Kai@Chicago

3/14/2009
為了歡送Joe 跟 Claire夫婦遷居Atlanta, Nancy
準備了一桌子酒菜招待大夥。這是一群很有趣的團體，每一個人不是來自台灣就是大陸，而且都在高中或大學之後才來美國。中文是大夥的母語，但偏偏每次聚會都是以英語交談，很怪吧？

連 菜色跟呈現都是完全的西式。原本當端上第一盤時，我還以為是像中餐一樣，大家一人一口的，哪裡知道竟是一人一盤，那紅酒燉煮的小牛排真的是入口及化好吃極
了，下面的馬鈴薯泥是一種很特別的做法，不像一般的馬鈴薯泥吃起來澀澀粉粉的，這道馬鈴薯泥吃起來滑滑QQ的，超順口的。


因為Tze不喜食牛，主人也細心的準備了燉鴨腿給他

飯後竟然還準備了三道甜點，而且超講究食物的視覺呈現的，讓我們有種去法式高級料理餐廳的感受

這道甜點是我的最愛，尤其是Rum
Sabayon超好吃的



每上一道甜點之前，我們都會先玩一個board
game，這也是相當的美式風格。我不曾有印象在台灣當親友聚會時大夥會以玩紙上遊戲為主題，好像多數是打麻將要不就是唱卡拉OK，但在美國像這樣酒足飯飽後玩紙上遊戲的方式卻是非常平常。
這是我們玩的第二種遊戲，大家抽一張牌，然後照著牌上的指令，做一個黏土小模型，每人有四次機會提問，然後猜每一個人做的是什麼，猜猜Tze做的是啥哩？(黃色的那個)

Chicago Restaurant Week is back
again in February.  More than 130 restaurants participated this year, which is
more than triple the number that participated last winter when the Chicago
Convention and Tourism Bureau launched the program in 2008.
This is a
great winter festival type event where local restaurants offer three-course
prix-fixe menu for just $32 during the week.
During the week, we got to try
three restaurants we've always wanted to go and at cheaper prices.  Among the
three, Ai, Coco Pazzo and Le Lan, I liked Le Lan the most.       

Le Lan is an elegant, modern River North bistro,
which offers an intriguing take on French-Asian cuisine. Under the direction of
chef Bill Kim, the restaurant earned a reputation as one of River North's top
dining destinations.   River North is the area where we live in and the
restaurant is just a few blocks away from our place. 

The appetizers we had were curried butternut
squash soup and soba noodle with eggplant.  I love their butternut squash
soup.

The main course I had was smoked steak with
coconut polenta.   Polenta is made with ground yellow cornmeal. 
It was originally a
peasant food.  However, since the late 20th century, polenta has become a
premium product.  Polenta dishes are on the menu in many high-end restaurants,
and prepared polenta can be found in supermarkets at high prices. Western
polenta is denser, while the eastern one is softer. The taste is very
similar to corn grits, which is a common dish in Southern United State.  I never
liked that taste but surprisingly, I really liked how they made it at Le
Lan.
Coco Pazzo
We went to Coco Pazzo on Friday night with
Terri, who is one of my Taiwanese coworkers. Coco Pazzo had the reputation as
one of Chicago’s best Italian restaurants since its opening in 1991. The
restaurant features traditional Tuscan cuisine.


The antipasti I had was a
Pear, taleggio,
smoked mozzarella tart.  The presentation was great but it was a bit too heavy
for me as an appetizer to start with.

The appetizer Tze had is from this bar.  Terri
had some fried calamari to start with.

We all had the grilled pork chop as our main
course, which is a big mistake.  The pork chop was just too big for me and Terri
to finish.  And the meat was too dry.  I had a few bites and that was enough for
me.   The brussels sprout came with the pork chop was wonderful.  I really liked
the strong garlic taste of it.
The vanilla bean custard turned out to be
the best course for the night. 

The least one I liked among the three we
tried during the restaurant week is Ai, a Japanese
restaurant.


The atmosphere and decor was great with perfect lighting and I
liked the sushi bar is right in the center of the place where you can always see
the chefs making makis.  
I guess the main reason I disliked the
restaurant is their service.  To be more specific, the server we had that night
was very unfriendly and made our dinning experience horrible.   No smiles, no
recommendations, unfriendly attitude...

The restaurant prix-fixe menu was for customers to choose one regular
maki and one special maki from the main menu along with a fixed appetizer
course, Hamachi Carpaccio, thinly sliced yellowtail topped with ceviche,
cilantro, and citrus sauce. 

