Chicago 2015: Day 1

This year, I was fortunate enough to be chosen to go to ALA Midwinter for work. The conference was held in the windy city of Chicago (why do they choose places that are cold?). And even though the winter is being icy, cold, and snowy, I was still excited because I've never been to Chicago before! Yup, this was my first trip to Chicago and I wanted to see the sights, eat great food, and pick up a book or two. Howard even tagged along as it was his birthday weekend, aka Super Bowl weekend and Groundhog Day.

Another first was flying Porter! For our first experience, I have to say, it was great! We arrived at the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, took the ferry (a little bit of nausea for me, even though the Lake was semi-frozen), and sped through checking in. There were lots of business folks with carry-on bags so they all breezed right through. Which was great for us because by the time we reached the counter and security, there were no line ups. The staff was friendly and the lounge offered free WiFi and complimentary beverages and snacks! We didn't have to spend a small fortune on bottled water, juice, and pop at the airport - and that was so refreshing considering you're not allowed to bring your own beverages any more.

Our flight was delayed for 20 minutes, but at least the estimate was accurate and they kept us up-to-date. It's a pretty short distance from Toronto to Chicago, but they still offered snacks and drinks in flight. Upon arrival, everything was just as fast as checking in. Our luggage was waiting for us and we were on our way to the convention center for setup.

If you think book publishers just sit around all day, you should try setting up a booth. You need to be a seasoned pro to know to wear comfortable shoes, tie your hair back, and peel off the layers. It gets warm and your feet will start to hurt (idea: massage booth in the exhibit floor). But our editorial director and I did it - our booth looked great! Next step: check into the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers, leave our luggage, and go eat lunch!

We stopped at Shake Shack because we were so hungry from setting up all those books. We got to try the ShackMeister Burger (cheeseburger topped with crispy marinated shallots and ShackSauce) with crinkle fries (why wouldn't you get crinkle fries?), and my favourite - Shack-made mango lemonade!

Next up, some sightseeing on the Magnificent Mile. Are there twinkling lights along this stretch for the entire year? It's just beautiful seeing the glowing trees, the beautiful buildings, and the stores I can never shop at. I know this section of the city is known for the shopping, but we were perfectly happy window shopping.

We made stops at Eataly, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's. The home decor and kitchen stores were tempting, but there was no way I could bring all that back to Toronto. Of course, we had to stop by to see all the Jordans at the Nike store. Howard was pretty much in love with this wall display.

Speaking of shoes, we both ended up buying a pair. Not from Nike, but a close relative of this global brand: Cole Haan. Pretty boots for me and Chukkas for Howard. We're such huge fans of their foot wear, mainly because they have the Nike Air cushioning without the looks of sneakers and runners. All year round, I stay comfy with my ballet flats, pumps, and boots from them. I was really, really tempted by a pair of ankle boots too, but one big purchase was enough for me.

By the end of the night, we were exhausted. We made it all the way to the Drake Hotel before having to hail a taxi to take us back to our hotel by the Chicago River.

For dinner, we went to XOCO (pronounced “SHO-ko”) by Rick Bayless. It's a more casual dining experience compared to the usual sit in restaurant. You order at the counter, get a table number and are seated, and then they bring the food to you. We tried the Chicharrones with Tamazula hot sauce, queso añejo, onion, cilantro, and lime. This was a large basket, perfect for sharing. Watch out though, it has some heat! We also got the fully dressed guacamole for the table, which means a little bit of each available topping: sun-dried tomatoes, queso fresco (fresh cheese), pomegranate seeds, pumpkin seeds, spicy roasted poblano, chicharron (crispy fried pork skin), grilled onion, and smoky bacon. Also served with tomatillo salsa, three-chile salsa, and just-made chips.

I also got their famous hot chocolate to warm me up (I'm all about the sugar, so this was a bit too bitter for my liking). Some more comfort food for the cold winter night, their Carnitas Caldos: slow-cooked Gunthorp pork with potato-masa dumplings, chayote, roasted serrano chile, greens, arugula, and avocado. I happily divided this into smaller portions for everyone at the table. It was really good, but really salty at the same time!

We tried two tortas, the one picture above is the Milanesa: crispy Gunthorp chicken, Jack cheese, pickled jalapeños, red onions, Napa cabbage, tomatillo-avocado salsa, and black beans. This was one delicious sandwich. The other one was the Cubana: smoked Gunthorp pork loin, bacon, black beans, avocado, spicy morita, Jack cheese, and chipotle mustard. This was also very good, except it was unanimous that we all preferred the Milanesa! 

At this point of the night, we were so tired that we couldn't even muster another bite or order churros for dessert. After all that eating, we still didn't have the energy to stay awake and walk back to the hotel. You know you're done when . . .

In-N-Out Burger

In-N-Out Burger

4888 Dean Martin Drive

Las Vegas, NV 89103

1-800-786-1000

Okay, It is time I recap our trip to Las Vegas from this past June/July. Photos have been chosen and edited. There's no more excuses for me to be procrastinating. It was either this or attempt some yoga in my living room today.

So . . . crazy right? After landing at the Las Vegas airport around noon, the first thing we did was join the long taxi line, hop into a cab, direct the driver to In-N-Out Burger, and join the line there. Of course, we didn't have to, as the cab driver told us that many people have him go to the drive-thru. But we went in for the full experience, being our first time at the famed In-N-Out Burger.

First of all, you get hats! Second, the prices were astonishingly low! Third, the secret menu is not-so-secret. We ordered two animal styled burgers with fries (which we found out that you can also get in animal style).

Having tried Shake Shack, I couldn't tell you which burger I enjoyed more. I think it's probably best to stay out of any heated debates about that!

