The Holidays

By Lu

Whew! The last couple of months were filled with foods. What can any of us say with the holiday season is in full swing? It started with Thanksgiving, and then not long after that, Christmas. Now, here comes New Year. Then, after that, Chinese New Year, Valentine's Day....and then, my own holiday, my birthday! All of these holidays are eating holidays. Brace yourself with the storm of food coming your way!!

THANKSGIVING
I went away for Thanksgiving to go back to Indonesia. You would think I was able to avoid the whole piggin' out all day, getting sleepy after scarfing down some juicy turkey in front of the TV as I would be watching The Bears getting their ass kicked. No! Even though I was away from the homeland of Thanksgiving, I wasn't able the avoid the wrath of turkey day.

Hertin, Chika, me, and Peggy (on Skype) in Singapore

I was in Singapore during Thanksgiving week visiting my friend, Chika. She asked me to cook real American Thanksgiving dinner. So I did. We both worked our butt off making a roasted turkey, corn pudding, mashed potatoes, gravy, and homemade pumpkin pie. It was a lot of fun though hard for me cooking not only in a kitchen that's not mine, but also in a different country. Surprisingly I found what I needed rather easily. It wasn't hard to find herbs like fresh Thyme and Sage - herbs that I couldn't even know how to translate to Malay. Chika invited two of our childhood friends as well to have dinner with us, Febrita and Hertin (who to this day are still both pregnant). It was so much fun to catch up. Peggy, our friend in New Zealand, was joining us cooking through Skype. It was so funny she was there through video Skype almost the whole time! She could probably smell the turkey! Ineke, who is one of our food warlord, was supposed to join us but couldn't make it due to her daughter becoming ill. Too bad, but she did get some leftovers.

Our Singaporean Turkey

Sorry bad pic, but we're happy - at Ri and David

After several ordeals with the oven, and no thermometer to be had, we managed to cook a real perfect golden brown juicy turkey. Hallelujah! Everything came together quite well at the end, and we had a great dinner and a great reunion. I have never dreamed that I would be sharing turkey dinner in Singapore with all Asian people! But, it felt and tasted like Thanksgiving. I was thankful for my friends and for being able to see them again after all these years. Good thing Febrita and Hertin were eating for two because we had tons of food. Though the turkey was small compared to what I used to back in the US, it was still a lot for us.

Then, a couple days later, Ri also made a full thanksgiving meal. Thanksgiving is David (Ri's husband)'s favorite holiday. So, they really took it to heart in cooking everything themselves. I didn't help but just showed up and ate. Fine by me. I already cooked a turkey. Ri and David made everything from scratch. Other than the obvious, she also made sweet potato pie, cranberry relish, bacon and sage dressing, David's mom's famous corn pudding, strawberry rhubarb pie and a completely made from scratch pumpkin pie. Yep, she didn't use Libby's pumpkin. She killed Jack O' for her pie. It was fun to share Thanksgiving dinner with my parents, my sister and bro in law, and two close friends to Ri and David - Shilla and Justin. It was a great night.

CHRISTMAS

Sugar cookies - unfrosted

What I love about christmas is the cooking and baking that are entailed with this holiday. I simply love Christmas because it means my cookie factory would be open. There's nothing I love more than baking christmas cookies while listening to christmas carols. It's just my ultimate favorite baking time. Both my mom and Ri also bake christmas cookies, but each of us bake different varieties of them. However, we all bake cut-out sugar cookies that we decorate with tender loving care. We also bake our favorite cherry covered chocolate thumbprint cookies. It has been popularized in Indonesian as "kue konde" since it resembles a hair bun according to some people.

For me, it has been a tradition to bake cookies every Christmas. I have been doing it for many years and now, my friends expect them. Some of them even contribute sugar and flour because they felt after all these years, if it was money in the bank, those would have had some ROI. My friends are so sweet but definitely it wasn't necessary. Wish they knew what joy it brought me to be able to bake some cookies to share.

I really take cookie making seriously. After years in making cookies, I have accumulated many tools and decorating supplies. Some people asked me how did I make my cookies so perfect and so nicely decorated? The only thing I told them is "time." I took my time with each cookie. Some took forever and it did require a lot of time.

My decorating Supplies

Frostings

Another secret I would share about making a simple chocolate chip cookie is that I put extra salt in mine, and used regular salted butter. My chocolate chip cookies are salty compared to the regular ones. However, it really balances the sweet and savory and you can eat tons of them! If it's predominantly sweet, you probably had one or two, and you would be done. If you eat mine and you love chocolate chips, you'll put away several. With a glass of milk, it's worth the extra poundage on  your waistline!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Covered Cherry Thumbprint Cookies

This Christmas, I was also lucky enough to be trusted by my dear friends, CK and Sabrina, to cook for their Christmas dinner. They invited twenty friends to share a nice meal together and they asked me to come up with a menu. So I did. I made it into a conquest of solo cooking. I came up with a big menu and for the most part I cooked every single thing in the menu.

For appetizers I made homemade Spinach Artichoke Parmesan Dip, Salumi and Cheese Platter, and Shrimp Cocktails. I didn't make the cheese and the shrimp. I hand picked the cheeses (Tallegio - my favorite, Manchego, Roquefort, and a Triple Cream Cheese paired with Prosciutto di Parma and Mortadella. The spinach dip - I made from scratch. I forgot to get some mayo, and I didn't have some at home. So I whipped one together real quick. Even, the mayo was homemade.

For main course I cooked two proteins: Crown Roast of Pork stuffed with Apple Sage Sausage stuffing, and braised short ribs cooked in Burgundy wine and demi-glace reduction. The sides were Duchesse Potatoes (milled potatoes mixed with egg appareil, piped and broiled), sweet potato casserole, corn pudding (always a favorite), green bean almadine, cauliflower with mornay sauce, and citrus cranberry arugula salad with a yogurt poppyseed dressing. I also made three types of breads - cranberry and golden raisin wheat bread, sourdough country bread, and Challah bread.

For desserts we had Hazelnut chocolate torte, christmas cookies, apple cobbler with vanilla ice cream, and butterscotch pecan pull apart bread that I made with the challah dough.

