this past weekend i...

-ran 12 miles on the lakefront as part of my marathon training.

-helped clean up my church's flooded basement (from the 6" of rain we got friday night).

-watched ferris bueller's day off.

-drank some leinenkugel's.

-watched the cubbies win three in a row at home.

-went to foster beach and had a picnic with friends.

-witnessed a friend's baptism in lake michigan.

-had my first near miss dooring incident while riding my bike back from the beach.

-saw bon iver in concert for the first time.

-experienced the most phenomenal night of live music.

honestly, i can't get over how great justin, sean, mikey and the rest of these boys are live. i get shivers just thinking about sunday night.

the sketchbook project

during the summer of 2008 i spent five weeks studying abroad in italy with 19 other interior design students. it was by far the most influential experience of my educational career. it not only increased my knowledge and appreciation for art, architecture and design, but it also deepened my love for italian culture, food, language and traveling in general.

one of the girls from the trip, bre, emailed me last fall to let me know she signed up for something called the sketchbook project. we did plenty of sketching while we were abroad so i was excited to see what she was going to do with this project. her theme was "down your street" and she had the brilliant idea to have her friends from all over the world send pictures of their streets so she could do something creative with them. i jumped on board right away.

bre finished her book and turned it in earlier this year. her lovely sketchbook is now touring the country and this weekend the tour stopped in chicago. yesterday i made the trek to the hyde park art center and saw it in person.

leah and jessica were part of our italy group and they also helped with this project. holding bre's sketchbook in my hands and seeing the sketch of via ricasoli, our home in florence for five weeks, made me miss italy so, so much. i haven't seen these girls in three years but flipping through the sketchbook brought all of us back together in a way. oh, what i wouldn't do to be back in firenze, sitting on the steps of the duomo, drinking cheap red wine and talking about the amazing works of art and architecture we had seen that day..

to ease my longing for all things italian, i stopped by the istria cafe (next door to the art center) and enjoyed a piccolo cup of strawberry gelato. sure, it wasn't as good as the gelato i had in italy but it got the job done.

bre, congrats on a beautiful sketchbook! so glad i could be a part of it.

go with the oats

the beaches may be open and the wrigleyville streets filled with rowdy cubs fans, but it doesn't officially feel like summer until i have the smell of sweet strawberries and tart rhubarb making its way through my apartment. crumbles are wonderful because they're typically easy to put together and difficult to mess up. at least that has been my experience.

every time i make one of these i have to resist the urge to eat the whole thing. luckily i have friends who come a runnin' when the mere possibility of my making a crumble is mentioned. those are good friends to have.

this is my all-time favorite summer crumble recipe, so take care of her. she is a recipe to be cherished and made over and over again until there are no more stalks of rhubarb to be found at the farmers market.

and yes, i do have a favorite fall crumble recipe, in case you were wondering. just wait until november rolls around. i will be happy to introduce the two of you.

the best part of this crumble is the topping. the oats add a lovely density that i find other non-oat recipes lack. i recently tried a different recipe without oats, because i could not for the life of me remember where the following recipe was hiding, and i was greatly disappointed with the outcome. thankfully i remembered to look through my old bon app magazines and this recipe and i were happily reunited. 

so trust me, go with the oats. 

strawberry and rhubarb crumble
adapted from bon appetit magazine, may 2010. original recipe by tamasin day-lewis (daniel day-lewis' sister. seriously.)

the original recipe calls for 1/2 cup of husked hazelnuts (toasted and coarsely chopped) instead of a full cup of oats. the first time i made this crumble i wasn't in the mood for nuts so i left them out and haven't felt like putting them back in. so if you want more crunch, by all means use the 1/2 cup of chopped nuts. i use an extra 1/2 cup of oats instead.

