OhMyGosh! Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my Father Deary, Rex!

No! I'm not calling my father a monkey! This picture reminds me of the giant artwork that hung above my father's office desk, but his was way cooler.  It was a monkey smoking a cigar, answering the phone, and looking like The Boss Man! ( The internet did not have a replica of it. This is the closest one.)

I got my thirst for the OhMyGosh! from my father. My father taught me to work hard and play hard. I remember spending countless hours sitting next to him at his office watching him write numbers, and more numbers and more numbers, and talk business talk. While I was most likely stuffing my face and leaving watermarks on his desk, I looked in amazement at how awesome my father was. He made working look cool. On weekends, my father and I would go to off-road, motocross, and slalom competitions, and of course drag racing. He also taught me how not to shoot my eye out, and how to peel out before I could drive a straight line. He is also the coolest father in the hood, who trusted me to have the wits and coordination to ride a scooter at age 9. He was not wrong! ( My mother was probably in church praying to all the angels and saints as well.)

My father taught me that life is one big adventure, and not to sweat the small stuff...except traffic! Hey adventure is waiting, and the slow drivers are holding us down! Move! or get crushed! Oh...ohhhhm~

As hard working as my father is, he always had time to drive us to and from school, plan off the beaten path road trips, and never fails at Sunday Funday festivities. Why didn't I inherit his energy?

Thank you Papa for your constant support, for laughing at my cheesy jokes, the fun and unique adventures, being my food guinea pig (remember the scones that turned into "stones" and the flan that turned into soup?), and teaching me not to fear life...but to party with it! I am my awesome self, because you made me that way!

To all the fathers and father figures
Happy Father's Day!
May your kids grow up and think you're awesome. Ha!

Memorial Day Sunday Funday! Part 1 @ Chicago Q

Soundtrack of the day: Summer by Calvin Harris

I still can't believe it! It's Memorial Day weekend! It's the unofficial start of summer! After the rough winter Chicago has had, it's only right for Mother Nature to give us the best weather possible for this weekend.  In the spirit of red, white, and blue, and honoring the troops, it's only fitting that we commemorate this holiday with a good old American barbeque... with Chicago Q as the grill master.  

Not wanting to waste precious sunlight, we started early, as in early enough benefit from Q's bottomless mimosa brunch. When my friends arrived at Q, it seemed as though a lot of people had the same barbeque idea, and was told that it would be 1.5 hr wait for outdoor seating. Somehow, Buddy Jesus was on my side because when I arrived to meet my friends, the hostess sat us outside without waiting 1.5 hrs. My tapeworm thanks you (Brittney/Bridget)!

 This little bowl of pickles arrived along with a bowl of sweet potato chips ( I was too busy eating them to remember to take a pic! Whoops!) I am not a fan of pickles. I would gladly give you my pickle anytime ( uh huh. I set that up just for you.) For the sake of my reading noshers, I figured I would eat at least one, so you know, I can tell you that the pickle tasted like a pickle. Pow right in the kisser! What kind of heaven is this pickle pickled with?! These are sweet pickles, and by sweet, I mean that it tasted like they were bathing in some honey/maple syrup. It was AMAZING! It also had the most subtle, but just right peek of spice. I was starting to think that the chips and pickles were bottomless too. They kept bringing more!  And once again I polished off the bowl of chips before remembering to take a pic.

Que up the grill Q. I'm ready for some meat! I could not decide as to what meat would go with my mimosa, so I opted for the Benedict Flight. This fulfilled all my wishes. You get 3 different kinds of Benedicts:

Southern Eggs Benedict : You get a fried green tomato instead of an english muffin. I never thought I would ever be enjoying a fried green tomato, but I did! The breading around it still had a nice crunch despite the juicy piece of meat resting atop it. 

Smoked Chicken Eggs Benedict: This was my favorite out of the three. The chicken was juicy and tender, and to my taste buds' surprise, the chicken was nestled on corn bread! I typically think cornbreads are gritty and tasteless, but not this one. It had a cake-like consistency, and was perfectly sweet. 

Kobe Brisket Eggs Benedict: Do I need to say anymore? Kobe is all I need to say. 

As if their meat was not well sauced enough, they serve you with different sauces so you can drench to your hearts desire. You have the choice of some mustard based sauce, traditional bbq, spicy, and vinegar. I tried them all, and ended up just leaving my meat as it was served. It was already perfect! If I had to pick my fave out of the sauces,it would be the spicy bbq. I commend Q for giving their diners the option to sauce their meat so no one can EVER complain that it's not "wet enough" (here we go...)

 Now what proper Southern dweller would want to curtsey around with sticky bbq glazed fingers? The Q ends your meal with a nice moist warm towel, so the people who absolutely cannot thoroughly enjoy their piece of barbequed meat without using their fingers can clean them like a proper gent.

Chicago Q's atmosphere transported me to a picturesque southern town lined with plantation houses. The added visual of the horse drawn carriage passing by was a great prop to my fantasy. Wait, what? I'm in Old Town?

No. I did not forget about my mandatory dessert. Stay tuned for Memorial Day Sunday Funday! Part 2 to find out where I got my sugar high. Now go back to work!