All the food I made for the Christmas party

The whole dinner was a success. I surprised myself that I managed to make most of the food on my own. I got some help from my sous chefs - CK and Sab's nanny, "Aunty" we call her; and, Nathan. Nate was so awesome in helping me with my tasks. I was getting a tad nervous at the end racing with times. Now, I understood what those people were going through in the television show, "Top Chef", when they had to finish cooking within a certain time limit. It was nerve-wrecking. However, we had it under control. The pork came out real nice and juicy, almost perfect. I would want the stuffing to be a little more brown, but it was fine. The short ribs was a hit, and people fought over it. I should have made more.

I wasn't too happy with the chocolate cake. I thought it was too crumbly. It was pure chocolate with very little flour. Super rich, and there was no leavening at all. But it needed some sauce or ice cream to help it. The big hit was the Butterscotch Bread. Everyone went crazy for it. Even some who only looked at the picture have requested me to make them some. It was super easy to make. The recipe online is only requiring you to use either frozen rolls or biscuits. I made my own dough since I was baking bread to begin with. However, if not, it would be super easy.

Me, happy.

I couldn't describe my feeling after I was done and looking at my hard work and creations on the table. A surge of pride came warming me up inside. I haven't felt like that in awhile but it was such a pleasing feeling to have. To see your friends' face happy enjoying the food, giving you compliment, or giving you a face of disbelief were beyond priceless. It was worth every single sweat and throbbing ankles.

I had so much fun this Christmas. I had been hoping that my Christmas this year wouldn't be the same as several Christmases in the past. I was hoping for some happiness in my life, some warmth, and no more feeling far removed from people you love. I was afraid this Christmas would be same old same old. It wasn't. It was filled with laughters, friends and love, great food, and so much warmth from the fact we didn't have a white Christmas this year, the glow we got from the great top shelf wines and champagnes CK provided for all of us to savor with our dinner, and from all the great friendships we share. It was truly one of the best Christmases ever, though I was so far away from my parents and sisters.

What a great Christmas spent with great friends!

Christmas is over now. Now we look towards  the future for 2012 to come. It is around the corner. My host mom, Cherryl, always says "live, love, laugh." For the first time in awhile I know I am living my life that way. I am living, loving, and laughing...and eating!

Today is the last day of 2011. I am saying good bye to a year filled with development, and improvement. It was a year of self discovery for me. I can say I am pleased with what I found.

My November Trip - Part 1: An Afternoon with Daniella

By Lu

Ri, Lu, and Daniella

Hello world! I found a way out from the land of the lazy and I am actually typing away. November was gone in a blink of an eye. I didn't know how that month just passed me by. However, that's what happened when you were having fun. I certainly had so much fun in November. Not only that I started the month with tons of fun with my friends here in Chicago, but I also got to go home to see my family and friends in Indonesia and Singapore.

It was one of the reasons why I have been slacking big time. I wanted to blame it on my sister, Ri, who since moving back to Indonesia, loses track of time and can't find it to write. We bickered back and forth about the importance of us keeping up with our writing to keep our blog alive. However, instead of leading by example, I succumbed and followed. Yet, I managed to bounce back. After regaining some new found energy from almost three week long vacation, overcoming a horrendous jet lag, here I am attempting my best to entice you one more time with a blog post.

There were so many highlights of my trip I could tell you about. Mind you, I go home every year. This trip has been done over and over again. I couldn't even think of what things to take picture of. I've seen the sceneries year after year. I know the people so well and I don't need more pictures of them. All were too familiar. When a friend of mine, Nigel, asked me to take lots of pictures, I was worried of what I could show him. I didn't take the usual vacation pictures. Instead, I took pictures of what I thought were cool. However, the pictures I took turned out to be mostly food pictures and stray cats. Well - what could be better?

I tried to be artsy in my picture taking; but whom am I kidding? I still suck at pictures. I had fun doing it and I couldn't wait for my friend, Peggy, to pick it apart. Yet, I don't mind the criticism. I still do it and can't wait for the next time she will give me shit about my pics. Lol. Love you, Peg. She makes me a better photo taker believe it or not. That's a hard job to do. Because of her, my Leica got some air time and not sitting on my top shelf collecting dust. Pun intended.

Going back to the highlights of my trip,  here's one of them: I got to spend an afternoon with an old old friend, Daniella Tjahjanto. Other than a friend, she's also an amazing photographer. Should I call myself lucky or unlucky being surrounded by great photographer friends? All of them are amazing except me. Almost all the girls in my food war army are accomplished photographers. Peggy Muliadi, the ballbreaker - amazing pictures always come out of her Nikon. My friend, Chika and her husband, Dominic, always take fabulous pictures. Liza Wibisono - she's getting wickedly awesome in her fashion photography. Amazing! Ineke - her recent Dubai pictures made me want to book a ticket there this second!

Daniella, however - there's something about her pictures that evoked something within me. Hell, I am sure it evokes something in everyone who's seen her pictures. They're just so beautiful, feminine, and whimsical. I featured her several times on this blog: What Lies Beneath a Photograph and my mother's day post. I just simply love love love her pictures. After I first featured her here, I made an appointment with her for a photo shoot in November when I would be home. I was more than ecstatic that we actually made it into a reality.

Even though Ri and I had been bickering about writing, I've planned to do the photographs of us for our blog. It was months in the making. I had all kinds of plans of what I wanted to do with the pictures. But, too bad it was like a self sabotage situation. When you wanted something to be so perfect, you unconsciously butchered it. I wasn't prepared at all. I had planned to go on diet so I could be super svelte on these pictures. Instead, I managed to gain all kinds of weight before the photo shoot. I envisioned having abundance of food, and props. When the day came - I had zilch. I was a little disappointed in myself. But then again, when  you're on vacation and not in your usual element, it's quite hard to be on your A game. Nevertheless, Daniella kept me on my toes and kept telling me that we would still do it though I kept attempting telling her if she was busy, we could axe it. She said - No..No..No...we have planned this for months, we're doing it! Yes, mam!

