Blog Tour: The Stars of Summer by Tara Dairman

Good morning!

I'm honoured to be hosting today's blog tour stop for The Stars of Summer by Tara Dairman. You might remember this middle-grade series which started with All Four Stars when I participated in my first book blog tour last year (and made osmanthus crème brûlée). In the first book, we're introduced to eleven-year-old foodie Gladys Gatsby who has to convince her takeout-loving parents that cooking is fun as well as plan her first restaurant review and remain an anonymous critic for the city's largest paper. All while fitting in to do "regular" activities that kids her age do (you know, make a few supportive friends and get invited to the most exclusive birthday party).

In the sequel, we follow twelve-year-old Gladys Gatsby on her summer plans. I don't know about you, but I'm really looking forward to summer and reading about Gladys adventures brought me back to fond camp memories and a longing to visit New York City again.

The Stars of Summer
Written by Tara Dairman
Hardcover | 366 pages | Ages 8–12
ISBN 978-0-39917-069-0

Gladys is looking forward to a quiet summer at home, learn a few new dishes and cooking techniques, and hopefully get assigned another restaurant review. But first, a birthday!

To celebrate turning twelve, Gladys' parents take her to a Spanish restaurant in Manhattan for tapas, joining her are her friends Parm Singh, Charissa Bentley, and Sandy Anderson. Personalities clash, but once they plan their food orders (to try as many dishes as they can on the menu), and the food arrives, the chaos begins! The worst part is . . . the gifts! Charissa gives Gladys a whole summer of joining her at Camp Bentley. Yup, the one Charissa's parents run.

Camp life isn't easy. There's an annoying "celebrity" camper (spoiler: the celebrity is an author. I love that authors are considered celebrities here), she has to learn how to swim, and she's not exactly loved and praised for her lunch-making skills. On top of that, she's been assigned to find the best hot dog in New York City.

I thought it would be fun to plan a hot dog taste test in my own city. So if I were ever assigned to look for the best hot dog in Toronto, here are three spots I would visit:

WVRST

There are so many sausage options here! Playing it safe, I would want to try the beef/coriander, pork/chili paste, or turkey/cilantro/jalepeño. The lamb/harissa, pheasant apple/sundried tomato, and wild boar mushroom/tea. All on a toasted fresh bun of course!

Fancy Frank

No question about it, I would pick the Korean beef ribs, kimchi, sasame seeds, and scallions hot dog to try first. I love it when Korean food is paired with anything. Then the Po'Boy hot dog with panko fried shrimp, lettuce, Horseradish mayo, and hot sauce. Just because I love the n'walins vibe!

Craft Dogs

They have a Toronto dog, so I think it's a given to try the one named after the city! It features berkshire pork belly, peameal bacon from St. Lawrence market, cheddar mayo, and onion strings. My next pick would be the Spicy Thai Dog with chicken breast, green curry, lime leaves, basil, mango salad, peanut satay sauce, and toasted coconut. Then, the Chicago Shout-Out featuring local beef chuck and pork shoulder, yellowy mustard, sweet pickle relish, raw onion, tomato, pepperoncini, and celery salt.

But, like Gladys, I find that it's the people you're with and the experiences you're sharing that make the hot dog meal memorable. For instance, I have fond memories of eating hot dogs with my family at Ikea or Costco. Simply because it's a treat to get something to munch on when your parents are shopping. As a kid, you're given a few dollars to exchange it for a hot dog and drink. There's something fun about getting that foiled wrapped hot dog or packaged in identical paper holders. Or the meals you have on the sidewalks when you're downtown and the sizzling hot dog is the most delicious thing you've eaten all day. Everyone's standing around with their own customized toppings, while the ketchup is dripping down your shirt and pants (no? just me?). Or the times when you're on holiday or visiting a tourist attraction and it's hot dogs for everyone at the zoo, amusement park, or museum. Those are the moments when you have the best hot dog. Years later, I don't think it would be one at a sit-down restaurant that I'll remember.

