Dessertin’ on the curb, taken by @pantagrapher
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Kicked of 2012 with some Transylvanian treats (!) at Chimney Cake Island, where they sell large spiraling desserts that are rolled in a variety of deliciousness— from walnuts to nutella & coconut.
They’re kind of like a donut, and a croissant.
Go.
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January: Blackbird
February: Russian Tea Time
March: Cookie Bar!
April: 694 Wine & Spirits
May: Sable Kitchen & Bar (& a steakhouse)
June: summer dessert break
July: 3 year Aftersversary Potluck
August: Artopolis
September/October: Annual Apple Orchard Sojourn (kuipers family farm)
November: Bleeding Heart Bakery Punk Rock Brunch
December: Christkindlmarket (with a wee pitstop at Beard Papa) -
three year anniversary potluck. featuring:
black dog gelato
hoosier mama pie co
southport grocery
bleeding heart bakery
and some others, who i’ve forgotten. -
after an unsuccessful mission to the sable kitchen and bar (well, it was successful with cocktails & appetizers, but not dessert & seating) we regressed and went all dinner upon chicago. we wen’t big. with a huge Italian feast at gene & gorgetti’s.
for dessert posterity, we then pushed our stomachs by splitting one dessert between 7 women. behold: the lone tiramisu.
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April Afters took place last Thursday at 694 Wine & Spirits. The lovely Olivia helped organize this month’s outing and it was a great success. Per usual, we drank too much and I captured very little dessert. But, I swear, we participated in everything.
Pictured above is a candy brownie flight, courtesy of their partner in dessert Celestial Kitchens. Brownies: Marscapone, chocolate chip/pretzel and the mysterious 312. Those ingredients remain mysterious because we were too busy filling up on their butter & salt appetizer (butter so good, the bread is optional), cheese plates, assorted pannini(!) sparkling wine & a very nice red zinfandel named Pezzi King. of all things.
Sadly, there was a private party hogging their upstairs/rooftop deck so we were unable to enjoy in the musical delights of their house DJ, LA Jesus.
We’ll just have to go back in the summertime, that’s all.
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It’s all about the photos this time around, kids. Because, as you’ve probably gleaned, we’re opening pretty darn soon.
guess where we’re going for May AA? oh, yes.
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march afters took place at the cookie bar, where we had some really excellent cookies, assorted types of milk & hot chocolate shots! their ice cream was too hard since their machine was just fixed so we’ll have to go back to sample their ice cream sandwiches come summer.
some of the more memorable cookie flavors:
jalapeno chocolate chip (IT WORKS)
minty num nums (big peppermint patty melted into the top of a sugar cookie)
sybil (chocolate chip with brownie mixed into it)the group’s favorite:
mackenzie phillips. a batshit crazy cookie with everything including toffee and potato chips.and then we had hot dogs (& Polish & veggie burgers) at the weiner circle for dessert.
it’s always recommended to cap off your night by eating cookies for dessert and then hitting up a hot dog spot and being greeted with “what do you hoes want?!”
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da! da! last night we indulged with a capital U.S.S.R at Russian Tea Time.
what makes this place so special? just about everything, but mostly the vodka flights. of which there were many. i’m partial to the Molotov Flight, which includes a housemade horseradish vodka. incredible.
our sweet group splurged and had some savories (not pictured). we strongly encourage you to try the Pumpkin Varenyky. they have quite a dessert and tea selection.
a lovely time. yes. we will return, perhaps for their tea service.
photos courtesy of bibliogrrl.
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The first AA meeting of 2011 was a success! Ten of our bravest members endured the cold, remote west loop for innovative cocktails and award-winning pastry. Let’s hear it for insulated jackets & schedule synchronicity!
All of our selections were pretty great, and everyone had a warm sugary glow at the end of the night (although that could have been Blackbird’s fine indoor lighting schema).
Pictured above is my iPhone’s artsy rendition of a fine boozy coffee drink, Starry Night (Ron Zacapa, Jans, Coffee, Angostura Cream, Vanilla Sugar ) and a not-so-arty-rendition of my dessert order, Banana Pain Perdu (with butterscotch, malt, pinenut and bourbon barrel wood ice cream)
These items balanced out the fact that our server was très bitch and there seemed to be general snootiness coming from the other front of house staff. Because we were a large party who made it clear up front that we were primarily wanting dessert but would quite possibly also enjoy smaller items from the dinner menu? Does not compute.
Luckily that attitude did not trail off to the two kitchens. From the bread and the amuse bouche (lamb tar tar) to the chocolates with mango that came with our bill. It’s too close to my office to say “see you never, Blackbird” but I will probably never go with a larger group if I can help it. They’re clearly not cut out for that kind of stress.
Alas.