When we got to her house, it was simply amazing to see her again after maybe more than twenty years. She was my grade school friend, and I still wonder at times how we could manage to hit it off after all those years. There was a short awkward moment in the beginning since there were so many years in between our meets. We talked online but haven't been face to face in years. Last time I saw her, I was still wearing a training bra. Now, I need a boob lift!

She looked exactly like her pictures. - graceful, willowy, beautiful mother of four daughters. She was probably horrified when she saw me of how much I gained weight. But, no matter how things changed physically - inside everything is still  the same, and thus why we could carry on as friends.

Ri joined us, and she made a new friend in Daniella. Daniella served us lunch before taking pictures. We talked and reminisced about the good ol' days. Awkwardness went away and we were ready to take pictures. What a blast that was!

I'm posing...

She kept making fun of me and my amateurish ability to pose. I tried my best to be natural and that I was a model who's doing this for a living. I failed royally but laughed happily. There were moments of when I took pictures with my sister that I felt how great it was being able to do this with her. When I saw my sister being photographed on her own, I also realized how beautiful she is and how proud I am having her as my sis. I hope she felt the same way about me. I could imagine how great the pictures would be and how fantastic it would be on our blog.

Then, Ri and Daniella made fun of me on how I positioned my hair strategically to cover part of my chubby cheek. They said I had only one eye since the other eye was always covered by the hair. But it was really my signature look.

All Daniella's outdoor shots looked simply breathtaking. It was pouring rain that day and I didn't think we would have a chance to take pictures outside. I was quite happy with the pictures we took inside. Daniella was superb in using only natural lights and minimal set. The pictures looked so glamorous and chic. I couldn't believe it. However, God granted us a chance to do some outdoor shot. Lo and behold, I shouldn't be surprised that Daniella got all kinds of props. I always wanted to do a picnic shot. Thank God to Daniella that she had everything to make it happen. Everything!

Ri, looking graceful and serene

My sister and I

It turned out taking pictures outdoor wasn't so glamorous as the pictures themselves. Holy cow, we were outside in this beautiful grassy field, filled with big shady trees and various types of hays - beautiful spot for a picture. We were there five minutes and we were eaten alive by mosquitoes, ants, and grasshoppers. Daniella was prepared with mosquitoes reppellent, but we were still bitten everywhere. These pictures better turned out good I thought inside.

Ri was actually scratching my shoulder...itchy!

It was a very fun day with an old friend. I had such a good time taking pictures and it was a very memorable experience. It was a pleasure to be photographed by such talented photographer. Daniella is featured by so many publications within Indonesia and outside the country. I felt so honored that she was willing to photograph me and my sister. It was so much fun to see her four daughters in person. God knows I've seen so much of their pictures. They're even more cuter in person, and I was happy to make acquaintance with their hamsters, especially the big but "Butter". It was a great afternoon with my friend.

I was also glad that Ri and I got to do this. After all the bickering we've done about writing;  I hope that we both persevere as sisters as well as writers for this blog. I hope we can find it within our hearts to realize that this is not only about writing for a blog; however, it is about the very vehicle that brought us closer as sisters. I remember the days when we talked and collaborated about a post. I hope those days are coming in streams again.

I hope I hope.

Love love love our pictures, Daniella. If I could say it one word of how I feel about my afternoon with you, and the results - STELLAR!

Stay tune for the next highlight of my trip! We're going to Singapore next!

Slacking BIG time!

By Lu

Sorry folks that Ri and I have been super slackers lately with our blog. I am currently traveling and hoping to have tons of new materials to share with you. Bear with me. I guess once in awhile, it is great to just let go and not do anything at all. Though, it wasn't really the  case but I am definitely slacking. Don't hate me, just wait for me. I'll be back with a vengeance!

Cheers,
Lu

County Line Orchard - Hobart, Indiana

By Lu

Apple Tree at County Line Orchard

My friend, Sandrine, loves fruit picking. This year alone, she took me to cherry picking, blueberry picking, and lastly apple picking. She must have been a fruit tree on another life. That's the only explanation I could come up with. However, there's something quite fun about picking a fruit directly from its tree. I could definitely appreciate it better. I wouldn't pick up an apple at the grocery store to buy, as I'm not much of an apple eater. I would pick up some apples that have been cut up and treated, and packed in a little snack pack however, if I was on a diet. But, that's it. The shiny apples at the grocery store usually can't tempt me.

However, I really had a different opinion when I saw the ripe golden and crimson apple hanging on the tree. Wow, it's so tempting. It's calling at you to pick one up and sink your teeth into it. I am definitely the daughter of Eve. We're all doomed.

County Line Orchard is not the Garden of Eden; however, it's pretty damn fun. It is located not too  far from Chicago, in a town called Hobart, Indiana. The worst part of going there was the Chicago traffic going towards Indiana, and then, the line to get to the parking lot. It was quite long and tedious. They definitely had gained popularity lately as I was there last year and I didn't remember this big of a crowd nor that intense of a traffic.

Yesterday, it was a gorgeous day. It was like summer with Fall foliage every where. It felt a little weird for me. I actually prefer going apple picking when the air is a little cool, and you have to wear at least a sweat shirt. What I was really looking forward to was the hot cider at the end. Yesterday was definitely too hot for a hot cider. Bummer. I think it also added to the abundance of people coming to the orchard.

Last year, when Ri and I went to County Line Orchard, it was more my style. There weren't much traffic; the air was cool; and we were wearing sweatshirts. Perfect. Yet, I had tons of fun this year too because I was actually exploring of what the Orchard had to offer.

The Barn

Coming in to the Orchard, you would see the big looking barn bearing their name. That barn was quite grand for being a barn. It was a big place, much bigger than the other nearby farms or orchards. The barn was actually their country store. It was quite nice and you could browse a lot of different things from Christmas stuff (yes, already), homemade jams and sauces, ciders, and donuts! That was my main reason for going here - the apple spiced donuts and the pumpkin donuts.  They're so delicious and fresh! Last year, Ri and I couldn't have enough of it. This year, I deliberately only bought a half of dozen to eat and share because if not, I'd be in trouble.