3/4 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup plus 1/2 cup sugar (one for the topping and one for the filling)
large pinch of salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup old-fashioned oats (or 1/2 cup of oats + 1/2 cup of chopped nuts)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (or 1/2 vanilla bean as the original recipe suggests. however, i know not all of us have vanilla beans at the ready.)
1 pound strawberries, hulled, halved (about 4 cups)
12 ounces rhubarb, ends trimmed, stalks cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick pieces
vanilla ice cream (most important)

combine flour, 2/3 cup sugar, and salt in medium bowl; whisk to blend. add butter. rub in with fingertips until mixture sticks together in clumps. mix in oats and nuts (if using). cover and chill. topping can be made 1 day ahead, if ya want.

preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. butter 11x7x2-inch glass baking dish. place 1/2 cup sugar in large bowl. add vanilla extract (or vanilla bean seeds); whisk to blend well. add strawberries and rhubarb to sugar in bowl. toss to coat well. scrape fruit filling into prepared baking dish. sprinkle oat topping evenly over filling.

bake crumble until filling bubbles thickly and topping is crisp, about 45 minutes. let cool 15 minutes. spoon warm crumble into bowls. serve with ice cream. (highly recommended)

yield: about 8 servings (or less depending on how hungry you and your friends might be)

my boys!

look at 'em!

aren't they handsome?? i get so excited for opening day. my boys are back! i saw a commercial yesterday for cubs opening day and got teary eyed. (yes, i am one of "those" cubs fans.) and then when i saw them putting up these banners outside of wrigley on saturday, the emotions came back again. baseball season is here! i feel so giddy. 

welcome back, boys. let's get some runs.

and now, let's not forget about the girls. as in "my girls" by animal collective. that's right, i'm takin' it back to 2009. "i just want four walls and adobe slats for my girls."



but if you really must be about the boys, try this cover by taken by trees.

i promise i'm alive

hi.

i apologize for my absence. i've been feeling distracted lately. and i've kinda been busy. and the dog ate my homework. and i'm sure i could come up with more excuses but i'll stop. i've been meaning to spend some time on here. it'll happen. i'm coming 'round.

and, oh yeah, it snowed..

 

and snowed..

and snowed some more.

so much so that i got a snow day from work.

the great blizzard of 2011 dropped 22" on our fair city.

that's a lot of snow, my friends.

i realize these pictures are about a week and a half late but better late than never. plus now that the snow is finally melting, i kind of miss it. yes, i am one of those crazy people who loves snow.

one of the good things about blizzards and snow days and winter in general is beef stew. i feel like everyone was talking about beef stew the week of the blizzard. bon appetit, epicurious, real simple. aka everyone. how could i not make some?? i followed this stew recipe but i sped up the process so that my total cooking time was about 1 1/2 hours and i completely skipped the oven steps. was that bad? i'm not sure. i guess it technically didn't have enough time to stew but me and my snowed in friends still found it to be satisfactory.

the temperature on friday is supposed to reach 50. 50! i'm going to feel so lost. i don't remember how you're supposed to dress for over temperatures above freezing! 

isn't this lovely?

i want it.

kim sly has more prints on her etsy. check it out.

on the first snowfall of the season..

i took a little walk..

i only slipped on the ice four times..

i paid tribute to a great man..

i shocked my yoga instructor by actually coming to class on a saturday morning..

i attended a cooking demonstration by julia della croce..

and i ended the day with friends, spiked cider, dancing and, of course, ugly sweaters.

i love this time of year. bring it on, winter.

things that make me happy: checking one off the list

if it wasn't apparent, i'm really into food. big time. i enjoy eating it, cooking it, cooking it for others and eating it with others. food makes me happy.

living in chicago i've had the opportunity to eat at some amazing restaurants (charlie trotter's, rl restaurant, shanghai terrace at the peninsula hotel). i'm constantly adding restaurants to my "you must eat here!" list. last night i was able to check one off the list: cafe ba-ba-reeba!

it was a spur of the moment thing. my friend alex was performing at a comedy theater in uptown and a few of my friends were going to support him. my friend allie and i decided to grab dinner in lincoln park before going to the show. we were walking down halsted, trying to decide where we should go, when we saw bright red neon lights spelling out "tapas bar." we didn't even have to have a discussion about it, we were getting tapas. easiest decision we had to make all night. figuring out what to order? that was a different story..

