Update number one: I moved! Well, I moved just down the street out of university housing to an apartment that is closer to the heart of Hyde Park, and so far I am really enjoying being in this part of the neighborhood. However, the best part is that I have a kitchen again, so that means that I have been cooking and baking up a storm. Beginning of summer is always my favorite time of year to get creative in the kitchen because there is such a bounty of fresh ingredients to work with. The farmer's markets are in full swing now, and I have been very impressed with the two little farmers markets here in Hyde Park. On Thursday mornings there is one on my side of the neighborhood, which has a great variety of produce. The past two weeks all the stands have been packed with asparagus, broccoli, leafy greens, zucchini, potatoes, early season tomatoes, and tons of strawberries and rhubarb. One farmer even had morel mushrooms, which I was very tempted to buy, but decided that $22 a basket was a little steep for my graduate student budget. There is a local bakery that sells amazing bread, and a lady who sells raw local honey and a huge variety of jams (I bought blueberry marmalade last week, and it is one of the best jams I have had in a while). And there is a lady with pasture raised, hormone free pork, and for a very good price I might add. On Saturday morning, there is another independently run farmers market on the south side of Hyde Park (the Thursday market is run by the city). This market had less of a variety of produce, but there is a farmer selling all sorts of cheeses (including cheese curds, my favorite), and lady who sells homemade soap, and another local all organic bakery that makes amazing vegan scones, and an Amish family selling farm raised chicken, pork, rabbit, and beef. So I have been very impressed by the Hyde Park markets. I have not ventured north to check out the big Green City Farmers market in Lincoln Park, but I plan to this week maybe. This leads me to....
Update number two: I have made a new year's resolution (I know that it is June, but as a student June is the end of the year, and hence a good time for a "new year's" resolution). I am going to bake a new and different pie every fortnight. At first I thought I was going to make a new pie every week, but then I decided that not only was that big commitment, but that is also a lot of pie to eat. But then I thought that making a pie once a month was not much of a resolution for me because I really enjoy baking. So every two weeks seems just right. This resolution actually has two parts: First is the actual pie making, which includes making my pastry from scratch. Pastry making requires a lot of finesse which I can definitely work on. But the second part of this resolution is to bring back into fashion the word, "fortnight"--I think that it is far too underutilized of a word in American lexicon, therefore, I am going to start using it more (this part of my resolution was actually Ben's idea). So as a result of my new year's resolution, my friends inadvertently also have a new year's resolution to EAT a new and different pie every fortnight. I made my first pie yesterday--strawberry rhubarb with a cornmeal crumb topping, as a result of the copious amounts of strawberries and rhubarb at the farmer's markets. The pie turned out surprisingly well for my first one. I think that I did not add enough tapioca to the fruit, so it was a little runny in the middle, but after it was refrigerated it held up just fine (and actually tasted delicious cold). I was also very impressed with my pastry. On the scale of taste, it was excellent--one of the best strawberry rhubarb pies I have had (not to brag or anything), but on the scale of looks/presentation, I think it needs some work. It was not the most beautiful looking pie--you can judge yourself by the pictures. I think that it looks a little like a pile of mush, but it tasted good. So a fortnight from now (which happens to be 4th of July) I will be making watermelon chiffon pie--update to come.
Update number three, non-food related (yes, there are other aspects to my life besides food--shocking I know): I have been riding my bike A LOT. Due to a stress fracture in my left hip (yes, I have a broken hip, and yes it makes me feel like an 85 year old woman) I cannot run for TWELVE weeks. I've been told that the stress fracture is most likely due to over use--a combination of running and the elevator being broken in my building forcing me to climb eight flights of stairs about six times a day. So I have been cycling along the lake front a lot, and really enjoying it (repetitive impact hurts my hip, so cycling is a great alternative). I almost forgot how much I love being out on my bike. Chicago is a great cycling city--in the past three weeks I have ridden over 200 miles. The lake front is just so beautiful. It is kind of crowded on the weekends (I almost collided into a 12 year old boy last weekend after he decided that it would be funny to lurch out in front of me), but especially if you get out on the path in the early morning, it is gorgeous. And I am going to have to continue on this cycling kick especially since making my pie resolution...
