Autumn in one post

Can you believe it's November already? The election is over, Thanksgiving is in a couple of weeks, and time marches on. Time has definitely gotten away from me this season, which happens to be my favorite. Instead of sitting at home blogging about life, I have been out experiencing it but I haven't forgotten about you dear reader! Fret not, I am here to tell you all about how I've been spending my fall. 

October began with a bang in the form of a baby. Julie, one of my best friends, gave birth to her first child, Dane. I got to meet him on his real birth day and he was a snuggly little bug who didn't open an eye the entire time I was holding him.

My friend Brittany had a Sunday funday fall party at her new pad and went all out with decorations. I swear we are kindred spirits when it comes to fashion, decor, and entertaining. I get so much inspiration from her.

Specifically, things like this. So clever!

I got to see my nephew Oliver play a mean game of soccer - or so one might think by looking at this picture, which happened to be the one time during the entire game that he was paying attention to the ball.

I decorated my apartment for Halloween like a fiend. This photo is just a taste. I started at the end of September and I don't think I stopped until the weekend before Halloween!

I got to go to Sonny Acres Farm with these two freaking awesome people who had a fantastic time on the "strawberry."

And I took obligatory pictures of piles of pumpkins.

I had a Halloween party with a fridge stocked full of beer. Ain't no party like a Jacobs party!

And I dressed up as a 70's soul diva a la Foxxy Cleopatra from Austin Powers: Goldmember. That jumpsuit just happened to be in my closet - it was my grandma's!

Then, last weekend, three of my good friends came over for an impromptu brunch. Jessie is not pictured, but that's my pal Becky and her fiance Eric. They're getting married in April and I am officiating their wedding - that is if I don't cry or laugh through the whole ceremony. I can't wait to give them the awesome gift of a personal and meaningful ceremony and I'm seriously just honored to get to be up there with them guiding them into their lives together. More posts on restaurants I've recently visited coming up!

Hash House A Go Go

One of my best friends celebrated her birthday a couple weeks ago with a Saturday brunch at the newly opened Hash House A Go Go in the Gold Coast. This restaurant has been around for about a decade in San Diego and has expanded only to Las Vegas and Chicago. Its forte is "twisted farm food," except nowhere in the restaurant or on the menu is it explained exactly which farms this food comes from. In a city teeming with farm to table restaurants detailing exactly where each component to a dish is sourced, it's hard to believe the people who run this restaurant are anything but poseurs. But, I digress. I arrived at this place before anyone else did, so I did what any normal person would do, settled in at the bar and asked for this:

A meal in itself, this is the BLT Bloody Mary (that set me back 13 bucks), and comes with a slice of bacon, tomato, lettuce, and a piece of bread. But, as amazing as this looks, I've had better Bloody Marys (hello, Joe's Stone Crab). The bacon was obviously made ahead of time, the bread also toasted ahead of time, and the Mary itself? Bland, watered down, one dimensional flavor. Looks can be deceiving.

They are famous for their sage fried chicken so I knew I had to get that. I ended up ordering the fried chicken with maple reduction, 2 eggs, bacon mashed potatoes, and biscuit.

And this is what arrived. Glutton! Party of one! An explosion of food on a plate - portions that could easily feed a family of four. I will admit the flavor of maple syrup over chicken is kind of awesome but I couldn't taste any sage in the chicken itself and the "bacon" mashed potatoes were merely mashed potatoes with two strips of bacon laid on top. The biscuit was overworked and too floury and I'm still not quite sure what the watery tomatoes (in peak tomato season no less) were supposed to add. The flavors of the dish just weren't quite there - no zing.

The birthday girl, Becky, ordered the S'more Mocha, which came with grilled marshmallows and a shot of espresso. She loved it.

Nina ordered the smoked salmon hash, which literally came in one of those Lodge cast iron skillets - yes this is for one person!

This place is also known for their fried chicken and waffles, which comes with frizzled leeks and is piled as high as it can be without tipping over. Every dish is impaled with a tall stalk of rosemary. Yes, this place is twisted.

