Month: August 2021

The Rest Of Weekend Activities

To recap the rest of our weekend activities: after the architectural tour, we went to the Chicago Architectural Center – we disembarked right there, and also, Lena didn’t visit it since it moved to this new home. We saw the exhibit of Helmut Jahn, which I saw earlier with my mom, and the permanent exhibit on urban development, which was very interesting.

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Tiramisu

Last week, I made tiramisu for the first time in my life, thanks to Jamie Lin and her recipe. Same as with quiche, I thought of tiramisu as something “humans can’t do,” and the only reason I tried this one was s promise of a “lighter version.” It turned out to be lighter in many ways, including the calorie count and the complexity/easiness of making it.

Since it was literally my first time, there were many things I didn’t know about tiramisu, but now that I made it once, I know how to plan and what to buy, and how to fit the making into my schedule. 

The most amazing thing was the straining of the greek yogurt. It was hard to believe that you can thicken it more than it already is, and when I dumped it into the cheesecloth, it didn’t look like it would release any extra water.

I was shocked to find a half-bowl of liquid in the morning! I almost spilled it because I didn’t expect it to be so full!

Update: I almost lost the recipe, so copying it here:

Ingredients:

  • 425 g. or 1 3/4 c. whole milk Greek yogurt, strained
  • 196 g. or 7 oz. or 1 c. minus 2 tbsp. mascarpone cheese, softened at room temp.
  • 60-80 g. or 3-4 tbsp. liquid sweetener (agave, honey, maple syrup, etc.)
  • 6 g. or 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 12 lady fingers
  • 240 g. or 1 c. hot water
  • 2 g. or 2 tsp. instant coffee powder
  • 20 g. or 1 tbsp. liquid sweetener (agave, honey, maple syrup, etc.)
  • Cocoa powder to top

Directions:

  1. To strain Greek yogurt, place a cheese cloth on top of a fine mesh strainer and place the strainer over a bowl. Scoop the Greek yogurt onto the cheese cloth and set in the fridge overnight or for 8 hours. In the next morning, bundle the cheese cloth together and squeeze out any excess moisture. The yogurt should have a thick, cream cheese consistency.
  2. In a deep and wide dish, combine hot water, coffee powder, and 1 tbsp. liquid sweetener. Set aside to cool.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together strained Greek yogurt, mascarpone, 3-4 tbsp. liquid sweetener, and vanilla extract until smooth. Taste and add more sweetener if desired.
  4. In you pan, spread a thin layer of cream on the bottom. One at a time, soak 6 lady fingers in the coffee and layer on the yogurt cream. I fit five lady fingers horizontally and one vertically.
  5. Spread another layer of cream on and add another layer of 6 coffee-dipped lady fingers. Top with the rest of the yogurt cream and smooth out the top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for at least 8 hours.
  6. After the tiramisu is set, sift a generous amount of cocoa powder on top and slice to enjoy!

Tiramisu can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge up to 4 days.

The Crowds On The Streets

The crowds on the streets of Chicago during the past weekend were ginormous! It was not even pre-covid level; it was more than that! It was like being in New York on the New Year’s Eve.

Lena and I opted to wear masks outside most of the time because the crowds didn’t make it much better than inside. Who needs Lalapaloose with such crowds! (they said that Lala ended up not being a super-spreader after all). 

On Friday, our office building issued a mask mandate inside, and today, it was officially announced by the City. I am perfectly fine with that; as I already said multiple times, I would rather do things masked than not do things. 

Also, remember all these subscriptions I as purchasing in the past several weeks? Today, all the entertainment establishments sent out emails of proof of vaccination required to attend the event. It was decided by the League of Chicago Theatres. During the past several weeks, some of them even sent out surveys asking the patrons how they would react to the vaccination mandate. I was happy to answer – yes, I support it! 

Dr. Alyson Awdrey said during the press conference today, that the number of infected people per day in Chicago, although it has risen several times since June (from less than 100 to over 400), is still way below the 2,000 cases per day in winter. 

I hope that people will get vaccinated!

Chicago Architectural Cruise

The Architectural Cruise is the best attraction in Chicago! I heard once that if there is only one thing you have time to do in Chicago, do the Architectural cruise, and I can’r agree more! Each tour is different because each docent prepares their own tour, although the list of the places they need to cover is pre-defined. I’ve been on that tour at least twenty times :). The docent we had this time was just OK, not great. However, Lena really enjoyed it – it was a while since she was on that tour, and there are lots of new buildings which didn’t even exist seven years ago!

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Living Every Moment Of Chicago Summer…

Lena and I had a great weekend together! I am happy I created a mini-vacation for her, but I also did the same thing for myself – otherwise, I will be working all this time :). There are high chances that I will work ten hours a day each day of the upcoming week to compensate for that, but we still had a great time!

