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Tanara McCauley

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Tanara McCauley

Tag Archives: travel

Race for the Chicago Hot Dog…A Food Tour Tragedy

04 Saturday Oct 2014

Posted by tanaramccauley in Faith, Relationships, and Other Topics, Writing and Pursuing Publication

≈ 2 Comments

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ACFW, American Christian Fiction Writers, amwriting, bicycling, biking, Chicago, Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder, coffee, conference, Dear Mr. Knightley, dining, Eataly, espresso, food, food tour, hot dog, Mezcalina, Navy Pier, photographs, pictures, restaurants, Roka Akor Chicago, sightseeing, St. Louis, The Billy Goat Tavern, The Purple Pig, tourism, travel, writing

On my way to the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) conference in St. Louis, I made a two-day pit stop in Chicago to visit a dear friend who’d just moved from my town to that town. My sister, who lives in Boston, jumped at the chance to join us, and we spent days before our little gathering emailing back and forth about how we’d spend our time.

Oddly enough, the conversation turned to hot dogs, and went something like this:

Sis: Carissa do you know a good hot dog place?

Me: Hot dogs?!? I call foul. FOUL I say!

Sis: Hey, Tanara, it’s not all about you, lol. I heard Chicago style dogs are good!!!

Carissa: True, true! I asked Chris & he said Chicago hot dogs are famous & good! We will have a hot dog stop!

Sis: Thank you so much. You don’t have to try one, Tanara!

Me: Hot dogs. We talkin’ bout hot dogs (in my Allen Iverson “talkin’ about practice” voice). Fine, being the good follower that I am ;-), if everyone else is having hot dogs I’ll have one too. Hot dogs. smh.

And so the race for the famous Chicago hot dog began. I arrived in Chicago before my sister Makena.

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Being hungry, and not wanting to eat her precious hot dog without her, I lunched with Carissa at Mezcalina. I ate the pollo almendrado (chicken in almond mole) and we shared two guacamoles (traditional and del dia).

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We’re beating hot dogs by a mile straight out the gate.

My sis arrived at dinner time. We met her at an Orange Line exit, then hoofed it the rest of the way to Roka Akor Chicago, where we had dinner reservations with Carissa and her husband Chris. We ate Omakase style, which allows the chef to pick your food for you.

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The experience was Ah-mazing. I’ll admit, though, not being a lover of food that hasn’t gone through a trial by fire of sorts (ahem…cooking), I struggled through the raw fish course. Hot dogs sounded pretty good in that moment. Then the next course came…what’s a hot dog?

Dessert made me want to run a good two miles, circle back to the restaurant and have another…to myself. It was that good. No, really, it was THAT good.

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Next day we hopped on city bikes and cruised the streets like we owned them. Carissa in the lead, dinging her bell at every poor soul unfortunate enough to share the trail. Makena brought up the rear, her legs working overtime to compensate for her too-short bike. Between her and Carissa we had our own theme song going. It went something like, “Ding, ding! Wait for me, guys!”

We spotted a couple of hot dog stands along the way. They looked a little shady, so on we went…

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For lunch, Makena had a place on her list considered a must dine.

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The Purple Pig, voted one of the ten best new restaurants of 2010, had some of the best calamari I’ve ever tasted, served cold like a salad. That I enjoyed it says a lot, because the only cold food I’m really fond of comes out of the freezer and is eaten by spoon.

Next we ate at this little joint:

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The Billy Goat Tavern happened to be featured in a book I read recently, Katherine Reay’s Dear Mr. Knightley (great book), so I saved my appetite for one of their cheezborgers (that’s how they spell it, don’t ask me why). I know what you’re thinking: I complained about hot dogs and scarfed down a cheezborger.

Yes. I did.

Mr. Goat’s was a homey place, the walls plastered with pictures of famous people who’d dined there over the years. Munching on my borger, I leaned over the table and fixed my attention on the Jeopardy episode playing behind the bar. I celebrated every question I answered correctly. Nobody minded. It’s that kind of establishment.

Next was Eataly. An Italian market/restaurant/gelato/winery/coffee, etc., etc., place.

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Since “life is too short not to drink well,” I ordered an expensive espresso. It was so strong I forget which exotic country produced it.

Evening arrived and still no hot dogs. Surely the Navy Pier would have a stand we could patronize. We set off on foot. The shadows of dusk gave way to an over-dark nightfall, and we soon questioned the wisdom of our choice. We passed under a bridge and up a flight of concrete stairs, heads turning to and fro in search of rats and ruffians. Made it to the pier just in time to watch them locking up.