OhMyGosh! Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to my mum, Suzette!!!

The Tiger lily reminds me of my mom. I remember way back when I was a little chickling, my mom received a Tiger lily plant, and she then declared it her favorite flower. I have a feeling she does not remember this. So hopefully this jogs your memory mom! (I'll jog it some more when I call you.) It's only fitting for her to declare it her favorite, her name, Suzette, means "lily" or "graceful lily," and she navigates through the jungle of life like a tiger! My mom was my first food and travel buddy. She made the NYC subway seem like the safest carousel ride, I did not even notice the weirdo next to us, and she made the snails from Chinatown seemed so normal...put that in my spaghetti!!!

My mom used to bake and decorate cakes that would give the Ace of Cakes a run for his money. Cooking however, is another story. Growing up, my mom did not cook often, she left it to the people who actually enjoy cooking and don't need a 3 day weekend to recover from that ( I inherited this gene), but when my mom cooks...you'll be asking for more! This was the case of her lasagna. I remember her spending all day or maybe even a few days in the kitchen making everything from the home made pasta to the sauce! From that day on, the lasagna replaced spaghetti's place in my life. I became the human version of Garfield.

When I was old enough to understand that knives are sharp and fire is hot, I took her lasagna recipe and  made it every moment I had...well, minus the homemade pasta. That's too much work! Zzzzz. I rave d about her lasagna so much, that one day I was forced to defend the honor of my mother's lasagna...Um winner! winner! winner! Lasagna dinner! ( I would like to thank the fine men in the USS Cole who broke the tie) 

Cheers to my mom the graceful lily...The Tiger Lily! No other woman can walk through the rocky path of life as gracefully as she does ( she used to be a legit dancer...and is still dancing!). Thank you for  your tiger-like strength that I have drawn from when life kicks me in the shin, while it points and laughs.  You have always showed me how to jump back up...and laugh along! 

Wishing all mothers and mother figures a...

Happy Mother's Day!!!

May your days be filled with good food and good memories!

(The thing about flying out of the nest...I don't have access to the vault of embarrassing pictures. This could be both good and bad)

Viva Las Swedish Day Parade! @ Hugos Frog Bar

A soundtrack to complete your reading experience : Keep on Drinking by Johnny Young

As previously mentioned, it was the Swedish Twins' birthday last weekend. I'm not quite a fan of the word "birthday," because if we really were celebrating our birthday,we'd spend it with our mother, who  birthed us,  and shower her with gifts. Instead, many of us revel in drinking debauchery enough to make  death put his robe on,  and get ready to... Get! to! Work! Let's be honest, you're celebrating you, and what better to do that than a "parade!"

Let the Swedish Parade commence! Instead of getting rumbunk (rambunctious) in a random Chicago bar, they picked Hugo's Frog Bar...inside River's Casino! Ready, set, pretend we're in vegas! 

Our waiter introduced us to these fine pieces of nomery (food, noms, nosh).  No frog legs here! the frog in Hugo's is the nickname of Hugo's grandfather. So we can skip that frog leg adventure.

There was this big piece of meat that looked like Fred Flintstone's dinner, called The Tomahawk. I was too enamored by the meats, I forgot to snap a pic. Here it is...stolen from Google.

We ordered a few appetizers. The parade Grand Marshals ( the twins) are obsessed with oysters.I on the other hand, eat it because it's there. I like my shellfish smothered in cheese.Notice how there are small oysters and big oysters on that tray? It's because Karla Fantastic thinks that the big oysters "look vulgar!"Hmmm...ok I'll leave that to your imagination. 

The second appetizer was the Spicy Tuna Tartare with Sriracha Mayo and Fried Wontons. Every time I got ready to scoop one in my mouth, I kept thinking that I will be eating chips and salsa, then as my taste buds wake up, I realized that it tastes like spicy tuna sushi, minus the rice. How fun is that?! It's like taking a trip to Mexico and Asia all in one bite. I wish it was a little bit more spicy.

 For the main course I had the Cajun Chicken and Crab with Andouille Sausage, Rice, and Lemon Butter.


When I heard we're going to Hugo's, my mouth watered with anticipation for this dish. It's got all your proteins covered; poultry, pork, shellfish. One for every craving. To add to the allure, this dish always leaves me with left overs. Next day gourmet! This time, I really tried to stuff all of it down, but the button on my shirt looked like it was holding on for dear life!  A quick caution for this meal: walking around with your leftovers might clear out the penny slot machine you're dying to play on...or people just think you stink of garlic, etc. Put that doggy bag in the trunk!


What's a birthday parade without cake and candles...and in this case, a dagger ? I've been hearing about the monstrosity of Hugo's desserts from the twins. No kidding!  We got the Ice cream pie with macadamia and fudge, complete with a pep from the staff  that's reminiscent of a Greek chant. This pie looks small in the picture, but don't be fooled, it fed 6 grown adults! Well, ok. This might be small compared to the tower of sliced cake that was paraded by our table. It was approximately a foot and a half tall!  I'll have to go back for that after I come in first place in a marathon...wait, that will be never, so... I'll be back as a reward for driving there. Ha!