The best thing I ate today - 10/26

The best thing I ate today was the Tilapia Piccata we made for dinner.   This Cooking Light recipe was super easy....lemon, butter, capers, fresh parsley, fish and some pasta.  It was light and delicious yet very satisfying.  I liked the fact that it is newer, healthier take on an old school dish.

The best thing I ate today - 10/25

The best thing I ate today was a very inspired frozen yogurt flavor at Forever Yogurt...Maple Bacon Donut fro yo.  The flavor was well balanced - not too sweet and contained just a hint of smokiness from the bacon, rather than full on pork-in-my-yogurt.  As good as the real thing, probably not.  However, at 100 calories and no fat it was a welcome replacement.

The best thing I ate today - 10/18

The best thing I ate today was the pumpkin sage flatbread over dinner with my good friend and mentor Ron, at Hubbard Inn.  Hubbard Inn is one of those new gastropub/shared plates/mixology/ridiculous cozy new places downtown.  The flatbread was Fall in a bite.  Smooth, sweet pumpkin, sharp toscano cheese and a dollop of sage cream made this an earthy contrast of flavors that all melded together in a delightful way.  The flatbread itself was they way flatbread should be....think and crispy without being too crispy.  And with this dish I do declare that pumpkin and butternut squash season has begun. Let the Fall dining begin!

The best thing I ate today - 10/17

The best thing I ate today was a big old slice of my husbands Bobtail ice cream cake.  This is not the Carvel ice cream cakes of my youth - it is alternating layers of rich chocolate cake and fresh, creamy cookies & cream Bobtail ice cream.  What makes this cake unique is that the middle layer is a classic vanilla ice cream with mammouth chunks of cookies, while the top layer is more of a blended shake-like cookies & cream ice cream. It is the best of both in the world of cookies & cream.  Touches of frosting make this texturally devine, and it was the much-needed end to a long day packed with job interviews.

The best thing I ate today - 10/14

The best thing I ate today was the pulled chicken at Chicago q.  We enjoyed a BBQ feast with our friends Eric and Liza and were well taken care of by the staff at q, including our neighbor Claudio.  We got to sample a delightful array of appetizers and meats.  However, the standout for me was surprisingly the chicken.  By now you readers may have guessed that this little lady is indeed a carnivore.  So for me the chicken on the sampler was kind of a throw away...until I tasted it - juicy, succulent and delicious. I generously topped it with the house sauce and was in BBQ heaven.  And then I got to repeat the whole thing again the next day with my leftovers over lunch.

The best thing I ate today - 10/9

The best thing I ate today was grilled Mahi Mahi topped with a tomato-bacon sauce.  Thanks to Cooking Light for the recipe, this was a perfect Indian summer dinner.  Marc grilled the fish perfectly, and the sauce gave the delicate fish a really nice rich, smoky flavor.  Accompanied by brown rice and served over a bed of garlicy spinach, this was a solid entrant into our ongoing efforts to have fish at least twice per week.  But, the real star of the evening was our dining companion - 70 degree weather alfresco.  Can't beat that in October in Chicago.

The best thing I ate today - 10/7

The best thing I ate today was the chocolate chip cookie sundae at Hackney's.  In preparation for the Yom Kippor fast, Marc and I INDULGED over a meal of burgers, fries, (salad) and this delicious dessert that required and extra 15 minutes to be baked fresh (thanks Marc).  We opted for cinnamon ice cream which did a really nice job of cutting through the sweetness of the cookie, hot fuge and whipped cream.  Thanks to the cookie sundae the "cracks" of our stomaches were "filled in" and we stumbled over to Kol Nidre services just a half block away feeling beyond full and ready to go 22 hours 3 minutes and 20 seconds without eating again (but whose counting?).

The best thing I ate today - 10/3

The best thing I ate today was my leftover Chinese Food from our weekend dinner at Dee's.  As a former New Yorker, I consider myself to be a Chinese food connoisseur.  There are many wonderful things about living in Chicago.  However,  two of those things are NOT the mediocre Chinese Food or lackluster shrimp.  We have narrowed in on Dee's as the best of the Chinese lot here. It is good, not great.  However, the one thing that Dee's really does excel at is their shrimp.  They are big, flavorful and succulent.  My leftovers of shrimp with mixed vegetables in a brown sauce (thank you Dee's for letting me order off the menu) were delicious and hit the NY spot.

The best thing I ate today - 9/30

The best thing I ate today is a ode to my father-in-law, Margie's Ice Cream.  This is a Chicago favorite of his so of course I felt inclined to indulge.  My degustation - a turtle sundae with a scoop of cheesecake ice cream and a scoop of chocolate peanut butter ice cream.  They were topped with silky, gorgeous caramel and a side bucket (well really just a gravy boat but it feels like a bucket) of rich, decadent hot fudge.  I am proud of myself for retiring my spoon halfway through but regretful at the post-dining realization that one sundae would have been plenty to share for all four of us.  Ahhh, what is done is done.