Moto

Saturday night we made our annual visit to the molecular gastronomy weirdness that is Moto. We often use a limo service to get to Chicago, because the cost for a town car is about the same as a cab. But every once in a while they run out of town cars, and we get a stretch limo, as was the case last night. It was fun playing with the inscrutable controls and watching a movie on the way.

At Moto we had the 20-course grand tasting menu. It sounds like a lot, but most courses are only a couple of bites or sips, and it takes almost five hours, so you don’t leave feeling stuffed. We also had the matching wine pairing, 14 small samples of wines.

Moto was packed, and they turned the tables of those having the ten-course menu twice. I felt that the service wasn’t quite as fun and the food not quite as consistent as in the past. There were still some wonderful courses, but also a fair number of neat looking but not particularly awe inspiring dishes. The wines seemed better than usual, though, and all of them perfectly matched their courses.

I managed to photograph most of the courses, but forgot a few. Favorites: Pretzel soup, baseball snacks, most of the red meat courses, the banana split and the smores bomb. Big misses: Shrimp and grits, cookie crumbs.

Moto isn’t the sort of place I’d go more than once a year, but if you haven’t tried molecular gastronomy, it’s definitely worth the experience.

Hall and Oates at Ravinia

Here’s a trivia question for you:

What is the biggest selling musical duo of all time?

Awww, you peeked. Yup, it’s Hall and Oates. Don’t bother to try to guess who’s number two. (It’s The Pet Shop Boys.) Clearly, there are not a lot of musical duos.

When we were at Ravinia for Deep Purple last week, I thought it was sold out. Turns out, though that the lawn can hold a lot more people. I mean, a LOT more people:

Basically, Hall and Oates is mostly Hall (the blond with the personality, who sings almost every song). Of the eight piece band, the sax player and lead guitarist do most of the heavy lifting. They put on a good show, but were hampered by audio problems that kept the crowd from really getting into it until the end of their less than 90 minute set.

Before the show we talked our way into the Park View restaurant, although our reservations were really for the Mirabella buffet downstairs. Really impressive food for a seasonal restaurant staffed by college kids.

Leaving the concert during the second encore was a good move, as we rolled home on the Metra train as thousands of people gathered to wait for the next one.

Songwriters Showcase

Last night we attended the Johnny Mercer Songwriters Showcase, where 16 incredibly talented young songwriters show off the songs they’ve written during the past week’s workshop. Last year it was the highlight of the summer shows we saw, and it didn’t disappoint this year. Every song was a winner.

Tonight we attended Applause! Applause! where the best of those songs were presented to a larger audience, along with professional performances from the songbook of Charles Strouse, who was honored with an award. Strouse wrote Bye, Bye Birdie, Applause, Annie, and quite a few other musicals, as well as the theme song from All In The Family. At the end of the evening he received his award and entertained at the piano and told some hilarious stories; he’s quite the card for an 83 year old.

Earlier today Dani and I walked through the closed streets of Evanston, where there was an art festival, and then walked up to Central to buy some spices at The Spice House and some cheese and bread at the gourmet market. All together it was a five mile walk, and her ankle held up well, its first real outing since taking her cast off and starting physical therapy.

During our walk we revisited some of the fallen trees from last week’s storm, which have now been cut up and cleared. It’s not hard to figure out why this large branch—that I photographed previously—broke off:

Painting

Last night an impressive storm blew through Evanston, knocking out our power five times. This morning 48 buildings on the Northwestern campus were still without power, according to an email sent to Dani. Fortunately, Dani’s German class was unaffected.

The storm left a gorgeous morning in its wake, and I took advantage of it to walk up to Expo Paint on Green Bay near Central Avenue, a mile or so to the north.

Along the way I was surprised to see how many large tree limbs were down, on lawns, the sidewalk, and in the roads. The storm must have been a lot stronger to the north. City crews were already clearing away the bits and pieces, and the park was full of day camp kids enjoying a truly beautiful day.

My mission at Expo Paint was to buy some paint to match the ugly green color that’s coating the walls of the condo bedroom. This is necessary because one of Dani’s roommates used double stick tape on the walls, and it’s removed large chunks of the textured surface. I dropped off a chunk at Expo and went over to the market to get some fresh baked bread while I waited. In a few minutes they called me and said my paint was ready.

