Food, glorious food! I think one of the most important things in going on vacation is all of the wonderful FOOD you get to have. And one of the best things about going on vacation with judiang and elsaf is that they’re as much Foodies as I am. So, we know how to have a good time AND eat lots of good food.

This morning, we started out by going off to Whole Foods, an organic grocery (seriously, there’s, like, carbon compounds EVERYWHERE there!) It was HUGE. And pretty impressive. Elsa was looking for ingredients for the phenomenal meal she was planning for us. So ingredients we bought. Judi, meanwhile, was nearly comatose with caffeine deprivation, so I sent her off to get herself coffee and me a vanilla steamer. She returned awhile later, perkier and with a hazelnut steamer. (OK, so she missed the word “vanilla” but the steamer was very yummy.) Apparently, she was looking all over for the Starbucks that she knew was in the shopping plaza, only to later discover she was standing in front of it. Now *that’s* what I call caffeine deprivation!

Once we bundled the groceries into the car, we drove back over the Long Ass Bridge (ah, I remember alryssa, tiger5, Judi and I walking over that once – I so much prefer driving) to return to Judi’s place. Then we walked over to the Taste of Chicago. Yum! (Although we don’t go over any Long Ass Bridges, it’s still something of a Long Ass Walk, but it’s still a lot closer than many people going to the Taste had to travel.)

So, with my handy Taste of Chicago booklet in hand, I shall rattle off the good things I sampled there (everything I bought was a “taste” portion):

• Lagniappe-Creole Cajun Joynt – beignet
• A Natural Harvest – tamale
• The Breakfast Club – bite of Elsa’s tamale
• Tamarind – Taiwan Shining Noodles
• Kasia’s Deli – pierogies
• Arya Bhavan – samosa
• Wow Bao – a Kung Pao bao (steamed dumpling with kung pao filling)
• BJ’s Market & Bakery – bite of Judi’s mustard fried catfish and bite of Judi & Elsa’s peach cobbler
• Bobtail Ice Cream Company – chocolate – dipped ice cream cake on a stick (which was ENORMOUS for a sample-size. I’d be afraid to see the regular sized one!)

To save Judi and Elsa having to walk too much, I did most of the food gathering, but the advantage there is having bites of what I’d bring them to eat. Heh. Tomorrow we hope to tackle the other side of the taste – there’s at least 7 things I want to try tomorrow.

The walk back from Taste was warm (and long). So I told the girls that I wanted to go swimming. Elsa agreed and then we talked Judi into at least putting on her suit in case the water was warmer today. So we got in the pool (this time full of people, especially kids) and agreed that it was, indeed, warmer than last night. We stayed for over an hour in the pool and then sat on the lounge chairs for a bit longer drying off. It was very refreshing!

When we returned to the apartment, Elsa started working on supper, starting with the ice cream. Judi and I went to the market at her apartment complex to get a few needed items while Elsa cooked. It’s a cute little market which actually had everything that we needed (including lemons and batteries – and yes, you can make a battery from a lemon, but they don’t usually fit inside of garage door openers or radios).

I set the table (with Judi correcting me the whole time) and Elsa plated the dishes. The salad was heirloom tomato, fennel, tarragon, and bleu cheese with vinaigrette. I’m not a big tomato eater, but I enjoyed the salad. The main course was pork chops with brandied peaches, potato souffle, and broccoli with lemon. Oh my, the pork chops were wonderful! And the brandied peaches – yum! I enjoyed the potato souffle too and ate most of my broccoli. 🙂 Dessert was the christening of Judi’s ice cream maker (which Elsa had given her at Christmas) – Bailey’s Irish Cream Ice Cream. Yum! I’d forced Judi to buy me a Lindt milk chocolate bar at the market, so I topped the ice cream with a square of that in each – yummy.

Elsa and I watched the end of the Navy Pier fireworks from their reflection in the apartments across the way – that was pretty neat. I have suggested to Judi that she & I go on Saturday to see them up close & personal. She agreed. 🙂 We’re now vegging on laptops while Judi works on cases for her job. Poor thing! Tomorrow, more Taste, some fireworks, and more fun!

It’s not yet 8am CDT and elsaf and I are already up. judiang‘s still a snoozin’. Guess it’s early for her. (Us Eastern time people, however, know it’s a decent “get up” time.)

Elsa and I have, once again, invaded Judi’s place in order to celebrate the Fourth of July properly – with Taste of Chicago and Grant Park fireworks. So yesterday, Elsa drove over from Michigan and I flew in from Ohio. Elsa arrived first (shortly before I boarded my plane), so she & Judi picked me up at the airport. After we left the parking garage, both of our GPS systems (both using Garmin software) told Elsa to go back into another parking garage in order to leave the airport! First Garmin has a deal with the Holland Tunnel, now it has a deal with O’Hare parking? Thankfully, the fellow at the gate believed us when we told him our GPS led us astray. No $2 for you, Garmin!

Once we left that second garage, Garmin behaved herself and got us to Judi’s place with little fuss. (Though Judi had a few suggestions for an easier trek to her place.) Once we got to Judi’s place, I dumped my bags and, although it wasn’t yet 5pm, we walked over to Judi’s favorite Thai place (in reality, a place with lots of types of Asian food) for supper. Turns out I was the only one who’d had lunch that day. (Quiznos at the Columbus airport.)

The place, Ma & I, was a very short walk from Judi’s apartment. And it’s across the street from the Marble Slab Creamery. In the warmer months (like now) they can open up the side wall to the street. So it’s like eating in an outside cafe, but you’re inside. 🙂 Judi and I both ordered pad thai (mine with shrimp, hers with chicken) and Elsa had lad nar. We also ordered some sushi – I got the ebi-Q maki (shrimp roll with cucumber salad, apparently) and the girls ordered sake maki (salmon roll). A very tasty supper all around.

When asked if we wanted dessert, Elsa deferred to Judi while I was trying not to be too obvious with my hand motions pointing to Marble Slab. But Judi had also come to that conclusion – we’d forgo dessert at Ma & I and head across the street for ice cream. Yum!

Marble Slab Creamery is like Cold Stone Creamery in our area. They’ll happily moosh up your ice cream choices with various nut and/or candy thingies. Or you can do as I do and go moosh-free with multiple flavors. They had coconut ice cream! Yay! I’d not had coconut ice cream since I was in Italy. So I got that and a double chocolate ice cream in a cup. Very tasty!

We walked back to Judi’s place while munching away at our ice cream delights. Then we vegged out for awhile, trying to get our various internet appliances onto Judi’s wireless router. (We had a password issue, which I managed to resolve – by typing a new password into her router.) Once we were well rested, however, it was time for the POOL!

We donned bathing suits and towels and things and headed to Judi’s private pool. Well, it’s not a private pool, but there’s rarely ever anyone in it when we’re there. And we were the only ones there most of the hour we were swimming (well, swimming’s too strong a word – playing in the water’s better). The water was very cold, but we all eventually got down to our necks. Some of us quicker than others. (Judi’s of the opinion that I should be a polar bear. Heh. I don’t think so!)

As it started to get dark outside, we finally braved the winds and got out of the pool. The towel felt so nice and warm when we got out. 🙂 We returned to Judi’s apartment and played with Judi’s crappy internet connection, watched BBC America and Food TV, and eventually went to bed. Today, Judi’s internet connection seems to be doing better that it was last night.

Well, Elsa’s just about done in the bathroom, so I guess I should get ready for the day. I believe the plan is going to the Taste for lunch (hopefully before it rains) and then having Elsa cook us a glorious supper. More details later. 🙂