Dani’s Spinach and Zucchini Lasagna

This was the best lasagna ever:

Ingredients

About 9 Pasta sheets (make your own or use fresh pasta from Whole Foods)
1 15oz package of part skim ricotta cheese
3/4 cup mozzarella
1/4 cup parmesan
1 egg
Approximately 4 cups of fresh spinach
2 or 3 cloves of fresh garlic, sliced thin
2 zucchini, peeled and sliced thin
1 onion, chopped and browned
olive oil
Italian seasoning (oregano, sweet basil, marjoram, thyme, and rosemary) to taste
about 1 1/2 cups of your favorite spaghetti sauce

Preparation

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium sauce pan, heat about a tablespoon of olive oil. Add onion and sauté until brown, stirring occasionally.

In another medium sauce pan, heat another tablespoon of olive oil. Add garlic and sauté until garlic begins to brown, then add spinach and quickly sauté until reduced in volume.

Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl combine the ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup of mozzarella, egg, and Italian seasoning. After the spinach is done sautéing, add the spinach/garlic mixture to the mixing bowl and stir.

Spray a 9×9 inch pan lightly with cooking spray (I used grapeseed oil). Add a small amount of tomato sauce to the bottom, then line the bottom with a layer of pasta (about three sheets).

Spread half the ricotta mixture on top of the pasta. Next add a layer of sautéd onions, then lay out the thinly sliced zucchini into a third layer. Cover with a layer of tomato sauce.

Repeat: pasta, ricotta mixture, onions, zucchini, and more sauce.

Top with a layer of pasta. Add a bit more sauce to keep the top moist during cooking. Then add the remaining 1/4 mozzarella and parmesan to the top.

Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes, checking occasionally. Remove from oven and let sit 10 minutes before serving.

Kitchen Remodelling

Our final remodeling project for the summer was the kitchen. It was Dani’s idea to add stone to the walls above the backsplashes, and she also picked the ceramic murals for above the sink and stove. Quite a difference!

Before:

 

After:

 

Reverse Views:

Here’s a panorama: http://360.io/htWB6G

Wynton Marsalis

We decided to check out the downtown venue used by the Chicago Symphony, but since they are playing opera at Ravinia, we went to a jazz concert by the Wynton Marsalis Quintet.

Before the concert we had lunch at one of the oldest restaurants in the country, The Berghoff, which serves a unique and flavorful take on German food, with a few other cuisines thrown in.

Then we visited the Museum of Contemporary Photography, an exhibit space at Columbia College, one of the half dozen colleges lining the area between Michigan Avenue and State Street. The exhibition was more about politics than great photography, but it was interesting. The most engaging exhibit was actually a film where talented and well-rehearsed performers acted out a domestic drama constructed from excerpts of political interviews.

Next we walked over to Millennium Park and had a look at the bean. I think the popularity of this simple sculpture caught everyone by surprise. It’s really neat to be able to see the whole Chicago skyline, wherever you stand.

Across the street we had dinner at The Gage, another fairly old restaurant. Linda, Dani and I had eaten here before and were underwhelmed, but this night Dani and I had a terrific meal of grazing small plates at an ideal, quiet (unique for this place) corner table, and capped off by a stunning glass of 1968 D’ Oliveira Bual Madeira.

Then it was time for the concert. Man, can those guys play! We had box seats on the side that offered a perfect view. And what a delight to hear unamplified music in a space with great acoustics. The two hour concert offered lots of opportunities for each musician to solo, so we heard some of the best trumpet, sax, piano, upright bass and drum work ever. I don’t know how Wynton Marsalis coaxes some of those sounds from a trumpet, but in his hands it’s like a living thing. He also proved to be quite a personable host, stopping to explain some of the unexpected turns the group took in each piece, and why they were occasionally laughing. We really enjoyed the whole afternoon, and especially the concert.

 

Roller Derby

Last night Dani took me to her highly anticipated roller derby game. She explained the rules before we went, which helped me to understand what was going on. It was a little hard to understand the announcer, so things were baffling at times, but for the most part I was able to follow it.