I guess they scanned the paint chip I took them, because the match is almost exact. Let me tell you that lugging a gallon of paint for a mile is not fun! Now the trick is to get the paint on so that it matches the original texture. My first attempt with a brush failed, so I went back to Ace Hardware for a roller.

For lunch Dani and I went to Cafe 527. It’s a new Asian place that had the nerve to open next door to the popular Joy Yee’s Noodle Shop. The plan seems to be working, as 527 was packed. The Korean BBQ taco I had was delicious, filled with bulgogi beef, kimchee, rice and cilantro, and served on seaweed rather than a tortilla. The miso shrimp salad was also tasty, although the shrimp was the least interesting part. The crunchy lettuce and cabbage mixture was enhanced by green peppers, scallions, and edamame. It went well with a miso based honey mustard dressing.

My other home improvement project was accomplished a lot quicker than the paint touchups. I ordered a wallpaper mural for the bare spot over the sink. It took about a minute to install, and really makes the kitchen look nice.

The rain is teasing us this afternoon, looking threatening, but then barely sprinkling. For dinner I’m fixing hamburgers unless it’s pouring, in which case they will turn into meatloaf.

Basil Chicken, Sweet Potato Casserole, Brussels Sprouts

Basil Chicken

I thought I had memorialized Linda’s Basil Chicken recipe on this blog, but apparently not, so here’s my version:

Ingredients

Boneless chicken breasts
Onion
Lemon
Basil leaves
White Wine
Milk
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper or Poultry Seasoning

Directions

Pound the chicken breasts. Sauté the onions in oil, add chicken breasts and sauté until brown. Remove breasts, place basil leaves on them. Deglaze the pan, add white wine, lemon juice and a dash of milk, and reduce. Pour over breasts and basil.

To accompany it, I made a…

Sweet Potato Casserole

This turns out fluffy enough that it’s almost a souffle with a topping:

Ingredients

4 cups sweet potato
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
Five spice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping:

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Five spice

Directions

Boil chunked potatoes and mash. Add sugar, beaten eggs, vanilla extract and five spice. Some recipes add milk or butter but I didn’t. Mix and place in baking dish.

For topping, mix brown sugar, flour, butter and pecans. Layer on top of sweet potatoes.

May be refrigerated until time for dinner.

Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes, or until brown.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic Vinegar

Ingredients

Brussels Sprouts
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Salt and Pepper

Cut brussels sprouts in half, toss ingredients together.

Roast at 375°F, cut side down, 15 minutes, flip, roast ten minutes more.

Cleaning House

In other news, today I had Dial-a-Maid come for four hours and unearth the condo. The sink is now white again.

Lock & Lock Korma

One of my missions this year in Evanston is to make lots of one-serving meals for Dani’s freezer. I ran errands to Ace Hardware and Whole Foods, returning with about 50 pounds of stuff in the poor shopping basket cart. After restocking the fridge I set out to make Lamb Korma with Moroccan basmati raisin rice, sweet potatoes and Caesar salad.

I boxed the leftover rice and korma into some nifty containers I got on Amazon. They’re called Lock & Lock (not a great name, I know) and are very durable, microwave and freezer safe, and they have a gasket that seals them completely with locks on all four sides. I bought them because of the good reviews on Amazon, without completely understanding what they were, but they’ve worked out perfectly. The ones I got are fairly small, about 3x5x2 inches, so just right for one entree serving. Five down, about a zillion to go.

Father’s Day at The Stained Glass

Dani and I spent a pleasant day in Evanston before the start of summer session at Northwestern. We walked up to Al’s Deli for lunch. Al’s is an interesting place, because it sounds very American, but is, in fact, French. They make wonderful soups, and sandwiches on baguettes or croissants.

On the way back, we picked up Dani’s German class notes and restocked at CVS. In the evening we swapped some books at Market Fresh Books and then had dinner at our favorite Evanston restaurant, The Stained Glass, where we were served by our favorite waiter, the extremely knowledgeable wine instructor, Scot Morton.

Deep Purple at the Ravinia Festival

Ravinia is an outdoor music festival founded in 1904. It’s a few miles North of Evanston.

