Chicago visit

Two posts in one weekend? GET OUT! I know. I am really trying to get out cleaning my apartment and sorting through household stuff to donate or save. So, I am distracting myself by playing on the internet, and looking through photos from last weekend.

Keith and I went to Chicago for the weekend. We live in the burbs, and we are really itching to get back to the city. We rented a hotel room one block away from the Mag Mile and our adventure began. On Friday we attended a wedding of a friend at a neat venue full of old things for sale. After falling in LOVE with 1930s art deco lamps for $400 a pair, that Keith sweetly talked me out of, we had a blast.

This was the neat-o venue.

 Look at this dream boat

 I seem so unsure about this.. 

Ah, screw it, they had wine. (really, I was getting wine for someone.) the pillars behind me formed a cool room with a vintage couch and coffee tables. The also had a skeeball machine, which Keith told me when we are rich we can have. 

 Anyway, if you are in Chicago and have some money burning a hole in your pocket or just want to see really cool things, you should look into Salvage One. It was pretty neat.

Recipe: The Barbara

So, Keith is a busy man.  This week our first night with any time together, Wednesday, I came home and needed to go to the doctors right away about my knee which has been acting up. After 2 hours and x-rays, we found out my injuries are not too serious, but need to be looked after. But number one, is stay off it as much as possible and take some medicine I got. There's no drinking on my pills, and usually Keith and I unwind with drinks on Friday and catch up. It's like a date night at our apartment. So, instead I made him a drink to try out. This drink is called the Barbara. I found the recipe while searching for 1920s cocktails. 

The Barbara is a earlier version of a white russian. I have yet to try it, but Keith enjoyed it a lot. Here's the (super!) easy recipe.

• 1 and 1/2 oz of vodka
• 3/4 oz of creme de cacao 
• 3/4 heavy cream

Place ice cubes in a cocktail glass. Pour in vodka, then creme de cacao. Lastly float cream. Keith wanted to use milk instead of cream and it was still great!  Don't forget this recipes main ingredient is vodka, so you want to drink responsibly. This drink would be fantastic at a 1920s party.

enjoy.

What to do with that left over candy corn

I love candy corn as much as the next person, actually I love those little pumpkins more. Do you still have some candy corn left over from Halloween?? If so, this fun treat is for you!

I made this chex mix for a team meeting. I don't have a real recipe, I just threw things in a bowl. So, sorry no measurements, but this what I used.

• chocolate covered candies
• chocolate drops
• caramel popcorn with peanuts
• pretzels
• cinnamon chex cereal
• candy corn
• candy corn pumpkins
• chocolate graham cracker bites

Mix them all together. Delish!!! 

Books, Books and more Books!!

So my eyes have recently been opened to a little something called library book sales.  Apparently in the spring and fall seasons, many libraries put on book sales to raise money.  They take place at the library over a couple of days on the weekends.  Anyone can come and buy as many books as they want.  These books were all donated and then sold for anywhere from two dollars a piece to 50 cents.  They seem to start at a price and as the days go on, the prices go down.  My dear friend and I attended two of these sales in the last few weeks and got some awesome deals!  The box of books is from one sale and the bag of books is from a second.  Word on the street is some sales aren't as good as others, but that you can probably always come out with at least a few good ones!

I got so many books and unfortunately realized later that I had actually already read two of the books I purchased(oh, well, they only cost a dollar).  But to not repeat this many more times I took the suggestion of that same dear friend who went with me to the sales and started a "Book Book".  I used an empty notebook I had around the house and began to write down all the books that I got at the sales, all the books already on my bookshelves and other books that I have read in the past(as many as I could remember).  Of course being overly organized, I also coded it.  Check marks are for the books I already read and dots are for books that I already own.

Sounds really nerdy but I did this after the first book sale I went to, and then at the second one I made sure I wasn't buying anything that I already owned or had already read.

