Milwaukee Art Museum

This year to celebrate our anniversary and birthdays, we went to the Milwaukee Art Museum to see the Warhol exhibit: The Last Decade. We also went to Cafe Manna (will be in an upcoming post) and Penzey’s Spices in Brookfield, WI. I’ve wanted to check out the Milwaukee Art Museum ever since we moved to Chicagoland. Since they had the Warhol exhibit, we figured we better go now. I’m so glad we went. The building itself is one of the coolest buildings I’ve ever seen. It looks like something out of a futuristic movie. The interior did not disappoint either. The lake views were amazing. The staff at the museum were so friendly too.

We went to the Warhol exhibit first and it was great. They even had some “Piss Paintings”.  I enjoyed seeing the Last Supper and Self Portrait art works. Then we went and explored the rest of the museum. I didn’t even know they had a sculpture and a painting by one of my favorite artists – Alberto Giacometti.  I was thrilled! In the 20th Century Design section, they had a (Isamu) Noguchi coffee table. We had a good laugh over the fact we drove to Milwaukee to see the same coffee table we have in our family room. They had a lot of interesting and wonderful things at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Next year, I am going to bring my parents here when they come out to visit. I know they will really enjoy it and we’d like to see it again.

Outside:

Inside:

Looking Up:

More inside pictures:

Noguchi Coffee Table:

More Than Delicious Orchard – Woodstock, IL

Rob and I went to the More Than Delicious Orchard in Woodstock, IL and had a nice time. They had a great variety of apples and I can’t wait to go back and see what new-to-me varities they will have next time.  They sell Wealthy apples which are my absolute favorite for applesauce.  I love making applesauce because the smell of cinnamon and apples fills the house. How should you serve your appleasauce? In a vintage Pyrex bowl of course!

I’ve never had a Pink Pearl apple before. They were fabulous! They decribed them as like biting into a SweetTart and it did remind me of that. They are really neat because, like the name suggests, they are pink inside.

If you’re looking for an apple orchard where the focus is actually on the apples, then check them out. This orchard reminded me of some of the small orchards we used to go to back in Michigan. We bought pre-picked this time but I look forward to picking apples soon. We also bought some delicious pears there too. They were yummy! 

Main Building:

I love sunflowers and they were so pretty:

Actually, all the flowers there were very pretty:

The drive to the orchard was lovely too. It’s going to be gorgeous once the leaves turn.

First Pumpkin Carving for 2009

Hi Everyone. I can’t believe it’s been almost 2 months since I last updated my blog. Well, it’s September and my long time readers know that I absolutely love Fall. I can’t get enough pumpkins, apples, and cider. I bought a pumpkin for $4 at my local farmer’s market and decided to go with this cat pattern because it fit the size of the pumpkin better than any of the other patterns.

Of course, besides the reward of enjoying your carved pumpkin, there are pumpkin seeds! What makes pumpkin seeds even more appealing? Why, putting them in a vintage Fire King dish, silly!

Now I just have to wait for the orchards to open this weekend….open open open open!!!

First Cuke Harvest and Cucumber Trellis

It’s official. I’ve picked my first two pickling cukes of the year. I want it noted for the record that I did share one of the cucumbers with Rob. They were so delicious. I love cucumbers. They’ve been my favorite ever since I was a kid. My grandpa used to have a big garden every year. I remember going over there and heading straight for the garden to see if there were any cucumbers to pick.

This is the first year I am growing English or Burpless cucumbers. Here’s one starting to grow:

The cucumbers are doing really well this year and growing like crazy. We built a cucumber trellis this past weekend so they don’t overtake the entire raised garden bed.

My Green Zebra tomatoes are doing good. They should be ready soon. I can’t wait.

Garden Update

This year we are starting off small since it is the first summer in our house. I’ve got two 4′ x 8′ raised garden beds and a bunch of containers on the patio. I’m growing several types of pepper including green, yellow, and orange bell peppers, and melrose, habanero, and jalapeno peppers. I’m also growing pickling cukes and trying my hand at growing English cucumbers.  There’s also eggplant, radishes, carrots, lavender, basil, Thai basil, lemongrass, red kale, and two types of beans (green – bush and purple), and  a couple types of lettuce. I also have a few varieties of tomatoes including a few heirloom. This is my first year growing Green Zebra tomatoes, which are one of my favorites.

Now for some pictures, which I took probably two weeks ago.

Green Zebra Tomato:

Roma Tomato – I can’t wait to make fresh salsa:

Lavender:

Orange Bell Pepper – not orange yet:

Lettuce:

Cucumber:

Raised Garden Bed – Cucumbers and Peppers. I am building a cucumber trellis this week:

Black Eyed Susan Flowers:

Palm Sedge – I planted some of these front when I ripped out all the hideous and half-dead shrubs the previous owner had:

First harvest from the garden (aside from some basil) – Yellow Bell Pepper. I actually harvested two. I fried them up with some onions and put them on top of a Tofurky Kielbasa in a bun. Rob added Bubbies Sauerkraut to his.