Fuego

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Julie was in town over the weekend, so a group of us went to Fuego for some Mexican fare.

Now, if I were given my choice for my last meal, I would have a tough decision to make. I LOVE guacamole, and I adore goat cheese. I could probably eat those things everyday but Sunday.

Susan, Heather, Julie, Aimee, Kim, Michele, Beth and myself were in attendance. Drinks (except for pregnant Julie), chips and salsa, and guacamole were first. Service seemed a bit slow, so that meant we ate a LOT of chips, salsa, and guacamole.

Fuego also served us with complimentary chicken soup before our meals came. When our meals finally did arrive, they were delicious, but we were a bit stuffed from all we had eaten prior. This is unbelievable, I know, but a few of us even took home doggie bags which is really unheard of for this group.

Unfortunately, Jodee couldn't make it because she was with her father. We did make a toast to Jodee's father's health and wished him a speedy recovery.

It's always a blast when Julie is in town. It's usually always about the food. But then again, when are we not 'all about the food'.

January's Dinner: NIGHTWOOD

Heather's pick for January was Nightwood.  It is a restaurant that has a menu that changes daily depending on what is available at the markets.

There were eight of us at dinner: me, Aimee, Susan, Nancy, Heather, Liz, Stephanie, and Pat.















Dinner got off to a late start because a couple people that shall remain nameless (AIMEE AND SUSAN) were 40 minutes late.  Do they not know me by now?  Do they not realize that I may kill someone if I do not eat when I am hungry?  I mean, seriously people.

Everyone ordered an appetizer, and by the looks of the plates, they were pretty tasty.  Naturally, my appetizer had goat cheese involved.

Dinner was very good.  Again, from the look of the plates, people enjoyed what they were eating.  The things that were ordered were:  trout, ravioli filled with short ribs, home made spaghetti, chicken,  and some other home made pasta with butternut squash.

Nightwood was very smart and sat us at a long table in the basement.   A couple of us, or shall I say, most of us, can be a loud bunch.

I am so tired right now.  I am writing at well past my bedtime so that people who shall remain nameless (LIZ) will not give me a hard time for writing during work hours.

In summary, another successful, delicious dinner in Chi-town with a fabulous group of women.

2010: It's all about SOUL

Those of you who know me, know that I am not the neatest person. I am close to being featured on the show 'Hoarders'. Right around Christmas, my office was painted and carpeted. That meant I had to clean out all the stuff that had accumulated in my dungeon. I even had the painter paint one of my walls lavender. So, now I have a brand new, neat office.

New Year's Eve 2009 started off with my purchase of a 2010 Kia Soul (loving it). It was time to bid adieu to my '98 Chevy Cavalier. On the way to the dealer, I was talking to Bessie, and telling her that she served me very well for 11 1/2 years, but that it was time for me to move forward. Getting a new car meant that I had to clean out 11 1/2 years worth of crap that had accumulated in Bessie. So, now I have a brand new, neat car.
The week after Christmas, Ignacio started putting laminate flooring in our home to prepare for the arrival of our new furniture. In order to make room for new flooring and new furniture, I had to clean out years worth of crap that had accumulated in our home. Ignacio worked his tail off, and the floors look great. So, now I have a brand new, neat home (except for where I dumped the accumulated crap from the office, car, and living room).

So, to start celebrating my brand new life, NYE 2009 was spent with 13 of us total (including our amazing chefs and Ella G) at my friend, Aimee's house. Our evening was spent eating 12 courses of amazing food and drinking MANY bottles of wine.

Here is a picture of our scrumptious butternut squash soup and one of the many glasses of wine.

Here we have our menu and our chefs Monica and Michael. This is our second year (of many to come, I hope) that we have been fortunate enough to have Monica and Michael cook our AMAZING NYE's extravaganza. You can read all about Monica and Michael at http://www.atablefortwo.com/

Susan was down for the count after course 11. Poor dear, I'm not sure if she was able to eat her dessert (chocolate mousse). Hey! If she couldn't eat it, why didn't I?

Here is the gang at the stroke of midnight. We were bummed that Miss Tracy wasn't able to make it because she had to work the next day in Indy.




Noel, Ignacio, Cecilia, Jeff, Aimee, Nat, Scott, Jodee, Steve, and Susan (Monica and Michael were taking the picture and Ella G was sleeping...too much wine, I suspect).



2009 is over. I made it through - barely. 2010 is starting fresh. Probably as fresh as you can get. I've purged from my office, car, and home. Now, it's time to start cleaning out my body. Oh yeah, my body could really use a purge. 2010 is showing great promise, and I am optimistic that it will be a good year.
 2009 showed me what great friends and family I have (aw shit, I started to tear up, and had to dab my eyes). They really helped me get through this past year. Of all the life lessons to learn, that is a pretty good one.

For your viewing pleasure, make sure you watch the movie at the bottom.....

Girls Christmas Dinner

Thursday was our monthly dinner and annual gift exchange.  Our dinner was at EVE located at 840 N Wabash in Chicago.  There were 7 of us, and it was a delicious time. The wine was flowing, the gifts were being passed, and as always, the laughs were loud.

Most of us had a salad before dinner, and a couple of us had soup/bisque.