we started with a jarra of martin codax "ergo" wine and then concentrated on the tapas. it took a while to decide because everything sounded so good but we settled on:

-roast dates with bacon and apple vinaigrette

-spicy potatoes with tomato alioli

-mushroom empanada with porcini alioli

-prime sirloin, asparagas, shitakes and yukon potatoes

-scallops with bacon (they were like butter)

needless to say, we didn't have room for dessert. it was a wonderful, wonderful meal. wonderful night too since we had dinner and then a show! i would love to go back for a cooking demo.

here's to checking one off the list!

oh, those colors

on nights like this, i miss living downtown. you miss so much by not living in the middle of the city. i had no idea that nick's fish market was moving to the mart. i had no idea federal plaza, home to the post office by my beloved mies van der rohe, was completely torn up in the middle of a renovation. i completely forgot about all the festivals and markets that converge upon daley plaza this time of year. that restaurant closed? that shop moved? it's strange how much has changed in the 2 years since i've lived in the loop.

but what i miss most is living on the 44th floor of a high rise and having the most amazing view of the sunset. this was my view circa 2007:

this last week we have had some gorgeous sunsets. when i leave work the city is awash with different colors: bright orange at first, then pink, and finally a deep purple before going black. the sky is clear except for thick clouds in the west, clouds that literally look like cotton candy. i honestly can't imagine a pinker pink. i may be on the train, sitting next to that cute guy i see every morning at the belmont stop, but all i can do is look at those colors out my window.

by the time i actually get off the train, the sun is already gone and the chilly wind hits me a teeny bit harder than it did when i got on the train 25 minutes earlier.

i'm enjoying the the sunsets while i can because after sunday (daylight savings time) my commute won't be nearly as beautiful. at least i'll have the twinkling lights of the city to keep me company as i head home.

top 40 buildings in chicago

chicago magazine recently released their list of the top 40 buildings in chicago. i was happy to see some of my favorites on the list. a few of them being:

the reliance building by daniel burnham, john root and charles atwood (#13)

crown hall by mies van der rohe(#6)

the rookery by daniel burnham and john root, atrium by frank lloyd wright (#2)

the farnsworth house by mies van der rohe (#9)

(although, can it still be considered a building in chicago if it's technically in plano, il??)

and a most recent favorite, aqua by studio gang architects (#22).

when i moved to chicago the summer of 2005, a mere two months after graduating high school, i fell head over heels for this city's architecture. it probably helped that i was taking a class called chicago architecture. i loved that class. it consisted mostly of classroom lecture (which might be boring for some people, but being an architecture nerd, i was totally fine with it). however, most days we ended class with a walk to one of the buildings we had just learned about (this was easily done since my school and most of the prominent chicago buildings are located in the loop). i quickly discovered how important it is to actually experience these great works of architecture instead of just looking at slides of them on an overhead projector. after all, these buildings are meant to be used. they are meant to be lived in. they have function (or at least they are supposed to). i cannot tell you how amazing it is to listen to a lecture about the monadnock building while standing across the street from the monadnock building.

and just like every other art and design history class i have taken, learning about each piece allowed me to respect the "ugly" pieces. for example, most people look at 330 n. wabash and see a boring "black box" building with no character and no personality.

most people walk past and completely ignore it. they would rather look at the beautiful trump tower across the street (don't get me wrong, the trump tower is a beautiful structure, designed by the great architecture firm SOM). but once you realize that 330 n. wabash was designed by mies van der rohe, i would hope that you would think twice. once you understand his design aesthetic (ever heard of form follows function?) you understand now why there is no real ornamentation (technically, there is still some ornamentation, but that's a whooole 'nother discussion for a different time..). you understand why you can see all of the structural i-beams of the building. you just get it.

i'm still amazed that i get to live in this beautiful city. i'm greeted every morning by its gorgeous skyline. when the brown line curves between the armitage and sedgwick stops, and the city opens itself before me, my heart skips a beat and i can't help but smile while thinking to myself, "damn, i love this city."