My only exposure to roller derby was on TV in the 60s, when it was akin to “pro” wrestling. But the revived sport is completely different. The teams are amateur women from all walks of life who simply enjoy it. As a result, there’s a lot more sportsmanship than other sports. That’s also true of the fans. I’ve never scene such a broad demographic: all ages, sexes and apparent socioeconomic backgrounds. And they seemed happy to clap for either team when they did something impressive.

They don’t take themselves too seriously, either, as everyone–even the officials and the announcer–is using a funny fake name. The announcer was Bryan Mumble.

It can certainly be an exciting sport, because the score can increase dramatically in a short time, so lead changes are common. The only problem I saw was that the outcome of the game was largely controlled by the amount of penalty time players spent on the sidelines, and there are literally hundreds of minor penalties. Apparently they are going to change this next year, and eliminate the minor penalties, which I suspect will make the game even faster paced and more exciting.

I can’t say I’d become a regular fan of derby (or any sport, for that matter), but I would go again. It’s a fun evening, mainly because everyone including the players is having such a good time.

Gotye and Missy Higgins

Last night we went to Chicago’s other outstanding outdoor performance space, The Charter One Pavilion near the Field Museum, to see Missy Higgins and Gotye. Charter One Pavilion offers a great view of the city, and you can walk along the lake past the planetarium while you’re waiting for the show.

We’ve long been Missy Higgins fans, and she is a top star in Australia, but has had trouble generating traction in the US. So it’s a bit ironic that she’s now playing bigger arenas as a warm-up act for a guy with one Internet hit video.

For this all-aussie show, the first act was a solo performer named Jonti who fiddled with various electronic boxes, played a bit of guitar and tried to sing. Since it was his first concert, I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume the sound guy wasn’t providing him with a monitor mix.

The sound guy and lighting guy also weren’t giving Missy Higgins any help. In fact she played the first half of her set in the dark, before he managed to finally turn some low level background lights on. Missy played mostly songs from her latest album, which is a strong release, but she also played a few older tunes, and at the request of an audience member played Scar, one of our favorites. I think this replaced River, a much more downbeat song she played the night before in Colorado. I like the song, but Scar was a better choice. About a fourth of the crowd seemed to know who she was, and she held everyone else’s attention much better than when I saw her at House of Blues as the headliner, and everyone was drunk. I think this was her set list: Secret, Everyone’s Waiting, Scar, Hello Hello, Unashamed Desire, Watering Hole, Where I Stood, Warm Whispers.

After a very long set change out, and when it was truly dark, Gotye came on about 9:30pm. The reason for the darkness became apparent when the rear stage video projection came on, and ran through virtually every song, playing somewhat abstract and usually abstruse videos. I actually like Gotye’s music much better live than on his CD. It’s complex and varied, and his singing voice is much stronger than you’d guess if you’ve only heard his big hit. During the show he moved between various percussion, keyboard and effects stations, some of which were expertly reset by a swarm of roadies. He used a tremendous amount of technology. The downside was that, since everything was choreographed to the videos, it was impossible to tell that it was being played live. When something was obviously live, it was usually impressive. And his backup musicians (drums, bass, guitar, keyboards) were excellent. When it came time for his big hit, Somebody That I Used to Know, the women in the audience did a credible job of singing the female part. I believe Gotye’s set list was: The Only Way, What Do You Want, Easy Way Out, Smoke and Mirrors, Thanks for your Time, State of the Art, Backseat Driver, Don’t Worry We’ll Be Watching You, Dig Your Own Hole, Eyes Wide Open, Save Me, Somebody That I Used to Know, Heart’s A Mess, Giving Me a Chance, Bronte, Night Drive, The Only Thing I Know,  I Feel Better.

All of these performers suffer from a misconception about why people go to concerts. They seem to think the audience is there to hear them reproduce their CD. But in fact the audience is there to get to know them. A little more talking between songs–stories about how the songs were written, or anecdotes about their careers–would build a much stronger following. This is a lesson that was admirably demonstrated by Train, who have weaker material than these acts, but a much stronger fan base and a well-deserved reputation for putting on a great concert.