For dinner, 3 of us had the risotto, Liz had the chicken, and rest of us had the scallops.  It was delicious.  The plates were licked clean (not that that is an unusual occurrence).

When it was time for dessert, there were 6 dessert items on the menu.  We ordered 3 out of the 6.  The waiter said, "order 3, get 3 free".  I fainted out of sheer bliss.

I love our dinners; I love the crazy stuff we talk about.  I am a lucky woman to be included in such a great group of women.

Fireflies in October

For October's dinner, it was Pat's pick, but alas Pat couldn't make it, so Stephanie stood up to the plate and picked Firefly at 3335 N. Halsted. The reservation was for seven of us, but then I got a call from Stephanie saying she couldn't make it, and she was really bummed. Then, came the mommy e-mails from Susan and Aimee saying that their baby daddys were not home from work yet, and they couldn't make it either. Then, there were 4.

Jodee Sue and Heather.

Me and Beth.

Jodee and I arrived first, albeit late. At first, they wouldn't seat us until our entire party was there, and Miss Jodee Sue was one hungry beyotch, and ready to leave, but we couldn't because we were waiting for Heather and Beth. (traffic was really bad due to a rainy fall day).
Luckily, they let us sit down before we all got there, or Jodee was going to hit someone. (not really, but for the sake of drama, just go with it).
We ordered wine and appetizers. The wine was WAY good. We had grilled cheese and baked brie for our appetizers. We should really get t-shirts that say: GOT CHEESE?
After gobbling up the cheese and the first bottle of wine (first? YES! we had two bottles!) our dinner came:

Here's where things start to get fuzzy, but I do remember: two bottles of wine, a tilipa dish that was de-lish, and then laughing so incredibly hard, I was in need of my inhaler. But, I only remember one story that made me laugh so hard. I swear, every time that Beth comes to dinner, there is always a great story. And the thing is, is that Beth is so low key about her stories, that it makes it even funnier.
So, a few years ago, Beth asked her African-American co-worker where she got her hair done. The co-worker told Beth, and Beth went to the African-American salon. The hairdresser did his thing (I think it was a man), and when the chair was turned around for the great unveiling of the new hairdo....Beth saw her hair, thought she looked like Carole Brady, and proceeded to tell the man that her hair looked like a mushroom with a stem, and could he please get rid of the stem. So, the stem came off, and Beth went home with just the mushroom part.
Funny enough story, right? Well, here is the part that made Heather pee her pants just a little bit:
Beth went back to the salon for a subsequent visit!

We even had dessert. We split a chocolate thingy and a plate of beignets. Holy cow, those beignets were so tasty.
As I mentioned, I was a little spacey after two bottles of wine, but I do believe that every appetizer, dinner, and dessert plate was just about licked clean (as well as our wine glasses). The food was really good, and I recommend a visit (just make sure your entire party is there so you can be seated right away).
Girls, if I left anything out, please add a comment!

FEAST! The bee's knees

Stephanie's pick for September's dinner was Feast at 1616 N. Damen.
Steph, Liz, Heather, and I were the four lucky diners who had so many yummy choices availabe to us from the awesome menu.
For an appetizer, we ordered guacamole and bruschetta. Both were delicious.
For main courses, I had the butternut squash ravioli,
Heather had the turkey burger,
Steph had the fish tacos,
and Liz had the panko chicken.
I know you'll never believe this, but everyone brought home a doggy bag except me. Yeah, whatever.
Everyone loved what they ordered, and everyone had a tough time choosing what they wanted. When the dessert menu came out, the waiter told us which desserts where the "bee's knees" and the "cat's meow", but we were all too stuffed to take part.

Our discussions had a lot to do with kid issues. Steph's oldest is in college, and got a HUGE hickey the first week of school. Liz has THREE in college and a granddaughter that had a poopie diaper leak on her shirt. And Heather's son didn't have good 'listening ears' at school. I have one that takes off on me at the park and goes to the neighbors' house to mooch for treats, and another that scales the terrace to the neighbor's terrace across the hall.
Kids these days. Sheesh.

Ooo-la-la

In an effort to diversify our food choices, I chose a French restaurant for our August dinner. In all our years as a dinner club, we are fairly certain that we have not dined at a French restaurant. Tres sad! La Sardine is located at 111 N. Carpenter, walking distance from Jodee's home. If I lived there, I would have french onion soup quite often.


I am still kicking myself for not ordering the french onion soup. I ordered the goat cheese salad instead. And while I could bathe in goat cheese, I could also spa in french onion soup. The soup was a popular choice, and all who ordered it were very pleased.

There were six of us for this dinner: me, Aimee, Jodee, Heather, Liz, and Diane. Most people ordered the steak. The complaint about the steak was: too much butter. I really don't think I could ever complain about too much butter. :)


Heather ordered the creme brulee. I have never tried it. I have always been afraid too. You see, I have this aversion to things like: pudding, jello, flan, etc. So, if it can wiggle, I'm not too keen about it. Heather enjoyed it though.
For a French restaurant, the prices were quite reasonable. I am sure I will be going back for the $7 bowl of onion soup. Hmmm, how many times can I mention onion soup in one entry?
I can't wait to see what kind of restaurant Stephanie picks for September. Will they have french onion soup? (I just had to get it in there one more time)

Avoir mes amies