the view from here

18th Street Park

Friday was awesomely warm and Lev was positive that we were done with winter. *BUT* this is Chicago (where we're never done with winter), and last night he came into bed and said, "It's gotten really cold and there's two inches of snow on the ground! What IS this?" It ain't over till it's over.

To fend off Lev's winter panic, today I'm making beef stew. While researching beef stew on the Internet (I abandoned all my cookbooks when I moved across the country...I regret this) I came across a "Cuisine of the Midwest" recipe trove. It was worse than I thought--like, I always joke that moving to Chicago from the west coast is a shock because once you get here the locals hand you a brick of cheese and say "Welcome to the Midwest." I mean, I can get down with the occasional macaroni and cheese, but these recipes? The main ingredients are Campbell's condensed cream of mushroom soup and mayonnaise. Apparently, a beef stew recipe is enough to make the Internet think that what I'm really looking for is more ways to ingest heavy cream. Hmmm...

Along those lines (i.e. crummy midwest foodstuffs), a really, really great thing happened Friday night, which is that Lev took me to the best grocery store I have ever been to in Chicago! Seriously. Great, organic produce, organic dry goods and, best of all, affordable. This is huge! Since we moved here from Portland we have been looking for an acceptable grocery store that is NOT whole foods. We live on the south side, which apparently makes things harder (?), but upon setting foot in La Casa Del Pueblo I decided that we are STAYING! Because as you may know, I semi-compulsively fantasize about moving--be it to a different neighborhood or a different city. It's been looking like we are going to remain here in Chicago, though, because of the (omigod let it be) hopeful job and because Lev is onto some brilliant job and school-related stuff as well. New York may be on hold.

And today while walking back from the store, I started seeing summer in my neighborhood. Warm reds, oranges and yellows. I took some photos, enjoy.

Pilsen Window

18th Street, Pilsen, Chicago

Los Libros Bookstore, Pilsen, Chicago

The New and Used Store, Pilsen, Chicago

Mini Mariachi, Pilsen, Chicago

Small Summer, Pilsen, Chicago