with giardinera, usually spicy. You can get these while watching a Bear's game at the stadium.)
• Tamales (I have yet to figure out why this is a Chicago thing, honestly)
• Gyros (Again, not sure why this is a Chicago thing. Though there are a fair amount of Greeks in the area, so maybe that's why)

There are also bound to be burgers, char dogs (essentially, charred hot dogs), and perhaps some things like pizza puffs. Basically, greasy spoon food. Stuff you'd eat while watching football and drinking beer.

I went to Sammie's for lunch today and got (for the 2nd time) their Gyro sandwich. It's really pretty good, though honestly, how would you ruin one? Tony's had their Chicago dog before. The fries are always hot and crisp. At some point I'll have to try some other items on the menu, but it just seems like I want a gyro every time I step foot in there. Who knows, maybe the baby's got a gyro-craving going on.

They've also got shakes and malts, but it has been a bit too chilly to order one, so I'll have to report back on that. They do catering as well. All in all, a good stop off for a Chicago Style lunch experience.

Cafe Lucci

Cafe Lucci
609 Milwaukee Avenue, Glenview, IL 847.729.2268

Tony has actually been to Cafe Lucci a few times, but a few nights ago was my first time there. I'd been wanting to go since he and Joe (a guy from work) went. Joe (we guess) is a regular and just had them bring food. I love it when places will do that. I really miss Antoine at Chateau France in St. Pete (*sigh* I shouldn't have looked it up. Now I miss Antoine more. He's just awesome. If you're ever in St. Petersburg, Florida and want an excellent meal with impeccable service, go visit Antoine. He's the owner/executive chef and he trained at Le Cordon Bleu. And he makes a mean paté.).

Anyway. Back to Cafe Lucci.

Tony kept talking about the nice wine list (not that I'm imbibing at the mo, but hey) and the good food. He went back at least one other time for another dinner with people from work. So when he needed me to come get him from work one night this week as he was working late and said to get a reservation, I went for it.

It happened to be a slightly strange night to go, since there was a crew there taping a spot for CitySearch. I think I might have even made it on camera, though I sure would have worn more makeup if I'd known that was going to happen.

We asked the friendly waiter to just bring us food and he kind of halfway did -- which meant that he picked stuff out for us and asked if it was okay (we said sure). What I really, really like is when they don't do anything other than maybe ask about allergies and then just bring you food. But, it was okay. I think the time Tony had been there before they'd had the owner come by, but he was busy with all the taping (though, really friendly guy).

He picked out crab cakes to start with (they were really great and instead of a bread filler, included some type of pasta that gave it the right bit of crispness) and for me a Chilean sea bass and for Tony a pasta scallop dish. Both were good with giganticus portion sizes (I got most of the way through one part of the fish and didn't even touch another). We didn't make it to dessert. At this point, my stomach has been shoved out of the way and it will only hold so much food at once. Some of the desserts looked really good too. Again, *sigh*.

Inside, the atmosphere was nice. Pretty good ambiance. I gather from the website that they renovated everything not that long ago and removed the "old World Feel" it used to have. It's pretty generic inside now, but nice. Nothing that jumps out at you, other than the dark wood wine cabinets up on the wall and the giant chalkboards listing the menu specials of the day (which, interestingly enough, are in Italian...though when the waiter describes them to you, he uses the English...i.e. linguini gamberi becomes linguini with shrimp. I was just happy to practice my rusty Italian at all.)

I'll definitely have to try it again sometime, perhaps on a quieter, non-TV-filmed kind of night. It seems like it would be a great place to go with a large group too.

Halloween....A Ghoulish Time

We got a lot more trick or treaters here than anywhere else we've lived, though not quite as many as I thought we'd get. But w-a-y more than we've ever gotten before. Some really cute costumes too.

Here's a pic of our front door. I cut out the tree and bats and crow from black construction paper. It looked pretty cool from the outside when the lights were on inside and it was dark out. Never could get a good picture of it that way, though.

I thought these guys dressed up as the Blues Brothers were awesome, so I had to take a picture. They even had "Jake" and "Elwood" written on their knuckles. Tony reminded me that the Blues Brothers were a Chicago thing.
Here's a perfectly horrid picture of me, but I was trying to show off that I actually got Harley to wear some bling for Halloween and his expression was just priceless.
Another horrid one of me. But hey, I am 4 1/2 months pregnant. So you gotta cut me some slack.

And here's Tony, my favorite ghoul. Or zombie. Or whatever he was. I made him dress up after he got home from work and he can't tell me he didn't get into it since he even took the axe out of the garage.

Grant Park & Millenium Park

We walked through parts of Grant Park and Millenium Park (you can find out more about both of them -- and many others -- at a website for the Chicago Park District) both going to and coming from The Field museum.

The Buckingham fountain is arguably the most famous part of Grant Park (remember Married with Children? It's the fountain you see in the opening sequence). I didn't get a picture of that because a) the first time we went through it was crawling with marathon runners and you could hardly see it and b) on the way back, it was crawling with workers dismantling tents and bleachers and thinks like that.

But I did get some pictures of these other fountains that I didn't even know were in Grant Park. They are a little overshadowed, I suppose, considering the size of the big fountain.

I thought these were quite pretty.

The park system in Chicago is actually really nice, especially this stretch along the waterfront. It was created in order to keep commercial interests from completely taking over the area and it was a great idea. The waterfront is pretty and accessible to everyone.

Millenium Park kind of runs into Grant Park. It's right off of Michigan Avenue and really takes center stage. There are gardens (including a rather strange tree garden area where the trees are all fenced in) and famous statues (like the Bean) and an amphitheater type area where concerts and various other things are held.
There are also the fountains -- officially the Crown Fountain. I'm not sure why it is called that; I always just think of it as the faces.

Also officially, here's the description of them:

The fountain consists of two 50-foot glass block towers at each end of a shallow reflecting pool. The towers project video images from a broad social spectrum of Chicago citizens, a reference to the traditional use of gargoyles in fountains, where faces of mythological beings were sculpted with open mouths to allow water, a symbol of life, to flow out.

Plensa adapted this practice by having faces of Chicago citizens projected on LED screens and having water flow through a water outlet in the screen to give the illusion of water spouting from their mouths. The collection of faces, Plensa's tribute to Chicagoans, was taken from a cross-section of 1,000 residents.

There are always, when the fountain is running, a ton of kids at the fountain splashing around and dodging the spray and generally having a great time. It's a good place for people watching. When the spout of water comes out, I dare you not to smile.

As an added bonus, if the weather is really hot, the water feels great on your feet. We walked around it a little.

There are some other things in the park as well and there's almost always something going on there (children's tents with activities, salsa dance classes, you name it). It's one of my favorite spots in the city.