 

Donald Fagen (Steely Dan), Michael McDonald (Doobie Brothers) and Boz Scaggs at Ravinia

For our final Ravinia concert of the year, Dani and I went to see The Dukes of September, a twelve piece band headed by Donald Fagen (half of Steely Dan), Michael McDonald (lead singer of the Doobie Brothers), and Boz Scaggs. They played hits from all three of them, sharing vocal duties, and also performed some of their favorite oldies. Top notch horn section and backup singers. Donald Fagen does indeed move like a muppet. Lead guitarist Jon Herington was awesome, particularly on my favorite number, Reelin’ in the Years.

Road Trip: Iowa

There is a lot of corn in Iowa. Seriously.

I think we might have crossed back into Wisconsin when this photo was taken, but you get the idea. Actually most of the day we were driving through southern Minnesota, and it was all corn fields, too.

We spent the night at the Hotel Julien in Dubuque, which is right at the corner of Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois. The recently renovated downtown Dubuque is cute and clean, and pretty devoid of people, at least on a Sunday evening. The hotel, thought to have once been owned by Al Capone, has recently had a $30 Million renovation itself, and is quite nice. The woman at the front desk was extraordinarily gracious, and seemed please to have customers. Not sure how they’re going to pay off that investment, though.

In the morning we drove across the bridge into Illinois, and a fairly boring drive. I was surprised that the corners of Wisconsin, Minnesota and even Iowa that we drove through were all more scenic than the middle of Illinois.

A good road trip. Friday-Monday, 900 miles roundtrip.

 

Road Trip: Minneapolis

State two in our three state road trip: Minnesota.

First stop: The Mall of America.

Well, it’s really big. The usual mall stores, some home grown ones, and a lot of restaurants. Many restaurants. Many chain restaurants. And a theme park. The mall is on 3-1/2 levels, each level pretty much equivalent to a standard mall. It surrounds the fours story high Nickelodeon themed park, which has a LOT of rides crammed into it. The mall was popular, although there weren’t a lot of people on the rides. Mini golf was busy.

Second stop: Hotel Ivy in downtown Minneapolis. Very nice Starwood property, actually cheaper than the touristy semi-dump of last night’s stay in the Wisconsin Dells. Joining the Starwood preferred club (free) gets you free cookies, nice bathroom condiments, a high floor, a free drink in the bar, and free wireless. Good deal.

Third stop: Chino Latino, recommended by Jeremy, and billing itself as “Food from the hot zones.” Hopefully not contagious. The place was REALLY NOISY, but extremely trendy and delicious. We had Chinese 5-spice ribs, Tuna Drano balls (wasabi, tuna rice, wasabi roe and a touch of eel sauce), and really delicious spicy queso dip with mushrooms in it.

In the morning we walked to Hell’s Kitchen, and underground labyrinth of dining rooms that serves amazing lemon ricotta pancakes and an excellent huevos rancheros.

Then we headed for Iowa. On the way, we stopped at Mystery Cave, an interesting wet cave in a Minnesota State Park. Everywhere we’ve been on this trip, everyone we’ve encountered has been really nice, and the ranger guide here was particularly friendly and informative.

 

Road Trip: The Wisconsin Dells

Dani and I are on a quick weekend road trip to add three states to our list.

I’d always thought Orlando, and especially its International Drive (the old section) was the tacky capital of the universe, but I’d never been to the Wisconsin Dells. I’m nearly speechless at the colossal, all-consuming tackiness of the place. It’s so tacky its attraction is its very tackiness.

While International Drive is an embarrassment to Orlandoans, Dellers seem to revel in it. A watermark without a pyramid, coliseum, Trojan Horse of flying saucer would be a downright embarrassment. It’s a place where a family restaurant can advertise “Where size matters” and fit right in.

And as for culture, they got that to, in the form of museums. What vacationing family wouldn’t want to visit The Museum of Torture?

The Dells seems to be divided into two areas, the original Downtown, where things are a bit smaller and cuter, and the part that’s on the Interstate, where everything is GIGANTICALLY TACKY.

There are no bland buildings here, everything is outrageously themed. And the reason they need to be so huge is that most of the water parks are indoors. I was surprised by this, since I figured they were probably seasonal. But this is August. And this morning the temperature was 46 degrees!

