Hiking and Grubbing

This 4th of July weekend, Wayne and I went to Wisconsin for a little vacation. We stayed in Portage, WI at one of the hotels nearby. It was kind of nice to get away and hangout with Wayne. I also was really excited because we were going to go hiking on Saturday at Devils Lake State Park. When I was a freshman, someone I knew had posted some really cool pictures hiking around the park. We left really early from the hotel to get to Devils Head.

Balanced Rock

Which was perfect because once we started hiking we were practically the only ones doing so. We also had researched where we wanted to go. We started on the south shore of the lake and took the Balanced Rock Trail. The trail was a nice place to kick off the hike. The trail is pretty steep and has a lot of steps. We were sweating pretty good halfway though. I could feel it in my legs since it was like we were climbing a staircase. It also sometimes didn't feel like we were actually on a trail because there are so many rocks on the side of the cliff.

 

Wayne Climbing Down

We also never really got to the actual balanced rock. All we could see was a view of it from where we were at. So it wasn't as spectacular we we had expected. We then went to Devils Doorway. It was pretty cool seeing it and also seeing the spectacular view of the Forrest and lake. We also ran into this couple from Indiana. They were very nice and said that they have been to Montana, Kentucky, Virginia, Utah and pretty much everywhere to go hiking. I told Wayne that it would be really cool to go out to Montana or Utah to hike. So, now it's on our list of places to travel to. :)

 

At Devils Doorway

We also saw some rock climbers. We were up pretty high and Ive done rock climbing before inside. I've always wanted to try it outdoors but there's no way I would rock climb at at height. We went down the CCC Trail. It had a lot of scenic views. The only downfall was that it wasn't marked as well it could have been. And we got to the East Bluff Trail which was really nice. 

 

It had just reached around 10am and the sun was beating down pretty good. Luckily for us, the trail was pretty shaded and paved. We saw some people hiking, running or walking their dogs. There was one guy though who was walking his dog down Balanced Rock which was insane for the poor dog. It was hard enough to get up the trail, I can only imagine getting downwards was pretty difficult for the pooch. Then we got to the Potholes trail. 

Wayne Climbing Down the Potholes Trail

It was a really steep trail that had a lot of cool scenic views. Plus the rocks were really pretty. We were breathing pretty hard by the end of it but we had a blast. I was really happy Wayne enjoyed the hiking. He thought it was really fun as exercise and a vacation from the city landscape. I've always wanted a log cabin house. I grew up going skiing and camping, so I've always liked the idea of having a cabin to stay at during the holidays. After our hiking escapade, we decided to grab lunch at this little hopping place called The Log Cabin (fitting I know right?) 

 

Wayne's Mac N' Cheese

There were a lot of cars there and we figured it must be pretty popular among the tourists. Wayne ordered the Meatloaf with Mac n' cheese and pasta sides. While I ordered the Chicken Mushroom and Swiss with corn and green beans. I've always been a veggies kind of girl. 

 Chicken, Mushrooms and Swiss Cheese

The food was alright. We were really hungry after hiking so that might have played a factor. Wayne thought the meatloaf and mac n cheese was pretty solid. But the pasta side was kind of boring and unflavored. The green beans and corn tasted from the can but the Chicken and Mushroom dish was Al's pretty solid. I just wished it wasn't so buttery and that it had more Swiss cheese on it. 

 

Yum pie

We then caved in and got pie for dessert. Wayne got the banana cream pie while I got the pecan pie. Wayne really liked the pie and said it was really delicious. I on the other hand, thought the pecan pie was a bit too heavy. I like there to be a little less sauce on the pecan topping. In short, the food really hit the spot after a great day of hiking. :)

As always, 

"The Couple that Grubs Together Stays Together"

-Grub Couple-

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Double Date

 

Last night, Wayne and I went on a double date with our friends Marissa and Bob. We went to Bop N Grill in Rogers Park since it is pretty close to Wayne and Marissa.

What was pretty cool was that Marissa didn't know that this place was so close to her apartment. I like it when people find great places to eat nearby. :)

  

Bob and Marissa

As for the food, Wayne ordered the Bbq chicken while I got the Bi Bim burger. The chicken was really good and tender, but I wasn't too impressed by the rice it came with. The rice was pretty mushy. But my Bi Bim burger was really good. It had a fried egg, cheese, gochujang (chili pepper paste), lettuce and some other ingredients. I pretty much inhaled my burger. I had been packing all day and was super hungry. What I liked a lot about the Bi Bim burger was that it had some regular bi bim bap ingredients.  