Dani and I went to see Deep Purple with the Ravinia Festival Orchestra and opening band Ernie and the Automatics.

Dinner at the upstairs restaurant was quite pleasant. It’s amazing to have to kick start a fine dining restaurant every summer.

It was an unexpected treat that two members of Ernie and the Automatics were the guitarist and drummer from Boston, who played a Boston medley.

Deep Purple was excellent– very talented guitarist and keyboard player– and it was fun to hear them with an orchestra.

Evanston Seasons

Dani took these three photos from her balcony, showing the different seasons in Evanston.

Leaving Evanston

So ends the summer in Evanston. We packed up, cleaned out the refrigerator and prepped the condo for a month of idleness, then headed to the airport. Not exactly traveling light, because I needed to get everything back to Orlando, and Dani needs to pack for Orlando, London and Iceland, with everything then ending up back in Evanston, an interesting challenge. We had a leisurely lunch (due to the leisurely server) at Harry Caray’s at Midway airport, and then an uneventful flight home. Linda met us and we went to The Vineyard at The Ritz Carlton for dinner on the way home, where we had a spectacular Aubert Lauren Vineyard Chardonnay. They’ve really upgraded this restaurant’s food, service and wine. It’s nice to be home, but I’ll miss Evanston.

Mission Acomplished!

Dani took her chemistry final this morning. While she was away I put up the banner Jackie made for her. She was very surprised when she arrived home to find that, and my lame excuse at cake decorating.

In all fairness, the cake is only about four inches across.

NU Library

Today was my last day to walk around, so I wandered up through the Northwestern campus and visited the library, which is really, really large. And confusing. The three towers are linked in a very unintuitive way on all but the ground floor. Most of them house stacks that are arranged in a circle, with the shelves of books spreading out radially. So once you find your way to the core it’s a puzzle to figure out what direction you entered from. Fortunately, there are signs. I leafed through a random assortment of the books I stumbled upon, including treatises about California archaeological digs and bound SMPTE proceedings back issues.

I walked back through the park that runs along the beach south of campus. I hadn’t been that close to the water before. There were colorful sailboats enjoying the sunny day, a nice concession building, and an oval pond that looks like it makes a good skating rink for part of the year.

I picked up lunch at Thai Sookdee (wow that place is awful except for their weird pad thai) and brought it home to Dani after her last chemistry class.

For dinner it was clean the refrigerator night. I’m pretty proud of how empty the fridge is, and how full the freezer is, stuffed with leftovers divided into protions for two. Tonight’s carrot souffle turned out well:

Carrot Souffle

Ingredients

2 pounds carrots, peeled and chopped
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 teaspoons 5 spice

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Boil carrots until very tender (takes about an hour). Drain.
Beat eggs. Combine all ingredients. Beat until smooth.
Bake 1 hour or until top is golden brown.

Bombay Indian Grill and Merle’s #1 Barbecue

For lunch I was going to try the local JK Sweets, which is the bizarre combination of an ice cream parlor and Korean restaurant, but it looks like they’re on vacation. So I walked over to Sherman and on a whim went into Bombay Indian Grill, a narrow storefront that used to be a Dunkin’ Donuts.

Bombay Indian Grill is a small restaurant that offers quite tasty and authentic Indian food, and at least at lunch the prices are quite fair. I had the Chicken Korma. There seems to be some disagreement about what goes into Korma sauce, with some places adding spices that turn it pink or red, while others make the traditional white. This was the pink variety, and it was savory and delicious, and mild as advertised. I love garlic naan bread, so I ordered that, rather than the plain naan that comes with the lunch, and took rice instead with my chicken. Both the rice and the garlic naan were excellent, and the two chutney accompaniments — tamarind and cilantro — were perfect. A tiny salad was as also on the plate, really just some shredded lettuce that might have been lightly dressed, but it actually served well to clear the palate. The two fried bits of smashed and breaded cauliflower aren’t really my thing, but they were good with the chutneys. A lot of food for ten bucks. Service was attentive and friendly. There’s free wifi, too, due to the fact that Starbucks is next door! No complaints, and I’ll be back.

Today they’re washing the windows of the condo building (they actually weren’t very dirty), so a guy dangling from ropes is passing by. It’s amazing how fast he goes from floor to floor, dropping down the side. Then I guess he takes the elevator back up!