 

I loved the appetizer but their makis were just
mediocre.  Tze did not order the restaurant menu but ordered some Nigiris
instead.  He thought the Nigiris are pretty fresh and tasty.   He also ordered a
Tanuki Udon, which is an inaniwa udon noodles served with shiitake mushroom,
green onion, mitsuba, kamaboko, inari age, and tempura crunch.   Tze says this
is originated in my best Japanese girl friend, Miki's hometown.  We both really
liked this dish.  Maybe we should ask Miki to come with us to try the udon
again, and hopefully we will have a nicer server next time.

老公週五臨時打電話跟我說客戶那兒有些緊急狀況需要處理，週六不能趕回來了，情人節晚餐也得取消了。
唉！又是公事！不是客戶就是老闆，老婆總是排最後 ~

還好幾個朋友知道Tze不在，約了我一塊吃飯。大家考慮的結論就是 Let's go to Chinatown!
因為情人節晚上可能到處都爆滿，中國城應該比較容易找到位置

Saint's
Alp Teahouse at Chicago
芝加哥仙跡岩茶餐廳
跟台灣泡沫紅茶店很像，不同的是它有供應很多熱炒，例如蔥爆牛肉、小炒黑山羊、鐵板玉子豆腐、炒A菜等等，味道還挺不錯的。
情人節一早，接到老公從倫敦打來的電話問我有沒有收到情人節禮物。
我心想：才剛起床，可能剛才樓下管理員有打電話來我沒接到吧！
老公說：去床邊的書袋裡瞧瞧
我跑去一看真的有一個禮物袋耶！原來老公早在他去英國出差之前就準備好禮物藏在家裡了。灰暗的情人節心情這才稍稍好轉，原來老公還是很在意老婆的。
(女人其實很好哄的，甚麼禮物並不重要，重要的是有那份心。)

Folli
Follie means Crazy Crazy in French, and is known for it’s fun and crazy
fashions.  Folli Follie is a Greek company and has a large following in both
Europe and Asia. Folli Follie is one of the top 10 brands in Japan and was
awarded International Business of the Year by the Greek Chamber of Commerce. 

前幾年我們去希臘玩，發現了這一家飾品店，覺得它的東西挺別緻的，沒想到老公還記得。

公司裡一個可愛的台灣女同事送的情人節禮物，沒想到
i-Phone的拍照品質還挺不錯的。

自從老公前年帶我去了一次Moto餐廳，把"菜單"給吃了下去，就迷上了這種稱之為 Molecular gastronomy
的cuisine

不知道該如何翻譯這種菜餚派別，總之就是一種結合物理化學等科學方式將食材加以處理，創造出的一種注重 "色""香""味"
和而為一的菜餚。

字典上查到的解釋是：Molecular gastronomy is a scientific
discipline involving the study of physical and chemical processes that occur in
cooking.  
It pertains to the mechanisms behind the transformation of
ingredients in cooking and the social, artistic and technical components of
culinary and gastronomic phenomena in general (from a scientific point of
view).
有些大陸字典譯做"先鋒派食餚"
還記得那次去吃時，剛坐下就看到隔壁桌的一對情侶在啃菜單。
跟老公對望一眼，心想：不會吧！這麼餓，連菜單也吃？
一旁的服務生上來說：請先別吃菜單，看完後，決定好要點哪一道菜，再把菜單吃掉！
剛聽完我還一愣一愣的：夷？啥？叫我吃菜單？
沒想到這長得跟一般紙張一模一樣的菜單還不錯吃哩！
接下來的幾小時的用餐過程就讓我愛上了這種cuisine
中間那張紙是可以吃的喔！脆脆的有點像杏仁薄片餅
(Moto restaurant)
看過飯桌上用針筒當食具的嗎？很怪吧！針筒裡裝的是一種液體(忘了是甚麼了...)，注射入食物遇熱會產生化學變化，創造出一種奇妙的味覺融合
湯匙跟叉子都捲上了一種香香的植物，如果沒記錯的話應該是Rosemary,
迷迭香吧！
生葉子兩片再加上幾坨像巧克力醬的沾料，這也是一道菜，夠怪吧！
別小看那黑黑像巧克力的東西，它可是很貴的食材：Truffle
(松露)
今年的生日老公帶我去Schwa，也是屬於這種先鋒派餐廳
這道前菜是Beet
risotto

最近迷上拉丁舞 尤其是Salsa
不過老公很不開心他出差時我一個人跑去學跳舞
突然發現 
原來男生吃起醋來 
那勁道比女生還厲害
我叨念著要學跳舞已經好久了
之前一直想等老公換工作不用週週出差比較空閒後再一起去學
就這麼一直拖著
一拖就是三年
最近一鼓作氣 自己跑去報名
週二週三晚自己去
週六兩人一起去
現在學的還太初階  去舞廳也只有坐在一旁的份
不敢上場獻醜
希望不久後就敢去教室以外的地方跳了 