The store, and donut shop - that's the donut line

The apple spiced donuts were so fresh and tender. It was sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and tasted like Autumn in your mouth. The pumpkin donuts tasted so rich and sweet. They said pumpkin is an acquired taste; but, if you didn't like this pumpkin donut - there's something seriously wrong with you. With a glass of cold milk, I was in heaven eating that pumpkin donut.

I am really going all over the place today with my story. I just got caught up about the donuts, since they're the gem of the County Line Orchard.

There were a bunch of us going yesterday. Besides Sandrine and her family, Evi and Nate also went. Plus, there were two other families that came along (Sue & Gardner and their kids, and Evi & Nate's neighbors). The more the merrier!

If it were up to me, I would go to the donut shop first and that was it. However, we went to look for Sandrine and Scott. They got there first and they were chillin' out eating lunch and listening to the band on stage that played pretty damn good Bluegrass music. Yeah, people often didn't realize that I appreciate Bluegrass and Country musics. Growing up in farm town America who could blame me? Last year, my brother in law, David, screamed at my sister, Ri, since they were driving around Khatmandu, and my sister was playing Kenny Chesney's song "She thinks my tractor's sexy." Yes, it was my fault as I was the one who sent the song to her. I thought the song was a hoot.

Apple Spiced Donuts

Pumpkin Donuts

Ribbon Fries, Corns, and Fresh-squeezed Lemonade

I had a ball sitting on a picnic table, eating my burger and ribbon fries, drinking fresh squeezed lemonade, listening to banjo and mandolin in the background, watching pretty leaves that changed colors. It was just so so nice. I could really forget about everything else and submerged myself in the moment. The restaurant serves the typical American food - grilled cheese, burgers, hotdogs, fries, fried mushroom. They also sell roasted corns on the cob. Yum.

Next - time to buy admission tickets. If you're just planning to do apple picking, just get the general admission for $1. You get a tractor ride around the orchards that would take you to different stops. If you have kids and want to do more, you can get the all access. Then, you will have access to the kids farm, the moo choo trains, corn maze, and pumpkin patch.

Pumpkins...

Hay Maze at the kids farm

Since we had a lot of kids in our group, we went to the kids farm next. It was kinda fun looking at the farm animals - pigs, goats, some turkeys and silkies, rabbits, donkeys. Kids seem to have fun there. They were running around in the hay maze. So cute.

Next - tractor ride to the apple orchards. The tractor wagon stopped at the corn maze. We passed that one. I was glad we did because I am actually allergic to corn field or husk. I didn't plan on getting rashes all over me. My old high school boyfriend, Toby, took me to sweet corn picking years ago in Mendota. That night, I broke out in hives. It wasn't pretty and I haven't been back to a corn field ever since.

We also passed the pumpkin patch. None of us were feeling like carrying a big ol' pumpkin around today. But they sure were pretty!

Finally, we got to the apple orchard. County Line has so many variety of apples. The first row we saw was Suncrisp apple. They were green but tasty. Yesterday was the harvest time for the Jubilee Fuji so that was what we were after. Other than those, they also have Golden Delicious, Shizuka, McIntosh, Keepsake, Granny Smith, Gala, and some other types I've never heard of.

Fuji Apples

I was totally in love looking at the Fujis dangling from the branches of the trees. They looked so beautiful and you couldn't help but wanting to reach and pick them. I never planned to fill a bag with apples. I didn't last year. But, this year, I actually had quite a full bag. I just couldn't help myself. My co-workers were happy today when I gave them some apples. The Fuji apples were so sweet and succulent. They could have been a little more crispy but I love the sweetness of it. We spent a good amount of time picking apples and sat around enjoying the scenery. Sandrine's son, Brode, had tons of fun too playing with the apples. We had a lot of fun too.

Suncrisp Apples

Then, after having enough of the sun and apples, we went back to the barn for finally some donuts! We waited in line for the fresh donuts. The line was so long but it was moving quite swiftly. Finally we got our case of apple and pumpkin donuts. I was a happy camper.

It was a full day at the orchard. From being focused on the donuts alone, I was actually happy that I did branch out trying other things the orchard had to offer. I can't deny it - Fall is my favorite season. I love the pumpkins, the harvest colors, the mums. Going to an orchard and do apple picking is a very Fall thing to do, and it was a good time. Though this year, it felt like summer - I couldn't deny the fact I had a super great time, with apple donut in one hand, and a Fuji apple on the other hand.

If you're looking to find a Fall activity to do - give this a try! Hopefully, the weather cools down a bit so you can get the hot cider. It just wasn't the same without it. You'll love County Line Orchard, I have no doubt.

The Apple Orchard

General Questions:barn@countylineorchard.com

School Tours:tours@countylineorchard.com

200 S. County Line Road, Hobart, IN 46342
Phone No. 219-947-4477 Fax No. 219-947-7933

Fantastic Girlfriend Trip to Milwaukee

By Lu

Girlfriends spending Saturday afternoon at George Watts Teashop

I know..I know. We didn't go to exotic places like New York, Mexico, or Hawaii for a girlfriend trip. We only went next door to Wisconsin. However, this may just be the beginning. So, don't bash our girlfriend trip yet. It was still cool and worth writing for. Though it was a day trip, and on top of that, it was just a simple humble trip, we all had a fantastic time!

I've talked about my tea posse, correct? Just to jog your memory - my tea posse consists of Tina, Sandrine, Marilou, Rebecca, and myself. The five of us love afternoon tea and we tried almost all of the tea places in Chicago. Of course I have also written about those fine Chicago tea places. You can click here to read it. But you know what, we want to venture out of Chicago and experience afternoon tea elsewhere.

Since I used to live in Milwaukee, I mentioned to Tina, that perhaps we should try a couple places over there. Tina thought it was a good idea. She then arranged for this outing to Milwaukee, where we would be going for afternoon tea, then to a baseball game to see The Brewers playing. One thing about the tea posse, they're (I didn't say "we") also die-hard baseball fans, especially for our beloved Chicago Cubs. So, even though it sounded like an odd combination - tea and baseball, it wasn't really all that odd for this group of girls.

So the plan was concocted. The tea posse even grew now and we had new members. What can I say - we were just that awesome, and we do fun odd girly things. Who knows, maybe our next outing we would be doing doll party and watch UFC pay per view. Sounds like a good time to me.