As someone who wears loud Hawaiian shirts every day, I can appreciate tacky. I can even revel in it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to Paul Bunyan’s for a Lumberjack Breakfast…

 

Train, Matt Kearney and Andy Grammer

I’d always heard that Train was a very fan-friendly band, and they certainly demonstrated that last night at Ravinia. Through constant interaction with the audience, including inviting guests up on the stage to help them perform, they kept everyone excited and on their feet for most of the two hour concert. This personal touch led Dani to conclude it was the best concert she’s seen. I have to agree that’s why people go to concerts, more than to hear a recitation of a CD. I just wish Train’s material was a little stronger. But the fans sang along with every song, and the band played all their hits and much of their new album. My favorite of their songs is the melodic Marry Me. Apparently their drummer is ordained through an online church and has actually been marrying fans on stage, but there was no wedding last night.

I actually preferred the music of the two warm up acts. Andy Grammer writes catchy pop tunes, and has an amazing interactive video of Keep Your Head Up you can watch at http://www.andygrammer.com/videos

We saw Matt Kearney with Owl City in Orlando, and I was looking forward to seeing him again. Unfortunately his new album has taken a rappish turn, and his band was only moderately proficient. But his album City of Black and White is definitely worth checking out.

Restaurant Michael

We didn’t actually have this, but the picture is representative.

Last night we went to Restaurant Michael in Winnetka, about four miles north of Evanston. The original plan was to take the Metra train, but it was a cool, rainy and blustery night, so we opted for a cab. The restaurant is the latest project of award-winning chef Michael Lachowicz. Despite its proximity, I’d never heard of it until it popped up on Groupon back in the spring. I didn’t see anyone else having the meal we had, so I guess everyone else used it back in the Spring.

The food was terrific, and the place was almost full. What we received was a delicious five-course French meal for two people with matching wine pairings for a total of $72. Crazy, huh? Considering that was half price, even the normal price of the meal is extremely reasonable. Each course was super, and the matching wines paired perfectly with the food. We had:

  • goat cheese puff amuse bouche (we were actually served this twice, which was great!)
  • corn soup (paired with an Italian white)
  • zucchini with goat cheese in pastry
  • seared salmon (paired with a white Burgundy)
  • roast pork in pastry (paired with an Argentinian Cabernet Sauvignon)
  • chocolate souffle with chocolate sauce and strawberries
  • chocolate truffles

As at Terra, the other night, service seemed well-intentioned, but not really at the caliber of the food. The servers all seem like they’ve never really been to another nice restaurant, and are just following instructions. This was one of the dressier restaurants I’ve been to around here, with many of the men in coats and ties. That was ironic, because the owner is extremely friendly and casual, working the front desk in jeans and a short sleeve shirt!

According to Groupon, they sold more than 680 of these dinners for two, so it was certainly popular. I wonder, though, how many of those people tipped properly (when you are presented with a bill at the end of the meal only if you ordered incidentals) and how many of them will go back if the same meal costs them twice as much. Since the restaurant only gets about half of the Groupon cost, they certainly couldn’t have broken even on those 1360 meals. But it worked in our case, because we’ll certainly go back.

Terra

A few nights ago we visited Terra, an American bisto just north of Central Avenue in Evanston. It’s about two miles from the condo, so we took the Metra train up, and then walked back.

It’s a small plates sort of place, so we sampled some smoked salmon, hummus, Margherita flatbread and some fish tacos. I loved everything, and Dani like everything except the tacos, which had a seasoning on the fish she didn’t care for.

The menu is really interesting, and warrants several repeat visits. Service was well-intentioned but not quite as professional as the food. The place was very busy, due to the trendy vibe and good prices, I suppose.

It was a beautiful evening, so we walked home through the residential neighborhood west of the Northwestern campus.

Caleb Hawley and Theo Katzman

SPACE is definitely the best concert venue I’ve been to. And when you have the front center cocktail table it’s even better. Last night we saw Caleb Hawley and Theo Katzman there. They’re part of a four-piece band that reconfigures itself by changing shirts between Theo’s and Caleb’s sets. We encountered Caleb at the Johnny Mercer Songwriter’s Festival; his song, Little Miss Sunshine, was one of our favorites.

