The Importance of "Me" Days

I've recently discovered just how important it is to take some time out to recharge the batteries every once in awhile and remind myself what it is to be "me". On a particularly dismal Saturday I set about finding some good wine (seen right), bad magazines and even worse television to fill my time. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed myself (although I think a good deal of that could have been due to the wine) and realized the need to take more time out of my life to just be with myself. I think that it's easy for us to always feel the need to be "doing something" but sometimes not doing anything is when we can get our best thinking done, at least that seems to be the case for me. So cheers to "me" days and the satisfaction they can bring.

Yes, there's life beyond Starbucks.

I believe that I have found a coffee chain that could kick Starbucks to the curb. It's called Barriques and the best thing about it is that it not only specializes in coffee, but it offers an excellent and non-intimidating wine selection as well. I've found several Barriques around thus far and hope that more start to pop up soon because even though it is a chain, it still manages to offer a cozy boutique feel which I love.

I love that they used old window panes as their menu boards.

 Wine and gift nook :)

Barriques offers wines from all over the world and provides great descriptions on what to expect favor-wise from each wine so hopefully you aren't surprised at first taste.Their wine is very reasonably priced too - there are bottles priced as low as $6.00.

They even serve wine by the glass in house and also have special wine tasting events each month.

Great cupcake coffee mug I found in Barriques gift section of the store.

Wine Down

As much as I love being able to take advantage of all that city life has to offer sometimes it’s just as nice to be able to wind down and have a relaxing night in. Several weeks ago, a friend of mine and I decided to do a wine and cheese night.

To gather our necessary supplies, we ventured to my favorite Chicago grocery store, Fox & Obel in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood. The only problem with this brilliant wine and cheese night idea was that neither one of us knew practically anything about wine or cheese. (I guess my college years of enjoying Andre and Yellow Tail didn’t exactly make me a wine connoisseur. Not to mention, the extent of my cheese knowledge was knowing that KRAFT singles were always a must when making a proper grilled cheese sandwich). So when we got to Fox & Obel we were a bit overwhelmed to say the least. Luckily, Fox & Obel had a great wine sommelier on staff that helped us pick two great wines, both at reasonable prices. The sommelier  even suggested what types of cheeses to pair with our wine selections. We ended up with a red and white wine and six different cheeses  to enjoy.

It was great getting to try something a bit outside my comfort zone, and with great success! 

"Mulling" it over

This weekend I was finally able to visit Wishbone, a Southern-inspired eatery in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood. The décor was warm and inviting with a playful color palette and an assortment of knickknacks, including an impressive array of Rooster figurines. The menu was filled with many of the Southern-comfort favorites you would expect, but I have to say that the real star of the meal was the mulled wine that my friend and I ordered. Now, I know that the name may sound less than appealing, but the beverage itself was spectacular. Filled with citrus and cinnamon undertones, the warm blend served as the perfect treat on yet another cold Chicago evening. (Yes, I’m aware that it is now March, but as anyone that lives in Chicago knows, it will still be winter until mid-April around here).

I wasn’t able to find Wishbone’s recipe for mulled wine but after prodding the waitress for the ingredients I scoured the internet using my incredible Google search skills to find one that I believe is a worthy substitute…

Mulled Wine Recipe

Ingredients
4 cups apple cider
1 (750-ml) bottle red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon
1/4 cup honey
2 cinnamon sticks
1 orange, zested and juiced
4 whole cloves
3 star anise
4 oranges, peeled, for garnish

Directions
Combine the cider, wine, honey, cinnamon sticks, zest, juice, cloves and star anise in a large saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Pour into mugs, add an orange peel to each and serve.