Best Let's Finish Talking About Christmastime in Chicago

Like I said just last night, there are two more things I wanted to talk about from Christmastime in Chicago.

First, I made dinner on Sunday.

Owen was my assistant chef, he did a great job. Things got pretty hectic in the kitchen, but he always kept a cool head. Here he slices apples for our apple, bacon, and spicy nut salad...terrible news, though: I didn't get a picture of the finished product! Can you imagine a bunch of apple slices tossed with bacon, lime juice, bacon fat, and spicy nuts? Ok, good. You just imagined the finished salad.


Our main course was ribeye steak after the manner of a Momofuku recipe. Here are the dear pieces of meat (not deer pieces) before their adventure to deliciousness began.
First I seared them up and then the pots (because we didn't have a big enough frying pan) went into the oven for a few minutes.

Then the steaks received a mighty basting in a bath of butter, garlic, and shallots.

And then they sat and took it easy for a while...that's a vital step in cooking steak, that you let it just take it easy for a while. It's just been through a lot, you know? Especially considering how recently it was eating grass, right?

Another side: a certain famous Brussels sprouts dish.

Dinner time!



I think dinner was a success because Grandma was still talking about it the next morning.

Bonus item: Monday Lunch, Johnnie's, of course.


Monday night the Mulcocks, who are now Evanstonians, came with us for dinner at Las Fuentes. Excellent.

Some Barneses, anxious to make sure the Mulcocks are enjoying their first trip to our favorite Chicagoland restaurant.


I had the stuffed chickenbreast, I had never had it before. Also, the nine of us ate five plates of nachos. That's a new record.

Okay, pretty much I've told you all the real important stuff about Christmastime in Chicago now.