Entries Tagged as 'corn'

Jewelry Project

August 6th, 2008 · 2 Comments

On Monday it was raining so Stephanie helped me with a jewelry project I wanted to do. Basically, the top of the dresser and back of the door was a giant mess and the way that my jewelry stored was hideous. No one really goes in our bedroom, so I didn’t need a fashion statement.. but the way things were just thrown on the dresser, or overflowing in a small dish, or hung 5-deep on the hook made it difficult to find anything. I don’t have lots of nice jewelry, but I could never remember what I had when I tried to get dressed and match things up in the morning. I needed a solution that would allow me to easily see everything.

Before:

Many months ago I ripped this organization article from Real Simple magazine but then I never did anything with it. This was a project I wanted to finish this summer, so a couple weeks ago I finally purchased the things I needed to get organized. Basically, I just got pearl-topped pins from Jo-Ann Fabric and linen pinboards from Pottery Barn. Then Monday, the rain, perfect opportunity to finally finish the project.

We took everything down and out of the room and dusted the bedroom. I was kind of nervous about mounting the pinboards because I tend to be impatient about hanging things and then have to do it a few times and it messed the wall up. Plus, this was something I would have to interact with so it had to be solid. Luckily, Pottery Barn provided detailed hanging instructions and templates for putting anchors in the wall correctly. I was able to hang the pinboards solidly on the first try. yay!

While watching TV, Stephanie and I also went through all of the jewelry and organized it and cleaned it with cleaning clothes. There were several pieces that I didn’t wear any more or weren’t my style any more that Steph liked, so she made out on helping. I had some cool belts that didn’t fit that were good for her too. Finally, I hung everything up on the pinboards and only put belts and my robe on the back of the door. I know a few more things will collect there, but we don’t need to have 20 hoodies and sweaters hanging back there at all times.

After:

After the jewelry project Stephanie and I had lunch at home. I was getting a little stir crazy so we went out and browsed around some of the little stores on Roscoe. It was overcast and wet, but not raining. Then we went into the last store and came out and all of a sudden it was sunny and beautiful. We quick ran over to the pool to see what the hours were, but it was only going to be open for 45 more minutes. We decided to pick up a few things at the grocery store. Since Steph had never been to Whole Foods, we walked over there. We also rented a movie from Blockbuster, something I haven’t done for years! I had to apply for a whole new card, but luckily that only took a minute.

For dinner we grilled turkey burgers and corn on the cob. Dallas teased us because we were looking at GrilledCornOnTheCob.com for proper instructions. Later on we were watching the movie we rented, Penelope, when all the storms rolled in. Steph and I were upstairs and it got so scary up there that we ran downstairs and finished watching the movie in the bedroom. Luckily, we’d just cleaned it that morning!

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Tuesdays with the Farmers’ Market

July 23rd, 2008 · 4 Comments

Yesterday morning I went back to the Lincoln Square farmers’ market. The farmers’ market is fun for everyone. In the photo above: spot the hipster, spot the kids, the elderly, the middle-aged. My bag felt extra heavy so I weighed it when I got home. 13 pounds! Ouch. Good thing I took the bus.

I wanted to note that these are my favorite vendors:
- Seedling Fruit, South Haven, MI :: Great fruit, esp. berries
- River Valley Kitchen, Burlington, WI :: All sorts of mushrooms
- Lange’s Farm, Elwood, IL :: Excellent variety of high-quality vegetables
- Dotson’s Farm, Linwood, IL :: Good selection of herb plants

This is what I bought at the farmers’ market:
- cherries
- raspberries
- blueberries
- 5 ears of corn
- 2 cucumbers
- 4 beets (A lady saw my beets and asked me how to prepare them. I said “I don’t know! I have to go home and look it up online!”)
- green beans
- tomatoes
- 4 portobello tops (I want to make these)
- portobello salsa with cilantro & key lime
- 4 free cta rides courtesy of Swedish Covenant Hospital (they were handing them out at the nearby Western Brown Line stop and just kept giving me more)

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$36 Well Spent at the Lincoln Square Farmers’ Market

July 20th, 2008 · 4 Comments


Lincoln Square Farmers’ Market, Lincoln Square, Chicago


Lincoln Square Farmers’ Market, Lincoln Square, Chicago


Farmers’ Market Produce, Roscoe Village, Chicago

Back in Chicago means back at the Tuesday Lincoln Square farmers’ market. For $36 I brought home:

- 3 large portabello tops
- small portabellos
- raspberries
- blueberries
- cherries
- 2 sage plants
- green onions
- two types of zucchini
- yellow squash
- grape tomatoes (various colors)
- green pepper
- 5 ears of corn
- lettuce
- 1 free energy saver light bulb from the 47th Ward alderman Gene Schulter

Everything is so much better when you get it fresh from the regional farmers instead of shipped from who knows where at the supermarket. The berries were unbelievable. So flavorful. And the lettuce was so big and tasty. And the corn! So sweet and delicate.

