The Sweatshop of Love Blog

Don’t you hate when you run out of bread? I make my own bread so you would think this would happen to me rarely, but last night I found myself with a mad cheese craving and no bread.

So I threw some ingredients in the bread maker, and 3 hours and 20 minutes later I knew I would have some delicious honey grain bread. Until then, I needed cheese in meal form, which is hard to come by with no bread.

Cheese and crackers really isn’t a meal; I could have cooked up some cheesy pasta but I wasn’t really feeling that, either. What I wanted was a fatty grilled cheese sandwich with some fancy Dubliner cheese.

Mini Sammys

Then I remembered the bag of frozen English muffins in the fridge that PT and I made ages ago that I always forget about. I dug out four plain ones (cheese and cinnamon raisin English muffins didn’t sound appealing), defrosted them, covered them in butter and threw them in a hot pan. I made an only Dubliner cheese one, a Dubliner cheese and zucchini one, a Swiss, zucchini, and mushroom one, and a cheddar and mushroom one. I just kept them on there until the cheese melted, which was hard because I was really excited.

Yummy

To say these turned out well is an understatement. The mushroom and cheddar one was out of this world and I should have made another one of those. The one I was most looking forward to, the just Dubliner cheese one, was my least favorite. STILL amazing, but, after eating the rest of them with the veggies cooked perfectly in the melty cheese! It just didn’t have enough going on.

Seriously.

I was thinking about how much work making those English muffins was, and it was a lot of work. An entire afternoon’s worth of rising and kneading and cutting and rising and babysitting and frying and cooling and dusting. But I would make them again just so I could have these sandwiches at my disposal always. It just wouldn’t be the same, I don’t think, cutting up regular bread into little squares and making them that way.

Sammy

Then I went to Margie’s with Sam, who’s place of employment just went under. Confused about the future? Feeling like no one will ever love you? Go to Margie’s Candies!

I tried to convince Sam to start a blog about all the internet dating he does, but separated into two identities: Douche Sam, who takes out Wrigley sluts, and Regular Sam, who takes out the nice, literary types. It would be hilarious! For me. It would totally be optioned into a movie or an HBO series.

(If you are looking for a nice boyfriend with a nice dog, also named Sammy, and you don’t have a peg leg, email me and Sam will be your boyfriend)

I got the turtle sundae that I ate too fast to take a picture of. It came, I inhaled it, I gave the rest of my hot fudge to Sam so he could mix it in his cookies and cream shake.

‘This is going to hurt later,’ Sam said.

‘I’m counting on it.’

And it did.

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.