March | 2015 | kimberly ah

Mar 10 2015

cocktails

Hasegawa Happy Hour – Breakfast Edition

Lately Naoto has been surprising me with new types of bitters for my liquor collection. It’s a nice treat because it forces me to look up new cocktail recipes and because the bottles are small–our liquor cabinet and bar carts are overflowing but these tiny bottles tuck into small spaces perfectly! Last week he brought home Scrappy’s Lavender Bitters which led me to the Scrappy’s Bitters website. They feature loads of cocktails highlighting their different bitters. The Dr. Girlfriend caught my eye because it included grapefruit juice, gin, Aperol, and St. Germaine. I made a frittata for dinner and those cocktail ingredients seemed kind of breakfast-y to me. The cocktail was delicious–citrusy and floral and not very strong–definitely a good brunch cocktail. We snacked on Beer Nuts while the frittata was baking. Have you ever tried Beer Nuts? They were a sweet and salty snack before sweet and salty snacks were a thing and we used to eat them when I was growing up. They’re a Central Illinois thing, maybe? Naoto also helped me study some Japanese. (I can’t even explain to you how bad I am…and I definitely can’t explain how bad I am in Japanese!)

Dr. Girlfriend (created by Phil Thompson of Tavern Law & found via Scrappy’s Bitters)

1 1/4 oz gin

1/2 oz Aperol

1/2 oz St. Germaine

3/4 oz grapefruit juice (freshly squeezed!)

1/2 oz lemon juice (freshly squeezed!)

1-3 dashes of lavender bitters (We liked it with a few extra dashes of bitters!)

Shake ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Pour into a cocktail glass and enjoy while studying Japanese.

KAMPAI*!

* “Kampai” is the Japanese word for “Cheers”…I’ve got the cocktail words down pat!

Tagged cocktails, food

Mar 09 2015

1 Comment

adventures, Forest Park, Oak Park, gardening

Community Gardening at the Forest Park St. Patrick’s Day Parade

On Saturday, Naoto and I walked in the Forest Park St. Patrick’s Day Parade with the Forest Park Community Garden float. We haven’t been to the parade in a couple of years and I have to say, it was loads more fun walking in the parade than it was watching. Our float, pictured above, was a garden plot in full bloom…isn’t it charming? Six of us walked alongside the float and passed out little packets of sugar snap pea seeds. At first I was a little nervous about handing out non-candy treats to a bunch of drunk people and sugar-hungry kids, but it turned out most people–especially kids–were excited when they heard we were handing out seeds. People briefly shared that they had gardens or were excited to try gardening…it was really heart-warming to see so many hopeful gardeners in our community! The time passed quickly…it felt like we were rushing around handing out seeds and all of a sudden I looked up and we were at the end. Naoto was especially popular along the parade route because people always remember him from Trader Joe’s…he even got a kiss from a customer! He was such a great ambassador for the garden (and for Trader Joe’s!) By the end of the parade, we all handed out a thousand packets of seeds with little information cards about the garden and our upcoming Seed Swap (March 22, 2-4PM!) It was a bright and beautiful day…perfect for a hometown parade!

Tagged adventures, forest park, garden, gardening, holidays

Mar 06 2015

2 Comments

Letter Month, snail mail

Final Thoughts on Letter Month 2015

It felt weird not to write a letter on Sunday and not to have anything to mail on Monday. On Saturday when I checked my mailbox, I only found junk mail, so my inbox is officially empty, my letter ledger is turned to a fresh new page and my stationery is all organized and ready for action. I’m not feeling the same burn-out I’ve felt after previous Letter Month attempts. I’m not exactly sure why. Maybe because I sent more postcards than usual, maybe because I didn’t write much in January, maybe because it’s been snowy and cold and letter writing is the perfect indoor activity and a much-needed break from technology. Whatever reason, it feels good to be done but it feels sad to have an empty mailbox. I hope I can continue responding in a timely manner–it feels good to have a nice flow of new mail on my desk instead of the same letters languishing for weeks.

My totals for the month:

36 letters/cards
8 postcards
4 international letters/postcards
3 packages
51 total mailings

I also visited seven blue boxes, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s six more than I normally visit. Mostly, I drop my letters into our lobby box or into the blue box near work. I visited six other mailboxes, and four of those were mailboxes I’d never used before. Now that spring is on the horizon, I hope I’ll get out more to mail from some more blue boxes around Forest Park. I’m also making up a rubber stamp that says FEED YOUR MAILBOX as a good reminder to frequent those blue boxes.

How did your Letter Month go? Did you achieve your personal goals?

Tagged forest park, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, snail mail, washi tape

Mar 05 2015

6 Comments

adventures, gardening, homemaking

Plot #6: Winter Sowing Experiment

I started gardening this week!! Back in December, Peggy (who seriously should be a contributor to my blog since she provides me with so much blog fodder!) sent me this blog post from A Garden for the House about winter sowing. Neither of us had tried it before but we both found the idea intriguing. I always feel like it’s late summer before all of my balcony flowers are really in bloom and by then, it’s sometimes too hot and busy to enjoy them. And last year, I had my best balcony garden but I also spent more than I normally do on flowers because I was addicted to having a lush, full garden. (I didn’t break the bank or anything…it was just more than usual.) Hopefully, if this winter sowing thing works, I can get a jump start on gardening, and I can start more things from inexpensive seeds instead of buying a lot of full-grown potted plants this year.

Winter sowing involves planting certain types of seeds in winter and keeping them outdoors in little protective “greenhouses”. Depending on your zone, you can plant perennial and hardy annuals as early as January. I waited until Tuesday (March 3) to start planting, so I planted some tender annuals, too. This blog post tells more about what you can plant when. I worked on my winter sowing in my kitchen on Tuesday afternoon. For my greenhouses, I used distilled water jugs that I’ve been collecting all winter. (Naoto has been very suspicious of this “garbage collection”.) I drilled ventilation holes in the top and drainage holes in the bottom of each one.Then I cut around the middle of the jug, leaving a little hinge underneath the handle. (Presley decided to take a bath while this was happening.) I worked in my kitchen sink, filling each jug with a few inches of soil. Then I soaked the soil with running water and let the water drain out into the sink. After that I planted my seeds, one type per jug, labeling as I worked.

I only made it through seven jugs before I ran out of soil, but I’m hoping to run out today and buy more so I can finish the job this week. So far, I’ve planted broccoli, snow peas and lettuce in preparation for our community garden plot. And I’ve planted Evening Primrose, Columbine, Zinnias, and Achillea for the balcony. I have at least ten more potential seed packets waiting for winter sowing, depending on how adventurous I feel.

I put all of my seeds outside on the balcony. (I’m hoping my neighbors do not complain about the unsightly water jugs…condo living is challenging sometimes.) The seeds are sharing a table with my perennial sedum for now (which looks dead in the top picture, but I promise it’s just resting). That table gets the most sunlight and it gets snowed and rained on, so I figured the seeds will have the best chance there. For now, I wait…the hardest part of gardening!

Tagged adventures, diy, food, forest park, garden, gardening, home, homemaking

Mar 04 2015

6 Comments

adventures, Naoberly's Noodle Tour, what's in a name

Naoberly’s Noodle Tour: Furious Spoon

On Friday, I met up with Donovan for a date at Furious Spoon-a delicious new addition to Chicago’s ever-growing ramen scene. Furious is near Naoto’s office…lucky him. I can see him becoming a regular here. Everything at Furious Spoon is pretty simple. The menu offers four ramen options, a few sides, some Japanese beers, sake, whiskey and pop. You order at the counter and take your number and an enormous wooden ramen spoon to a seat and wait for your ramen to arrive. The tables are communal and there is a long counter of seats looking into the food prep area. Donovan and I sat at the counter, giving us a good view of the ramen assembly. The noodles are made in house and the bowls are assembled quickly with care. I thought the presentation was beautiful. I’m only sorry I didn’t get a shot of the huge wooden soup spoon in my picture.

I got the Shoyu Ramen and I thought it was wonderful. The broth was really tasty and not quite as salty as some of the other ramens I’ve eaten recently. The noodles were so good–they had the right amount of bite and a good texture. The cha-sui (pork) was kind of skimpy, a little bit fatty (which some people really like for the flavor) and a little bit boring. (Disclaimer: I am so enamored with the char-grilled cha-shu at Ramen Miso-ya that it’s hard for me to find anything that compares!) The simple additions of bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, fish cake, nori and scallion were perfect complements to the texture and the flavors in the bowl, but you can add twelve other toppings, too. Donovan had the Vegetable Ramen and she shared a pickled shimeji (mushroom) from her bowl. It was so tasty that next time I’m ordering a side of pickles!

I really liked the vibe of the restaurant–they play old school hip-hop, but it’s quiet enough to have a conversation. The staff was friendly and attentive, making sure we liked our bowls. And, an added bonus…the ramen is the least expensive of all the ramen we’ve had so far. I’m hoping Naoto can squeeze me in for a lunch date soon so I can try those pickles and another kind of ramen!

P.S. Our other ramen visits can be found here:

Misoya

Slurping Turtle

Ramen-San

I think I need a name for this series…Naoberly’s Noodle Tour is in the lead, because I love alliteration.

Tagged adventures, food

Mar 03 2015

7 Comments

adventures, gardening

Garfield Park Conservatory

On Saturday, I went to the Garfield Park Conservatory for the first time in my nineteen years in Chicagoland. The visit was prompted by Katie’s Instagram last week. She called it her “annual February desperate to see/smell something green” visit. Lucky for Karen, Peggy and I, the Spring Flower Show, “Sun Showers” just opened. It was the perfect antidote to the cold, snowy, dark, dreary days of winter. We went on a rare sunny day. The sunbeams were pouring in and the conservatory was warm and humid. It felt like we went on a little vacation. We took our coats off and walked around breathing in the fresh dirt and the bright flower fragrance. Here’s a little peek at some of the flowers… The yellow umbrellas were so cheerful! I am going to make many efforts to go back as often as I can. The conservatory is less than five miles from my house–only a few train stops away!! I can’t wait to go back again and see what new flowers emerge as the flower show goes on until May 10th.

Inside another room of the conservatory was a quote by William Cowper’s The Task, which I think captures the feeling of our day the best,

“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.

Unconscious of a less propitious clime

There blooms exotic beauty, warm and snug,

While the winds whistle and the snows descend.”

I’m definitely thinking spring and gardening!

Tagged adventures, garden, gardening

Mar 02 2015

5 Comments

Letter Month, snail mail

Letter Month 2015 Week 4

Letter Month is OVER! Week four started out pretty weak, but I finished strong–replying to every letter I’ve received during the month (and some lingering in my inbox from January!) I relied on my lobby box, but also visited the mailbox by work, the River Forest snorkel box, a new-to-me box by Penny’s Noodles in Oak Park and one in Chicago’s Wicker Park on a ramen date with Donovan. She and I walked for blocks looking for a mailbox…it’s nice to hang out with someone who is willing to hunt for a blue box with me.