Trust me when I say that I feel lucky every day. Not every day is perfect, but gratitude is a major pathway to happiness and I am on it. But this year for my birthday had me feeling so incredibly loved and thankful. I put this blog together with some photos to make sure I captured this special time and my wonderful husband.
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New Bites: Giant
With Chicago being named the best restaurant city of 2017 by Bon Appetit, I knew we’d have to go to some special spots during our October trip. When we saw Giant on Bon Appetit’s list for best new restaurants in America 2017, I knew we’d found our spot. With something like a “fried super uni shooter” on the menu, how could we go wrong? Folks, Giant restaurant is the latest in my New Bites series. Continue reading
Family Time in Chicago
We headed up to Chicago in early October for the wedding of Sean’s cousin Andrew and his fiance Jessalyn. It had been a couple of years since I’d been to the Windy City and this time we stayed with a family friend north of downtown. We had a packed agenda and it was all wonderful! Continue reading
Next Chicago: The World’s 50 Best Restaurants
Sean’s dad and stepmom invited us to have dinner with them at Next when we were in Chicago – very generous of them and a great experience to share together. Next is a unique restaurant that completely changes concept 3 times per year – for example it can go from completely vegan to modern Thai to Hollywood-themed in a single year. Very cool! This instance it was dishes from the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, requiring Next to get recipes, tips, special ingredients flown and in one case even the seeds to grow their own from 16+ of the world’s top restaurants. What a project.
In addition to the 16+ courses, we shared 2 of the premium wine pairings. This was first time at a true fine-dining restaurant and it was fabulous. I’ve included a photo, description and the wine pairing for everything we had below. You can be jealous, it’s ok. 😉 Continue reading
New Bites: Lan Zhou Ramen
We’d been hearing lots of buzz about this new “hand-pulled” noodle spot on Buford Highway for awhile. I go back to our Bangkok, Thailand food tour and remember the “kitchen” of a restaurant that was back in an alley with the cooks tossing noodles in woks over garbage barrels and the little Thai women sitting nearby, pulling the noodles.
Lan Zhou Ramen’s hand-pulled noodle experience isn’t quite that epic but it is still pretty good. We didn’t have the regular noodles, but I hear those are good as well. Continue reading
3rd Wedding Anniversary Celebration in Savannah
Another fun wedding anniversary weekend in Savannah, Georgia is in the books! We have our traditions, but always like to add in new things and this trip was no exception! Continue reading
Easy Pressure Cooker Chicken Stock Recipe
For years, I’d been making my chicken stock in the slow-cooker – 24 hours on low, getting to be more of a bone broth. I thought it was the best out there – no other method could beat it. Enter the pressure cooker and my recognition of a superior way to make chicken stock at home. It’s even easier, too! Continue reading
New Bites: Buena Gente
The best food truck in Atlanta also has the best Cuban sandwich in Atlanta (possibly in the world) – Buena Gente. After our favorite Cuban spot, Havana, went under new ownership over on Buford Highway, we’d been searching for a place to replace our favorite pressed sandwich. Sean found this spot during a food truck day in Midtown and then introduced me. It was love at first bite – and it doesn’t end with the sandwich. Continue reading