2013 Urbana's Market at the Square/ Art Mart

Every year in early May, after the snow melts, Urbana starts to look like itself again. The flowers bloom, the people are walking around and the local vendors gather at Lincoln Square Mall for the Market at the Square. It's a collection of local farmers, food trucks, artisan bread makers, crafters and musicians. This farmer's market lends a quiet charm to our neighborhood and Boyfriend and I have been visiting on and off for about 3 years. 

The manliest of men in his Bears jersey

Scoping out the selection at J&K Meats

Goat bratwurst, can't wait to try these babies out

Live entertainment for all

Blouse: Peaches and Cream

Skirt: Forever 21

Sandals: Two Lips

Bag: Coach

Sunglasses: Disney World street vendor

Love the Portlandia reference

One of my favorite stores in Champaign-Urbana is Art Mart. I mentioned it in a previous post when I tried mimic their granola. It seems to always draw me in with it's boutique-esque clothing, the cute housewares and the simple yet gourmet food and drinks. On Saturdays, during the farmer's market, Art Mart hosts a weekly wine tasting to draw in the crowd. This the first time Boyfriend and I have participated... or rather just Boyfriend since I had to work later that evening.

Art Mart's Saturday wine tasting

Checkin' out that nose. The wine's good too

Got a bottle to go

Parched? Ice latte and Cherry Strawberry Italian soda

My newest gift from Art Mart courtesy of Boyfriend

Hootie Hoo necklace

Garlic noodles from Railside Farms

There's so many charming things about our town that we should further explore. I'm especially excited about the upcoming festivals in the Summer.

Speaking of upcoming events, my brother is graduating from college this month (Congrats Bro!) and the family is celebrating with a trip to the East coast. Hopefully the flights are in my favor and I can fly out to meet them. Besides, it's his birthday too. A round of Manhattans for the birthday boy!

-Akemi-chan

The End of Days [Shift]/ Big Grove Tavern

Thursday, May 2nd was my last official day of working the morning shift... thank goodness. Don't get me wrong, I love my job and I will do anything to keep it and I enjoy spending time with all the people on the morning shift. That being said, I am so grateful to be back on the shift that does not require me to wake up and go into work several hours before the sun rises and go to bed before the sun sets.

It probably isn't as great step forward in many respects. I get less opportunities to pick up extra hours, I get less hands on experience and I'll have the opposite schedule as Boyfriend. But my spirits were always down. By the time 6 PM came around, I was tired, grumpy and irritable. I'm sure no one wanted to spend any time with me then. I'm thankful for the change and it's time to go back to my 4:30 PM til 10 PM shifts.

I felt the need to celebrate. Sounds the horns, we're going out! Boyfriend and I visited Big Grove Tavern only once. It's a relatively new restaurant in Downtown Champaign, focusing on an elegantly rustic farm-to-table concept of cooking. It has a beautiful simple dining area with little white lights, black and white paintings and sprawling wooden branches hanging over the grand bar.

You must forgive my sub-par picture taking skills. I did not bring my DSLR and the restaurant is a little too dark for my phone's camera. My shaky hands probably don't help. Here's what we ate.

The gorgeous bar

I want these paintings

They start us off with seasoned popcorn. Truffle butter maybe?

Herbs and Endive: gin mixed with sage, lime and simple syrup

Bison chili with cornbread

DAHKNESS!

Boyfriend's Trout with mustard greens and asparagus

My Mushroom Farro

Clean plate club!

Our "dessert pot pie" as our waiter described it. Puff pastry filled with cream and berries

I don't know what happened, but the past few days have been beautiful. Now we're cursed with more realistic Illinois Spring weather... meaning cold, wind and rain. During the hour and a half that we were dining, the temperature must have dropped 10 degrees. Despite my child-sized umbrella and my 3 inch heels, my shivering body and chattering teeth made it to the car.

Coat: The Limited

Sweater: BCBG MaxAxria

Skirt: The Limited

Necklace: Eden in Love

Shoes: Jessica Simpson

Umbrella: Tokyo Disneyland

It's been an honor working on the day shift, but I've missed being on nights. Maybe I'll make more of a habit to wake up earlier and not go to bed at three in the morning. But no promises.

-Akemi-chan

Mango, Banana, Coconut Chia Pudding

I mentioned in a previous post that I bought some seed supplements. I was most worried about the chia seeds. Then I found out that chia seeds absorb liquid and become soft like tapioca. Time for some pudding!

There were some beautiful mangoes at the grocery store. I was still in a Hawaii kind of mood, so I jumped on the opportunity to make a light tropical treat.

Mango, Banana, Coconut Chia Pudding

1 banana
1 mango, peeled and cored
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1 cup soy milk
1 tbsp chia seeds
1/8 cup almonds, chopped (optional)

Delicious in 5 ingredients

In a blender add banana, mango, coconut and soy milk. Blend until smooth. Add chia seeds and blend to combine. Place in fridge for 1 hour, or until chia seeds soak up liquid. Spoon into a serving bowl or glass, top with extra shredded coconut and almonds.