Today Dani gave her chemistry lab project presentation about a UV light exposure sensor to prevent sunburn and got voted best presentation by her 14 classmates, so she won a Northwestern Chemistry hat.

For dinner we ordered ribs from Merle’s #1 Barbecue. Dani thought there wasn’t goof barbecue in Evanston, but the “spare ribs, falling off the bone, mild sauce” were terrific, as were the accompaniments: corn bread, baked potatoes and very bacony baked beans.

Winding Down

This week I’m beginning to get ready for the return to Orlando. I have mixed feelings, as I’ve loved spending the summer with Dani in Evanston, but it will be nice to see Linda again, and I’m sure we’ll all have a good time in London and on our upcoming cruise.

I’ve installed aqua globes in a (probably hopeless) attempt to keep the flowers alive until Dani returns in a month. The idea is that the globes leak water when the soil dries. Indeed, since I’ve been keeping the soil wet, the globes aren’t leaking at all. My fear is that by the time the soil gets dry enough for the globes to leak, the flowers will be dead. Plus, altogether they hold about as much water as I’ve been giving the flowers every day! Since this is an “As Seen On TV” product, I assume it doesn’t work, but I got these on woot.com at four for $2.99. By the way, as you can see, the “flowers” I planted at the start of the summer are turning into heads of romaine, but no sign of petals yet.

In the background you can see why they were surveying the street. I think it’s part of the water pipe re-lining effort, but they might just be looking for Jimmy Hoffa.

I already packed up heavy things like books and shipped them back, and have been working on depleting the kitchen of food. Now I’m on to tidying up. Yesterday I dusted and (after repairing the wretched Dirt Devil canister) vacuumed. In the process, I discovered that the AC’s air handler didn’t have a filter in it. No wonder things get so dusty. It’s a weird setup, with the air handler in the laundry room, and the return air coming into the bottom of the unit, where the filter should be. That’s why the bedroom doors slam when the AC is on — there’s no return venting! Anyway, this morning I walked down to Ace Hardware and bought a couple air filters, and the air already smells cleaner.

Before lunch I walked back up to Al’s Deli and bought a couple of sandwich and soup combos to share with Dani, who is staying late to class to talk with her professor before her tutor comes.

For dinner I’m fixing breaded tilapia and sauteed zucchini and yellow squash. I previously mentioned the Galeos miso salad dressing that we love. Our least favorite is the sesame, but I’ve discovered that by adding ketchup, lemon juice and pickle relish I can turn it into a delicious low calorie thousand island.

Al’s Deli

It really is true that you need to live in a place for a while to discover its secrets. I’ve been in Evanston for two months, yet it’s only in the past two days that I’ve happened upon two of my favorite places. Last night it was Bistro Bordeaux, and today it’s Al’s Deli, which is also, oddly enough, French.

Today was perfect weather for a walk: mid-seventies, clear, a light breeze. So I headed back up to the area west of NU to further explore the business district there. Along the way I stopped at Howard’s Books, a used bookstore at Maple and Foster, and of course I had to buy some books.

I continued up Maple to Noyes. The area is full of charming little rental houses, some of them not twenty feet wide.

About a block to the east is Al’s Deli. It was founded in 1949 by Al Pottinger, a francophile, who offered European groceries, baked goods, soups and sandwiches. His sons took the business over in the 1970s, and are still there. They offer traditional french sandwiches such as brie on a baguette, plus homemade soups. The Soup au Pistou I had today was wonderful, a cup full of chunky vegetables with a dollop of garlic aeoli that turned it into something you might find in a bouillabaisse. They also make six types of enormous, tasty cookies themselves. The place is a short walk from NU, in the charming little area around Noyes and Sherman.

Bistro Bordeaux

After a quiet morning reading, we went to Kansaku for lunch.

I recently read Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, and Getting the Girl by Markus Zusak, and I’m now reading his I Am The Messenger on Kindle for iPad. It’s good, but nowhere near as good as The Book Thief.

For dinner we went to Bistro Bordeaux, which is actually the closest restaurant to the condo, a couple hundred yards down the alley, by Whole Foods. We had contemplated going there at lunch time on two different Sundays, but after standing by the podium for several minutes one day there was no sign of employees, and everyone seated in the fairly busy place seemed to be waiting for something. Still, it won Chicago Magazine’s Best New Restaurant award for 2010, and the menu is incredibly authentic, so we thought we’d try it at an odd hour (5:45pm).

