The Sweatshop of Love Blog

Thursday night PT decided to make some burritos for dinner!

Burritos!

He sauteed up some onions and green and red peppers, mixed in some beans and spices and burritos were had by all.

Burrito Sandwich Wrap

Wraptacular!

The best part of making burritos is having burrito shells in the house, which means you can make sandwich wraps!

I spread some honey mustard on the wrap, the layered romaine, cucumber, tomatoes, and shaved carrots. Delicious! It made a perfect lunch with my Tigers Suck  Cookies and some doritos.

Handlebar Nachos

Last night we headed over to Handlebar and shared an order of their amazing nachos with a side of fried plantains. We just can’t get enough Mexican!

I’m about to settle in and watch some college football! Love Saturdays! I’ve got my Glorified Necklace in my lap and I’m determined to dive into that lace pattern. My rows are over 200 stitches now and it is driving me insane.

I have been eating amazingly well over the past three days. Just uploading the pictures I’ve taken since Thursday inspired the title of this post. No one in the world has eaten better than I, starting with Thursday’s dinner party with my friends Kasia and Anders. PT and I made guacamole (PT made guacamole), which was nothing compared to what we were served.

Goat Cheese Flan

Starting with this beautiful Goat Cheese Flan served on a bed of salad. The Goat Cheese Flan was unbelievably good until you hit the halfway point, when it became ridiculously rich. I wanted to eat every bit of it, but just couldn’t! It was creamy and thick and cheesy! But non of us could finish it.

Beet Soup

This beet soup on the other hand! I scraped the bowl clean. I’ve never had beet soup before, or chilled soup for that matter, but this was so good. Especially when you got a scoop with goat cheese in it.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with Basil Ice Cream

But the highlight of the night was the dessert. This Strawberry Rhubarb Pie was one of the best pies I’ve ever eaten. The crust was buttery and crisp and flaky, the filling tasted like strawberries sweetly kissed by God. If God had just finished eating a sugar cane field. And the sugar cane field had been danced in by rhubarb fairies. The whole thing was set off so nicely by the basil ice cream! The whole dish was so fresh and seriously perfect in every way.

Friday's Dinner of Sides

Friday for dinner PT and I had some food that needed to be eaten so we combined it into a dinner of sides. Brussel sprouts, plantains, and corn dogs. The brussel sprouts were broiled in the oven in olive oil, salt and pepper. The brussel sprouts themselves are amazing, but the best part of this method is when the outer leaves fall off while cooking and become brussel sprout chips, all crispy and salty!

Poor brussel sprouts get a bad rap. They are usually over cooked and droned in butter at Thanksgiving by meat eaters who have no idea what they are doing.

Fried Plantains

We also had some sad looking plantains laying around that had to be cooked Friday or not at all. So brussel sprouts and fried plantains? Sounds good to me! I pan fried these up in oil and they were better than ever. I had been trying fake butter before, but oil is the way to go. They cook faster and get browner and sweeter in the oil.

After dinner PT and I watched some baseball (the Tigers broke their 7 game winning streak/Twins won= one of us was happy), but it was such a lovely night PT suggested some ice cream. The Sweatshop has had a big week; a nonprofit asked for class donations (exposure! fame!), and I got a nice link on Carrots N Cake (exposure! fame!). There is no better place to celebrate exposure and fame than Margies.

Large Chocolate Sundae, Anyone?

We shared, which I don’t like doing, but it was midnight, and a lady can only eat so much ice cream after midnight before she starts looking like a balloon.

PT was excited. And yes, the sundae warranted that face. Margies never lets us down.

Two spoiled days down, one to go!

Everyone is making a big deal about how Barack makes time for Michelle. They go out to eat! They go for walks around the White House! He looks like he really likes her! They actually spend time together! Like it is a foreign concept to like the person you are married to.

On the other hand, imagine if John McCain would have been elected. Cindy would be so pissed! She would have to live with John for the first time in who knows how long. And the White House would probably be a downgrade from the house she is living in, and John would probably be a downgrade from whoever she is dating now. Would we be talking about how John makes time to go out with Cindy on date nights? Absolutely not. I actually had google ‘John McCain’s wife’s name’ to write this post.

Whitey Barack

PT and I have no need for ‘date night’. ‘Date night’ to me is like what Valentine’s Day is; an excuse for couples who don’t like each other anymore to go out and spend a lot of money so other people will see they still like each other. PT and I like each other, and we do fun stuff all the time.

I know. Weird.

As a joke, we decided last night was ‘date night’. We pretended we didn’t like each other even! Right up until PT put my sunglasses on. You can’t really pretend not to like that face.

Michelle, eat your heart out.

We went to Irazu on Milwaukee. Amazingly, I’ve never been! I’ve lived within two miles of this place for almost five years and I’ve never gone. Thanks to Barack and Michelle, we walked over. I even dressed up! I wore a tank to show off my hot toned arms and a big white skirt that PT promptly spilled coke on.

Patio

The best part about summer in Chicago is getting to eat outside. Irazu just expanded their patio, too, so there were plenty of seats, even for that woman in the blue with her boobs hanging out (unfortunately not pictured).

Veggie Burrito

I ordered the Veggie Burrito: Award Winning! Black beans, yellow rice,lettuce, tomato, avocado, cheese, sour cream & hot peppers. I got my hot peppers on the side, thank god, because they weren’t joking about the hot. There is no way I could have eaten a burrito with that on it. But PT helped himself!

Pepito Sandwich

PT ordered the Pepito Sandwich: Rib eye steak, sauteed onions, cheese, pinto beans & Lizano sauce. I, naturally, didn’t take a taste, but PT said it was very good.

