Edible Chicago

Whole Bean Chronicles, Part One.

One of the reasons we love eating is that it engages most or (if you're lucky) all of the physical senses. With a little willful exploration, it can also engage one's imagination: What are the common experiences of the people who brought me this food? What must the seasons be like in that country for them to yield so much of a certain crop, and how cooperative is the soil? What kinds of traditions and celebrations have grown out of the predominance of a particularly versatile edible?

What's it like to farm this crop?

This last question becomes very important when it comes to coffee beans, and we stand firm in our decision to support only Fair Trade certified beans when buying our home stash. If you're interested in why we choose to pay more for beans which may simply be equal in quality to that of some commercial products, please do some research of your own so that I can get off of this pedestal before the end of the post.

Okay, now.

One of my misconceptions about Chicago involved a highly increased cost of living, and the Coffee and Tea Exchange has gone a long way toward shattering that notion. In fact, they have something I haven't seen anywhere else in Chicago: Reasonably priced brewed coffee. $1 for a small, $1.25 for a medium, $1.50 for a large.

And.

It's.

Good.

So good, in fact, that we have occasionally forgone the fresh ground in our home for a cup around the corner (right across from the Nettlehorst school). And now that it's summer, they're serving amazing iced coffee from a cold-brew process that uses more beans, but packs quite a silky-smooth punch and doesn't noticeably weaken in flavor when the ice cubes melt. Coffee brewed to be served cold. Who woulda thunk it?

Don't call him a barista: Meet Peter, our usual beanologist. Pete, if you use a title that doesn't sound goofy, then I sincerely apologize for "beanologist". Peter was the very first employee of the Exchange to hear my plea for more Fair Trade beans, and a month later, CTE was carrying 3 new varieties. It's gotta be the Pete. Actually, all of the java slingers in that shop are extremely pleasant and knowledgeable, only adding to my puzzlement over the low prices.

Finally, here is a picture of one of the awe inspiring walls of tea, bulk spices, and useful coffee gadgets, Christa's favorite visual feature of the store.

Buy Fair Trade!

posted by Dan and Christa @ 10:57 PM 5 comments

Nettlehorst French Market

So it's Saturday morning. I'm a little hungover, and a little hungry. I need a shower, but i'll let it wait till later, because just down the street is the coolest thing about my neighborhood during the summer, the market held over at the Nettelhorst school.







The market is small, but has a great selection of local produce, local art, flowers and a fantastic bakery. One of our favorite stops is for pretzel bread and scones from the Hahn bakery stand, guys that come in all the way from someplace called Geneva, way outside of the city. Pretzel bread is a delectible mild bread, with a dark crust covered in tasty pretzel salt. Dan goes crazy for it! and i love anything with lots of carbs....

There are also artist booths, a few weeks ago i got a really cool necklace from a woman who lives just down the street from me, and it's so cool that a homeless lady stopped me to give me a compliment. Thanks michelle!




This week we obtained some awesome food-related artwork, from a guy who was selling these
georgeous wooden cutting boards and other crafts from a company in Oxford, PA. We got a really amazing cutting board, great for presenting the cheese course at our next dinner party!


Finally, we round out our carb fest with some zucchini from one stand, and some dried-vegetable chips from a farm in Dowagiac, MI. The veggie chips are great, the taro, carrot, and eggplant are good, but the green beans are actually our favorite. Salty and crispy and sweet! A great Saturday morning treat.

posted by Dan and Christa @ 8:32 PM 1 comments