Other than the core five girls, we also recruited Holly, Heather, and Evi for this trip. Since we took Holly for tea several months back, she's a believer now. We're so glad to have her with us for tea. The more the merrier! Heather and Evi also love tea. It was a perfect bunch.

Too bad, closer to the date, we found out we couldn't get enough tickets to see the Brewers. They're doing so good, so no wonder it wasn't easy to get a bunch of tickets. But, we moved ahead with the tea plan. Nothing would stop us now.

From thinking about logistic on how to get us all there, we ended up renting a mini van. It was a great idea because now we could all be in the same car. It just meant more bonding and talking time! Lucky me, I got to drive the whole time because I was the renter. From driving around picking up every body, we were running late. Time flew by so fast! If Evi was driving, we wouldn't have made it there...hehehehe. Peace, Vi!

To give you an idea: two girls live in west suburbs, 3 live in the city of Chicago, and 2 live in the north. We drove a lot of miles. By the time the last girl was picked up, we were 30 minutes from our reservation and we were an hour away. Plus, our reservation was at 3:30 PM, and the tea place closed at 4:00 PM!

It was a stressful drive for me - from trying to find the way to get back to the highway, racing time, and also battling Wisconsin cops... But we did just fine. We were really cruising in that brand new Dodge minivan. I also made the tires squealed so many times. Poor Heather. She's the only one who live  in Milwaukee, and she was stuck waiting for us. However, I would say it was from my strategic driving skills that we made it there by 4:00 PM right before they closed, and in one piece.

George Watts Teashop & Gift Gallery

George Watts Teashop is well known in Milwaukee as the upscale china place and teashop for Milwaukee's high-end residents. I remember my former boss, Inger, whom I viewed as that classy lady from the affluent Milwaukee suburb, took me there to buy a wedding gift for one of our coworkers. I actually chose this place because of what I knew. Heather also said it was named the best tea place in Milwaukee. Plus, according to their website, they just won the James Beard award. Quite intriguing! I was excited to try it.

The people there were so nice to us though we were so late. They still greeted us and serviced us with a smile. It was very nice of them. However, the place was practically empty by then. We definitely missed that tea ambience since it was just pretty much our table in that big room. The setting was more like a restaurant, with tables and chairs instead of love seats or that loungy atmosphere. The room wasn't particularly special. Nothing striking. It wasn't as fancy as some of the place we've gone to.

We were starving by then. The finger sandwiches came. We each got our plate and four sandwiches: chicken salad, tuna salad, cucumber, and olive and nut tapenade. I wasn't a fan of the tapenade sandwich. It reminded me of a Muffuletta, but not as good. The tuna salad was great. Rebecca and Evi thought the chicken sandwich was delicious. Sandrine thought the cucumber sandwich was too cream cheesy. Overall, they weren't bad sandwiches - however, they were nothing special. I could have made that. If I would compare them to the fancy sandwiches The Peninsula would serve, there would be no comparison.

The ordinary finger sandwiches

It satiated our hunger a bit; however, then we were looking forward to scones! We all love scones and thus why we love tea. Oh yeah, the tea menu was also quite small. There was no fine tea like my silver tip over there. The closest one to a Darjeeling were Earl Grey and English Breakfast. I hate Earl Grey so I chose English Breakfast. Then, I realized I hated English Breakfast too. But my friends seemed to enjoy their tea selections of more fruity and floral looseleaves.

Dessert Plate

Going back to scones, I thought we would finally got out three tier serving apparatus filled with scones and desserts! No, we got our own individual plate again of one piece of scone, a sunshine cake, and a flourless chocolate cake. Well, the one single scone was disappointing. It tasted good, but there was only one. Plus, the size wasn't uniform. Some got a bigger piece, and some got tiny piece. The worst part was the fact we didn't  get clotted cream, jams, and lemon curd for our scones. Unheard of!

The desserts weren't finger desserts either. The sunshine cake was a piece of sponge cake with frosting. The flourless chocolate cake was good, but it was just a chocolate cake, like a brownie.

Overall, we had a great time talking and being girly; but we all thought we have had better afternoon tea experience. However, it was only $18. Again, it was nothing compared to The Peninsula's $45 tea. George Watts Teashop is also a restaurant that serve other brunch/lunch type food. They must have won the James Beard award for those other stuff, not the afternoon tea.

Our next stop was Kopp's Custard, a must stop for many of us. Some of the girls wanted to stop by and tried the custard after reading my post. What can I say...Kopp's is so awesome. That's the most delicious custard in the world. That day the flavors were Chocolate Malt and Turtle Sundae. Yumm.....We all loved it!

Then, a quick stop at Sendik's. Sendik's is an upscale grocery store. They have several locations, but we went to the prestigious location in Whitefish Bay suburb of Milwaukee. Holly had to get several cases of Spotted Cow beers, and Sandrine needed to pick up some beer brats. I've just heard of Spotted Cow beers recently when my bosses were raving about it. I guess, it must be good. I mean my girl Holly picked up three cases! When we walked out of the grocery store, a couple of guys were looking at us with all those beers wanting to get in to our swanky party van. LOL.

Sobelman's Pub and Grill

Next, we had to fulfill Sandrine's wish of eating Sobelman's wings one more time. She had it some time ago when she was pregnant and though she's not pregnant now, the craving was back. We had to travel to the other side of town, towards the Brewers stadium. It was a huge tease since we didn't get to go to the game. Yet, it was a cold rainy day. It would be miserable being in the ball park. Sobelman's Pub and Grill was featured in the Travel Channel's Food War and they were pitted against a newer Burger joint called AJ Bombers. Sobelman's looked like an old Milwaukee tavern - small, crammed, and typical tavern with servers carrying lots of beer mugs. The cool thing about the place, they had a TV showing feeds of the cook in the kitchen preparing the food.

Sobelman's boasted to have the best burger in Milwaukee and though they lost the Food War to AJ Bombers, they still think their loser burger is better. I tried their loser burger. It was pretty good. It had a good taste, but was it the best burger I had? No.

