Victory in South Bend!

One of the highlights for James about living in the Chicago area is our close proximity to South Bend, IN. There was no question this year of what James wanted for his birthday - tickets to a Notre Dame game. So James did some research and found out that tickets to the Notre Dame v. Utah game were still available, and given Utah's success as a team this year we knew it would be a great game. Even better, some of our friends, Scott and Joy, decided to come with us! Scott and Joy are friends of James from Wheaton, and we've loved getting to hang out with them again now that we are living in the area. Scott also happens to be a Notre Dame fan, so Joy bought tickets for them for Scott's birthday.

And it couldn't have been a better birthday present for either of them! We started the day with tailgating amongst the ND fans. We had a fabulous spread: cheese, crackers, fruit, Guiness, wine, gourmet sandwiches, Hint of Lime chips, sweet potato chips...it was all delicious.

I made Birthday cupcakes for the James and Scott, although it was tricky lighting the candles with all the wind.

But we succeeded in lighting them, and they made their birthday wishes (I'm guessing something to the effect of, "PLEASE let Notre Dame, against all odds, win today!)

Then we walked around campus for a bit - I've only been here once before, but it is just as beautiful as I remember it! Here is the a picture of the chapel and the golden dome.

And here is the infamous "Touchdown Jesus," a mosaic on the library wall that happens to be in perfect view from Notre Dame's goal line.

This game couldn't have surprised us more - in a perfect way! After the initial field goal made by Utah, Notre Dame held them the rest of the game and scored 4 touchdowns, for a win of 28-3! It was the perfect upset. James is cheering after one of the touchdowns!

As the sky shows here, the first half of the game was super rainy and cold and windy. James told me the weather doesn't matter for true football fans, so I "ignored" the rain and my soaking wet jeans and stayed engaged in the game. (Although I did manage to create an umbrella "fort" over my lap and arms, which helped a bit)

It was senior day, the last home game of the Season. Here are all the seniors running out through the tunnel.

One of the final plays of the game...

And here is the end of the game, with the student section storming the field after the amazing win! We were all happily shocked at this point with the outcome.

Go Notre Dame!

In search of food....

Last Sunday, after we finished as much staining and painting as we could do in a day, my mind turned to food. And I turned into a cooking fool, hoping to stock-up on pre-made meals for lunches and dinners throughout the week. In my ideal world, I get all of my groceries on Sunday afternoon and cook up one or two batches of something yummy and healthy for lunches throughout the week. I’ve hit a wall, you see, with sandwiches for lunches. For one reason, they start to just feel like a whole lot of bread after awhile—too big pieces of bread, with some meat and cheese stuffed inside. That equals a lot of carbs, and basically no veggies. Now, I’m not ruling out sandwiches completely. They’re great, I love them, and they’ll be back in the rotation. But for now, I’m trying to challenge myself to find new and different lunch options that include more veggies.

This last Sunday, I really got on a roll and cooked up four different batches of food for the week. James and I ate our way through these dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinners. Here’s what I made:

1. Roasted vegetable quinoa salad

This recipe is from cooking light June 2008 and I love it! It has such a variety of veggies you can throw in, it tastes delicious, and it stays tasting great all week. James also likes this one. Here is the recipe:

1 red bell pepper

3 cups water

1.5 cups uncooked quinoa

¼ balsamic vinegar

2 tsp olive oil

¼ tsp black pepper

2 cups chopped carrot

3.5 Cups chopped zuccini

1 ¾ cups yellow squash

1 cup feta cheese

1 garlic clove, minced

Crumbled Turkey sausage (my own addition for more protein)

Yields 8 servings.

Directions:

1. Preheat broiler

2. Cut bell pepper in half lenghthwise; discard seeds and membrane. Place pepper halves, skin side up, on a foil-lined baking sheet; flatten with hand. Broil 15 minutes or until blackened. Place in a zip-top plastic bag; seal. Let sit 15 minutes, then peel and cut bell pepper into strips.

3. Reduce oven temp to 500.

4. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in saucepan, and stir in quinoa. Cover, reduce heat, and cook for 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove pan from hheat and set aside.

5. Combine vinegar, oil, and black pepper in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add carrot to vinegar mixture, toss to coat. Drain carrot through a fine sieve, reserving carrot and vinegar mixture. Place carrot on baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 500 for 10 minutes. Add zuccini and yellow squash to reserved vinegar mixture in bowl, toss well to coat. Drain zuccinni and squash through a fine sieve over a bowl, reserving zuccinni and vinegar mixture. Add zuccinni mixture to carrot on baking sheet in a single layer. Bake an additional 20 minutes or until veggies are browned. Remove from oven; cool completely.