A vacation to Door County, Wisconsin

Two weekends ago my gal pals and I took a much needed weekend trip to the Hamptons of the Midwest. That's right, peeps, Door County, Wisconsin. After trying to get my girls up there for ten years, we finally were able to plan it and they adored it. It's about four and a half hours away from Chicago and great for a long weekend. There's tons to do no matter what your interests are from biking up the coast, parasailing, paddle boarding, kayaking, to lots of shopping and great beaches. However, there are a few things which you must do if you find yourself in the Scandinavia of the US.

Stop at the Walmart in Sturgeon Bay to stock up on food and supplies. Because no trip is ever complete without a trip to the local Walmart.

Rent a condo and cook half of your meals at home. We stayed at the Landmark Resort in Egg Harbor because this is where I've been staying with my family since I was a little kid. They've got an indoor pool that's open 24 hours and we made good use of it.

Cook an awesome dinner your first night in town.

Walk around the resort and take pictures of the scenery.

Get up early in the morning for a trek to Al Johnson's for some Swedish eats.

Take obligatory pictures of the goats on the roof while waiting for a table.

Take silly pictures in the gift shop while still waiting for a table.

Fill up on Swedish EVERYTHING, including meatballs, pancakes, and lingonberry preserves (not pictured).

Go to the beach because the sun is burning holes in your skin and the only cure is jumping in a large body of cool water.

Later on, for dinner, you must witness the famous Door County fish boil. We went to Pelletier's in Fish Creek for ours.

You will learn how to bone your piece of fish, but it won't work as well as in the pictures because whoever created this manual is clearly a fish boning guru.

But aside from the bones it'll be the best piece of whitefish (caught that day!) you've ever laid on your taste buds.

The next morning you will wake up early to make breakfast, check out of your room, and then drive along Hwy 42 to visit all the shops.

You will take more obligatory pictures with the faux humans at Nan & Jerry's Bait & Tackle in Fish Creek.

Then you will stop at every food market along Hwy 42 from Fish Creek to Egg Harbor.

You will see cherry pies at every stop along the way and kick yourself for not buying one. You were conflicted because Cafe Selmarie in Chicago makes the best damn cherry streusel pie ever ever ever but when you return you will find out that it's currently "out of rotation" from their shop. You will stare longingly at this picture of scrumptious cherry pies.

And really, what trip to Wisconsin is complete without a basket of deep fried cheese curds among the best friends a girl could ask for.

Brunch at Nightwood

On Sunday, Nina and Jessie and I went out to brunch at Nightwood. Nina and I dined there for the first time during Restaurant Week 2012 in the winter. It was nothing short of spectacular - a meal we wouldn't soon forget - so we knew we wanted to get back here for brunch. Service for brunch was decidedly casual (for dinner, silverware used for the first course is replaced; for brunch, silverware used for your first course - in this case bacon butterscotch donuts - is left on the table when the plate is cleared).

Nightwood's menu changes on a whim, or more accurately, with the changing crops. Every week or so the menu is reconceptualized based on what the farm is currently growing and everything is locally grown or sourced. This was the menu for our brunch.

Nightwood serves Intelligentsia coffee (local!), which happens to be my very favorite coffee. The flavors are always slightly nuanced depending on where you get it because they make special blends for just about everyone who carries their coffee.

We knew we were ordering whatever donut they were featuring to begin the meal. It just so happened to be a bacon butterscotch donut. The bacon was chewy and salty and the donut itself was barely sweet. This tasted more savory than sweet and it was really good.

Nina and Jessie ordered the bagel sandwich with Rushing Waters smoked trout, cream cheese, slaw, bacon, and an overeasy egg. I tasted it and it was otherworldly. I would order this in a second if it was featured on the menu when I return. The tots were shredded taters rolled in a ball and deep-fried. Holy greasy goodness, Batman!

I ordered the "Never Eat This Again." It was equally as delicious. New potato, spring onion, 8 year cheddar, foie gras fat (!), house cured bacon, overeasy egg, and maple syrup. The flavors were confetti in my mouth.

When Nina poked a hole in her egg it made a little yolky swimming pool. I would gladly swim in this pool if it were human sized. Runny egg yolks are God's personal gift to me, you know.

I had to get the inside of that sandwich.

And of course the inside of this tot.