Being Irish for a Day

Last Saturday was the Chicago St. Patrick's Day Parade and celebration. Every year, the city of Chicago dyes the Chicago River bright green. The river is already normally green, but man, when they dye it for St. Pat's, it looks like toxic waste. I woke up early and me and my friend headed downtown, Busch Light in hand of course :) What, don't judge me. How often do you get to drink beer at 9am on a Saturday? Not often. Anyway, we followed the masses down to the river and watched as the green dye oozed out of somewhere and proceeded to begin the celebration of the Irish. Not only is the river dyed green, but the beer is too. We went to a hole-in-the-wall Irish pub in Lincoln Park and had some green beers. Green beer. Apparently, it's pretty easy to accomplish. You just put a few drops of green food coloring in a frosty mug (or in our case, plastic cups) and voila, green beer. After a few beers, we decided that we should probably eat. And being in Chicago, my friend wanted a Chicago-style hot dog, which apparently the style is called "dragged through the garden." We ate at this place called Firkin & Pheasant (a firkin is an English word for a 9-gallon keg/barrel of beer) and ordered a Chicago-style dog. This thing came out and it had to have been at least a foot long. It didn't even fit on the plate and as promised, dragged through the garden. It had tomatoes, pickles, the greenest relish I've ever seen, mustard, ketchup and housed between a huge bun. Everyone becomes Irish in Chicago in March. It's pretty crazy. I guess it's like the dedication in St. Louis to Mardi Gras. I wish the Italians had a holiday to celebrate like this...

The Staples of an Italian Pantry

I haven't gone grocery shopping in at least a month, maybe longer. I'm digging through my pantry and become extremely grateful that I'm Italian and my mother raised me to appreciate a few things that can make a perfect meal...or at least a delicious meal. First and foremost, no kitchen in general is not complete unless you have extra virgin olive oil (also known as EVOO--Racheal Ray). Heat some EVOO in a sautee pan. Next, you chop up some garlic and toast it in the EVOO. Once you garlic is browned, toss in some pasta (already cooked--I try and keep some in the fridge at all times). Sprinkle in some kosher salt and cracked black pepper. I like to finish it off with some basil or oregano. Now, if you're lucky, you'll have purchased some type of protein and stuck it in the freezer for a rainy day. I had shrimp. And some green beans. It turned out to be pretty delicious. So let's recap: EVOO, garlic, pasta, salt and pepper, basil and/or oregano. OH! My mom would give me the look if I didn't mention one last staple, SAUCE! For those of you who aren't familiar, sauce is Italian for tomato sauce, homemade if you can. I heart my heritage and love exploring what it has to offer.

The Grey Outdoors

I'm back home in the land of the wind. I ended up being home for two weeks. It was really nice. I enjoyed seeing my friends and getting a taste of spring. Yes, we had a few days where the sun was shining and it was about 65 degrees. I definitely miss getting those random warm days here and there. Today, it's grey outside and I think it's snowing. Haha. Next weekend is the St. Patrick's Day Parade and all of the festivities that go along with it. I'm pretty excited about that. I've never seen the river dyed. Should be interesting. Girl's night tonight. Looks like we are getting sushi. YES. I'm craving it. I didn't have any while I was home, which I normally get sushi at least twice. I did manage to get some other things done though which is fine. So, I'm stuck. I'm thinking about saving up for either a laptop or a camera. I kind of want to get back into photography and I'm in the perfect environment for great pics. That might be the topic of one of my up and coming blogs. We will see!