I swear I am not ignoring the site, I have just not cooked much lately. I am going ot back post a beef and noodles recipe that is what we ate most of the week last week. The only other thigns we have made are chef's salad and tacos.

I'll fill in this post later, but I did not want ot forget, no time right now.

So I really don't have a recipe for this, but here goes.

Beef and Noodles

1 lb stew beef
1 lg onion
Beef boullion or broth to taste
Egg noodles

Place beef, onions, and water to cover in pressure cooker. Cook for about 1 hour. (If you don't have a pressure cooker, cook until beef is falling apart tender. Taste broth and adjust flavor with salt, pepper, beef boullion or broth. Add egg noodles and cook until done.

I usually buy a bag of kluski noodles, but sometimes I make my own egg noodles. If you make them, roll out to about 1/8" thick and then cut between 1/8" and 1/2" wide.

We serve this over mashed potatoes. Yeah, yeah I know starch in starch, but it is oh so good. You could just eat it as a soup, but why?!

So Sur La Table is one of our favorite stores (there is a link in the side bar of this page). Almost a year ago I noticed on thier website that you could voluteer to assist with classes in the store. I would love to take some of them, but at $65 per class it is just not feasible. I figured that assisting would give me the opportunity to see if I felt that the money would be worth it and while I would be helping, I should be able to absorb a bit of their teaching. The other benifit of the classes is that you get a discount coupon each time you volunteer and after so many classes (don't remember the number) you get a gift card and a free class.

Last night I volunteered to assist with the knife skills class. It was alot of fun and I was able to learn quite a bit while helping. The instructor gave a good talk about the pros and cons of different types of knives, the difference between a sharpener and a steel, how to use the previous items. He then began showing the class how to do different things, dice and onion, julieen vegitables, etc. I was actually surprised at how much of it I not only knew, but infact did properly already.

I was able to help a few people who were not understanding him clearly to improve what they were doing. During the break and after class I helped to clean up the classroom and do all of the dishes.

I will be voluteering for more classes in the future and I will try to review them here as well.

This is a new restaurant that just opened up on 47th, within walking distance of our apartment. We went over for dinner and it was really good.

They have typical Chicago foods like gyros, pizza, fries, grilled cheese (wait that is just typical me fare). Very inexpensive. Pizza is by the slice or the pie, a slice is 92 cents which works out ot exactly $1.00 with tax.

I had a grilled cheese and cheese fries. Sean had a gyro dinner (gryo and fries). We also orded a slice of pizza just to try it.

The grilled cheese was good, it seemed that they did not butter the bread so it was bit more like toast, but nice for a change. The gyro dinner came with a really good garlicy Tazicki sauce. It also came with a bunch of feta cheese, which didn't hurt my feelings any cause Sean doesn't like feta much so I got to eat it. The pizza sauce is sweeter, but that is the way I like it. Even though it is a thin crust it is not crispy. They do have Pan pizza so we might have to try that.

There are only three tables inside, but we ate the and when the thunderstorm started they told us we were wlcome to wait it out. They open until 1 am on Friday and Saturday. It let up to sprinkle fairly quickly and we headed home.

We will definitely go back. Not fine dining, but is is really good for what they serve.

This is one of my favorite soups. Light, yet filling and warms you up.

• oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lb boneless skinless Chicken pieces
• 2 large cans chicken broth
• 1 30oz can White Hominy, drained and rinsed
• cumin
• oregano
• dried chile (hot... pick one you like)
• 2 cans mushrooms, drained
• 3-4 zucchini halved and sliced thick
• sour cream

Get a large pot. No, bigger. That's better. Put some oil in the bottom and start cooking the onions. When they begin to become translucent, add the chicken and garlic. Cook until the chicken is cooked through, stirring frequently. Add spices and stir to coat thouroughly, allow to cook for a few moments. Add broth. Simmer for 10 minutes to allow seasonings to permeate the broth. Adjust seasoning if needed at this point. Add remaining ingrediants and stir. Simmer until zucchini is tender to your liking. Serve with a dollop of sour cream on top.

This is not quite traditional Posole, but it's good enough for crazy gringos like us. And you. Even if you're not a gringo.

As if you couldn't tell, measurements are approximate and vary by mood and personal taste.