2008.10

這是我在美國參加過的五個婚禮中最特別的一場婚禮了，感覺好像到了另一個國度：非洲
穿著紫色傳統奈及利亞服飾的新娘是我們組上的成員，其他幾個穿著現代服裝的也都是team
memebers
。
請注意，新娘身上掛著一串串的美鈔，這正是Nigeria
Wedding特別的地方，新娘新郎與眾賓客起舞時，大家紛紛把鈔票往新人身上塞，旁邊還有新娘的親人幫著滿地撿鈔票，這有點類似我們中國人給紅包的習俗，而優點是不需記名，大夥各憑心意。

新人著西方婚禮服飾

弟弟去年暑假結婚了
所有人都不敢相信我那玩世不恭，遊戲人間的弟弟竟然決定在三十歲前告別單身，邁入婚姻
哈！這可多虧了我那可愛的Ayo弟媳把他給攝住了！

我問：到底是甚麼讓你知道就是她了呢？ 弟答："媽媽的味道"

 
這點我同意，連我在芝城交女朋友都會下意識地跟有媽媽味道的人多親近，更何況是找老婆呢！
可見我們姊弟倆都有戀母傾向
去年出回家過年見到Ayo時就對她很有好感，感覺像是一家人
我跟我弟歸納的結論就是，因為她很像我媽，有一種對生活樂觀負責又努力的態度
這樣的個性可以鞭策我們向前邁進，不要自怨自艾，就像我媽一貫在家扮演的角色一般
以身作則，用她對生活的認真與充滿希望的態度，感化著我們其他三人繼續為人生努力
大力推薦我弟的部落格，http://www.wretch.cc/blog/looloo
(同一個媽生出的孩子，怎麼文筆就差這麼多哩？老天真是不公平呀！)

這是威州的一個國家公園，忘記叫做甚麼名字了
我們爬了一兩小時到山頂上眺望被山丘圍繞的湖面，是一個景色很美很寧靜的地方



表情之豐富，我勸你還是別做導演了，改行當演員吧！
說不定可以成為“台灣版金凱瑞”
搞笑先生

你門倆都太遜了啦！還是大熊先生可愛

路上路過一家田庄農場，農場有個可愛的小商店，因為萬聖節近了，所以擺設了各式各樣的嚇人道具

這隻小羊竟把南瓜給啃了個大洞，厲害吧！

美國的小南瓜都奇形怪狀的

南瓜馬車

離我家開車三十分鐘的Evanston
沙灘，水很清澈吧！
芝加哥在美國中西部，不靠海但倚湖，密西根湖以面積計算居五大湖第三，是美國境內第一大湖，看上去一望無際，跟海其實沒甚麼兩樣，好處到是多了一點，就是不鹹，游起來舒服多了

來比一比，看誰跳的最高？



去參觀芝加哥最有名的Cheese
Cake 工廠
(Eli's)，剛好碰到汽車展，還有專程從俄國請來表演的傳統俄羅斯音樂團，右圖是觀眾小朋友被邀請上台用不同的小樂器試著伴奏

每年夏季時美國各主要大城市會舉辦一種遊樂園式的文藝復興慶典，這遊樂園裡所有工作人員都打扮成中古時期的人物，所有的市集佈置、商家小販、餐廳酒吧、街頭走秀、運動比賽、舞台劇表演都在營造一種讓遊客彷彿置身於另一個時代的感覺。 (芝城一般都在七八月舉行，門票大約一人$25至$30美金) 去參加的遊客們常常會把自己打扮成文藝復興時期的裝扮，以融入這遊樂區的慶祝主題
這群老婆婆們也太酷了吧！完全進入狀況~


A Renaissance fair, Renaissance
faire, or Renaissance festival is an outdoor weekend
gathering, usually held in the United States, open to the public and generally
commercial in nature, which emulates a historic period for the amusement of its
guests. Some are permanent theme parks, others are short-term events in
fairgrounds or other large public or private spaces .
Renaissance fairs generally include an abundance of costumed entertainers,
musical and theatrical acts, art and handicrafts for sale, and festival
food. 

美國人有辦Baby Shower 的習俗，就是在baby出生之前一兩個月會由待產媽媽的閨中密友們幫忙舉辦這場以女性友人為主的baby
shower，大家也會趁這機會送待產媽媽一些給baby的禮物
傳統的baby shower 據說是只限女性出席