What I'm Eating... Third & Fourth Weeks of July

My 'fella and I visited the Windy City Rib Fest -- just a few blocks from our apartment!  Mmm, tasty and convenient...

We can't all be good, all the time.  ;)

It's been hot in Chicago these last few days, in the high 90s (with a heat index well over 100-degrees).  Olivia agrees.... hot.

So in Chicago you keep cool however you can, and sometimes that's by running through the "sprinkler" system set up by the fire department across from Wrigley Field.

Believe me, even in my work clothes, I ran through this a few times.

Being a country girl, if the temperature goes above 80-degrees, I immediately have to make sweet tea, and lemonade.  It's like I go on auto-pilot.  ;)

Good hot-weather food?  Fish... paired with a chilled white wine... mmm!

Salmon w/ herb butter, olive oil potato salad, sauteed purple cabbage with pepper & fleur de sel.

Steamed mussels (zomg, SO good!!)

Steamed artichoke... yes, I did eat this entire thing by myself.  :)

Sauteed purple cabbage, tilapia w/ arugula & cherry tomatoes.

Tilapia w/ arugula, orzo w/ dill.

I paired the tilapia w/ arugula & cherry tomatoes, and the salmon w/ herb butter, with this wonderful Riesling from Germany (purchased from Lot18, which you need to check out immediately!).

2009 Manfried Riesling trocken (Germany, Franken)

This bottle had a wonderful flavor, a little grapefruit-y, not too sweet, but certainly not too dry.

The mussels and steamed artichoke were paired with a chardonnay I picked up at Whole Foods last night -- for only $8.99!

2009 Bodegas Nekeas Vega Sindoa Viura Chardonnay (Spain, Navarra)

The Vega Sindoa had a drier finish than what I would typically pick out, but I'm learning that when it's paired with the right dishes, it can be really fantastic.  I ended up drinking more than I should have... hehe, but hey, today is my day off!  I'm allowed to be a little headache-y in the morning.  ;)

Typically once or twice a season, various managers etc. are invited to eat in the United Club (formerly the Stadium Club) at Wrigley for lunch, or if you're really lucky, dinner.

I'm so pleased that they are introducing more locally grown ingredients in their dishes!  This was probably the best lunch I've had in the Club, in all of my three seasons!

As usual, I demolished the cheese table...

From the menu that day, I sampled the Brie, Maytag Blue, St. Andre, and Manchego cheeses; the chef prepared elotes, the cucumber, avocado, and red onion salad, the 18-hour smoked short ribs, the traditional mac & cheese, and of course, the signature 6-layer carrot cake!

Oh, and we can't forget that I made chicken one day, at 10am, before a night game... as well as my now-favorite olive oil potato salad.

Chicken w/ fresh herbs -- rosemary, oregano, sage; olive oil potato salad.

Mmm, fresh oregano might be my new favorite thing!

It's going to be another busy two or so weeks for me... Paul McCartney will be playing two concerts at Wrigley Field, which means I will be running around like a mad-woman the whole time, jealous of the people lounging and enjoying the music and their drinks...  Then the Cubs will be returning for another homestand, and near the end of August, I will be starting school again!  Its a good thing that, no matter how frustrating it is, I really do love my job.  :)

If you also want to enjoy great wines at a significant discount (do I sound like a commercial, hehe?), then start shopping on Lot18!!  After a week or so, they sent me a $10 credit, which allowed me to get that German Riesling I mentioned for only $4.99, no shipping charges... You can't argue with that!