Chicago, Day 3

Well, guys, guess what?  We are getting hit with more winter weather!  This is very much like 2011 in Arkansas, but not quite as convenient because then the snow was so deep, that things got shut down right away.  Right now, we're looking at ice tonight, but not so much that everyone is jumping on board this evening to close for tomorrow.  And, as soon as it starts to melt, it's back to school--even if the roads are completely clear (because everyone has used up their snow days in NWA).  That being said, everyone to our west and lots of folks to our east and south have closed, so I don't know if we won't be far behind if it keeps precipitating at and below freezing...

I hate to drag out my posts like this, but dealing with the photos is overwhelming to me.  On our third day, I left my camera at home because it was COLD (not as cold as it has been this week, but cold for this Arkansan!), so I apologize for cruddy iPhone photos.  ;)

On Monday, we went to the Field Museum of Natural History, which Zach and I had never visited either. We started the day off with a scrumptious breakfast buffet at the hotel--they had EVERYTHING!  I really wish I had taken a photo because they had the usual things at the buffet, but they also offered frittatas, Eggs Benedict, fancy orange French toast, banana bread French toast, and so much more!

At the museum, we got to see the star of the museum T-rex Sue, which is the largest intact skeleton of a tyrannosaurus rex ever found, and we also saw a 3-D film on the dig that uncovered her. 

 Sue

I spent most of my time in the Ancient Egypt area: here I am in one of the actual rooms from Unis-Ankh's tomb. 

I thought this was FASCINATING:  a symbol is the thing itself!  My literary theory and linguistics heart be still!

 This, too, was interesting.

 hieroglyphics

  I am sitting on the altar in Unis-Ankh's tomb!  I don't imagine this is the real thing because they had the real walls protected behind glass in this room, but most of it was intact!

 view from the top of the tomb

 I suppose it's disrespectful to photograph coffins and sarcophaguses, but I really do find the process of mummification so fascinating.

 This seemed useful.  ;)

I also went to all of the exhibits we got passes for, including ones on the World's Fair:  Columbian Exposition (to celebrate the anniversary of Columbus's "discovery"), bioluminescence, and a bug's life. (I would have liked to have gone to the one on Nazi propaganda, but I didn't discover it until after the fact.)

I believe 60%+ of the country's population passed through the fair, which was open for six months and took two weeks to explore fully.  The Museum of Science and Industry (my favorite!) is now housed in the only building left standing.

 Some of the inventions portrayed at the fair included Juicy Fruit, Cracker Jacks, and Shredded Wheat!

 lobby with wooly mammoths

 exterior (sorry for the shadow)

 gorgeous building

 We had to walk a bit to catch the right bus and train down to Willis Tower, so I captured some of the skyline at twilight.

 soooo cold

 railyard

 This reminds me of Paris for some reason.

In between the museum and dinner, we went up the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) to look out on the city. It was bitterly cold, and we were in so many layers on our trek around the city. When we got the top, it was very crowded and hot, made hotter by our coats and hats and scarves. We looked out but didn't stay long. It was a nice view, but I like Hancock's observatory better.

We had lunch at the museum and dinner at Pizzeria Uno, our first time there as well. It was good, but I still think Giordano's is my favorite.  :)  The place was adorable, though, and I did enjoy the story of how Uno, Due, and Mi Casa got started!

After dinner, we had planned to go to The Drawing Room for drinks. By this time, the snow was coming down and icing the sidewalks. I was a nervous wreck because I was wearing dress shoes with no traction. (I wore those shoes because we were going to the Drawing Room, which is kind of dressier.) Unfortunately, they were closed.  :(  So I guess we will have to go for drinks this summer!

Menu Monday: A is for Asparagus with Brown Butter

Y'all, every school in our area had a snow day but ours.  We did start later (10), but STILL.  We couldn't get out of our driveway, so Zach's boss came and picked him up.  I'm either going to take a vacation day or make up the hours on lunch and after work.  It's supposed to start warming up tomorrow, but then we are expected to get "A slushy accumulation of less than an inch."  Pardon me? Arkansas, you better step it up with your road maintenance...  It is only January after all.