Enjoying my treat outside

Surprisingly, I didn't taste much of the mango, just a hint. The texture was just like pudding with the crunch from the almonds. Next time I might toast the nuts and the coconut to intensify the flavor and up the crunch factor. This recipe makes about 4-6 servings, depends on how big your serving dish is. Also, this would be a great smoothie idea. Sweet enough for dessert but fresh enough for breakfast.

-Akemi-chan

Banana Peanut Butter Chia "Ice Cream"

For my birthday I received some Amazon gift cards from Boyfriend's family. It was very nice and generous and appropriate considering my new found love for online shopping.

Before I moved to the Midwest I never ordered anything online. The shipping pricing alone were too ridiculous to pay thanks to living on the islands. Secondly, I had weird personal feelings about indulging myself with instant gratification and how it would only end in regret. Not anymore!

It probably sounds odd, but I purchased a combination of flax seeds, psylium husks, chia seeds and coconut oil with my birthday gift cards. Yeah, who needs a pair of new pumps when you can have several ingredients for a power smoothie?

My smoothie making has been at an all time high and I couldn't wait to find new ways to use my new pantry additions. Since chia seeds have a slight nutty flavor, I thought dessert would be a good start.

I was inspired by my mom's kitchen toys called Yonanas, a machine that makes soft serve from frozen fruits. I remember her talking it up and of course I had to try it. The mixture of frozen bananas and fruit was pleasantly sweet like ice cream without being loaded with sugar and butter. Since I don't have a Yonana and have no room for it in my kitchen, we'll have to make banana soft serve in a less specific device.

Banana Peanut Butter Chia "Ice Cream"

3 bananas, sliced and frozen
2 tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp milk
1 tbsp chia seeds
slivered almonds (optional)

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. The original recipe I used didn't have chia seeds, but we're playing here. Also, the bananas were so thick that my blender had a hard time mixing, so I added milk to the recipe.

What a wonderful guilt free way of having dessert! Now that I have my ice cream replacement, my blender will have to work even harder on a daily basis.

-Akemi-chan

A Hawaiian Week in April Part 3

This final post from Hawaii is all from one day: our last full day. Boyfriend and I spent most of the day by ourselves roaming the North Shore, and for those who are familiar that that part of the island, you know there are no shortage of picture opportunities. 

Yeah, I had cake for lunch

Geo-caching our way through the North Shore

People jumping off the Haleiwa bridge

Nom turtle nom

Walking the trails at the Pu'u o Mahuka Heiau

Waimea Bay

Rockin' graffiti 

Making fun of Instagram

After a long day of driving, hiking and walking on rocks, we were hungry! Historic Haleiwa town used to have a restaurant called Rosie's Cantina. My family and I frequently visited this Mexican joint for our weekly post-beach dinner. What is it about the beach that makes you crave Mexican food? Sadly, Rosie's closed a while ago and has been replaced by another Mexican/ Latino restaurant that Boyfriend and I decided to investigate.

I have so many vivid memories of Rosie's: the chips, the salsa, the decor, etc. I couldn't believe how different the current restaurant, Luibuneo's, was, despite it's familiar feeling. The bar was moved and completely redone, the decor was casually sophisticated and the menu was impressively creative.

Dinner at Luibueno's, GUAC!

Boyfriend's Blackened Ahi burrito

My li hi mui margarita

My paella

Shrimp as big as your head

After dinner, we went from a sunset stroll around Haleiwa. As any local will tell you, Haleiwa is known for it's shave ice. I repeat SHAVE ice. Not shaved ice, not Hawaiian ice, not  snow cone... shave ice. The most famous place is Matsumoto's, visited by celebrities and locals alike. I remember being a kid, coming back from the beach and getting the biggest shave ice I could possibly hold. Minutes later my arm would be dripping with colorful syrup because I couldn't consume it fast enough and the heat took its toll on my sugary treat. But the thing I remember the most is that there is always a ridiculously long line. Luckily there are other options available. 

Aoki shave ice is another popular option, visited by locals since it has the same casual North Shore feel without the excess hype and not so long lines. Unfortunately I found out from my local friends' Facebook feed that Aoki's will be closing up shop after 32 years. Boyfriend and I stopped in for our last chance to show our Aloha for Aoki's before it closes in May of this year. Of course, I had to get the Rainbow flavor (Starwberry, Lemon and Pineapple) with vanilla ice cream. Plus, I didn't have to worry about drips thanks to these new "flower" holders/ catchers, genius!

A North Shore classic is closing. One last hurrah at Aoki's Shave Ice

This may be the longest time I've spent at home since I moved to Illinois: eight whole days. I'm so glad we were able to come back, even though it wasn't originally part of our plans. I'm really happy we got to spend time with friends and family. We originally wanted to spend some time on a neighbor island, but I think we made the most of this vacation. 'Til next time.

-Akemi chan