6. Combine quinoa, roasted veggies, reserved vinegar mixture, cheese, [sausage] and garlic in a large bowl; stir well to combine. Cover and chill.

2. Lasagna Tart

I found this recipe on one of my regular food blogs, 101 Cookbooks (almost all of my food blogs were introduced to me by my friend Alison, including this one0. This dish was really yummy, although I don’t tell James it’s lasagna cause it doesn’t have any noodles. And so I called it a “Rustic Italian Tart” so that he wasn’t expecting something else. I used a pre-made pie crust from the stroe that I just baked for 12 minutes before putting the tart together. And again, I added Italian turkey sausage to this recipe.

Weblink for this recipe, from which I pasted and copied below: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/lasagna-tart-recipe.html

Lasagna Tart Recipe

You can do this with any par-baked pie or tart shell you like. Next time around I might experiment with a Parmesan tart crust like this one, or add some herbs to this version.

2 medium zucchini, sliced into very very thin coins
scant 1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

Tart Crust
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or spelt flour)
1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
zest of one lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
scant 1/2 cup cold water

Tomato Sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
scant 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
pinch of salt
1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes

1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese

Preheat your oven to 375F degrees, and place a rack in the middle. Oil a 10-inch tart pan and set aside.

Start by tossing the sliced zucchini with the salt in a medium bowl. Transfer the zucchini to a colander and let it drain while you make the tart shell and tomato sauce.

To make the tart shell combine the flour, salt, and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl. Drizzle the olive oil over the flour and stir that in as well. Drizzle the cold water over the flour and mix with a fork just until it is absorbed. Knead one or twice - just until the dough comes together into a ball. On a lightly floured surface use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a circle roughly 13-inches across. Ease the pastry into your tart pan and press it into the corners and up the sides without stretching the dough. Trim away any excess dough, and place the pan in the refrigerator for at least thirty minutes. When the dough is done resting, prick the crust with a fork a few times. Now line the pastry with parchment paper and fill the tart with pie weights. Bake for 15 minutes. Carefully remove the paper and pie weights, then toast the tart crust in the oven for another five minutes or so before transferring it to a rack to cool. Leave the oven on, but dial it down to 350F.

In the meantime, you can make the sauce. Stir the garlic, olive oil, red pepper flakes, and salt together in a small, cold saucepan. Turn the heat to medium-high and cook until the garlic starts to sizzle just a bit. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, bring to a simmer, cook the sauce down a bit, 10 minutes or so, then remove from heat.

When you are ready to assemble the tart, use a spatula to spread half of the ricotta cheese across the base of the tart shell. Now spoon about half of the sauce over the ricotta and arrange half of the zucchini in a single layer on top of the sauce (see image). If your zucchini is still quite wet, press it into some paper towels. I use my fingers for this next part. After spooning the remaining ricotta over the zucchini, push it around a bit with your fingers so that it forms a layer. Arrange another layer of zucchini and finish with the remaining sauce. You want the filling to nearly, but not quite fill the pan.

Place the tart on a rimmed baking sheet - in case you end up with an overflow - and bake for roughly 40 minutes or until the tart is cooked through. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes before serving. I would have dusted the top of this with a bit of Parmesan, but was out of it!

Serves 8.

3. Spinach Bacon Quiche with Parmesan

This was great. Nothing fancy, I just found a spinach quiche recipe on-line and added bacon and parmesan cheese, and the flavors mixed really well. James and I ate our way through this for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

4. Black Bean Chili-Topped Sweet Potatoes

We’ve had this for dinner a few nights now, and you seriously can’t find an easier, cheaper, quicker, healthier option. The recipe is from Enlightened Cooking, link here: http://enlightenedcooking.blogspot.com/2010/10/black-bean-chili-topped-sweet-potatoes.html. We ate ours with light sour cream and fresh cilantro. C’est tres bon!

Makes 2 hearty, main-dish servings

2 medium sweet potatoes

1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed

1-1/2 cups good quality, chunky bottled salsa (preferably chipotle)

1 tsp ground cumin

2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt (or dairy-free sour cream, if vegan)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Optional: Additional toppings, e.g., crumbled cheese (queso fresco or goat cheese), fresh herbs

Prick sweet potatoes with a fork in several places.., Place in a baking dish and bake at 425F about 1 hour.) (Alternatively , microwave on High until tender all the way to the center, 12 to 15 minutes

Meanwhile, combine salsa, cumin & beans in a saucepan over medium heat (or medium microwave-safe bowl; microwave on High until just heated through, 2 to 3 minutes.