So while we were in Chicago, Zach said that he has decided he likes asparagus.  For the longest time, neither of us liked it though we did eat it on occasion and found it tolerable.  But now we are in the pro-asparagus camp.  This is one vegetable I never had growing up, and I'm pretty confident that the first time I tried it was in the past ten years, probably having been served it as part of a pre-determined menu (at someone's house or at one of those restaurants where you just don't request substitutes or removals).

With the New Year, I am trying my best to eat healthier and exercise.  I'm trying to follow the mini goals over at 100 Days of Real Food, and I'm proud to say I'm doing fairly well with Week 1--eating two fruits and/or vegetables with every meal.  We had veggies for dinner over the weekend, and I decided to try my hand at asparagus.  I served it with a brown butter sauce, and it was pretty yummy!

ASPARAGUS WITH BROWN BUTTER

1 lb of asparagus

1 cup of water

salt to taste

5 Tbsp. butter

1 tsp. lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

-Wash asparagus and snap off the tough ends.  (I felt finding the tough spot was very intuitive.)

-Using butcher string, tie asparagus into bundles of 6-10 shoots.  Sprinkle with salt to taste.

-Bring water to boil in a sauce pan and stack bundles perpendicularly to one another:  two going horizontally with two stacked vertically.  Continue until all are stacked.  Steam for 5 to 10 minutes.

-Meanwhile, melt butter in a  saucepan and cook slowly on medium heat, whisking frequently, until it begins to brown and smells nutty.  You will also notice flecks start to form, which are the milk solids browning.  The butter will foam as it cooks; once the foam subsides, it will turn brown very quickly.  Remove from heat once it turns brown--better too soon than too late.

-Stir in lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.  Pour brown butter over steamed asparagus and serve immediately (1 Tbsp. per two bundles).

I served my asparagus with balsamic roasted potatoes, green peas, and Texas Toast (which isn't very healthy but is oh-so-good!  Brown butter can be intimidating because it does require a close eye.  But it is little effort for BIG taste!  It also makes a wonderful addition to many other dishes, including savory and sweet ones (you would just leave out the lemon juice and spices for baking).

And here are my tied bundles, of which I was very proud :) :

What are some things you are doing and eating to get healthier this year?

Menu Monday: S is for Sweet Potato Casserole

I mentioned last week this weekend...wait.  What day is it again?

We are on DAY 5 of being snowed/iced in, and it continues tomorrow.  (They've already called off finals for Tuesday, too.  We were supposed to open at noon today, but thankfully, they went ahead and closed campus ALL day.)  I know what the day it is; I just have no frame of reference for the past as the days seem to melt into one another quite unlike the snow outside our doors.

(I really do love snow and winter and the magic it brings.  I'm just bummed we didn't get to go see Theatre Squared's production of A Christmas Carol this past weekend.  And we're out of bread and low on eggs.  No more French toast pour moi.)

Anyhooooo, I mentioned sometime recently that Zach and I do a Fall Feast every year.  Usually, we get a rotisserie chicken, I make the sides (green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, and Stove Top, which my husband prefers to actual cornbread dressing...weirdo), and we do the dessert up right.  We eat and watch A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and Garfield's Thanksgiving.  It's something we started when we were dating: We decided to do our own "Thanksgiving" since we wouldn't be together for the holiday.  (That first year, I don't really remember.  I'm actually now not even sure if we did what we would call a Fall Feast now.  But our second year, when we were married, we actually watched the Halloween specials and had Halloween Funfetti cake...but I don't remember if it was before or after Halloween.  We do things in our own time.)  And it is a glorious tradition!  "The more you eat, the more grateful you're gonna feel..."  That song kinda irks me, and I don't think it's true for commercialized America, but I also find it stuck in my head for days after, so it does what it is supposed to do, I think.

Anyhooooo, this year, we did it much later this year than usual because we've been so busy and traveling on the weekends...and then when I ordered two chickens from my co-worker's son, I knew we just HAD to wait until they came in, so I could roast one for Fall Feast.