We should have tried this place sooner. It was easily the best meal of the weekend. Just like being in France, right down to the Badoit water. By 7pm the place was full, and the service was good.

Dani started with Rillettes de Saumon, and I started with Terrine de Foie Gras de Canard, both pates served with croustinis. Both were excellent, but the pate would have been better for sharing, given the generous portion size. The salmon was extremely flavorful.

For entrees Dani had a Croques Madame with pommes frites and I had herb roasted New Zealand lamb leg with braised flageolets and pearl onions. The pommes frites (french fries) are as good as any I’ve had, even in France, not greasy, crisp, thin and full of flavor. The croques madame was delicious and a bargain. The lamb was my least favorite, a bit gamey, but the flageolets were succulent.

For dessert we shared a creme brulee, which was delightful in its straightforward simplicity. We had a 2005 Volnay, full bodied and a reasonable price, although the most expensive wine on the list, much better than last night’s 2005 Morey Saint Denis, and only two thirds the price.

The food was better than Graham Elliot, and as good as Sepia (though quite different) at half the price, and a block away. We will definitely return, as this is about as authentic a French bistro experience one can have, in the US or anywhere.

Sepia

Dani spent the day writing new material for The Last Telepath. It’s very vivid.

Tonight we went to Sepia, which was recommended to me by Scott Joseph. What a different experience from last night at Graham Elliot! We could actually communicate, with each other and the waiter! The menu has a varied but limited selection of starters and entrees, Very straightforward. Each dish is completely distinct, offering a lot of choices. Service was friendly and efficient, and they turned every table at least once. It’s in a trendy building in what used to be an industrial area. A very pleasant dining experience.

Graham Elliot

This morning while Dani was taking her midterm I unlocked Jackie’s bike from its parking meter and examined what was keeping the front wheel from turning. Not only was the hand brake pressed against it, but the wheel was bent.

It was almost impossible to push it (although I later learned how to easily disengage the front brake) and it was too heavy to carry with the front tire off the ground, so I rode it down to Turin Bicycle. It was like riding an exercycle all the way, because as soon as I stopped pedaling the bike came to an abrupt halt! Obviously a new wheel was needed, along with other adjustments. The repairs came to $9 less than the original cost of the bike, but what the heck, at least it’s fixed. We picked it up after lunch at Lulu’s.

A couple of nights ago Dani couldn’t get to sleep so she sat up making notes about new ideas for her completed novel The Last Telepath. Now that she has a weekend break, she’s been writing a new first fifty pages like a maniac. Since she was only thirteen when she started the original manuscript, I’m sure this first fifty pages will bring a new level of depth to the story.

Tonight was our next to last fine dining blowout this summer. We went to Graham Elliot, which Ron’s friend Bruce reported as his favorite from a recent trip to Chicago. Mistake! You do NOT want to go here. It is a little slice of hell. The food is okay, but the ambiance is non existent. The place is deafening, with non-stop techno/grunge/rock/rap/pop soundtrack so you can’t even hear the descriptions of what is in each dish. We had 21 courses and 18 matching beverages. 50% of the courses were completely forgettable, the others were good, but not one was as good as a typical course at V&A or Moto. Here’s an example of one course, a deconstructed tomato mozzarella and balsamic foam. If this looks about one inch wide that’s because it is:

Or how about these TWO courses, carpaccio and a “Caesar salad” (I already ate half the salad in my first bite):

The wine list is a bunch of silly young whites. The wine carafes are 2 liter chemistry flasks. The waiters wear jeans and t-shirts. The tasting courses are microscopic. Most dishes have many, many ingredients (couldn’t hear what) but don’t seem to combine to create a whole greater than the parts. On the plus side, price is reasonable, and it was neat to have a different beverage to match nearly every course, but 80% were mixed drinks, not wine.

At the end of the evening, too late to do us any good, we received a printed menu of everything we had. Across the top it read “the alcorn party is awesome.”

graham elliot is not awesome.

Zoba Noodle Bar

I packed up three boxes of mostly books and took them down to the UPS Store to ship back to Orlando.

