Entries Tagged as 'cheese'

Beer Dip

January 23rd, 2012 · No Comments

Beer. Dip. Beer Dip. It’s as awesome as it sounds. Brian and Jill always make this for their Cubs opening day party and I finally looked up the recipe one day. I ended up making it as a savory dip at the cookie party last year. I’d say it’s best served with pretzels because of the saltiness and also they’re touch enough to stand up to a thick dip. Also, this dip could not be easier to make. I recommend you do it. NOW. This would be a great dip for your Superbowl party!

Beer Dip
From: All Recipes

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened (Note: I used one low fat and one regular)
1 (1 ounce) package ranch dressing mix
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1/3 cup beer

In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese and dressing mix. Stir in Cheddar cheese, and then beer. The mixture will appear mushy. Cover bowl, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, overnight if possible. (Note: I abandoned it in the fridge for a couple days!)

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Wine and Cheese Pairing Class at 404 Wine Bar

November 22nd, 2011 · 1 Comment

Jen, Jill, Limey and I had one more iWish class to take before Limey moves, so last week Monday we went to the Wine and Cheese Pairing class at 404 Wine Bar. We’d hoped to do something like a Spanish Tapas class or some other cuisine, but we just couldn’t get our schedules to align right in these last few weeks before the move. So, wine and cheese it was. Not that I’m complaining. Who doesn’t love wine and cheese? It’s just that it was SO similar to the wine and chocolate pairing class we took a couple months ago

I think my favorite pairing was the blue cheese with the Riesling because the cheese was very pungent and the wine was a little sweet. I also really liked the South African Pinotage wine. I’d never even heard of this before so it was fun to try.

Last time after the tasting we went to 404 Wine Bar for dinner. This time we went to their attached sister bar & grill, Jack’s. You can actually get the menus for both restaurants in each place, so it didn’t really matter. What did matter was that we could watch the Packers whomp the Vikings on MNF (45-7!). Wine, cheese, & a Packers win. WIN WIN WIN!

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One Stop Wine & Cheese Party Shopping

October 13th, 2011 · No Comments

I saw this display at Strack & Van Til that paired wines with cheeses and had the wines and cheeses right there for purchase. Not only that, a chart showed what order you should eat the cheese and drink the wine. Pretty handy! Too bad I wasn’t hosting a wine and cheese tasting anytime soon.

This was all sponsored by Fetzer Vineyards and Artisanal Cheese. If you go to the Artisanal Cheese site, you can see an interactive “cheese clock.” (Screenshot below.)

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Hall and Oates at Ravinia

July 8th, 2011 · No Comments

A couple Sundays ago Dallas and I headed up to Highland Park to see Hall and Oates at Ravinia, the oldest outdoor music festival in the United States. Hall & Oates is one of Dallas’s favorite bands OF ALL TIME and we have listened to them together for as long as we’ve known each other. We even had one of their songs at our wedding reception. You Make My Dreams was the last song played that night.

Originally we’d planned to go with a whole big group of friends and sit out on the lawn at Ravinia. Lawn seats are seats where you can’t see the band, but you just sit around and relax and pack a picnic and drinks and listen to the music. Ravinia is one of the very few concert venues in the country to allow people to bring full meals and alcoholic beverages to shows. Reserved seats (in the pavilion) were something like $80, but lawn seats were only $26. Well, none of our friends followed up when we emailled them and all tickets sold out, reserved and lawn! So, it ended up being a date night for us, which was fine too.

We arrived a little later than we expected and ended up having to park in overflow parking. Then we had to carry all of our things over to the Highland Park Metra stop and take a bus to the Ravinia grounds. Once there, the whole lawn was already so packed! We ended up walking around with all of our stuff (chair, sheet, picnic, drinks) trying to find a spot to sit. By this time Dallas was freaking out. He’d never been to Ravinia before, he didn’t know what to expect. And if there are three things he can’t stand they’re 1) traffic, 2) waiting in lines, and 3) crowds of people. We were dealing with all of that! As a side note, I”ve been to Ravinia before, but it was years ago. I went once in 2004 for Ben Fold and Rufus Wainwright. And I went once in 2006 for a FeedBurner outing. Buddy Guy was playing that night.