Cool potatoes 5 minutes, then slit each lengthwise, pressing open, then spoon the chili into the center of each. Top each with a dollop of the yogurt (or non-dairy sour cream) , a sprinkle of cilantro, and (optional) other toppings.

Now it’s Sunday again, and I’m looking for new things to cook up for the week. I’m seriously considering the Lazy Day Peanut Noodle Salad recipe from 101 Cookbooks. http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/lazy-day-peanut-noodle-salad-recipe.html I’ll let you know how it turns out!

Building a library this weekend...

It's no secret that James and I love books. We have a LOT of books. And something tells me that the digitized world of reading on our horizon won't phase the acquisition of soon-to-be-antiquated yet always-the-best-in-our-minds hard-copy books. In our last apartment we had five bookshelves brimming with books, but on our move to Chicago four of the bookshelves completely fell apart. (They were the cheap $30 grad-school-budget bookshelves from Target, so we weren't too surprised). Thier collapse was a minor tragedy, however, because James' "office" has been a disaster zone with 25 boxes of books spilling out all over the floor. He literally hurdles to his desk over boxes to work on grad school applications, and that makes me sad. I was so excieted for him to have an awesome office to work in when we moved into this fabulous townhouse, but alas, patience has been required of us.

But we have saved our pennies from month to month, and we finally saved enough to invest in new bookshelves! Hooray!

These bookshelves, however, have proven to be a whole lot of work. We bought an Ivar shelving unit from Ikea for 3 reasons: 1) they are real wood, and hopefully will not collapse on our next move; 2) they are streamlined, have open backs, and look different from the ubiquitous Billy bookshelves; 3) they are affordable. Some of our friends from Princeton had these bookshelves, and we always thought they looked great in their apartment. Unfortunately, Ikea is in the process of discontinuing them, and so they no longer sell them in finished stains. Thus we had to buy them as unfinished pine. What does this mean?

This means that I've spent many, many hours today using pre-stain on 18 shelves and 4 side units, then put one coat of stain on them. Tomorrow I will spend several more hours putting on a second coat of stain, and then a coat of polyurethane. Then, after the last coat has dried, I will sing the Hallelujia chorus and never stain bookshelves again.

The fun part of today? Painting our downstairs family room hunter green (We used Sabal Palm Behr paint). When we put our bookshelves against the wall, all that lovely green will show right through. And hopefully the rich, dark color that we've stained the wood in combination with our deep green will provide a thoroughly country-English-style library ethos.

Can't wait until this project is finished. Can't wait until James has a proper office. Can't wait until I've lit the fire and am reading Jane Austin in our English library. The end.



The Ivar Unit:


A few library pics I found inspirational. (both courtesy of House Beautiful).

28 Hour Road Trip Complete

28 hours round trip, that is. James and I were off to a Princeton Reunion of sorts last weekend, and in our desire to pay $200 in travel costs rather than $800, we opted for the 28 hour road-trip rather than the flight.

It was an AWESOME time. We left Thursday and crashed in Philadelphia with friends Ben and Karen (West Philly, no less). Saw a new part of the city. Ben gave us a tour of U Penn’s campus (where he is going to law school), and we got to tour the awesome house that our friends Mike and Sonja recently purchased. It’s an old house that they are renovating, and they’ll be doing campus ministry at U-Penn and other nearby colleges. Great to see all of them.

Then off to Princeton to hang with our seminary homies. We had a big party Saturday night, and for awhile I forgot that I had ever left the CRW community. Hopping from one apartment to the next for 3 days, it felt like old times. Really, it’s only been 2.5 months since we left, but it feels longer for some reason. And going back to Princeton made me realize that we are officially done with that phase of our life – going to grad school, living amongst lots of friends in the same neighborhood, first apartment of our marriage, etc. Driving back to Chicago I was, I must admit, a bit melancholy. Our Princeton years were challenging in some ways, but overall they were blessed by God and marked by growth in a variety of contexts.

Sadly, I have no pictures because my camera has died. But there were lots of laughs over the weekend. And I do believe that James and I have made great strides in road-trip entertainment. This time, John Adams on audio by David McCullough kept us enthralled for much of the journey. Willy Nelson, Christmas chorals, and Aaron Copeland also kept us company. We were also blessed with miles and miles of vibrant autumnal foliage – the drive was beautiful! And we saw our first bear road kill…yes, we saw a dead black bear on the side of the highway in western PA. I’d hate to be the car that ran into that bear, but it looked like the car won.

Back in Chicagoland now, and it’s starting to get colder. We turned our heat on for the first time when we woke up yesterday and our house was 55 degrees inside. Deep breath, trying to prepare myself mentally for the winter to come!

