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Thank God St. Patrick’s Day is Over
I hope you weren’t expecting another super fun filled weekend from me to recap today… I’m a homebody and after a crazy busy and fun weekend, all I could think about was doing a lot of nothing for two days straight. I did do a few fun things though!
Saturday morning I had plans to go for an outside run but the cold weather and extreme soreness I still felt from boxing meant that was not going to happen. Instead I spent some time on the stair-master watching the river parade or whatever it is and actually got to see the river dyed green. Helped me power through the stair-master that’s for sure!
After making myself presentable, Partydog and I thought it might be a fun idea to try and go out to breakfast. If you’ve never been to Chicago on St. Patrick’s Day weekend I can’t even begin to describe how insanely ridiculous busy/crazy/obnoxious it is. I’m not a fan of huge crowds and getting drunk in public so it’s pretty much my worst nightmare. After walking around for 1.5 hours trying to find ANY place that didn’t have 400 drunk people waiting in line to eat, we ended up back home-starving and grumpy.t Great breakfast date!
I unfortunately had to venture outside again to head over to the Chopping Block for a $10.00 soup stock demonstration class. In true St. Patrick’s day fashion, in the 6 blocks I had to walk to get there I was hissed at and witnessed at fight-at 2:00 in the afternoon. Delightful.
The class was actually really fun! I make my own stock most of the time but I learned A LOT and can’t wait to put the things I learned to the test. I had a few people request some of the tips I learned so here’s a few:
- Never let your soup come to a boil.
- Dry roast the vegetables first for about 45 minutes prior to making vegetable stock.
- It’s pointless to cook vegetable stock for more than and hour and pointless after 4 for chicken stock. All of the flavors you’ll get have come out by that point.
- Never pour stock to drain it- ladle it into a strainer that empties into a bowl.
After watching the chef make 3 different types of stock, we got to taste some miso soup she made with one of the stocks!
I can honestly say I’ve never had miso soup that tasted quite like this. It was so bold and flavorful and super easy which means I might actually attempt to make it at some point in my life. The stock is a great option for pho too!
Sunday PartyDog and I went to see Oz which I loved but then again I used to watch the Wizard of Oz on repeat when I was younger…and it had James Franco in it so there was pretty much no chance of me disliking this movie. After a little shopping and a nap we got all dolled up to go out on a dinner date….more on that tomorrow!
That’s all the nonsense I have for now!
Do you make your own soup stock? Any tips you’d like to add??
23 Comments to Thank God St. Patrick’s Day is Over
Nice tips! I know in restaurants all the leftover bits of vegetables like trimmings, leaves, peels, roots, etc. are used to make stocks. Anything/everything adds flavor!
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Kelsey Reply:
March 19th, 2013 at 7:05 am
TRU DAT!
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I live a short 5 minute walk from Wrigley. St. Paddy’s weekend is the equivalent of Satan rising from his lair and making my life a living hell…while he is also drunk, surrounded by 17 sorority girls yelling, “Wooooo!!” and wearing a green White Sox hat.
It was the worst.
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Kelsey Reply:
March 19th, 2013 at 7:05 am
HAHAHAHA. Love.this.
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I am also glad that St. Patrick’s Day is over. I didn’t even want to go anywhere in my neighborhood this weekend. How can so many people like to be drunk in public like that? I will never understand!
I make vegetable stock, but not very often. I need to start making it more frequent again. That miso stock looks really good!
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Kelsey Reply:
March 19th, 2013 at 7:05 am
I’ve actually never made veggie stock-only chicken so I’m dying to try it!
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Ah, if you thought downtown was bad, you should’ve seen Wrigleyville on Saturday night! As soon as I got onto Addison, my immediate and only thought was, “This is, possibly, one of the more irresponsible things I’ve ever done and easily the poorest life choice I’ve made since moving to Chicago.” Fortunately I was mostly in a house, not out and about, while in Wrigleyville, but whoa. IN.SAN.I.TY.
I’ve never even thought to make my own soup stock, mostly because it’s so easy to buy haha. Although considering how willing I am to make just about everything else from scratch that’s easy to buy, I guess that’s not really a good excuse. I should look into it!
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Kelsey Reply:
March 19th, 2013 at 7:04 am
You really should make it..it’s tasty!
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Yummm miso soup!
Also, I really want to see Oz, glad you thought it was good!
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Kelsey Reply:
March 19th, 2013 at 7:04 am
I thought of you when I was chowing down on that miso soup…
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I have never gotten into the whole “let’s get wasted!” St Patricks Day mentality. I don’t really get it. I went to the South Side Irish Parade once (the last year before they cancelled it) and was like “this sucks, I hate this, can we go home now?” It’s like the worst frat party times a million. So I would have been just as pissed as you if I had to deal with those crowds.
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Kelsey Reply:
March 19th, 2013 at 7:04 am
TOTES
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I make my stock by walking into Trader Joes, picking up a box of it and then purchasing it at the checkout…
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Kelsey Reply:
March 19th, 2013 at 7:04 am
HAHAHAHAHAHA
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I waited until after the half marathon was finished on Saturday morning to go for my long run…but that meant dodging tons of drunk (and slightly scary) people on my way to the lakefront path. Some REALLY drunk moron was walking along with a metal baseball bat hitting signs and walking out into traffic. Stay classy, Chicago.
Also, I have a chicken carcass in my freezer just waiting for me to make stock. But I’ve never done it so I’m a little scared. But, really, how can I possibly screw it up, right?
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Kelsey Reply:
March 19th, 2013 at 7:03 am
Seriously so easy. Do it and then have me over for soup.
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Ooh! Thank you for this! I want to take my husband to this class-he loves making soup, so it would be the perfect gift!
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Kelsey Reply:
March 19th, 2013 at 7:03 am
It was only $10.00! Do it!
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Sounds like an awesome workout view
I LOVED Oz! It didn’t get great reviews but I really enjoyed it!
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Kelsey Reply:
March 19th, 2013 at 7:03 am
Yay me too!
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Ugh god I know I went by your apartment to take a class at BBF and it was RIDICULOUS. Sooooo many annoying drunks everywhere. It took me twice as long to get home on the bus, and then there was puke all over the streets. We should have had a wine and cheese party at your place.
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Kelsey Reply:
March 19th, 2013 at 7:03 am
I KNOW.
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Those are great tips! Thanks! We used to make stock but use fake meats bouillon cubes or seasoning now
Being in Chicago on St Patty’s scared me. Luckily, I had Erin to protect me.
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