Sobelman's Loser Burger. It was pretty tasty for being a loser

Sandrine's favorite chicken wings

The girls had the chicken wings. Sandrine loved it. They were good wings, but were they the best? Um, No. Not to me. Did we have fun eating wings, burger, sipping Sprecher Root Beer? Um, hell yeah! I actually enjoyed the bottle caps which was sliced and breaded deep fried jalapeno peppers. That was different.

We closed the night with the drive back playing my brother in law's David's geography game. Each person had to name a city and the next person had to name a new city starting with the last letter of the preceding city. We kept ending up with the letter "e." It was really hard to come up with a city starting with the letter e - Elmhurst, Encinita, Edinborough, Elgin, Elk Grove, E.....

From the talk we had on this trip - we had make plans for future trips: Afternoon Tea at Harrod's in London; New Orleans road trip; and either New York or Boston tea trips.

Then, several days after our trip, Tina shared this info regarding best tea places in the US that she read on the travel section of The Chicago Tribune. The article named must try Tea places:

1. The Palm Court in the Plaza Hotel, NY
2. Tres by Jose Andres at the SLS Hotel, Beverly Hills
3. The Grand Atrium at The Brown Palace Hotel, Denver
4. The Long Gallery at The St. Regis, Atlanta
5. Bond Restaurant/Lounge at The Langham, Boston

We are packing our bags!!! Let's go girls!

We definitely have something to look forward to. Yet, our small outing to Milwaukee was a great fun. I think we all had a fantastic time. I had fun with all my girlfriends. They all brought sunshine to my rainy day. Though the foods we had in Milwaukee weren't all top-shelf (other than Kopp's of course), the trip itself was definitely up there. It was like loving the Cubs. Are the Cubs the best team in baseball? Hell no. But we love them nonetheless.

Top Shelf Congee: Bubur Kwang Tung

By Crivenica

Chicken congee, thousand years egg, & Chinese crullers
I'm salivating again...

“Can we get some bubur this weekend?” That was the first thing that my husband asked me after being away in the US for three weeks.

Bubur is Indonesian for rice porridge and there are a few types of rice porridge in Indonesia. There is the very popular Bubur Ayam, breakfast rice porridge served with shredded chicken meat and topped off with green onion, crispy fried shallot, fried soybeans, cakwe (Chinese crullers), soy sauce (both salty and sweet), yellow chicken broth and kerupuk (Indonesian crackers). It’s very yummy, but it’s not what David was after. He was craving the Cantonese style bubur that many know as Chinese congee.

Pretty random for a white American to ask for a meal, right? But he loves bubur or congee or juk in Cantonese. So, I called up my parents and asked if they wanted to go to Bubur Kwang Tung - our favorite bubur place in Pecenongan, Central Jakarta. And even though we hadn’t been there for a long time, the congee there never disappoints.

Congee is basically white rice boiled with a lot more amount of water than if you’re cooking it for steamed rice. And it’s cooked for a long time until the rice breaks down and meets the consistency of porridge, though in some area in China, the congee tends to be a bit more watery. However, the congee in Kwan Tung has just the right thickness consistency and the rich flavor that we like, without the help of any MSG.

Unlike most congee places in Jakarta that usually just serve chicken congee, Kwan Tung has quite a large options of congee flavors, from chicken, beef, to all kinds of seafood. We, of course, like the always safe chicken congee, but I also like the crab congee, while my dad prefers the fish congee and the frog leg congee. And don’t get me wrong when I say flavors - they actually cook and serve the congee with chunks of chicken meat, fish, frog legs and whole crabs.

As if the thousand egg wasn't enough, mom ordered more egg!

Tonight, since it was only the four of us, we kept the order fairly small with a bowl of chicken congee and fish congee. However, we did not forget the Chinese crullers. Chinese crullers or youtiao or we Indonesians call cakwe are basically fried bread dough - it looks like a long fluffy bread stick, which then can be cut into smaller bite size. These crullers are just a must for us when it comes to consuming congee - most importantly, it’s David’s favorite. I think he likes the crullers more than the congee. And I don’t blame him. It is actually what I miss when eating congee outside of  Indonesia. Though, the congee itself should be good on its own, but I think this extras condiment really makes the meal. My cousin who lives in Singapore once brought me some congee when I was there and got sick. It did not come with crullers and personally for me, it just did not taste as good as it could be. Though, I really appreciate my cousin’s thoughtfulness.

Aside from the Chinese crullers, congee can also be served with other condiments like salted duck eggs, fried peanuts, bamboo shoots, pickled tofu and the thousand years egg.

I think I’m not exaggerating if I say Bubur Kwang Tung is one of the best congee places in Jakarta. You can see all types of people eating at the two-story restaurant, from the Chinese-descendants, native Indonesians and even foreigners like my husband. People like their congee so much, that Kwang Tung’s walls are lined with pictures of Indonesian stars who have dined there. So, don’t you think if you haven’t tried it, it’s worth a visit? Definitely!

Bubur Kwang Tung is located on Jl. Pecenongan No. 67 I, Central Jakarta.

Markethouse Restaurant, Chicago, IL

By Lu

Sweet Corn Risotto at Market House

It has been proven tough for both me and Ri to keep up with our writing schedule. Our days have been quite different compared to let's say six months ago. Ri has recently moved back to Jakarta, and assumed a new demanding job. My workload has also been increased at work. Adding to that mix is going to school, as well as baking and cooking gigs here and there. I really need to be creative in maximizing my 24.

However, not to fret. I love this blog and I love writing for you all, especially if you're reading it. I quizzed my friend, Marilou, the other day to see if she's reading it religiously. She didn't disappoint me! She actually answered correctly to some of my questions about things I have written recently, which meant she did her reading. I was so happy. My friend, Tina, on the other hand, she's fired from being the "unofficial" Marketing Director of Thingsonmytopshelf.com.

Just kidding. She's not fired. She better gets in shape and starts reading again however! Talking about Tina actually made a good segway onto our article topic - Markethouse.

Tina was the one that recommended the restaurant to me. She asked me to go there numerous times, but we couldn't find a good time to go until recently. She kept on raving about the food there but somehow it didn't really prick my interest that much.