Update number four: I have gone to quite a few baseball games since the season started, and look forward to going to more. White Sox stadium is so easy to get to from Hyde Park, and it is really fun to go to games in a city where baseball has so much history. I went to Padres games when I lived in San Diego, and A's games when I lived in Berkeley, but there just something about baseball out here in the Midwest that is so very cool. I am not quite sure how to describe it. The energy of the fans at the games is really contagious, and it is just great to be outside in such a great city. Plus, the more games I go to, the more I understand the nuances of the sport (although I still am very much so a "rookie" in my knowledge of baseball). I have not ventured up to Wrigleyville to attend a Cubs game yet, but I have to see Wrigley field at least once this summer, so I am sure I will get up there. However, in going to these games, I also find myself curious about the history of baseball culture, especially the food (yes, go ahead and laugh...I am back to food). How did hot dogs, crackerjacks, and peanuts become standard ballpark fare? I am sure that a large part of it has to do with the fact that all are easily eaten with your hands, but I also think there must be more history to it. I also think that it is interesting to see how ballpark food is evolving. When I was living in the Bay area I remember there was much excitement over the fact that Giant's stadium now sells sushi, which I think is funny because it is so quintessentially California. Also, I want to know whose grand idea it was to sell margaritas pumped out of a can strapped on a vender's back. This phenomenon was even funnier to witness in early April when it was still 30 degrees outside. Something tells me that Jimmy Buffet was not inspired to write his famous song by attending a Sox game--tens-of-thousands of screaming fans drinking cheap beer in below freezing temperatures is not exactly a recipe for "margaritaville". Needless to say, we did not see the margarita venders at the last game, so maybe it was a failed experiment. But I am enjoying baseball games, nonetheless.
Update number five: I have been listing to A LOT of blues music. I am not sure why, it is just what I am in the mood for. I have always really enjoyed blues music, and always listened to it on and off--John Lee Hooker, Albert King, and Luther Allison have always been favorites of mine, but in the past month or so, about fifty percent of what I have been listening to has been blues. Last week I bought a three disk set of Mississippi John Hurt's complete recordings--it is great. He recorded all his songs in the late 1920's and early 1930's but they only became really popular in the 1960's. Anyway, he has a great voice--the whole CD is just really enjoyable to listen to. His sound is definitely blues, but also has hints of folk because (according to the liner notes of my CD) he was influenced by the folk music of the Irish and Scottish settlers in Mississippi. Oh and another funny side-note, the band, The Lovin' Spoonful, got their name from the lyrics in his song, "Coffee Blues." Anyway, his music is great.
Finally, update number six--a funny anecdote: I think that I mentioned in another post that one of my all-time favorite artists is Buddy Holly. Well I saw a review in the Tribune a few weeks ago for a play showing out in the suburb of Oakbrook--Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story. I saw the movie, The Buddy Holly Story, years ago, and really liked it, so I thought it it would be fun to go and see the play--it did get good reviews. As Ben and I were driving out there, I made a comment that it was a bit odd to be driving from the city to the suburbs to go and see a play (normally, isn't it the other way around?), but didn't think too much of it. Well, there was construction on the highway, causing us to miss the sign for the exit we had to take, which meant that we had to turn around three times all in the area where the toll booths are. This meant that by the time we got there (20 minutes late) we paid four tolls. However, we were glad to be there and took our seats. At the intermission when we looked around we noticed that we were by far the youngest people in the audience by about forty-five years--it looked like hearing aides were required attire or something. I felt like we were at a nursing home event. We decided to see if we could spot one person the the theatre our age, but could only see one guy, who was about 19 or so, slumped over trying to sleep with his i-Pod headphones shoved in his ears. The woman sitting next to Ben was having a great time thought, and told us, "this music is OUR music!" She then mentioned that she saw ABBA twice because the play was so fantastic (I assume she meant the musical Mama Mia), and then it took her about three tries to pull herself out of her seat at the end of the show. It took us a while to get out of there having been slowed down by all the people who needed to stop and rest at the back of the theater.
But the actual play was great. The guy who played Buddy Holly was really talented and actually sounded a lot like him, and the crowd went wild when the Big Bopper sung "Chantilly Lace". However, as Ben mentioned, the guy who played Ritchie Valens looked more like Harry Belafonte than Ritchie Valens, but oh well. He did an OK job singing "La Bamba". It was a fun night, although one of the more bizarre experiences of my life. I should have known what I was getting myself into, but I know a lot of people my age who like Buddy Holly--I think his music is timeless, but apparently not in Oakbrook.
I think those are all the updates I am going to give for now. I will post pictures and any worthwhile stories about my new pies every fortnight, and I am open to suggestions/ requests/ recommendations for new types of pies to try.
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