As a bonus, it's within walking distance of the big shopping district (Magnificent Mile) and a bunch of restaurants AND Union Station.

On crazy runners and The Field Museum

So, Sunday we went into the city. We took the train and walked from Union Station down towards the waterfront to go to the Field Museum. It also happened to be the day of the Chicago Marathon, which we'd had no idea was going on.

Okay, so we can be a little oblivious sometimes.

While we were wading through the thousands of runners and their families around the Buckingham fountain, they actually announced that the race was canceled (though a fair amount of people had finished it already) due to the high temperature. One runner died and a large number of others fainted and/or passed out and/or required medical attention.

Yet another reason not to be a runner, as far as I'm concerned. More power to 'em, but it just ain't for me.

We did finally make it through the crowd of really sweaty people (not that I blame them; hey, they just ran a marathon) and got to the Field Museum.

We've actually been there before, but it's been years. The Field is HUGE. It is a ginormous museum, full of ancient dinosaur bones (including the famous Sue) and lots of stuffed endangered and extinct animals. There are plants too, and lots of special exhibits.

If you go, wear comfortable shoes. Trust me.

And don't expect to see everything, unless you plan on going more than one full day. It really is a monster big museum. It has an impressive amount of collections, though the big draw (especially for the younger set) are the dinosaur rooms and the exhibit with the man-eaters of Tsavo (remember that movie with Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas? The Ghost and the Darkness?). They've got the real deal at the Field -- the stuffed maneless man-eaters immortalized in that movie (and in the fear they gave to hundreds of railway workers). There's even another man-eating lion down in the lower level that's even bigger than the team from Tsavo.

The Field is also in a great location -- just off the waterfront. Here's a pick of Pam and Mike right outside the field, looking towards the city.

Lake Bluff Sunrise Beach

After the Apple Festival, we were hot and tired. We dropped off some stuff at the house and I voted for sticking our feet in the oh-so-cold and oh-so-huge Lake Michigan. What better way to cool off?
We went to the Lake Bluff Sunrise Beach and did some rock collecting and skipping (I truly suck at the skipping part...it's more like just chunking a rock in the water for me). Tony isn't too bad at it, though. And a bit of sticking our feet in the water. Man, is it cold. Here's my pregnant self getting cold feet. People actually swim in this stuff, which I find truly amazing. Haven't they ever been to a real beach? One where your lips don't turn blue once you get in the water?
Sunrise Beach is actually a really nice little park area. They even have a lifeguard on duty during certain times of the year (none of which actually have water warm enough for me to swim in). There's a few shelters, some playground stuff, and even a fireplace/pit. They even allow dogs to swim around (though I gather you have to sign some paperwork first, presumably attesting that your dog will place nice with everyone). It's a nice little spot.

The Long Grove Apple Festival

Pam's birthday was on Saturday and she wanted Tony to make her his (famous) standing rib roast. That meant that we had to be back at the house at a reasonable time for Tony to do the cooking (yeah, yeah, I didn't help much). So instead of going into the city on Saturday, which I'd kind of planned, we did some more local-ish stuff instead.

First we went to the Long Grove Apple Festival. I'm honestly starting to think that Long Grove will use any excuse to party. Not that that's a bad thing. I'm just sayin'. They've got a chocolate festival, an apple festival, a strawberry festival...Greek days...Irish days...the list goes on. My kind of people.

It was pretty packed and it was HOT. What the heck happened with the weather? It had to at least be in the low 90's (it at least felt like it). Isn't this October? Isn't this the far north? (well, it is as far as I'm concerned)

There were a bunch of food booths and a few other types and all the normal cute little shops and things in Long Grove were also open. We decided to go Polish for lunch, since that's a very Chicago thing. We had polish sausage, pierogies, and potato pancakes. There was even a young boy band playing Beatles tunes. They were pretty good, even if they did make me feel ancient. I mean, look at 'em. Can they even drive yet?

All-in-all, it was a pretty good stuff. Pam and Mike got a taste of local color and some off-season weather patterns. Oh, and I even got my giggle for the day: one of the stores had a (somewhat) obscure reference to an Arlo Guthrie song (Alice's Restaurant Massacre) that just cracked me up. Awesome song.

The Gage

The Gage

24 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL. (312) 372-4243

We went into the city this past weekend while Pam and Mike were visiting (Happy Birthday, sis). We met one of Mike's college friends for dinner near Millenium Park at a place called The Gage. They tout themselves as "refined rusticity" which has a nice alliterative ring to it.

It's a restaurant cum bar with a nice, slightly sophisticated feel to it. Nothing that absolutely "wows" you, but nice. Mood lighting, etc.

The menu was interesting, with a slight English pub feel (curry gravy for the fries...er, chips) and some not-too-standard items (like elk, which Tony tried and liked). I kind of wish I'd been even hungrier so I could have tried a few more things. I had the fish and chips with a side of buttery peas (and the aforementioned curry gravy, which has a good spice level to it). The fish was well battered in a Guinness batter (nice and crispy). It was all good. Pam had the ribeye, which was a little more done than she wanted, but she's just not used to ordering in the Mid-West. You have to order at least a grade below what you want. They like to *really* cook their beef here.

The waitress was very peppy, if a bit slow at times. Tony's second glass of wine almost didn't make it in time for the finish of his main course. And she forgot my lime, which she'd smilingly assured me would "be no problem at all." (honestly, most places do, so I don't really count that against them.

All in all, I'd say the Gage is a nice option when you're near Millenium Park and looking for a sit down dinner with some style.

The Full Slab

The Full Slab
34500 N Us Highway 45, 847-752- 2BBQ (2227)

Tony got back from Toronto last night and I held off on eating dinner so we could go out. We drove a little aimlessly and wound up going down 45 and decided to try The Full Slab. We'd seen it before when going to the grocery store right next to it (great place for Greek stuff; though you'd never guess that from the name...something like Sunrise or Sunset or something like that). The Full Slab looked packed the last time we'd driven by, so we figured it would be a fairly safe bet.

From their website you can see that they say that "BBQ" is their claim to fame and that's definitely the focus of the menu. Tony tried a half-rack of their St. Louis-style ribs (sides: slaw made with broccoli and loaded potato salad) and I had 3 barbecue sliders (1 pork, 2 chicken) and a loaded baked potato.

Tony said the ribs had a pretty good flavor and were overall pretty good. The one big issue with them is that they don't bother to remove the membrane, which makes the ribs stick to the bone and much harder to eat. It's a fairly easy step that a lot of restaurants don't take and it makes such a huge difference if you do (much less tough, meat falls from the bone, very tender). They also do a baby-back style rib, so maybe those are a little easier to eat. The potato salad was prety good though it (strangely enough) tasted a lot like the kind of macaroni salad you find at potlucks. His dinner also came with a side of cornbread that ought to have a warning on it -- it was good, but it was covered in cinnamon butter. If you aren't expecting that, it really takes you by surprise (and besides, it goes better as a "dessert" thing than as a side dish).

