New Years in Chicago

To close out 2012, John and I went with some friends to Chicago to celebrate New Years. Every year we try to celebrate in a new city. We have celebrated in Birmingham, Atlanta, Nashville, Indianapolis and now Chicago. My mama’s side of the family lives in Chicago so I have done the tourist stuff- Navy Pier, Millennium Park, the museums, etc. One of the things I have never been to though was Willis (Sears) Tower.

Our group had a few missions on this trip
1. See the sites – Josh & Elizabeth had never been to Chicago
2. Eat a deep dish pizza John’s most recent request is now for me to buy a deep dish pizza pan and start making them. He needs to wait on this one, his last request was pasta from scratch which I am going to do this week with my new pasta attachment.
3. Eat at a few restaurants from “the list”

Gino’s East
Appetizers: Cheesy Pizza Bread, Mozzarella Sticks, Spinach Sticks, & Calamari
Gino’s East Supreme (I know the top is covered in sauce, but don’t worry there was plenty of cheese, sausage, onions, peppers, and mushrooms underneath)

The Purple Pig
Butternut Squash, Crispy Kale, Pumpkins Seeds, Chevre, Goat Cheese, Pistachio Vinaigrette
Calamari with Fregola, Radishes, Cucumbers & Pistachios
Salt-Roasted Beets with Whipped Goat Cheese & Pistachio Vinaigrette
“JLT” Pork Jowl, Tomato, Frisee & Fried Duck Egg

At 676 we ate brunch
Smoked Georgia Bay Salmon Flatbread with Herb Cream Cheese, Crisp Capers, and Red Onions (the only thing it was missing for me with crumbled hard boiled egg)

Our final New Years Eve meal at Cafe Spiaggia
Inverno- Baby Kale, Pomegranate, Goat Cheese, Pumpkins Seeds, Apples, Butternut Squash, Apple Balsamico, Brown Butter
Polpette- Meatballs, San Marzano Tomatoes, Pecorino Romano
Polpo- Baby Octopuss, Fingerling Potatoes, Garlic, Lemon, Jalapeno Peppers, Sambuca
Tagliatelle con Tartufi Neri- Fresh Perigord Truffles, Brown Butter, Parmigiano Reggiano
Cannoli- Ricotta, Citrus Zest, Valrhona Chocolate, Pistachios, Raspberry Sauce
Tiramisu- Ladyfingers, Mascarpone, Cocoa, Amaretto, Illy Espresso

I’d say all of our Missions were Accomplished!