Legs tired, bellies grumbling, we piled into a cab. It took us to Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder. This place was also featured in Dear Mr. Knightley (seriously, great book). We split a Mediterranean bread. Then the pizza pot pie and oven grinders arrived.

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The sight of that huge sandwich shut me down. I took a couple bites of delicious sausage blanketed with melted cheese and killer sauce, then raised the white flag.

One look at my girls and I knew my flag had company. Two days of walking, biking, eating, and exploring caught up with us. We boxed up the food, cabbed it back to Carissa’s place and stuffed our boxes in the fridge, pleased to know Chris would enjoy the fruits of our surrender.

Not until Makena and I boarded separate planes the next day did we realize her tragedy. We’d raced through the city of Chicago in search of a great hot dog, and ducked off the trail before crossing the finish line.

It’s a problem in need of remedy.

Your turn: If you live in Chicago, or have been to Chicago, do you know a hot dog spot worth recommending? Or better yet, one worth an extra trip? I might be inclined to say, “We talkin’ bout hot dogs.” But then again, it’s not about me :-).

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Today

22 Sunday Jun 2014

Posted by tanaramccauley in Faith, Relationships, and Other Topics

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

bridge, Christ, faith, inspiration, journey, patience, san francisco, travel, worry

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Be grateful for today and don’t worry about tomorrow. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.

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Dancing on a Cloud…of Relationships

04 Friday Jan 2013

Posted by tanaramccauley in Writing and Pursuing Publication

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

amwriting, author, Christmas, dancing on a cloud, family, New Year, relationships, road trip, short stories, tea, travel, vacation, writer

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Dancing on a Cloud. It’s not what I’m actually doing, just the name of the tea I’m drinking; and how I feel after spending a few weeks wrapping gifts, eating good food, reliving past times, and driving the open road.

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And though I love being home in Arizona, there’s a certain euphoria to zipping my jacket all the way up because winter is actually cold; and a near manic joy to being able to stick my hand under the bed and look for a kid’s shoe without having to worry if a scorpion will finally get me.

But more than all of that, it’s just being with family. Being the middle sister in a set of three girls all a year apart, and big sister to the coolest, tallest little brother ever, I’m like a kid at Christmas–especially when it is Christmas–when we’re all together again. Add a grandma, a set of in-laws who are like extra parents, old friends, and some of the cutest kids on the planet, and you’ve got yourself one happy writer.

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It got me to thinking about relationships and how they are pretty much the core of our lives the short time we live them. They are also the inspiration behind what we read, watch, and listen to. And because much of what I write deals with relationships between people–parents, spouses, strangers, friends, enemies, siblings, and the like–a short series on the topic seems like a great way to start the year.

So for the next few weeks I’ll be highlighting relationships in my posts. I’ll vary it up with some exposition, video, fictional short stories, and maybe a poem or two.

If something strikes a chord, or you have a relationship topic you’d like to see, by all means chime in! That way while we’re relationship exploring, we can get some relationship building going on at the same time.

Stay tuned, and Happy 2013!

 

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Sunday Dinner with a Cultural Twist

21 Sunday Oct 2012

Posted by tanaramccauley in Faith, Relationships, and Other Topics

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

allrecipes, Bill Gates, Christmas, crack coconut, dine, eat, egg bread, family traditions, food, grub, Hawaiian, home, Jesus, kahlua pig pork, memories, psalm 46, stay at home mom, Sunday dinner, Thanksgiving, travel

As a stay-at-home-mom I’m always looking for ways to make home life enjoyable and  memorable. Some of my ideas fail hysterically, others are not so bad.

When I read an article about Bill Gates in which he discussed the importance of family traditions, I scolded myself for not having thought of that before. I resolved that we would have at least one.

Then I drew blanks for what it would be.

One of Gates’ was to wear matching pajamas on Christmas. Since I couldn’t think of anything better, I tried that the first year. Christmas pajamas are expensive. And with every kid under ten in this house–with markers, food spills, spit ups, and growth spurts–the odds that they’ll all put on and keep on the same pajamas in a twenty-four hour period, let alone from year to year, are unlikely.

Operation Matching Pajamas was scrapped.

I then thought back to my upbringing. For Thanksgiving my parents made the staple foods like turkey, ham, and potatoes. My sisters and I were each responsible for creating a new dish from a cookbook recipe no one in the family had tried before, and my brother would use a new cookbook recipe to make a dessert. What resulted was a modern, eclectic Thanksgiving meal with the traditional bones as the framework.

My family drew from that idea and came up with something suited for us.

We decided our tradition should involve things we enjoy that resonate with who we are. We are a family who loves Jesus, a troupe who likes to travel, and each of us is a tried and true member of the “I love to grub” club.