Unless it's a boy who likes you and takes you to a restaurant where there's a sandwich named after you. But, let me get back on track here. Gladys learns to survive camp and even enjoy it. She bonds with her parents through private swimming lessons and city shenanigans. And she learns how to deal with tricky people in sticky situations. If you're looking for a heartwarming, funny, and food-filled read, this is it. You can't help but crack a smile when you start, chuckle quietly as you're a few chapters in, then laugh out loud and shake your head at the same time. The ending makes you want to applaud and cheer for the good guys. Gladys will remind you of yourself as a kid and for children reading it, they'll want to be in Gladys' group of friends. I hear there's a third book in the works and I can't wait to read it!

Thanks for stopping by, please visit the other bloggers on the tour:
Monday, April 27: Katie/Bookish Illuminations
Tuesday, April 28: Aeicha/Word Spelunking and Emma/Awkwordly Emma
Wednesday, April 29: Sylvia/A Baked Creation (that's me!)
Thursday, April 30: Bonnie /For the Love of Words
Friday, May 1: Lisa/Fic Talk
Monday, May 4: Lucy/The Reading Date
Tuesday, May 5: LAUNCH DAY!
Wednesday, May 6: Dahlia/Daily Dahlia
Thursday, May 7: Karen/For What it’s Worth
Friday, May 8: Jen/Pop! Goes the Reader
Monday, May 11: Stephanie/Kitchen Frolic
Tuesday, May 12: Brenda/Log Cabin Library
Wednesday, May 13: Michael/Project Mayhem and Wendy/The Midnight Garden

Tara Dairman is the author of All Four Stars, which was named an Amazon Best Book of the and a Mighty Girl Top Book of 2014 for Teens and Tweens. She is also a playwright and recovering world traveler. She grew up in New York and received a B.A. in Creative Writing from Dartmouth College. After surviving the world's longest honeymoon (two years, seventy-four countries!), she now lives in Colorado with her husband and their trusty waffle iron.

Credits: Blog tour button / Kristin Rae; Book cover / Kelly Murphy

Disclaimer: An ARC of The Stars of Summer was sent to me from Putnam/Penguin for the blog tour.

Favorite Jelly Roll

Are you ready for this jelly? Have you ever wondered how jelly rolls were made? I did, I didn't believe you could roll a sheet of cake - surely it would break and be uncooperative. I thought they were machine made and sold in stores. So when I saw this recipe and the instructional photos, I knew I wanted to tackle it. So today, I'm sharing an excerpt from What to Bake and How to Bake It with my own photos. I actually made this cake twice. You'll see why below!

Favorite Jelly Roll
Recipe from What to Bake and How to Bake It by Jane Hornby
(Makes one jelly roll)

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 10 minutes
Makes: 10 slices

A jelly roll was one of the first things I ever baked with my mom, probably because it was so quick to make, and all the ingredients were in the pantry. Although there are lots of steps, be assured that it’s a simple cake, and one of the most popular among friends and family when I was creating the recipes for this book.

INGREDIENTS

For the cake
½ stick (¼ cup) butter, plus extra for greasing
3 tbsp milk
4 eggs, room temperature
¾ cup sugar, preferably superfine
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ tsp salt

For rolling and filling
¼ cup sugar
¾ cup raspberry jam or jelly

Use plenty of butter to grease the base and sides of a 10 x 15-inch jelly roll pan or rimmed baking sheet, then line the base with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Put the milk and butter in a small pan and heat gently until the butter melts. Set aside (it will need to be warm when you use it).

Put the eggs and the sugar in a large bowl and whisk with an electric mixer at medium speed until thick, moussey, and doubled in volume—about 5 minutes.

Stir the cornstarch, flour, and salt together, then sift them on top of the eggs. Fold together well using a large metal spoon or spatula, cutting and lifting the flour through the foam instead of stirring it. This will preserve the air bubbles and ensure a light and fluffy cake.

Pour the warm butter and milk around the edge of the batter bowl. Using the large spoon or spatula, fold until evenly combined. The liquid can pool at the bottom of the bowl, so be persistent, trying not to knock out too much air.

Carefully pour the batter into the prepared pan, then tilt it slowly from side to side, letting the batter run into the corners. If it still looks uneven, spread out the batter very gently with a spatula. Don’t worry if you see a little dry flour or ribbons of butter—just work them in gently. The batter will completely fill the pan, but don’t worry, it won’t spill over as it bakes.

