Installment 2: Sometimes the Best Foods in Life...

...come from Lettuce Entertain You.

Okay, okay...I know.  I have a problem.  I cannot go more than a month without a Lettuce Entertain You meal.  What's that you say?  A twelve-step program?!?  You can't make me!  I can quit anytime I want!!  But why on earth would I want to?

There's this great place I know of where you can get Lettuce Entertain You food...and spend less than $10.

You read that correctly.

And there's five different locations throughout the city of Chicago.

I'll let that sink in.

Two words, lovies.  Wow Bao.  Steamed Asian buns filled with savory meats (and sweet stuff if you want it...my friend said the coconut is delicious).  I usually get the BBQ pork (sweet and savory), the Mongolian beef (a wee bit spicier than I remembered it, but delish), or the chicken teriyaki (how could you possibly go wrong with that?).  I wish I had a photo for you, but it had been a while since breakfast...as soon as I sat down I did my best makeshift Cookie Monster impression.  Bao instead of cookies.  I know, it's a powerful visual...

They cost less than two dollars apiece, and I know I can never eat more than two.  So we're coming in at just under five dollars.  You with me so far?  Now throw in the homemade ginger ale, $2.49, and you've got lunch.  Excellent.

There's one in Water Tower Place, and there's one underneath the Renaissance Hotel at the corner of State and Lake.  Beyond that, you can check their site.

After eating only campus food for way, way, way too long, the highlight of my week thus far has been sitting at the counter at Wow Bao with a friend, enjoying a good meal that was entirely worth what I paid for it.

~AF

Snacking With the Foodie: Finals Edition

It's finals season, kiddies!  And that means the Foodie has to sequester herself, studying like a maniac.  As such, she needs some handy-dandy snack food that makes staying in worth it. 

If there's one food I cannot live without right now, it's probably wasabi almonds.  Or popcorn.  Or wasabi almonds and popcorn, just not together.

It was just what happened to be in the room.  I still have Rick Bayless's limited-edition Key Lime-Avocado salsa in the minifridge, but I have no chips (Oh, the humanity!).  We bought the almonds by accident.  Who knew wasabi seasoning could look like cinnamon-sugar seasoning when no one's wearing their glasses and you're in a hurry?

I'm trying (trying!) to eat healthy here in the dorm.  It's tough because of the tastiness level of cafeteria cheese sticks and waffle fries.  In my humble opinion, these spicy almonds could be considered a healthy snack.  Firstly, they're almonds.  And the spicy coating?  Well, here's my logic: it makes me want to chug water like it's going out of style.  Better hydration is a good thing.  Thanks, blazing-hot snackies!

Sometimes I just substitute popcorn for dinner.  If I'm really not that hungry or I'm too lazy to go to the cafeteria, I can pop in a bag of lightly-salted popcorn and not have to worry too much about the meal (don't skewer me for this, guys! But really, who hasn't been there? Too hungry not to eat, not hungry enough for a real meal...).

Popcorn is technically a whole grain anyway, so...

Happy Snackin'

~AF

Palatable Cafeteria Food? Say It Ain't So!

Well, lovies, the Foodie is having trouble getting to sleep.  Might have something to do with the caffeinated Coca-Cola she had not all that long ago.  But instead of just sitting here listening to Queen on Fire: Live at the Bowl and looking at lame articles, I'm going to sit here listening to Queen on Fire: Live at the Bowl and write you a little post.

(A side note, if you've never listened to any of the Live at the Bowl performances, you are missing out.  Freddie Mercury sounds amazing live.  Plus, Queen is just awesome.  I digress)

I tried something new in the cafeteria!  And I didn't hate it either.  Go figure.

It was barbecued salmon (by barbecued they mean baked far beyond doneness and slathered with barbecue sauce), steamed rice (really more like a pilaf) and roasted veggies.  The salmon was a wee bit on the dry side, and the barbecue sauce was piquant, but it had flavor, by golly!  The pilaf was tasty, not soggy like cafeteria rice can sometimes be, and the veggies were quite nice if they were cooked right, although they ranged in doneness from too al dente to 'is this zucchini or charcoal?'

Over winter break, I will be making my own variation.  I'm thinking a nice baked salmon with herbed butter sauce, a nice creamy risotto (perhaps mushroom, though I haven't decided yet), and some roasted root vegetables.  My faves are carrot, zucchini, and sweet potato tossed in olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika along with baby red pearl onions and roasted until soft and oh-so-good.

I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

~AF

A Foodie Aghast: Tales from the Cafeteria

The Foodie's on a weekend-long research binge (hip-hip-hooray!), and as such must stock up on sustenance early in the day in order to lock herself in her room and work.  Maybe I should have just hit the salad bar...

Today, I decided I would get one of the enormous egg scrambles from the cafeteria...I can never finish it in one sitting anyway, and it's cafeteria food, so it can't taste much worse re-microwaved than "fresh."  It's pretty basic, scrambled eggs (thoroughly cooked. Thoroughly.), hash browns, cheese.  I added sausage to it today because, well, why not?  I was starving.

