Hanging with JaJa in Chicago!!

Cinnamon buns at Ann Sather's...*Drool*

Leftover mixed meat kebabs from Cafe Orchid (DELICIOUS TURKISH FOOD)

                                                   Last week/weekend, I went to Chicago for a mini-vacation to see my best friend, JaJa.  We explored, we laughed, we played, and we also ate all sorts of food all over the city.  Here's the rundown...

"The Classic" sausage pizza at Lou Malnati's (loved the cheese layer and the sauasge stratosphere but I'll stick with NY style nect time.

Fruit salad at Ann Sather's..pretty but not overly tasty

Chicken potstickers on top of the John Hancock Building (solid but over-priced)

Tijuana Omelet with avocado added at Toast Two (solid)

butter at Blackbird even looked beautiful

Sepia aka cuttlefish appetizer at Blackbird. Prettiest appetizer EVER and delicious.

Sturgeon entree at Blackbird (small but wonderfully executed)

Vanilla parfait dessert at Blackbird (good presentation, okay dessert)

Mix of things from Big Star

Superdawg at Superdawg...So satisfying

Last Class Cookie Bars

Apologies for my long absence, between work, a six-week "accelerated" grad class, and life, cooking unfortunately fell by the wayside.  Still, in spite of  a looming paper and an edict to empty my kitchen cabinets, I baked up triple chocolate chip cookie bars for my class' last meeting with semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolate chips, and...wait for it...dark chocolate m&ms. 

The next day, I brought the cookie bars to class and prompted a professor-issued cookie break an hour in.  I cannot say that my sweet skills helped enhance my grade in the class.  But she did take one home to eat while grading, and I ended up doing pretty well ( :