I've recently been on vacation. Some wonderful things from my trip:
I bought a pound of hot Italian sausage from Royer Farms, Indiana, purchased at the Broad Ripple Farmers Market in Indianapolis. Tasty, tender and pasture raised, but hot? Not even mild by Denver standards.
I'm enjoying the Canterbury tea made of black tea, mango and flowers from a store called Tea Pots 4 U, who blends it for the Canterbury Hotel in downtown Indianapolis. (Call the store if you want to order it.)
My best friend and I took the Megabus to Chicago and stayed in Lincoln Park. Back in Indianapolis, I downloaded from a book from the Denver Public Library to my Kindle called City Walks: Chicago by Christina Henry deTessan. We walked the Lincoln Park Architecture tour in the rain. I got cold and wet with no coat, and her feet hurt, but the beauty of the area made it worth it. I've heard that movies set in Chicago often used to be filmed in Denver since the cities look so much alike at street level. That's true in some places (like the photo below with the red flowers--it looks like Gaylord or an avenue just east of Broadway and north of Evans), but I've never seen Queen Anne architecture here, like the photo of the house.
Even though half the restaurants we saw in Chicago were pizza and pasta places, which I can't tolerate because of the wheat, we found a lot of great places to eat. We got out of the rain and had lunch at Sultan's Market. I ordered lamb without a pita, and they didn't give me any funny looks or a pile of lettuce. The meat was tender and juicy, and there was plenty of it.
Monday night, some of the places I wanted to eat were closed. We ended up at Miss Asia and shared the restaurant with one Indian family. (The Bears were playing.) I ordered the bulgogi (Korean barbecued beef) with radishes, seaweed and kimchi (fermented vegetables). They brought out so much beef that I wasn't hungry the next morning. The dish was so good that I'm trying to imitate it at home, including the seaweed and kimchi. I haven't found any radishes yet. But I won't try the moshi again. Moshi is ice cream with a coating made of rice. It was as if I'd found a wet piece of an old soccer ball and tried to eat it. If we hadn't been in a restaurant, I'd have spit it out, the texture was so disgusting.
Probably the best meal we had was wine, cheese, tomatoes, and duck at the DOC Wine Bar in Lincoln Park. Why don't I go to wine bars more often? They're quiet, the staff is knowledgeable, and the food is fantastic. Avoid the bread, and it's great low-carb fare.
On our way back to the Megabus stop, we ended up at Athena Restaurant in Greektown. I tried the charbroiled octopus since I'd never had octopus. When the waiter brought out a creamy soup, I asked if it had wheat in it. Yes, it did, and so did the other soup. He pushed it towards Kim and said, "Maybe your friend would like to have it." (Later, the waiter took a group photo of some 60-ish men at the next table and someone asked her if she'd like a copy.) The octopus turned out to be a plateful of tasty, tender tentacles that tasted like sea scallops--they weren't tough or chewy at all. Even though it was an appetizer, it was the size of a full meal.
A few places I didn't eat: The Protein Bar near Greek Town. Every offering had more carbs than I eat in a day. The Meatloaf Bakery in Lincoln Park. The cupcake-shaped meatloaves are cute, but they use bread as a filler. A homeless guy by Lake Michigan offered me a beer. I passed.
Meantime, my neighbor misunderstood my instructions to feed my dog and fed her twice as much as she should have eaten. She must have had a happy vacation as well.
I bought a pound of hot Italian sausage from Royer Farms, Indiana, purchased at the Broad Ripple Farmers Market in Indianapolis. Tasty, tender and pasture raised, but hot? Not even mild by Denver standards.
I'm enjoying the Canterbury tea made of black tea, mango and flowers from a store called Tea Pots 4 U, who blends it for the Canterbury Hotel in downtown Indianapolis. (Call the store if you want to order it.)
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| Near Tea Pots 4 U in Indianapolis |
*****
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| Lincoln Park, Chicago. Possibly North Cleveland Avenue. |
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| Lincoln Park. Possibly West Roslyn Place. |
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| Lincoln Park. Possibly North Cleveland Avenue. |
Monday night, some of the places I wanted to eat were closed. We ended up at Miss Asia and shared the restaurant with one Indian family. (The Bears were playing.) I ordered the bulgogi (Korean barbecued beef) with radishes, seaweed and kimchi (fermented vegetables). They brought out so much beef that I wasn't hungry the next morning. The dish was so good that I'm trying to imitate it at home, including the seaweed and kimchi. I haven't found any radishes yet. But I won't try the moshi again. Moshi is ice cream with a coating made of rice. It was as if I'd found a wet piece of an old soccer ball and tried to eat it. If we hadn't been in a restaurant, I'd have spit it out, the texture was so disgusting.
Probably the best meal we had was wine, cheese, tomatoes, and duck at the DOC Wine Bar in Lincoln Park. Why don't I go to wine bars more often? They're quiet, the staff is knowledgeable, and the food is fantastic. Avoid the bread, and it's great low-carb fare.
On our way back to the Megabus stop, we ended up at Athena Restaurant in Greektown. I tried the charbroiled octopus since I'd never had octopus. When the waiter brought out a creamy soup, I asked if it had wheat in it. Yes, it did, and so did the other soup. He pushed it towards Kim and said, "Maybe your friend would like to have it." (Later, the waiter took a group photo of some 60-ish men at the next table and someone asked her if she'd like a copy.) The octopus turned out to be a plateful of tasty, tender tentacles that tasted like sea scallops--they weren't tough or chewy at all. Even though it was an appetizer, it was the size of a full meal.
A few places I didn't eat: The Protein Bar near Greek Town. Every offering had more carbs than I eat in a day. The Meatloaf Bakery in Lincoln Park. The cupcake-shaped meatloaves are cute, but they use bread as a filler. A homeless guy by Lake Michigan offered me a beer. I passed.
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| Lake Michigan at Lincoln Park. I could have had a beer here. |
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