After being together for 8.5 years, it was bound to happen that we’d get a nearly identical card for one another and it turns out this happened for our one year wedding anniversary card. 🙂

Breakfast @ Greenhouse Bed & Breakfast – HUBBA, HUBBA

This week: Celebrated our anniversary at our beloved Greenhouse Bed & Breakfast in Kempton, IL (30 minutes outside of Kankakee, the same place we had our mini-moon last year. It is the best best & breakfast that we’ve gone to and we love Mark and Guia and their pups Tinka & Apollo. It is the best place to forget about the stress going on in our lives packing and getting ready to move. Truly feels like a home away from home. And the food that Guia makes; probably about 90% grown in their gardens, from their chickens, or from their neighbor Mint Creek (sustainable meat farm), is better than most restaurants we have eaten at. Pictured above is breakfast: savory kale oatmeal, poached eggs and tomatoes, cornbread, persimmon pudding, zucchini bread, fruit, and bacon for Z. Guia does not mess around with food. You can pay additional to have dinner there since it’s rather remote and it is completely worth sticking around because dinner is just as good. Basically, everyone should go there. Tell Mark & Guia we sent ya.

What I brought to swap:
potato & onion pierogi. black bean, kale & butternut squash chili. popcorn eyeballs.

My swap haul

After missing a couple Chicago Food Swaps due to being out of town, it was fantastic to make it to this one! Lots of veteran swappers and a few new faces. Some faves were coffee beans from elhurst coffee, two different dilly beans, vegan pancakes, fig bars, maple ginger soda, lime curd, and amazing caramels. Freakin’ tastiness. I feel like this was the most winning combination of stuff I made. Everyone went WILD for the pierogi. I used this recipe from Isa Chandra and then froze them for swappers to cook them with whatever they wanted. Mods made: Adding the magical Epic Spices garlic pepper.

Films watched 41st week of the year:

The Hangover Part III
ParaNorman
Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince

THP3 was terrible. The opening scene is the only thing worth watching. ParaNorman was brilliant – I’d guess that others felt it was similar to Frankenweenie as well. Pretty cool. HP&THBP excellent re-watch.