My appetite was diminished slightly as I stood waiting to collect my food and go.  I had a clear view of the kitchen with it's flat-top griddle.  A mound of hash browns was sizzling merrily away, along with a little pile of chopped sausage patty.  All that was left was the eggs.  The line cook took out a tub and ladled (ladled!) one scoop, two scoops of oil onto the griddle!  He ladled oil!  I could feel my circulatory system crying out, 'Don't do it!!'  And then came the eggs.  A generous scoop and a half.  Nearly the same volume quantity as the oil.  Gulp.

I'm not quite sure what I was really expecting.  It's the cafeteria.  It's hash browns and eggs, not exactly health food as it is.  But golly, readers...

I don't think I can ever bring myself to order it again, although it is full of flavor (likely due to copious amounts of salt and cheeses).  I just did away with (read: ate) the leftovers a moment ago.  And now I'm going to go drink 2 gallons of water and eat some fruit.

Just to make myself feel better.

~AF

Installment 1: Sometimes the Best Foods in Life...

...are worth wending your way through a jam-packed restaurant at 2:30 on a Friday afternoon to enjoy.

Here's my feeble attempt at starting a series.  I say 'feeble' because, as we all know, the Foodie doesn't get out much lately.  But I did last Friday.

For this installment, we're talking real-deal comida mexicana (that's Mexican food, for all you angloparlantes out there).  Now, if the closest you've ever gotten to auténtico has been the drive-thru window at your local Taco Bell, we've gotta have a little chat.  Especially since there's so much more to Mexican food than Nachos Supreme (which, by the way, I'm sure isn't actually Mexican at all).

And this time we're not headed to Bayless Row on Clark Street.  For this installment, we're off to Pilsen.

Now I know what you're thinking: 'Pilsen?!? I've never been there before...is it safe? I'm not so sure about going to new neighborhoods...And how do I get there anyway?'  Calm down, queridos.  We'll work through this together.

Going to Pilsen during the daytime feels far from intimidating.  When I went there, no one was really around because it was pouring rain, but that's neither here nor there.  It helped that I was with someone who was familiar with the area.  If you're in doubt, bring a friend along.  You won't have to venture far from the 'L' station, anyway.  And as always, just be sensible!  Don't look like you're petrified and you have no clue where you're going.  If that's too difficult for you, hop back on the train and head home.

Our destination is about two blocks from the train.  Nuevo León is hard to miss, as long as you don't confuse it with the panadería of the same name just down the street.  When you get off the 18th Street stop on the Pink Line, head past Ashland about a block.  The storefront is colorfully painted, as you can see in the photo.  It'll be on your right.

It almost has a diner-like atmosphere inside during lunchtime.  It is so crowded and noisy, filled with all manner of people, Latino and not.  And the whole restaurant just smells like delicious food.

When you sit down, you get chips and salsa, along with some sort of small appetizer, free of charge.  To drink, they have Jarritos, a delicious soft drink from Mexico (I'd recommend the pineapple or fruit punch...tamarind is also popular, though I've never tried it).  But I'm on an horchata kick, so that's what I had to go for.  It was delicious, not quite as chunky as the stuff from Xoco but still super-refreshing and apparently made authentically, and it only cost a dollar.  One.  Dollar.

I got tacos, because I wasn't feeling too adventurous.  Simple, no-fuss tacos de asada.  They were made with corn tortillas (I'm guessing they were purchased from the tortillería next door) and filled with super-flavorful marinated skirt steak.  Accoutrements came on the side (iceberg lettuce, tomato, white onion).  My only complaint could be that they were a little greasy.  But it isn't a big complaint.  Not when they taste that good.

I brought back leftovers, and the food tasted just as good the second time around.  I'll admit, I did put some Frontera salsa on my tacos when I reheated them later.  But that was only to make sure they didn't dry out in the microwave (I hate microwaving really good food.  I'm always paranoid about ruining it).  Something amazing happens when you put amazing salsa on an amazing taco, and one can hardly fault me for it.

Total bill for the meal (which was more like 2 meals): $7, not including tax.

That's not bad, now is it?

I'd recommend going there at an odd time (like, not during the lunch rush).  Everybody already knows this place is awesome, and according to my Pilsen-familiar acquaintance, there's often a line out the door waiting for tables.  Grab a friend, hop on the train...maybe make a day of it and visit the National Museum of Mexican Art (which, by the way, is free).

I'm gonna find somebody to drag along to Nuevo León one of these days...I'm sort of in the mood for tacos...

~AF

There's Something About Millie's

Lazy Sunday mornings are the best.  And they're better with pancakes.  (Find me one gluten-eating human being that will tell you otherwise.  I dare ya.)  They're almost utopian when the pancakes are from Millie's Pancake Shoppe in Addison.

