the end of summer

 It's Labor Day, the traditional end of summer in the U.S. Despite the season's late start this year and a lot of rain, I feel like I had a pretty good one. I enjoyed an outdoor pool near where I live and really made the most of the lakefront. I didn't get to travel as much as I would have liked, but Seeing Italy is all about seeing beauty wherever you are.

It's good to know someone with a boat!

The lily pond in Lincoln Park is a hidden treasure where you can hide from the heat, the noise, and the crowds of the North Side.

At twilight, a waveless lake can look iridescent.

Backyard hammock.

Buckingham Fountain at night.

This summer I was all about the fruit cobbler--blueberry or peach. It may not look like much, but it's good--and so easy. Cobblers are a lifesaver when you've got fruit about to go bad.

The outdoor pool in my neighborhood. Wish it stayed open past Labor Day.

Part of the best skyline in the world.

I finally downloaded Hipstamatic. 

City and prairie--taken from Northerly Island.

Clouds are underappreciated.

spicy fish soup

I've made this fish soup about four or five times in the past six weeks. It's delicious, easy, and perfect for summer (tomatoes!), but it also offers an excellent opportunity to show you how you can take some shortcuts on an "official" recipe to make it slightly less complicated to shop for and make.

Let's start with the fish. No need to buy four types of seafood or go to Whole Paycheck's fish counter. I get Trader Joe's frozen White Ruffy, which is a mild-flavored, slightly flaky fish, but it still holds its shape well enough to work well in the soup. Plus it's easy to break off one fillet, so you can make a small batch of soup at a time--great if you live on your own, since you don't really want to have fishy things sitting around in your fridge for too long. And it defrosts fast too. (I know you're not supposed to defrost fish under hot water, but whatevs, I've been doing it for years.)

Second, the tomatoes. In tomato season I use whatever I get from the farmers' market, and I certainly don't bother to peel them. In non-tomato season, it's all about the canned stuff.

Parsley: I never have this around so I don't bother. I do have a rosemary plant however, and you should too, since the prices stores charge for fresh herbs are ridick.

White wine: Surely you have a bottle open already. If not, why not? Wine makes life better. In a pinch, you could use dry vermouth.

The one thing I do do to make this slightly more complicated is that instead of adding plain water, I typically use some homemade broth stashed in the freezer. But this is easy too--it just requires some forethought. For the first few batches, I used shrimp broth I made months and months ago with shrimp shells left over from another dish. Then I ran out of shrimp broth, but I still didn't want to use plain water. Luckily I had some vegetable broth in there too, which I made a while ago by boiling whatever vegetables hanging out in the crisper that were not yet moldy but had passed their prime.  I spiked with a few drops of fish sauce. Delicious.

So that's it. Totally easy, yummy, and healthy too. If you don't like spicy, you can cut out the red pepper, but frankly I think it makes the dish.

beach vacation

I'm not much for dedicated beach vacations. Generally I prefer vacations with lots of things to do and see. Lying around for several days? No thanks. I think the last beach vacation I took was in college a couple decades ago, when I went with some friends to Jamaica. (And had a great time, I might add.)

Maybe it was the long winter this year, or just that I needed to relax, but suddenly the prospect of doing very little except looking over some water under a hot sun sounded great. So I booked a trip to Isla Mujeres, Mexico, in April, and it turned out to be just what I wanted--pretty beaches, laid-back so I could relax, but with enough to do over about five days so I didn't get bored.

Although it's just a 20-minute ferry ride from Cancun, Isla Mujeres is still an antidote to Cancun's spring break, party-til-you-drop mentality. Although development does seem to be picking up, it still resembles a small Mexican village in many ways, down to the occasional chicken picking its way through the streets.

I went by myself and had a great time. Snorkeling was perhaps my favorite part. I used my swimming goggles to check out the fish hanging out near some rocky bits by the hotel beach, and also went on a group outing to snorkel around an underwater installation of sculptures that is part of the Museo Subacuatico de Arte. Having all these fish flit around so close to me was a wild experience! The group on the tour was terrific--two women from Australia whose parents were from Spain, so they chatted in those raspy Spanish accents with one of the tour guides, who also happened to be originally from Spain; their boyfriends; and a mother/daughter from Minnesota.

I stayed the perfect amount of time--any longer and I would have been fried to a crisp. I'm not all that fair, but that sun was powerful and very hard to avoid, especially since I was out and about riding a rented bike, going to lunch in the town, etc. And since I was by myself, getting sunblock on my back was a challenge! I got pretty red in places, but no major damage, luckily. I don't think I could live in such a climate, but it is really a treat to be able to visit.

lunch is served

I recently got the OK to work at home once a week, and I couldn't have picked a better day this week than today--it's sunny and really warm, finally--about 80 degrees! Spring has been sooo slow to start here--even at the end of April the trees barely had buds--so this is most welcome. Too bad it's supposed to cool off a little for the weekend . . .

Working from home means a yummier lunch than frozen Trader Joe's meals (they're good, but still frozen meals) or the Corner Bakery. I've been eating a lot of vegetables at home. Asparagus of course are in season right now. I usually just broil them with some olive oil and salt, although there are some more really delicious ways to prepare them here. A poached egg adds some protein . . . and I've really been into this capocollo and Calabrese salami lately. A tiny drop of red wine, and I feel so European eating on my newly flower- and plant-filled balcony.

Think I'll sneak out later for a quick bike ride and/or a swim at the pool--if only the outdoor pools were open!

chiuso per vacanze

I'm off for vacation for a few days--not Italy though, nor France. It's somewhere closer that I've never been before, but it's not completely unfamiliar. I'll be back soon with some photos and hopefully some good stories!

Italy videos

I just realized I never posted any of the short videos I took during my trip to Italy last spring.

Here's a taste of the peace and quiet in Parco Maremma.

Also in the park--an animal or insect was making a very loud, strange, slightly alarming noise.

And finally . . . there were a lot of foxes running around, including a pair that at first I thought were a couple dogs owned by the people walking ahead of me. I wasn't quick enough to get them but I did spot this guy a little later.

Sounds of Italy

Oh no! Thanks to Just Another American in Paris I think I just found yet another way to procrastinate on the Internet. She posted about the Freesound Project, a site on which you can search for ambient noises and other sounds from all over the world. I haven't found too many great files for Italy, but here are a few worth a listen:

• a street performer playing the accordion somewhere in Italy
• birds singing (and a bee buzzing) in Tuscany
• church bells and street noises in Venice
• a street market in Montevarchi, Tuscany
• the sound of the sea in Livorno
• a typical exchange in a caffe

 Sigh. I want to be there!