Why I Oughta...

Friday morning, I was out running errands - returning pavers to Menards, getting gas, and getting Nat's car washed.  On the way home from Menards, I spotted this DIY wash place right on North Avenue. View Larger Map Normally, we go to the Delta Sonic a bit closer to home, but I was feeling cute and decided to check this place out.  Turns out, for $5.00, you get a 5 minute vacuum and a 10 minute wash including wax and special wheel cleaner.  Pretty good.  The Delta Sonic mid-grade wash is $10 and it doesn't include wax nor anything inside, so I figured I was ahead of the game.  The only issue is that this place doesn't have blowers to dry.  You have to bring your own towels.  Now I know.  Next time, I'll bring all my supplies (Armor-All, TireShine, etc) as well as towels to get a good spot-free finish. I left the wash and hit North Avenue heading home feeling awfully prideful of the clean job I did, but also the deal I discovered. Then...out of nowhere, this hap

Here's a shot of one of the rows of tomato plants I planted in the past few weeks.  I got a really late start on the garden (due to construction) this year, so I'm doing a lot of experimentation. We have some fruit growing on one of the varieties of tomato plants.  These are " Napa Grape ". And...we have bell peppers growing, too! Now that we're back from vacation, I can focus a bit on watering/weeding the garden and getting everything going again.  Thanks to my sister, Vic, these babies survived the drought.

Ransom Note Via ManMadeDIY .

Yes...those are Mermen Christmas ornaments of various occupations.  Sailors, surfers, football players, female impersonators and it appears wrasslers (or someone else who wears a unitard). These are apparently the calling card of the shop they're in:   Tuck's Christmas Shop .

Recently, Chicago Magazine came out with their list of the " 25 Best Pizzas in Chicago " which included a few places I had never heard of - and I eat a lot of pizzas.  Both Nat and I went through the list and thought it might be fun to try to get to each of these places and give them a try.  Maybe NOT eat the pizzas specified, but check out the pizza (of some sort) none the less.  We've given ourselves 18 months to hit 23 places.  23?  Yeah....I'm scrubbing Lou's  and Gino's off the list - just because we have them so often.  (I probably should do the same with Aurelio's - the pizza I grew up on - but I won't because I haven't had it for months...and it is delicious!) Here's the list ( cribbed directly from Grub Street's post on the topic ).  Most of these will give us a good reason to secure a baby sitter and make our way into the city.   By next summer, I'll (hopefully) have my oven done (on the right) and be making world-class pi

My candy of choice is usually Mike and Ikes.  For gifts, my Mom seems to give them to me all the time.  Nat fills my stocking each Christmas with them, too.  This weekend, on our way to the Drive-in, we picked up some candy and came across these Mike and Ikes:  Italian Ice Flavor. They were pretty good.  The ice part comes in with the after-taste.  It kind of has a tingling sensation as they go down.  I don't think I'll get them again (mostly because they come in a little plastic pouch inside the typical Mike and Ike box), but I'm glad we tried them once.

Thanks to my sister Vic, this is what I'll be up to today.  And...fireworks, of course.

Take a look see at who's in a high chair?  (a borrowed, plastic one that straps to a regular chair at that!) While she certainly looks thrilled to be ready to hoss down bananas and what not, I appear a tad concerned at what this means for the diaper changing situation.  ( Nat wrote a bit more over on the babe's progress on her very own blog, so if you know where that is, go check out the photos and videos! )

We bought all the necessary tools and ingredients.  Candy thermometer, cheese cloths, etc.  We're ready to make cheese!  In honor of our nation's independence, we're going to cook up a specatuclar Mexican feast featuring carne asada and housemade queso blanco. If I move quickly enough, I'll be able to take photos.  I still have to make a home-brewed cheese press, but that won't stop me from starting the process!

Earlier this week, Nat and I spent some time at the Elmhurst Public Library where we were trying to pick up some books for our vacation.  With school over, my backyard projects winding down, and plenty of free time on my hands, I went looking for a project book.  And...did I ever find it.  I haven't put down jam it, pickle it, cure it since we brought it home. The book includes instructions on curing one's own bacon, making one's own jams/jellies, and plenty of other goodies.  I have a list of projects that I want to dig in on, and I've begun to shop for ingredients!  Stay tuned for the results....