Bake for 10 minutes, or until it is golden, has risen, and the edges have shrunk away from the sides of the pan. Meanwhile, dust a larger sheet of parchment paper with 2 tablespoons sugar. Loosen the edges of the cake with an icing spatula, then sprinkle the remaining sugar on top.

Swiftly flip the cake onto the sugared parchment paper. Carefully peel off the paper that lined the pan. Using a serrated knife, trim about ½ inch off from each edge. Score a line into the cake about 1 inch in from the short end nearest you. This will make it easier to roll.

While the cake is still hot, roll it up from the short end, rolling the sugared paper inside the cake. Don’t rush things, and if a few cracks appear, don’t worry.

Cover the cake in a clean dish towel and let cool until just warm.

Unwrap and unroll the cake, then spread it with the jam. Roll the cake up again, using one hand to guide it and the other to pull the sugared paper underneath it upwards. This will help keep the spiral fairly tight.

Place on a serving plate, seam-side down. It’s best eaten on the day it is made.

Sylvia: So as you can see, the first cake I made was too stiff and over baked. You don't want the base to be as brown as the one in the photo above. It did confirm my fears of cracks. But I attribute that to being slow on the roll. I was snapping photos and the cake cooled. The second time around, I wasted no time. I watched the cake in the last two minutes of baking. Took it out. Flipped it out of the pan and rolled it in the parchment paper. Success!

Look at that beauty! The cake was nice and fluffy and moist, allowing me to shape it without any fuss. I didn't even trim the sides this time, instead, I did it after the cake was fully assembled to get the nice straight edge. So those are my tips, don't over bake, work fast, and don't let the cake smell fear on you. You will then be rewarded with a delicious jelly roll.

Disclaimer: A review copy of What to Bake and How to Bake It was sent to me for review from Becca Levenson at Phaidon. Thank you! No incentives were used to produce a positive review of this book.

What to Bake and How to Bake It

What to Bake and How to Bake It
Written by Jane Hornby
Photographs by Liz and Max Haarala Hamilton
Illustrations by Kerry Lemon
ISBN 13: 9780714867434
Publisher: Phaidon
Hardcover: 240 pages

Happy March Break to those of you who have the midweek off! Traffic and the commute to work has already been a breeze on yesterday (sort of), so I want to thank you for that. Well, what do you do for a glorious week? What are your plans? If you don't have any, I suggest doing some baking - with or without your kids - and then bringing the goods back to work the week after.

"But Sylvia, what to bake?" some of you might question. And when I suggest cookies or cakes or brownies or macarons, some of you might ask, "but Sylvia, how to bake it?" Friends, let me recommend Jane Hornby's What to Bake and How to Bake It for all your March Break (and other occasions during the year) baking needs. Her book promptly answers both your questions. She's also the author of What To Cook and How to Cook It and Fresh and Easy for those meals you now have time to make.

But let's get back to the baking. Jane's latest book is divided into Introduction; Simple Family Baking; Morning Coffee and Afternoon Tea; Special Bakes; and Desserts and after Dinner. So you look for the occasion. Did you just wake up? Look for recipes under Morning Coffee. Do you have a birthday or celebration coming up? Check out the Special Bakes. Or because it's March Break and you want fun family activities, you would look under Simple Family Baking for inspiration.

You'll find the recipes useful (for beginners and ... what are bakers between beginner and advance called again? Intermediate?) due to the clear instructions and step-by-step photos. I would highly recommend reading the introduction and looking at all the tools and equipment before starting. I have to admit that I choose cookbooks based on their photographs. I like knowing how the recipe is supposed to turn out. How it it supposed to look like when finished? But then, you go and add process and progress photos and I am just over the moon. It's nice to see how those whisked eggs should look like after 5 minutes. It's nice to see how you're supposed to handle and assemble the cake. I guess you could say I need a little hand holding once in awhile. What home cook doesn't? It's not like we've gone to chef school for training!

Jane was so gracious to take time out of her busy schedule to answer a few questions for me. She's given me concise and thoughtful answers, so please read through to the end.