The sliders were pretty good, though they were a little bigger than I anticipated. I prefered the chicken over the pork. One nice touch is that the table had 5 or 6 bottles of different style barbecue sauces (Kansas City-style, Chicago-style, etc.) so you could try out different flavors. Though the sliders were already pretty soaked in sauce (not sure which one), so you wound up mixing flavors. The baked potato was a disappointment. It had a weird taste to it, though the topping stuff (sour cream, cheese, crumbled bacon) was good. I'm honestly not sure what they did to the baked potato to get it to taste that way.

Inside, the place has a definite bar feel and that seems to be their main focus. The restaurant is divided into smoking and non-smoking and the non section was off to the side and much smaller. They do blues on Friday nights, which is cool. We were alone in the non-smoking section with one other family (including a little boy who showed us his air guitar routine -- really funny -- he was like a little mini Beavis or Butthead...definitely a heavy metal air guitar).

The drink servings, in fact, were very "healthy" as far as size goes. I had a strawberry lemonade (*really* sweet) and it was served in a huge mug. Tony had a somewhat pricey mojito and it was served in a regular water-glass size.

The servers were friendly enough and very smiley. Overall, I'd say the place was okay, but not great. I'm picky about ribs, too, since Tony makes some really, really awesome ones. It's a hard thing to beat, especially out. They do have an all-you-can-eat rib night on Mondays, so if we've ever got some huge barbecue fans staying with us, maybe we'll stop on by.

Green City Market

A weekend or two ago we drove into the city to go to the Chicago Green City Market. The Market is held from May and runs through October. Market days are Wednesdays and Saturdays from 7:00 am - 1:30 pm. It's in Lincoln Park (as in, actually in the park, not just the neighborhood). Parking is a bit of a hassle, but not too bad, if you come in on the right street (which, of course, we didn't).

It's not a huge outdoor market, but it's a decent size. Lots of farmers, lots of produce, and a fair amount of bakeries and a pretty good crowd walking around. Fair amount of meat-producers too (lamb, chicken, beef, pork). No heritage turkey though (the once place we saw taking orders for Thanksgiving turkeys -- we asked them what kind of turkey they had and the one guy was completely nonplussed and the lady says "Uh....white.").

We bought some good lamb and some potatoes and I got some radish sprouts. That was about it for us. Oh, and a chicken. But we can also buy chicken here at the farm from Red Tail Farm. Sandhill Organics at Prairie Crossing kind of acts as an incubator for other small farming ventures. I bought one recently, but we haven't cooked it yet. I'm sure it is good though. :)

Osaka Japanese Restaurant

1452 S. Butterfield Road, Mundelein, IL 60060, (847) 549-9944

So, along with pregnancy also comes cravings. I don't care what some people say about that being a crock. Tell it to my tummy.

Lately, one of the things I've been craving is sushi. Specifically, I really, really want a Tampa roll. Of course, you're not going to find one of those around here (it's fried grouper, onion, mayo, and cucumber slices in a roll). And, according to the doctors and the books, I'm not supposed to be eating any raw fish (what exactly do women in Japan do, eh?).

The no-raw-fish thing makes for an interesting sushi experience, but it is doable. We went on Wednesday to Osaka in Mundelein. We really like Kamehachi, but it is quite a jaunt, so we figured we should try something closer.

Osaka is in a strip mall and it isn't a huge place, but it does have a little sushi bar. The people were all friendly, including the sushi chef, who would randomly smile and go "Hai!"

And -- it was real sushi. Not fake-fancy-schmancy sushi with funky names. It was a pretty extensive menu of classic sushi. I did get the closest thing to a Tampa roll, which turned out to be a Chicago roll (go figure), though it was deep fried. Also got a tempura ebi (shrimp) roll that was quite good. The cooked salmon roll was okay, but better after a good wallop of wasabi. Tony had one thing that was kind of cool -- the inside of the roll had tempura crunchies and the topper was a spicy tuna mix. I tried one of those, just knocked most of the (raw) spicy tuna off.

Oh, and they give you a little bowl of miso soup and a salad to start with. The miso had a nice flavor. The salad was in a nice dressing, but the lettuce was a wee bit sad.

Tony had an American made saki that he liked a lot and I stuck to green tee and water. All in all, I got my sushi craving satisfied. We'll have to try some more local places and see how they are. That is one thing we miss about Florida. There was some really good sushi there.

And another nice thing abou Osaka -- we got the leftover remains of some rolls to go. The waitress had noticed that I was going through the ginger (love the stuff, pink dye notwithstanding) and had the sushi chef give me another big dollop of it. They also added more wasabi and even a little container of soy sauce. A nice touch, though we didn't actually need any of it...we've actually got soy sauce, wasabi, and even the ginger at home. But most people probably don't have all three.

A home without soy sauce isn't a home at all. But maybe that's just the Chinese in me talking.

Wayne's Pizza & Jimano's Pizzeria

Wayne's Pizza & Ice Cream Parlor
34197 N Us Highway 45, Grayslake, IL 60030, (847) 223-2441

Jimano's Pizzeria
2952 W. Rte 60/83, (847) 949-8400

Actually, I hope that's the right address for Wayne's. I'd ordered off of a coupon a couple of times and I know it's a place named Wayne's...and this is the only one that comes up in a Yahoo search. So presumably it is the right place. I'll have to keep an eye out for another coupon.

We've actually ordered from Wayne's twice -- both times we got the thin crust. Maybe it's a Mid-West thing (I dunno), but it comes sliced into little squares instead of regular pizza style. The Jimano's thin crust came the same way.

Jimano's is pretty good, but I have to say I think I like Wayne's thin crust just a tad better. Both are good kind of NY-style thin crusts. Jimano's is actually probably better for you...the thing that was yummy about Wayne's is that it's got more of a greasy street-vendor feel to it.

Both got here to the house in a reasonable amount of time and were still nice and hot.

I should also mention Italian Ovens (847-223-2717). We *must* have ordered a pizza from there since I have a coupon page from them with a coupon cut out of it. But neither of us can remember remotely what it was like. Which is strange, since we've got pretty good food memories. So I'm guessing that it was okay, but nothing to write home about. I guess we'll have to give it another shot sometime and see. I know some people in the neighborhood recommend it.

Charlie's Pizza Factory

15 Commerce Suite 100, (847) 223-9300

I actually need to do entries for a whole bunch of pizza places. Ok, well, not a *whole* bunch, but quite a few. So, what do I do? I start off with a pizza place we haven't actually eaten pizza at.

