The Cooking Idea: Pasta Carbonara

A couple of days ago, Max decided to surprise me with ingredients for pasta carbonara! The recipe we used (with a few minor modifications) can be found in epicurious: Spaghetti alla Carbonara.

We cooked it together in our dorm kitchen. Some highlights of our fun time cooking:

- we were pestered by a few friends from our floor to cook them bacon, so I reluctantly obliged (my friend Rajan said that he wouldn't stop making chinese jokes unless I made him some...)

- Max couldn't stop crying (he blamed it on the onion)

- we didn't have a sharp knife (imagine cutting raw bacon...)

The final result was very delicious! It looks tasty, doesn't it? I suggest you try this recipe yourself.

The Sightseeing Idea: Navy Pier

If you've never seen the Chicago skyline, the Navy Pier is definitely one place to do it. Although we went in the winter, I would suggest visiting in the summer, when the temperature outside isn't unbearably cold and when everything outside is open (including the outdoor shops and the theme park). Max and I walked in the mall for a while, toured the arboretum, looked at the stained glass gallery, and took a very (VERY) short walk outside. We happened to stumble by a nice couple outside who took a beautiful picture for us (see above).

By coincidence, there was a cheer and dance championship (!) happening in the mall at the same time, and seeing kids younger than 10 in short shorts with belly buttons showing and heavy make-up was a very unsettling sight. What has our world come to? I swear, I would never let my kids wear such a skimpy outfit when the weather outside is below freezing (actually, I wouldn't let them wear something like that at all).

Anywayyy, the stained glass gallery was nice. There were a few Tiffany pieces on display and I even took a picture of my favorite one:

I guess my only complaint is how expensive parking was ($18!). Although it's to be expected in a big city, I can't say that our 2 hours there was truly worth it. I'm sure it's much better in the summer. I would say that the Navy Pier is one of those places that you visit once every 10 years (or more).

The Food Idea: The Grand Lux Cafe

If you've ever been to the Cheesecake Factory, the Grand Lux Cafe shouldn't be too much of a surprise for your palate. Being a part of my family easily qualifies you as a seasoned veteran of all things Cheesecake Factory. It's not uncommon to see the Alexander clan, five deep, sitting nicely at a table within The Factory's hallowed walls. We put our aggressions aside and replace them with the worldly (but still Americanized) dishes of the Cheesecake Factory's menu.

Conceptually, the Grand Lux Cafe is nothing more than a Cheesecake Factory with a sprig of parsley perched atop its faux-Venetian exterior, but it's that extra sprig of parsley that makes the entire experience feel all the classier. While the Grand Lux's added class is nice, though (and I still enjoyed my time there), it doesn't completely annul the problems that the restaurant faces.

Upon entering the Grand Lux Cafe, you are enveloped by a whirlwind of orange, yellow, and dark red that gives a casual (yet still somewhat refined) sensibility to the entire restaurant. It's not entirely convincing, but hey- I'm willing to put aside my critiques if it means I can enjoy a good, solid meal. Clara and I were seated in a circular room overlooking Michigan Avenue, lined with artwork of a decidedly modest style. The view was nice, the ambiance was welcoming, and our waitress was eager to help.

As I'm familiar with both the Grand Lux and Cheesecake Factory menus, I decided to order one of my favorite standbys: chicken enchiladas (boring, I know, but hey- they're good). Clara, more adventurously, ordered the restaurant's DeLux Breakfast Sandwich, which promised all the protein-rich fixings of a home-style breakfast (and then some) sandwiched between two slices of brioche. Both dishes were, as expected, above average, and were perfect fuel for the day ahead.

Don't get me wrong, I love this restaurant, it does what is advertised. The Grand Lux Cafe is a consistently adequate, fairly classy restaurant. Like a workhorse in a tuxedo, it gets the job done while still maintaining a refined sensibility, accessible to even the most unexperienced of tenderfoots in the world of fine dining.

The Travel Idea: Chicago (Revisited)

A few days ago I posted about our plans to take a day trip in Chicago, which has come and gone. Because the whole point of this blog is to keep you, the reader, posted on our thoughts regarding the things that we experience, here's a general list of the events of our Chicago day-trip:

1. Lunch (Grand Lux Cafe)

2. Sightseeing (Navy Pier)

3. Shopping (Michigan Avenue)

4. Dinner (Piccolo Sogno) (spoiler: yum)

5. Concert (Chicago Symphony Orchestra)

6. Dessert (Hot Chocolate)

7. Brunch (Tweet)

In the following days we'll bring detailed coverage of our time and our thoughts on how The Windy City treated us!

The Book Idea: Water for Elephants

I just finished Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants today. It was an amazing read, worthy of the 6 hours I spent on it. The book is about a 90- (or 93-) year-old man who reminisces about his time working as a vet for the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Sara Gruen's writing style is spectacular and gripping, employing numerous words foreign to me (such as bowdlerize, which means to remove material that is considered improper or offensive).

Max's and my original plan was to read this book at the same time, but nothing ever goes according to plan, right? Anyway, I told him he would love this book (there are, after all, three sex scenes in it...)

I would also strongly advise everyone out there to read this book as well. It's superb. The average 4.5 star rating from 2,121 users of Amazon agree. And they're making a new movie as well (even though they're starring Robert Pattinson as the main character). Take a little time out of your hectic life and read this now before there are over 200 hold requests at the library.

The Travel Idea: Chicago

We're going to Chicago tomorrow. Why? Well, why else? To eat, shop, walk around, see the city, and do all sorts of big city things in a very big city way. We'll keep the internet (and all our followers, if we have any by the time this post goes up) updated as to where we go, what we eat, and the photos we take. It'll be as if The Ideogram is coming with us on our day trip. So, readers (if you're there), I ask of you this: suggestions for Chicago? Suggestions for other cities? Are there any 'must-go, must-see' places in this (or any) big city that we should check out?

Leave thoughts in a comment below and we'll make sure to check it out.

Stay tuned tomorrow to see how our trip goes!

The Food Idea: Bella Vita Italian Grille & Pizzeria

A few of my girlfriends and I decided to go out to lunch today. We decided to go to Bella Vita, a new restaurant on the west side of Madison, WI. In a building that previously housed the Tilted Kilt, this new restaurant has surely undergone a serious renovation. The interior has a warm, cozy, and family-friendly feel.

The lunch menu had a variety of appetizers, salads, wraps, sandwiches, and pastas. I ordered the Smoked Salmon and Cream Sauce pasta, a spinach fettucini topped with smoked salmon and capers, which I thought was a good deal priced at $11.99. Although the restaurant wasn't too full, the food took much longer than anticipated. (It was good thing we had things to talk about.) When our food arrived, the wraps my friends ordered looked much tastier than my salmon, which was undercooked and practically raw in the center.

On the way out, one of my friends pointed out that there were many pictures on the walls and commented, "I wonder if they are real people?" I thought it was hilarious at the time, but she merely wondered if they had names behind their faces.

I will probably go to the restaurant again in the not-so-near future, but most likely order a wrap (they come with sweet potato tots, yum!). I've also heard that their pizzas were to die for...