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Posted by Val on April 22nd, 2010 at 12:47 pm | Permalink | No Comments » |
This big boy is right in my own city! Standing on top of Ced’s Auto Body on Grand and Pulaski you’ll find another bunyan muffler man!
Site: Mr. Bendo Muffler Man
Location: 3940 W Grand Ave., Chicago, IL
Cost: Free to see.
Hours: Always visible.
Date: November 25, 2007
Mr. Bendo Muffler Man | No Comments » |
Posted by Val on April 12th, 2010 at 11:18 am | Permalink | No Comments » |
If you know me, you know one thing. I like bacon. A lot. I even once made bacon brownies. They were delicious.
So, of course, when I heard about Baconfest Chicago there was no way I wasn’t going to go.
The day was split up into two shifts and my friends and I chose to go to the second shift: a bacon extravaganza lasting from 3pm to 6pm on Saturday. We got there slightly before three, were handed a bacon lollipop and went to check out the bacon perfume. Then we headed in further to check out the bacon venders.
There were bacon cookies and bacon popcorn and bacon syrup (to make bacon flavored chocolate milk and Pepsi) and bacon cupcakes (my favorite was the BLT) and bacon belts and bacon donuts and free jars of Baconnaise.
And of course, bacon.
And that was just the first floor!
We headed upstairs for more bacony goodness!
First up was to redeem a drink coupon. I went with a spicy and bacony blood mary.
And then it was on to the main ballroom for bacon-chef-apalooza: twelve area restaurant chefs cooking up the best of the best in bacon dishes…and here’s what we ate!
Bacon Rillettes, Coddles Egg Dressing, Pickled Ramps, and Bacon Fat Griddles Brioche Croutons Southwater Kitchen
Gnocchi with Pancetta Ragu Piccolo Sogno
Hominy with bacon, pork belly, jalapeno, and cheddar Lula Cafe
Bacon Snickers Bar Atwood Cafe
Bacon Ice Cream with caramel and candy bacon Chalkboard
Irish Breakfast with Pork Belly, Blood Sausage and pickled cabbage leaf Paddy Long’s
Bacon tacos Primehouse
Spring pea bacon and pecorino salad The Purple Pig
Bacon and cod sausage Eve Restaurant
Pastrami-style bacon with kimchee coleslaw The Signature Room
This one was supposed to be a lyonnais salad with pork belly, but they ran out of salad, and we got the last pieces of bacon Balsan
Pork belly with peas and braised onions Vie
After bacon, bacon, and more bacon, it was time for, well, more bacon! We had bacon sangria and a bacon vodka and chocolate milk (surprisingly very tasty). And then went back downstairs for more samples and to buy some bacon. I ended up with a pack of Spencer’s Irish Back Bacon which I had sampled and loved because it was a little meatier than I’m used to.
It was an awesome day of bacon awesomeness. And I think I am still in a bacon coma.
Have I used the word “bacon” a record number of times in this post? Yeah, this was a lot even for me! It’s hard to say which dish was my favorite as I quite enjoyed them all. The bacon ice cream was delicious. The Irish breakfast was yummy and I think they win my vote for the fact that I ate something with the term “blood sausage” in the description. I liked Vie’s pork belly. I liked the tacos. I liked Southwater’s dish and I liked the gnocchi…I think I pretty much just liked bacon.
Baconfest Chicago | No Comments » |
Posted by Val on February 16th, 2010 at 12:14 pm | Permalink | No Comments » |
It’s kind of sort of freezing here in Chicago. And snowy. Very snowy. I’m itching to get away (in fact, I spontaneously decided to plan a road trip to Texas in a few months!) but for now I just am wrapping myself in my Snuggie (don’t judge, my mom gave it to me for my birthday…OK, so maybe I asked her to get me one for my birthday…) and watching the Olympics on my couch.
I can’t remember the last time I was this excited over the Olympics. I believe it was somewhere around the Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding year. I didn’t even watch the Opening Ceremonies on Friday but then on Saturday it happened to be on TV and I just kept watching. And watching. And watching.
Watching the Olympics makes me want to learn to ski and snowboard and figure skate and curl. Of course, I’ve tried three of the four of those and am quite terrible at them all (being majorly afraid of heights does not help). And also there’s the fact that I would much rather not subject myself to the cold.
So let’s take a moment to hope for the warmth to return to the city soon and remember how glorious Chicago is in the summer. One of my favorite tourist attractions in the city is Buckingham Fountain. I have wonderful memories of the fountain. When I was a child it seemed so out of the way that it’s hard to imagine how accessible it really is. In college it was where we’d meet up with friends at the Taste of Chicago before cell phones made it convenient to meet up anywhere. In later years it’s been a spot to meet friends as they finish the Chicago Marathon. In high school it was the ending to my perfect second date with my first boyfriend. He drove me there on a balmy night, when the lights turned the water color after color and we held each other and watched. And again it was the scene of one of our last dates, when I made him drive me there on our anniversary, trying to recapture some of that early magic, and it just didn’t feel the same.