Hyde Park Jazz Festival

Last Saturday night James and I went to a jazz festival in Hyde Park. Hyde Park is on the South side of Chicago, and it’s also where U-Chicago’s campus is located. We met up with our friend, Travis, and checked out a few of the jazz venues on the University of Chicago’s campus. It’s been over three years since I was last on U-Chicago’s campus, and it has some spectacular buildings. The Rockefeller Chapel, for instance, is a magnificent neo-Gothic wonder. It was built around the same time period as Princeton University’s chapel (late 1800-early 1900’s), and I think I can safely say that neo-Gothic architecture just might be my favorite style. Ever. The detail in the interior ceiling structure is always incredible, the arches and domes provide such great interest, and magnificent scale (for a chapel or cathedral) truly lifts your mind and spirit heavenward. We listened to a jazz choir in the chapel for awhile, and I couldn’t keep my eyes from roaming over all the architectural details. J’aime les cathédrals!

We also listened to a jazz quartet in the Quadrangle Club, which is the faculty club on U-Chicago’s campus. I think it’s normally only open to members, but they opened it to the public for this jazz festeval. We sipped on wine and enjoyed the fruit, cheese, and crackers platters while relaxing in creamy leather club chairs. Not a bad way to end the evening.

U-Chicago's campus also has a Frank Lloyd Wright house located on its grounds - how cool is that? There was a jazz concert in the Robie House, but we got there too late to go. Bummer! I think I'll still try to take a tour of this house sometime in the near future. I've never actually been in a Frank Lloyd Wright house....something new to look forward to.

Jonathan Saunders

Okay, I admit this blog has always been a bit random. Mostly it has been a venue for me to keep friends and family from afar up to date on what James and I have been up to, where we've been, etc. Every once and awhile I've posted an opinion piece. And every once and awhile I've posted a design-related piece. I've long had aspirations of getting a more stream-lined, topical blog put together. But that takes a lot of time and energy. So for now, dear readers (the few yet loyal that you are!), I suppose this blog will continue to be a bit random and sporadic.

In the vein of random and sporadic, this post is about London Fashion Week. In particular, it is about the Jonathan Saunders show and the FABULOUS pieces that he put together this year. I often see fashion bloggers putting up their favorite runway shows, and they are usually pretty hit-and-miss with me. Runway shows are interesting and creative, but rarely do I see pieces that I would wear right off the runway. What usually happens is companies create designs for the public masses that reflect the ingenuity of designers, but at a far less dramatic and costly level.

This Jonathan Saunders show, however, is different. I would wear every single piece as is, straight off the runway. (Although, I would probably want these dresses and skirts to be a little longer - if you're not a six foot tall model, perhaps they're just the right length?). In any case, these pieces are fun, feminine, flirty, colorful, and classy all in one stroke. Do I dare look up how much they cost? No, better not. Just going to cross my fingers that Jonathan Saunders is the next designer to do a line for Target.

*All of the images are via The Sartorialist.

Lately

Things have been very good lately for James and myself as we continue into this new mid-western Wheaton adventure. I have to admit, the honeymoon of our new house and my new job and our new little town is over. And that has created moments of me wondering how in the world I’ve landed myself in Illinois, in exile from friends and family on either coast.

But the weather is fabulous – mid 70’s, mild-to-no-humidity, and the early signs of fall crispness in the air. And these fabulous days are to be treasured in the mid-west (and the east coast). After a summer of heat waves, I’m loving the cooler weather. And I’m also aware that I’m soon in for a freezing winter. All that to be said, I treasure these early fall days. They have made me want to get out and about as much as possible, to explore and enjoy this area before we get stuck inside with shorter days and lower temps.

Two weekends ago James and I stumbled upon a great nearby town called Geneva. I think it will be our new “Lambertville,” in that it similarly has a large river and all sorts of cute little shops and restaurants. And we happened to hit upon it during its annual “Festival of the Vine.” We got there on a Saturday night, and enjoyed the food and street bands and wine samples so much that we went straight back Sunday after church. We sampled briquette and Cuban sandwiches and banana pie and brats and sweet potoato fries. (And I wonder why I haven’t dropped any weight this summer?) In any case, it was all great food! And there are plenty of undiscovered shops and restaurants coffee hang-outs yet to be explored there….i’m gonna save up on those coffee shops for the winter.

