This Little Piggy Went to Market

The plane landed early which meant there was no gate available for our arrival.  It’s very typical O’Hare.  As I looked out my tiny window, I noticed the Sears Tower in the distance, and immediately realized I had forgotten the Chicagoland area was really quite flat.  If you haven’t been to Chicago before, the airport is somewhat far away from the city.  But there it was in all of its glory.  Like a black beacon leading the way.  The Sears Tower.

From time to time, I’ve mentioned my friend Mary in various posts on this blog.  Most notably was when she guest posted for me in The Most AMAZING cake ever! She and her husband, John, were gracious enough to serve as our lodging hosts for the weekend.  Of course, in classic Mary style, we were greeted with an incredible spread of food and beverages to fest on into the night.

I honestly wished I would have taken more pictures of meal.  But, my philosophy is to experience life first before writing about it.  So that’s what I did.  We quickly dove into stories upon stories and conversations that ranged from kids to dogs and even a little television gossip.  In the process, the food was gobbled up as quickly as the setting sun.

Mary and John’s postage stamp of a backyard was the perfect backdrop for the meal as Mary’s Lady Sophie fountain trickled in the background and candles flickered across our faces.  Our Cuban barbeque actually started with a huge slice of Heaven and Hell cake.  Who says you can’t have dessert first?  Then bacon wrapped stuffed jalapeño peppers cleansed the sweetness in our mouths with a burst of heat.  The entrée was the most incredible marinated Cuban pulled pork with sweet plantains I have ever tasted.  We encapsulated the tender meat with tortillas, and were complimented with mexi corn salad and rice.  Finally, the meal was washed down with margaritas and finished with a final serving of cake.

It was a very filling night.

Cooking Credit: Miss Mary
Title Credit: Brent while on the plane
Photo Credit: Cory in the moment

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