I don’t think I wrote about this before, but I’ve spoken about it to a few people. I really like the guy in the mushroom stand. I’ve talked to him a lot about the different kinds of mushrooms he has. One day we talked about how portobello’s, the large ones, were actually a mistake. They were the little crimini mushrooms that were let go another 2 or 3 days and grew big, what we now know as portobellos. Then portobellos got to be so popular that they now refer to criminis as baby portobellos and sometimes charge more for them. This last time I was at the market the mushroom stand was crazy. Instead of the one guy there were 2-3 more people working the stand and giving out samples and stuff. They also sell a lot of canned mushroom dips, salsas and sauces that they give out free samples of. The mushrooms are grown in a greenhouse in Wisconsin.

I also went to Jewel later on to get a few more things so I could make this corn/avocado/tomato salad. We actually made this salad a lot when I was in Cape Cod and used the basil that Jessica’s uncle gave us. I don’t really have a specific recipe for the salad, but this is what’s in it. I just added enough of each til it looked good.

- 1 avocado
- 2 cobs of corn, cook & cut off the cob
- about a cup of tomato
- basil
- splash of olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- juice of one lemon

I’d gotten the corn and tomatoes at the farmers’ market and I grew the basil on my patio.

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BBQ Food

September 11th, 2006 · 5 Comments

Here are some things I made for our BBQ on Saturday.

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Tomato Basil Torta
When I lived in San Diego, a friend of mine would take a chunk of goat cheese and dump some basil or red pepper pesto on it for an instant party dip. I was Googling these ingredients online and found this recipe. It was really easy to make and produced A TON of dip. Great for a big party.

3 8-ounce packages cream cheese
4 ounces prepared pesto sauce
4 ounces goat cheese
1/2 cup Sun-Dried Tomato Spread

Set out three mixing bowls. In the first bowl combine 8 ounces cream cheese with pesto sauce. In second bowl, combine 8 ounces cream cheese with the goat cheese. In third bowl, combine 8 ounces cream cheese with 1/2 cup Sun-Dried Tomato Spread. Line a medium bowl with plastic wrap, allowing extra to hang over sides of bowl. Spread cream cheese pesto mixture in an even layer over the plastic wrap. Spread goat cheese mixture over pesto layer. Top with sun-dried tomato mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve. To serve, remove plastic wrap from bottom of Torta. Place serving plate over bowl and turn upside down. Remove bowl and carefully remove plastic wrap from torta. Serve with croutons or bagel chips. Makes 25 servings.

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Brie with Preserves and Nuts
When I was at preview night for Sunflower Market, one of the samples was a huge chunk of brie with fig preserves and some kind of chopped almonds on the top. It was so good that I went back and had it 3 times! I tried to buy everything to make it exactly while I was there, but it wasn’t all available in the store yet, so I had to do the best I could at Jewel. I used preserves made of 4 different fruits and slivered almonds. YUM!

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Pasta Salad with Tomatoes and Corn
I got this recipe from Jeannette several years ago when I lived in New York. She got it from Epicurious. It’s one of my “go-to” pasta salads, the other being this crab and pasta salad. Obvs, I didn’t use penne this time, but I usually do.

5 tablespoons olive oil
5 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels (cut from 3 ears) or frozen, thawed
1 1/4 pounds plum tomatoes, chopped
8 ounces penne pasta, freshly cooked
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Whisk 4 tablespoons oil, vinegar, basil and garlic in large bowl to blend. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add corn; saute
 3 minutes. Add corn to dressing in bowl. Add tomatoes, pasta and cheese to bowl and toss to blend. Season salad with salt and pepper. 4 to 6 servings.

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Summerfest

July 5th, 2006 · 1 Comment

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How authentic do you think this is?

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My mom said the corn wasn’t as good as when my brother made it. No worries. The kids got tons of other treats!

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Ski lift?

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Looks fun.

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Steph was excited because that night my brother was taking her to her first concert ever: Kenny Chesney. She’s a fan!

utilikilt.jpg
Get it? The utility belt meets the kilt = utilikilt.

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Who are these bozos? :)

Bright and early on Tuesday I sat down at the computer and thought of all the things I could get done on this site and Chicagoist and FeedBurner projects and a site that I work on for Nancy and then how I could get all my bills paid online and even look into investing more in my retirement accounts.. and then I sat on hold endlessly with Fidelity and Charles Schwab, spent forever trying to rebuild my MT templates (something is totally wrong with my setup and/or my host), was burnt on Chicagoist, checked on some FeedBurner support, and blew off my other work. I started thinking how I really didn’t want to be sitting there, how Dallas had been off in Boston for the last 5 days spending time with our friends and going from party to party, and how the minutes of my vacation were ticking away. .. So on a whim I took the Amtrak up to Wisconsin and went to Summerfest with my brother, my nieces and my mom. .. a way better way to spend the day. And I was back in time to still get a few things done that night.

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