Chicago Botanic Garden

So I have been in Chicago for two weeks now. There has been a lot of adjusting to do, but I have seen so many wonderful things already that it hardly seems difficult to adapt to this amazing city.

The first weekend I arrived, Michael's mom took me the Chicago Botanic Garden. It's free to the public, but parking is $20 unless you have a hookup with a yearly pass (why yes, I did have a hookup). The garden's 385 acres are overwhelmingly beautiful and I easily found myself lost while winding through the various paths of the 23 different themed gardens. I had the desire to see and touch every plant, flower, and vegetable, but we were on a mission.

We had to come watch the Garden Chef Series where chefs from various restaurants around the Chicago area come to the outdoor kitchen to give cooking demonstrations. Renown chefs such as Rick Bayless and Gale Gand have been featured here which made my anticipation for the demo high. Today's chef was Janine MacLachlan from the Rustic Kitchen, a cooking school located two hours outside of Chicago on a secluded farm. She was bubbly and fun and gave a wonderful demonstration on my favorite foods such as granola and ginger ale, and I even learned how to make a ginger plumb clafoutis. I highly recommend this super easy desert to anybody who likes pie but does not want the hassle of making a crust.

After eating the samples from the demo (they were only one bite which was not nearly enough) we perused through the pepper and vegetable gardens. The foods are cultivated to perfection with rows and rows of peppers, eggplants, and swiss chard surrounded by the largest heads of lettuce I have ever come across. The only aspect that is not perfectly lovely about these plants is that they can not be picked and cooked up.



The Botanic Garden is by far my new favorite place in Chicago. I can not wait to go back a thousand times and explore every facet of the expansive awesomeness.