Syl: With recipes so easily accessible online, how do you make your cookbook stand out?
Jane: I try not to worry about online or it would drive me crazy, as I am primarily a book and magazine writer and earn a living from commissions rather than blogging and online content. Of course the beauty of online is that the two overlap and I can add and write extra material around all of the content in my books online now, getting the best of both worlds. I’m really lucky to work with Phaidon, as design is at their core and all of their books are covet-able objects in their own right. The design of the books works very hard for me, and is actually very familiar to people who follow blogs, with step-by-step photos and comment after each pic. When you need a reliable recipe, I think that nothing beats a book from a trusted author, something you can cherish as an object, trust in that the recipes are tested properly, and share with others.

Syl: Which recipe took the longest to develop and test?
Jane: Probably the coconut layer cake. I find the traditional American-style recipes for this far too sweet, but knew that I had to create something that readers in the USA would recognize. So, I decided to turn the frosting into meringue buttercream and use lemon curd to enhance the coconut and add a bit of zing. After more than a few tries I was happy. Then all I had to do was break it down into as few steps as possible for the overhead photography!

Syl: There are so many variations of recipes out there, how do you know when the recipe is "the one" to include in the cookbook? 
Jane: I have a really clear idea of exactly what I want from a recipe – the rise, the texture, the colour of the crumb even. I don’t stop baking till I get there, via a process of trial and error really, based on my knowledge as a baker and cook. My recipes for Phaidon tend to focus on ‘favourites’ and classics, which you’d think would make it simple…but of course everyone has their own idea of the perfect chocolate cookie or muffin, which is why I try and tick every box! Inventing new recipes is actually a lot quicker, I find, as I’m not trying to match anyone’s expectation of that recipe (aside from it being yummy and working when they cook it).

Syl: The cookbook comes with not one, but two beautiful teal ribbons. Which two recipes would you suggest readers bookmark at all times? 
Jane: I seem to constantly turn to the Blueberry-Cinnamon Crumb Cake (page 114 and watch Jane make them in this video!) and the Fudgy Cheesecake Brownies (page 96). They cover just about any need for cake or dessert.

Syl: What's your favourite dessert in the whole wide world?
Jane: Um…can I have two?
Syl: Yes!
Jane: I’m a total sucker for anything involving cream, crunch and fruit. So I’d say for winter, apple and blackberry crumble with clotted cream and for summer, meringues with berries and a dash of rosewater. Simple pleasures. You won’t find them in What to Bake and How to Bake It though – they are already in the previous two books!

I would comp this book to Illustrated Step-by-Step Baking by Caroline Bretherton. But if I had to choose, I prefer What to Bake and How to Bake It and not just because I'm reviewing it. I even placed Illustrated Step-by-Step Baking in my annual favourite cookbook list back in 2011, but that was before Jane Hornby's came out in 2014. The design is much better in What to Bake and How to Bake It, because even with all the photographs it doesn't feel crowded or overwhelming. There's a clean template and the designers stick to it. The photographs are of higher quality and I like the simple styling of the finished products. The no fuss attitude makes this cookbook inviting and encouraging.

Stick around for tomorrow's post where I make Jane's favourite jelly roll (pictured above).

Disclaimer: A review copy of What to Bake and How to Bake It was sent to me for review from Becca Levenson at Phaidon. Thank you! No incentives were used to produce a positive review of this book.

Good Food, Good Life

Good Food, Good Life

130 Simple Recipes You'll Love to Make and Eat

Written by Curtis Stone

Photographs by Ray Kachatorian

ISBN 13: 9780449015896

ISBN 10: 0449015890

Publisher: Appetite by Random House

Hardcover: 304 pages

Sooooo, there's a new Curtis Stone cookbook! I always get excited when I see that there's a new book coming out from him. Usually I find out at sales conference from work and then have to wait an entire year. He once came in to meet with the marketing and publicity department at work and I tried to nonchalantly walk by the boardroom to see if I could spot him or even better - meet him! But no luck, maybe this year!

I'm noticing this trend among a lot of the cookbooks this year, no jacket! And matte interior paper and matte covers with spine wraps. Neutral colours.