I did say maybe because of the name of the restaurant is not that catchy? Also, it is not one of the the talked about Chicago eateries. I mean every body always talks about places like The Girl and The Goat by Stephanie Izzard, or L2O, or Next. People don't really talk about Markethouse. Not that I have ever heard except from Tina.  However, after trying them, they really should talk about Markethouse. I am.

I really love the underdog, the small mom and pops, the sleeping giant, you get my drift. I am not here to talk about all the good popular restaurants that the whole world populations know. I'm sure there are tons of food critics better than me who are doing a fine job writing about those places. Me, I just write about what I like and what I found to be exceeding my quite high expectation of a suburbia girl. It doesn't matter that I don't see myself as a sophisticated pain in the ass metropolitan girl with the obvious expectations. I love being the unassuming easy going simple girl with a punch of surprises of Rihanna's good girl gone bad attitude. Lol. What am I talking about again? Yeah, again..I love the don't judge the book by its cover phrase or even better, "don't judge the book by its movie." The underdogs at times are the better ones. The sleeping giant.

One more thing - if I have a MINI Coooper, I would name my car, Ajax, after the mythological character the huge Thelemacus Ajax, one of the warriors of the Trojan War on the Greek side. The dude is huge. So I name the small MINI with a giant name. Get it?

Anyway - Markethouse, to me is sorta like that. It is unassuming yet, fantastic. Tina said she thought at first the place was an art gallery. I didn't think much of it because of the name, and also maybe because of its location, being in a Double Tree Hotel. My bad for never thinking much about hotel restaurants though yes, I agree, there are more and more great restaurants in a hotel nowadays.

First time I went with Tina, I had a blast. It was rainy on a sunday afternoon after a long day of photography class. I was tired and I just wanted to chill out. Tina and I had a great meal. She had this huge burger tower and I had the English pea risotto with morel mushrooms. It was just a great experience, so good I yelped about it almost immediately. Click here if you want to read my yelp review.

What I loved about that first visit was it was just perfect - from service, seating, and food quality. I was satisfied. Our waiter, Scott, was cool and he was keeping Tina entertained with the Cubs talk which I usually couldn't contribute to. We also had this banter about Carpaccio. He was introducing the appetizer special as not your ordinary shrimp cocktail as the shrimps were pounded down thinly. I was like..Oh..like..mh..mh...I couldn't think of the word. When I finally did remember, he said..."Exactly!" So he used the term the next time he made the introduction.

One thing that really got to me however was their signature dessert, the Butterscotch bread pudding. I loved it! I usually am not a bread pudding fan, but I am becoming one. I actually just finished another bread pudding dessert I shared with Sabrina at Labriola. I thought I only would like the Markethouse's bread pudding, but I think because of the Markethouse's bread pudding, the profile of a bread pudding became something I enjoy.

Butterscotch Bread Pudding

This Butterscotch bread pudding was so delicious. It was served really warm, with a vanilla ice cream on top. It was served in a cast-iron individual pan, and you could see the nice golden brown crust glistening with butterscotch sauce. Once you dipped your spoon into it, you would feel the soft inside. Once you put the spoon in your mouth, you could taste that polar opposites of crusty and creamy soft bread custardy pudding. It was just nicely textured and it made me a fan.

Because of that, not even a month later (yesterday), I came back there with Tina. We also brought along two friends, Nate and Evi. Evi loves bread pudding and she was raving about this croissant bread pudding she had in Charleston, South Carolina. I told her she needed to come with me to Markethouse. She did. Again, talking about unassuming, Nate thought we were going to some type of a grocery store to get the bread pudding. Apparently all he heard was the word "market."

At first, we were just going for the bread pudding since we were super full from partying with Brode, Sandrine's baby boy, who just turned one year old. However, when we got there, looking at the new seasonal menu, we changed our mind.

Markethouse believes in serving fresh ingredients. They buy locally and also use some produce items that they grow at their garden on the roof top. Pretty cool, right? When you look at the menu, you could feel this freshness calling at you. I love the idea of changing menu based on your ingredients too. It gives challenges to whomever running the kitchen to be super creative. Yeah, maybe the chef there is not somebody I would know just by hearing the name, yet, I like what I eat there.

We got the same guy, Scott, to service our table. I was like, "Hey Scott." He was like.."hey, lady in a striped shirt.." confused on how I knew his name. So Tina said "Carpaccio." Then it clicked. "OOOH."

He then thanked me for writing nice things about him and the restaurant on Yelp. It was my pleasure. I'd do it again  - right now. Good service and good food always worth praising.

They served us homemade pickles with whole mustard seeds and sweet potato breads. Evi was excited when she got the bread as it was soft and warm. She's like me that she appreciates any restaurants that serve warm bread. That's why Morton's over Gibson's anyday for me. 

My heart set on the new risotto - a sweet corn risotto, with chanterelle mushrooms, as well as black truffle shavings. Mhhh..what's not to like. The appetizer was lobster chunks with again the sweet corn, and black truffle. Tina got their signature mac and cheese with bacon, and Nate actually went for a lighter choice of Anjou Pear salad with frisee and blue cheese.

Anjou Pear Salad

Lobster Appetizer

We shared everything and we went ooh and aahing when the foods were brought to our table. They were just picture perfect. Pretty fresh food to eat. Risotto was so creamy and perfectly made al dente with no crunch. I usually hate ordering risotto as it is always a hit or miss. But I ordered it twice here and happy both times!

The Mac and cheese was delicious and creamy. My only complaint is that they used big pasta almost like a penne size or maybe it was penne. I like my small elbow macaroni for mac and cheese. But again, it was just my own personal preference.

Then, the bread pudding...... drum rolls!

I love it. I simply love it. Nothing more to say except get your butt over there and try it for yourself.

It was another great visit. The service was great and Scott entertained the whole table with some jokes in between visits. Got my friends Tina and Nate to think for a second to find the answer to his joke.

We all liked what we ate though we were rather full. Nate said he wants to come back when he isn't so full so he could really enjoy the food. It tasted heavy to him a little but he was full and he had a creamy mac and cheese and lobster. Yeah, I'd say it would be pretty rich. Hope they really will come back.