It’s a place I end up at least once a summer. And it will never not be beautiful.
Site: Buckingham Fountain
Location: Columbus Drive (301 East) and Congress Parkway (500 South) in Grant Park, Chicago, IL
Cost: Free
Hours: Open from around April to mid-October, 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Date: May 9, 2009
Chicago’s Buckingham Fountain | No Comments » |
Posted by Val on January 28th, 2010 at 1:08 pm | Permalink | 1 Comment » |
Chicagoans like things big. Big pizzas. Big festivals. Big metal beans. And definitely big buildings. And while one of our biggest and best buildings recently turned its back on tradition with a tragic name change (we’re looking at you Sears) there are still plenty of others to look up to (literally!)
Peering over the Chicago River you’ll see many an office tower, all that stand out as unique for one reason or another. The Civic Opera House faces out over the water and comes with a story, whether true or not, that accounts for its seemingly unusual shape.
The building opened its doors on November 4, 1929 and was designed by Samuel Insull. Its shape resembles a giant chair facing out over the river. Dubbed by some as “Insull’s Throne” it is said to be in the shape of a throne facing its back towards New York. Story goes that Insull’s wife and/or daughter was rejected by the New York Metropolitan Opera and it was built for her. Or so the rumor goes.
In any case this giant chair-shaped building is one of many architectural feats of the city.
Want to check out this building for yourself? If you’re in the Chicago area (or will be soon!) and have never been to an opera there before, I have a very special offer for you!
Register an account at Lyric Opera using promo code “bromann903″ and unlock some fantastic discounts for upcoming performances of The Elixir of Love!
Gaetano Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love is about a man down in luck and pining for the woman of his dreams. After taking a special “potion” he transforms into a ladies man and things start going his way. The opera features great singers, a great orchestra, and a real-live horse! How can you beat that?
With this special offer you…
Pay only $25 for main-floor seats that are regularly priced from $83 to $96 (LIMITED!).
Pay only $49 for premium seats that are regularly priced from $123 to $136.
Pay only $75 for premium seats that are regularly priced from $158 to $207.
The discount offer is available for most upcoming Elixir of Love performances:
Saturday, January 30, 7:30pm
Tuesday, February 2, 7:30pm
Sunday, February 7, 2:00pm (LIMITED!)
Wednesday, February 10, 7:30pm
Saturday, February 13, 7:30pm (LIMITED!)
Friday, February 19, 7:30pm
Monday, February 22, 7:30pm
The offer is subject to availability. Web sales end 4 hours prior to curtain. This promotion is ONLINE ONLY. No phone/walk-up sales. For information only, including disability seating, please call 312.332.2244. All sales final. No refunds or exchanges. Cast subject to change. This ticket offer is only for new-to-Lyric ticket buyers.
Site: Civic Opera House
Location: 20 North Wacker Dr., Chicago IL
Cost: Free to See
Hours: Always Visible
Date: January 27, 2010
Civic Opera House + A Discount Offer! | 1 Comment » |
Posted by Val on September 29th, 2009 at 11:01 am | Permalink | No Comments » |
Whew! I am EXHAUSTED! Well, actually I am semi-well rested now that I finally got a full night’s sleep (and accidentally overslept on my alarm for about an hour this morning…oops)! More about my crazy road trip to Krystals later this week, for now let’s catch up on another competitive eating event – the La Costena Jalapeno Eating Contest!
This year’s contest was crazy! It was a pretty decent-sized crowd and there were lots of great posters cheering on the favorites. The contest was exhilarating…so fast pace as competitors stuffed their mouths with the big green peppers. I don’t know how they did it! I am not a spicy-girl so I certainly wouldn’t have gotten far at all! In the end, as the tallying of totals began there was a buzz in the crowd. It seemed as if first place was a tie.
Patrick “Deep Dish” Bertoletti (the number two ranked eater in the world) was the defending champion and Sonya “the Black Widow” Thomas was out for a win — so there was much tension when they announced there would be a one-minute overtime battle. More plates of peppers were placed in front of them and the eat-off began! It looked close, but Sonya’s technique seemed to be dead-on. She managed to shovel more into her mouth, and in the end was declared the winner!
It was a crazy day! They handed out medals and bottles of Pepto Bismol to the winners. I loved the Pepto Bismol. Awesome.
La Costena Jalapeno Eating Contest | No Comments » |