Is everyone tired of the glossy and shiny look? I understand that jackets are cumbersome in the kitchen, but they do help protect the book when you accidentally place the book on a wet counter top. Just be extra careful now, you don't want to drop or spill anything by accident to blur out the recipes. But I don't mind this new direction, I'm digging the look. Most cookbooks today are trying to capture a lifestyle compared to the bright and showy cooking shows on television.

Good Food, Good Life is about family and home cooked meals that are humble but tasty. The dedication is made out to Curtis's son, Hudson and the introduction mentions Emerson, the latest addition to his family. You can even make the wedding cupcakes that he made when he married Lindsay Price in the book too. Yes, you can win a girl's heart with food! You can also see that his focus and stories are on raising a family with good food.

Here's a glance at how the cookbook is divided. I mostly tagged recipes for dinner and breakfast. As you can see, I've tagged a lot of them to try. For me, they are mostly weekend recipes because it still takes me awhile to assemble everything, so it's not going to work on a busy weekday for me. I also found that a lot of the recipes I did want to try required firing up a grill, so I had to skip tagging them. A skillet on the stove top might work, but I don't like smoking up my apartment (my exhaust fan in the microwave sucks) and I don't think we're allowed to grill on the balcony. Which is a shame, but maybe I'll take these grill recipes over to my parent's house or borrow a friend's backyard.

Each recipe clearly labels the serving, prep time, cook time, and make-ahead suggestions. I don't know about you, but the prep times are never accurate for me! I'm so slow at getting everything in place before I cook. But I appreciate them just the same, it gives me an estimate (I double it) and I like knowing the cook times so I know when to get up from the couch (stop binge-watching) to make dinner.

If you're someone who fears a long ingredient list like me, I would say that the average would be ten in this cookbook. There are the simpler recipes that use five or less ingredients and then the ambitious projects that list fifteen and over. It really depends on your mood and time.

I wanted to let you a look at a few interior spreads. Most of the recipes include a photograph of the finished products. Others show the ingredients or a picture of Curtis and Hudson prepping and cooking in the kitchen.

The layout is clean and easy to read and the instructions are clear to follow. The photographs look so laid back (even though they're styled) and simple, making the food stand out and really showing you that you can do it, you too can make this dish look good at home. (Why don't my food photos ever look like that?)

Here's Lindsay's Lemonade! I made Lindsay's Guacamole from What's for Dinner? and it's delicious, so I'm expecting the same for this drink.

I have to admit that I prefer What's for Dinner? over Good Food, Good Life a tiny bit, but please keep in mind that the concepts are different between those two cookbooks. I'll be sharing my cooking experience with a few recipes following this post, so return to see how the food turn outs!

And if you ever need a helping hand (sous chef) in the kitchen, you can now get your very own Pocket Curtis! Happy cooking!

Chicago 2015: Day 4

Remember how it snowed and snowed on our previous day? Turns out Chicago was was hit by the fifth largest blizzard. My day at the convention center was slow as flights were cancelled and attendance dipped. It was difficult to travel anywhere in the city. Taxis were scarce and those that were available were charging exorbitant fees. By the luck of the blizzard, we were able to get reservations at Girl and the Goat for dinner. We had been trying all week to secure a table at this restaurant, Little Goat Diner, and other places in Chicago. This blizzard wasn't going to stop us, we went out as planned and I'm so glad we did!

There were so many items on the menu that sounded intriguing and it was difficult to narrow it down - which shared plates were we going to try? To start, we had the hamachi crudo with crisp pork belly, chili aioli, and caperberries (photo above). Beautiful and light, I only wished there were more. Next, the roasted cauliflower with pickled peppers, pine nuts, and mint. I love roasted cauliflower but Howard does not - until he tried this dish!

I ordered this because I was curious about the brown butter kimchi. These are celery root and cheddar pierogies with brown butter kimchi and cara cara orange. My two dinner mates weren't loving this dish, so I got to finish it. The pierogies didn't stand out, but I enjoyed the sauce and oranges that were garnished on top.

Another mix-reviewed dish was the grilled marinated pork belly with castelfranco, sauce green, and blood orange. This one went to Howard as my boss and I didn't care for it.

