Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

ie Yosemite May 2010

Yosemite Valley

Susan, Greer, and Daisy - the dog of the woman taking our picture!

Too much fun in waterfall season at Yosemite with college buddy, Greer. There are more pics on shutterfly!

More Fun in Wisconsin

Taliesin III, near Spring Green, WI

View from Devil's Lake State Park, WI

It's been too long folks, but here are a couple pictures from our trip earlier in April to southwestern Wisconsin. We visited Devil's Lake State Park, Cedar Grove Cheese, the Old Feed Mill, Spring Valley General Store, Usonian Inn, Taliesin just south of Spring Green, and Wollersheim Winery.

Cross Country Skiing, Take 2

The rolling landscape, Lapham Peak Unit - Kettle Moraine State Forest, WI

Susan & Frank on skis at Lapham Peak Unit - Kettle Moraine State Forest, WI

Winter scene, Kettle Moraine State Forest - Southern Unit, WI

This past weekend, we picked a cross country ski destination a little closer to Chicago. At right around 2 hours away, it was FABULOUS.

While most of our friends and family were buried under 2-3 feet of snow in the Mid-Atlantic region, in Wisconsin/Illinois, our 1-5 inches didn't really materialize.

Despite pretty icy conditions on the trails, we had a great time skiing at the Lapham Peak Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest and Kettle Moraine State Forest - Southern Unit.

Cross Country Skiing

Minocqua Winter Park Lodge, Minocqua, WI

Susan on her new skis at Minocqua Winter Park

January 16-18, 2010, Frank and I trekked over 300 miles north to Minocqua, WI. The draw: cross country skiing at Minocqua Winter Park.

Frank has had cross country skis for many years, but I only tried my hand at cross country skiing a few years ago. (Growing up in Tennessee is not very conducive to winter sports!) Though the first attempt at cross country skiing in western Maryland was not very successful, tries 2-4 in West Virginia went pretty well.

So, what was the perfect Christmas present now that we're wintering in Chicago? Cross country skis for me, and the three-day weekend was a perfect time to take them out for a spin.

Minocqua was a serious cold weather culture! People were snow mobiling and ice fishing all over the place. SUVs parked ON the lake and night snow mobiling ACROSS the lakes!

Ice fishing shelter

The skiing and town were fantastic. In fact, the town has a pretty good brewery, the Minocqua Brewing Company. We highly recommend a visit!

LTH Forum Cookie Exchange

Chicago has an incredibly cool food community in the LTHForum.com.

I attended their cookie exchange yesterday - see the cookies above. We all shared the cookies and savory treats, including scones made with Himalayan truffles - a first for me.

At the end of the night, I bought some of our host's wonderful baked goods. Dobra and her mother run Delightful Pastries, and over the next few days I'll sample her spinach lamb pie, vegetable quiche, egg and raisin bread, and sourdough seed bread.

Thanks LTHers for making me feel so welcome!

Lately in Chicago

What are the keys to making myself at home in Chicago? Cool finds.

Re-thinking Soup - You've already heard a lot about it, but it's too awesome not to mention again. Soups have included:

• 9/22/09 – Corn & Mushroom Chowder & the directors of Mad City Chickens
• 9/29/09 – Veggie and rice w/ cilantro and red onions & the ED of the Healthy Schools Campaign
• 10/20/09 – Parsley Root & local farmers’ markets representatives
• 10/27/09 – Lentil Soup & speaker on Food as Medicine
• 11/3/09 – Curry Vegetable Barley & leaders of the Lincoln Square Food Co-op
• 11/10/09 – Butternut and Sweet Potato w/ heirloom purple kernel popcorn & Food, Inc.

Veggie and rice w/ cilantro and red onions

Oh, and how 'bout the kale palm tree, UIC/Hull House farm

Pilsen - I checked out the local coffeeshop, Cafe Jumping Bean, and loved the bilingual flare. Plus, the neighborhood offers interesting and unexpected sites.

Church facade in Pilsen

Meals - Frank and I heard Ruth Reichl on NPR's Fresh Air a while back, and she shared one of her favorite fall recipes -Pumpkin Soup. So, we bought a pumpkin. Basically, you fill the pumpkin with bread, cheese, and a mixture of chicken broth and half and half (yes, decadent) and roast the pumpkin for 2 hours in the oven. Delicious and we toasted the pumpkin seeds for a fantastic snack.

the gratin

Oh, and one that makes me laugh...in the neighborhood, there's a bar called Tantrum. Really?!

Whimsy

For the past two Tuesday's I have taken bus #12 to Hull-House for re-Thinking Soup, and both days I have walked the 2 miles back to our apartment, crossing the Roosevelt bridge with it's whimsical animal statues.

What other whimsical treats await me in Chicago?

re-Thinking Soup: a great find!

Thanks to my emails from Slow Food Chicago, I went today to re-Thinking Soup at the Hull-House Kitchen on the campus of University of Illinois Chicago.

Re-thinking soup pairs free soup made from the bounty of the hull-house urban farm with a topic, speaker, conversation, etc. Donations are requested. See description at left of today's delicious soup. Unfortunately my picture of the actual soup wasn't too appetizing, so we'll stick with the description! Tasty.

At today's re-Thinking soup, film makers, Tashai Lovington & Robert Lughai, discussed their new feature length documentary, Mad City Chickens, about urban backyard chicken raising. Some chicken loving Chicagoans were there with resources and two brought their own hens for show and tell. A great meal and good time. I will be going back.

Retrospective: The Most Fun

The List

Mantracker (Check out the link and enjoy!) This is a Canadian reality show always makes me laugh, and I think it's more fun to imagine the show!

Big Rock Brewery’s Grasshöpper (What’s up with umlaut? See what we mean?)

Evolution wine label from Sokol Blosser, Wilammette Valley, OR

Playful, arguing German couple debating the level of toasting that takes toast from toast to an abomination

AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com

New version of Great Big Sea song, "Come and I Will Sing You" with lyrics about pikas, bison, moose, elk, etc. to keep away the bears

Golf courses/sand traps in Yellowstone; it's really patches of snow

Bison Ghosts: you know you've been road tripping in national parks/out west too long when someone mentions a bicyclist and you hear "bison ghost"

Road Laughs

1. en-ra-ha from the movie Happy Go Lucky - check in out on YouTube
2. Fluckinger Road, Toledo, WA

Quotes worth remembering...

"Dude, I'd be careful if I were you. Every time I do that [jay walk], they haul me to jail."

--Guys on BART, and that's right, it's every time, not that one time

"There's this one point where the ice hasn't quite melted and the drop off is pretty sheer. It'd be pretty easy to lose your footing, so you'll definitely want to bring your ice axe."

--Ranger's advice for early June hiking in Death Canyon