I stopped in at Charlie's this past week after dropping off a (ton) of packages at the Post Office. Given the whole pregnancy thing, I get hungry pretty regularly now (still haven't gained any weight, though, which is weird...though I have gained a belly).

I decided to try one of their "hot oven classic sandwiches" and went for the Pizza Factory Meatball. It was actually really good. One of the better meatball sandwiches I've ever had, actually. Everything was nice and warm, the tomato sauce had the right amount of spice and actually had some flavor to it, the meatballs were a good consistency and size and you get extra sauce on the side. Since I was being bad, I went ahead and got the melt-y cheese too (I recommend it).

I guess the next step now will be trying their pizza. They offer thin crusy, double crust, and stuffed. They also have pastas, subs, and salads.

One funny note - I was the only customer eating in that particular afternoon and the guy behind the counter was middle-aged-ish. But on the TV? Days of our Lives. Is it just me, or is that kind of funny?

Tony's new blog

Tony's started up a new blog - How I Eat - kind of a slow food type of thing with recipes and his culinary experiments. Lotsa pictures; he's been documenting a bunch of meals and the stuff he's canning. Check it out.

And yeah, yeah, I should hopefully update my blogs soon...got the first round of revisions on my novel done, an article sent off, and I seem to mostly be over the morning sickness thing now.

B.B. King and Joan Osborne at Ravinia

So, on our "dating" anniversary (Aug. 28) we went to the B.B. King and Joan Osborne concert at Ravinia. It was our first time at Ravinia, though it was supposed to be our second. We'd had tickets to the Gipsy Kings, but it rained. We had lawn tickets both times, so rain made it a no-go. But this past Tuesday was great. Perfect weather. I packed a picnic lunch and picked Tony up from work and we hung out there all night on the lawn under the stars and the soaring dragonflies.

It was my third time seeing B. B. King. I've seen him just about very decade or so -- once when I was 16 (my mom helped me get his autograph, as well as the rest of his band -- who were surprised we asked, I guess since usually people only asked B.B.), again 11 years ago (me and Tony in St. Pete at another outdoor venue in downtown -- it POURED rain, but it was worth it...it's B.B. King. Also there were Dr. John and Edgar Winters). He's a funny guy, B. B. He likes to chat between songs.

Joan Osborne was good too. Better than we'd thought it would be, actually. I like the two songs of hers that I know (that God one and the Sister Teresa or whatever it is) but hadn't ever paid her too much attention. We might have to check out one of her CDs now. She's got some blues-y influences, which I guess explains the pairing.

Ravinia itself is also really cool. We definitely have to do that again next year.

Da Bears and Da Cubs

Tony got tickets to one of the Bears' pre-season games and we went last Saturday. It was vs. the 49'ers so I was a little conflicted, but not too much. The team just isn't the same since Montana left. It was our first time at Soldier Field (wow, a stadium not named after some corporation! whoo-hoo!) and our first Bears game. A few observations:

• Soldier Field is a cool stadium, with these impressive Roman or Greek style (I can never remember which is which with the whole concave vs. convex thing) columns. It's not your typical stadium, even though they did recently completely a huge renovation that added a ton of new seats (including lots of box seats).
• We didn't have the best seats in the house, but it was still a good viewing point. I doubt if there are any bad seats.
• These people are fans. I've been to a Buc's pre-season game before and they are apathetic compared to these fans. Screaming, hooting, hollering, whoop-whoop-whooping. And for a pre-season game. It's pretty amazing. I can't even imagine what last year's Super Bowl (bad topic, I know) was like before things went south.
• They have better concession food than the Cubs. Not as good as the stuff at Legends Field for the Yankees Spring Training, but pretty good. Especially the chili-cheese fries. Which reminds me...

I went to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field back a month or two ago with Jill (thanks, Jill!) and her mom and her sister. It was a lot of fun (even with the so-so concessions...my personal take on baseball games is that it's an excuse to eat junk and sit and talk). Wrigley Field is neat, with all the ivy and everything, though not as impressive as I thought it would be. I'd always thought those ivy-covered walls were much taller for some reason.

Of course, the big battle here is: Cubs vs. White Sox. You're supposed to follow just one or the other, not both. Ilias is a White Sox fan, but most of the people around where we live seem to be Cubs people. I'm leaving it up to Tony. I'm not a very good "fanatic" anyway...I just like to go for the ambiance and the food.

The Harris Theater and Mikhail Baryshnikov

A lady who lives in the neighborhood had posted an email to the list giving away free tickets to the Mikhail Baryshnikov performance at the Harris Theater in Chicago (turns out her husband works for The Fairmont, which is one of the sponsors). The official line:

Hell's Kitchen Dance is an ensemble of young performers, mostly from The Juilliard School and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, who received fellowships from the New York-based Baryshnikov Arts Center. Praised by the New York Times for "virtuoso dancing" during its first tour in 2006, the ensemble's second tour will feature works by choreographers Aszure Barton, Benjamin Millepied, and Donna Uchizono. The works will be danced by Mikhail Baryshnikov and Hell's Kitchen Dancers Aszure Barton, Jonathan Alsberry, William Briscoe, Hristoula Harakas, Lesley Kennedy, Na-Ye Kim, Doug Letheren, Jodi Melnick, Shamel Pitts, Emily Proctor, Ian Robinson, Kyle Robinson, Cynthia Salgado, and Ashley Wallace. The Baryshnikov Arts Center, Mikhail Baryshnikov’s artistic venture that opened its doors in Hell’s Kitchen, New York City in November 2005, is an international center for artistic experimentation and collaboration, which serves as a creative laboratory for emerging and mid-career artists from around the world and across all disciplines. The Hell’s Kitchen Dance tour offers an opportunity for national and international audiences to experience fresh talent and the works created by artists selected by Baryshnikov and produced in the stimulating environment of BAC.

I, of course, jumped at the chance to see Baryshnikov again. We'd seen him once (oh, probably about 10 years ago) when he was doing the White Oak Dance Project. Seeing him dance was one of my "life goals" (which included things like "meet Heinlein," which I didn't get to do...though I did get to have dinner with Harry Harrison and that was pretty much almost as good - I love him too...though I digress). He's just an amazing dancer.

He's 60 now and not doing the same gravity-defying leaps he used to do, but it is still amazing to see him dance. He's very fluid and magnetic. Your eye is drawn to him on the stage.

This Hell's Kitchen production was divided into three acts: 1) Baryshnikov dancing with larger-than-life videos of himself at a younger age (oh, how I wish I could have seen him when he was in his 20's!), 2) Baryshnikov and two female dancers doing a fairly avante-garde modern dance piece to a vaguely oriental and slightly organic piece of music, and 3) Baryshnikov and a whole slew of dancers (all of whom were in bare feet except for the man) doing a modern ballet performance that was very poignant and a little sad, like a lost romance remembered.

