Something About Nothing

Took a little trip out to Chicago to see my sister and we had to go to The Art Institute of Chicago.  It is my sister's favorite place and I have not gone in many, many years. It was a delightful afternoon, which had to be cut short because we didn't realize they closed at 5 p.m. Because of our short time available we made a plan to visit the Rodin exhibit, the impressionists, and a quilt exhibit! Rodin's sculptures were amazing!  The quilt exhibit was called: Making Memories: Quilts as Souvenirs One of my favorite things about seeing paintings is being able to look up close to see the paint strokes. I absolutely love Van Gogh Look at all the colors in there! And those short strokes of thick paint. Yummy. A very fun day with Sistah.

Last weekend was sister's weekend in Chicago. Ever since my Mom passed away in 2002, my sister and I have tried to spend a weekend together in Chicago to enjoy one another's company, go to a Cub's game, visit friends and visit Mom's grave. This year was a little different.  We didn't even plan the weekend around a Cub's game because we had a different goal in mind this year. Last December one my sister's best friends, Damien, decided he could not stay on this earth any longer. His decision was devistating for my sister and many others. My sister and his friends have tried to reach up out of their pit of despair and contribute to the world by raising money to benefit the San Francisco SPCA, one of Damien's favorite charities. My sister organized a few fund raisers in San Francisco while another friend, Cathy, prepared to run the Chicago Marathon in Damien's memory.  The marathon and an afterparty with a  raffle would be the culminating e...

Chicago is famous for food like Pizza, Hot Dogs and Italian Beef Sandwiches, however one of the things I missed right away after I moved west was Pork Roast with Bread Dumplings.  Bread dumplings were readily available in the freezer section back home but not out west.  I wondered what people ate with pork roast if they didn't have bread dumplings. Fortunately my Grandmother gave me an easy recipe that I am going to pass along to you today. The recipe (given below) only requires two slices of bread, some flour, eggs, milk, baking powder, salt and parsley.   I was out of parsley so I left it out. After mixing it all together with a spoon you divide the dough into two balls. I always roll these two balls into loaf shapes as it is easier for them to cook evenly. The dough then sits for an hour or so (I actually often cover mine loosely with plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge for a couple hours so that I can take a ...