Soccer Stud

I just couldn't resist his single mindedness dribbling around and around and around the room, for 10 minutes straight. 

At least I know he's easily entertained.  

Pesto Pizza on the Grill

One of our favorite meals this summer has been pizza on the grill.  I make a triple batch of pizza dough at once, bake off the oval shaped crusts for 6 minutes in a very hot 450 degree oven (on a jelly roll pan well covered with corn meal), cut them in half and freeze the crusts in zip lock bags.  

From there, they can go straight onto the grill.  Grill one side for 4 minutes, turn over and cover with your favorite toppings (in this case, homemade pesto, provolone, tomatoes, sea salt and fresh pepper) and finish grilling until cheese is melted and crust is crispy.

Other topping ideas that require no cooking, only assembly:

1) Trader Joe's Pizza Sauce

    Mozzarella

    Frozen pineapple from Trader Joe's

    Boar's Head Tavern Ham

2) T. J.'s Pizza Sauce

     Mozzarella

     Fresh tomatoes

     Fresh basil

3) Pizza Sauce

     Mozzarella

     Boar's Head Pepperoni

4) Brush crust with olive oil or garlic olive oil

     Figs, pears, boursin or goat cheese

     Sliced red onion

2-A-Day

I really wish Starbucks would quit with this whole "Come back after 2 pm today and get any grande iced drink for $2!" campaign.  

I feel like a smoker..."Yeeah, I'm up to 2-a-day these days and really need to quit."  

Not, to say, that I am actually buying two drinks a day.  Just thinking about it.

Yikes!

Weeding around the hydrangeas today was a dangerous affair...gorgeous, isn't it?

The Ball Bin

If you look carefully, you'll notice we're keeping more then just balls in there.  

When It Rains...

...it pours.

On the way to a last minute doctors appointment to check on little Buddy's worsening rash, I hit the accelerator this morning in our nine year old black Honda Civic, aka, Raisin, and heard an ominous popping sound.  Next thing I know, the muffler's out.  Big time.  

What I felt driving through town today was akin to the utter humiliation coursing through my body upon getting de-pansed in 7th grade, while wearing my granny-sized, mint green underwear.  I do believe that pair sat higher then my belly button.  

Adrenaline rushing, sweat breaking out all over my body, beet red in the face, we thudded and rolled through the streets as I called the Honda Dealer on my cell phone and simultaneously tried to set up a babysitter for tomorrow.

It literally felt like the engine was being propelled by three plastic hamster balls, filled with hamsters running around, having heart attacks loudly.  

I'm going to go downstairs now and eat a big bowl of Reese's Peanut Butter Puffs with skim milk while watching Barefoot Contessa reruns.  It's been that kind of day.

Word to the Wise

If your 14 1/2 month old is suffering from a mean rash, it's NOT a good idea to feed him a cup of blueberries in the morning, then allow him to air out his heiny in his bedroom, over cream colored carpeting.

Thank the Lord for Resolve.

Sam's First Pair of Flip Flops

Always an important milestone you know.  So tiny, so cute.

Yea Anna!

Guess who's in this month's Chicago Magazine!  I always knew she'd be famous.  Only two restaurants were chosen from the suburbs...Honey was one of them, note the last line, "Bakery treats are a strong suit..."  Way to go!

He'll kill me for this when he's older...

but I just couldn't help myself.

Somebody's got blackberry breath...

...and it ain't me.

CSA Box #3

Ooo broccoli!  This week we have Galactic red lettuce, cabbage, tiny jewel-like raspberries, sweet pea pods, kohlrabi and basil.  I smell a coleslaw made with a sweet vinaigrette coming on.  

Don't even ask about the raspberries, they're already gone.

The Reel Club

So last night I had the best meal I've eaten in months.  Four girlfriends (hi Patty!!) and I met up at a relatively new LEYE restaurant that opened in Oakbrook, right below Wildfire.

Reel Club calls itself a "steak and seafood concept place", and executes it well.  The waiter waved "red" King Crab legs in front of our faces that were longer then my own, with a good pound of meat hanging off each end.  Slightly disconcerting, if not delicious.  We were started off with complementary dishes of hot, cheesy popovers sprinkled with sea salt and fresh pepper.  Looking back, ONE of those would have been a wise and mature decision, not the THREE I inhaled over the course of the meal.  So good.  And free!  