This was the first concert on the band’s tour, but they were incredibly tight. And they were having a great time. It was easy to see that they were delighted with the way they sounded, and the enthusiastic audience response.

Here’s a panorama I shot.

A little bio info:

Caleb is originally from Minneapolis, but now lives in New York. He received top honors it the New York Songwriters Circle Contest (2008 and 2009), the John Lennon Songwriting Contest (2009), the Telluride Festival (2010), the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival (2010), and Rocky Mountain Folks Fest (2011), and placed in the final fifty on the 2011 American Idol Season.

Theo Katzman was a guitarist in the electro-pop group My Dear Disco. He is also a drummer and bassist. Theo’s songs  are particularly melodic and catchy. We particularly liked Emily, which is unfortunately not on his album. He’s the only drummer I’ve seen who wears a big grin most of the time. It’s clear he loves what he does.

 

Coldplay

Coldplay put on quite a show last night at the United Center in Chicago. The show started two hours after the time on the tickets, due to a warm up act we (probably mercifully) missed and one we didn’t miss, but might as well have. With six people, Marina and the Diamonds couldn’t create as much sound or summon as much enthusiasm as Coldplay did in their first ten seconds.

Coldplay was on for almost two hours, and sounded great. In addition to playing all their best songs, there were also great laser effects, a ton (literally) of confetti, hundreds of bouncing balls, and a few other effects. Everyone was issued a radio-controlled wristband made by Xylobands that lit up in different colors. There were red, green, blue, white and yellow ones; they could be commanded to either turn on or to blink out of sync with each other. Interestingly, they pulled out all these effects in the first few numbers, rather than the finale. The last few numbers were played from a small platform at the other end of the arena, and then they ran through the crowd back to the stage to finish up.

I knew Coldplay’s music, but wasn’t familiar with the band, so I was surprised by a few things:

  1. I figured it took more than four people to create that lush sound. Although they might have cheated a few times, for the most part it was bass, drums, lead guitar and either piano or rhythm guitar.
  2. I didn’t realize one guy (Chris Martin) does almost all the heavy lifting; he did all the lead vocals, all the important keyboard parts, and most of the rhythm guitar.
  3. Despite all the synchronized stuff happening, the show is very live. Chris attempted a song requested by some people with a sign, and stopped and restarted another song with no need to reset anything.

In addition to excellent musicianship, the band’s rapport with the audience was great, which really highlighted why they make the big bucks, and Marina and the Diamonds don’t.

Evanston Remodelling

This week we remodeled Dani’s condo, replacing the carpet with wood flooring and painting all of the rooms. We actually started by having the two bedrooms repainted in early July, getting rid of the horrible hospital green color. The painter (Stephen of Chicago Rent-a-Painter) was so good that we decided to have him back after the floors were done to paint the rest, since both projects would require boxing all of Dani’s books and moving all the furniture. Well, the flooring dragged on from two days to five, and we ended up with the painting going on concurrently. Still, aside from the hassle of camping at a furniture warehouse for a week, it wasn’t too bad. The new look is certainly a big improvement.

Crosby, Stills and Nash at Ravinia

This was one of the best shows I’ve seen at Ravinia. I liked the band’s 1969 and 1970 albums, and their individual solo albums, but haven’t really followed them. So it was a pleasant surprise to discover they are a terrific live act. In concert they sound great, with the distinctive harmonies that make them unique. Stephen Still’s guitar playing was impressive, particularly when he tackled the Indian-influenced instrumental from Carry On (their final number) as a guitar solo. The backup band was also terrific, and included David Crosby’s son, James Raymond, on keyboards (they also played two of his songs, including the haunting Lay me Down). Several songs were better than the album versions, including Guenevere and Cathedral. The only hit missing was To the Last Whale, a favorite of mine. I was particularly impressed at the group’s range, which spanned folk to rock quite effortlessly. Given that Nash is 70 and the others are 67, it was impressive that the were energized for all of a nearly three-hour performance. If you have a chance to see them, I highly recommend it.