I know I will. So should you.

To close, talking about the unassuming restaurant that happened to be banging, here's one of Scott's jokes. "What do you call a fish without an eye?"

It's a fsh. Well, I butchered it - not what you think right? Fish without an "i." Some jokes can only be told, not written. With that, I should stop writing.

Markethouse
611 N Fairbanks Ct.
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 224-2200
http://www.markethousechicago.com/

Indonesian Delights

By Crivenica

I’ve been back in Jakarta for almost two months now. I’ve been back to work for a month, getting together with friends and family, and getting back into the groove of a cosmopolitan city. Though my days are filled with work and fun time with friends and family, I can’t wait until I get that peaceful feeling when we’re settled in our new home. I’m hoping with our belongings arriving in a week or so, we’ll get to that soon.

In the meantime, since I can’t really cook in the apartment yet, David and I have been going out a lot for meals. We tried new restaurants that didn’t exist when we left in 2008 and we went back to those that we love. Sure we got italian places, french bistros and some other western fare places in Jakarta, but what I love the most is that I got unlimited access to Indonesian food again!

There are just so many simple humble places serving delicious food that I can talk about. However, most of the time, I got too excited about the food, I forgot to take any pictures to show you. My bad! But here are some samples of those places that I’ve been visiting and revisiting that I think are worth recommending.

Beautika

We weren't kidding around when we ordered!

I think most Jakartans know about this Manadonese restaurant. I was never really that big of a fan of the place a couple of years ago because their dishes are just so damn spicy! Look, it’s a given that most Manadonese dishes are spicy hot, but man, this restaurant’s standard of hotness is way beyond my league. However, hanging out with gal pal Shilla who is a Manadonese-Makassarian and whose tolerance for spicy food is beyond atomic, going to Beautika for lunch is sometimes unavoidable. Plus, my husband just loves Manadonese food, so strike two for me. But you know what, after a few lunches, I found some of their dishes with level of spiciness that my tongue can relish and those few not-spicy ones that I came to love.

For those of you who don’t know Indonesia and its food, here’s a little background. Manado is the capital of North Sulawesi, a province in one of Indonesia’s five big islands called Sulawesi that looks like the letter ‘K’. I’ve never been there, but I’ve heard from those who have, it is a very beautiful spot and a good place for scuba diving. I might not have visited the place yet, but at least I know enough to say that their food is awesome. If you get a chance to go to Manado and sample the food there, great! However, if you’re in Jakarta and Manado seems a bit far to go to, Beautika is a good place to have a taste. There are tons of fresh tasting dishes with varying spiciness to pick from: seafood dishes, chicken dishes, veggie dishes and even for those hardcore Manadonese, a bat dish. Yes, I wrote BAT, as in the first syllable in Batman. To my Manadonese friends, bat, also known as Paniki in Manadonese, is a delicacy, but I will stick with my favorites: the skewered squid, corn fritters, and beef Brenebon (kidney bean) soup.

Beautika has three locations in Jakarta: in Jl. Abdul Muis No. 70A, Tanah Abang; Jl. Hang Lekir No. 1 near Plaza Senayan and Senayan City malls, and in the SCBD area.

Warung Tekko

The mouth-watering ribs on top of hot chili paste

Next to the SCBD area’s Beautika, stands a new favorite of mine, Warung Tekko. You can find a Warung Tekko in several locations in Jakarta because they are so popular. Their specialty is Iga Penyet, which is fried ribs served in sambal (freshly made hot pepper paste) and eaten with rice. They also served other ribs dishes like grilled ribs and ribs soup along with vegetable dishes and fish dishes. However, ever since the first time I ate there, I only wanted to focus on the ribs.

The first time I stepped inside a Warung Tekko, I actually didn’t eat. I was only keeping my friend, Hanny, company as she ate because she missed lunch and I already had mine. Being a good girl that I am now, I restrained myself from ordering a portion even though I was drooling the whole time Hanny was eating. The ribs just looked so yummy and though I’m not much a sambal eater, I really really wanted to try it. So soon after, I did get to try it and I was not disappointed. The meat was so tender and the sambal actually tasted really good and I could ask them to make it really mild or really spicy.  This past week alone, I’ve gone back twice to have my Iga Penyet, white rice and Coconut water drink. I better watch it or the numbers will go up on the scale! But do try this place if you haven’t yet.

Queen

The picture didn't do this yummy crab soup justice...

Well, Queen is really a Chinese restaurant, but it is an Indonesian Chinese restaurant; an old style Indonesian Chinese restaurant that I love. There are a bunch of newer Chinese places opened up in malls all over Jakarta with a modern twist, but I’ve always loved the old style Chinese food because those were what I grew up with. I remember how I used to look forward to some special occasions that would take us to restaurants like Angke or Queen. Well, Angke has changed, but I think Queen stayed the same in term of the food they serve and how they serve it. Unfortunately, Queen is in Bandung, an hour and a half hours drive away from Jakarta. And whenever my family and I drove to Bandung, we always made a point to have dinner there. So, we were so happy when they opened a branch in China town of Jakarta, called Queen Palace.

My parents and I went there last Saturday and we ordered dishes from my childhood that I love to these days: my favorite and a must, crab meat soup, then fried frog legs in butter sauce, sweet and sour fish, and Queen’s specialty, seafood Ifumie. I savored that crab meat soup with each spoonful of savory liquid laden with huge crab meat chunks. And when I took a really big frog leg, I thought of my sisters in Chicago and Norway, and how they would envy me right then. It was a trip!

Sweet & Sour Fish; Frog Legs in butter sauce

Stuffed Crab Claws or Cingkong Kepiting in Indonesian

I remember just before I was moving to Nepal in 2008, my girlfriends, Indri and Shilla, joined me and my family to a day trip to Bandung and of course we took them to Queen for dinner. They loved them. And when I told Shilla about the branch in China Town (Kota), she said we should go there soon. I can’t agree more and I would definitely urge any of you who love good Chinese food to try Queen soon!

Queen in Bandung is located at Jl. Dalem Kaum No. 79, and Queen Palace in Jakarta is at Jl. Roa Malaka Utara No. 49.