A Diwali to remember

Some of you have heard me getting ridiculously excited in the past few weeks about my Diwali tickets, and I was not disappointed. It was amazing!

First, I had to get a saree. (You can spell it "saree" or "sari," but I spell it how the Indians spell it.) The event organizers hooked me up with a local saree vendor, and I got this beautiful green and gold number. You didn't "have" to get a saree to attend the event, but I've always really wanted one. I love my saree.

I had to let out the bodice ("choli") a bit, but it was easy with the help of my coworkers. The vendor showed me how to put it on, but I still had to look up an article on how to wear a saree before the event. Just to be sure. It's a lot of wrapping, and I'm very tall.

The event was held in Barrington, which is really close to where we live. This is part of what I love about the northwest suburbs - more ethnic diversity than other areas.

When we got there, there was a craft & clothing bazaar to shop. From a charity booth, I bought a nice bracelet set to match my new saree. My other purchase was a slow-cooker cookbook for Indian food. Yeah, I think that was a good buy.

I forgot to mention that there were appetizers available while we shopped, though I didn't write down any of the names. There were delicious little dumplings, butter chicken, fried vegetables, and lamb in pastry. Mmm. Dave had three plates, I had two.

After the bazaar, I had to stop reading my delicious-sounding cookbook and go into the banquet hall for a fashion show. There were some pretty wild-looking sarees from top Indian designers.

After the fashion show, various dance troupes gave performances. My favorite were the early teenage girls, and also the little kids I forgot to mention were dancing at the end of the craft bazaar.

After the dancing, we all pretty much got up en masse for the Indian buffet we'd been smelling in the back of the hall. I can't remember all the amazing things we ate, but I remember I grabbed some of everything. Carrot curry, chicken tikka masala, cinnamon rice, lentils, pakora-like spinach things in curry sauce, mmm. Then dessert, where I had something that tasted like the filling in baklava. Everything was wonderful.

So, my first Diwali was a really awesome. It might be an Indian celebration of the triumph of good versus evil, but it was also my triumph of wearing a saree and eating ridiculous amounts of Indian food. Maybe next year I'll have a Diwali party at our new townhome and put out little clay lamps of my own!

A decision

Well, it's official - or at least as official as a real estate deal can be before closing. Dave and I are staying in the northwest suburbs.

Yesterday we negotiated with the seller for this beautiful townhome, situated not far from our current condo in Palatine. It's close to the train station, it has interesting, unique features, it has beautiful hardwood floors and updated furnishings, and a lovely view of the golf course (as opposed to someone else's bedroom window). Oh, and a basement. And did I mention the terrace off of the master bedroom?

I'll post pictures when we move in and get situated, but for now, we're just trying to pack up our stuff and prepare for an early December move. I'm so excited I can barely sit still, and last night I woke up at 3 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep because I was thinking about the townhome.

The plan right now is to close right after Thanksgiving, although we have yet to get a date nailed down, and then hopefully we'll move in the first weekend of December. When I know the exact date, I'll put out the call for people to come and help, if they want, in exchange for delicious baked goods and an impressive snack array. Until then, I'm going to surf the web for things we need, like a kitchen cart, basement shelves, wine rack, dining room table, bedroom set, chest freezer, etc.

Wooooooo!!!

I ♥ Michigan

This weekend was the wedding of a law school friend of mine, Joe, to his now-wife, Sam. They are a really cool couple, and they had an even cooler wedding.

We headed up on Saturday, stopping at the Bell's Brewery on the way in Kalamazoo, Michigan. We just recently discovered this brand at the Great Lakes Brew Fest in Racine, Wisconsin, so we were eager to stop by and see what's brewin'. We got a six-pack of Oberon, a wheat ale, and one of their pale ales. I'll let you guess who picked what.

We also had lunch in the Eccentric Cafe, a little shop with pub food and beer tastings. I liked that you could get cheap 12-ounce glasses so you could try a few without getting totally blasted.

I tried the Lager of the Lakes, a very nice hoppy lager, and also a reuben sandwich. I was a big fan. Dave tried one of their beers that was only on tap at the brewery that day - the oatmeal stout, and he had the kielbasa sandwich on a pretzel roll. Dave be happy.