The seats we had (I went with Jill and Mikayla and Erin and her two sons--all neighbors...Stan from the barn was there too) were just incredible. Third row. Fairly close to the center. And no tall people sitting directly in front of me. You could see whenever Baryshnikov would get a slight smile on his face, like he was reminiscing about something from years ago.

I don't think the kids quite knew what to make of it. It was ballet like they'd never seen before -- no tutus, no dying swan, no nutcrackers. I thoroughly enjoyed it, though I have to admit that I miss the floating leaps -- they were like magic captured...the kind of thing that could make you believe that fairies exist.

Pictures

Alrighty then, the pictures from our vacation are now up. We really did have a great time. Alaska is beautiful, even the tourist-y spots. And Vancouver was nice, even though I don't think I'd want to live there.

Videos....

Well, we're back from our 10th anniversary vacation to Alaska. I've started posting videos at YouTube. Should have the pictures up tomorrow (or maybe tonight, depending). We had a great time.

On scaring the piss out of toads

Lots and lots to report, but little time to do it in. So, first things first. The new wood floor in the guest room is almost done (first sealer coat went on today, next one tomorrow). The patio and fire pit and flagstone path are done (as of yesterday - yippee!!).

Here's an in-progress photo while the guys were working on it. Very dusty work -- I watered down the grass afterwards since each step would put up a puff of dust.

Here's Tony and Grace enjoying our first inaugural fire in the fire pit. This was right before Gracie went leaping off the wall over to the other side of the patio. We had no idea why until we went over to check it out -- it seems she found a toad/frog. In fact, she literally scared the piss out of it. Tony ran to scoop it up and save it and toss it back out into the yard so she couldn't play with it like she used to play with the lizards in Florida. And left behind was this little wet spot. Yep, our Gracie the Wonder Slug can actually move fast enough to scare the piss out of a toad.
Here's a close up of the fire pit. Tony burned some red oak that we'd gotten from Bill, the flooring guy. He'd given us a bag of loose bits after noticing Tony's monster grill. Tony was very excited.

So that brings me to today (leaving out all the places I've recently discovered but have not written up yet). Today Toms-Price delivered some of the office furniture. I'd thought they were supposed to be delivering the two tub chairs for the living room too, but no go. So I've got part of my office stuff (3 bookcases, the computer desk & hutch, and the pedestal desk & hutch). The rest is on backorder. However, the pedestal desk part has scratches all over it, so they are sending someone out on Saturday to see if they can get them out or whether or not they have to replace that whole piece.

In the meantime, I'm actually unpacking my books (i.e. not the kiddie lit books) and bringing them upstairs from the basement. I'm definitely getting my exercise today.

545 North Bar & Grill

545 North Bar & Grill
545 North Milwaukee Ave, Libertyville, Illinois 60048, (847) 247-8700

Tony had to stay later than normal at work yesterday, which means he missed his normal train. Then, he missed the next train out to Prairie Crossing too. So he called me to come meet him at the Libertyville station instead of having to wait until the 7 PM train. I made it there without too much hassle (i.e. I didn't get lost even once).

It was too late for him to start making the dinner he'd planned (turkey breast, stuffing & mashed potatoes -- we had it tonight instead), so we went to dinner in Libertyville at 545 North seeing as how it a) wound up being the closest restaurant to where I parked the car and b) it looked nice. It was actually a little nicer than we'd planned on for a Tuesday night dinner, but luckily I'd changed out of my shorts and t-shirt into something cuter. I was still sniffling and coughing, but at least I didn't look like a total drudge.

We decided to do an appetizer sampling and picked four off of the menu: an artichoke & spinach dip (very yummy and actually served with enough chips), beef skewers (really nice -- chunks of filet topped with blue cheese and skinny fries, done to a turn), chicken avocado quesadilla rolls (also really good, in what was labeled a lime creme sauce, though it didn't taste all that limey to me), and a foccacia bread Grilled Asparagus & Portobella Pizza (definitely my least favorite -- has a kind of odd smokey flavor but with an overwhelming sense of blandness for all that).

The waiter was personable, prompt, and polite -- Jeff, also a relative newcomer to Grayslake, though he's lived in the greater area all his life from the sound of it. He gave us some ideas of things to try out (Firkin, another place in Libertyville that has blues on Thursdays; some huge mall in Schaumburg that has an Improv playhouse in it with big headliners, but also funny local comedians; some monastery place that has a real pretty drive) and even explained to me the difference between Cubs and Sox fans. Good waiter. Ask for him if you go. I like when they'll talk to you like real human beings. He was even nice enough to take the pizza thing off of our bill (we left the majority of it; I think I had 3 bites).

Atmosphere-wise the place seemed pretty nice and stylish. Too bad it was raining though...they have an outdoor patio on the back with a really nice outdoor fireplace. That would have been really cozy. Everyone was actually pretty friendly. Not sure if it was the owner that lit the candle at our table, but it seemed like it -- who else is casually friendly and dressed in street clothes and comes and goes when they want? Oh -- and it passed Tony's water glass test...they kept the glasses filled.

The Tavern

Tavern on the Town
519 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Libertyville, IL 60048, (847) 367-5755

We decided to go out to dinner last night because I was all gussied up with my new hair cut and makeup-person applied makeup (see previous entry about the Mario Tricoci Salon). I suppose you could look at that one of two ways: either we're the kind of people who will celebrate anything or I'm the kind of girl who so seldom gets gussied up that it's an event. I'd like to go with the former, but it is probably a bit of both.

Anyway, I made a reservation at the Tavern because they were the closest restaurant that looked cool on Open Table:

From silk Thai lanterns and colorful beaded curtains that hang from the ceiling to an original Brunswick bar painted in gold and turquoise, this is clearly not your father's steakhouse. The Tavern's menu features USDA prime beef, Australian Wagyu, organically raised free range chicken, diver-caught Maine sea scallops, assorted fresh fish, New Zealand Rock Lobster Tails, and in season: oysters from both coasts, the Alaskan king salmon run, live Maryland soft shell crabs, morels, chanterelles, and porcini from hunters in Oregon and Washington, fresh produce from local lake county farms, and the Tavern's own home-grown heirloom tomatoes (last year 35 different varietals were brought home for service). An award winning wine list featuring over 700 selections. A great wine by the glass assortment, an unusually well stocked bar, and draught beer (including several outstanding Belgian selections)round out the Tavern's beverage program.

It almost sounds kind of cheesy, but it is actually quite a neat and eclectic look with all the lanterns and the random swathes of wallpaper. Little bit of an old school smoking room at a pub look, little bit of an Eastern bordello.