On my way back I stopped at Zoba Noodle Bar to get some take-out food to bring home for lunch with Dani. It’s weird, the place is called a noodle bar, but has no bar, and the noodles are the worst thing they serve. Overall the Chinese food was just edible. Strange that they have a really good rating on Yelp.

Dinner was burgers (using up the last of the charcoal for the season) and macaroni and cheese, comfort food for Dani before her last midterm.

West of Northwestern

I got ambitious today and decided to walk up to The Spice House on Central and get some more of that magic powdered cheddar cheese that is the secret ingredient to Smoke House garlic bread. I took the residential streets west of NU and shot photos along the way.

On the way back I stopped at Rollin to Go, a sandwich shop on Noyes, and had a very tasty chicken sandwich on flatbread. There’s also a deli next door I’d like to try, but it’s closed Wednesdays. For dinner I made Scampi on linguine marinara with Smoke House garlic bread.

Cosi

My head was a bit better today, but I mostly took it easy. I fixed Dani a steak sandwich for lunch using the leftover strip steak from last night, and then went to Sashimi Sashimi for sushi while her tutor, Lee, was here.

I also stopped into the last two coffee houses I know of: Starbucks, which was packed with people standing in line — I used their restroom but couldn’t bring myself to order their coffee; and Cosi, which is almost next door to Starbucks, serves the same types of coffee, and was empty. I had a mocha there and read an interesting article on Instapaper about the development of phone phreaks in 1971.

For dinner I made Indian Butter Curry Chicken and froze the leftovers in three separate meals for two that she can use next quarter. I must say the freezer is pretty much full of ready made meals as a result of the last seven weeks.

Trattoria Demi

The forecast was for scattered thunderstorms and it was gloomy when I awoke, so despite the persistent head / sinus / jaw ache I went the Whole Foods early to restock the kitchen.

But by lunch it had cleared off and turned into a beautiful day, so I went to Trattoria Demi, a short walk down Orrington. The Fettuccine Cacciatore lunch special was tasty, and the espresso was excellent.

By this afternoon my headache was finally starting to abate. Dani got home pretty late — almost 6pm — because she was working on her lab data. Her raw score on the midterm was pretty low but apparently on the curve it was quite high. It must have been a very hard test, compounded by the rushed delivery of lessons last week. So far she has an A- the first “quarter” and an A the second, with seven days of lessons and two tests to go.

I grilled a strip steak for Dani and some Tuna for me, on what will probably be the BBQ’s final outing for the year, although I have one load of charcoal left.

Spray Paint

We’ve spent a quiet day at home, with Dani watching some Babylon 5 and getting ready for tomorrows chemistry class and lab. My left sinus/jaw/headache has been bugging me for several days, so I’ve been lazy. We did go out to Potbelly for a sandwich, but I think we’ll have reheated pizza for dinner, since we hardly made a dent in the one we had last night.

In the past week I’ve noticed some ominous spray paint marks on the streets outside our balcony. They say there are only two season in Chicago: winter and road construction. There’s been minor construction up and down Chicago Avenue already, but the yellow, blue and red marks on Clark look serious. Hopefully we’ll be out of town before they have at it.

An Evening With Stephen Schwartz

I made orange rolls for breakfast, in my ongoing effort to clear out the fridge for vacation. Then for lunch we walked down to Addis Abeba and had a platter of mostly vegetarian offerings — very tasty. On the way back we passed the interesting chair sculptures in Raymond Park and stopped at Vinic to buy some chardonnay.

Tonight was the final program in the summer season at the Northwestern Interpretive Center, An Evening With Stephen Schwartz. It was definitely the highlight of the series. In a half hour interview before the show, Mr. Schwartz played and sang two of his songs, and discussed the development process. Then there was a two hour review put on by the NU orchestra and six musical theatre majors. It featured songs from all of Mr. Schwartz’s shows.

A highlight was a segment where Mr. Schwartz discussed the development of the song The Wizard and I from Wicked, and played and sang the two versions of Making Good that preceded it in the development process. Shoshana Bean, the second Broadway Elphaba, was a special guest, and performed a half dozen numbers, ending with Defying Gravity.