So, after we rolled ourselves out of the pub, we headed up past Ann Arbor to the River Birch Lodge, where the happy couple was exchanging vows.

It's a neat little hunting lodge-turned mansion that had the most deer antlers under one roof that I've ever seen. See that garland to the right of Joe and Sam (and my law friend-turned-officiant, Brent)? It's got antlers in it. I'm not kidding.

So, right off the bat, we love the place, and I love it even more when I find out that the bar is open before the ceremony has even begun. Awesome. AND, they are serving completely awesome beers. Even more awesome.

After the ceremony, the most completely epic cheese platter I've ever seen is set up. Bleu, brie-en-croute, Swiss, chevre, on and on and on. Plus we keep drinking. So, by the time they have the post-ceremony champagne toast, everyone is pretty toasted and happyi

These two are foodies, so I was expecting a pretty awesome evening, and no one was disappointed. They had a really neat set-up where you picked up whatever plates you wanted and had a seat somewhere. It was like buffet style, but the dishes were pre-plated. A very laid-back meal.

And now I have to go through the list of things I ate so I don't forget it, because it was so completely awesome.

• Bourbon butternut squash soup
• Fall harvest salad
• Vegetable & couscous in pastry crust
• Mushroom ravioli with parmesan sauce
• Short ribs with mashed potatoes and green beans
• Spice cake
  

Gahhhhh! So then there was dancing, provided by another law friend, Dan, which included hits from disco, the 1980s, and some new hits. We even got to sleep in the huge mansion, which saved us money and allowed us to walk three feet from the party to our bed.

Joe & Sam's wedding was, above all else, very "them," and besides our own, this was probably my favorite wedding ever. I feel like our wedding was very "us," too, but sometimes I feel like if we had waited a few years, we would have more of a sense of what "us" is, both in groups of friends and personal style. But then again, celebrating a fifth wedding anniversary this year was pretty awesome, too.

Congratulations again, Joe & Sam! This weekend was a fabulous way to start out your married life together.

Big moves make for big choices

Dave and I are preparing for our first move in a while. Dave has been really good about preparing our place to rent, and we're planning on buying a three-bedroom townhome or house. This is our first move in over five years, so naturally it raises some questions, mostly relating to where we should live.

On the one hand, we have become yuppie north siders. On the other hand, my family is in the southwest suburbs and it is way cheaper to live there. I used to want to go to the southwest suburbs primarily so I could be near my parents when we have kids. However, lately it is seeming less and less likely that we will ever want them, so it makes more sense to live where we like the lifestyle. Let's go through the pros and cons.

Northwest suburbs

• Shopping (Whole Foods, specialty stores)
• Ethnic restaurants
• General uppity nature
• Library classes and food tastings
• Teaching crochet at JoAnn (me)
• Being a teaching assistant at Northwestern (Dave)
• Local festivals
• Proximity to Marengo / Cherry Valley farms
• Proximity to Wisconsin in general

Southwest suburbs

• More affordable housing
• Proximity to family
• Proximity to dentist
• Less traffic, less crazy drivers
• Fewer snobs, more real folk
• Proximity to parents if I have kids
  

So, yeah, it's hard. I think the scales weigh in favor of the northwest suburbs, but it makes me sad to give up the idea of being able to have dinner and visit with family, especially my mom. And buying a place up here probably means we'll stay up here for the long haul, which means maybe never living near my family. And by "near," I mean "where everyone else lives," which is pretty much New Lenox and Tinley Park.

And the whole child debate is just something I still don't know how to deal with. It doesn't sound nice, but I really just do not like children. People say you like your own better, but I really don't want to undergo any biological phenomenon that makes me indifferent to crap, crying, puking, and whining. There is a part of me that has always assumed I would have them, and maybe it makes me a little sad to think about what not having them would be like, but when I think about what parenthood really means, I am completely repulsed.