We had the oysters (covering both coasts) for an appetizer and they were good, albeit almost too big. And since we were being bad, I had an 8 ounce filet with foie gras and truffle butter. The foie gras was good, but man, give me all the truffle butter you can. Tony had the New York Strip steak. He said it was good, but not earth shattering. I think he should have tried the Wagyu beef from Australia. What the heck, it being our "beef" night. We're trying to eat red meat only once a week.

Dessert was really good -- malted milk ball gelato. And I guess I should mention their wine selection (very extensive; we got a Chateau St. Georges that was definitely a Tony kind of wine). They even had a decent after-dinner selection.

Oh, and Tony noted an interesting exchange between the bartender (a rather large-ish fellow) and a patron who said she was going to Scotland:

Bartender: This is the best book on scotch there is. We just added it to our library. Keep it as long as you like; a few days, a year, whatever.

Kind of cool. I imagine she's a regular.

So, to sum up (as Inigo might say): good place. We'll have to try it out again sometime. Nice atmosphere and a fun location right in the middle of the quaint section of Libertyville.

Mario Tricoci

Mario Tricoci Hair Salons & Day Spa
1441 West Peterson, Libertyville, IL 60048, 1-800-TRICOCI

(btw, I hate it when places don't put the number along with their little "here's a handy way to remember our number" thing...because I have to then decode it when I dial and it is annoying. But I digress.)

I went today to get a hair cut at the Mario Tricoci Salon. It's a fancy-schmancy place near the Sunset Foods and is a chain all around the area. I think it is just IL, but I'm not sure. Anyway, I thought I'd try it out because a) my hair was all shaggy from growing it out and not getting a hair cut in 2 months and b) my hair just generally needs help since I'm so not a girly-girl and c) I can't remember what the third reason was. But anyway.

I still miss Sharlene down in Florida, but I can't travel that far to get a hair cut, no matter how awesome she is. So I gave Denise a try. She's been at MT for 10 years and is (I think) one of the senior stylists. Since this was my first visit, they also throw in a free makeup application/consultation.

I think Denise did a good job, actually. She was friendly without being gushy and could carry on a conversation (unlike any of the hair dressers I tried in KY...the one at Z Salon just didn't want to talk and then Jay at Jay's Campus Cuts would never shut up). And the hair cut seems to have come out well. Of course, the real test is once I wash it and see what it does without a hair dresser to help it along.

Renee was the makeup application person (what do you call those? makeup artists? I dunno). They make and/or blend their own makeup at the salon. Mineral stuff. Fancy things. Make your own lipstick color kind of stuff. Actually, it came out pretty good, though not all of it colors I normally use. I'm thinking maybe I should go for one of their regular consultations...after all, I think I've been putting on my makeup probably the same way since I was about 15. Could be time for a change.

Shoot, I think it was Lisa who first showed me how to put on makeup. Mom didn't start wearing makeup again until after dad died.

Ooop, Tony's home...going to dinner!

Fireplaces Plus

Fireplaces Plus
700 North Milwaukee Avenue, Vernon Hills, IL 60061, (847) 549-6700

So, Grace went and stuck her tail in the fire the other night. Not completely engulfed in flame or anything -- just the tip of it in the lava rock stuff -- but enough to give her tail a charry bit and for us to go out looking for a fire screen to put in front of the family room fireplace.

We found one at Fireplaces Plus...it'd be hard not to, actually. They had quite a selection of them and will even do custom ones. We wound up getting sort of a Craftsman looking one with doors so it'd be easy enough to light the logs. I'll try and get a picture of it later when I have the camera handy.

If you go, talk to Adam.

Pat's Pizza

Pat's Pizza
Route 83 Grayslake, 847 223-PATS

Ok, I'm way behind. But I'm working on it. We went to Pat's back on the 16th. I'd asked the PCHO list for some pizza place recommendations and Pat's was one of them that was close by. I'd actually asked for delivery options (which Pat's does), but Tony wanted to go out instead.

It's a down-home looking place where they serve you up a basket of peanuts as soon as you sit down ("the last true neighborhood family experience") and they feature four homemade crust styles: thin, New Yorker, Deep Pan (i.e. Chicago), and Double Decker.

We tried their specialty taco pizza in the deep pan style. I liked it, but Tony was just so-so...I think his brain couldn't get over the whole taco-pizza combo. So next time we try them we'll have to have a more traditional style pizza -- maybe their "gut buster" special. They also have sandwiches, "broaster" chicken (what's up with that, anyway? We've seen that everywhere up here) and a pasta dish or two. But pizza definitely seems to be their specialty. Definitely worth another try...though, of course, we've also got all those other recommended pizza places to give a shot.

Charcoal Delights

Charcoal Delights
500 Center Street, Grayslake, IL 60030
(847) 543-9838

From what their menu says, Charcoal Delights has been around since 1963. That's quite a long time and quite a long menu it has. There's a little bit of everything there -- gyros, burgers, hot dogs, breakfast stuff, chicken dinners, every kind of sandwich...kind of a one-stop place for everything lunch.

Looks to be owned by a Greek family, so next time we go I think I'll try a gyro. This past weekend I tried the Scotty Dog (hot dog with the works, Chicago style) and Tony tried the Charcoal Chicken Special sandwich. Both were pretty good.

Atmosphere-wise, it looks like it is located in a converted Wendy's or some other fast food joint-type building. The Grayslake location of Charcoal Delights is fairly new (well, at least new enough to proclaim "new location" on the side of the cups). I'm curious as to what the others look like.

In general...

I've still got some more blog catching up to do (too many new places + too much stuff to do = blog way behind), but I thought I'd give a general update on how things are going.

We're still liking the neighborhood and everyone in it. It's an interesting group of people, as evidenced by the email distribution list affectionately (I suppose) called PsyCHO. If there's one thing you can say about the people of Prairie Crossing it is that they are all passionate people. Well, at least the vocal ones are.

A couple kids came over yesterday to get books to read. They really loved the crawlspace in the basement. They want to turn it into a neighborhood sleepover / hang out spot with big fluffy pillows and strands of Christmas lights. Too cute. They also checked out some of my hat collection.

Let's see...on furniture...we received our new dresser (no problems) and our table and chairs (no mounting hardware included...big problem...). The sofa and double chair for the family room has been received by the shipping company (I was told today) and we should be getting sometime in the next 7 to 10 days.

We also found and ordered two chairs from Toms Price. We found perfect chairs -- tub chairs in red leather that swivel and rock. They'll be perfect in the living room. With the other couch we ordered which should be here sometime in May. We hope. Meanwhile, we have a very echo-y house (which the kids also discovered yesterday).

Had another flooring guy out today. Tomorrow I'm calling to set up getting the new wood floor in the guest room. Then the whole house will be wood (no carpet. yay!).