We were also delighted that the fifteen songwriters we saw last night had an opportunity to perform four of the songs we enjoyed most, and this time I got them on video.

One lasting impression was that each of the fifteen student songwriters, their three mentors and Mr. Schartz are all talented musicians and singers in their own right, which is contrary to my previous concept of musical songwriters.

It’s been interesting that the only two programs we would have skipped during this summer theatre series were the two that were theatre! All three concerts have been terrific.

We had a late night pizza at Lou Malnati’s, closing the place up at 11pm.

Songwriter’s Showcase

Dani had her chemistry midterm this morning. It sounds like it wasn’t as hard as it could have been, but in any event she’s glad it’s over and she can enjoy the weekend. She’s looking forward to being done in two weeks, while I have mixed feelings, because I’ll miss Evanston.

For lunch we went to Kansaku and had some excellent sushi rolls, especially the salmon ceviche, which is like Aji’s heaven roll, and the spicy tun, which is fat and cheap, and has a touch of mayo.

On the way back from lunch we stopped at Barnes Noble, where we learned something about Teen Non-Fiction.

Tonight’s program at the Northwestern Theatre and Interpretation Center was Songwriter’s Showcase, an annual event where fifteen young musicians from all over the country come together for a one-week workshop directed by three Broadway composers (including Andrew Lippa, who wrote The Addams Family musical). At the end of the week, they perform a song that each of them wrote during the week. The styles range from musicals to pop. Some of them were still working on their songs this afternoon, yet they came out fully arranged, often backing each other with several instruments and harmonies.

Wow! What a delightful surprise it was. This was a free event included in the season tickets, and it was far and away the best. I would buy every one of those songs.

The Secret of Smoke House Garlic Bread

I’ve been converting Bill Bryson’s new book, At Home, from CD to m4b so I can listen to it as an audiobook on our trip to England next month. I use a program called audiobookbuilder which works quite nicely. I could have purchased it as an audiobook, I suppose, but I wanted the original BBC version, which was only available as a 14 CD set.

Bryson is an interesting guy. He grew up in Iowa, lived in England for twenty years, and then returned to the US and lived in New Hampshire for almost a decade.

NU Frat — I bet this frat house fire escape gets a workout during parties.

He became famous writing about his travels, and I think he’s actually bigger in England than here. Since 2003 he’s been back in England, and is now the Chancellor of Durham University.

Bryson always reads his own audiobooks. He’s actually not a great reader, but because they’re his, there’s something endearing about his delivery; you can pretty much hear the twinkle in his eye. For anyone visiting Australia, his In a Sunburned Country is essential reading.

I spent the afternoon walking around Evanston, visiting the US Bank up on the Northwestern campus, and then continuing my survey of coffee (and tea shops).

Dream About Tea is a strange cross between a cafe and a shop. The Chinese owner sells a hundred or so herbal teas, brewed or dry, plus accessories. The Morrocan mint I had was pleasant and inexpensive, but unremarkable.

Across the street at Bennison’s Bakery I had a pretty good large espresso and a pain au chocolat. The espresso was one of the better ones I’ve had in town, but La Duree in Paris needn’t worry about the pastry competition.

For dinner I tried a recipe from Simply Recipes. It was definitely a hit. Very lemony. I found the pine nuts at Whole Foods ($30 a pound! Fortunately they’re very light.) In retrospect I don’t think they’re very important, but using the juice and zest of a whole fresh lemon is. I think it should be called Lemony Smoked Salmon Pasta.

Ingredients

8 ounces pasta
Salt
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup cream
1/2 cup diced frozen carrots and peas
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp lemon zest (divided into 1 Tbsp and 1 Tbsp)
2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
4 ounces smoked salmon, cut into bite sized pieces
Fresh ground black pepper

Method

Brown the pine nuts.
Saute onion and garlic.
Cook pasta.
Add white wine, lemon juice, and 1 Tbsp of lemon zest. Increase the heat and let boil down by half.
If you want a slightly creamy sauce, add the cream and let boil a minute more.
The sauce should be done about the same time the pasta is done. If you get done earlier with it than the pasta, take it off the heat.
Combine pasta and sauce. Add the smoked salmon, toasted pine nuts, dill, and the remaining lemon zest. Season with freshly ground black pepper.

Serves 2 to 3.

