A little bit of September

Sometimes I'll be watching Hoarders on A&E, and then there's an Intervention episode on after that I get sucked into watching! Does that happen to you?

Where does the time go? Since last time, I've driven to Indiana twice, gotten a cold and even stayed home from work (that never happens), and had a birthday! My friend Amy made me an awesome funfetti cake, and my friend Sharyn from work made me these totally cute raspberry pie cookies. Aren't they just like itty bitty pies?

I also got to sit on the front row of a Sox game, and I felt like I was playing in the game it was so close! Now I'm not the biggest sports fan, but it was still so cool to be that close, and I even caught a ball! Well, one of the players just tossed it to me gently. But I still got to keep it!

Here's a sad picture for the day. A poor little butterfly was stuck in a puddle of gas :( I just stared at it while I pumped. 

We ate at my favorite restaurant, Cracker Barrel, with B's grandma and great-grandma. I got pancakes with the real maple syrup, and they were sooooo good. Probably because they are grilled in lots of butter, and have crispy buttery edges. 

Brunch last Sunday was at Ann Sather's. They give you 2 huge cinnamon rolls as a SIDE with your brunch entree. And then you still get another one! So I got a side of fruit to balance it out. My artichoke, aspargus, mushroom and tomato omelette was pretty good, too. 

B got me a Kindle for my birthday, and it is the best invention ever. I never have to wait for books to be available from the library any more! And I can hold it while standing on the train with one hand, and even "turn" the page!

I went to The Grind coffeehouse Saturday before going to Apple Fest in Lincoln Square to have some coffee and read a little. I ended up also getting an open-faced croissant with tomato and cheddar, which is something I should just start making at home. Yumm. That lighter was on the table when I sat down, so don't worry I'm not trying to catch stuff on fire.

The square was filled with strollers, kids, music, and people this weekend, but it's always so pretty! I'm glad I live so close to such a cute neighborhood.

Amy's Candy Bar, Food Truck Social, Cafe Selmarie

I keep a list of places I want to eat at, and I've been trying to keep up with it, but most of them I forget to take a picture of the food I'm eating. I need to get better about that, because pictures are so much better than just describing something.

It also seems like my list is never going to end. I keep adding more and more places, which is probably making me more and more stressed for no reason. But, I love to try new food!! Such a conundrum. And while we live in Chicago, I want to take advantage of all the choices we have. When (and if) we move back to Indiana in a few years, the only choices I'll have is fast food, chain restaurants, and very few locally owned places. So I'm enjoying it while I can!

Every Thursday night, there is a Farmer's Market in Lincoln Square, and on my walk home from the train, I walk right through it (which is a bad thing when I'm hungry!) There's a few different fruit/veggie farmer booths, a cheese/butter farm booth, meat (Big Fork Sausages), and then 2 or 3 bakeries.

Lately, Amy's Candy Bar has had a booth selling some of her candy, breads, brownies, and ice cream sandwiches. I'd been to her store on Damen before and got some gummy bears, and they were good, but were a little pricey for the amount in the bag. But, I know it's hard to have your own store/bakery and things will always be a little more expensive. Anyway, I got this carmel brownie the other day, and it was awesome! So rich and chocolatey, and the salty carmel on top gave it a kick. I really liked it.

Last weekend, my friends Emily and Emily and I went to the Food Truck Social, where 10 or so food trucks were set up in a parking lot, and we tried a few things from different ones. I got this Bread Pudding with Chocolate Sauce and the Ruben Egg Roll with 1000 Island sauce from the Bergstein's NY Deli truck, and they were both really good.

I also wanted to try the Haute Sausage food truck, because I've seen that truck around before and heard it was good. I got the Duck Foie Gras, and it was super spicy, but very flavorful.

It was a rainy day, so we got our food and just sat under the tent and ate it. I think if it wasn't so rainy, we would've tried a few more things, but I got full from what I ate, so no complaints.

Sometimes I got over to the Water Tower Foodease market and get lunch. It's awesome because they have a full salad bar with hot items, too, and lots of locally made goodies. I got some Lemon Raspberry Goat Cheese sorbet made by Salted Carmel, and I was so excited to eat this. I just don't think I like savory things in my desserts though.... I'll stick with goat cheese in my salad and on crackers. 

This Beer and Pretzel Marshmallow was really good! I wasn't sure how good it would be, but it was a good after lunch snack. 

This is a peach blueberry mini pie from Cafe Selmarie, my favorite neighborhood bakery. I love me some Intellegensia coffee and almond coffee cake from there on a weekend morning. The pie was good, but needed a little more juiciness. 

Breakfast! Steel-Cut Oats with brown sugar and blueberries, 1 cinnamon sugar toast, 1 raspberry jam toast, grapes, and coffee. Yummy.