Once we found a place to sit and settled in, we were all good. No one was going to be leaving for hours. We didn’t need to worry about people and getting back to the car or driving for a while. We busted out our food and drinks. Dallas had beer, I had wine. I brought cheese and crackers from Provenance, a small Logan Square wine and specialty food store. We had the best caramelized onion Potter’s Crackers and paired them with some with both a blue cheese and Otter Creek pesto cheddar. Originally, I’d planned to get sandwiches from Cooking Fools, but when I stopped in, their selection of cold sandwiches was severely limited, so I just picked up some penne with lemon basil pesto and cherry tomatoes. Then I went over to Red Hen Bread and got a couple sandwiches – Turkey on a Bollo (House roasted turkey breast, provolone, red onion, tomato, arugula, mayo, and whole grain mustard served on a rosemary bollo) for me and a Knuckle Sandwich (Honey roasted ham, salami, prosciutto, provolone, red onions, tomato, romaine, and our red hen vinaigrette served on a ciabatta panino bun) for Dallas. Everything was so delicious!

Intense Angry Birds session during the opening act.

The first band was called Company of Thieves. They were a band local to Chicago who had been touring with Hall and Oates. We both liked them. The singer’s voice reminded me of Adele.

When Hall and Oates came on it was so awesome. We knew the words to every song they played. They were all old favorites. We sang along, ate our snacks, enjoyed our drinks. It was such a great time. I can never understand how Ravinia can be so calm and relaxing when you’re surrounded by thousands of people in close quarters. The mix of people there is so crazy. Young people, old people, families, of all races and backgrounds. The mom and dad next to us were playing Uno with their son while he jammed out to Maneater. It was so fun!

At the end of Hall and Oates’ set, we decided to leave. It was during the encore that we had a short wait for the bus. We could still hear the music very clearly so the line was still a party. But we ended up getting on the bus fast, got to our lot fast, and actually drove right out of there and onto the highway without any traffic at all… and we only missed maybe 2 songs. Awesome.

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Benefit Beauty Bash

June 3rd, 2011 · No Comments


Benefit Boutique


Benefit Boutique


Benefit Cosmetics


We had red wine, white wine, cheese, crackers, and fruit.


Benefit Cosmetics


Janice getting her makeover.


I took a photo of myself in the bathroom after my makeover.


Memory Aid: Some of the products used in my makeover.


Memory Aid: Some of the products used in my makeover.


Jessica after her makeover.


Maria, Jamie, Janice


Maria, Jamie, Rachelle, Jen, Jessica

Quinn’s school had a big fundraiser and Jen “won” a Benefit “Beauty Bash” in the online auction. She got to invite a dozen guests to be treated to an after-hours private party at the Benefit Cosmetics Boutique on Southport Avenue. Benefit served us red and white wine and Jen also brought cheese, crackers, and fruit for us to snack on. Everyone was treated to a complimentary brow shape and lash tint and then the “Beauty Artists” made each of us over.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this party. I was having flashbacks to when I was a teenager and went to Mary Kay or Avon parties. I think they used to give you like teeny, tiny sample packs of things and then everyone just had to try to follow along to the instruction. At Benefit, we all kind of mingled around drinking and eating until it was our turn for the lash or brow services or our turn to personally get our makeup done by someone else. It was so much fun. And I was impressed that so many people were free to attend, given that it was Memorial Day weekend. We had Jen, Caroline, Jamie, Jessica, Janice, another Jen, Maria, Jill, Lynn, Kristin, Abby and me.

I got the brow shaping with threading, not wax. And I loved how my makeup looked after they redid it. I bought a few Benefit products, but definitely not everything. We’ll see if I go on to buy more. I thought the products were of a good quality, I loved the store’s vibe and the product packaging. The prices were not cheap, but also not the most expensive I’ve seen either. One funny thing was that they didn’t use any blush on me because they said I was already perfectly flushed. I think what they were really telling me is that I should drink 3 glasses of wine before leaving the house every day.


Tank Sushi extravaganza!

After we got all dolled up, we all headed to dinner at Tank Sushi in Lincoln Square. Sushi extravaganza! Also, some people kept on with the wine but a lot of us switched to lychee martinis. Multiple lychee martinis!

After dinner, everyone kind of went their separate ways. Jess, Kristin, Lynn, Abby, Caroline and I headed for Tiny Lounge for more cocktails. I was feeling sleepy so I had the espresso cocktail made with handmade vodka, kahlua, tia maria (Jamaican coffee liqueur), espresso and cream. Delicious drink, but I had two and was still sleepy. Maybe it was the fact that the makeup party started at 4, so wine drinking started at 4, and by then it was 10 or 11 pm. Yeh, that’s a lot of cocktails. We ended up calling it a night after 2 rounds, but what a fun time!

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