Most importantly, I FIGURED OUT HOW TO MAKE SMOKE HOUSE GARLIC BREAD!

It’s:

Sour Dough Bread
Butter
Minced Garlic
Grated Parmesan Cheese

and the secret ingredient:

Cheddar Cheese Powder form The Spice House

The cheddar cheese powder is definitely what they use. In the past I’ve tried it with Kraft Macaroni and Cheese mix, but that has other stuff in it, too. It’s just straight, sharp cheddar cheese powder that duplicates not only the flavor, but also the crumbly texture. Win!

Lupita’s

The day began with a thunderstorm, but by 10am the rain had moved through leaving things hot and steamy, with intermittent sunshine.

I walked down to Main Street, towing the shopping basket behind me, and killed time at the newsstand until Lupita’s was open. It’s the third Mexican restaurant I’ve tried in Evanston, and saying it’s the best isn’t saying much. It certainly wasn’t worth the long, hot walk. It’s weird that just a couple of miles farther south there are all kinds of neat little hole in the wall Mexican cafes, but none up near the university.

On the way back I stopped at Jewel and stocked up on Diet Coke for Dani, then bought salmon for dinner at Whole Foods.

By mid-afternoon the rain had settled back in, and it was hard to believe I was getting sunburned on my morning walk.

I had a variety of different plans for the salmon, but in the end decided to keep it simple, sauteing it with seafood rub, and accompanying it with basmati rice. It turns out Jewel carries bread from LaBrea Bakery in Los Angeles. It’s better than any of the bread from Whole Foods. Who would have thought?

It’s a Crock

It was sprinkling lightly this morning, and was almost cool, but it soon cleared off.

At the office, Loren and Crystal organized a baby shower for Joy, and among the gifts were several Alcorn McBride inspired joke garments and this fabulous boat bassinet.

While Dani’s chemistry tutor was here I walked over to what I thought was a small used and rare bookstore off of an alley, and appropriately called Bookman’s Alley. What a shock! The place goes on for room after room, stacked high with mostly well organized old books. I kept coming upon artifacts, like an old printing press, a magic lantern, and the proprietor himself, who is as old as most of his books. The place had quite a few customers, but it’s such a labyrinth that it was always a surprise to stumble upon one. Of course I bought books. The most interesting were signed copies of Marguerite Henry’s Brighty of Grand Canyon, and a 1929 Who’s Who in Music that I got for Tommy.

Tonight I’m revisiting the Crock Pot BBQ Shortrib recipe, but cheating, in that I saved the sauce from the last batch as a starter. But I’ve added shortribs, leftover pork from The Stained Glass, potatoes, pearl onions, bacon, mushrooms and carrots, plus more wine and BBQ sauce. I started early in the morning, making a large batch so that hopefully this time the leftovers will include meat, and I can freeze it in small batches for Dani to use later.

Olive Mountain

I walked around Evanston a bit today, having breakfast at Einstein’s and running errands to CVS and Whole Foods.

Lunch was at Olive Mountain, a new Middle Eastern place on Davis, a couple blocks from the condo. They offer at least a dozen lunch combos with an entree and choice of hummus or salad plus a drink for $5.95, with sit down service. Needless to say, the place was packed. The falafel sandwich was excellent, and the hummus was the best I’ve had, seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice and various bits of herbs. Much better than Pomegranate.

For dinner I fixed tarragon chicken, using some fresh herbs I bought last week, and accompanying it with brown sugar carrots, broccoli, Caesar salad and cranberry walnut bread.

The Cellar

Not much happening here today. Dani’s been reading, and I’ve been installing WordPress on my website. Once it’s up I’ll transfer all these journal entries over from the iPad.

We went to Chili’s for lunch; Dani had a craving.

For dinner we went to The Cellar. It’s a place I’ve passed a dozen times on the walk from The Hilton Garden Inn. It’s a really narrow storefront on Clark, just around the corner from The Stained Glass. What I didn’t realize is that it’s owned by them. It’s a casual place that serves essentially the same food, tapas style. In fact, they had exactly the same special as at the Stained Glass last night, and many of the same desserts. It was terrific, and inexpensive, and everything is served the same way that we order at the Stained Glass anyway. It’s a definite must for your next visit.