March/ April Randoms

As our time in Champaign-Urbana draws closer to the end, I've been reflecting on some things. What will I miss bout this little town? What will we not have in St Louis that was so accessible here? What are some of the things I should do before I leave? Is there anything I left undone?

We've had so many wonderful memories here, but it's been almost 7 years, and although this town has treated us well, it's time for the next stage in our lives. In just a few short months, we'll be packing up and moving to a different state and a bigger city. Many great things on our horizon and the best is yet to come. 

Here are some little memories from March and April 2016.

Steak and kale salad with blue cheese

Lucky Charms cupcakes for St Patty's

BLT salad

Finally warm enough to drink outside

Birthday brunch at Rooster in St Louis

Birthday ice cream at Jeni's

My coworkers are so cute

Rick's Bakery Alfajores: Shortbread with dulce de leche and coconut

Mini tacos

Art Party Studio painting time

Swordfish with tomato and squash salad

Purple donuts, cuz FedEx

Roasted veggies

Goofing off for employee appreciation

Fly my prettys

Always with the treats

Coconut melon mojito

We play board games on the floor. Gose and Dead of Winter

Finally eating Papa Del's Pizza

Art Party Studio, part 2

No, thank you!

Many things will be changing the next time I post a bi-monthly wrap-up. But good things do not happen without change. As Spring turns into Summer, we will turn into Missourans. Ekk.

Akemi-chan

Shrimp Salad

I've been trying to eat more salads. It's not just because I'm watching my weight for the wedding, but because it's getting warmer outside. The warmer months mean sunshine, higher hemlines and tons of fresh produce. Why not embrace that and eat a salad every day?

Sauteed Vegetable and Shrimp Salad 

Chopped garlic

Sliced asparagus

Sliced onion

Sliced red bell pepper

Deveined and peel shrimp

Arugula

Romance lettuce

Black beans

Fried egg

Grape tomatoes

Salt and pepper to taste

In a nonstick pan, sautee garlic, asparagus, onion and bell pepper until warm but still crunchy. Meanwhile, in a large dish or bowl, add arugula, lettuce and cooked black beans. When veggies are done cooking, add them on top of the greens and beans. In the same pan, sautee shrimp with salt and pepper. Add to salad. Finally, in the same nonstick pan, crack an egg and cook until white is cooked, but yolk is still runny.  Top salad with egg and dig in. Season with salt and pepper. 

Break the yolk and mix all ingredients together. The runny yolk will cover the salad and create a rich dressing to coat the vegetables. Enjoy!

-Akemi-chan

A Good Eats Valentine's

The day: Thursday, February 20th, 2014. The occasion: a belated Valentine's day celebration. 

Bryan and I were both occupied by work on the actual Valentine's day. We previously decided to celebrate a week later when we were both available. I surprised him with an Xbox One. He gave me something even better. 

I'm a big fan of Alton Brown. There's just something about his knowledge and his ability to goof off that makes him a great balance of awesome. He's the Bill Nye of food. I remember watching Food Network with my mom when it first started off watching How to Boil Water and Good Eats. It was one of my most clear memories and probably the beginning of my food obsession. So as a surprise, Bryan planned an entire day of Good Eats. Good Eat videos, recipes and the most important part, the food. 

The man himself

He even dressed like Alton Brown!

Since we never cook together it was fun and romantic. Normally, one of us is in the kitchen and the other is on the couch. On this wonderful day we worked as a team to create delicious and blog worthy food. First up, crepes. 

Crepes were something that I wish we had while in Paris, but sometimes you have to forgo food for sight seeing. So we made savory crepes, Alton Brown style with a poached egg, another food I've never made. Just in case you wanted to try it out yourself, here's his recipe. 

Ingredients for crepes

Poaching it up

Poached egg with savory crepes

After running a few errands around town, we made our way to one of our favorite food shops, Cheese and Crackers. The surprise addict (aka Bryan) took me there under false pretenses. I thought I was going to receive some gourmet chocolate truffles or olives and cheese. To my surprise, the man behind the counter handed me a whole red snapper. I was relieved and elated. I know it's kind of strange, but luckily Bryan embraces the fact that I would choose fish over chocolate. Here's the recipe, it's not Alton Brown, but still adventurous and still good.

My soon to be salty steamed friend

Taking out the gills

Stuffin' dat fish

Salted little fishy

Ready for extraction

Tada!

For our next adventure, I was told to stand in the kitchen and close my eyes. Immediately after I opened them, I screamed, jumped and ran in the other direction. About two feet in front of me were two live and squirming lobsters. My squeals caught the attention of our very curious dog and so did the lobsters. Here's Alton's recipe for stuffed lobster. 

