The Foodie Post

So, I say all the time that my husband spoils me with his cooking, so that I don't like to eat out as much, because it's usually not as good as he can make for me! So I thought I'd check out the famous Chef Gordon Ramsey's Burger restaurant.  The menu is brief. The decor is plain, nothing fancy at all and the giant photo of the chef lurking over the dining room is ....a little much. 

They have a monthly special, so I ordered that, it's called the 24 hour burger. And I ordered fries-they aren't included......and the special treat this month is the strawberry cream shake, so I'm in!

Here's the burger and fries-I already cut it apart-I wanted to see inside and it's a pretty tall pile of stuff. There's little greens-kinda reminds me up alfalfa sprouts- with a vinaigrette,  a beef patty topped with bacon strips-I picked them off-I don't really like bacon, but forgot to ask to have it left off, then a slice of cheese and a little glob of BBQ beef. And I do mean a little glob, because it was a tablespoon of shredded meat plopped on top of the stack. They say it has BBQ sauce on it, but I sure didn't see or taste any. The beef patty was cooked through, the way I like it, but all I could taste was salty. No meat flavor, no BBQ flavor nothing but salt. Plus the bottom bun was soaked through with the vinaigrette, I couldn't pick up the bottom bread at all! Did not eat it all-too salty and messy......FAIL! The french fries were exactly like Wendy's.  No kidding, exactly the same in my opinion. They came with ketchup and spicy ketchup, nice, but just OK. I like Wendy's fries, but I kind of expected more from Gordon Ramsey's brand.

The strawberry Cream shake was good. It was very pretty, served in a tall slender glass with whipped cream and dehydrated strawberry sprinkles on top. Honestly I'd rather have a Steak and Shake strawberry shake, the taste is the same-minus the sprinkles, but really the same. It was a nice treat. 

And here's the total! $42.47 WOW! Well, that's the most money I spent for a meal and the least tasty meal. I say-don't bother going to Gordon Ramsey Burger. 

Now on to something great!  At my hotel there is a restaurant called The Albert. Really nice decor and beautiful service. I've eaten here before and it was really good, so this time I ordered the garganelli pasta and the focaccia bread. 

MMMMM,  so good, served hot and fresh, it has a creamy sauce on the bottom and the red sauce on top with bits of asparagus. So good! The focaccia bread was soft and hot and delicious! Crispy on the edges and soft in the middle, perfection! I forgot to note the total price but the garganelli pasta was $27 and the focaccia was only $4. Such a delicious meal!

Did I mention how nice the silverware is at The Albert? It's heavy and shiny and is a joy to eat with, yes, I like smooth, heavy, shiny silverware and I notice it.

I had a nice breakfast at a restaurant called Beatrix at the Northwestern University Galter Pavilion. These are lemon pancakes with blackberries. But they aren't really black berries, they're mulberries. See, they have a little stem and no seed, blackberries have seeds. Anyway, the pancakes were good. I didn't taste a lot of lemon flavor but they were served hot with a lemon syrup, which again didn't have a lot of flavor, but was good with the pancakes-better than maple syrup would be. 

I was seated right in front of the kitchen so I snapped a picture of the nice looking kitchen. 

I bet the cooks have to watch what they yell about in here!

See on the bill, I had milk with my pancakes so the total was $20.08, but notice this one little thing.....

This. I have heard about some restaurants doing this, and here it is IRL. 

It was only .52 added to my little ticket, and I think if that's what they want to do, then OK. 

While in Chicago, I had to try the Deep Dish Pizza. I googled who has the best deep dish in Chicago and it said Giordanos. SO I ordered delivery to my room while I was watching Caitlyn Clark become the #1 draft pick in the WNBA. 

 Yes very deep dish!

Well look at this! It was delicious!

I ordered sausage and mushroom, it came to me hot and delicious. The crust while big, wasn't doughy or icky at all, in fact it was crumbly, almost like a thick cracker, and really tasty. 

$33.87 included delivery and I didn't eat the whole thing-if I'd been at home I would have had some for breakfast!

And the last meal I have to tell you about was absolutely the best!

My last day at the hotel so I choose breakfast at The Albert. 

This is the  Upside Down Apple Pancake...I don't know how I managed to have pancakes twice but boy am I glad I did!! This is a thick pancake maybe an inch and a half tall, and inside it's fluffy like angel food cake fluffy, and the outside is caramelized and crispy. There's a layer of fresh apples baked in the center and it's perfect, so delicious! I didn't even use the maple syrup they have, it was such a treat-fluffy and sweet. The crispy outside-wow, I loved it. I didn't even take a picture of the price for this....but it was $16. The side of berries was $8. So for me The Albert was the winner in the food category for me!

SO that's all my food that I took pics of. In Chicago there are an overwhelming number of options and I probably didn't choose the very best, but over all it was a great trip!

Finishing January, on to February

 Gosh! It's almost the middle of February already! 

I got the last of the January/Christmas decor put away. I'm up to 3 Christmas pyramids.

I love this large wooden tree pyramid, I got it at an estate sale last summer. 

I felt like leaving them out until Feb this year.

The two little ones are old favorites.

And I emptied the BOWL. I's ready for the next thing I think of to fill it with.

And the little snowmen are all put away too. 

So when I went to Chicago last month I stayed in a really nice hotel, called ECM2. Look ! The shower is in the room!

When you pull the curtains around the shower, there is artwork on the inside so when you're in the shower it's pretty.

The hotel has all the latest technology too. Even Alexa in the room and even the TV knows me.

It's a really nice room! The hotel is all about the science and technology.

This was a first for me. The elevators don't have buttons inside,  

the buttons are outside, and you select your floor then the appropriate elevator comes to you!

See that horn shaped thing in this picture....

Here's a closer look. It took me a few minutes to figure it out, but, you put your phone in the box at the top and the sound is amplified so you can hear it throughout the room.

Anyways, I also went to the hotel restaurant, called the Albert...like Albert Einstein.....for breakfast before I had to be over at Northwestern University.

I had really GOOD french toast.

Here's the restaurant, 

And the kitchen is right in the dining room. They don't have menus, you have to scan the QR code to see the menu.

Anyway, that was fun. I did a TaDat scan for the Parkinson's research group at Northwestern.

I had a little time so I walked around like a tourist looking at all the cool stores, the university is only a block from Michigan avenue, where the other half shops I guess-the Nike store, there was a Nieman Marcus, Rolex, Tiffany's, it was pretty cool. 

I had time for a delicious burrito at Tall Boy Taco. YUM, and they are a cashless place, if you don't have plastic, you're out of luck. I like visiting the big city. 

And here's the last of the January pictures of Dylan. We got him a bouncer/walker. I need a safe place to put him. 

I can't hold him ALL day!

Such a cutie.

And Now I'll get going on February posting!