At any rate, I haven't done a rambling, life-related post for a while - I've kept mostly to events, trips, and achievements. But I really need to vent and spin my wheels a bit, and if anyone is reading this who wants to weigh in on my move debate, now is the time. Thanks for listening!

Wisconsin Uplands: Day 3

Last day in Wisconsin, and they day we returned home.

For our last breakfast, our B&B hostess prepared a fruit granola parfait, a streusel muffin, ricotta-stuffed raspberry French toast, and a citrus sorbet. I figure at this point I should include a photo of her beautiful dish: she includes flowers in her cooking. Unlike most of my B&B cohorts (all guests eat breakfast together), I ate my flower. Mmm.

I really enjoyed the B&B experience. It was nice to meet other guests, but still have privacy. We had our own bathroom, which was good, and obviously having breakfast made for us - up to my own cooking standards - was awesome.

Plus, you get really great local info. Our hostess clued us in about a really great chocolate shop, Candinas, in Verona. I picked up a really great truffle assortment for myself and my mom, who was watching the bunny. It was very, very good stuff. In the store, we tasted the caramel brittle truffle, but I can't wait to try the rest. It reminded me of Teuscher truffles.

Then we visited the other chocolate shop on our list today - THE SWISS COLONY OUTLET STORE.


This is my mother ship. I have seen them on the Food Network, mainly for their Christmas mail order catalog. It includes all manner of kitschy things, such as Yule logs in the winter, but I bought some sausage, coffee, and a strawberry-shaped cookie jar. Awesome.

On our way home, we saw more cows, even in Illinois. This was a particularly cute scene.


On our way home, I picked up some bags of golden delicious and Fuji apples from my beloved Valley Orchard, which was on the way. I was so excited to pick up the bunny and see him again, though he was not thrilled to get back into his carrying box. Time to get going on laundry and putting all of our newly purchased foodstuffs away!

Dave and I both agreed that it was one of our best vacations ever. We'll have to go again, maybe in spring when the roses are out at our B&B. (And maybe New Glarus Brewery will have a new R&D brew!)

Wisconsin Uplands: Day 2

This morning, another romantic hike, another four-course breakfast. We're really beginning to love the B&B at this point. Breakfast was a poached pear, a cranberry scone, a quiche, and sorbet. Mmm! This cooking, combined with the hot mulled cider every night, I could get used to.

First on the list today was a visit to New Glarus, which was hosting a Swiss Fest. The fest had a price tag to get in, and we were short on time, so I just bought a spaetzle maker and chatted with a local about her St. Bernard, who was adorable.


Apparently there are "dry-mouthed" St. Bernards that don't drool, and if you get a female, they are much smaller. So, I might have to look into this further.

Then, obviously, we paid the visit that was the whole point of coming to New Glarus in the first place: the New Glarus Brewery. We had a little walking tour of the brewery, and we got to chat with an employee about the beer and the company. I was really thrilled to hear that they are committed to staying small, even though that means limiting their distribution to Illinois.

We filled a bag with various goodies, including Spotted Cow glasses, New Glarus Brewing Co. t-shirts, etc. Outside, they had a tasting going on, and we sampled some of our old favorites - Stone Soup, Moon Man, Raspberry Tart - and also a new one, Golden Ale. This is part of their research and development series, available only in the shop at the brewery. We bought two large bottles at $8 a piece, so we'll be saving those for a special occasion.


So, that was obviously the highlight of pretty much the whole trip for Dave, as the Moon Man beer has overtaken Reisdorf as his favorite beer of all time. Congratulations, New Glarus.

At this point, we drove to Monticello and took our bikes on the Badger State Trail toward Monroe for lunch.


Fall colors were out, and we definitely got our exercise. On the gravel trail, sometimes it was kind of slow going, but we made it to Monroe nonetheless. In downtown Monroe, we went to Baumgartner's, a small sandwich shop. I followed in the steps of the Sun-Times reporter and got the limburger and onion sandwich.


The sandwich is served with a mint, hint hint. I took a sniff of the sandwich, and I think my direct quote was, "Dave, my sandwich smells like anus." But I ate the sandwich, and it was delicious, if a little intense. The mint did not dispel the funky breath, which pretty much stayed with me through the rest of the day. But the limburger is produced in the Monroe area, by the only company in America producing limburger. Woo to me and stinky cheese.