Saturday morning, we went biking on the Lake Front Trail. Lena saw all my pictures with beautiful sunsets, and she wanted to have the same experience. We ended up being at the right place at the right time, and I could even film the sunrise!

I didn’t have time for a blog post yesterday, but I posted a lot on the instagram. Now I am trying to save some time and embed the instagram post, hopefully it will be visible. You can click on the arrows to scroll through the picture.

As you can see, we biked far enough but not as far as I hoped. To be fair, Lena didn’t bike for over a year, so the long bike ride was a little bit too harsh of a start.

When we returned home, I made quiches for breakfast (and shared with my neighbors)

And then, we were off for another adventure. I booked the Architectural Cruise for PM departure, and we had time before that to visit the Millennium park one more time (there was a Zumba class in progress) and then we went to the Lurie Garden

We strolled through the West Riverwalk one more time

had some ice cream in the Tiny Cafe, and then headed to the boat tour –

I Have An Out-Of-Town Guest!

I have a first out-of-town guest who is not a family member! Lena came to visit me from Ann Arbor, and it feels like in the old days, only it is easier now to get to all city attractions. She arrived Friday afternoon, and I started work early in the morning so that I could be done for the day by 3 PM.

After a brief tour of my new place, we headed to the Loop. We went to the Art Institute and saw Obama Portraits and Bisa Butler exhibits; then we went to the Millennium Park for the Classic Broadway concert, and then we strolled the night Riverwalk, and we even had time to have a late-night tea on my balcony!

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Funny Thing Happened Today

When I opened my apartment door and stepped into the kitchen, I could tell right away that it is warm. The past several days were incredibly hot, and each time I stepped inside my apartment, I felt the coolness. Toda, however, I could tell that the temperature in the apartment is the same as outside.

I had a thousand thoughts right away. I thought: I just told a number of people that the severe weather didn’t damage anything in my apartment! And that I didn’t have a power outage. And that I thought I wouldn’t need to replace an air conditioner before spring. And which repair service should I call? 

I was already counting my losses of time and money when I felt that it is starting to cool down. I checked the thermostat – the temperature was indeed coming down!

It was only then that I realized that today was the first day in two weeks that I came home before the time the air conditioner thinks I should be home and starts to cool the apartment!

I immediately remembered what my neighbor said the other day. I asked him where he was – I haven’t seen him for the whole week. He replied with the question: where have you being for the whole week?

  • I was working!
  • See – that’s what I mean: you should be at home more!

I guess, he is right!

That’s How I Go Shopping These Days

Last time Boris was here, he talked me into using the bike’s luggage rack. Before that’ I was a little bit sceptical about my abilities to keep the balance/ Also, I didn’t realize how much stuff you can carry on your bike this way. Now, I am shopping at Devon Market, and at once a week the Glenwood Street Market.

And I am planningt to use my bike for shopping as soon long as possible (not sure how winter will look like)

Severe Weather

Today is the third day in a row with an excessive heat warning. For the past two days, the heat was accompanied by severe thunderstorms. Yesterday, I went to Siskel Center to watch While Sheikh – the first movie of Fellini’s centennial retrospective.

There was no rain forecasted for yesterday, except for some possibility later in the evening, and since the event was indoors, I thought I would be fine.

There was no rain all day, but when the movie was over, and I was about to exit, I saw that people are crowded by the exit – the rain outside was heavy! I thought I am lucky that the entrance to the Red Line is right in front of the Siskel Center doors and promptly ran there, thinking that I got it light. Well…

Inside the station, I heard the announcement that the traffic on both the Red Line and the Brown Line is stopped because there are trees on the tracks in both cases! I thought of getting out and calling Uber. But then I thought that it is raining like crazy, and many people will be calling Uber, so I might have to wait long, and that it will cost at least fifty bucks under the circumstances. So I waited, listening to announcements and hoping for some positive news.

Forty minutes later, I gave up and left the station to call Uber. And I was right – I was picked up by the second driver (the first canceled), and yes, it cost my 50+ bucks. but at least the rain almost stopped :).

Finnish Cheesecake – New Look

The only reason I call this recipe “Finnish” is because it originally came from my friend from Helsinki. I loved and bake it regularly. Last Saturday, it was the first time I baked it after moving to my new place.

Like all other recipes, it came out perfectly in the gas stove. Also, it was the first time ever I tried to bake it in the bundt cake pan, and not just an bundt cake pan, but the one with the waves. I was not sure whether it will come out well, or it will stick to the form, but it ended up being miraculously good.

Here is the actual recipe

I baked two cheesecakes: one with dried fruit, and another one with fresh berries (blueberries, raspberries and blackberries). They tasted differently, b ut both were delicious! (Past tense – both gone :))