Sweet Plantains and Gallo Pinto

On the side we ordered sweet plantains and gallo pinto, or Costa Rican rice. The plantains were out of control, and the rice was excellent. We ate and ate and were outside and happy! Just like Barack and Michelle would be.

I’m embarrassed now that I haven’t eaten here until now! I’ve been missing out on some seriously delicious food. We can’t wait to go back. If only we didn’t like each other so we had an excuse to go out.

Added Bonus: VERY close to Margie’s Candies! We crossed the street and got cones after dinner.

Saturday was a big day for The Sweatshop of Love. We celebrated our three year anniversary! It was sunny and warm for the first time all week and I couldn’t have been more excited about it. I frosted the cupcakes, I got my knitting together, I grabbed some books to swap, and then realized there was still four hours until the party started.

Muffin Club

Although the blackberry muffins I just kind of made up the recipe for fell, they were still very delicious, and they were more delicious walking around the boulevards in the sunshine.

I Love Rachel

Something else that tastes good in the sunshine? Sure, I made cupcakes, but my love Rachel made this Sweatshop cake! How cute is that? I promised her I wouldn’t send it into Cake Wrecks, and of course it wouldn’t even make it on Cake Wrecks because it is so beautiful, but it had to go on a blog somewhere. Have I mentioned how much I love Rachel?

Tara, Gil, and Martin

It was breezy, it was warm most of the time, and we all stuffed our faces.

Rachael, Erin, and Colleen

Everyone got some knitting in and some Vitamin D. I’m really excited to get another knitting afternoon together very soon, so keep your eyes on your inbox for Sweatshop newsletters!

For me the fun Saturday didn’t stop there.

Sun Dried Tomato, Artichoke Heart, and Olive Deep Dish Pizza

A couple friends and I got together and between the five of us we threw together a green bean and beet salad and this delicious deep dish pizza (thanks Shawna!).

Today was full of classes! The last Sunday morning Sweater Club class, then I ran home, watched the beginning of the tigers game, then ran to Entrelac Workshop. Whew! All the knitting must have gotten my brain working because DAMN PT and I knocked dinner out of the park tonight.

The Best Fish Tacos EVER

After many many tries, PT and I have finally gotten our recipe for fish tacos down perfectly. Pan fry the fish brushed with a little oil and seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Meanwhile, we slice up the avocado and mango. We heat up the taco shells by toast them on the stove top burner. We put down the avocado slices on the shells. When the fish is cooked we flake it and put it on the avocado slices, then put some spicy chunky salsa on the fish and fresh mango on the salsa. Before we eat them we squeeze on a little lime. Holy. Shit. Amazing. But it didn’t end there.

Fried Plantain Split

We pan fried up a plantain in butter, sliced it, and put ice cream on it. It was salty and sweet and SO good! I can’t figure out why this isn’t a thing at every restaurant. Warm and creamy.

‘Do you remember when we made fried plantain splits?’ PT just asked me, three hours after we ate them.

Yes, PT. Oh yes I do.

This weekend was great! Sunny, warm, full of knitting and friends and amazing food. And I’m going to sleep well tonight.

What do you do with 70 sunny degrees and a Friday afternoon? PT and I thought Lincoln Park Zoo, and were not alone. There were maybe 4 children per person running around screaming, all holding bags of Doritos. We had no children and no Doritos, so we were feeling very left out.

Alpacas

PT and I like to joke about how some day in the future we will be farmers. We went around the zoo collecting animals for our imaginary farm. I, of course, grabbed these two pretty Alpacas. They will be not only good for yarn making, of course, but appear good for snuggling.

Flamingos

I also want Flamingos, which will serve no practical purpose, I just want them.

Very Loud Tiger

This tiger was so loud! I kept trying to make jokes about how it was hungry for some mariners, but it never worked out. He isn’t coming to the farm.

Happy, Despite Lack of Doritos

We both hadn’t been to Lincoln Park Zoo in a couple years and had a great time! We spent the whole afternoon outside, and were so happy to be able to do it.

Shrimp Pasta

We came home and made the most amazing shrimp pasta! We sauteed up some garlic in oil and butter, added the sun dried tomatoes, shrimp and broccoli and tossed all that with the whole wheat pasta and parmesan cheese. Out of control! SO good.

Saturday PT and I spent the whole day outside, walking around to local businesses and leaving Sweatshop flyers before lunching at Handlebar, one of our favorite restaurants. We ran home, made some kebabs and plantains, and biked over to a friend’s house for a bbq.

Grilled Plantains

These turned out so great! I just made a foil pouch, sliced up a couple plantains, threw in a couple globs of butter, sprinkled some salt and pepper and they turned out so well! Soft and sweet and charred in some spots. I’m going to have to buy some and bring them to Michigan when I go in May so the family can try them out. I know they will love them! We don’t see plantains around those parts.

A couple oat combo examples:

Oats, milk, cinnamon cereal, raisins, and raspberries

Oats, milk, canned pumpkin, and Kashi cereal

Today for lunch PT and I perfected the quesadillas I made for myself on Thursday of last week.

Goat Cheese, Tomato, and Spinach Quesadillas, Take Two

Much better this time! We threw in the spinach when the onions were caramelized for a few minutes, just to wilt the spinach a little. These quesadillas weren’t soggy in the least. PT even made guacamole, so we had both guacamole and salsa to dip them.

Now I’m just chilling, watching the Tigers game. It is rainy; the excuse I need to stay inside and get some work done. Must block the sweater dress! Must tidy apartment! Must knit my new sock!