Entries Tagged as 'julie'

Cubs vs. Brewers @ Miller Park

April 13th, 2009 · 1 Comment

Last season my brother took my dad to a Cubs vs. Brewers game at Miller Park and I gave him a hard time because I wanted to go. I’m kind of a Cubs fan by default. When we were young our family never watched baseball. When I got older I went to watch some Brewers games at County Stadium, but only a couple years later I moved to San Diego. I went to some Padres games there. I moved to New York. I went to some Mets and Yankees games there. Now I’ve been in Chicago attending Cubs games for 5 years. It’s the longest I’ve watched any one team. So, I wanted to go up to watch the Cubs play, but also, I’ve never been to Miller Park so I wanted to check out the new ballpark.

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Lakefront Brewery, Milwaukee

Saturday I went up to Milwaukee for the game. My brother had 4 tickets and his friends Brian and Eric went along too. First we went to Lakefront Brewery. We’d planned to go on a brewery tour, but we got there too late for one and the next was sold out. Since we were there, we just drank some beer. I had the Riverwest Stein Lager, an amber lager, and really liked it. I’m going to try to find it at our liquor store here next time I go.

There were a ton of Cubs fans at the brewery. My brother and his friends said that Cubs games are a lot different experience in Milwaukee than any other team they play. Because Chicago is not that far away, the city is overrun with Cubs fans. I had worn what I thought was a sort of neutral blue shirt, but everyone decided it was more Cubby blue than Brew Crew blue. The Brewers old school blue is very much like the Cubs blue, though.

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Richard :: Miller Park, Milwaukee

At about 3:30, we decided to just head over to Miller Park and tailgate until that game started (at 6:00 p.m. I brought up some Half Acre lager and Fat Tire, neither of which you can get in Wisconsin. There was a ton of other beer and chips. And Brian brought burgers made from the beef raised on his family’s farm. My brother’s friends Michael and Julie also met up with us. They were going to the game but sitting in another section. Julie made and brought the most riche, decadent brownies to share, which was perfect because we didn’t have any dessert. The weather was crisp and chilly, but the sun was blazing. By game time I was pretty cold, but I still managed to sun/wind burn my face.

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Miller Park, Milwaukee

Walking up to the park we were finishing off our beers. I couldn’t finish mine before we got to the gate so I set it in the garbage can. .. and then I got yelled at by everyone I was with and even some strangers. I had to take my beer out of the garbage and finish it! Garbage beer! Classy.

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Richard & Rachelle :: Miller Park, Milwaukee

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Miller Park, Milwaukee

Inside the stadium everything was so nice and new compared to what I’m used to. I guess it’s like 9 years old, but compared to Wrigley Field, which is going on 100 years old, it’s brand new. Also, because of the weather, the roof was not retracted. It was like watching a baseball game indoors, which felt kind of weird.. especially when they lit the fireworks off. Inside. During the game we only had a few beers. I think because we had drank so many outside! Made for a pretty inexpensive game.

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Miller Park, Milwaukee

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Chorizo :: Miller Park, Milwaukee

The fans in the park were almost 50/50, Cubs/Brewers. Fans yelled at each other and tried to out-chant each other, but for the most part they were friendly to each other. I’m sure it happened, but I didn’t see any fans on either side getting really nasty or anything. I bet on chorizo to win the Sausage Race. Hotdog won, then we ate chorizo . I found out that at Brewers games they always sing Roll Out the Barrel after singing Take Me Out To The Ball Game. And the Cubs won!

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Drunk Dancing Idiots :: Miller Park, Milwaukee

Before going home a lot of people started tailgating more. We decided just to head out, since we were all pretty tired. Eric drove because he only had a couple beers earlier in the day and the rest of us had many more up til the time we left. He said he didn’t mind because he doesn’t drink much. Perfect. On the way out these two guys and a girl were all dancing for the cars as they were backed up trying to leave. We talked to them for a while. We even gave them a dollar for their entertainment.. which the girl thought we meant we wanted to see her boobs, but luckily we were able to stop her before she did anything stupid in 30 degree weather in front of loads of people!

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Stephanie’s Bedroom :: Oak Creek, WI

That night I stayed over in Milwaukee. My nieces were staying at my parent’s house for the long weekend, so I slept in Stephanie’s room. Looks just like my old room when I was her age!

I had a good time at the game and hanging out with my brother and his friends. My only complaint would be that it could have been like 10 degrees warmer to make the tailgating a bit more tolerable. We did ok huddling around the grill and drinking more beer, though. I’ll definitely have to go back to MIller Park again. If not this season then next!

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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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Bartholomew Fair, New Jersey

July 19th, 2008 · No Comments

After driving from Cape Cod to Hoboken, Julie dropped Jess and I off at Jess’s apartment. We got pedicures and manicures (the beach is horrible to your hands and feet), went for a walk by the waterfront, watched a play, and then met up with Stephanie for dinner.


Bartholomew Fair, New Jersey :: Hoboken, NJ

The play was something we just stumbled upon while walking through Frank Sinatra Park (Sinatra was born in Hoboken). It was called “Bartholomew Fair, NJ” and was to start in a few minutes, so we bought something to drink at a nearby cafe and took a seat. There were 5 actors, but maybe like 20 different characters, so you can imagine the quick costume changes and different voices and accents used. Everything in the play rhymed. It was like reading a rhyming poem. “Bartholomew” wasn’t the best production I’ve ever seen, but it was amusing and free and had a great view of New York’s skyline and was a good way to pass a nice afternoon in Hoboken. There were about 40 people gathered to watch, including several families with kids. I thought it was a good informal way to expose young children to the arts. The only complaint I had was that the cafe that was right behind us continued to play Bob Marley’s Legend album loud for the entire length of the play, which was distracting.

After the play we met Stephanie for dinner at a newer sushi restaurant in Hoboken called Teak on the Hudson. The architecture and styling of the restaurant is really over the top. Impressive, but maybe a bit much. We thought the sushi was good and fresh, but expensive. I guess you’re paying for all the decorations. After dinner we got some fat-free soft serve and walked around Hoboken a bit.

The next morning I flew home. Dallas made me a nice dinner of grilled sweet potatoes, grilled onions, and jalepeno and honey pork chops.


Grilled pork chops and sweet potatoes, Roscoe Village, Chicago

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