 

BBQ Chicken

 Bi Bim Burger

We also shared some kimchi fries with Marissa and Bob. On Yelp a lot of people didn't like the kimchi fries, but I thought they were pretty good. The kimchi was caramelized and the fries were topped with nacho cheese, bits of bacon and topped with chives.  YUM bacon. Then again, if you put kimchi in front of me I'll devour it. Korean genes yo!

 Kimchi Fries

We thought the food was pretty good. Some people may say that it's a little pricey but I think if you get one of their signature burgers, it's worth the price. In short, we had a fun time on our double date and look forward to dining again with Marissa and Bob!

As always, 

"The Couple that Grubs Together Stays Together"

-Grub Couple-

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One Year Anniversary Dinner

Wayne is going to take me to MK Restaurant for our one year anniversary dinner.  It's my favorite restaurant in Chicago. One reason is because the food is amazing. The last time I had went there I had gotten the salmon and it was perfect. The salmon flaked off almost immediately. I remember I had also gotten concord grape sorbet and dark chocolate creme brulee for dessert and it was absolutely delicious. I also remember the concord grape sorbet was very fruity yet tart and the creme brulee was absolutely smooth and flavorful. The second reason why I love this place is because the atmosphere is great. The last time I had gone, it was for my birthday. Many of the staff members wished me a happy birthday which made the experience more memorable and enjoyable. Plus the service was impeccable and everyone was friendly. So,  I'm really excited to go and experience MK with Wayne.<3

To be continued... :)

**Update**

I'm going to let Wayne write on our experience at MK since it was his first time going there.

Wayne here. Going to talk about our experience at MK and OMG was it terrific! We told them in the reservation that we were celebrating our 1 year anniversary and it seemed like everyone from hostess to waiter to the manager knew of our special occasion. First there was the custom menu below greeting us. I love little things like this because it shows the staff cares about our experience. What I love about the menus are that they are seasonal including the drinks. They tasted sweet with blends of citrus fruits.

 

The menu when we arrived said happy anniversary!

Me looking pretty spiffy drinking my MK's 10 Year Anniversary cocktail

-hangar one buddha's hand citron, st. germain, grapefruit and mint-

 

Emma's cucumber martini

-effen cucumber vodka, coconut water, and lemon-

Emma looking pretty in her blue dress

Our first dish was this awesome tasting watermelon dish. Again they know how to take what's in season and do something special with it. All watermelons should taste as well seasoned as this. Now the scallops were perfectly cooked and the puree complemented it like Pippen did with Jordan. The fries rock. That's all I have to say about that. 

 

Watermelon, pistachio and feta cheese

 Scallops

Amazing gourmet fries

For the entrees, we had the duck and halibut. Both were wonderfully cooked as the texture for both made me think miracles happen. With the duck came some cous cous that made a good side with the duck, vegetables, and sauce. The halibut did not taste like fish, but instead like eating a juicy cloud. Both duck and halibut are often overcooked, so eating them nice and tender makes them worthy entree items. For dessert, we shared each other's beautifully blended pieces.

Duck 

-Grilled la belle farms duck breast, ramps Italian cous cous, green garlic puree

 

Halibut 

-Asparagus and other yummy ingredients that I can't remember-

 

They wrote happy anniversary on our dessert plates :)

 You Put The Lime In The Coconut

Coconut panna cotta, young coconut gelee starfruit, lime, cashew passion fruit sorbet-

Two Bananas Walk Into a Bar

Banana souffle cake, marshmallow macadamia nut, dark chocolate malted banana ice cream-

Cheers! To One Year!

In conclusion, MK did a fantastic job taking multiple flavors and feelings to create something even better. What wonderful imagination this place is and having an impeccable and unpretentious staff is icing on the cake. And what made this dinner so special was the fact that we were able to share two great places we enjoy (Publican and MK) while creating new memories together. :)

As always, 

"The Couple that Grubs Together Stays Together"

-Grub Couple-

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We're back!

Wayne and I are back after a hiatus. (We're still alive and still together lols) But as an update: It will be our One Year Anniversary on June 13th. 

School has been keeping me busy as I'll be graduating from school on June 10th and Wayne has been pretty busy with work. So we haven't had a chance to update our blog frequently. We'll be posting probably once or twice a month since I'll be in Michigan for the summer.

So in celebration of our one year, I bought Wayne baseball tickets to see the Chicago White Sox yesterday and we went to the game against the Seattle Mariners. 