At this point, I was tuckered out. Dave went back and got the car, then picked me up. We noticed that the Swiss Colony has an outlet, so we're going back tomorrow. For a dessert (and in the hopes that I could dispel my breath), we went to Verona's grocery store to pick up a quart of Sassy Cow Creamery chocolate ice cream. I'd heard it was good, and I was not disappointed.

More stargazing, more hot cider at the B&B, more crocheting, and then bed! I could get used to this.

Wisconsin Uplands: Day 1

Dave and I went to the Wisconsin Uplands region for our anniversary this year. We chose the location because of a Chicago Sun-Times article on biking through cheese country. The locales seemed truly amazing, so I booked a room at a B&B, the Cameo Rose, which seemed centrally located for all our adventures.

We started off the day with a romantic hike up the hill behind the house, then a four-course breakfast served by our lovely host. The menu included a fruit compote with granola, a home-made cinnamon roll, eggs benedict, and a berry sorbet. Wow.

For our first stop, I had booked an appointment with Uplands Cheese Co. in Dodgeville to pick up an eighth of a wedge of their award-winning Pleasant Ridge Reserve, a wonderful cheese that tastes like gruyere. I had purchased a very tiny sliver recently at Pastoral in the loop, but I was able to purchase a hefty pound-plus wedge for less than $25.

It was also really nice to be able to see where the cheese is made - the field with all the cows that produce their wonderful cheese. I like to be connected to where my food comes from. Plus, we got to play with their puppy.

Next, we visited a spot a few miles north, Taliesen, Frank Lloyd Wright's Wisconsin home. I had always associated Wright with Oak Park and Chicagoland, but I was surprised to learn how deep his roots run in Wisconsin. We had a tour of his architecture school, then enjoyed some more fall foliage on our way out.

After Taliesen, we doubled back for lunch in Mineral Point, a cute little town with a long history - and lots of cheese and beer. We had pub sandwiches at the Brewery Creek Inn, and Dave tried some of their microbrew. I had wanted to pick up some Hook's Cheese from their stand in town, but it was closed, so I had to resort to buying it from a liquor store. (Hey, when in Wisconsin...) I grabbed a dill jack and a garlic & green onion jack.

After that, it was time to head up to Middleton for our appointment at Capital Brewing for a brewery tour. But first, we stopped at another key tourist attraction in town: The National Mustard Museum!!


I had seen this shop on the Food Network's "Unwrapped" show a few times, and it was just as awesome as I imagined. We toured their colle ction of mustard bottles and purchased some nice spreads for sandwiches, including a cranberry mustard, a champagne mustard, and a maple peppercorn mustard.

We arrived at Capital Brewing just in time for our tour, and I was pleasantly surprised that at Capital, you get your free samples at the BEGINNING of the tour! None of that waiting around with anticipation. We had tastes of the Supper Club, Oktoberfest, and the Winter Skal. I liked them all, but the coolest experience was drinking the Winter Skal, because our tour guide, Marshall, poured the beer DIRECTLY FROM THE FERMENTING TANK!! It was really good, even though it was strange to try the beer part-way through the fer menting process. (It was kind of murky.) We bought a six-pack of Supper Club and continued on our way to Madison for dinner.

The Capitol Square was gorgeous in fall colors, and we walked down to the lake to take in the scenery.

For dinner, we ate at a friend's recommendation, The Old-Fashioned, which is a pub with local fare, emphasis on cheese & sausage dishes. It was predictably busy after the homecoming football game, but we were able to get a table without a problem. We shared the #3 cheese plate, which had nice slices of Camembert, Emmental, and a wonderful 12-year Cheddar. I had the sliced summer sausage sandwich, which was absolutely wonderful, and Dave had the double-bratwurst sandwich. Mmmm.

It was a great day, and we ended it by going stargazing outside our B&B, where we could see the Milky Way and tons of constellations, and then crocheting (me) and reading (Dave) in our room. Fantastische.