I had a busy day at work today... nonstop from 9 until 8 tonight. The last week has been longer days than usual now that my boss is on vacation to India for 2 weeks. I'm starting at 8 tomorrow just to try and accommodate people. That's all I will say about that.
This past weekend was a good one at least. The weather here in Palatine was a balmy 85, and we were able to enjoy the outdoors for a while. We had a nice walk, and got to enjoy some Ben & Jerry's ice cream. It really hit the spot on a hot day. It makes me glad that we're having ice cream instead of cake at the wedding.
Saturday night we went out for a nice meal at Tuscany, a somewhat fancy Italian restaurant in Wheeling. It was fun to get dressed up and go out on a nice date. I ordered some pasta with sea scallops (they were the biggest scallops I'd ever seen), and Elizabeth had some kind of fancy ravioli with sauteed pears and sun dried tomatoes... I'm not sure how to describe it, but she says that it tasted like Christmas.
I'm looking forward to see how the Bulls do in the playoffs. It's fun now that they are finally considered a contender again for the first time since Jordan & company. The radio stations around here are really eating it up anyways. It's a little hard to tell if they will actually be the favorites to win it all, or if that's just the spin that the local media puts on the team. Too bad that we never made it to a game this year, but at least I've seen Rose play a couple of games. Let's go Bulls!!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Sunday, April 3rd, 2011
Here are some pics from my Man vs. Food challenge at Lucky's Sandwich Shop:
I tried to talk Timmy into joining me for the challenge, to which I received a quick "Are you crazy?" response.
This challenge was much harder than I thought it would have been, but in the end I feel that I gave it my best try... today food won, and rightly so. I dove into my first sandwich and had it finished within 10 minutes. I started with the Capicola, and in my mind it was by far the most delicious and enjoyable of the 3 sandwiches. I would say that the Capicola was the best sandwich that I've had here including previous times when I've enjoyed the Pastrami, the Corned Beef, and the Two Bagger (all on separate occasions of course). However I may have been bias against the next 2 because of the monotonous flavor from POUNDS of french fries and thick bread.
The Cajun Chicken sandwich consisted of a thinly pounded chicken breast which was flavored with a moderately spicy cajun rub... however the consistency of the chicken I found too chewey which did not help me at all. Around the halfway point of this second sandwich, all I could taste for the rest of the challenge was french fries. SO MANY FRENCH FRIES! I finish the second sandwich with around 30 minutes to go...
By now my Pastrami has been sitting for a half-hour, and is now completely cold. The meat itself is tasty, but I am still overwhelmed with bread and fries. I start to hit the dreaded "wall" around the time I start in on the 3rd sandwich. Basically now I am facing two challenges, one because my stomach is saying "enough already!" and because of the bland and non-stop flavor of french fries. I swear the french fries were multiplying in my basket. I manage to keep picking at the Pastrami, and I finish half of it before time expires.
Defeated, I reluctantly stab a plastic fork in the remaining half of a monster stuffed sandwich. You will not see me winning any competitive eating challenges any time soon, and I may abstain from french fries for the foreseeable future. Food 1, Salton 0.
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| We met up with Timmy & Alana around 1:00 at Lucky's. |
I tried to talk Timmy into joining me for the challenge, to which I received a quick "Are you crazy?" response.
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| Menu at Lucky's... for my challenge today I selected a Capicola, a Pastrami, and a Cajun Chicken sandwich. |
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| Timmy & Alana enjoying their normal, human-sized order of 1 sandwich each. I believe Timmy has a Pastrami with Corned Beef and Alana has a bacon & cheese. |
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| My order!! |
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| They have SO MANY FRIES! |
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| Here is Elizabeth's order... Turkey without the slaw. |
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| Diving into sandwich #1, the Capicola & Cheese. |
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| Here I am working on the final sandwich... the Pastrami. |
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| This was the last half of the Pastrami which proved to be too much for my appetite. |
This challenge was much harder than I thought it would have been, but in the end I feel that I gave it my best try... today food won, and rightly so. I dove into my first sandwich and had it finished within 10 minutes. I started with the Capicola, and in my mind it was by far the most delicious and enjoyable of the 3 sandwiches. I would say that the Capicola was the best sandwich that I've had here including previous times when I've enjoyed the Pastrami, the Corned Beef, and the Two Bagger (all on separate occasions of course). However I may have been bias against the next 2 because of the monotonous flavor from POUNDS of french fries and thick bread.
The Cajun Chicken sandwich consisted of a thinly pounded chicken breast which was flavored with a moderately spicy cajun rub... however the consistency of the chicken I found too chewey which did not help me at all. Around the halfway point of this second sandwich, all I could taste for the rest of the challenge was french fries. SO MANY FRENCH FRIES! I finish the second sandwich with around 30 minutes to go...
