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Meta
Category Archives: Illinois
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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. … Continue reading
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. … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
Evanston Seasons
Dani took these three photos from her balcony, showing the different seasons in Evanston.
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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, … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
Posted in Books and Writing, Cooking, Evanston
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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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
Posted in Books and Writing, Dining, Evanston
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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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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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. … Continue reading
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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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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, … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
Posted in Books and Writing, Cooking, Dining, Evanston
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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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading