adventures | kimberly ah

Apr 14 2015

adventures

Made in Japan at the Asian American Showcase

Over the weekend, Naoto and I attended two movies as a part of the Asian American Showcase at the Gene Siskel Film Center. Going to see a movie is very rare for us. I don’t think we’ve been to a movie together since 2006, so seeing two movies in two days was a pretty incredible feat for us.

On Sunday we saw Made in Japan, a documentary about Tomi Fujiyama, a Japanese country music entertainer who was the first Japanese person to sing on the Grand Ole Opry stage. She performed at the Opry’s 39th anniversary party in 1964 along with Johnny Cash and many other legends of country music. She received the only standing ovation from the crowd that night.

The documentary covers Tomi’s lifetime from her childhood in post-war Japan all the way to her current performances and continued dreams to perform once more on the Grand Ole Opry stage. The filmmakers have an obvious love for Tomi and her passion for country music. Towards the end (and this is somewhat of a spoiler, so read at your own risk or skip to the next paragraph) the film is a little bit political, for lack of a better term. It is clear that the filmmakers are disappointed in the direction of the Grand Ole Opry, which was bought out by a large company with investors and is now commercialized. The Opry stage is no longer a place where the music is the focus and up-and-coming musicians get invited to play. It is no longer a place where timeless country music is performed. It has become, according to the film, a tourist attraction, a place where ticket sales trump the music. The Opry has no interest in hosting Tomi because she doesn’t fit into the “new direction” of the Opry. But I feel like the movie ends on a somewhat high note, pointing out that Tomi played on the Opry stage during the best years, when the music was first and foremost.

I’m so glad we decided to go to this showcase. (I’ll talk about the other movie we saw soon. It was about food and brought about a lot of feelings.) This was our third time attending events at the Siskel Film Center and we are always so impressed with the movie offerings, the theater, and the people there. Next month they have special screenings of Hayao Miyazaki films and the documentary, The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness. I have a feeling there will be more movie dates in our future!

UPDATE: The Opry invited Tomi to play! I have to think the movie influenced this decision, right? She is playing on the Opry Stage on April 28, 2015. The show begins at 7PM and it looks like Tomi will hit the stage during the 8:45PM (Central Time) segment. (Scroll down on this link to listen to the live stream on WSM 650 AM! Naoto and I will be listening!)

Tagged adventures, independent film, movies

Apr 09 2015

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adventures, celebrations, what's for dinner

Spicy Jicama, Pineapple & Cucumber Snack

Last month, Naoto and I lived out his dream of eating at Frontera Grill, Rick Bayless’s hard-to-get-into restaurant in Chicago. We made the reservations back in January so by the time March 14th rolled around, I wasn’t the least bit interested in going, especially considering it was St. Patrick’s Parade Day in the city and drunk people were stumbling about. But, we went anyway and didn’t regret it. The food was amazing, the cocktails blew my mind, and the service was impeccable. My favorite dish was this Mexican street snack of jicama, cucumber, and pineapple. It’s shown above on the right, along with my tasty Meyer Lemon Margarita and our guacamole. The street snack was so fresh and crisp and juicy…I really could have just eaten a whole meal of it alone. It seemed easy enough to make at home, so on Easter, we tried it out as an appetizer for Easter dinner at Karen’s.

Spicy Jicama, Cucumber and Pineapple Snack

(inspired by Frontera Grill’s Jicama Street Snack, which was inspired by Mexican street snacks)

1 English cucumber

1 jicama (ours was the size of a softball)

1 fresh pineapple

4 limes

chili powder (or Tajín, for more flavor)

sea salt

Cut the cucumber, jicama, and pineapple into sticks (like french fries). Place on a large rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with the juice of the four limes. Toss to coat. Sprinkle with chili powder and sea salt and toss again. (Be gentle, the pineapple is fragile!) Serve, standing up in a few glasses. (Old fashioned glasses work nice for sharing, or you could do individual servings in tiny juice glasses.) There should be some leftover juice on the tray. Drizzle it over the prepared servings and sprinkle with a little extra chili powder or Tajín and salt. Serve immediately. The jicama and the pineapple were by far the most popular, but I think the cucumber adds a savory touch. Plus, all three textures work really well together to make a perfect appetizer or snack. I do believe this is going to make it into the next Hasegawa Happy Hour menu!

P.S. Thanks to Naoto for modeling!

Tagged adventures, celebrations, food, homemaking

Apr 02 2015

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adventures, cocktails, Naoberly's Noodle Tour, what's for dinner

Naoberly’s Noodle Tour: Oiistar

I’m behind in my ramen reporting! We tried Oiistar back in February, before we went to Furious Spoon. Oiistar gets really good reviews from food writers in Chicago and it’s made it on several “best ramen in Chicago” lists. It was the first ramen shop in the Wicker Park/Bucktown neighborhood. It definitely has a “hipster feel” to it, for better or for worse. It’s casual and there are individual tables, a counter, and communal seating to choose from. The owner describes his menu as having French and Italian influences, and you can definitely see that in the menu along with some Chinese and Korean. There are old black & white Looney Tunes cartoons projected onto the wall and the music is old school and loud (but not too loud.) It was freezing and snowy the night we went, so we were both in the mood for a hot bowl of noodles. We started with drinks and I will just say this: my review of this restaurant may be unfairly colored by what you are about to see…My drink, the house-made sangria, was served in a mason jar glued to a candlestick. This thing was enormous and clunky and just plain embarrassing. It was so top-heavy that I kept thinking it was going to fall over and spill everywhere. And it stood up so high on the table that it almost blocked my view of Naoto! Everything else in the restaurant was normal…I just have to wonder what in the world the restauranteur was thinking when he chose to serve his (perfectly delicious) sangria in this monstrosity. Okay…back to the food. We ordered buns as appetizers. They arrived at our table with our ramen, which was a huge bummer because it was impossible to enjoy both at the same time, as ramen noodles are best when eaten right away. Pictured above is the Tempura Shrimp bun, which is a fried shrimp with chili mayonnaise, fennel slaw, and sesame seeds on a Chinese-style bao bun. It was delicious and something I would order again if we venture back here.

For ramen, I got the oiimen (pictured at the top) with pork belly, egg, scallion, mushrooms, spicy oil, and garlic. Naoto got the kimchee ramen. The ramen was solid, but the texture of the noodles didn’t wow me. They are made in-house, which is supposed to be a huge plus. All of the other ramen places we had tried until that point have them shipped in from Sun Noodle. (In the meantime, Furious Spoon opened with their own homemade noodles and, after eating Furious Spoon’s noodles, I think Furious’s noodles are better.) But the flavors and the pork and the soft boiled egg in Oiistar’s ramen were delicious.

I would love to go back and try some of their salads and snacks. They offer a bruschetta topped with pickled shrimp, fennel, balsamic and olives that sounds intriguing enough for a repeat visit. I just won’t be ordering another ridiculous sangria.

Tagged adventures, cocktails, food

Mar 30 2015

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adventures, Office Supplies, snail mail, thrifted, vintage

New Vintage Stationery

vintage souvenir stationery, Abraham Lincoln and Yellowstone My parents came up for a visit this weekend and they brought me a few vintage treats including these fantastic old souvenir stationery sets. The Yellowstone is almost full but sadly the Abraham Lincoln one has one sheet left of each design. I’ve never been to Yellowstone, so I’d feel like a cheater using this stationery, but I think using it for a nature lover would be acceptable, right? (This stationery seems like a good enough reason as any to bump Yellowstone up on my travel wish list.) I have been to Springfield, the state capitol of Illinois, several times so these Lincoln landmarks are all familiar old friends from school trips and family trips of my childhood. I think every child who grew up in Illinois has rubbed Lincoln’s nose at least once. Since there’s only one sheet left of each of these designs, I probably won’t be writing letters on this stationery, but maybe I could use them in a mini-scrapbook of my next trip to Springfield? (First I have to get Naoto on board with a mini road trip!)