Now for the group favourites: the crispy beef short ribs with avocado, ruby red grapefruit, and chermoula. I could eat this every day. It was so delicious and the pairing was perfect. The short ribs were truly crispy and the sauce in this bowl was absolutely drinkable. I mean, I would drink it because it was that good.

We also couldn't eat here without trying a goat dish! We decided on the goat shoulder with goat​ xo,  root vegetable caponata, hazelnuts, and spaghetti squash. The table beside us had ham frites and after eyeing them all night, we ordered one. They're served with smoked tomato aioli and a cheddar beer sauce. Without the dipping sauces the frites were amazing because they were dusted with ham.

Now to the grand finale! Were we full? Yes! Should we try a dessert anyways? Yes! The citrus pavlova blood orange-vanilla semifreddo with yuzu curd and kumquats was a good choice to end the night. Chewy, crunchy, sour, and tart, this frozen treat had it all.

Time to find a taxi and brave the ride back. Tomorrow will be a better day . . .

Chicago 2015: Day 3

Our last few days in Chicago didn't include a lot of sightseeing. I was at the convention center from nine to five and Howard chilled at the hotel and ventured out to walk the city. Sure, I had booth snacks like Garrett's popcorn to munch on, but my lunch that day included a small bowl of soup and a salad (trying to be healthy, especially when we're eating out so much!) from the McCormick Place food court. Pretty sad compared to Howard's lunch at Portillo's. He was actually on his way to Slurping Turtle for lunch when he saw a traffic jam and realized it was a line up for the drive-through! Curious, he went inside and decided to line up among the crowds to try the hot dog (with mustard, relish, freshly chopped onions, sliced red ripe tomatoes, kosher pickle, and sport peppers piled onto a steamed poppy seed bun) and sample their famous Italian beef sandwich. Mmm Mmm good was his mockery because he obviously won in lunch that day.

For dinner, we put our name down at the Purple Pig and went back to our hotel to wait for the call. It was roughly at an hour and a half wait, which was an accurate estimate giving to us by the hostess. We were seated at the banquet table by the bar among many other couples and groups having their dinner. The place is loud and crowded, the aisles are narrow and there are others waiting for their name to be called standing anywhere there's space.

This cheese, swine, and wine place has a large menu and our server helped us navigate with her favourites and recommendations.

To begin, we tried the roasted bone marrow with herbs. It also comes with toast for you to smear the bone marrow on and garnish with herbs yourself. I found the herbs the star of the dish, helping balance the buttery and oily bone marrow.

Next up, recommended by Howard's sister-in-law, the pig's ear with crispy kale, pickled cherry peppers, and fried egg.

We give it a good toss and mix. The pig ears are crunchy and addictive and the kale add another layer of crispiness. It's a bit salty overall but as a shared dish, it's manageable to finish with a glass of water.

Squid stuffed with prosciutto and bread crumbs with a santorini fava purée and charmoula. I found this dish tasty, but Howard did not like it one bit, which surprised me because he loves proscuitto!

The Wagyu sirloin tip with fingerling potatoes, cippolini onions, olives, and a bone marrow vinaigrette. Now this was a dish I found nothing special with (compared to the squid above), but Howard enjoyed it. Just goes to show, you can't please everyone.

While our meal was good, I can't say I would recommend friends to eat here. My experience was also  dampened because of how crowded it was. I was sitting in one of the aisle seats and every time a server, waiting staff, busser, hostess, or guest walked by, I would be jolted in my seat. Not the best way to eat a meal when you're getting jostled every few minutes. This is a high-traffic area or I should just say the entire restaurant has high traffic but not everyone was getting bumped into. Curious, I tucked my seat in some more and looked behind to see if there was enough space. There was, except a couple was standing by the bar waiting for their table, making the aisle even more narrow. We informed our server who noted our discomfort, but then proceeded to do nothing. She didn't kindly ask the man to not stand in the aisle or wait elsewhere by the entrance. Shrug. Since no one cared enough, I didn't feel like staying for dessert even though I intended to try the bread pudding.

That night, it snowed and snowed in Chicago . . .

Chicago 2015: Day 2

Our second day in Chicago was so much better! The sun was shining and the sky was blue, it was still really cold but the excitement of exploring kept us going.

