"Cooks" Tour of Chicago

On the last Thursday in May, my cousin, my mother and I took a tour bus into Chicago for the day. We were set to experience Chicago through the eyes of a cook who might be shopping for special and interesting things to use in cooking. Our first stop was at a gourmet market named Fox and Obel, located on Illinos Street. We spent about an hour or so wandering around the market just enjoying the various aromas of such things as coffee, cheeses and freshly baked breads. Naturally, there are lots of samples to temp your tastebuds and entice you into buying something! I couldn't resist all of the wonderful cheeses that were so expertly presented. The cheesemonger, Aaron Stek, pictured at the right certainly knew his cheeses and was happy to recommend a few to us along with a sample or two! I bought two different goat cheeses that we enjoyed at home for several days. I also bought some wonderful vinegars and oils to enhance my cooking at home.

Then it was time to get back on board our bus and head to lunch at Kendall College, which is a culinary school in the Bucktown neighborhood of Chicago. It also happens that my cousin's daughter attends school there. She actually joined us for a cooking demonstration on how to make pesto and then for lunch and a tour of the school. The pesto was served as an appetizer along with a variety of breads at lunchtime. Lunch was absolutely delicious and consisted of three courses all prepared and served by the students. What a treat for all of us!

Although some of us would have been content to just call it a day and take a nap and head for home, we still had more touring to do. So we departed for a place called the Spice House located in Old Town. It is a storefront type of shop that is full of jars of every kind of spice that you could ever imagine. The tiny little shop just tickles your nose with the different scents that waft in the air. They offer tiny tins with samples of each of the spices, so you know exactly what you are purchasing. I couldn't leave without buying some jerk style grilling spice and some special spice concoction just for fried chicken! You can bet I'll be trying that very soon. :)

We boarded the bus again and made our final stop at the newest Whole Foods store located on Kingsbury Street. The store had literally been opened only one week, so everything was shiny and smelled new and fresh. I had never been in a Whole Foods store before although I have heard lots about them from friends. This place had everything you thought you needed and more! The produce was beautiful and I couldn't leave without buying both Ranier cherries and Bing cherries. Yum!

It was finally time to board our bus for the last time and head back to Rockford. I will say it was a pleasant and very quiet ride home as most of the passengers really did nod off. Shhhhh! Me....I had my knitting along and continued to work on my project and reflect on what a fun day we all had in the Windy City.

A Fly-by Visit

After returning on a Saturday night from our Kansas adventure, I realized that I couldn't quite settle into being home just yet. One of my high school friends had called me a couple of weeks ago and told me that another mutual friend(that I go all the way back to grade school with) who now lives in Spokane, WA was going to be in the Midwest for a couple of days...namely Sunday and Monday. It seems that Ann and her husband were going to come as far east as Iowa City and they would love to see any or all of us. So I suggested to my pilot husband that if the weather was good enough on Sunday perhaps we could fly over to see our friends for a brief visit. It turned out that for a change the weather did cooperate and we did fly over to see our friends for a couple of hours before we had to jump back into the airplane and get home before it was too dark.

We had a chance to catch up on each other's lives and to share a picture or two or more of our families and we even took a couple of pictures while we were there. It was short and sweet, but the time it took us to fly there was so worth the couple of hours we got to spend with everyone. Friendships are priceless treasures that we need to cherish. I realize this more and more the older I get.

Best Fried Chicken in the Country!

We started out heading to Lindsborg after breakfast on Thursday morning. Instead of going directly to our destination we decided it would be worth our while to stop off in Lawrence, Kansas to visit a yarn shop called, The Yarn Barn. It was a really cute little shop located right in downtown Lawrence. Naturally we walked around touching all of the soft and pretty yarns that are not currently stocked in our hometown knitting shop called, Unique Yarns. Before we got out of there, all three of us had bought patterns and yarn for new projects to begin.

All of that shopping made us work up an appetite so before we left we went to a restuarant just down the street that the ladies at the shop had recommended. It was a brewery type of restuarant that had great soups, sandwiches and salads as well as a variety of homemade brews. We passed on the beer since we were driving, but the food was really excellent. It is called, Free State Brewing Co. and it is worth a visit if you're ever in Lawrence.

So now it was on to Lindsborg to check in to our bed and breakfast, The Rosberg House. It was a great two story victorian style house with a huge front porch that had a very welcoming wicker swing and white wicker porch furniture as well. After we got our rooms and freshened up a bit, we headed to fried chicken heaven aka The Brookville Hotel in Abilene, KS which in reality was about forty miles down the main highway out of town. All I can say is if you love fried chicken you will be in heaven for sure when you taste this version! The restuarant serves only one thing....fried chicken and all of the fixins! It is served family style and the waitresses just keep the chicken coming as soon as you make a dent in the platter. The sides are also fabulous...a relish try, homemade biscuits and strawberry preserves, mashed potatoes and chicken creamed gravy, homemade creamed corn and homemade cole slaw and cottage cheese. The sides are also all you can eat. For dessert there is home style ice cream.

We finished our dinner and chatted with the hostess and owner of the restuarant, Connie Martin. We told her how we had traveled all the way from Illinois to eat dinner at her establishment. She was honored and also thought we were a bit crazy especially when we told her that we would be back tomorrow night for dinner as well! I even took a picture of her in the gift shop and waiting area. She said she would love to jump in the car and go with us on our adventures if she didn't have the restuarant committment.

The next day we toured the town of Lindsborg which is the town that my friend, Jan lived in as a little girl. We learned a bit about the Swedish immigrants that settled here and enjoyed the Swedish pancakes that the bed and breakfast served each morning. Yummy!

As we headed back to Abilene for dinner the next day, we made an impromtu stop at where else?....The Russel Stover Candy Outlet which was conveniently located right off the highway. Chocolate for an afternoon break...yeah!!! We had one last stop before we ate ourselves to death again on chicken. We visited the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum. After all, we had to do something educational. This is also a very worthwhile stop. Beautiful facilities with very knowledgeable staff.

With full bellies and smiling faces we headed home the next day.

Kansas City Here I Come!

So when I got home on a Sunday evening I immediately began to re-pack for a 'girlie' trip to Kansas? Yep, that's right...Lindsborg, Kansas! Two of my friends and I had planned a trip to Kansas to see Lindsborg, otherwise known as Little Sweden and to eat at a restaurant that has the best fried chicken in the world.

We headed west on Tuesday morning and spent most of the day dodging thunderstorms through Iowa and Kansas. We spent two nights in Kansas City, Mo. We went shopping in a very upscale area called, Country Club Plaza. We also discovered that Kansas City boasts that they are the barbecue capital of the nation so we ate baby back ribs in one of the eateries in the area. It was called, Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue. The ribs were excellent and the sides were homestyle cole slaw, cornbread pudding and such. This place was recommended by the folks at the hotel we stayed at and they knew what they were talking about!

This area is also called, "The City of Fountains" because the developer's wife was from Spain and she missed the beauty of her country, so he tried to bring a bit of Spain to her by designing and putting in fountains throughout the shopping area. They do remind you of Europe! The picture shows my friends, Jan and Joyce in front of one of the fountains in the plaza shopping area.

We left the next day to seek out the bustling city of Lindsborg and to find our fried chicken. As Paul Harvey used to say...tune in tomorrow for "the rest of the story".