We got the baseball experience as we scarfed down hot dogs, fries and a funnel cake for dessert. It was a really good game.  I got pretty good seats that were close to the bull pen and plus the White Sox won 7 to 4. The only downside was that I didn't dress that warm and I got kind of cold.  

But we had a really fun time together as we always do. :)

Wayne decided to take me out to brunch and dinner for our one year celebration. So we went to The Publican for brunch today. We got there before it opened and were looking at the reviews on Yelp. A lot of reviews had said the red wine poached eggs were good and the Publican bacon too.

Wayne was a little disappointed that the red wine poached eggs weren't on the brunch menu, but once we saw the menu we quickly forgot about the poached eggs. Man the coffee was really good!  I looked at the menu and it said it was a Pqm blend coffee from Intelligentisa. I think my mom would actually like this coffee. It was really rich in flavor but also very smooth.  I had like two cups of coffee, I was tempted to have more but held back.

The BEST coffee ever (seriously tastes amazing)

As for brunch, I got the ricotta & orange buttermilk cake with strawberries, saba and mint and Wayne got the Pork schnitzel and waffle with an apricot rhubarb mostarda. The cake reminded me of pound cake except it had bits of little orange zest and the orange flavor was very faint. The strawberries were so tiny so there wasn't a lot of flavor. But the ricotta was great with cake it provided it a bit more moisture. But I personally think the mint was what made the dish. It provided a fresh crisp taste to the cake and it brought out the creaminess from the ricotta.  I pretty much devoured the dish. 

Ricotta & Orange Buttermilk Cake with Strawberries, Saba and Mint

Pork Schnitzel and Waffles

Oysters

Publican Bacon

We also got two oysters from Massachusetts. I absolutely love oysters and the one I had was pretty good. We then split the Burton's maple syrup braised publican bacon. Wayne said it reminded him of Lechon except much sweeter. I liked it except there was a lot of fat on it. Overall, it was a fantastic and lovely (yet pretty pricey) place to grab brunch.

 

Wayne laughing :)

 

 

As always, 

"The Couple that Grubs Together Stays Together"

-Grub Couple-

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A taste of French

Wayne had gotten a $50 certificate for the Paris Club. I've been pretty stressed out lately from school. Wayne wanted to treat me out to dinner. 

 

The food was pretty good. Wayne got three little dishes while I got the Pacific Salmon entree. I've never had foie gras mousse before. It was pretty funny because Wayne didn't know what was in it, he just liked the dish. I kept telling him that it tasted like liver.  So we Googled it and found out that it is duck or goose liver. It was really good and flavorful. I just found it kind of weird that there was a weird jelly substance on top...(Sorry about the bad quality of photos, my camera was being weird!)

But one thing I found interesting about foie gras was that the technique of gavage dates back to the ancient Egyptians in which they began to keep birds and fattened them through forced feeding. I also never knew how controversial gavage-based foie gras production is in Europe. 

Foie gras mousse 

Lobster Costini- Truffled scrambled egg

Lamb meatballs with a Harissa tomato sauce

Wayne really liked the lobster costini and the lamb meatballs. I liked the lamb meatballs because the tomato sauce complimented them really well.  But I wasn't too impressed by the salmon.

Pacific king salmon with ratatouille, pistou

When my plate first came out the salmon was not cooked all the way. So I had to ask the waitress if they could take the plate back to cook it a little more even though I really hate sending food back.  I think part of me is disturbed after seeing the movie Waiting...  If you've seen the movie, then you're probably aware of why I never like sending food back to cooks. But despite my fear of sending food back to the cooks, I know it's worth it to send back to the kitchen if the fish is totally raw. So, when they came back with my plate, the fish was cooked perfectly through and tasted pretty good. As for the ratatouille, I didn't really like it that much. Personally think my mom's is better. I like that she makes it as more of a stew and I feel like the vegetables taste better together when she makes it. 

Raspberry Chocolate Almond tart

As for dessert we got the raspberry chocolate almond tart. I just love dark chocolate and the crust was amazing. Overall, it was a pretty good meal but what made it amazing was the fact that Wayne wanted to take me out to dinner. 

He's such a sweetheart. These past couple of weeks haven't been easy for me because of all the stress and anxiety I've been having lately. But even though sometimes it seems sometimes that the walls are closing in on me, it helps knowing that I have an amazing support system. It's great knowing that my family, friends and most of all, Wayne are there to help me get through the rough patches in life. I'm so lucky he's in my life for he makes my life sweeter. :)

As always, 

"The Couple that Grubs Together Stays Together"

-Grub Couple-

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