They finally were ready the week of Thanksgiving, and so I brought them home for Fall Feast...the first week in December.

It was my first time to roast a chicken, and it was a ROARING success!  The crowds went wild for the citrusy, herby, golden-skinned chicken!  (By crowds, I mean Zach and Amy.)  But I was very proud of my bird.  :)

I realize this is a terrifying angle.  It looks like a fish face.

I made some "Texas Roadhouse" (copycat) rolls along with the usual green bean casserole, but I decided to do more of a sweet potato casserole than just candied "yams."  I combined two recipes, and it was delish!

SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE

3 cans of sweet potatoes, drained

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

dash of ginger

dash of pepper

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. almond extract

1/4 tsp. salt

1 egg, beaten

4 Tbsp. melted butter (1/2 stick)

1+ Tbsp. heavy whipping cream

mini marshmallows

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8x8 pan.

-Mash sweet potatoes by hand until mostly smooth.

-Add all ingredients except marshmallows, and combine until well blended.

-Spread half of sweet potato mixture into pan and top with marshmallows as desired.  Spread remaining sweet potato mixture on top.

-Bake for 30 minutes.  Top with marshmallows as desired and bake for 10 additional minutes until marshmallows are brown and bubbly.

I know this is one of those dishes that is more like candy, but we only have it at Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I think we get a pass.  And I forgot to make the Stove Top, so it was one less dish.  :)

For dessert, we had a homemade chocolate cake made by a coworker's husband.  Holy YUM!

What are some traditions you have this time of year?

Snow Days!

We are on our third day of being snowed/iced in, and if you know me, I am loving it!  I was quite surprised to get out on Thursday; I figured we would have go in for a few hours, and then they would close as the weather got bad.  Imagine my surprise when I woke up to a text from my boss that we were closed!

So I went back to sleep for an hour.  I have a hard time sleeping in when I know we are having winter weather because I want to watch it and measure it and touch it and walk it.  Oh, I so LOVE it.  Once I got up, I started editing photos, cleaning, and catching up on TV shows. The sleet started early but didn't really start accumulating until mid-morning. Once Zach got up, he played video games while I continued my cleaning. We drank lots of hot cocoa and tea, watched the snow begin to fall, and played & snuggled with the kitties. In the evening, Zach built a fire, which was lovely.  Here's how we spent our "snow days:"

sleet starting to collect on everything

Yes, we still have pumpkins out.  We didn't carve any this year, so they are still in tact.  I don't have the heart to throw out anything that is still good.

The cats enjoyed having us home!

This is probably the coldest it's been in Arkansas since I don't know when!

It's a tradition for me to drink out of my snowflake mug on snow days.  :)

night fall, snow fall

When I got up on Friday, we had EIGHT inches!  It's now over nine.  :)  I wasn't sure if my guess was correct (eight inches), but I was right on the money when this photos as taken!

On Friday, I watched Christmas movies and prepared for our late Fall Feast.  And, of course, watched the snow continue to fall!

Since we moved up here, I've used these birds to measure the snow.

They have been quite snuggly with the cold weather.

Yes, I know, we make beautiful children raise beautiful cats.

dangers of winter weather in AR

I love our home in this kind of weather.  it reminds me a cabin!  Also, those bows used to hang in our stairwell during Christmas, but Dinah tore them up pretty good last year, so I shortened the tails and decided to use them one last year--outside.

my (rain)boot prints

Selfies in the snow are hard, especially when it is well below freezing.

why we named our home The Owlery

Our landlord's little lady statue looks like a gnome in the snow!

It's hard to see here, but there are some animal tracks in the snow.  Deer, maybe?

Last night, we had our Fall Feast, and I invited Amy over since she made it safely back home from her friends' house.  But I'll tell you more about this on Monday!

Today, I'm going to knit and address Christmas cards.  :)))
Oh, and next weekend, I'll be sharing our Christmas decor courtesy of Kelly's Korner SUYL!
Did you get any winter weather courtesy of Winter Storm Cleon?  How do you spend your snow days?