And also tomorrow (hopefully) I'll get a 220 plug in the laundry room so I can use my nice washer & dryer set again. We've been using the ones that came with the house. I miss my front-loading washer & dryer. *sigh* I was spoiled. Of course, we'll have to sell the house ones and then figure out a way to get our set out of the basement and into the laundry room without killing anything.

Anything else? I dunno....Tony seems to be settling in at work. He's really happy to have minions. I told him I want to dig up my old Dungeon Keeper game for the sound effects. You know, the slapping the imps around and what not.

The cats are also settling in. They've got their cat hole now and can get to the basement whenever they want.

Lots of funny stories around poor little Gracie...

There's a little neighborhood girl named Grace and whenever I leave the window open and the other kids are calling her name, our Grace can't quite figure out what's going on. Why do they keep calling me? she seems to be thinking as her head bounces back and forth like she's at a tennis match, watching them as they run by. Then the other day we ate lunch outside and she came and sat with us. Later, our neighbor Jill asked if we had a dog. It seems her mother (who must also live in the neighborhood) had seen us out and had a conversation along the lines of "Oh, I saw your new neighbors out with their dog". Um, no, I said, that would just be our really fat cat...

Whitney St. Restaurant

Whitney St. Restaurant "Grayslakes Homegrown Restaurant"
30 N. Whitney Street, Grayslake, IL 60030
847-223-0670

Okay, I don't mean this at all in a bad way, but The Whitney is more-or-less a dive. Dives have their place. In fact, we often tend to frequent places that are either complete dives or really high-falutin'. We don't go to too many things in the middle (well, okay, any place with really good pancakes, but that's my personal weakness).

The Whitney had friendly people and the food was decent. Not the kind of stuff you write home about, but not bad either. And I like a place where they ask you "What are you having for dessert?" rather than "Would you like any dessert?" (we didn't, actually, 'cause we were too full, but still, it's a good question.)

Tony had salmon patties and I had a tuna melt. It was actually a pretty good tuna melt -- bread toasted just so and the tuna warm all the way through. I hate it when the tuna is cold in the middle. That's the mark of a bad tuna melt, if you ask me. I bet all their melts are pretty good.

Kamehachi

Kamehachi Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar
1320 Shermer Road Northbrook, IL 60062 (847) 562-0064

So, last week when I went to pick up the fan (yay, I found the fan store all by my little lonesome without getting lost once) and then Tony (both being on Lake Cook Road, which made it easy) we then went out to dinner at Kamehachi.

I had to take a set of their matches with me so I could remember how to spell the darn name. They didn't have any menus or cards you could take. What's up with that?

Anyway, they actually have a few different locations, some being in the city. I can't speak for any of those, but the one in Northbrook is excellent.

We sat at the sushi bar (and for anyone who goes to a good sushi restaurant and sits at a table -- you don't know what you're missing). Carlo was our sushi dude. He'd been a sushi chef for 7 years and seemed to be the go-to guy for any special orders that came in, even though he seemed to be younger than some of the other chefs (though he did know what that old TV show Good Times was -- or whatever it was -- I never watched it and I don't even remember how it came up in conversation).

We didn't order anything off of the menu. He just made us stuff. Well, he did kind of ask first on some things, but some stuff he just made. My only regret is that we went early and weren't super hungry yet. Next time I need to go late and be starving because it was all awesome. Some of what he made us wasn't on the menu at all.

Tony's favorite was probably this martini glass filled with various chunks of sashimi (tuna, yellowtail, who knows what all) in different sauces mixed in with seaweed and other un-identifiable things. I'm not sure what my favorite was. It was all good. The deluxe dragon roll (or something to that effect) was especially good.

Even our waiter, Peter, was really nice. He gave me some good recommedations of other Asian restaurants to try. And some free green tea ice cream. :-) It always pays to talk to people and treat them how you'd like to be treated. Or maybe I'm just chatty.

We'll definitely be back. Tony had actually been once or twice before when he'd been up here for work. Maybe we'll try out one of their event nights. They do sake tastings and wine tastings every now and again.

The places Peter recommended are Gumrai Thai at Arlington Heights Road & N.W. Hywy. (found an online review of it at Harvard Avenue) and Three Happiness (for dim sum) in the city (209 W Cermak Rd) and if we're looking for good duck, he said we should check out the New Chinatown area around Broadway and Argyle in the city. Also good Vietnamese there. Now I just need to figure out the whole train / el situation so I can get me some dim sum. I haven't had good dim sum in years.

Dorfler's Meat Market

Dorfler's Meat Market
1182 McHenry Road / Arlington Heights Road
Buffalo Grove, IL (847) 459-3060

Tony called me earlier today and wanted me to pick up some fish for dinner from a seafood market (if I could find one). I posted to the Prairie Crossing email list for suggestions, but people mostly just recommended Sunset (which we've tried and like okay, but we were hoping for a small shop with maybe a little more variation in what they get in). So I found a place online called Dorfler's and thought I'd try it. It's about 11 miles from here, so not too far.

It's actually a pretty good market for meats, seafood, and deli products. Big, clean, well-lit and no mysterious fishy (or otherwise) odors. I did learn that they get in new seafood daily and it all did look fresh, though only one (rainbow trout) had the head still on. So I talked to a guy that works there and he said if you call ahead you can get pretty much anything with the head on/whole. Best to call a whole day ahead though.

They also deliver. Not normally as far as Grayslake, but when I asked he checked with a guy in the back who lives out this way and he said he'd be happy to deliver stuff on his way home. That'd be for both meat and fish.

Prices were okay and they do offer coupons too. I bought some Chilean sea bass and some grouper. We'll see how it is and maybe we'll order up a whole red snapper later this week or next. So far seems pretty promising.

A few people mentioned a good shop out in Glenview (though according to the website I found, it is in Willmette?) called Burhop's. We might have to make the drive out that way and check it out some weekend. I'm not sure where it is, but I do know it is farther than Deerfield.

Jacobson Electric

Jacobson Electric
1035 Lake Cook Rd., Wheeling, IL 60090
847 808-0808

We went looking for a fan for the master bedroom since the one in there was ultra-modern and our furniture is decidedly not modern. We tried all the normal culprits (Home Depot, The Expo, Menards, etc., etc.) and wound up at Jacobson Electric after a recommendation from a lady at Walter E. Smithe (we'd run by there because the entertainment center the last owners left behind was from there and we couldn't figure out how to get the silly lights to come on...and I won't even describe how easy it is to do once you know how).

We wound up buying a cool Minka Aire fan from their Hearst Castle collection.

