Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Daily Walk: Getting Good Food During a Blizzard

Despite last week's Blizzaster 2011, our city has pretty much returned to normal. Normal plus some random snowdrift traps.
Even though this was the third worst blizzard in Chicago history, it was nothing like the Little House on the Prairie scenarios I envisioned. Things moved a little slower, but everything we love about the city was still available. As the snow began falling we were able to run across the street for Mexican tacos and horchata. With the drifts piled high we were still able to stumble  through the snow to dine on Belgian food at our new neighborhood bar. And as temperatures hit the subzeros, we just ordered out for Costa Rican food delivery.
Wanting their own food adventure, the dogs were happy to accompany us to check out the new local neighborhood butcher shop: Butcher and Larder.
Butcher &Larder was created by local chefs and uses only locally sourced, humanely raised meats. They have all types of cuts available as well as some prepared foods. Miss M and Mr. B were curious:
And when the butchers saw these faces looking in:
They were nice enough to throw in  some knuckle bones for the dogs.  We picked up some amazing chili and housemade sausages.We're really excited because now with the butcher shop,  the local bakery, and our favorite pie store, we can do much of our shopping right in our neighborhood to support local businesses. Plus, Mr. B loves any excuse to use his backpack:

28 comments:

Christine said...

Did you put the meat/bones in the back pack? I imagine him thinking "delicious meat on my back. delicious meat on my back. delicious meat on my back." the whole walk home. Ha!

Bobby said...

WE SHOULD ALL SUPPORT OUR LOCAL SHOPS, ALL THE FOOD DOES SEEM TASTIER. BOY WILL WE MISS THEM IF THEY ALL HAVE TO CLOSE.
YOU GUYS LOOK LIKE YOU STILL HAVE LOTS OF SNOW, WE DO NOT THINK THE BUTCHER COULD RESIST YOUR FACES.
YOU ARE BOTH VERY GOOD FURBODYS.
LICKS BOBBY.

Unknown said...

I love being able to support local businesses! And, if I lived by you, I would support Hoosier Mama's daily!!

Maisie's Mom said...

though I'm not a (red) meat eater, I would LOVE having all those businesses right near me...especially PIE! unfortunately, Uptown is not yet a neighborhood that has cool places like that within walking distance.

http://maisieme.blogspot.com/

Jess the Dog Shopper said...

Love your backpack!! We want one for the summer! It must be lovely having such a nice butcher on your door step. Cassie has to settle for the Petsmart kind.

Brenda said...

We want to be snowbound with YOU next time!!!!!!!!! Much better than eating cold pizza....

Kari in Alaska said...

a new Butcher just opened near us that we can't wait to check out :)

Kari
http://dogisgodinreverse.com/

jen said...

That is great that most everything you need is in walking distance!
One of the many perks of living in the city!

Janet Johnson said...

snowing in Texas again today. Your dogs look happier about the white stuff than my Texas dogs.

Corbin said...

Hehe, I don't think I'd get very far if mom put those bones in my backpack! BOL! So great that you have so many great places to walk to!
-Corbin

Kate said...

You guys are so lucky to have everything so close to you! We live in the 'burbs so we'll never have the same "walkability" (is that a word?) as you.

I'm glad everything is pretty back to normal (if slow) there. Chicago really is well prepared for that kind of event!

And that pic of Mr. B and E is too cute. :)

In Black and White said...

So you just solved two of my searches in one post. I've been wanting to find a proper butcher to source local meet from (not quite walking distance for me in the winter but close enough!). And if you could tell me where you got that backpack then I'm all set - it's been tricky to find one that doesn't have the weight sat on the dog's back rather than shoulders, which is where they should be carrying it.

MurphyDog said...

hey! I have that same exact backpack. I got it for Christmas, but Mom hasn't put it on me much. I need to remind her to put it on when we go for our walkies...thanks for the reminder!

wags, wiggles & slobbers
Murphydog

Anonymous said...

ooh, costa rican carryout? do tell! i am going to CR in a few weeks and am ready to start drooling about it!

also- mr b looks so cute in his backpack. chick also likes wearing his, though i have never thought to put groceries / errands in there!

aleksandra
follow our foster: loveandaleash.wordpress.com

Snuggles said...

OMG I just did a post about this on my Mummy's blog. She buyed me and my sissy pack-packs a few weeks ago and they are our fave thing now! But she hasn't put any bonez or meatses in them. Just weights. :(

Anonymous said...

Oh, gosh...now I'm all hungry! I think peoples (and doggies) who live in Chicago are tougher than those who live in some other parts of the country. I'm pretty sure in my town, nobuddy woulda been delivering anything for a long time with that kind of snow!

Wiggles & Wags,
mayzie

Shauna (Fido and Wino) said...

My dogs don't do well in the snow and ice- eventually they start limping along, it's very sad!

Two French Bulldogs said...

Bet you could hold some good eatin's in your backpack
Benny & Lily

brooke said...

Mr B looks great in his back pack! We're trying to make a decision on which to get for Darwin. We're also worried if wearing a bag would get her too hot in the summer...

We love our local neighborhood butcher! I love that we have that choice rather than just going to the regular market!

Wyatt said...

Wow, you get to carry the meat? That is my dream....

Wyatt

Two Pitties in the City said...

In Black and White: So glad we could be of help! Our backpack is the Ruffwear Palisades backpack. We like that it can be a training tool AND actually useful in helping us carry stuff. It's so funny when he wears it everyone is curious and comes over to talk to us.

houndstooth said...

I envy you! Everything here was closed for two or three days. I'm really glad that I stopped at the store on the way home because there was nothing here in our little town to be had.

Mary said...

I love the Little House reference! Except I'm reading my second book in a row about the Donner Party, so you can imagine where my mind is going.

This post just shows how great it is to live in a big city like Chicago! We have a few places to go within walking distance, but definitely nothing like Belgian food or Costa Rican delivery. There is a local grocer (that's actually what it's called) within walking distance that sells vegan-friendly food, eggs from humanely kept chickens, and also meat like you described. And cheap wine:)

Heather Cherry said...

Ah yes, I looked at the Ruff Wear packs, too, but went with a more economical option to at least see if the dogs took to them. Boy howdy, did they ever!

Anonymous said...

Tee hee hee Mom's laughin at you two makin cute faces through the butcher window :P Worked too :D BOL! Enjoy your bones :)

Waggin at ya,
Roo

PeeS: Mom says she wished there were cool shops like y'all have near here. They sound like so much fun!

ForPetsSake said...

Chicagoland sounds wonderfully diverse!! There's nothing like eing able to shop at your local community of businesses. We had a wonderful community of neighborhood businesses, mom and pop stores, etc in Portland, ME that we loved. It was so nice to know the local businesspeople who had a vested interest in their customers and their neighborhood.
To hell with all the box stores and cain restaurants. We've had to dig deeper to find the "good" places here in Dallas, but they're here, i think...

Julie said...

Glad to see you got the snow cleared out so quickly & can actually walk to stores. That's the worst thing about the suburbs - no place to walk to. Great backpack!

Luci's Mama said...

Do we get pictures of the amazing chili???

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