These books sales seem to be advertised using signs outside the library and one the library websites.  So come the spring season, go and check out your local library book sale.  You come away with some great books and are helping to support your local libraries at the same time!

Happy Reading!!

Drink Recipe: Apple Sangria Recipe

I love fall. I haven't taken full advantage of it because of a heavy work schedule and other excuses. So Friday, I decided to treat Keith and myself to some homemade apple sangria. Usually, I wing my sangria without any direction, like oh a bit more rum, or a lot more orange juice! This one I found a rough outlined and worked from there. Keith really enjoyed this, I thought it was a bit sweet. Enjoy responsibly:

What you need:

• 1 cup vanilla vodka
• 1/4 sugar to taste (about)
• 2 cups apple cider
• 1/4 teaspoon of pumpkin pie seasoning (this was in the original recipe and was a nice addition!)
• 1 gala apple
• 1 pear
• 1 orange
• 2 bottles of white wine- I used pinot grigio

 How to make it:
In a pitcher, mix vanilla vodka, apple cider, seasoning, sugaring until the sugar dissolves. Cut up apple, pear and oranges and put into mixture. Add the pinot grigio and put in fridge for at least 2 hours. We had some Friday and Saturday.

Enjoy!

Weekend Outings: Pullman House Tour

Jenn's note: This post was originally scheduled to be posted Monday of last week. Let's pretend I posted it then. I have had a crazy busy week with work, and the week got on top of me. Anyway, enjoy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This past weekend I went on the Historic Pullman Walking Tour. It was amazing. This town, dating back to the 1800s, was developed by George Pullman of the Pullman Rail Car fame for his employees. The history is deep in this area of Chicago, I am not going to go into it, but serious look it up, super interesting! I have never been here before. Little did I know, I would leave this place in love and inspired.

Everyone we met, or the people who own the houses you toured were such cool people. They all seemed interested in history and most were artists. It was so neat to see this little 4 by 4 block neighborhood in Chicago, that seemed so passionate.

 I even found a house that is not too out of our price range, that has had me drooling. Keith and I keep looking at photos of it. It's so neat. Built in 1870s as a skilled workers home, it has such charm, I felt that click the instant I walked in the door. Who knows what will happen, but that house....man, I will be in my dreams for awhile.

Anyway, here are just a few photos of the adventure I had.

Fall Recipe: Apple Bread

Keith and I went out to the pumpkin patch/apple orchard/corn maze/family fun place on our day off together. The orchard was shut, but we did enjoy ourselves playing all day, and shopping in the store.

 I promise Keith is not as creepy as he looks in this photo.

 I cannot promise I am not this short.

 Keith enjoyed the slide.

Then we went to get the most perfect pumpkin. He is currently on our coffee table, and will be carved soon.

ANYWAY, it was fun. We got pumpkins, squash and a peck of apples. Keith and I have been devouring them because they are oh so tasty. Tonight I grabbed the second to last apple to set aside to make some apple bread. I am made this bread quite a few times and I found the recipe in my handwritten notebook, so I am not sure where it comes from. I believe it's a historic recipe for the 1800s. The breads comes out like a coffee cake, except with more liquid.

Ingridents:
Dough:

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 2 T butter
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup of milk

Topping:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 4 T butter, soften
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 apple, diced

Okay Now how to make it!
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix flour, salt and baking powder. In separate bowl,  cream butter and sugar. Add beaten egg and milk and stir. Then add flour mixture. Pour mixture into a greased 9" round pan, or a loaf works fine too. For the topping, mix together the butter, sugar, and cinnamon. (Personally, I do less of the butter and brown sugar since this is what liquifies and I don't like mine too gooey. I also add more cinnamon.) Put apples on top.  If you bake in 9" round pan, cook for around 30 minutes or until bread is cooked. Timing might change.

Okay, sorry no photos of it, I forgot my camera! So enjoy the bread, but remember it is a bit gooey and messy, but delish!!!