We stopped at Waffles Cafe for breakfast. Do you know how much I love waffles? It's amazing that I still don't own a waffle maker. I was excited to see all the different flavours on their menu and ordered the green tea waffle with lemon ginger cream and ground pistachio. Sadly, I didn't like this pairing at all. I found the waffle lacking in matcha flavour so much that I kept stealing bites from Howard's egg and chorizo dish.

We also tried the wonut - a waffle doughnut hybrid. Do they use doughnut batter in the waffle maker or deep fry a regular waffle? I don't know how they make it but I did like the light crispy shell that the wonut had before the soft interior. We tried the white ganache with chocolate sprinkles (second tray on the right on the photo above) since it is one of their bestsellers. And the chocolate turtle (bottom tray in the middle) with pecans and a caramel glaze - this was our favourite of the two.

With all that sugar in us, we walked and walked and came upon Maggie Daley Park that brought the kids out of us. There was a skating ribbon and small play areas filled with the coolest equipment.

There's a nautical theme in this play garden (at least I think that's what it's called after searching online).

I'm wondering if this is all new? Everything was still clean, shiny, and a delight to climb on - didn't risk going down the slides in case they were icy or wet inside.

I love this little boat. I want to take it home with me!!!

The beautiful BP Pedestrian Bridge. I loved the shiny plates of shingles and the curves, this is one sexy bridge. One bonus of Chicago in the winter is that there aren't many people out exploring in the cold with us. It felt like we had the bridge to ourselves!

The Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. Most sections are roped off to help preserve the greenery, but we could still admire the design and imagine the music here on warm summer nights.

The bean!!! Technically called Cloud Gate and as I got closer to it, I became captivated by the shape and reflections. I can see why photographers and tourists can spend hours here, just looking at it from different angles and different spots.

Howard sprouted off some facts that he read about, telling me that it was made with stainless steel plates that are welded together. And that it has seams that aren't visible unless you look closely. So we looked closely to see if we could spot the waves and bumps from the seams.

I love how it looks like a giant dew drop.

Crown Fountain in the winter becomes one of the many sculptures as the water is turned off.

Hmm, how about these tiles from Crown Fountain for a kitchen back-splash? Equipped with lighting in the back!

Walking around the park and the loop had us pop into Macy's to warm up and fill up on fuel. Luckily the food court on the seventh floor (Seven on State) had lots of great options. From Frontera Fresco, I ordered short rib tacos filled with wild arugula, cotija cheese, and cilantro crema and a sweet corn and green chile tamale with ricotta and goat cheese, tomatillo salsa, queso fresco, and cilantro. That tamale is so good, the corn tortillas were a bit too dry and rough for the tacos, but the short ribs were tasty and nicely braised.

Howard ordered noodles by Takashi Yagihashi, apparently a hot bowl of made-to-order ramen hits the spot in the winter. I still preferred my lunch over his. =P

CHICAGO, don't think that the Chase advertising was always there. Marina City, what's your take on the cob-like building? Yay or nay?

By the way, don't break in new boots that you bought the night before if you plan on walking everywhere. Ouch. Let's just say that my feet were throbbing for the next few days.

After some booth duty in the late afternoon, my boss and I went to Graham Elliot Bistro for dinner. The place is long and narrow, dim and quite loud. We were seated along the wall, squeezed between two other tables with loud parties, so it wasn't the best place for conversation. I normally take whatever table the hostess gives, but here, we did try to ask for a quieter table to no avail.

We shared a starter called Milk & Honey which consisted of burrata cheese, raw honeycomb, and baby arugula. The salad was light and we wished there was more honeycomb crumbles. I tried the Salmon Filet served with whipped​ parsnips, brussels sprouts, and bacon lardon. My boss tried the Shortrib Stroganoff. The portions were larger than I expected and we skipped on dessert. Overall, we weren't very impressed, maybe we expected more unique and playful dishes. The food was decent but nothing special.

Howard, on his own, went for deep dish pizza that night because I said it was probably something I didn't want to try (the amount of cheese and sauce and crust looks so heavy, like it would just sink to the bottom of your stomach). So he ventured over to Giordano's for his deep dish experience. From what I heard, he had to pace himself to eat it and then he had to walk it all off before meeting me back at our hotel.