Their signature drink is a $9 hibiscus martini, strong but delicious, as well as a ton of smartly priced wine options, the most fun being wine flights that range from $12-$14 for three, 3 oz. glasses.  

The menu has a wide range of options, most of us went for salads and sandwiches.  The fish sandwich, seen above, was to die for.  Flaky, fresh cod in a hot and crispy beer batter, accompanied by sweet pickles, a tangy lemon tarter sauce and homemade grilled brioche bun, had every detail done well.  Other items that went off well were the breaded scallops (the appetizer portion was plenty as an entree), fried calamari, clam chowder, and two salads.  I will say, the fries were different, more like crisp chips then soft french fries.  My two buddies enjoyed them, I would have opted for perhaps the truffled mac and cheese had I known.  And brought it home to Scott.  Maybe.  Ahem.

Dessert may have been the best part.  They make all their ice creams and sorbets in house and BOY, you could tell.  We tried the Taffy Apple, green apple sorbet perched on a bed of creamy, salty caramel ice cream with a homemade caramel sauce poured on top.  Phenomenal, refreshing and the perfect end to the meal.

Another nice touch was the "Just a Bite" option for a recession-friendly $1.  The waiter brought out little mounds of chocolate mousse on spoons, the offering changes nightly.

All in all I can't wait to go back.  The quiet, cool interior was well suited for a group that wanted to talk, and the quality of the food and service makes it a nice addition to Oak Brook Mall.

What do YOU like about going to Target?

Cherries are here!

The French Market was teaming with delectable fruits Saturday, time to make a sour cherry pie!  Smitten Kitchen posted a great recipe for pie crust dough, it is utterly delicious and easy to roll out between two pieces of plastic wrap.  I ended up using all butter and 1/4 cup of sugar in it, froze the second crust and did a crumble topping instead.  The pie didn't last long enough for me to take a picture, Scott finished off the last slice (or I should say, the last QUARTER of the pie) late this afternoon without telling me.

Sniff.

We love Summer!

I can't pull myself away from the pool to write much.  We've got a wedding this weekend and every day has been hot and sunny.  Gotta love life.

Happy 4th of July!

We hit the parade, (no elephants or cicada floats this year) the pool and then burgers for dinner.  Pretty much the perfect day in my opinion.

Inadvertent Buzz Cut

Oh lord.  What have we done.  Yesterday Scott was cutting his own hair with the clippers, I decided to finally give my blessing (he's been asking to do Sam's for weeks) and let him give Sam a little hair cut too.

We thought that using the highest level of comb would still leave us with some of Sam's gorgeous, platinum curls.  

Nope.  They are all laying on the floor of the shower and I am devastated.

He looks like a miniature, sweaty, seven year old boy.  

CSA Box #2

This week was a little light, I guess the produce is still a week or two behind with all the rain we got earlier this summer.  Beautiful red lettuce, green onions, scallions, a peppery mustard like green and spinach.

Things I Ate Today

Grace is in town and guess where we went today.  (Sam stayed home for a playdate with Grandma.)

-A fried plantain with spicy peanut sauce (taste portion)

-Cumin dusted fries with a mango sauce (not good at all)

-Taste portion of gazpacho soup (pretty good, refreshing)

-Sweet potato hash browns (taste portion, blah)

-A Rainbow ice cream cone (taste portion, sad.  Go for the whole cone next year.)

-Spicy orange chicken with white rice (awesome)

-A samosa filled with potato, peas and spices (spicy, steamingly hot)

-1/2 Chicago style Vienna Beef hotdog

-Wildberry sorbet that beat everything else hands down.

Things I WISH I ate but ran out of tickets/stomach space:

-Coconut butterflied shrimp (cost too many tickets)

-Robinson's BBQ rib tips (too little stomach space)

-Coconut Lime Sorbet (couldn't find it)

-An ear of roasted sweet corn (too hot by then, sticky and full)

-1/2 Billy Goat Tavern cheeseburgers (they were 4 tickets and we only had 3 left)

All in all, the ideal way to enjoy The Taste of Chicago.  It was warm but not humid, sunny but not scorching, my friend and I split everything so we weren't sick-full, and we got to play in the fountain at Millennium Park when we were done.  

Pretty much the perfect day.  And when Buddy wakes up from his long nap we'll pack a picnic supper and catch a quick dip in Great-Grandma's pool to wash off the grime and sweat from the day as the sun goes down.