It just came in this past Thursday (or was it Wednesday?) and Tony spent a while getting it together. I don't have a final picture of it to post yet (with lamp shades and all) because it turns out it had a defective transmitter (a small amount of cussing preceded that discovery) and the company is sending a replacement. So for now we've got a half-hung fan in the bedroom. Good thing it still feels fairly winter-y and we don't really need it yet.

Here's the old fan, which I'm going to put up for sale on Craigslist soon:
And the new one, sans shades (well, and light bulbs, for that matter):

Landmark Grill & Lounge

Landmark Grill & Lounge
1633 North Halsted Street, Chicago, IL
(312) 587-1600

We had dinner at the Landmark before the show at Steppenwolf (reserved it through OpenTable). It's a happening kind of place (very trendy) opened up by the same guys who made Boka (just down the street) a success. We wound up on the catwalk level (there are multi-levels to the place, with a different look for each one). Since we were there early (pre-theatre dinner time) it was pretty quiet. By the time we were leaving you could see the crowd starting to gather.

The food was all very good, though I found the dinner portions to be just a tad too much. That might have just been the particular meal I ordered (a pork chop) -- it was literally a Fred Flintstone size hunk o' meat with a bone. But Tony's short rib plate was pretty big too, so I'm guessing they are all pretty big.

The service was great and very accommodating. When I couldn't decide between the wild mushroom risotto and the pork chop, he suggested I get a half order of the risotto as a starter, even though it isn't listed on the menu as an option. The risotto, by the way, was just lovely...creamy, earthy, and with just the right dash of white truffle oil on top.

All of the servers, including the new guy who mostly seemed to be doing water service, were all very nice and friendly. They were also knowledgeable -- after Tony asked for some wine notes on a particular bottle and the waiter responded with a full description, Tony sighed "We're in a real city now."

For dessert we tried one of the signature dishes -- a giant chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream and fudge sauce. We were expecting maybe a giant platter o' cookie, but it turns out to be more like a cylinder of cookie (probably about a can of soup size). Oh man, was it ever yummy. Moist. Like chocolate cookie squared. It'll be hard not to order that again, even though they have more fancified desserts. There's just something about comfort food from childhood.

Steppenwolf Theatre

Steppenwolf Theatre Company
1650 N. Halsted Street Chicago IL 60614
(312) 335-1650

Tony's friend Ilias called last week and asked if we wanted tickets to a performance at the Steppenwolf Theatre. He had a friend that couldn't go for some reason and he couldn't use them either (he does a lot of math-related tutoring -- you ever need a math tutor, you want Ilias). So we said "Sure, why not?" even though we didn't actually know which performance it would be for (there were 3 going on Saturday night: Betrayal by Harold Pinter, The Sparrow, and The Diary of Anne Frank).

Turns out it was for the Pinter production -- Betrayal -- a play about infidelity, honesty, passion, and, I suppose, trust. Considering the topic and the playwright, it had a surprising amount of levity in it. Altogether an excellent performance.

The theatre itself is also nice. We were in the upstairs theatre. It isn't huge, but it is a nice size. I doubt if there is a bad seat in it. I imagine the other theatres were the same way based on comments I overheard.

STEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY IS A Chicago-based international performing arts institution committed to ensemble collaboration and artistic risk through its work with its permanent ensemble, guest artists, partner institutions and the community. Steppenwolf has redefined the landscape of acting and performance by spawning a generation of America's most gifted artists. Founded in 1976 as an ensemble of nine actors, Steppenwolf has grown into an internationally renowned company of forty-one artists whose talents include acting, directing, playwriting, filmmaking, and textual adaptation. No other American theater ensemble has survived as long and thrived as much as the Steppenwolf company of artists.

Steppenwolf has quite a few famous alumni, including John Malkovich, Joan Allen, and Gary Sinise.

Something's Brewing

Something's Brewing
1126 E Washington St., Grayslake, IL
(847) 543-1600

Something's Brewing is located next to Wine Knows, which is how we found it. We had lunch there last Saturday when we went by the wine shop. Yikes! You practically need to study up on the menu for a day or two before you go there to order -- tons of different sandwiches and labrettes (kind of like a pizza pita sandwich), soups, coffee drinks, baked goods...at least a wall's worth of menu items.

I tried a BLT (good -- nice crispy bacon, good toasted bread, perfect amount of mayo) and Tony tried a labrette (the one he had tasted kinda like a taco...really good but really huge. We could have split it). I really wanted to try all the desserts, but we held ourselves back. We're trying to lose some weight, which is really tough when you're surrounded by all new places screaming out for you to try them out.

You can also do a create-your-own gift basket thing here. All kinds of sinful dessert things to chose from to put in it. The dipped pretzels looked particularly good.

When we went back by the wine shop today to pick up our wine I got a carmel apple latte from Something's Brewing. Yum. Coffee drinks with way too many calories, but I kinda needed the caffeine.

The Byron Colby Barn & Wine Knows

Byron Colby Barn
1561 Jones Point RoadGrayslake, Illinois 60030
847.543.1202 or at bcbarn@prairiecrossing.com

Wine Knows
1130 Washington St., Grayslake, Illinois 60030
847-223-8402

Last Friday (yes, I am over a week behind in blogging) we went to our first Byron Colby barn event. Officially...

The Byron Colby Barn, a Lake County dairy barn, was built in 1885 and restored in 1996 to serve as a community center for Prairie Crossing and the larger community.

There are events there every month and you can even rent it out. It's quite nice and very picturesque. I understand the fitness center for the neighborhood is located in the basement of the barn (we haven't been in it yet; I've sent in our $10 key fob fee, but haven't gotten the key back yet).

This particular event was a wine tasting hosted by Wine Knows, a local wine shop in Grayslake owned by Phil and Lawrence. We've only met Phil so far and like him a lot -- he's a pretty cheerful guy with a short Santa Claus-ish beard. Of course, with a wine shop, aren't you pretty much guaranteed to be happy?

The wine tasting was nice, with a good selection of wine and appetizers (I'm afraid I didn't catch who the chef was). Phil had a distributor guy there with him (Mark? Matt? Pretty sure it started with an "M") who was also nice and a real pretty boy (but didn't seem stuck up for all of that) who really knew his wine (definitely a saving grace, like our 6' tall model-looking friend Barb's utter niceness and goofiness--all women would hate her if it weren't for that).

We went by the store the next day and found it to be well stocked and nice. They even have (in stock!) Reynolds Family wines and Darioush (including my only favorite white wine!). We went by again today (Sat the 14th) to pick up the wines we'd ordered from the tasting and found the store awash with people for the Spring Tasting (with most of the women gathered around Mark/Matt's table). Over 80 wines and probably over 100 people were there. Sadly, we'd just had lunch and weren't really prepared to taste any wine. But we'll definitely have to keep an eye open for future events. I think we've found our local wine shop (though no wine shop will ever fully replace Uncorked for us).