This last week was the inaguration of Wheaton’s 7^th president, and thus James and I attended all sorts of events. By far the favorite was the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, who performed an inaguration performance in Edman Chapel. We dressed up and went out to dinner with my co-workers beforehand, and the concert itself was phenomenal. It was a Mexican conductor who danced his way through the performance (literally), and they performed all Mexican songs in honor of Mexico’s bicentennial this past week. James and I promptly downloaded our two favorite songs after the concert: Danzon No. 2 by Arturo Marquez, and Huapango by Jose Pablo Moncayo. Download them! You won’t regret the 99 cents on iTunes – very fun and festive songs.

Also, James was just hired last week by Wheaton College to start a full-time position in the library, so he’ll be starting up this Thursday. We are so excited for this job - God has definitely blessed us here so far! Soon enough James and I will be having lunches together again.

That’s about the short and the long of it. Notre Dame continues to wrench our hearts. I continue to drag James along for random craigslist finds. We’re finally getting back into a decent running routine. I’m saving up for a sewing machine, to fill my winter with novice sewing projects. Life is good.

Honey Rock!

Wheaton owns a huge property up in Northern Wisconsin called Honey Rock, and James and I both got to head up there for my job the second week of August. James had been up to Honey Rock as a student leader one summer, and I got to go up with a bunch of Wheaton student leaders this year.

Honey Rock is an awesome place! There are tons of cabins (I think Honey Rock can house over 500 people), and lots to do. They having sailing, water-skiing, archery, horse-back riding, a shooting range, biking, canoeing, kayaking, hiking - it's an outdoor lovers paradise! James and I were thrilled at the chance to go sailing a couple of times - we made it through most of our second session before completely capsizing in the lake.

It was also a great chance for me to get to know my colleagues in student development, and a bunch of Wheaton students. I am already looking forward to our trip up there for next year!

Birthday Fun!

Oh, Chicago! Oh, Chicago!

You know that song sung by Frank Sinatra, right? Yes, well, I had the song in my head all day long on my birthday because I spent the day enthralled by the wonders of Chicago. My lovely husband planned an absolute gem of a day in this city--our new "backyard" city - couldn't have been better! We hopped on a train from our local suburb train station and spent the morning roaming Grant Park, Michigan Ave, and the pathway along the harbor. Then, out of the blue, James puts together a fantastic picnic spread for us in the Art Institute Gardens--he'd smuggled all the goods with him in his bag, and I had no idea! After our lazy and leisurely picnic, James shepherded me along to the favorite part of my day - an Architectural tour of Chicago given from a boat along the Chicago River. It was a divine compilation of two of my favorite things: architecture, and boating! I love how well James knows me.

Here we are on the bridge above the Chicago River.

The famed Chicago Tribune Building - a unique blend of Gothic and Art Deco styles.

The Chicago River.

One of the other Architectural Gems of the city.

A view from the Art Institute Gardens where we picnicked.

The orchestrator of this fabulous birthday.

The steps up to the Art Institute - with a multitude of gorgeous flowers.

I've also been completely spoiled this birthday with several cards and gifts from family, including this monster birthday package from my momma. More than the gifts themselves (which were so much fun), it meant so much to me to know my Mom put so much time and effort into this package. She wrapped up a whole assortment of goodies, and I felt giddy like a five-year-old on Christmas Eve. (I know adults aren't supposed to care about opening presents, but we can be giddy like five-year-olds every once in awhile, right?)

Perhaps my favorite part of the birthday package were all the little notes attached to each present, a tradition my family has that was started by my Nana (I don't know where she got it from, maybe her Mom?). My family always attaches little "notes" to each gift to give a hint or idea of why we thought the gift would be meaningful or fun to the recipient. It may seem silly to some folks, but to me it's always been just an extra touch of personalization to make someone feel loved.

Thanks everyone for all the Birthday Goodies and calls and emails - even though I only spent time with my hubby on my birthday, I felt loved and appreciated by people from all over.

World Cup Time!

It's World Cup Time, and James has me on the edge of my seat with all of the excitement! I am not going to lie - I didn't really care much about soccer growing up. The last World Cup James and I were living in Seattle, and James was pretty into the World Cup at that point. He and his room-mates went to soccer bars in Seattle at 6:00am to watch games with hashbrowns and Guinness.

This time around, James has snagged me into the fan-hood as well. We kicked off the fun last weekend with the US-English game on Saturday. I made some patriotic white chocolate covered pretzels, grabbed some patriotic Sam Adams beer, and we had a bunch of friends over. Then on Monday, James invited some guys over to watch the Dutch game at 7:30am. He prepared apple pannekoeken (Dutch Pancakes) in honor of the Orange. And now, here we are at 7:30 am on Saturday, watching the Dutch play Japan.

So cheers to team USA!!! (and to the Dutch!)

Here are some of the guys chowing down during the Dutch game on Monday.