Bick’s Burgers

This summer, Bick's is motivating us to create our own signature burger creations by providing some refreshing pickles. Over here in our tiny kitchen, we probably whip up burgers at least once every other week because it's such an easy meal to prepare.

First, we season the ground beef with simple salt and pepper.

Then, we form the ground beef into loose balls. You don't want to apply too much pressure and pack it too tightly. That'll give off a meatloaf consistency!

We grease our cast iron skillet and set the temperature on medium high. When it's really hot, we drop the beef balls and press down to form the patties.

You let it sizzle and cook, then flip it.

Add some delicious mozzarella cheese and let it melt. The burger should be ready by the time the cheese starts to ooze.

Time it so that the burger buns are toasting when the burger is being cooked. So when everything is ready, you can start dressing the burger. We prefer a layer of iceberg lettuce over the burger, then two slices of Bick’s Sandwich Savers Tangy Dill Pickles.

Lots of Bick’s Hot Banana Pepper Chunks cut into slices please!

Looking delicious and colourful, but just a few more staples for our burgers . . .

. . . ketchup and mustard!

Voila! An easy weekend burger at our home is ready in under half an hour. We pair it with a side salad from the excess iceberg lettuce.

The pickles and banana peppers give the burger a nice and snappy tang, and add a subtle punch of heat (don't worry, they're not spicy to the point where your eyes water).

As a bonus, Bick's is running their Name a Burger Success Story promotion. Just by naming a burger, you can enter for a chance to win 1 of 4 cottage vacations (awarded as a cheque) where you’ll be able to create your own burger success stories! Please visit Bicks.ca for the Official Rules and complete details.

If you don't want to make burgers all the time, Bick's has recipe suggestions and other meal ideas on their website as well. But we think pickles and banana peppers pair so well with burgers, I currently have my eye on the Muskoka breakfast burger for another weekend. Sunny side up egg and bacon? Yes, please!

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post by Bick's and I received compensation for it. There was no requirement to produce a positive review of this product. All opinions are our own.

The Fat Radish

The Fat Radish

17 Orchard Street

New York City, NY 10002

(212) 300-4053

We weren't sure what to expect, but I had seen so many lovely photos of the restaurant and now I knew why. We walked in to a small foyer decorated with bikes, wine bottles, plates, plants, and bouquets. White subway tiles alone one wall with a large sink and cabinets. Opened shelves, exposed brick, and chalkboards. The bar appeared as we ventured in with swing-out chairs and then a simple and airy dining room. There's some natural light from the sun roof, window shutters, and easy lighting along the walls with greenery peeking in. Everything looks rustic, casual, and fashionable. At one point, Howard mentions that it does feel like we're eating in an enclosed park or garden.

The food here is known to be created with well-sourced, seasonal ingredients and there isn't any particular focus as we spot naan, curry, and soba among scotch egg, celery root pot pie, and kale Caesar salad.

Service wasn't the greatest. We stood by the bar, unsure if we were supposed to grab a table ourselves or if we were to be seated. Even though the bartender spotted us, she made no effort to help or call someone over. Finally, one of the servers came over to seat us and later came back with the menus. Things started to get better once we ordered as our meals, I even spotted a few smiles from our server. Then the food arrived!

I love seared tuna salads so I went ahead and ordered the Seared Block Island Tuna with watermelon, cucumber, and thai chili vinaigrette. This was light, refreshing, and delicious. I enjoyed the sweet flavours from the watermelon, the crunch from the cucumber, and the sweet and salty vinaigrette with just a little kick of heat. My only quibble would be that the presentation could have been improved on and that the tuna could have been cleanly sliced.

Howard ordered the Bacon Cheeseburger with duck fat fries and house pickles. The burger was pretty good, I was lucky enough to have a bite of it - just one before it was quickly taken away from me. But those fries! I liked the fries the best! Fries, wedges, whatever you want to call them, I enjoyed stealing about half of them and dunking it in the upside-down white top hat ketchup holder.

A lovely spot for lunch or brunch, the Fat Radish turned out to be the first restaurant where Howard and I ate as an engaged couple! To celebrate, we clinked our glasses of water together. Of course, I had no idea this would happen when I made the reservation the previous week!

Burger Buns

Hello readers! We hope you're having a wonderful long weekend. Here in Toronto, we are finally getting some lovely sunshine and the temperature is slowly increasing. We can't wait to stow away our bulky winter coats!

A lot of our friends went away this weekend to visit New York City and Chicago, but for those of us still at home, we decided on an impromptu dinner. We had arugula, spinach, red and yellow peppers, sausages, and burger patties. Let's have our first BBQ of the year!

Except . . . we didn't have buns for the burgers. The grocery stores were closed for Good Friday. What do we do? We search the world wide web of course and the answer was there!

We came across a recipe for beautiful burger buns and had all the ingredients on hand. This review had gotten a five star rating from so many people, we were pretty sure it would be fail proof.

Of course, it was only when we reached the flattening stage that we realized there was a step-by-step photo blog about the recipe too. We would highly encourage you to read that before starting!

Since it was an impromptu dinner, we had to cut some of the dough's rising time. The first time we let it poof was shortened to an hour and the second time was shortened to 45 minutes. We did want to eat before 7 pm.

Oh and we would recommend doing the egg white wash instead of the butter. Just follow the blog post.

See, not much colour with the butter wash. The burger buns turned out to have more of a biscuit quality to it. We will point out again that we didn't have enough time for the dough to rise and didn't use egg white.

Regardless, it would have been difficult to eat the burgers without the buns. So in the end, it did save dinner!