Entries Tagged as 'oak park'

Rare Bird Preserves

August 20th, 2010 · 1 Comment

This year the Logan Square farmers market is the biggest it’s ever been. One of my favorite new stands has to be Rare Bird Preserves. I talked to the people working the stand a few times. They make all their preserves by hand in a commercial kitchen in Oak Park.

I started out by getting these strawberry rhubarb preserves. They’re so delicious and I don’t even care for rhubarb that much, but found that it added a great tartness and countered the sweetness of the strawberry. On another visit to the market I picked up two more flavors of Rare Bird preserves: Lemon Blueberry and Peach Lavender. I sampled these before I bought them and they were so delicious. I can’t wait to crack them open and start using them at home.

P.S. Check out what these entrepreneuring young boys were selling on the boulevard next to the market:

I wonder which one of them is named Emil! ha

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Steak Frites Barbecue

August 7th, 2010 · 2 Comments

Last night we went out to Danny & Caroline’s for a barbecue. Since they just got married, we used the grill they got for a wedding gift, a fryer they got for a wedding gift, and dinnerware they got for a wedding gift. Danny grilled steaks from Peoria Butcher Shop and made some french fries. Dallas found some absurdly large onions at the supermarket so Danny also fried up some onion rings. This week was also Danny’s birthday, so Caroline got a cake for him. We stuck some taper candles into it and sang happy birthday. It was a fun night.

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Triple Bacon Burgers & All You Can Drink Beer

July 6th, 2010 · No Comments


Cory, Danny, Pete, Dallas, Chris


Grillin’ Burgers


Triple Bacon Burger

Danny and Caroline had people over on July 5th to help them drink their leftover beer and wine from their wedding. Danny got a new grill as a wedding gift and used it to make us triple bacon burgers.

Bacon 1: Danny ground the meat himself and with it he included a pound of bacon.
Bacon 2: Danny made a sauce for on top of the burgers that was made from caramelized onions and bacon.
Bacon 3: Crispy strips of bacon on top of the burger.

On my bun top you can also see homemade sweet and spicy pickles, along with some garlic aioli that he whipped together.

We also got to meet Danny and Caroline’s latest family addition, Duff. He’s a yellow lab mix that they adopted on their honeymoon in South Carolina. Yes, he barks with a southern accent.

Also, it is good to know that it really does only take us 15 – 20 minutes to drive to Oak Park, not like the 50 minutes it took us to get to their wedding in Oak Park on Puerto Rican pride day.

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Danny & Caroline’s Wedding

June 21st, 2010 · No Comments

On Saturday Danny & Caroline got married at Cheney Mansion in Oak Park. We left our house with plenty of time to make the 18 minute drive to Oak Park, but didn’t realize the Puerto Rican parade was on Saturday. The parade itself is downtown, but in all of the communities with large Puerto Rican populations… ours and the neighborhoods surrounding ours… it’s mayhem! People just run around, bike around, drive around waving flags and celebrating. I’m sure it’s a good time, but we had to be somewhere. There were tons of road blocks and redirects and it took us more like 45 minutes to an hour to get out to Oak Park. I felt like we were in that Seinfeld episode.

Finally we arrived. The ceremony was just beginning. Attendants were walking down “the aisle.” Caroline was about to take her stroll down so we got to see her “backstage.” After she made her entrance we were allowed to make our way across the lawn and watch the ceremony. Cheney Mansion has such beautiful grounds. And the weather was so nice too. The day before we had tornado-like storms. Saturday’s weather called for it to be sunny and in the 90s. A bit too hot, but actually by 5:30 p.m. it was perfect.


Danny & Caroline’s Wedding Ceremony


The Bride and Groom Kissing


All done!

I couldn’t hear everything that was said during the ceremony because we were so far in the back, having arrived late. It seemed pretty traditional. I saw parents stand up at different points. It was quick, though. 15 minutes? 20 minutes? Afterwards Danny and Caroline greeted everyone in a receiving line.


Danny & Caroline greeting everyone

We had cocktails outside for an hour or so. Very nice. Like I said, the weather was perfect and the gardens at the mansion were gorgeous. The wedding was odd in that Dallas’s family was there, but then I’d turn and a lot of our friends were there too. I wasn’t used to seeing these people all in the same place.


Ed, Jen, Chad, Kristin


Jen & Chad


Cory (bridesmaid) & Miko


Aunty Glenna & Uncle BB


Dallas’s parents Kathy & George


George, Kathy, Rachelle, Dallas


Dallas, Uncle Neil, Scotty (Danny’s brother and Best Man)


Caroline & Danny


Rachelle & Dallas


Loden & Trent

After a while, Caroline’s dad announced that it was time to come inside the mansion for dinner.


Caroline’s dad announcing dinner


Wedding Program

It was expected, but I always like it when my name is spelled right.


Wedding Placecards

And I loved these poppies.


Centerpieces


Aunty Peggy, George, Kathy, Aunty Karolyn, Uncle Sonny, Aunty Gail, Aunty Laura, Aunty Glenna, Uncle BB, Uncle Neil

Look at this. Chris is almost as tall as Dallas and Brad. He’s 14!


Brad, Dallas, Chris

After dinner we all kind of mingled and visited while waiting for the band to start up.


Aly, Danny, Amanda

If you didn’t notice earlier, Danny’s boutonniere is rosemary. Fitting, since he works in a kitchen. Here’s Dallas trying to get a whiff.


Brad, Danny, Dallas


Brad, Danny, Dallas

The dance floor is on the 3rd floor of Cheney Mansion. The wedding band was JT and the Clouds, a popular Chicago band. One of Danny and Caroline’s first dates was to go see them play. Also, the lead singer, Jeremy, aka JT, works with Danny.


JT and the Clouds

Kenji arrived on floor 3 ready to dance!


Kenji

Tommy and Derek? Not so interested.


Tommy & Derek

Caroline and Danny had their first dance.


Danny & Caroline


Danny & Caroline

Some were a little shy to get dancing at first, but it wasn’t long before the dance floor was packed.


Dance!


Loden, Trent, Caroline


Loden, Danny


Danny & Rachelle


Loden & Ed


Loden & Danny

Fun wedding. It went by SO FAST! Congratulations, Danny and Caroline! I wish we were done already! :)

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Danny & Caroline’s New House in Oak Park

October 29th, 2009 · 2 Comments

danny_caroline_house
Oak Park, IL

Earlier this year, maybe in the spring?, Danny and Caroline bought a house out in Oak Park. It was a run-down foreclosure and there was a lot of remodeling that had to be done. With the help of Uncle BB and his crew, they spent the entire summer fixing up the place. At the end of September they moved in and in the beginning of October, invited us over for dinner.

Unlike Dallas, I never saw the house pre-remodeling or during the process, but the results are gorgeous. It’s such a nice space for them now. There are a couple porches, a yard, a garage, a big kitchen for Danny to cook, even a space for Caroline to set up her piano.

Danny and Caroline went the complete opposite route that Dallas and I did. Dallas and I bought a condo in the city because we wanted to move in and not spend all of our time fixing things up or wondering if something might break. Danny and Caroline went and got this amazing deal on a whole 2-story house in Oak Park, a suburb that is probably the most trendy and acceptable suburb to Chicagoans, and then put their blood, sweat and tears into customizing and redoing it. Neither way is better than the other, it’s just different strokes, but it is interesting to see how everything turned out for each of us. And I must admit that I am a little jealous of their cute little yard!

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