Curious little puppy

Split

Stuffed

Stuffed lobster with sauteed mushrooms and asparagus

To round out the evening, you must have dessert. This one is also not an Alton recipe, but still simple and delicious. And since Alton made a cheese souffle in his episode, we can forgive him. Mini chocolate souffles anyone?

Whipping some egg whites

Stiff peaks... and my own bowtie

And we're folding, we're folding...

Completed chocolate souffle

I know Bryan is going to consider this a personal challenge to outdo himself, but this was the best date I've ever had. Not only did I get to cook with my love, I got to conquer some of my culinary fears and I was rewarded with delicious homemade food all day. I could die happy now. Oh and watching the dog freak out about the lobsters was pretty entertaining too.

-Akemi-chan

Exploring Naperville with Lil Bro

My brother has been traveling a lot thanks to his job, so when he said he was in Chicago for business, I took a day off work for some sibling quality time. Since he was staying in the suburbs, we drove up from Champaign to Oak Brook and picked him up for an afternoon of fun. 

On the agenda was Naperville, a town Boyfriend is familiar with thanks to his occasional work trips to the Fermi National Lab. Lucky for us, this suburb of Chicago is full of little restaurants and shops and the main event, the Naperville Ale Fest, but more on that later. First, lunch.

First, we stopped by Green Basil Vietnamese restaurant. Brother has had his fill of "mainland food," and was craving something Asian. Sad to say, but the Midwestern suburbs are kinda lacking in the Asian food market, and he was suffering from too-much-potatoes-syndrome. 

It was a little amusing eating Asian food in the mainland with my brother. All the little things on the menu like "daicon" radishes and "sandwiches" label instead of banh-mi made us chuckle. Boyfriend ordered the pork "sandwich" and Brother got some pho, while I stuck with the shredded chicken "sandwich." Ha ha. 

Chicken "Sandwich"

Next stop, the Ale Fest. Just a few blocks down from Downtown Naperville, is the Naperville Settlement and the location of the First Annual Naperville Ale Fest. Considering that this was the first time this event was held, I was amazed by the turn out. It was a beautiful Summer day with blue skies and sunshine and the crowds reveled in the idea of drinking outside in the Summer heat. 

The Ale Fest had more than 80 different breweries from Vermont to California (even Hawaii) serving multiple brews from white tents on a grass lawn. We were surrounded by people with pretzel necklaces, listening to a live band and sipping out of their souvenir event glasses. We spent the afternoon walking around the grounds and drinking half (and sometimes full) pints of beer and sitting in the shade talking about life goals and football.  It was the first time the three of us attended anything like this and we were soaking all of it in. 

Punch card for samples

Souvenir cup

Live entertainment

Taking a break from the sun

We're no strangers to sitting on the ground

WHAAT?! Longboard in Naperville? Haha

Tank: Old Navy

Skirt: Forever 21

Sandals: Two Lips

Purse: Steve Madden

After the Ale Fest closed, we were ready for some food to soak up the alcohol. Leaving the Ale Fest was quite hilarious. Seeing the crowds departing, we saw people in their 70's walking home for dinner and young 20-somethings laying in the grass taking their post-beer-guzzling siesta. This truly was a new experience for me.

Walking around Downtown Naperville, there were a lot of options for dinner, but I normally like to eat places that I've never had before. Let's avoid the chains and dive straight into the most interesting food we can find. After a quick internet search I chose Tango Argentinean Grill. We're no strangers to meat, but it sure beats eating at Subway or Burger King.

Elderflower liqueur, Champagne and soda

Steamed muscles with garlic white wine sauce

Muscles glasses - Epic Meal Time Reference

Assorted grilled meats: Steak, chicken, sausage, blood sausage, entrails and veggies

After dinner, we were stuffed. I don't know if the plate of meat is accuratley depicted, but it was supposed to feed two. Between the three of us, we couldn't finish it. It seemed like the best solution was to go on a little drive to Aurora to the Chicago Premium Outlet Mall to walk off dinner and exercise our shopping muscles, something that my brother and I are pretty good at.

We dropped Brother off at his hotel just as the sky was turning dark. It could've been the impending storm, or the fact that the sun sets around 9 PM, but the skies were turning black and it was time to head back home. We bid Brother adieu and drove back to Champaign to our comfortable bed.

I'm glad we got to spend the day with Brother during his time in the Midwest. I'm proud of him that he's found a career path where he can experience so much while he's still young and enthusiastic. I'm even happier that we can bond as adults and get to know each other on another level.

Any time my family is doing something and willing to see me and make time for me, I will gladly drop as much as I can to spend time with them. Sometimes it's sad that I live so far away from the people that I love, but it's moments like these that make me feel like time and space don't matter. As long as I get to laugh and create great memories with them, then proximity is a trivial factor. It's the love and respect that I have for them that will never fade.

-Akemi-chan