By now my Pastrami has been sitting for a half-hour, and is now completely cold. The meat itself is tasty, but I am still overwhelmed with bread and fries. I start to hit the dreaded "wall" around the time I start in on the 3rd sandwich. Basically now I am facing two challenges, one because my stomach is saying "enough already!" and because of the bland and non-stop flavor of french fries. I swear the french fries were multiplying in my basket. I manage to keep picking at the Pastrami, and I finish half of it before time expires.
Defeated, I reluctantly stab a plastic fork in the remaining half of a monster stuffed sandwich. You will not see me winning any competitive eating challenges any time soon, and I may abstain from french fries for the foreseeable future. Food 1, Salton 0.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Friday, April 1st, 2011
So I had a REALLY long "half day" at work which really was a drain. Luckily I was able to have a delicious sushi lunch that got my spirits back up! Well, it wasn't technically lunch since it was so late when I got there that they were serving dinner. That made it a little more expensive, but more rolls were available. So YUMMY!
That was the biggest sushi lunch I've had yet! So to summarize:
Round #1:
Round #2:
Why is it so fun to post pictures of sushi just to drool over them later? LOL. I had 40 pieces total! I just think of it as good practice for Sunday's challenge :)
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| A sample of the Sushi Para all-you-can-eat dinner menu. |
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| Round #1: Volcano roll (bottom right), crunch roll (top right), 2 crab, 2 salmon, 2 tuna. |
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| Round #2: Rainbow roll, Christmas roll, 4 salmon, 2 eel. |
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| Another view of round #2... |
That was the biggest sushi lunch I've had yet! So to summarize:
Round #1:
- Volcano Roll: (spicy yellowtail, spicy tuna & spicy salmon inside, tobiko & chili sauce on top) 8 pieces
- Crunch Roll: (crabmeat, cucumber, tempura chips inside, massago & spicy mayo on top) 6 pieces
- 2 crab sushi
- 2 salmon sushi
- 2 tuna sushi
Round #2:
- Rainbow Roll: (crab, cucumber, avacado inside with assorted fish on top... i believe white fish, yellowtail, tuna, and salmon) 8 pieces
- Christmas Roll: (Tuna, avacado, tobiko) 6 pieces
- 4 salmon sushi
- 2 eel sushi
Why is it so fun to post pictures of sushi just to drool over them later? LOL. I had 40 pieces total! I just think of it as good practice for Sunday's challenge :)
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Thursday, March 31st, 2011
TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY!!
Unfortunately, I will not be partying like it's my birthday. Maybe I will wind down and have a beer while watching TV, but nothing much. I worked my usual 10 hour day today, and will have to be at work tomorrow at 7:30.
One of the cool things about birthdays, following the invention of Facebook, is that you get about 40 random people from your life all bombarding your wall with birthday wishes. It really is fun to log on and see all the notifications.
Today really is pretty sweet though... my birthday, soon-to-be brother-in-law Christian's birthday, Christopher Walken's birthday, MLB opening day, exactly 100 days until my wedding... I'm a little surprised that it's not a national holiday.
Unfortunately, I will not be partying like it's my birthday. Maybe I will wind down and have a beer while watching TV, but nothing much. I worked my usual 10 hour day today, and will have to be at work tomorrow at 7:30.
One of the cool things about birthdays, following the invention of Facebook, is that you get about 40 random people from your life all bombarding your wall with birthday wishes. It really is fun to log on and see all the notifications.
Today really is pretty sweet though... my birthday, soon-to-be brother-in-law Christian's birthday, Christopher Walken's birthday, MLB opening day, exactly 100 days until my wedding... I'm a little surprised that it's not a national holiday.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
Post deleted... basically my boss likes to go on vacations.
In other news, I'm getting excited to try my sandwich challenge this Sunday! I may have to go out for some more sushi Friday just to practice eating large portions. Then apparently tomorrow is a big day for me... 100 days left until the wedding you know.
In other news, I'm getting excited to try my sandwich challenge this Sunday! I may have to go out for some more sushi Friday just to practice eating large portions. Then apparently tomorrow is a big day for me... 100 days left until the wedding you know.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Saturday, March 26th, 2011
So last night we had a fun time out exploring local places in Palatine which we had yet to discover...
Tonight we are planning to ride the Metra into Chicago and have a fun night out as well. Got to love weekends... especially when I don't have to work!
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| Enjoying a cold beverage at J.J. Twigs |
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| Digging into our yummy thin crust pizza. |
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| We ordered a medium Italian beef pizza with giardiniera. One of my patients had told me that this was her favorite thin crust pizza in the area. |
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| Of course we needed an order of cheesy garlic bread while waiting for the pizza. |
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| While eating our pizza, a couple at the table next to us overheard our conversation about how we should try Spunky Dunkers Donuts sometime. They both gave a strong recommendation, and so naturally we went there for dessert. |
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| There were lots of options to choose from, so we each decided to pick 3. Mine are on the right... a raspberry jelly powdered donut, a chocolate frosted, and a "lemon drop". |
Tonight we are planning to ride the Metra into Chicago and have a fun night out as well. Got to love weekends... especially when I don't have to work!
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