You know a restaurant is doing something right when people are willing to stand in line and wait a half hour or more to get a table.  Did I mention this is just a pancake place?

It's only been around forever.  Okay, maybe not forever.  But it's been in the same spot in an Addison strip mall since 1959.  Millie's is enduring, and it always seems to be busy.  Now, that could be because I only ever go there on weekends.  But it's a good sign for a restaurant to be that packed (at least, I think it is).

It's a place my grandparents love.  It's a place my parents and my aunts love.  And it's a place that I love.  They don't play music in the restaurant (at least I don't think so...I've never noticed it).  The only soundtrack seems to be the clatter of silverware on ceramic plates and the chatter of contented diners that want to stick around for just one more cup of coffee and finish their conversations.

The menu is very down-home and no-frills.  They serve regular buttermilk pancakes, waffles, potato pancakes.  There's nothing with a gimmicky name, no whipped-cream-and-frosting-covered pancake stacks...Sunday's special was biscuits and gravy.  There's a seasonal pumpkin pancake special, but that's about as crazy as things get at Millie's.

Every time I go, I resolve to try something new (the menu, though full of staples, is extensive).  I never ever do.

I always get potato pancakes, either with bacon or country ham (depends on how healthy I'm feeling. I'm biased toward the bacon though).  They're moist inside, golden outside, lightly flavored with onion and just light enough that I can pretty much clean the plate (even though I regret it every time...but they're just that tasty).

The ten thousand dollar question? Sour cream or applesauce.  The irrefutable answer? Both!  How could I ever choose?  That's like asking me to choose between Jane Austen and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as my favorite British author.  Can't do it.

To return to the subject of food, I also drink coffee.  A lot of coffee...the cups are small (or at least that's how I justify it).  The coffee's strong, perfect alongside any breakfast staple.  I may have had (gulp) four cups last time?  I lost count.  The last cup was purely an excuse to stay and keep the conversation going.  I'm telling you, people just want to stay and talk.

Go for the food.  Stay for the conversation.  The check?  No, I'd rather have another refill, thanks.  And by the way, how have you been?

~AF

Roll Out the Barrel...And Then Some

 As the child of parents that aren't huge wine drinkers, I've been going to Lynfred Winery's Oktoberfest a suspiciously long time...and this year the Foodie was workin' it (the food station, that is).

Oh, the food...

Roast pork.  Tasty, whole-hog roast pork.  I scooped more than a couple of those roast pork dinners on Saturday.  After that, you'd think I wouldn't want to even think of pork, much less eat it.  But I brought some home for dinner after my shift was over.  It seemed just as tasty as it would have if I hadn't been staring at the stuff for the past eight hours.

And then there's the sweet corn.  It's roasted in the husk (a preparation I am desperate to try), and then dunked in butter or garlic oil. Mmm, delicious.  I had some of that too.

Now, there's also some other stuff...bratwurst burgers (sounds strange until you try it...they're awesome), sauerkraut and German potato salad (I'd say these two are an acquired taste.  I just happen to have acquired it).

We mustn't forget the desserts.  Caramel apples, cherry strudel (I had some! I soon wished I had more!), über-fudgy brownies (See what I did there? I spoke German! Impressive for a girl minoring in Spanish...By the way the brownies were insane. I hope there's more next year), and, of course, German chocolate cake.

The food wasn't the only attraction, either.  There were games (Oh, the games! Only made better, I am sure, by the beverages being consumed!).  Grape spitting, grape stomping, costume contests (It's the worst when you show up and realize you're the only one not wearing your lederhosen).  And there was music!  There was a new band this year, and they were just awesome.

Oh yeah...it's a winery.  Silly me.  There was wine.  Lots of it.  And tasty stuff too, from what I understand.  Each year, the winery releases a special Oktoberfest wine.  There's apple in the blend this year.  It seems like there's been a light, apple-y note to it in recent years, so adding the fruit itself makes sense.  It's a wine for people who think they don't really like wine.  (Now, I can't drink it, but who's to say I don't get a lil' taste of it at home? Just a sip, lovies.)  But there was no consumption of alcoholic beverages for the Foodie during her shift, no siree!

By the time I got home, I was exhausted; I had polka music in my head, my feet were sore...and I had sauerkraut on my shoes. (I have an explanation for that! I was scooping the sauerkraut! Oh, come on...stop judging me...)

Unfortunately, since I had to get back to school today, we didn't go back to enjoy being on the opposite side of the food windows.  There's always next year...until then, I'll just dream of roasting pig and polka music.

Check out the winery's website for information about events.  Oktoberfest only happens once a year, so keep your eyes peeled next fall.  The winery is also on Facebook and Twitter.  Like them!  Follow them!

Keep your eyes out for the Foodie's next post, too, kids!  Not sure when that will be, but you know where to look.

Prost! (That means 'Cheers!' in German...just in case you weren't sure)

~Amateur Foodie