Have you seen any souvenir stationery lately? It seems like the best kinds of souvenirs (stationery, handkerchiefs, plates) are all things of things of the past now.

Tagged adventures, office supplies, parents, snail mail, thrifting, vintage

Mar 25 2015

5 Comments

adventures, crafty adventures, Forest Park, Oak Park, gardening, Office Supplies

Seed Swap 2015

On Sunday the Forest Park Community Garden hosted their fifth annual Seed Swap. Have you ever been to a seed swap? It was my first time, so everything was new and exciting for me. Basically, you bring packets of seeds to the swap–either something you no longer want to plant, or something you have in excess–and trade them with other gardeners’ seeds. It’s a perfect concept for city gardeners and community gardeners who do not have the space to plant an entire packet of seeds in their tiny plots. The swap was held in a school gym, plenty of space to allow for milling around, browsing seeds, and chatting with fellow gardeners. LaManda Joy from the Peterson Garden Project and The Yarden gave a presentation about gardening, her experience as a home gardener, and starting a community garden. The Lisle Seed Library was also there sharing seeds and information about their library’s programs for gardeners.

I brought six packets of seeds to swap (pictured at the top)–lettuce, broccoli, loofah, eggplant, beets, and snow peas. I made my packets from baby envelopes that I had on hand, my favorite Yellow Owl Workshop garden stamp kit, and a little bit of washi tape. (They *may* have been crafty overkill, but I didn’t care.) I came home with edamame, milkweed, malva, alyssum, morning glories, ornamental grass and a clipping from an oregano plant. I worked registration at the swap, so I missed out on seeing the wide variety of vegetable seeds, but I was kind of more into the flower seeds anyway. I wanted some perennials to plant on the balcony and some edamame to try in our plot this year, so I came home a happy camper.

Speaking of gardening, this was the scene when I left for work on Monday morning. Forest Park got about seven inches of snow…I hope it was good for my winter sowing project!! I’m working on planting some more this week. Spring gardens are just around the corner, right?

Tagged adventures, crafts, food, forest park, garden, gardening, rubber stamp

Mar 16 2015

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adventures

Thoughts on Jury Duty

I’m officially done with jury duty! I have to say, I thought the whole experience was interesting and dare I say…kind of fun? Our group of jurors was really great–everyone got along and we were able to have a little bit of fun together. Our judge was relaxed, respectful of our time and our comfort, and he kept us informed of the process. Our bailiff was funny. The court reporter was animated as he recorded the dialogue…he was kind of like Stevie Wonder, grooving to the closing arguments while he typed. Even one of the accident reconstruction experts was interesting enough to make me want to take a physics class again!

As much as I’d love to write a blog post describing the details of my case, I don’t feel right about it*. I would never want the plaintiff’s family to find my blog and feel disrespected or criticized. But I will say, we deliberated for less than five minutes–all twelve of us were that much in agreement about the facts of the case. We found for the defendant, who shed a tear as the verdict was read.

Because none of us could talk about the case (to our families or to each other), we felt such a relief when we all realized that we were all on the same page. And it was a glorious experience to finally be able to talk to each other about the case. Imagine twelve people in a room talking on top of each other trying to release four days of pent up conversation about the case. Even though my jury duty was pretty painless, I’m looking forward to getting back into my normal routine around here. Today it’s suppose to be 70 degrees outside. I’m going to take a walk, write some letters, read my book club book, and feel thankful I’m not cooped up in a jury room!

*But if you know me in real life, I’m happy to talk about the case! I even made a diagram to explain things to Naoto!

Tagged adventures, Chicago

Mar 09 2015

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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 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

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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