So we came up with Psalm Sunday Dinners. Based on Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth,” we use the nations God created to inspire the foods we eat on different Sundays of the month, and we of course take a moment to be still and give Him thanks for it all.

Here’s how it works:

Each family member writes on a piece of paper what food they’d like to try for a Sunday dinner (for little ones just ask what they’d like and write it for them (be ready for pizza)). It can be general (e.g., French food) or something specific (e.g. Arroz con pollo).

Put the folded sheets of paper in a container and have one family member draw one. That will be what’s on the menu for the coming Sunday. During the week google recipes (or use a cookbook) and buy any necessary ingredients.

Have everyone in the family participate in some way: Eliana is my little sous chef. Mathias ducks in and out for the jobs he likes (cracking an egg, playing with sticky dough). Iselle gets to pour in ingredients that have already been measured out. Jon typically taste tests, responds to on-call tasks, or takes Iselle from the kitchen when she gets ambitious and decides she wants more important jobs.

When the meal is done we pray together, eat together, then discuss fun facts about the country or culture our meal was inspired by. At the end of dinner, we pull out the container and someone else draws next Sunday’s meal. Refill the container every 1st Sunday.

This can be done once a month, every other Sunday, or every Sunday. However you do it, if you decide to try, it’s a blast. The kids love it, and as far as memories of family traditions go, I think it’ll accomplish what we’re aiming for.

This Sunday’s theme was Hawaiian (courtesy of Eliana).

We had Kahlua pork and Hawaiian egg bread (recipes courtesy of allrecipes.com) with rice.

Cracking the coconuts with Daddy!

She had high expectations for the coconut milk: creamy, sweet, candy-ish…

She was highly disappointed. He, however, enjoyed it.

So did he.

The dough was so sticky we were happy to get it on the pan in any shape. It was hard to stop eating though….sooooooo good!

Fun facts: The name Jon in Hawaii is Keoni. The state fish is the humuhumunukunukuapuaa.

Next Sunday is Chinese orange fish (courtesy of Mathias).

If you try this out please let me know what you make, how it goes, and post pictures!

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Kids Come With! To China and Beyond…

18 Wednesday Jul 2012

Posted by tanaramccauley in Faith, Relationships, and Other Topics

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

adventure, Bahamas, Beijing, children, China, entertainment, escapades, family, Fiji, foreign food, Great Wall, Hawaii, kids, Korean bulgogi, Lego, meke, memories, Peking duck, poi, souvenirs, stay at home mom, travel

I’ve parasailed in the Bahamas, snorkeled the reefs of Hawa’ii, traipsed the rainforests of Puerto Rico, and danced the meke in Fiji; none of which – as awesome as they were – outshines one of my latest escapades: hiking up the great wall of China…with a twenty pound baby strapped to my front. Oh, and her kindergarten twin siblings at my heels.

And I had a blast doing it.

This new life, the one that comes with larger suitcases, excessive head counts, and hand sanitizer at the ready, is the antithesis of what I was nervous life as a stay-at-home-mom would be (though there are days when we stay in our pajamas and flaunt our very wild uncombed heads like they’re the new chic).

(Um…we’ll skip that picture).

The adventures of life are far from over. I behold a new sight, then get the added pleasure of watching my young ones behold it too. And dinner at home is easier to serve after they’ve braved foreign dishes like marinated octopus, Korean bulgogi, Peking duck, and Hawaiian poi (some of which received rave reviews, and others to which they replied, “Maybe I’ll like it when I’m older” – respectful kid-speak for “Ugh! That’s really gross!”).

Of course we travel less often. Nothing depletes the entertainment fund faster than three extra tickets, three extra plates, three extra attraction entry fees, and a host of “kid souvenirs” (a.k.a. easily broken toys). But when we go to a place where “memories that will last a lifetime” are on the list of amenities, we forego the stereotypical hype of getting away from our kids. We pack those extra bags, grab some mini Lego sets, make sure all the media devices have earphones and a years supply worth of batteries, and we board the plane.

Why? For many reasons. One, the time we have with them flies by in a blink, and even those days are not promised. So while we’ve got the time, we spend it with them. Also, we want them to know early on that the world is not confined to their little house and the small city it resides in. The world is huge…and their options in it are limitless. In addition, we adore these little people. They’re just fun to be around. And when it comes to the different landscapes and scenery, we just can’t help bragging to them about what a great job God did yet again. Of course we take time out as just a couple. But when we go big, they don’t stay home. We line our little ducks up and hit the open sky, or the open road, or the great big blue. Whatever the mode of travel, these kids come with, and I know we’ll treasure that choice as long as we live.

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